Great to have you on board! I was also amazed and pleased to find all these impressive writers in one place.

thanks for sharing this. Sums up my feelings pretty exactly, too. And, I love the cartoon.

Welcome!

Wrong, or not, that's a funny cartoon...

It grows on ya.

Unfortunately, it becomes a sickness of sorts. You really can't get away from it.

Have a ball :) I have nothing but appreciation for another drivelling mind!!!

I gotta second Frank. Love/hate thing. Great cartoon!

that's a sweet thing to say!

It's addictive, isn't it? Glad that you've decided to join in the fun.

Oh, my blog is MUCH more interesting than "real me".

In fact, I would leave a longer comment, but I have to go clean out my spice cabinet.

(Thumbified because this is the OS Hotel, you can check in any time you like, but you can never leave.)

I'm fairly new to OS. I had read Salon for a long time and then decided to post my secret thoughts about Palin on Open Salon. I didn't get any comments but then found the home page and started reading the blogs and was hooked. I do like the variety of thoughts and backgrounds.

The cartoon is great. It reminds me that I shouldn't post anything that a friend in person wouldn't find interesting. Thanks for sharing.

Great agreement: it is rare to find a continuing source online that feeds intelligent joy... (or perhaps I've been looking in the wrong places)

"Just when I thought I was out...they pull me back in." -- Michael Corleone, The Godfather

Yes, this place is addictive! I'm actually in Paris right now, on vacation, and still can't resist checking in...

Thanks for sharing the great cartoon. And I love your avatar (a term that I, a blogging novice, only recently picked up).

"The way you wear your hat,
The way you sip your tea,
The memory of all that,
No, no, they can't take that away from me.

Stick around, and welcome, with a smile,

Dean

They say, "Great minds think alike." So, I guess you have joined that thinking by joining in on blogging. So, Blog Away!

Oh, you know how we *hate* hearing things like this ;) (nice post, and I had the same experience...)

Definitely glad you changed your view. I agree that "hand writing" in a journal is still important for us. It's more personal and it affects a different part of the brain (IMHO).

Great post.
rated

Golly, what a surprise! Take a few hours for the mundane chores of laundry and grocery shopping, and come back to find all these wonderfully encouraging comments. Glad to have been able to share this cartoon - the chickens have a lot to say about many things and are consistently pretty funny (see link). I must say all this positive reinforcement for my blogging may prove to be a dangerous thing - I've already logged in waaaay more hours here than could possibly be healthy. Jodi - I loved your comment about this being the OS hotel. Got me thinking about another song where "the (blogs) go on forever and the party never ends." Honestly it does feel like a big ole party here quite often, and the best part is I don't even have to worry about driving home!

I love the cartoon. Have "borrowed" it and it's now on my laptop. I will be sending to my friends and family that I've been bothering. Thanks.

Welcome! Love the comments on here. Jodi gets "most clever" and Laurel gets the "most addicted" awards. The months I've been on here have been very interesting indeed. Way too many hours spent on here, but I have learned so much and had such a great time at this party. I hope you continue to enjoy the party as well.

OS is a big family, complete with black sheep, embarassing elders, and wet-behind-the-ears youngsters.
And not a few you'd be glad to call brother or sister.

We put the "func" in disfunctional.

Be careful! It's like quick sand here. Once you're in it, your're stuck for good. Don't worry, tho, we all have learned to breathe in the thickness of the glorious muck that is the OS.

I couldn't agree more. I'm a relative newbie, but the "witty" and "insightful" really ring true for me. Feels a bit like finding your tribe, doesn't it? C'mon in the sandbox and play!

I really like your alias and avatar. And the fact that there is a place called "Yukon" in Oklahoma really strikes me as interesting. Blog away!

I had to look up Yukon Oklahoma as I was curious to see if it was North West Oklahoma. Sounded as if it should be gut there it was the center of Oklahoma just off Route 66.

Yes I like this, “this is the OS Hotel, you can check in any time you like, but you can never leave.” I find this to be so true. Perfect observation Jodi.

And to the caliber of writing, this has been a pleasant surprise to see it generally so consistently high in quality. Yes there are a few trolls, and marginally competent posters but they are not only rare but easy to avoid. I feel as if I have found another addition to my community of freinds.

The inclusion of many Woody Guthrie lyrics in your former post was great, how could you not as Okemah is just down the road from you. Have you attended the Woody Guthrie Free Folk Festival?

Cindy recently purchased the CD “The Woody Guthrie Tribute, Ribbon of Highway, Endless Skyway”. She has used cuts off of it for her radio and I will be using some cuts tomorrow morning while doing a substitute stint radio show on KVMR.

I was fortunate to have become a very small part in this project getting its start. This was a significant concert for us to present. It began with a casual conversation regarding a couple of Val Denn’s artist for future consideration. Val was the agent booking the tour.

I knew she was working with Jimmie Lafave on a Woody Guthrie project. We were discussing Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion for future dates and the conversation gradually trun to the project. Suddenly she asked if I was interested in presenting the project. She needed an “anchor” gig if it were to get off the ground. When she gave me the price I jumped on this. This went onto become one of the top tours of the year and the best thing we ever presented.

I have been an early fan of Woody’s since High School, so many lifetimes ago. How could I pass this up.

Finally a few minutes to really settle in and check comments. Darn these pesky exams and final papers - they are really biting into my computer time! Just want to say I appreciate everybody's thoughts, and the warm welcomes.
Wayne - I liked how you described the composition of the community here, and particularly how OS puts the "func" in dysfunctional. My neurotic self is already feeling right at home!
As SeattleK8 remarked, I feel like I found my tribe - part of it anyway:)
Laurel and Procupius - regarding my avatar, I have always loved this picture. I first encountered it as a teenager in a book called Dust Bowl Descent by Bill Gavel, which featured the originals and follow-up stories on the subjects of some of the best known photographs taken by the FSA photographers during the Great Depression. The woman in my avatar is Nettie Featherstone, and the picture was taken June 1938 in the Texas panhandle by Dorothea Lange, as you probably know. What is interesting about Gavel's book is that he includes a 1979 photograph of Nettie at the age of 81 taken in Lubbock Texas. She has the same expression and looks just just as thin and weary as she did in 1938. Maybe I can use that pic as my avatar in years to come.

Folkmuse - I am always thrilled to meet another Woody fan! Thanks for sharing about the Tribute CD Ribbon of Highway/Endless Skyway - that is one I don't have, but will certainly look for. I have lots of questions but little time, so will just ask where is KVMR? Sounds like a station I would like to tune into! Will try to post you soon!

I used to imagine bloggers as totally self-important and wondered, "Who cares what random people have to say?" I eased into the fray a few years ago by posting on some bulletin boards dedicated to specific topics or debates, but I often wished for a place where a post didn't have to be prefaced as "OT." I stumbled upon this place a couple of months ago and like reading all the blogs in one place. It's amazing to hear about various people's experiences, read their fiction, or to have people point out stories that are under the radar. I like to read and comment more than I like to post.

This is funny! Thanks for sharing... and thanks for stopping by. :)

Dustbowldiva,
KVMR-FM, 89.5 in Nevada City California. It streams on the Web, www.kvmr.org

What makes KVMR so unique is it is a Community Broadcast station. It is community run and operated. Most of it funding is through memberships and business underwriting. It is among the top rated Community stations in the country. Considering all of this happens in the twin City’s of Nevada City/ Grass Valley it is amazing as the communities combined population is less than 20,000.
As the transmitter/antenna is located at located at nearby Banner Mountain at nearly 4,000 feet elevation the signal reaches many communities in the Central Valley and to the West and North of Sacramento, nearly into Redding so it has a reasonably large listener base.

The station has several full time and part time staff members but all broadcasters are volunteers. All go through and extensive training program to become certified and presently I understand there are around 230 certified broadcasters.

The programming is very eclectic. Each broadcaster does the music they wish within the parameters of the program slot they do. To get a regular program on the station you audition, it is quite competitive even for the 4-7am hours which Cindy presently broadcasts at.

The station has been keeping track of audience preferences over the years and the top 4 genres of preferred music is, Americana, Folk, Bluegrass, Roots and Celtic.

The station broadcast a live performance several times a year from the Sierra Nevada Brewery “Big Room” in Chico. This has become what you might call “Austin City Limits West”. They also broadcast live the California Bluegrass Associations Fathers Day Festival live. This is the largest Traditional Bluegrass Festival in the US. The other two Festivals they broadcast live are the California World Fest and the KVMR Celtic Festival. All three are quite popular and all are in the Nevada County Fair Grounds in Grass Valley. The Celtic Festival is one of the larger west coast Celtic Festivals.

On line you can read the program guide which you may find interesting.

Folkmuse - thank you for letting me know more about KMVR. I am excited to learn that it is streaming online - I'll definitely check out the playlist and am looking forward to hearing some new music! I'm also intrigued by the way your community station is operated - how wonderful that there is so much participation. I wish we had something like that here. My husband would be first in line to audition for a show!
BTW, just wanted to let you know that I do indeed live a mere block away from Route 66, and have been lucky enough to attend the Woody Guthrie Festival twice. It's a wonderful experience - only wish it weren't always so hot in Oklahoma in July!