I bought "The Political Machine" in early 2004, my senior year of highschool. The associated website had a Politics forum, and I cut my teeth reading the likes of Bakerstreet, Steven D, Myrrander, LW, etc. I eventually expanded into greater JU, and have read heavily and thoroughly most every dedicated poster on these boards, and probably only created three articles or so during that time (I don't even know how to check!). I don't think I even launched my blogsite until I was sitting in Tanzania last year bored off my gourd.

I read here on a daily basis, but usually choose not to comment, either because I don't have anything useful to say, don't especially care for the people talking , don't want to get wrapped up in the argument, or what have you. I prefer to read, learn, and enjoy.

I was an OS/2 user back in the 1990s and knew Brad (Draginol) from the OS/2 newsgroups. We also had a common friend , in fact we probably still do.

I moved to Ireland from Germany in 1998 and stopped reading news for a while. At the same time almost everyone moved from Usenet to Web forums. I returned to Germany to study (but later studied in Ireland afterall) and that's when the blog scene started. I read the odd article on JoeUser when it was Brad's personal blog. I think he was mostly talking about his basement.

I stopped using OS/2 a year after Brad, used BeOS for half a year, then Linux for a year (on Macintosh hardware), then finally Mac OS X.

It was shortly after JoeUser became this big site for everyone that Brad replied to one of my emails asking me why I hadn't joined JoeUser. And join I did.

Compared to others here I write very little. And occasionally I don't comment for a long time, several months or a year even.

I moved back to Ireland and revided my personal blog. and have since used my JoeUser blog only for more or less non-personal only for postings that warrant commentary. "I bought new shoes yesterday." does not warrant commentary ("I disagree! You DIDN'T buy shoes! You are a liar!").

I only recently (2 weeks ago?) discovered that I am at an "Elite" level. I found that most funny since I wrote maybe a tenth of the articles of others at the level.

My first blog post is from 2/20/2004 titled G-d, the world, and other creations.

That's it I suppose. That is my story in a nutshell, and the shell fits.

Oooooh, a chance to talk about myself!

Haha.

I don't remember when I joined JU. Summer of '04 I think. My husband was deployed and LobsterHunter (it's late, I'm not linking!) was visiting and insisted that I join.

I joined Dec. 1 2004. One of my students was showing me her blog. It was a really cool blog with lots of pictures and funky backgrounds and stuff she drew. Talented girl (incidentally, she was also ranked #3 cosplay dresser in Tokyo in a magazine dedicated to that stuff). He blog was in Thai (she is Thai) and in Japanese.

I said, "Hey, I want to do that, too!" She said to google some free blog sites and I found a couple and I liked JU the best. This might have been because it was the easiest to figure out.

I now have two other blogs. One is for my clay character (www.estelloproject.blogspot.com) and the other is about writing and photography.

I wanted to blog because my family wanted to know what living in Tokyo was like so I thought I would keep a blog about adventures in Tokyo. This ended up being problematic for two reasons: I don't live an adventurous life; my folks can't really be bothered to click on the blog site. It ends up being one more chore for them. I guess I need to be a better writer or start being more adventurous.

Maybe I should change my blog title to: "Procastinatrix; blog of a Tokyo Stripper."

Hmmm... Yeah, right. I think I would be scared to see who would pay me money to strip. Yikers.

I haven't posted much recently. At one point, I felt I was spending too much time on JU, and lately, it's because I figure if I have time to write, I should be writing my book.

I like the community here so that's why I keep coming back.

listen now and listen good..

hey you old schoolers - remember BAM! ha.

My blog was created in December 2003 - I was just a petulant Aussie kid (21) who thought I ws invincible and that I had amazingly pertinent and thought provoking things to say... the insolence of youth was never truer than in my case... I even locked horns with Brad many a time over subjects like history, and I just didn't know when I was wrong!

I was one of the people that has locked horns with Whip in the past... a formidible foe whom I have come to respect and actually admire (I am keeping my enemies close!!!) so I kind of toned down my JU time (probably becaues I was confined to my own blog as well!), and I was too busy snowboarding...

Since the beginning I have lived in Australia, Colorado and now London, been a project coordinator, snowboard instructor and account manager - 376 articles later (mostly absolute drivel not worth the bandwidth required to view them) I still enjoy coming back here to enhance my perspective on life - the greatest thing always has been and always will be the diversity of this website - some argue that it is predominately a right wing conservative haven - but there are definitely enough pot smoking liberals here to counter the balance...

LW - you may be interested to know that I have come across the bloke behind SPM whilst here in London, and people are actually paying him money for his unique brand of satire, I just think JU was probably not the appropriate vehicle for his humour...

in hindsight it's actually quite funny... not the fact that people got hurt, but the fact that people took it so seriously... then again, my warped sense of humour is well documented, and I find many things that I probably shouldn't hilarious...

not to turn this into a love up or anything, but there is a definite sense of community here, and it is stronger for occurances like the moron wars...

Well I don't have specifics as to what exact date I came. I did come here after hanging around at another small blog where people were really rude and the moderators were even worse, deleting replies they did not like because it contradicted what they said.

I, however, have been here for many years. By the sound of it, I could say I have been here almost since the beginning. It has been at least 3 years since I've been around and it has been some great years. I have had a lot of fun and have learn a thing or 2 about politics.

Hah! Really? Always wondered what happened to him.

~Zoo

I was turned on to this site by poet extraordinaire and my pal Johnny Masuda. I started posting poems here, and was able to compile some of them into a book that has sold (so far ) 12 copies. Buy it here! --> Link or don't.

I have really enjoyed some of the talented writers here (especially Masuda, the late great ShovelHeat, Ms. Mitchell, KellyW and RoyLevosh). I try to steer clear of most of the politics on this site as I've seen so much ugliness and lack of civility in some of the disagreements.

In all, I'm grateful for this opportunity to share my writings with the world. Thanks, Brad.
A sincerely grateful Moskowitz

I started my account in December 2005, after having followed my brother, BlueDev's blog for quite some time. I've been here almost two years now. Crazy . . . but I've loved (most) every minute of it. The fights have been long, the recriminations bitter, but the friendships strong and ultimately worthwhile.

So, yeah. That's me.

FOund JU through a tech link in August 2004.  I started reading Brad, and then went to comment on one article (By another user) and found it locked to all but registered users.  So I did.  IN sept of that year.

A cookie who can tell me my anon handle for the month + that I was not registered (Stardock Emplyees cant play because they know the IPs. ))

I joined JU in October of 2004.

I was looking for a place to keep a virtual journal, and the first site I joined didn't impress me. I googled blog sites a second time, and voila...there was JU. I liked that there was interaction amongst the bloggers, so I joined.

At first, I felt VERY much an outsider since I did't know anyone (and everyone else seemed to know each other so well), but in time, I got to know people on here, and to this day, continue to enjoy their friendships and company.

It was 10/27/2004 that I joined JU. As my blog description says I have something to say ... I think.

I was just looking for an easy way to start a blog and this place looked fun. My time here has been interesting and my life has changed so much since I began here. The notable things I have been involved in are few. I've had my share (though few) of spats. I've been featured a time or two. And like a few here have been confined to my own blog. I decided during the big points inquisition to prove that you could easily give yourself tens of thousands of points overnight. In return I was confined and had all my points and more taken away. To this day I am the last JUser on the list if you care to click that many times with -4617 points.

I've made some spectacular friends here. I've gotten a couple of packages in the mail when my kiddos were born. Thanks again! And, even though it has no possible shred of truth, have even been said to have something going on with LW. The first friend I made here was Dr. Guy due to our technology related jobs. (I might have caused some sort of time ripple by mentioning those two in the same paragraph)

I have two other blogging sites. One for me that never gets updated and one for my kiddos that lately has seen more updates from me that JU and even that hasn't been much. I still love the community here and have a hard time not coming here daily to do a little reading.

JoeUser popped up right in front of my eyes as I surfed for a free blogsite.  I signed up on August 1st,  2004 and a month later my son and I moved into a really nice,  however small,  apt.

That was to be the dawning of a difficult time in my life.  Blogging here helped me through gall bladder surgery in Oct. of 04,  total knee replacement in Aug. 05,  and so much more( medically and emotionally )  The support of bloggers made a world of difference. I was delighted with the positive and encouraging comments from a whole slew of JUsers. 

Blogging here has also helped me to think things through a little slower,  when I need to,  and to not be afraid to say what I think.  I've gotten angry,  lashing out from pieces of old baggage toddling behind me,  laughed while reading from the "Humor" section,  and have found myself feeling small and ashamed when reading some of the horrendous things that bloggers here have and are going through. 

Since that move in Sept. of 04 I've now moved out on my own again,  and am able to laugh at myself,  and try to live a more easy going life.  Thanks JU.

 

I started here in August 2004. It was a sideways switch really - I'd bought a few games from Stardock and got into the blogging side through Political Machine, which I never really got into that much but had some really interesting discussions going on.

Since then I think I've changed somewhat in my political views at least and maybe in other ways. It's always hard to tell though. It's been good to see a completely different way of looking at life, and that's what you get from JU.