In early 2002, I finally made the leap into online forums by joining a Beatles message board. At 13, there weren't a whole lot of Beatles fans in my real-life peer group so it was incredibly exciting for me to finally have an outlet to discuss topics like their best album cover, which Beatle was most creative during the White Album period, random obscure songs from Paul solo albums, etc. I got banned about two months later for being too overzealous.
A week or two after that, I was surfing weirdal.com and noticed an Al forum. I'd liked Weird Al even longer than I'd liked the Beatles, so I figured it'd be worth checking out. I joined that night, but perhaps because I was still scarred by the experience at the Beatles forum, it took me a couple months before I really found my footing and began posting on a regular basis. Nine years later, I can't even begin to say how glad I am to be here and how much more comfortable I am in this community than any of the others I've been a part of over the years.
My most memorable WOWAY moments...good and bad...from the past nine years...
-As I was wont to do back then, I signed up for the forum with an email address I did not check. Also as I was wont to do back then, I had no understanding of image copyright and lifted my first avatar directly from weirdal.com. I never saw any of Bermuda's emails asking me to remove it until I came in one day and noticed my avatar was gone and I couldn't replace it. WHiZZi and Bermuda graciously assisted me in correcting this. To this day I still feel pretty bad about this because I later saw that Bermuda had sent several emails about this and so it looked as though I was just blatantly ignoring him. Sorry again, Jon--but thank you sincerely for looking past it a few years later and giving me your vote of confidence to become a mod.
-While it obviously isn't a pleasant memory, I really admire everything our community did in the aftermath of Nick's and Mary's passing, particularly the topic of messages for Al. Eventually we compiled them into a book which I mailed to Al but I've never gotten confirmation that he received it, unfortunately. Either way, I hope he at least saw the topic and got a sense of how much he means to us and how thankful we are for Nick and Mary and everything they did to shape Alfred Yankovic.
-I've made no secret that my preferred method of dealing with spoilers is via a single topic, and that's because of the excitement and fun brought about by the Poodle Hat spoiler thread. We were like vultures, scoping out every scrap of information we could find. A very exciting time.
-Similarly, who could forget the build-up to the release of "Whatever You Like"? That thread was epic. The song isn't a favorite of mine but I do have a soft spot for the anticipation it gave us. What a night.
-The Evil Avatar preceded my becoming a WOWAY Lover by only a few weeks. I found it absolutely hysterical, especially when I later learned that there was an extensive plot to eventually display a message through it. It was cut short because so many people were freaking out.
-The first season of Survivor. Hosting parts of seasons 2 and 4 was fun, as was playing in All-Stars and watching the other seasons unfold...but nothing compares to the first season, which was a blast, at least until I pulled a Rudy and took my metaphorical hand off the idol.
Any time I hear the words "shock value" in any context, I can't help but crack up.
-Two words: Dave's caulk. This isn't just my favorite WOWAY memory; this is my favorite Internet memory, where for 2-3 days many of us defied the laws of subtlety in some of the funniest ways I could ever imagine.
-Three more words: "Crazy Cow Therapist." Need I say more?
At the end of the day, no matter what happens here and whatever arguments/drama pop up--and as Jackie said, compared to most forums this is a
really pleasant and friendly environment--I love this place. It's my Internet home and I'm so thankful to be a part of this community. I've never met anyone from here in person but I hope that changes as I (finally!) embark on my seeing-Al-in-concert journey. There are definitely some amazing friends here and perhaps most importantly, WOWAY has increased my Al fandom to an incredible degree. Take that, 8-year-old me with the Bad Hair Day cassette! You think you're so cool, huh? Well I have Peter and the Wolf and The Authorized Al now, so in your face!