gogo

At the risk of opening myself up for attack by newbies, old-timers, and all sorts of anti-moderator types... The original post was borderline, and because it came from someone brand-new to the board, I think (although I haven't talked to the mod who did it, so I can't really speak to the motivation) the intent was to nip a potential street-teamer in the bud. We're always glad to have new folks come around, and participate fully in the conversation. It is true that new folks get scared off from VC on a semi-regular basis, but I'd like to stand up for the mods here and say that more often th

It's years since I read it, but some of the pieces in there are totally brilliant. I'm just flipping through them in my head right now.

Fan-freakin'-tastic.

The Beecher thing? It's good so far, although I'm still only up to his young adulthood. Everything up to that point fits very neatly, from a sort of religious/psychological/pop-Freudian perspective, into what kind of a person we know he's growing up to be, so it all seems a little shoe-horned in for now. It's well-written though, and I've become more of a fan of American history of late, so I'm enjoying the Great Awakening stuff, some history of higher education in America, etc. That one you're reading looks great! I'm definitely adding that to my list, but see?? That's why I can't come

And next up (big trip to the library this afternoon, they'll be a pain to carry home on the bus...):

I've been neglecting this thread, because I always get overwhelmed by all the great books that I'm just not getting to! Recently read: Not quite as good as London: The Novel. Frustrating, disturbing, and really really good. I'd read his previous book, and I recently won an on-line auction to have my name used for a character in his next one. Now reading:

A perma-link to this song is available here: http://www.maudiemc.com/Shine.mp3 And while I think the original thread about the taping may be lost in the archives somewhere, I believe Jeff is actually drumming on this, too. Can anyone with a better memory than mine confirm that? edit: OK, that mp3 link shows up in a very unexpected form! The file is called Shine.mp3, and it's at maudiemc.com, if you can just type that into your browser (maudiemc.com/Shine.mp3).

Lots of love from our family to yours, Donna.

I'm sure that the more motivated VCers were able to figure it out! And this is more great information! I wish I had the time/cash to make it to Spain this year (or, ever).

That is some fantastically specific information.

Mel, thanks so much for letting us know! That is amazing, I'm so glad Natalie's mom has been doing this. I always loved reading anything Natalie wrote, it's wonderful that her writing will be shared with a larger audience.

Since I agree with this statement, the original linked article is old anyway, and this thread is otherwise one of the worst threads ever on VC, I'm locking it.

Neil Young.

This may be a first, but I think I agree with you. As someone who has received cash in the past (see the "worst gift ever" thread), I am still pissed off (years later!) that the person who gave it to me couldn't even be bothered to get me a gift certificate (this was before the proliferation of gift cards) to a book store. That would have shown that at least a minimum amount of thought was put into it, that the person giving it knew something about who I am and what I might like. I know that my nieces (14 and 15 years old) like to shop, they get a kick out of finding something on sale,

Probably still my favorite "shopping" experience ever!

And some families don't go in for lots of gifts. Did they give each other lots of really great gifts? In my family, we pick names out of a hat, for a group of about 30 of us (uncles, aunts, cousins, etc.). So each year, I'm really only giving and getting one gift. Usually, I'm really happy with whatever I get (and I give a seriously kick-ass gift each year, because I am very good at gift-giving). But one year, I got $25, cash, gift-wrapped in a box. That was both weird and disappointing.

Happy day, Neil!

Thanks, Chandler!

We're kind of in no-deadline mode right now, because I haven't really done much/anything on this yet. If anyone who has posted in this thread can send a high-res version of their submission to me at maudiemcc -at- hotmail, I'll try to get to them, at some point. Probably not in time for christmas presents...

An old man gets home, and finds his wife jumping around, dancing, laughing her head off. He asks "what the hell are you so excited about?" She says "I just got home from the doctor, he told me I've got the breasts of a 30 year old." "And what did he have to say about your 75 year old ass?" "Oh honey, we didn't talk about you at all."

I was just coming in here to post that one.

That's why this one gets to have the title, too. It's always based on the earliest post. Also: I don't think I've heard REM's Silver Bells!

There were two of these going, so this is the merged version. And I could listen to a whole CD of just different versions of Silver Bells (cheesy, I know!) and Baby It's Cold Outside.

That's a good one! For realsies?

Muzzle of Bees. p.s. Hell is Chrome is not even in my top 10 Wilco/JT songs. Probably not even in my top 20.