RIP MNIE on TWoP

This post is for a select group of people.

Everyone else can read it if they want, but just know:

it's aimed at a group for whom the words 

"whojackie," "the list" and "meta" mean something very specific.

Okay.

So.  There was this awesome online site called Television Without Pity.

It was a sometimes enlightening, sometimes infuriating,

but always entertaining place to hang out

and discuss favorite -- and not so favorite -- shows on TV.

One show that fell firmly in the "favorite" category for me 

and many others was the 2005 - 2009 show My Name is Earl.

Starring Jason Lee,

it was profane and hilarious and surprisingly heartfelt,

and I loved it from the very first episode.

It followed loser Earl Hickey, who, after a brush with death,

decided to turn his life around and do right by the people

 he had previously done wrong.

I and my fellow fans enjoyed discussing the show on TWoP post-airings,

but for the season two episode, "Kept a Guy Locked in a Truck,"

we were in for an awesome surprise.

"Kept a Guy Locked in a Truck,"

or as we would later dub it, "our episode," 

told the story of how Earl was trying to make amends

to a dead guy, Josh, by throwing him a funeral.

(Yes, that's John Waters playing the funeral director.)

Unfortunately, it seemed Josh had no friends to attend said funeral,

until Earl finds out he actually had a wide circle of online friends.

And one of the groups of friends?

Posters on TWoP.

Earl noted that Josh posted on TWoP under the name "whojackie,"

and he was shown in a flashback typing while saying aloud 

(in that self-important tone of voice

 familiar to anyone who has ever posted anywhere):

"No, I don't think shows should do more meta jokes

 that cater to the online bloggers

and I'm sure everyone at Television Without Pity Dot Com 

agrees with me."

Augh!! Shout-out to TWoP!!

And when we hit the thread

for discussion and internet high-fives...

... poster hlisy noted that that very post we

just heard Josh say in the episode

was right there on the page!

"Whojackie" had been posting almost since the beginning!

We responded to whojackie as though he was creator Greg Garcia,

(which he was)

but Garcia kept the joke going by replying 

as though he were other characters from the show,

 Joy and Darnell, who supposedly now had Josh's computer;

"Joy" invited us all to whojackie's funeral.

(Joy and Darnell, 
played to perfection by Jaime Pressly and Eddie Steeples.)

Poster BStu also found that keepin' it meta by emailing "Joy"

got a reply in character, so we soon were all joining in the fun;

for example, I had this exchange with Joy:

Dear Joy:  Thanks for the invite to whojackie's funeral.  

Unfortunately, I'm all the way in California,

 and don't think the Big Grey Dog would get me there in time. 

I did donate some money in his memory, 

because he was an okay guy: he may have gone off-topic sometimes, 

but he was never a troll.

I have a quick question for Crabman:  is he still selling any "produce"?

 I heard he was quite a good "gardener."

Your friend on the Wide Wide World of Web, LiberryLady.

And my answer from Joy:

Hey Liberty Lady.  I know a wrestler named Lady Liberty. 

Anyway, Darnell don't sell weed no more if that what you're hinting at.  I can give you another dude's name if you want.

("Liberty Lady" would show up as a character later on, btw. And no, I didn't take Joy up on her offer of the other dude's name.)

That money I was talking about?

We ended up doing a "memorial drive" for whojackie,

and donated the money to Make-A-Wish. 

The story didn't end there!

After a few months, whojackie asked if anyone was available

to participate in the dvd commentary for the episode,

and the lovely NoirCommeMoi and I volunteered and did so.

(Greg Garcia, NoirCommeMoi, me, Jason Lee, Ethan Suplee.)

NoirCommeMoi and my write-up of the recording starts here; 

this blog post has already gotten waaay long,

so check it out on the WayBack Machine if you're interested.

And speaking of the "WayBack Machine"...

Y'know, the end of TWoP isn't the burning of the Library of Alexandria.

We were talking about TV shows, after all.

But we made each other laugh, 

we supported each other in tough times, 

and just like in the Earl episode,

we were a community of friends.

I'll be sad to see all of our pages and pages of conversation go.

But other posters and I have done a little bit of saving;

every page of the My Name is Earl thread

 has been archived on the Wayback Machine. 

So, goodbye, everyone at TWoP!

You'll be missed!

I hope I'll see you over at previously.tv

It doesn't have the history,

but the conversations are still going on.



ETA:

TWoP Member Name:  LiberryLady
Member Since:  21 Nov 2003
Member Title:  Stalker
Active Posts:  8065

The Sisterhood Of The Traveling Books

And just who is this fine trio of ladies?

Why, it's the Simi Valley Sisterhood of the Traveling Books!

I went to Lisa's (0n the right) opening of

her new Little Free Library today,

and all three of us Simi stewards were on hand for the event.

If you're interested in swinging by,

Nikki (in the middle) and my (on the left) libraries are on the map;

Lisa's should be soon.

Check us out!

ETA:  Nikki took a flattering picture of me in front of my library;
I'm nice and smiley:

Famous!

Please, please, everyone... no photos.

Yes, I know I'm famous.

But just because I'm Internet Famous in my local newspaper...

... it doesn't mean I want to be ambushed by the paparazzi.

Yes, a year after my Little Free Library first opened,

I finally made my tiny local newspaper.

I've really enjoyed my time as a Little Free Library Steward;

the best part has probably been the feedback I've received:

A Goosebumps fan.

I didn't find this till a couple of weeks ago!

I need to check inside the books more often.

"I love it cause it makes me happy

when they play and I like playing to[o]."

Aww.  Little heart.

HA!  This cracks me up.

So, happy birthday, Little Free Library.

Here's to another year of sharing books!

Woo, Internet!

Well, looky here...

I had a very good weekend with my Etsy shop: 

I sold THREE quilts!

I thought it was just a cool coincidence, 

but an email from Etsy and one of my buyers pointed me to Buzzfeed,

where I found one of my quilts had been posted on this list:

So, THANK YOU, INTERNET.

Sometimes you're pretty awesome.

BONUS!

Interested in one of those quilts?

Check out my shop!

Here's one:

Here's a second one (the one on the right):

And here's the third:

Perfect for your bookish baby!

Crafty Souvenirs

'Member when I headed to Ireland with my family?

 We brought back many fond memories,

but something we didn't bring back was a lot of kitschy souvenirs.

However, we did have a big ole bag of maps and pamphlets.

What to do?

Well, one thing I always make is a Christmas ornament for my kids.

And so when I saw this Pin on Pinterest...

...I though, woo hoo!

I used the die cut at work,

cut poster board for the center,

and chose pamphlets from the places the kids loved best.

The Glendeer Petting Zoo was for The Girl...

... and the Coach House for The Boy.

But there was still A LOT of maps and pamphlets left.

Then I realized, they would make terrific pennants!

So I got out my rotary cutter and ruler...

... cut them into pennant shapes....

... and strung them up to decorate my new guest room.

I love it!

So much more meaningful than a "Kiss Me, I'm Irish" beer mug.

Blergh

Last Sunday, I was gettin' my craft on, when 

dun dun duuuuuun!

I ended up in the ER.

And just what fearsome tool sent me there?

Nooooo, none of these.

Instead, it was my...

ROTARY CUTTER!!

Lest you think me a bigger weenie than I am,

I just want to say that 1) rotary cutters are wicked-sharp, and

2) my Sweet Man had to get a BAGGIE

to carry a bit of my sliced-off finger to the ER.

A BAGGIE.

But I made it through the week--

laboriously typing a school essay,

awkwardly showering with a giant Ziploc on my hand,

carefully cooking microwaving dinner --

despite the fact my finger looked like this...

.... and felt like this:

"My finger has a heartbeat."

And that Etsy item I had been working on

 when I cut myself?

 Into the mailbox and on time as promised!

(Thumbs-up back atcha, kitty!)

BUT... there was something I was NOT capable of:

bandaging up my own ouchie.

In fact, when the nurse came into the ER room with a sheaf of papers

and launched into her "wound care" spiel,

I said, motioning to the Sweet Man,

"You better tell him, because I'm not going to do it."

And I managed to get my bandages changed by either my doctor

or the Sweet Man, but this weekend, I was visiting my Mom and Sis.

Fortunately, both are iron-stomached women,

who probably wouldn't have trouble stitching up

 their own gaping wounds

with nothing more than an old school shot of whiskey

and a bullet to bite on.

(Sterile  conditions are for pansies.)

So, when I asked my Sis if she could change my bandages?

Her reply was 

"I'm looking forward to it like a present on Christmas morning."

Just what I wanted! A partially-severed finger!!

While my sister was excited, I was less-than-so,

and I made sure I didn't catch a glimpse of my injured finger

as she worked on it.

But now I've made the switch to Band-aids,

not a half-roll of gauze, so things are looking better.

I even picked up some Doc McStuffins Band-aids

to cheer myself up.

Bonus video:

Parks and Recreation master craftsman Ron Swanson,

a man who would be horrified at my carelessness with my tools,

and who has a problem with Doc McStuffins.