Wednesday, November 17, 2010

SHOW YOU, SHOW ME: This blog was inaugurated as a solo project eight years ago today.  According to BabyCenter.com, we are now "firmly in mid-childhood, fun years of remarkable capability and quick learning coupled with a pretty agreeable personality and growing self-sufficiency."

There's only one man I could invite back to the blog from that first week to commemorate this birthday (since Rabbi Fred Neulander remains safely behind bars). Here goes:


Thank you all, again, for the community we've built here. You make it worth it.

61 comments:

  1. Congratulations, and thank YOU!

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  2. Joseph J. Finn1:10 AM

    You're all my favorite National League fans!

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  3. Emily1:11 AM

    Happy birthday! I look forward to the fast approaching tween years. And I'm confident that this is the only context where I would write that sentence.

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  4. patricia1:50 AM

    Congratulations and happy birthday!  Here's to many more years of offering the very finest in time-wasting links, commentary and conversation.

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  5. Maret2:09 AM

    Happy Birthday ThingThrowers! This space shows me more fun, wit, insight and community than any other online. Congrats and thanks!

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  6. slowlylu2:34 AM

    Thank you all and happy birthday. For the past three years you've guided me to some of my (now) favourite things:
    Friday Night Lights
    Community
    Chuck 
    This American Life
    MonkeySee Monkey Do
    The AV Club
    & The Fiver.
    Huzzah!

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  7. Adam C.3:01 AM

    What everyone above said.  Thanks to all of you - happy anniversary and many more!

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  8. Maddy3:21 AM

    Happy birthday!  You guys are the best-- only here could I discover one morning that there's a post with 100+ comments devoted to giving me advice about heading off to college.

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  9. Tracy H4:30 AM

    Yeah!  One of my absolute favorite places on the internet!  Congratulations and happy birthday!

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  10. Andrea6:05 AM

    Congrats and thanks!  I don't know how I would keep up with this crazy world if not for you.

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  11. Carmichael Harold7:21 AM

    Congratulations on the anniversary.  I look forward to many more.

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  12. carried7:30 AM

    I couldn't agree more. I'm just a lurker, usually, but as a lawyer with a pop-culture obsession, this is basically my favorite blog, period. 

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  13. Jenn C8:43 AM

    Happy 8th Birthday!  Love this blog. I am an infrequent commentor, but a obsessive reader.

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  14. Stevie9:05 AM

    Yes, happy blogiversary!

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  15. How's that working out so far?  Have we led you wholly astray?

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  16. Caroline9:31 AM

    What carried said, to the letter. Happy, happy birthday!

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  17. Michelle9:51 AM

    thanks for doing what you do.  happy birthday to the blog!

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  18. Watts9:53 AM

    Hmpfy Brfday (Happy Birthday said with mouth full of peanut butter.)

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  19. Happy birthday, y'all!  I hope that Adam sprang for the little candy sprinkles for your birthday ice cream.

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  20. Genevieve10:19 AM

    Mazel tov to my favorite blog!  I'm thinking for an eighth birthday you get Legos, a Nerf gun, and one of the Robert Sabuda pop-up encyclopaediae of monsters.

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  21. Heh.  For Hanukkah, Lucy really wants one of the big Lego kits<span> </span> that's listed for 8yo and up, because she believes she's now ready.  (She turns 8 in May).

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  22. gretchen10:28 AM

    This is my favorite conversation on the internet.  Also, Genevieve, I love those Sabuda books.  So much fun. 

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  23. The Other Kate10:36 AM

    Happy birthday and congratulations! Thanks for the insight, coversation, and community, Thing Throwers.

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  24. gretchen10:39 AM

    This is my favorite conversation on the internet.  Also, Genevieve, I love those Sabuda books.  So much fun. 

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  25. MidwestAndrew10:42 AM

    My college roommate was a boy named Su (Chinese descent, of course). We called him Kikkoman sometimes during freshman year because of this amazing video.

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  26. Happy Blogiversary!  I lurve it here, so thanks to all of you for making this site a must for me.

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  27. heather k10:49 AM

    Happy birthday and thank you for the many years of fun reading and interesting dinner party conversation fodder.

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  28. Joseph J. Finn10:58 AM

    Have you had the talk about Star Wars yet?

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  29. Just think, today's third-graders have never known a world without ALOTT5MA.  What a world we live in. 

    Happy anniversary to one of the greatest sites on this mishigas we call the internet.

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  30. Dan Suitor11:30 AM

    Thank you so much for providing this place for every who takes refuge here. How many ports in the storm could have me participate in a communal Oscars Live Blog, provide an outlet for my fascination with college a capella, AND publish one of my essays on Fantasy Football?

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  31. Christy in Philly11:44 AM

    Congrats and Happy Birthday. Thanks for being legend...wait for it...

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  32. Lurker David11:54 AM

    Happy Blogday!  It is a wonderful place to come by every day, and thank you for having us!

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  33. Devin McCullen12:02 PM

    Happy Birthday!  I'm celebrating by taking the day off of work.  (Okay, it's a coincidence, fine.)  But thanks to you guys and all the commenters for making this a great place to hang out.

    And for anyone interested, here's a blog post from the person in the audience who Bruce Springsteen was talking to on Jimmy Fallon last night:

    http://www.jukeboxgraduate.com/2010/11/bruce-springsteen-on-late-night-with-jimmy-fallon/

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  34. Andrew12:02 PM

     Happy birthday! And thanks for all the <strike>fish</strike> links!

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  35. Happy anniversary!!  Thanks to all in this community for the laughs and insights into this wacky life, and special thanks for teaching me I'm not the only one who doesn't instinctively know my left from my right!

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  36. KarenNM12:17 PM

    Happy Birthday, and thanks for all you guys do to make this such a fabulous place to spend time. 

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  37. Jim Bell12:26 PM

    Yeah, I'm with Adam, how did we do?

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  38. Adam C.12:40 PM

    ...ary!  (I thought an hour was enough.)

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  39. Adam C.12:45 PM

    Thanks, Devin -- that was a great link that I might never have found otherwise. (Another indispensable thing about this place!)

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  40. Genevieve1:28 PM

    Yes, the links y'all post (commenters definitely included) have shown me so much over the years!

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  41. Congrats!!

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  42. gretchen2:29 PM

    I was just thinking that it was about time for another round of Humiliation, or maybe a "What are you reading now" thread.  And if anyone wants to host a "What Are You Giving As Chrismukkwanzaa Gifts" thread, I could seriously use some inspiration. 

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  43. Happy Birthday! This is my favorite blog, and I am so grateful for it.

    (But, wow, 8 years— how fast time flies!)

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  44. I expect we'll do a gift suggestions thread right after Thanksgiving.  Unlike many retail outlets, ALOTT5MA does not put up its Chrismuakkwanzaa decor until after Turkey Day.

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  45. Happy birthday, and thanks for making me seem smarter and better at the internet than I really am. I share many a link from here!

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  46. Meghan4:52 PM

    Aw, happy birthday!  Thanks for the fun place to hang out. 

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  47. Maddy6:31 PM

    College is GREAT.  This week is insane-- two huge papers due, plus a research paper proposal, but I'm seeing Harry Potter at midnight on Thursday after going to Pitzer's Yule Ball and on Saturday the Thermals are coming to Pomona.

    Your advice was really helpful.  The "don't let one class change your whole outlook on life but don't be afraid of your views changing because you are getting smarter" is one that I've been thinking a lot about lately, as college is more or less blowing my mind and it can be overwhelming but most of the time it's wonderful. 

    Other ones that stick out:
    -Bring enough underwear.  I only had about a week and half's worth when I got here, but I've since gotten more because I realized that the only time you really have to do laundry is when you're out of underwear.  Otherwise, well, pants don't actually get that dirty.
    -Don't fall in love the first week.  Definitely kept that one in mind when I was meeting lots of new, cute boys.  I do have a boyfriend, but we were good friends first (which, granted, was partially because I was the last person in the world to figure out that I liked him.  I thought that only happened on TV, but apparently it also happens in real life.)
    -Figure out how much you're paying for each class (one of my friends also calculated how much it costs every minute that we're here).  Not that I would be inclined to skip class anyway, but that certainly made me determined to get my money's worth.
    -Take the professor, not the class.  Picked one of my classes this semester because I heard great things about the prof.  Best class I've ever taken.

    There are so many more, but I don't want to hijack your birthday post any further.  But seriously, thanks everyone.  Your advice was terrific.

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  48. Adlai7:35 PM

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlirXVqOqZE

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  49. Katie9:08 PM

    Woot woot!  Happy birthday to one of my favorite daily reads!  I feel like I start a lot of sentences with "I just read on my favorite blog..." 

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  50. Tosy and Cosh9:37 PM

    Happy Birthday! I feel an odd mixture of sadness and shame when a day passes with only a post or two here, and on those vacation weeks when I'm not connected, this is the first place I check when reconnecting. Probably my favorite "place" on-line.

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  51. Some exam-time advice - if, after looking back at your class notes and the syllabus, you can't figure out what the essay questions on the exam will be, you're not trying hard enough.

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  52. Maggie12:41 AM

    A few hours late - congrats on 8 years.  You all have busy work and home lives, but still find the time to create this amazing blog that entertains so many of us.  Thanks!

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  53. Marsha10:52 AM

    Matt, Chanukah starts about 5 minutes after Thanksgiving, so for your Jewish contingent's sake (and I'm guessing it's a pretty large contingent) you could start sooner this year....

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  54. Marsha10:53 AM

    Happy belated birthday! I tweeted my congrats, but realized I should say so here as well. thanks for being the best procrastination tool on the internet.

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  55. Paul Tabachneck1:55 PM

    Bit late to this, but Happy Birthday!  Love you guys.

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  56. Jim Bell3:00 PM

    I love this place!

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  57. kenedy jane7:25 PM

    So I am super late to the party on this one but I have to tell you that my congrats and thank you are very timely.  My daughter has been VERY ill in the hospital for the past week.  (If you live in the Houston, Dallas, Austin, etc. are you may have heard about her on the news.)  She was diagnosed with bacterial meningitis.  -- Yes, she has had the vaccine. --  Anyway, once she was out of the woods and getting better, she spent a lot of time sleeping and I craved the idea of some normalcy for just a few minutes.  I went straight to ALOTT5MA and loved spending a few minutes away from PICC lines and spinal taps to read about Kate and Will's wedding and the other very important topics that gave me an escape.  Thanks for always giving me something to look forward to but thanks especially for a much needed escape this week.

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  58. gretchen11:32 AM

    I'm so sorry to hear about your daughter -- I hope she's getting much better!

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  59. Marnie12:06 PM

    I'm late but happy birthday! I've been reading for at least five years and I love the community here!  

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  60. Adam C.4:49 PM

    Yes, what gretchen said - hope all is well.

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