This is topic My 500th Post in forum Landmark Threads at Hatrack River Forum.


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Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
 
Wow. I hit the five hundred mark. I'm so darn proud of me that I could bust. I understand the tradition is to tell about oneself. When I hit two hundred and made a landmark post, I just gave links to my brief autobiography on my web site. Very few people replied to my thread, but that might have something to do with the fact that I'm a loser.

But I digress. I'll actually write something about myself this time. Here goes.

I was born in Mesa, Arizona. It's a great place, mostly because it's not cold in the winter and there are palm trees. We lived in a double-wide mobile home (now called "prefabricated homes" to avoid the association with trailer parks), and I had a very happy childhood. Then, just after I turned seven, we moved to Salt Lake, and I became bitter and cynical. You would, too, if it happened to you.

I was a rather short and geeky kid from late elementary school through junior high. At the age of twelve I developed Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, which I still have to this day. I was picked on a lot before I sprouted up and hit six feet tall.

After high school, I started saving up to go on a mission for my church. A few months before turning nineteen, I found out that my illness would most likely prevent me from going. Not going was one of the hardest decisions I've made. A few months later, I applied to BYU, got accepted, and started going to school once again. It felt good to be in school after a two-year hiatus.

Despite my illness, I still manage to work twenty hours a week and go to school full time, though I need to cut back the number of classes I'm taking or school's going to kill me. I'm majoring in English, though I'm going to switch to the new English language program next fall. I'm minoring in art, and I'll add a minor in editing when they make that next fall, too. I'll probably end up with a minor in English, too, which means I'll have a BA and three minors. I'll be done in three more years, which feels like a long time. I work as an editor for the Department of Independent Study at BYU, which is the largest distance learning program in the world.

I enjoy writing, language in general, drawing and painting, reading, picking nits, and squandering my precious time in various other ways.

Here are some miscellaneous facts about me:
I'm a cat person.
I want to be a Jedi Knight.
I want to be a novelist when I grow up.
My favorite band is Toad the Wet Sprocket.
I'm incapable of picking a favorite book or movie because I have too many.
I love the cartoons Pinky and the Brain and The Angry Beavers.
I'm single.

Questions? Feel free to ask.
 


Posted by Icarus (Member # 3162) on :
 
Congratulations.

Don't wait until you grow up to be a novelist, and don't study literature to be a writer.

G'luck.


 


Posted by Ophelia (Member # 653) on :
 

<----Agrees with Icarus. If you've got the ideas, start working with them now!

[This message has been edited by Ophelia (edited December 31, 2002).]
 


Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
 
Argh. I know, I know! I just always think that I'll work on those ideas "when I have more time." Maybe if I stopped playing on my computer so much, I'd have more time.

In fact, here's my resolution for the new year: write often (at least a couple times a week, if not daily). Even if it's not working on a novel, writing for fun is always a good thing. Thanks for the encouragement, guys.

[This message has been edited by Jon Boy (edited December 31, 2002).]
 


Posted by ginette (Member # 852) on :
 
Happy 500th post Jon Boy!

Lucky you to be a cat person, if you were a dog person like me it would consume all your time and you would NEVER become a writer.

[This message has been edited by ginette (edited December 31, 2002).]
 


Posted by Tammy (Member # 4119) on :
 
Mesa? Nice place!

I was born in Tucson. It's ironic that I didn't care for the place much, until I moved to the planet of North Carolina.

Now I miss it most dreadfully. The spring blooms on the cactus. The smell of the desert after it rains. The monsoons. My favorite Mexican Restaurants, Miniditos and El Molinito.

CFS? Do you realize how awesome you're doing if you're able to accomplish all that you do, while struggling with this disease?

quote:
Very few people replied to my thread, but that might have something to do with the fact that I'm a loser.

A wise man at Hatrack..(okay it was Sal) once told me not to judge the quality of my posts and topics by the responses received.

Good advice...which I pass on to you.
 


Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
 
I'm lucky not to have a very bad case of CFS. My mom has it, and she can't even do part-time jobs. A few years back, she got a job working at an elementary school for fifteen hours a week, and she had to quit after only a couple weeks.

I was kidding about people not responding to my thread and being a loser. Well, it's true that not many people responded to my thread, but the loser thing probably isn't true. At least, people tell me it's not, and I like to believe them.
 


Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
 
Whoa, cool! I was an editor at Independent Study, too. Back in 97-98.


 


Posted by Maethoriell (Member # 3805) on :
 
What was your illness?

Kewl post. I agree with them. If you want to be a novelist, start anytime you want. Congrats!
 


Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
 
97-98? That's probably long enough ago that you don't know anyone I know. Let me think . . . who's been there the longest. . . . Do you know Amy Stancliff (I don't know her maiden name) or Bethani Jensen?

My illness is Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. If you've never heard of it or just want to know more about it, check out www.cfids.org.

[This message has been edited by Jon Boy (edited December 31, 2002).]
 


Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
 
Since it's a BYU part time job, I doubt anyone would stay there that long. The only person that might possibly be there still is Karri Hartman, the manager.

I got to know Word way too well during that job. I even created a toolbar that let me type with my mouse so I didn't have to lean forward in my chair to type. Some of those days were pretty boring.
 


Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
 
I know Karri! She's now an instructional designer down at Ironton. Cool.

Thankfully, we switched from Word to Adobe FrameMaker before I got here. I hate Word with a passion.
 


Posted by Dragon (Member # 3670) on :
 
Congrats on 500 in only three months! It took me almost six...
 
Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
 
Word hath its uses. As opposed to PowerPoint.

They were switching to FrameMaker about the time I left. I actually had the program on my computer, but had no idea how to use it. I've kicked myself many times since then for not getting to know it anyway.

I was one of the "formatting" editors, which meant fixing lines, bullets, and fonts throughout documents mainly imported from WordPerfect. It got old after a while. I did get to do a little more on some courses, like the Landscaping course. I coordinated all the artwork on that one.

It was my first experience working in a cubicle-driven environment. Very strange.
 


Posted by Sal (Member # 3758) on :
 
Loser!

Jon Boy, I'm glad you're around. You and a few other Hatrackers are the best possible linguine-geek insurance. I mean, knowing I could ask any English language question imaginable and have the correct answer faster than from any book! At any time of the day. Yay!

Now what again was an "antidecent" (sp?).
 


Posted by MyrddinFyre (Member # 2576) on :
 
quote:
I'm single.

::rubs hands together conspiratorially::
 


Posted by Deirdre (Member # 4200) on :
 
antidecent: adj Of or pertaining to something that is opposed to decency.

(I'm sure Dante will be around in a minute or so to give you the answer you really want--and to correct my spelling.)
 


Posted by Tammy (Member # 4119) on :
 
quote:
I was kidding about people not responding to my thread and being a loser. Well, it's true that not many people responded to my thread, but the loser thing probably isn't true. At least, people tell me it's not, and I like to believe them.

Oh good! You don't think your a loser. The momminess in me feels better.
 


Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
 
Word hath its uses, but WordPerfect kicketh its trash.

I absolutely love FrameMaker, and I wish I had a copy for home. I don't know what I'd do with it, but I just want to own it.

Thanks, Sal. It's good to be around. By the way, the word you wanted is "antecedent." It's the noun that is referenced by a pronoun. For example: "I hate Bob, so I killed him." "Bob" is the antecedent for the pronoun "him."

I've never had a conspiracy centered around me before, Myrddin. I'm very flattered.
 


Posted by Kayla (Member # 2403) on :
 
I didn't kill this thread.
 
Posted by Rakeesh (Member # 2001) on :
 
Yet;)
 
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
 
Dang it! Jeff! Spaces, man, spaces!
 
Posted by Caleb Varns (Member # 946) on :
 
Yeah,Jeff,beconsiderateyoubigoaf;)
 
Posted by Kama (Member # 3022) on :
 
Maybe he just doesn't like the smilies appearing as faces.

;)
 
Posted by celia60 (Member # 2039) on :
 
wow. i hadn't ever read this one.

i am now, if possible, more impressed by jon.
 


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