I'm now officially a loser.
 

I humbly ask your indulgence as I proceed to make a mountain out of a molehill.

For the past 5 years, I have been involved in a number of message boards. Some related to Disney, some not. I started out at a place called The Straight Dope Message Board, or SMDB, which I discovered as a result of becoming a fan of the Straight Dope books. I lurked for a long time until finally I decided to leap in and start posting and was hooked instantly. Always a fan of debate and discussion, it was like a dream come true. I quickly became a fan of the concept of a message board.

While others there had post counts well in the thousands, I didn’t have that kind of time. Still, I persevered, hoping that I could at least make the elusive 1000 post mark. It wasn’t meant to be. I had an unfortunate incident with a stalker that forced me to take some precautions, including changing my screen name and losing my post count. I think I was around 890 when this occurred.

Around this time, Matthew and I got our very first annual passes. After our first trip to the park in 10 years, I decided to see if there were any message boards that catered to those with a love of Disneyland. The first place I found was the place where I eventually met most of you. I grew to love getting involved with this Disney community and posted quite a bit. It was here that I first heard the term “loser”. I wanted to be a loser, who wouldn’t? But alas, it wasn’t meant to be. I made it to 385 posts before the exodus.

We made our way to a new fabulous place and I spent lots of time posting there, getting more involved in threads and seeing if I could finally become a loser. It wasn’t meant to be. I have no way of checking but I recall that I made it to somewhere around 750 posts before the exodus.

So then this place sprouted up and I finally found a place that I could call home, in the message board sense. It had everything I wanted, stimulating topics, dear friends, very little drama, and plenty of humor. I posted with wild abandon and, although I made no conscious effort to increase my post count, it was inevitable. I knew from the first day that this was the place that I belonged and hoped that I would finally be considered a loser.

In the past few weeks, terror began to rear its head as I saw that I was getting close. “Oh my god”, I started pondering, “What is going to happen to the message boards?” “Are they going to get hacked?” “Is Chris going to ban Lisa and then we will all go start another board?” “Are they going to make Jonvn a moderator”? “Earthquake”? Granted, these are all somewhat irrational fears, but I couldn’t help but wonder if some calamity was going to strike. I thought I was a jinx and we were all doomed.

And yet, the earth didn’t stop rotating. I have now reached the elusive 1000 posts and can finally say that I achieved the coveted title of loser. And as much as it might seem that this post is about me, it’s really about you, the wonderful people that make up the swankiest place on the web. It is because of you that I have spent countless hours here. It is because of your warmth and friendship that I truly feel I belong. This place means so much to me for the times it has made me think, the times it has made me laugh, and for the privilege of meeting and interacting with you fine people on a daily basis. While I may not have many relatives that live near me, I sure feel like I have a family here and I thank you for all the joy you have brought to my life.

And perhaps this is all melodramatic and silly babbling. Yet, I wanted to mark this insignificant occasion by just letting you all know that I care and am really thankful to all of you. I especially want to thank Lisa, Chris, Greg, Jennie, and everyone else that works hard to give us this wonderful place to play. I’m honored to be a part of it.

Congratulations Loser! I'm happy you have achieved this elusive status here on LoT. Thank you for being part of this truely wonderful community! And, what a great post to commemorate you first 1000!

Lisa

MBC, in my eyes, you've always been a loser.

;)

Much love and thanks for the kind words. Message boards everywhere WISH they had posters as wonderful as you.

Not so long ago, someone pointed out to me that MBC and I were in a "race" to 1000 posts. I am relieved that he is offically a loser before I am. I think it makes him more of a loser to actually comemorate his 1000th post, but whatever. :evil:

Actually, I can relate to his post.....well, except the part where my same-sex partner and I went to Disneyland, but you know what I mean.....and agree with it wholeheartedly.

MBC, in future posts, please never use the phrase "make jonvn a moderator" again. :eek:

This is my post 998. Here's to MBC's next 1000. :cheers:

Hell, jonvn isn't even welcome on this board. He won't be a moderator anytime soon. Besides, there's not much to moderate.

Nine hundred ninety nine
Does not make one a loser
Any volunteers for a thou?
Why here comes Motorboat Cruiser!

Congratulations! Some people might have taken pride in never having reached loser status...but I call those people quitters. Way to stay the course and push through those difficult hours of actually having a life to achieve your goals! It shows heart.





p.s. I bet Lisa's doing a happy dance. Someone finally mentioned her in a list of LoT acknowledgements :D (though I think she's still under the mistaken impression that I left her out of one way back when, even though I did mention her).

Congratulations! :snap:

My God, I have a long way to go to achieve such a lofty estate.

Donna

Yeah, it is about time!!!!!

I feel the urge to mention who is who on this board but everybody is important. Some have titles, some don't Chris started the deal and the rest of us fell into the groove. Everyone contributes in some way.

Some more that others - like the BIG LOSER MBC.

Damn - are we still celebrating loser status? Because I totally missed my first loser party. Welcome to the loser club, MBC! We're a special group that first achieves loser status on the LoT.

Best. Thousandth. Post. Ever.

Congrats loser, you are officially qualified to attend "LoT-con"

Actually, for those that went before him here, there's been no fanfare. Somehow I think the community came to the subconscious collective agreement that we're all secure enough to not have to mark such things anymore. Which I think is awesome.

That being said, having followed MbC's saga for a while, he more than deserves to make this announcement! Total exception to what I said above (especially if he keeps buttering us all up like that ;) )

Yummmmmmm butta. Slather it on, baby!

Damn!!!

I had better get my ass in gear...

Or I'll never achieve the vaulted rank of "Loser"

Congrats to you!.

I don't know why his makes me laugh so much!

Disrealites, wandering in the wilderness.

Ahem, I mean WIL-derness!

I wonder if we can come up with a swankier term for those of us who hit the k-note?

Perdant? (French for loser)

Ok, some thank you's are in order...

Not Afraid: Thank you for being the special person you are. You've always been so kind and it's appreciated. You are the queen of Swank if there ever was one.


CP: You are very sweet. Thanks for the kind words and the overall groove you bring to this place. And thanks for the avatar too!!! I wanted to save it for something special.


Wendybeth: You flat out rock! Thanks for the cool pic and for keeping that scaeagles loser in line.


scaeagles: I'm surprised you didn't ask for a re-count. ;) In all seriousness though, it just wouldn't be the same without you here and I'm proud to call you my friend.


Gn2Dlnd: Toot! You are the swankiest Commodore that ever sailed the seas. Also, your cheese snacks are yummy. Hope to see you soon!


Ghoulish: Thanks for understanding why I posted this. Thanks also for so many wonderful thought-provoking threads and just for being a truly great guy.


Snowflake: Thanks for the congrats and I hope to see you in the quadruple digits before long.


Prudence: I hope you know how much you add to this place. I seem to learn something new every time you post.


Morrigoon: You are too kind and it's a pleasure to know you. Your intellect makes me question more of my stances than I would like to admit.


Moonliner: That's the way to do it buddy. I'm glad to see you get three steps closer to your goal as a result of this thread. Thanks for the congrats!



Kevy: I know I can always count on you for a good laugh. You and Susan have hearts of gold and I'm glad to know ya.



€uroMeinke: You truly are the guru of swank. I can't thank you enough for having the vision to make this board a reality. I always look forward to what you have to say and hope to see you soon.



I wasn't sure whether I wanted to make the original post or not. GD is right in that post counts don't really matter. Quality always beats out quantity. Still, the road to loserdom was a bumpy one for me and I had to say something because, unlike any other board I've been on, this one is truly special to me. And now, for the first time, I don't think I am going to pay attention to that little number under my avatar ever again. :)

Perhaps it's when one truly becomes a swanker?

wow... I feel like such an underachiever

Did you just call MBC a wanker?????

How like a Republican to edit their own version of reality!

Oh my goodness! I have no idea what happened to that other letter.

First WMD's and now this. Y'all don't do too well with letters, do you?

Well, you know how it is - such a big message board, so easy to hide one little letter.

You're welcome for the avatar MBC...and if I'd known you wanted a bit o' photoshopping done to it I'd have done it myself :D

Congrats....

..and by congrats I mean congratualtions.

..you know,for achieveing this lofty milestone:)




[i]there, now I am 3 steps closer[/i}

..you know,for achieveing this lofty milestone:)




there, now I am 3 steps closer

LOL! Nice one Jeff! That would be 4 steps closer now.

God, I love you crazy lot of swankers!

Perhaps we should hold a contest to see who can catch up to NA. MBC - you're only around 1700 behind her. GD or CP may be more immediate contenders.

I'd rather have a "best post" contest. And that's all subjective anyway.

Numbers are just that - numbers. :)

You'll all have to learn to shoot silly one liners more effectively to catch up to me. ;)

Oh, and use the winkie smilie a whole heck of a lot. :p

But then I couldn't show off my mad photoshop skillz. ;)

Actually, the banner was a last minute idea and horribly executed. I plan on changing that part of the avatar soon. Thanks for the offer though. :)



SleepyJeff, thanks for the congrats (x4). :)

Not with everyone watching, it isn't. Look how quickly you got caught. :)

Well, yeah, the "s" is gone, and everyone knows it, but where did it go? That's the question. :p

did i read that correct?

coolness


congrats MBC!:snap:

Excuse me, Mickeylumbo - I believe that I am the only one allowed to quote other posters out of context here.

I wanna be a Loser! Gotta long way to go.

That's mighty selfish of you.

OK!!! OK!!!! OK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I swear I will never ever delete even one letter from a quote again, nor add any letters, and I will immediately (when done with this post) go change my signature line, which while fun, did take Wendybeth out of context.

Oh come one Leo! Get OFF of the morality kick. It doesn't suit you and, how else are we gonna have fun around here?:p

Well, I must admit that both Mickeylumbo and GD made me laugh really, really hard. Perhaps I will rethink this.....NA, you are pushing me astray......

Moi? I'd NEVER do a thing like THAT!

You must have been looking at my profile pic. Sorry to disappoint, that's not me.

No, I was actually looking at your wife's profile pic, but that's another story. :evil:

No! That really was funny- I only threw in a rebuttal for fun.:D

Great, now I have to go looking for a new sig line.:rolleyes:

OK, WB....between you and NA, I'm gonna end up going back on what I have sworn and then my house will either get devoured by some sort of earthquake or Arizona will get hit by its first cat 5 hurricane.

Dearest. It is hurricanes they name after women, not fault lines. ;)

this guy is into some kinky stuff.

Ah, and I thought it wasn't possible to love you more.

But apparently so. Like a mother opens her heart to each new child and reassures the big brother that there's still room in her heart for him, I welcome your words one by one and reassure each that there's surely enough room for all.

Congratulations, you big doof.

Nice editing job. I think I need to be less verbose.

Then how will you match my post count, eh? :evil:

It would figure that I would accidently double post right after purposefully triple posting..... :blush: