h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Welcome to the Atelier! We are a salon, a place where entities can come and enjoy substantive discussion interspersed with bouts of utter looniness. The backlog is not for the fainthearted: the subject matter is not for the Densans. If this is your first time here, please check A304354 to learn more about us, and check the offsite link that will take you to floor plans and backstory.

Marv the Grate, formerly (perhaps defrocked) Archbishop of the Church of the One True Brownie, has excelled himself in his spirit of volunteerism and dedication to the well-being of the Atelier! *Chloe begins to play a recording of something inspiring by Simon and Garfunkel* Marv has scribed now, for the third time, and so, instead of a quill plume, we are glad to present him with this set of precision pens, made of platinum and exquisitely engraved by CLI's head decoratorbot, Number Eleven. Thank you, Marv!

And thanks to Witty Moniker for volunteering to scribe for this new conversation.

We have a Golden Backlog for Z, apropos of his terrific recapitulation upon his return from Paris and a trip to la Musée Dorsay.

tartaronne was the last to arrive at the forum, and so becomes the second recipient of the B4IWake Cattle Prod. Don't worry, tartaronne, no batteries, see? Completely honorary.

Dave, the bots and I thought long and hard about how we could suitably distinguish you for your delirious home-brewed quiz, and finally we decided on this periodic table. It's kind of like an occasional table except a little more, um, dependable. Eleven put the elements in marquetry. Oh dang, it's disappeared again. No, there it is.

For d'Elaphant, Zeppo and Gummo , I bestow this Golden Clothespin with cute little dangly pine tree deodorizers. It is hoped that both dogs now understand what a skunk is, in both its actual and potential manifestations.

And for Teuchter, a bottle of port for best topic introduced for discussion. That was the matter of the teenage son and whether he should help pay for his cost of living at home.



Our newcomer in this past thread wasn't really so new: Aesclepius, long known to everyone as A, the offstage presence in Z's home, joined us because his ears were burning. Welcome!

We had some returnees, the most spectacular of which was eatsmice, signalling us from a tent in a desert somewhere in the middle east. logicus tractatus philosophicus also finally made it back to the online world after a protracted absence, as did the Iron Maiden, and Penny Whistle also dropped in.

Marv has, as usual, given me an exhaustive list of topics and things touched on which I can't possibly do justice to in one introductory post, so I'll just touch on highlights.

Undoubtedly the chiefest influence over the past conversation was a retrograde Mercury, an event that seemed like much more than its approximate three weeks' duration. For some salonistas there were ... difficulties ... but we got through with plenty of group hugs, mutual therapy and the occasional rant.

Your hostess, for example, found herself denied normal surfing speeds for much of the time, thanks to boondock-quality phone lines, and, being jealous over all the interesting links she didn't have resources to follow, she snapped out a little bit. I'm talking about all the quizzes we did, or that the rest of you did --
Hamlet
Harry Potter
Empathy Test
Morality quiz
Transformers/drugs
Personality quiz
a re-re-run of the pirate quiz
and, ultimately, a profanely enjoyable sorting-out of battle cries.

Your hostess has had the last larf, having just acquired DSL.

The absent Sporky suggested an experiment in which we read the 5th sentence of the 23rd page of the nearest book to hand. This was supposed to tell us something about ourselves. Alas! The Geek contingent among us seem to always have Geek books about. I guess that indeed tells us something about us...


Despite his worries, Z scored solid B's in his exams, while Amy gave us cold sweats with news of a 60-square-mile ant nest in Australia. The Olympics went on in the background with occasional bursts of national pride and a short disquisition from Lil concerning the art of equitation in Eventing. GDZ created his first Edited Guide Entry, on Utah's public transit, and a lot of US salonistas found a shared liking for the Rubber Band Man.

In Cat News, MR's Bagheera returned after a long and mysterious sojourn in the Outside World: Caer's kitty faced vet visits; and Lil's Vincent Black Shadow once again bested the Hellcat.

Perennial subjects -- dieting, cooking -- came round again and spun off some delicious curry recipes on this cycle. The topic of housecleaning also reared its unpopular head. As the saying goes, "Cleanliness is next to impossible."

A lot of salonistas would like to visit or work in the Netherlands or New Zealand, and Lil scored big on eBay with profitable sales, while B got more poetry published and experimented with a dating service. Marv took a holiday weekend to the Snake River and the Scream was stolen.

That's not everything, but you get the idea.


Chloe has finished cleaning, and fresh tea and coffee have been made. We've got fresh cinnamon buns, too. And Eleven has brought up a box of moebius donuts, which Joanna makes exclusively for CLI. So please, everyone, come back in!

[Egon]

2nd damn

I just had to be posting in another thread, didn't I?

*saunter into the new thread with Ripley hanging like a burlesquely big and furry necklace in front of her*

*Having now read the intro, drags in his beanbag and plops it down in the corner.*

Wind, I can handle. Rain, I can handle. Both, I detest. Oh well, only supposed to be raining today.

*Matina looks long and hard at the calling card left by Egon and wonders how she can serve it a drink*

*Finally she breaks down and gets out two FTTF mugs, makes Irish coffee, and hands one to DD, leaving the other one on the small table in the foyer*

So, do I get the AFTTF again?

Missed again. Hmmmm... Now where's my gilded cattle prod...?

Ow-oooh-aah... Well, that's better...

B4igetblog'donthisthread2

[GD]

Please hang on a mo whilst I sort out my 6Eth backlog...

P.S.: Thanks, Lil, for changing threads when I actually have a chance at the mug.

B4iscrape2getherenough$$tobribeU

*Walking through foyer*

Ooh, a coffee.

*sniffs*

Ooh, an irish coffee

*shouts into salon*

Is this mine?

Sorry about Lil...

[B]

*reporting for duty*

Self-serve, Egon. At least, after Matina rustled it up for you. Nice mug, by the way. {ogles it with a tinge of longing} How's life in your neck of the woods today? {picks up a cinnamon bun and takes a prefatory bite, savoring the exquisite flavor} Just another day in the nuke plant here, gethering, sorting, and removing trash. Fun, fun. {picks up a hazelnut flavored java and takes a cautious sip} Mmm. That's good. Not scalding, like ya used to get at Mcee D's... So who else is fast on the draw today? {scans the room for all the familiar faces and waves to the newcomers} Oh. I just wanted to update y'all. One more week as a Rad/Chem Helper. On the 13th, one co-w*rker, one other acquaintence from another group, and I will be starting our Assistant Equipment Operator training. About fourteen months of training, interspersed with position qualifications and applying what we learn. {he takes another bite of the marvelous cinnamon bun and a leisurely pull on the aromatic coffee} Can't wait...

B4iheadbackin2theauxbuilding4morelaundry&trash

My Hell Case is turning out to be that way... I opened a case yesterday that ended in 77666, and while I am not afraid of numbers, it is funny that this case has been so bad.

[SG V]
*wonders how to plan not being in a car between two computers for the next thread start *

Towards the end of the last thread Lil mused who ahd the most FttF Mugs so I did a little digging. I'm not counting convos at the Oasis during Rupert.

Quote from Lil in Forum 14th ‘No Forum dashes here’

26xth discussion is the first awarded FttF.

So here is the list in full.

11 Phil 3,5, 7, A, C, D, 16, 1F, 21, 30, 32
10 Titania 28, 3B, 46, 48, 50, 56, 5E, 60, 66, 6E
8 Witty Moniker 17, 26 , 38, 39, 3A, 45, 54, 59
7 Marv the Grate 12, 1C, 27, 40, 44, 5C, 64
6 Researcher 99947 (Aka Sporky) 2,4, 9, F, 20 (the untitled one), 37
5 Ovine Assasin (AKA Babel 17) 8, B, 13, 1D (in lieu of ftta prize), 33
5 Loonytunmes 1A, 35, 36, 43, 49
4 Amy the Ant 22, 3E, 69
4 Hati 52, 53, 6A, 6D
3 Superdreamer 10, 14, 15
3 Bald Bloke 57, 5D, 61
3 Z 5B, 63, 70
2 Blatherskipe the Mugwump E, 1B
2 Afgncaap5 20 (the titled one), 34
2 Odradek 24, 25
2 Solsbury 3C, 3F
2 Cearwyn 5F, 6C
2 Egon 6B, 6F
1 Irving Washing ton 1
1 Courtesy38 6
1 Garius Lupus 11
1 Mike A 18
1 Bumblebee 19
1 Lintilla 1E
1 jr52 23
1 Contemplation 31
1 Munchkin 3D
1 Uncle Heavy 41
1 Cardinal Noah 42
1 Solnushka 47
1 sea 51
1 Montana Redhead 55
1 d’Elaphant 58
1 mac 5A
1 Not Sporky 62
1 Greydesk 65
1 Ottox 67
1 Gw7en 68

I knew I had one somewhere...

I see I'm nowhere on that list. I knew that. My specially-built FTTF mug display case is empty.

That was certainly an interesting analysis of a Pisces, Ben. Like Marv, I'm a skeptic when it comes to astrology. But there were some points you mentioned that come close to my personality.

In other news, the water from yesterday's flooding is gone. The plumber found that the roots of the great big willow tree on the side of my house have grown into and around the sewer pipe. He pulled out a big knot of willow root that was blocking the pipe. He's coming back today to excavate around the pipe in the backyard and clear away all the roots from it. Luckily, my landlord is right there to pay for all of it.

::hands d'E a large bag of limes, just in case::