Introduce Yourself

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  • Thanks for the hearty welcomes,

    Bry: i have the tickets booked, but still need to sort out all the other things that are needed to get down to London mid week in term time

    Angelastic: could be, we who's have a Nobel lineage, and even a band named after us (which, of course, pails in comparison to JoCo)
  • Two bands, at least, I feel sure. Also your brethren play a significant role in Dr. Seuss.
  • I was never one for following nobility or Nobel awards.
  • Then there's the good Doctor, time traveller extraordinaire. There are no good Lex's though. Except Lex Luthor I guess.

    (also, hi everyone)
  • I thought maybe Agent Lex had a partner named Agent Yacc.

    (obscure computer science pun, for those fortunate enough not to get it)
  • Argh. mt -f gordon rewind (to before I saw that pun)

    (also, hi Agent Lex)
  • edited March 2008
    Hi All,

    I'm Gamith - born in 1965 (to save you all the rouble it means I'm 43) and I have been playing games since D&D in my teens - thank you Gary Gygax.

    After finishing Portal I sat back, watched the end video and then 'Still Alive' aka 'The Portal Song' came on. I could feel a meme coming on, so decided to see who made this song and guess where I ended up.
    I copied/stole some of JoCo's songs to listen to, and after liking them ... a lot, I bought the boxed set and spent the evening downloading and listening.

    Anyway - I have my ticket booked for the 20th when I'll be going to the JoCoLoSho in Camden, London and I am really looking forward to that. I just hope that it doesn't go on too late and I can get back to Watford.

    ttfn
  • Ah, the Guess Who. The band that elevated the accent circonflexe to a facial hairstyle.
  • Hi.

    I'm known as El most places (though no one calls me that IRL). I have reason to believe I'm the youngest person on this site (freaking me out)

    My sisters made me listen to Skullcrusher Mountain sometimes in the past year. It was nice. Last Christmas, one of my sisters lent me her CD player and I listened to the seventy-something songs she had on it and I became hooked. I am now more insane about JoCo than she is. (and I still have her CD player)
  • Wow, talk about famous last names... are you related to Kal-El? ;)
  • and can she fly?
  • Wow, it took a while to read all the way to the end of this thread. Which will soon not be the end.

    I'm Gina, 39, happily married, child-free, and I must be some kind of geek because most of my friends are - but I make pottery and teach pottery wheel classes. When it comes to computers, I'm just a user.

    I enjoy walking my dog (who is the cutiest), and ballroom dancing (have you seen my youtube videos?), among many other things.

    I've been a big fan of funny music and comedy in general since I was about 12 and discovered Dr. Demento. I became a huge fan of Weird Al's (I still am, and we are friends). At college, I had a comedy music radio show - a direct rip off of Dr. Demento. After college I stopped paying as much attention to Dr. Demento (but still pony up to join his Society and get the Basement Tapes every year), but every once in a while I come across another funny musician that I like.

    I never thought one day I could be as into an artist as an adult as I was when I was a kid. JoCo is really amazing.

    And I was on stage at The Birchmere show Friday night! Waaa Hoooo! MESSAGE REDACTED!
  • nice pet

    and it is some kind of geeklock on this site

    the cake -- - ---
  • Welcome, Gina! And where do you teach pottery, anyway?
  • jinx, I teach pottery at the Greenbelt, MD, community center, And at University of Maryland's Art and Learning Center.
  • Hi there, I'm Kelly, aka bugdog. Why bugdog? When I first started posting on BBSs, I quickly realized that using my own name was a Very Bad Idea. I had a dog named Bug and I lacked imagination, hence, bugdog. It stuck and now, even though Bug has gone on to the land of eternal bunnies and cookies, I'm still bugdog.

    So, I'm one of those who hadn't heard of JoCo until Portal came out. I was totally struck by how clever the song was, but it wasn't until a coworker told me that there was a real person behind the song that I discovered this site. Best. Day. EVER! That was back in ... um ... November, I think. I immediately was hooked on Skull Crusher Mountain, and, in turn, I got my favorite coworker here in Austin hooked. When I got home, I exposed my husband to this deadly disease, and he, too, was hooked.

    It took me a while to start downloading and buying other music, though, because I liked Still Alive and Skull Crusher Mountain so much that I was afraid that nothing else would be as good. Yes, I'm weird.

    So, I got Re: Your Brains. Same format - got the coworker, then the husband. I now sing that when I'm walking the dogs. I believe it scares the neighbors, but hey, they'll manage.

    I dragged my husband out of the house on Saturday to see Jon at The Cactus Cafe. He hates crowds, but he was willing to go just to see the show. It was well worth it.

    So, that's my brief and yet still much too long introduction.

    (PS. I work for Google, I have 2 dogs, no kids, 1 husband who's a cop, and I'm not nearly smart enough.)
  • Not smart enough for what?
  • edited March 2008
    To live up to our inflated expectations of people who work at Google?

    You're smart enough to be here, that ought to be enough for anybody!

    (P.S, welcome!)
  • Welcome buglog, I had something else to say, but I can't remember. At least I have an edit function...
  • edited March 2008
    Hiya folks, yet another "Created an Account to Say Hello" (I'm CASH?)

    My name is, in fact Mitch O .. evidently I'm not enough to realize my real name is a Very Bad Idea (and here I am, a reader of the Tao of Pooh and everything!). Actually, I've had many nicknames over the history of the internet, but they tend to only really work for the environment they're in. I'm also The Magic Age (37), a divorced father of a 5 year old Young Crankenstein and coincidentally enough work for a dot com whose CEO just visited Google last month and keeps talking about doing things "the way they do it at Google". He really liked that the entire meeting was in a cafeteria, apparently. :)

    My exposure to JoCo came via a message board of collected online friends and vagrants. Originally a message board for an Everquest guild, most of us have moved on well past video games and stuff and it just became a collection of online people, and unfortunately, not all friendly. As a matter of fact, I basically told the entire to FOAD recently, but that's a whole other discussion. Someone linked Spiff's "RE: Your Brains" video, and several of us became instant fans. I'm very upset that I apparently became a fan a few short weeks after a Brooklyn concert, and I'm inpatiently waiting for another NYC/NNJ appearance. My favorite nowadays is "I Crush Everything"; however, as a part time poker player, I've found that singing RE: Your Brains out loud at the table never ceases to be sufficiently distracting. :)

    Little side note story: I was just listening to a shuffle of the dozen or so JoCo songs I have here at my work PC, when my boss came by. Normally not a big deal (most of us have headphones), however, my Media Player was still the top window when ... well ...

    "You see, we want to come up with a timeline of how long ... this process will ... I'm sorry, does that say The Town Crotch?"

    Ah, timing.
  • Welcome MitchO.

    Look on the bright side... At least he didn't hear you playing First Of May :D
  • Welcome, Mitch! As a poker player you might appreciate Gambler's Prayer, if you haven't heard it already. A lesser-known JoCo gem.
  • I'm confused, did the boss see the title or hear it? If he saw it, he'd obviously be none the wiser to First Of May, if it was sound, then a more likely response would be..you know what? Screw it. Welcome MitchO.
  • edited March 2008
    Hi Bugdog, Mitch and Gina. Gina, you really know weird al? He's pretty crazy cool. Bugdog, is it fun driving with your husband? Does he ticket you if you miss a stop? (kidding) Mitch, you play poker in tournaments? WSOP? Thats pretty cool to me because I'm pretty good at Texas Hold 'em.
  • She, and she only saw the title. I was wearing headphones. Hence First Of May would have actually been OK :)

    I have Gambler's Prayer in my sig file for most of my other message boards~ I did not Q for WSOP last year, but I'm trying hard this year ... we had two friends in our group go, and one place in the top 15 at the recent WPT event in Atlantic City. I'm ... working on it.
  • monkeybiznis, yes, I really do! He is cool and super nice.
  • Hi all, I'm Nate.
    I'm 26 years old, work in investment, and I'm passionate about music. I discovered Jonathan's stuff when somebody linked to a pub recording of Baby Got Back.
    Listening to all the Thing a Week songs has inspired me to break out my acoustic guitar and practice again. At various times in my life I've played drums, trumpet, piano, bass guitar and acoustic guitar. I also sing when I have to. I've decided that my voice isn't unique enough to stand out on my own, but I have a decent ear (and voice) for harmonies so I think I'd be a great ensemble musician.

    Other things about me: I'm Australian, married with one brand new baby girl.
    I'm not expecting Jonathan to visit Australia any time soon but I'll keep an eye out here just on the off chance.
  • Nice Mitch, it is great to meet someone into poker and tournaments. I would love gamble with the pros, but I'm a little underage.
    Wow Gina, you're so lucky to know him; he is a comedic genious with parodies and his wacky instrumentals.
    Welcome Nate, what part of Australia? I've heard nothing but great things about it (my mom lived there for two years). If I ever get enough money I'm gonna go and hang out with the aboriginees and try to play the didgeridoo.
  • edited March 2008
    Gina -

    I just watched your Weird Al video... LOL... I was at that concert and watched you perform that live. What a small world!!! I love Al too - except I am not his pal... and you are you lucky gal!! How ever did you manage that, if you don't mind me asking. Great performance by the way. Warner Theatre was our second trip to his concert last year, we also saw him up in PA in the Lancaster area.

    I swear, small world.

    I watched you perform Friday at the Birchmere too.... LOL
  • "I love Al too - except I am not his pal... and you are you lucky gal!!"

    Intentional or no?
  • There once was a big fan of Al,
    who wound up by being his pal.
    Said laurelli2,
    "Hey, I was there too!
    And you sure are one lucky gal!"
  • Y'all are making me giggle. That is so neat that you saw me both places, Laurelli/Lori! I've got an unintentional following!

    I've been a huge fan of Al's ever since I was 11 or 12, and when I was 15 and he was touring (in 3-D!) I saw him live and afterwards asked him to marry me. Back then he played small venues, mostly bars, and didn't have many fans as fanatical as me. I started writing him long gushing letters and he responded with postcards with his picture on them.

    This is such a long story I will try to sum it up. When I was older (obviously), I spent a summer in LA and we dated. Later on we kinda sorta dated some more (long distance and long story). And all these years later, I'm still a fan, we are still in touch, and I see him in concert all over the area whenever he comes here. At a show (in Glenside, PA), my friend Renee suggested we do the cheerleading bit sometime, and Al said it was fine with him. So I arranged it with the Warner Theater and we had a blast!

    I'd shown Al Jonathan's website a while back, but it didn't click with him at that moment. But at the Warner he said he'd been listening to a JoCo cd a fan had given him. I was going to see JoCo the next weekend, so Al said to say "Hi." And I did.
  • Hello All,

    My name is Randall "Randy" Adams. I am a 31 year old software engineer currently working on a Java EE project. I am passionate about software development and seeing JoCo in concert here in Northern Virginia.

    I was introduced to Jonathan Coulton at an identity management training class when an attendee played Spiffworld's WoW "Code Monkey" video on his iPhone. A few days later I had ordered my first JoCo CD from CD Baby.

    Currently my favorite songs are "I crush everything" and "Drinking with you." I really look forward to the next Birchmere show!
  • Nice to meet you Randy. Its great that you are passionate about your job.
  • The work allows me to maintain my JoCo habit.

    : )

    I'm happy to be among fellow JoCo fans.
  • I normally don't bother with forum introductions, but you guys all sound like a nice bunch who are genuinely interested in getting to know people. I consider myself in that category too - at least when I have the time. ;)

    My first sip of delicious JoCo juice happened at work when a friend of mine linked me to the ubiquitous WoW Code Monkey video. It's surprising to me now, but as much as I loved the song and the video, I wasn't inspired to go looking for more. Not until I was over at my friend's place for our weekly D&D session, someone pulled up the site and started playing various songs. I've since become hooked, and I just bought a selection of the songs that I see myself listening to regularly. I do feel kinda guilty that I listened to them so much without paying for them, since bandwidth isn't cheap, so maybe I'll donate some more money to the site at some point.

    I am a Code Monkey, simply put. However, right now I'm questioning whether I want to work in the IT industry for the rest of my working life. I worked several programming jobs (part-time and full-time) throughout college, but the job I'm in now is my first real-world, post-college job. To say I've become disillusioned would be putting it lightly. I love computers, programming, and all the geeky things that go along with it, but I don't know if the IT field is right for me. I want more personal interaction, especially with non-IT people. At the moment I'm applying to teach English in Japan through the JET Program, so I'll see how it works out.

    I use the handle KeroHazel (or some variation thereof) everywhere online, and I really don't consider it an online "persona". It's pretty much who I am.

    You all seem like a nice bunch, and this forum will be a nice addition of things to keep me distracted during my work day. ;)
  • BryBry
    edited March 2008
    Welcome to everyone who's introduced themselves since I last posted! Well, except for Gina, who gets a "Hello again" instead. :)

    Gamith, glad to hear you're all set for the JoCoLoSho! (Or is everyone using "London Concert" now, as in the "Identifiable" thread title? JoCoLoCo's got a nice ring to it too.)

    eliannrad: Hey, I think it's great that you've found your way to the forums! Hope it's not too disorienting, being the (presumed) youngest active forum member. Some Christmas present, huh?
    (Apropos of nothing, every time I see your screenname I think it's meant to be something in reverse. Don't know why. Maybe it has something to do with the "nr" combination -- although I never thought that about, say, Enron. Hm.)

    Gina: I really liked your stories about your Weird Al connections -- I've never gotten seriously into Weird Al's music, but I've really liked everything I've heard of his.
    (Also, strangely enough, Coultonblog introduced me to Hodgmanblog, which introduced me to Ape Lad's "Laugh-Out-Loud Cats," and a commenter on the latest Laugh-Out-Loud Cats strip introduced me to this Sims video of "She Never Told Me She Was a Mime.")

    bugdog
    : Yet another Portal convert! I'm glad you had a well-informed co-worker. :) The Cactus Cafe show looked great, from those of athene's videos I've seen. (Links courtesy robgonzo, of course.) Having heard so much about how Google treats its employees, I hesitate to ask how you like your job, as anything less than raving will be a disappointment. ;)

    Randy: I had to blink at the "identity management training class" line. Took me a moment. There's gotta be a better way of saying that. ;) I agree with monkeybiznis: I always enjoy hearing people talk about being really passionate about things.
    (Of course, apparently I also enjoy telling people who aren't passionate about things what to do -- about which see page 3 of this thread. Or maybe I just like reading myself write. [That idiom doesn't quite translate properly to online talk, does it?])
    I guess you had a good time at the Birchmere last week, huh? How'd it all go, and was it the first time you got to see JoCo in concert?

    MitchO: Ha! How did the conversation with the boss go from there? You totally could've taken the opportunity to proselytize a little JoCo, you realize...

    Nate: Into music, huh? Say, have you heard about this Internet band that's covering JoCo tunes? I bet if you asked they'd let you in. ;)

    Hey, KeroHazel! I'm with you in ordinarily eschewing the intro thread, but that's because they're usually so _boring_. ;) Seriously, it is really interesting to me that we've got such a variety of people here. I've definitely been places where the forum intro thread basically was five hundred versions of the same guy posting. (And variety, of course, also implies lots of non-IT people.)
    I hadn't heard of JET, by the way -- that sounds pretty cool.

    (I've gotta keep up with this thread better, or else y'all are all gonna hafta sit through a lot more of these. Lord, do I go on. Sorry!)
  • Hey Bry,

    You are right! Identity management is a crappy and boring topic (it was $3,000 for 5 days). Corporate-style programming is the most mind-numbing work out there but it also pays the best. : )

    It's probably safe to say that all of us get a thrill out of tricking out a computer system -- I know I do. Unfortunately, the best work either doesn't pay or it's really tough to convince the wife.

    <true_story>
    I was contacted by a recruiter for my dream job that looked something like this:
    * C/C++ development on Linux,
    * work from home,
    * flexible hours,
    * Linux system programming,
    * GNU/Collabnet toolset all the way (gcc, autotools, subversion...),
    * $3,000 towards building my own workstation, and
    * A six-figure salary.

    I made it through the technical interview and I was soooooo excited! The match was perfect except it was for a... dating web site... :' (
    </true_story>
  • What's the problem? :-D You were hoping for NASA?

    I could definitely work for a cheesebag company under those conditions. (Mmm... Linux.) Once the new wears off, work's work.
  • BryBry
    edited March 2008
    Wow -- that might be as close to a perfect match as that dating website will ever return. ;)

    My actual first-glance interpretation of "identity management training" was some kind of support group for people with multiple personalities, by way of parallel to "anger management training." But it sounds even worse now that I know what it is...

    Edited to add: Of course you'd work for any cheesebag company, shaggy, you're a lawyer. ;)
  • Gina: I really liked your stories about your Weird Al connections -- I've never gotten seriously into Weird Al's music, but I've really liked everything I've heard of his.
    (Also, strangely enough, Coultonblog introduced me to Hodgmanblog, which introduced me to Ape Lad's "Laugh-Out-Loud Cats," and a commenter on the latest Laugh-Out-Loud Cats strip introduced me to this Sims video of "She Never Told Me She Was a Mime.")
    Thanks for the link! I hadn't ever seen that - it was very funny! Normally that is one of my very least favorite Al songs, but this video made it better.
    If you haven't seen "White and Nerdy" you should -it's great!
  • @Randy:

    What's wrong with dating websites? Unless your wife is worried about you getting too distracted... I know I would be, but I'm unattached. :P

    Also, how does C/C++ fit into this? Was the site creating some new server framework from the ground up?
  • @Bry: Glad to see I'm not the only person who is hooked on word reversals (bet you're always trying to find potential palindrome fragments). A few weeks ago I discovered a UK brand of fruit juice with the astounding brand name of Kulana. Now if I was in THAT branding meeting...
  • Bry:
    Nossob (n)
    Any word that looks as if it's probably another word backwards but turns out not to be.
  • Hello, to everyone who's new, and what the heck, to everyone else as well. I think it a shame that we don't say hello to the older Forum goers (as in ones here before the introduction thread introduced us to the new ones, not older as in age-just thought I'd clarify :P), so hello to all you people I typically hear from every day, and if not then every undefined period of time.
  • @KeroHazel

    I definitely should not post so late at night. After re-reading the post it looks arrogant -- I shouldn't be so candid so late at night.

    Truth be told, I've come a long way from below the poverty line earning a small state school education. For the last eight years I busted my butt and sacrificed greatly to earn fortune 100 software development experience.

    Now that I have the experience and skills really good software jobs are not that hard to come by. Truth be told, I would be laughed out of consideration for the good work I rely on now if I took the job above.

    There is absolutely nothing wrong with the job other than by having it on your resume you automatically loose work. Kinda like JoCo's current resume precludes him from NY Bank programming jobs. I'm guessing he's okay with that though. : )

    I have a stay at home wife and three kids though. ; P
  • @KeroHazel

    I promise I wont stray farther off topic. : ) I just want to answer the C++ question really quickly.

    C/C++ are excellent languages for making extensions to a Linux operating system or to the web server you are running. C and C++ are excellent if you have real time constraints (like quality of service goals). These were compelling features several years ago. These features don't matter much anymore largely because you can do more in less time with a solid framework (cake PHP, ruby on rails, JEE5, etc.).

    How does C/C++ fit in? It doesn't really. The owner of the web site probably still really enjoys system programming. There are "better" development platforms if you define better to mean speed of development, ease of maintenance, and reuse. I'm guessing the site owner defines "better" to mean the best development platform for "tricking out my Linux distro and or server." Or maybe the site owner just wants to use what he/she learned from his/her computer science degree.

    Hope this kinda makes sense. : )
  • Maybe the site owner is using C/C++ as a litmus test for people who know something about programming vs. people whose only programming language is PHP?
  • Randy-

    I have to admit I don't see the logic in holding back from your "dream job" because it might prevent you from getting other work that's, by definition, less "dreamy". I'm not judging, I suspect we just have different priorities. Glad to hear that you aren't having trouble finding other good jobs, though!

    Your C/C++ post is interesting. I don't know too many website owners who do any programming themselves, much less system programming. Sounds like a fun person to work with. I forgot that those languages have their place in web development too. There's always Apache modules, and even cgi-bin stuff can be written in any language you want, IIRC.
  • The first useful things I ever wrote in C were CGIs... it was pretty painful, as I didn't have any kind of framework to make it easier (which is not to say that such a thing didn't exist, I guess I didn't think to look for it), but I only knew how to do text I/O in C back then, so the web was a better fit than a text-based app on a Mac. And I hadn't heard of PHP (which was only a few years old anyway) or any other languages more suited to web development. That must have been about 1998 I guess.

    Weirdly enough, one of the things I do in my current job is write C++ applications which happen to have web interfaces. There are a few more libraries to help with (and/or hinder) that nowadays.

    Anyway, welcome to the forums, Randy and KeroHazel. It's a good thing I forgot to say that in my last post, or else this one would be completely off-topic.
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