I thought I'd bring this up because of a couple recent posts where some of us have discovered that other Hatrackers are not too geographically far from themselves. Some of us have our locale in our profiles, but I thought it would be interesting to sort of bring everyone together and tally up where we are.
I am in Colorado Springs, CO.
How 'bout you?
Posted by dpatridge (Member # 2208) on :
whenever someone asks this or one of it's many variations, i typically refuse to answer the "sex" portion, dodge the "age", and give a cryptic "location"
so then, my location is Frogtown, USA.
i shall leave it up to you people to figure out where i am according to the modern map.
Posted by HSO (Member # 2056) on :
No way, dude! I'm in Frogtown, USA, too! How about that for strange coincidence?
<_<
>_>
All right, I'm in London, England.
Posted by RFLong (Member # 1923) on :
Dublin, Ireland
Miles away from any of yez!
Posted by wbriggs (Member # 2267) on :
Frogtown? You mean Angels Camp, CA?
I'm in Lynchburg, VA.
Posted by Beth (Member # 2192) on :
Salt Lake City, Utah.
Posted by MCameron (Member # 2391) on :
Corona, AZ (just outside of Tucson, AKA the Blob That Ate Pima County)
Posted by Daniel Thurot on :
Salt Lake City, Utah
Posted by ChrisOwens (Member # 1955) on :
Richmond, VA
Far West End about to move to the Southside, it's like another world. I think I know parts of California better than I do where I'm about to move to.
Posted by Beth (Member # 2192) on :
hi Daniel!
Posted by xarius (Member # 2168) on :
I live in southeast Mississippi. The local news channel tells me so. Posted by Robyn_Hood (Member # 2083) on :
Cowtown...er...Calgary, Alberta
Posted by MrClean (Member # 1958) on :
Rockford, Illinois. (about 80 miles west of Chicago) The flatlands they call it. Yep they are correct.
Posted by MaryRobinette (Member # 1680) on :
Portland, OR
Posted by Ray (Member # 2415) on :
Anderson, (Northern) California
Posted by Silver3 (Member # 2174) on :
Paris, France
Posted by TaShaJaRo (Member # 2354) on :
Atlanta, Georgia
Posted by Isaiah13 (Member # 2283) on :
Saskatoon, SK. Canada
Posted by RFLong (Member # 1923) on :
Hi Silver3
I'm going to La Vendee at the end of May. I'll wave then.
R
Posted by Jeraliey (Member # 2147) on :
Indianapolis, IN, except when I'm in school. Then it's upstate NY...or wherever I end up for med school.
Posted by Elan (Member # 2442) on :
ooo... I'm nearly neighbors with MaryRobinette... I'm on the other side of the Columbia Gorge in The Dalles, Oregon.
Posted by Jimbob squarepants (Member # 2342) on :
Lancaster PA
Posted by hoptoad (Member # 2145) on :
Hobart, Tasmania
Posted by cvgurau (Member # 1345) on :
Portland, OR.
Hi Mary!
Posted by Dude (Member # 1957) on :
Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina -- The I-95 rest stop of the east coast. Look for the big Walmart (Oops, that's everywhere).
Posted by MaryRobinette (Member # 1680) on :
I go to a coffee shop once a week for a writing date with myself, usually Saturday or Sunday. Kindof to break up the routine. If anyone close to me wants to meet up, drop me an email. This applies to lurker's too. Make sure you put Hatrack in the email or you'll get eaten by my Spam Blocker.
[This message has been edited by MaryRobinette (edited March 23, 2005).]
Posted by autumnmuse (Member # 2136) on :
I used to live in Rocky Mount NC, and we called that the rest stop of the East Coast. I guess people need more than one rest stop!! Posted by onepktjoe (Member # 2352) on :
Falls Church, in Northern Virginia. I don't know why we capitalize the Northern but...we do.
Posted by mikemunsil (Member # 2109) on :
Shenandoah, Texas just north of hell, er Houston
Posted by Dude (Member # 1957) on :
autumnmuse, No, Rocky Mount is now the "City on the Rise" so we stole the "rest stop" thing. I guess all the resters got tired of having to climb all them stairs to get into Rocky Mount -- with it rising and all.
Posted by rickfisher (Member # 1214) on :
Greensboro, NC.
Posted by djvdakota (Member # 2002) on :
Armpit...er...Ogden, Utah.
Posted by Jaina (Member # 2387) on :
Fort Fun... err... Fort Collins, CO.
Actually, autumnmuse, I've been down in the Springs a lot, since my cousin was in the AFA until last year. And now my friend is thinking she wants to hook me up with a cadet. So maybe I'll be back. If I am, maybe I'll let you know--it'd be cool to meet another Hatracker in person!
Posted by RavenStarr (Member # 2327) on :
I'm in Roseville, MI... it's right outside Detroit city where I grew up...
Posted by JBSkaggs (Member # 2265) on :
Blytheville, AR in the greater Memphis , Tn area.
Posted by NewsBys (Member # 1950) on :
Richmond, VA
Posted by Minister (Member # 2213) on :
Staten Island, NY, according to my profile. I put it there to remind myself. But I spend time in Farmville, VA occassionally, since my family lives there. (And yes, that is really the name of the town.)
Posted by Pyre Dynasty (Member # 1947) on :
Beyond your Wildest Dreams, OK
Posted by wbriggs (Member # 2267) on :
Onepktjoe, I was in your city today! Just passing through.
Posted by WobblyG (Member # 2055) on :
Vancouver, WA. I’m just across the river from all you Portland people. I get the wonderful joy of commuting across the I-5 bridge going south each day. (Talk about cutting into my writing time…)
Posted by Elan (Member # 2442) on :
I feel your pain, WobblyG... I moved outta North Portland just as they had snarled all the streets with light rail construction. I don't miss the commute. Now I live in a town of 12,000, and rush hour at 8AM means I have to wait for one old lady (who is half blind) to make up her mind whether she's turning her '83 Buick left while signaling right, or turning right while signaling left.
Posted by jimmyjazz951 (Member # 2443) on :
Southwest of Houston, TX in the small village of Fairchilds. Gee Mike, hell?
Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :
I lived for a couple of years to the west-southwest of Houston (Victoria). I would not have wanted to live in Houston, but it would have been better than what I kept hearing about "the valley" (of the Rio Grande).
Posted by WobblyG (Member # 2055) on :
Yeah Elan rub it in! What do you think are the odds that I could convince our CEO to move our North American subsidiary headquarters up the gorge?
Besides, the I-5 bridge isn’t so bad... as long as there isn’t: rain (75% of the year), a stall, an accident, someone pulled over by the cops (rubbernecking effect), or a stall or accident on the 205 bridge, a full moon, an unfortuitous conjunction of the planets, a day with two syllables in its name, or bad news on the radio about fighting in the middle east. I mean, really, I get two, sometimes three good commute days a year. PLUS I get to pay Oregon state income taxes.
But I love it out here so that’s a price I am willing to pay, I guess. I’ll think about that on my commute home tonight. (I’ll have plenty of time!)
Posted by onepktjoe (Member # 2352) on :
wbriggs!
A belated wave and how-ya-doin. Sorry I missed you. Do you or any other of our fellow Virginians know of any of these big "writer's events" that get close? Say, Richmond or DC? Perhaps we'll all meet up for coffee sometime.
Joe
Posted by Keeley (Member # 2088) on :
Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas
Posted by Elan (Member # 2442) on :
Well, WobblyG, since GOOGLE has decided to open up shop in The Dalles, surely your CEO would be interested in reviewing what the DRY side of Oregon has to offer: after all, we have poison oak, skunks, dust, and more horse doots and cowpies than you can count. Of course, being able to see the stars at night is a great consolation.
Posted by wbriggs (Member # 2267) on :
VA writers stuff: I'm in Virginia Writer's Club, but I don't do much with them. I've been to the Festival of the Book in Charlottesville. No plans for more. I think I may go to the writer's conference in Columbus, OH, as my next writer's event.
I was coming back from a staff meeting for the ManKind Project training in a few weeks. That's mostly what I do in DC, or else just visit people I know. It's a long way from Lynchburg to anywhere!
Posted by cklabyrinth (Member # 2454) on :
Hmm Keeley, what part of DFW do you live in? Subtract the y in your handle and you have my last name - weird, isn't it?
I'm from Garland, but live east of Dallas about 50 miles now.
Posted by Eadwacer (Member # 2393) on :
Schenectady, NY is home Rochester, NY is school Work (after I graduate) will be somewhere on Earth
Posted by dpatridge (Member # 2208) on :
no one wants to play along with me
ok, ok, i'll give a couple new hints.
one of our nicknames is "The Glass City"
you might recall that earlier in this thread i had said that my hometown was once called Frogtown... there was a reason for that, the city rests on what was once a section of "The Black Swamp" as it was called...
Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :
How about New Orleans? (Frog = French)
Posted by wbriggs (Member # 2267) on :
I already guessed Angel Camp, CA.
Is it Toledo, OH?
Posted by dpatridge (Member # 2208) on :
briggs got it! Whee!
the "Glass City" thing was a dead giveaway honestly
Posted by wbriggs (Member # 2267) on :
I would never have got it based on "Frogtown."
Posted by autumnmuse (Member # 2136) on :
I got it based on clicking into your profile after your first post, but . . . clues are good too!
Posted by dpatridge (Member # 2208) on :
see what i mean! most of you didn't even want to play along, they just were like, i don't want to do this, and they clicked into my profile!
heh.
yah, almost no one realizes that Toledo was once called Frogtown... even people who live here don't all know it!
Posted by HSO (Member # 2056) on :
dpatridge, I thought you were being facetious and didn't want anyone to know where you lived... You know, with anonymity on the internet these days 'n' stuff...
heh.
Would I be out of line if I said that I hated living in Ohio every day of the five years I lived there? I hope not...
Posted by TaShaJaRo (Member # 2354) on :
Actually, I thought the same thing. Some people, rightfully so, are paranoid about giving away any personal info on the Internet so...I chalked it up to that as well.
Posted by dpatridge (Member # 2208) on :
haha, no, i'm not so very paranoid! i just like playing with people
as for hating Ohio, you're more than welcome to it! i hate Ohio myself, and Toledo is even worse. as soon as i can leave this miserable place to go out west, i will.
Posted by HSO (Member # 2056) on :
Australia is lovely. If you head southwest, you'll eventually get there. That would be my recommendation... I'm trying to convince my wife to leave London behind for sunnier climes.
Ohio has one really good thing going for it: Cedar Point. If you love rollercoasters as much as I do, then that is one fine amusment park. Living in Toledo would be ideal in this regard -- not terribly far away from Cedar Point. Not far at all.
But the rest of Ohio... pish.
Posted by dpatridge (Member # 2208) on :
yeah. but cedar point costs too much and i seldom make it there even once a year...
i DO love rollercoasters though, and absolutely LOVE Cedar Point
Posted by Josh Leone (Member # 2365) on :
Currently, Rochester NY.
Hey Eadwacer, which school?
Posted by Kolona (Member # 1438) on :
Spent most of my life in Ohio and I happen to be partial to it. As soon as I get onto I-90 into Ohio, it just feels right. Cedar Point's Gemini and Iron Dragon. Love 'em.
Autumnmuse, we both used to live in the same area. I was in Wilson, North Carolina for a few years. Went through a couple of hurricanes, one of which really tore up the city.
Dpatridge, I thought you might be in North Carolina, since there is an actual Frogtown there, and roads with names like Great Swamp Loop, Marsh Swamp, and Wheat Swamp. Toledo. Whodathot.
Tasmania, hoptoad? How cool.
RavenStarr, I'm about an hour north of you, neighbor.
Posted by Shendülféa (Member # 2408) on :
Speaking of strange street names, in Fort Collins, CO, there's a whole bunch of Lord of the Rings-themed streets. For instance, Shire Ct., Glorfindel, Sundering, Weathertop, and my personal favorite: Hobbit St. There's a whole lot more, but I can't remember 'em all.
Posted by autumnmuse (Member # 2136) on :
I was born in Fort Collins, so I think that's cool!
Posted by Jaina (Member # 2387) on :
Hey, I was born in Fort Collins, too! Poudre Valley Hospital. Hadn't been there since I was born until last semester, and when I went in to the ER they still had my name on file from 18 (almost nineteen, by that time) years previous... it was kind of freaky that the computer knew me and my mom, since I'm pretty sure they didn't have that sophisticated a system back in '86, so they'd have had to do some intense file transfers.
Posted by HSO (Member # 2056) on :
The military had computers in '86 -- a lot of IBM PC Jr.'s, if I recall correctly. Not to mention some rather large mainframes to support a base-wide networking system. I wouldn't say they were sophisticated then, but the file system was essentially DOS. Databases haven't changed all that much -- at least in the way they handle data behind the scenes.
Besides, worse comes to worse, they could assign a few PFC's to manually enter in data from the hard-copy medical files.
I would have killed to have temp duty like that when I was in -- instead, I found myself knee deep in hazardous waste a lot (which could explain a lot about me, come to think of it). Maybe I should have kept my head down a bit more; maybe I should not have worn a tie-dye T-shirt around the base and during Physical Training. Hmm... well, you know... you learn these things as you get older.
Posted by Shendülféa (Member # 2408) on :
Actually, autumnmuse, I love those street names. I just think it's kind of strange they named them what they did. I'd never heard of them before I saw the address 1050 Hobbit St. while looking at a patron record. Then my friends and I had to go looking for this Hobbit St. and ended up finding that whole neighborhood has The Lord of the Rings streets. At Weathertop, we took a picture of us acting out the part where the Ringwraiths attack Frodo. I was the Ringwraith with the hood of my sweatshirt pulled over my head and one of my friends (the one that's only about four foot eleven) was Frodo. After that, we went around taking pictures of all the other streets. I love those streets.
Posted by Jaina (Member # 2387) on :
Yeah, and you didn't take me along. *pout*
Guess that gives you an excuse to go back, eh?
HSO, you're probably right. I just didn't expect to walk into a hospital I hadn't been in for nearly nineteen years and have them still know right away who I was. I expected them to have to dig the file out of some backup database in the basement, you know? But it was all right there... it's kinda creepy how closely they keep tabs on people, really.
Posted by Shendülféa (Member # 2408) on :
Heh. Wouldn't it be awesome if we could get an apartment on Hobbit St. for next year, Jaina? Then we could tell everyone we know that we live on Hobbit St. All my LOTR-crazy friends at home would be like, "O_O Not fair!."
Posted by Jaina (Member # 2387) on :
We should look in to that...
Actually, we should look in to ANYTHING at this point. We're running out of time.
(edited because the author in me screamed that I can't start every post with "Yeah...")
[This message has been edited by Jaina (edited March 28, 2005).]
Posted by ScottMiller (Member # 2410) on :
I live in Loveland, CO. I've been to the Springs twice (I thought the Garden Of The Gods was stunning, and I'd like to see the coin museum next time I'm down there--I used to collect coins when I was a wee sprout). My point of origin was Walton, NY, then I lived for fourteen years in Dryden (it's near Ithaca) before I ended up out here.
Jaina & Shendi: You mean all those streets along Shields, right? I did a double-take the first time I saw that. But, hey, I live on a street named after a South American volcano. I think that's pretty darn good. (Besides, I'd rather live on "Gandalf Lane" than "Hobbit St." Any street named after a grumpy old man who can whack things with his staff appeals to me. Since there isn't a Gandalf Lane yet, I'll just have to dream.)
If there is ever a Colorado Writers Get Together, I call dibs on a corner seat near a window. (Take that, fiends!)
Posted by Monolith (Member # 2034) on :
Ok, folks.
I live in a small (about 2k people) here in Oklahoma, called Comanche.
As for the most part I grew up a military brat, having lived in Security CO, Menasha WI, Harker Heights TX (twice), Germany (twice).
So I pretty much know where most of you are coming from.
Someone said they were from Colorado Springs, how much has it changed since 1988?
Jerailey, I lived in Indianapolis until April of last year. Nice place, huh?
Pyre, Howdy neighbor!!!
And a wave to all you people that call northern Texas home.
-Monolith-
Posted by Keeley (Member # 2088) on :
quote:Hmm Keeley, what part of DFW do you live in?
I live in between Dallas and Fort Worth. It takes about a half hour for me to drive to FW, but an hour to get to Dallas (driving at the same speed on the highway).
I used to live in Richardson. It was expensive, but nice. Garland didn't seem too bad either. We were thinking about buying a house there for a while.
Posted by HSO (Member # 2056) on :
I have relatives that live in Garland. Haven't seen them in 23 years. Not even sure if I remember what Garland is like, come to think of it. Anyway, just pointing out the coincidence. Posted by Kolona (Member # 1438) on :
quote:So I pretty much know where most of you are coming from.
Was that a double entendre, Monolith?
Posted by Keeley (Member # 2088) on :
HSO: Garland, TX? Wow. I had no idea. Anyone I might know?
Posted by ZeroPoint (Member # 2459) on :
onepktjoe and wbriggs,
I haven't done an introduction yet, as this is my first posting, but I'm in Alexandria, VA. I'd be very interested in doing any sort of writer's events here.
Posted by Jaina (Member # 2387) on :
Scott: Yup, those would be them. I'd totally live on Gandalf Lane if it existed! That would be sweet. I seriously use that "wizard arrives exactly when he means to" thing all the time. Drives my mom nuts.
We should have a Colorado Writers Get Together. I mean, if the VA folks can do it, why can't we? I'm all for it. Though it's a bit of a drive for all involved, if we've got folks in the Springs...
Care to share whereabouts in Loveland? I've got family over there (and in Fort Collins, and in Brighton, for that matter...). 'Course, Loveland's a pretty big place. Especially since now it's starting to turn into Fortland... or Lovecollins... or something... the two towns are getting squished up next to each other is what I'm going for, here.
Posted by Shendülféa (Member # 2408) on :
Yeah, I had no idea that so many people live in Colorado. We definitely need to have a Colorado Writers Get Together. And I also have family in Loveland. They're always bugging me to come visit since I'm in Fort Collins all the time.
Posted by Rocklover (Member # 2339) on :
I live in Riverton, Utah. Riverton is 15 min. South of Salt Lake City if you take I15 and the Bangeter Higway. When I moved here ten years ago, there was one Maverick gas station, Peterson's grocery and the post office. We built on a 3/4 acr lot that was an alfalfa field, feeling sure we would be enjoying a pastroal lifestyle surrounded with meadows of larks and farmers cutting their hay. Then the developers moved in. All the farmers sold out and one by one the fields and orchards turned into houses. We are now entrenched on all sides by neighbors with barking dogs and all the meadow larks have moved away. For that matter, the entire Salt Lake Valley is one megasuburb now and Riveton, having lost all its character and charm, is just another one of them. Nevertheless, I am happy because I have made my 3/4 acre a garden paradise. I have created my own haven. But, sigh, I really do miss the larks. Judith
Posted by autumnmuse (Member # 2136) on :
Life is full of odd little coincidences. I was born in August 79 at Poudre Valley Hospital. The year after High School I was visiting a college outside Calgary, Alberta, and I ran into a guy who had been born the same day as me at the same hospital, and who's brother was dating a friend of mine, but we'd never met before or heard of each other prior to that day. Odd, huh?
Anyway, I'd drive up to FortLoveCollinsLand for a meetup, if ya'll are interested. Or we could use Denver as a middle ground. Interesting that though several of us reside in CO, none are in the big city.
Monolith, I've only lived in the Springs since '98 so I can't tell you how much exactly it has changed, but my guess is quite a lot. If you remember Powers, a road way out east of town, it has now become a main drag with huge housing developments extending miles east of it. There are more than 400,000 people here now, maybe even half a mil.
Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :
There's a big SF/F convention in Denver every year called MileHiCon.
Ooh, we could. That's got potential, that has. Though it's not til October.
autumnmuse: that is odd. Though I don't know how strange it is that none of us are in Denver. I mean, look at where we are: Colorado Springs, Fort Collins, and Loveland. They're pretty substantial cities, too. And I lived in Brighton for a long time, which is a suburb of a suburb of Denver. Don't know what that counts for, but I usually told people from out of state that I was close enough to Denver that it didn't make much of a difference.
