p.s. I do not encourage libeling Islam
Sincerely,
Homer J. Romancer
All my friends from the OMFG thread; if6was9, for helping me pick myself up and showing me I still had self worth; Mipiace, my sister under the skin, who was there so MANY times when I would start to doubt myself; tanookie & her hubby Parallax who have gone above and beyond as friends;
Simple Dreamer & Jaade, who were always there to talk, and Atrael…you are special, sir. smooch. Thanks.
Too many to type out!
As ever, super huge thanks to CrankyAsAnOldMan for being my mom/big sister/chauffeur/friend during the year I lived in Ann Arbor. I am quite serious when I say that I don’t know what I would have done without her.
I’ve snagged rides from many Dopers. Especial thanks go to my buddy DynoSaur - who’s actually in the next room at the moment and would probably say “Huh” if I read this post to him - who drove hugely out of his way to take me to the New York MegaDopefest last year. Joey Hemlock let me drive his car across Indiana and Ohio and didn’t even seem overly bothered when we got into a wreck (NOT my fault!).
My dear friend Tiburon bought me a gift certificate to Borders, and she’s helped me so much when I am down.
That bitch Gundy took me to a Giants/White Sox game last year, which kicked so much ass. The Giants trailed 4-2 the whole game til Barry Bonds hit a 2-run homer and then Richie Aurilia hit a grand slam in the top of the ninth. Fabulous! I also perenially owe her and her fiance drinks.
Manhattan’s reputation for generosity is well-deserved. He got my room at the NYC Dopefest last year, and to my extreme delight, he gave me a gift of a trilobite fossil (!!!). It has a special place of honor on my desk at work.
And extra thanks to my roommate bristlesage, for cleaning the kitchen today.
I’m probably forgetting something huge.
Thanks to Dopers? Hmm…
First off, matt_mcl. For introducing me to the organised insanity that is the DopeFest. He actually stuck around and waited just for me when through a confusion of times I was late to meet him at the TorDope in, I think, 2001.
Cerowyn, for being one of the sparks behind the TorDope fests.
All the other Toronto Dopers. For putting up with me at TorDopes.
Krisfer the Cat. For being a good online friend.
Scotticher. For being an inspiration in organising the drives to help Dopers in trouble. And for sending me a gracious message of thanks this week, which was an unexpected pick-me-up during these grey times.
One certain female Doper, for taking a chance and actually going out on a date with me, even if it didn’t work out.
RickQ and Brynda, for meeting me last Labour Day, so we could stroll around Toronto and see the sights and give me a chance to be impromptu tour guide. And then treating me to the CN Tower.
I’m sure there’s more I haven’t named.
And to the members of these boards in general, for entertaining me, intriguing me, educating me, occaisionally infuriating me, and alerting me to all kinds of things I never would have heard of otherwise.
No fair, Sunspace, I opened this thread to thank you and found you beat me to it. 
It was really wonderful of you to volunteer to be our tour guide last fall. We wouldn’t have seen half as much on our own.
Thanks, too, to CrankyAsAnOldMan for sponsoring all those MI dopefests at her home, not to mention sending me some great books.
It was my pleasure, Brynda. I live alone (no SO, and my family is far away or passed on), and it really was a pleasure to show you around.
On more than one occasion I’ve come to the boards with a dilemma that I doubt I could’ve gone through without a few of you dopers out there. I won’t try to list them, there just are too many great friends out there.
Really, thanks.
Well, just let me know when you’re going to be in LA and we’ll set it up!
As for what other Dopers have done for me… Hmmm… well, a number of Dopers were courageous enough to stand up for me when I was being tarred and feathered during the last election. ** xenophon ** prominent among them. ** elucidator **, of course, has always been my friend and my knight as the need arose. I need to thank him just for being so delightful.
** Ice Wolf ** was another who reached out to me during a tough time, and ** Polycarp. ** The late, great ** Zenster ** gave me his secret rub recipe (with only one or two ingredients omitted, still it was a huge hit).
** Spoofe ** gave me a big warm hug when we met, and has been pretty cool ever since, and ** Airman Doors ** has turned out to be a pretty great guy.
And that’s my list. If I think of anything else I’ll be sure to be back.
Oh, where to begin . . .
lno, lurkernomore,and Airman Doors, have given me a li’l support when I needed a kick in the pants ( I mean, kick in the ass ). . .
SwimmingRiddles, Jessica2, and GingerOfTheNorth, chique, punkyovaand others have most definitely given me a good smack upside the head when I needed it most. . .
And just how the hell can I neglect the whole damn community? My biggest thing? When y’all voiced up when I was already in Kuwait during 9/11.
Tripler
Dopers are damn near like family to me.
GOSHAROOTY!
Sunspace how could I ever have forgotten YOU!
You and Twicks will never know how much you helped me get through the hell that is the holidays last month. Aside from letting me cry about missing my Mom you both tricked me into laughing more than once. I owe ya bud.
Aries getting kids to read is my mission in life!
Stoid was the very first Doper to email me. Way back in '01. Thanks for that, Stoid. She also gave me positive comments about me daring to write a book. Guess what, love? It was published last year, and has nearly sold out.
Need to add that TruePisces was another who emailed me, and made me feel welcome around here. And Primaflora made me feel a lot less like I was just about the only Kiwi around here, and helped me fit in.
My first reaction was to give you a big:
Whoop! Whoop! Whoop!Whoop! Whoop! Whoop!
But then I thought “Hey wait a minute! So where’s my copy? HMMMM? Signed and everything? HMMMM?”
But I’ll let you keep the whoop whoops anyway. 
Many Dopers deserve my thanks. I’m afraid to even begin to list them because I’d leave someone out and feel horrible shame over it.
Let me therefore restrict myself, and extend thanks related to one of my more recent opportunities to be the recipient of Doper generosity and kindness.
In late September, I was in NYC for a day and night. Had a lovely time being hosted by Billdo and meeting other Dopers, some of whom I’d been so eager to meet. Thing is, I had this headache I just couldn’t shake. And with little warning, it got very bad. At that moment, I was out with delphica, Oxymoron, canby, manhattan, Billdo, and Oxymoron’s charming boyfriend. They had to cut the evening short so I could go outside and THROW UP on the street right in front of everyone. Lovely. But everyone was kind about it. Especially Billdo, who got my reeling, puke-spattered self back to his apartment and took care of me until I went home. And he still speaks to me. And claims he’d let me stay with him again.
So I definitely owe him thanks. And the other classy people whose evening I made so much more dramatic.
I have to mention Horseflesh again. He left my apartment here about 45 minutes ago, after spending almost six full hours doctoring my computer. Turns out I did have a virus infection, but my computer is clean now, and he installed programs to do battle with future viruses. His family came over for a while too, wife and kids, and I fed them all burgers and chocolate cake, but it seems a small price to pay. He can have lunch anytime in the cafe where I work!
I even said I’d babysit. After all, their just kids, how much trouble can they be? 
they’re just kids.
Many of you deserve my thanks.
I would like to thank Ice Wolf, TLD, lel, JayLa, Aesiron, and others for sticking by me. 
I’d like to thank Spoz for keeping me laughing and amused all the time… you rock!
To EddyTeddyFreddy and others: thanks for your concern about me. I appreciate it.
To Scotticher: thanks for believing in me.
To JimSox5, jackelope, and a few others: thanks for being around so I can bug you on AIM if needed.
This list is short, but it could be much longer. Thank you all, because you are golden.
I’ll post this and then start thinking of all the people I should have mentioned but forgot, so, if you don’t see your name, please imagine yourself on the latter list. For now, I’ll take my usual deep breath and plunge in.
First of all, everyone who hangs out at Cecil’s Place, or who contributed a kind word and an offer of support last August when another Doper was in trouble, I can’t thank you enough. Your innate goodness and willingness to help touched me beyond words.
Although the thread vanished in the Winter of Our Missed Content, I’d like to thank everyone who reached out to me when I went out to the BBQ Pit and ranted about depression. I was still fairly new to the boards, and the support and understanding and offers of help I got amazed me and encouraged me. I am a better person because of you. I am also a full-scale SDMB addict because of you, but that’s another issue!
To everyone who reached out and contributed cash and encouragement last winter during Operation Polycarp, thank you. Not only was I stunned by your generosity, you gave me an opportunity to speak to some of the people I most admired voice-to-voice. Foolish Christian that I am, I believe I saw a miracle that Christmas.
Now on to individual people.
Omninot, I’ve got your last e-mail open as I speak. Thank you for giving this person who prides herself on her strength and invulnerability a place where she can be weak and vulnerable. There haven’t been many of those in my life.
Polycarp, if I tried to thank you for everything I should, we’d kill off a year’s worth of SDMB hamsters, and I’d still have most of the list to go. Thank you for being my virtual big brother, and thank you for being Anglican so we can get the bragging rights! As I said in an MPSIMS thread once, the Anglican Church has C.S. Lewis, Madeline L’Engle and Polycarp! Take that, you Methodists!
Esprix, I know I’ve mentioned this a few times, but I really did learn a tremendous amount from the Ask the Gay Guy threads. If I do now ardently defend the rights of homosexuals and vehemently argue that they are not any more inherently sinful than any other person, but are human beings just like everyone else who should be treated like any other person would be, it’s because of what you, GoBear, jayjay, Mr. Visible, Priam, Matt McL, Scott Evil, Andygirl, Lola, and people whose names have just leaked out of my brain and puddled on the floor have taught me. Thank you.
Thank you Zoe and Ice Wolf for being friends.
Baker, this is a perverse thing to thank you for, but thank you for telling me the truth about Fred Phelps, even if it is a lot more than I wanted to know. Thank you, too, for being the person you are.
Thank you to all of the gentlemen and ladies on this board who’ve flirted with me and exchanged double entendres with me. I run low on self-esteem, and you’re good for my ego.
Thank you to our illustrious moderators for making this place what it is, and, especially, Tuba Diva and Lynn Bodoni for the odd bit of practical advice.
Coldfire, thank you for some Dutch translation last year. I’m afraid we decided to go with the alternate to “lampkondoom”, although it may be an apt enough description.
If I go back to thanking people for intangibles, this post will go on forever, and I haven’t mentioned some of the people I value most. Instead, I’ll get in one more all too material post.
Sweetums, thank you for years of kicking my butt and stabbing my body during fencing practice, and for all the advice you’ve given me, including the stuff I didn’t take. Of course, you’re also the reasons I’m back to taking swords to church . . .
Finally, to everyone at the SDMB, thank you for being a place where I can laugh, cry, vent, and fight my own ignorance. I have never met most of you face-to-face, but still I count you my friends. It’s a privilege being part of this community.
CJ
Hmmph! Even trying to stick to the material, I forgot a couple of key people. Jonathan Chance, thank you for throwing one heck of a party at Dope-a-Ween**, and Ultrafilter, thank you for trying to get me a job with your company.
Again, I’ve got too many people to thank, but I do thank all of you.
CJ
Sorry I’m late to this thread.
I can’t tell you how much help, kindness, and friendship I’ve gotten from Dopers. To do so would keep you here all day, and probably end up killing the hamsters. Dopers aren’t just my “online friends.” They’re my friends.
The Michigan Doper Contingent is awesome. People such as **cranky, mrblue92, xploder, Brynda, Rick, Kyla, ** (no longer a Michigan Doper, but she’ll always be one in my heart), juniper, (also gone from the state, which is a major bummer), Shadowfox, wring, BunnyGirl, ShirleyUjest… good heavens, the list is endless, and I know I’m missing some people. Y’all just rock.
But there’s others I’ve formed some seriously tight friendships with. That list is huge. People like Scotticher, zyada, manhattan, Billdo, RTFirefly, Gorgon Heap, Acrylic Vessel, Geobabe, UncleBill… And on and on and on!
Then there’s the people on my speed-dial. **Zappo, True Pisces, Verrain, and DAVEW0071. ** Without you, I think I’d be dead. You’re there. You’re just always there, 24-7, through everything I’ve been through the last couple of years.
And of course, Eutychus. The best friend I’ve ever had. Wouldn’t want to live without him. I love him so much that I’m actually going to pay attention to the Super Bowl this year, because his beloved Patriots are playing.
I know there’s people I’ve missed. Just let it suffice to say that if you’re reading this, you’ve probably helped me in one way or another. Good vibes, an email, a butt-kicking when necessary–I know it, I’ve felt it, I appreciate it, and I’ve learned from it.
Thanks. To everyone.