# YAY! to Shayna and Spiny Norman! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 12, 2004, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yay-to-shayna-and-spiny-norman/250009 "2004-06-12T20:18:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2004, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yay-to-shayna-and-spiny-norman/250009/1 "2004-06-12T20:18:52Z")
I got the best surprise today! **Shayna** and **Spiny Norman** sent me a CARE package from Trader Joe’s! A can of French Roast, a quart of soy milk, Cocoa Almonds, Curry Simmer Sauce, Thai Green Curry Simmer Sauce, Spiced Chai Latte, and a nice birthday card! _Completely_ unexpected; and much appreciated, since the nearest Trader Joe’s is 50 miles away. **Shayna** and **Spiny Norman** , you guys are **THE BEST!** 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![gum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bbe5ce/32.png) [@gum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gum)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2004, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yay-to-shayna-and-spiny-norman/250009/2 "2004-06-12T22:36:13Z")
What a great gift! Is it your birthday? Happy Birthday **Johnny L.A.** ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2004, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yay-to-shayna-and-spiny-norman/250009/3 "2004-06-13T06:02:56Z")
> [@](#): > > Is it your birthday? Aye. And thanx! 🙂 I went into town to watch a film an acquaintance of mine made. ([_Beat Angel_](http://beatangelfilm.homestead.com/index.html), about the spirit of Jack Kerouac who comes back to Earth in the guise of a bum to inspre a cynical writer.) Since my best **fiend** and I had some time, and since I hadn’t eaten, we stopped of at a Mexican restaurant. **Spiny Norman** called as I was finishing my carne asada. Talk about good friends! **Shayna** and **Spiny** looked through my past Trader Joe’s posts to find out what I liked, and also the Curry Recipe thread I posted recently, so they could send me the perfect gift. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![GraceTX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c4cdca/32.png) [@GraceTX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GraceTX)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2004, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yay-to-shayna-and-spiny-norman/250009/4 "2004-06-13T16:19:12Z")
I’m not surprised that they did this. It sounds like something they’d do. A couple of years ago, the SDMB did a white elephant exchange and I never got one and was a little ticked. Not because I didn’t get one, but because I thought it was a little rude of the doper who drew me to never even acknowledge that he/she wasn’t sending one. Anyhoo, a couple of weeks later I received an unexpected white elephant from Spiny Norman and Shayna. It was all silly really, but it made my day! I went through it and laughed at the stuff they found (out-of-date calendars, magnets, multiple bottle openers, lapel pins, cat toys). They even took the time to wrap every item in the box. Plus, they also included several boxes of lime green jello just because they know it’s my favorite. Happy Birthday Johnny L.A.! Movies, mexican food, and presents. It sounds like you’ve had a good birthday so far. ---
**Author:** ![gum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bbe5ce/32.png) [@gum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gum)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2004, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yay-to-shayna-and-spiny-norman/250009/5 "2004-06-13T17:26:09Z")
Well, **Spiny Norman and Shayna** certainly gave you a better gift than I did. [see GQ] :smack: I’m sorry again **Johnny L.A.** I hope you had a good birthday anyway. _[btw: very cool website]_ ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2004, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yay-to-shayna-and-spiny-norman/250009/6 "2004-06-13T17:57:15Z")
Thanks for the thought, **gum**. 🙂 > [@](#): > > _[btw: very cool website]_ The Turner site? I used to love it when I had Turner Classic Movies. I’m sorry it moved into another cable package. ---
**Author:** ![gum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bbe5ce/32.png) [@gum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gum)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2004, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yay-to-shayna-and-spiny-norman/250009/7 "2004-06-14T05:09:48Z")
Ah, No. I meant _your_ website, **Johnny L.A.**. Good to see another filmmaker who loves zombie movies. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2004, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yay-to-shayna-and-spiny-norman/250009/8 "2004-06-14T05:46:20Z")
Johnny L. A.: > [@](#): > > I went into town to watch a film an acquaintance of mine made. I had a feeling you weren’t watching _Die Another Day._ 😉 Happy Birthday! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2004, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yay-to-shayna-and-spiny-norman/250009/9 "2004-06-14T12:37:47Z")
**gum** : On, _my_ site! Thanks. I keep meaning to get some pictures for the Éclair NPR manual, so that people who visit the site and need a manual can see what the manual is talking about. Been too lazy though. Funny thing: I’ve found that the NPR manual I transcribed is showing up on other people’s sites – without attribution. Oh, well. I typed it all out from the photocopy I got with the camera. But at least I gave credit to the original! Yeah, zombies are fun. _Zombie! vs. Mardi Gras_ is said to be the worst film ever made. You wouldn’t _believe_ the vitriol most critics write! They just didn’t “get it”. It’s _supposed_ to be the way it is! Or maybe they can’t wrap their minds around a Goddardian zombie film. 😉 [\*The Christian Science Monitor](http://www.csmonitor.com/cgi-bin/megamovieguide.pl?year=2001&title=Zombie!%20vs.%20Mardi%20Gras) and [_Film Threat_](http://www.filmthreat.com/Interviews.asp?File=InterviewsOne.inc&Id=101) liked it though. (The _Film Threat_ site seems to be down at the moment.) **cmkeller** : I _thought_ about watching _Die Another Day_! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Spiny\_Norman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Spiny\_Norman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiny_Norman)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2004, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yay-to-shayna-and-spiny-norman/250009/10 "2004-06-14T15:22:06Z")
- hope you had a good one. Ever stopped to consider that your life’s registered on the SDMB, down to your grocery preferences ? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yay-to-shayna-and-spiny-norman/250009/11 "2004-06-15T00:06:14Z")
That’s pretty scary, **Spiny**. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yay-to-shayna-and-spiny-norman/250009/12 "2004-06-15T07:33:43Z")
Amilate? Amilate?? Congratulations, Mister LA, Johnny for friends. You don’t look a day over 23, sir! 🙂