I come from the Land of Two Random Letters

[montsnmags]

Originally Posted by Dylrob

Are you the wizard?

No, think of me as the Not-at-all-wonderful Thimblerigger of OZ. If you visit though, you're certainly not in KS anymore.

Cheers,
Marc
Noosa Heads, QLD ("The Sunshine State"), OZ

[kindlekitten]

Originally Posted by happy_terd

Do you come from the land down under?
Where women glow and men plunder?
can't you hear, can't you hear the thunder?
You better run, you better take cover.

see... that just gets me thinking of the group "Thunder from Down Under", and I get all misty eyed and glowy and stuff....

Originally Posted by Ea

I've been thinking about asking you about this. I was pretty sure you were American, but the only thing I could think of was some connection to Greece (because of 'olympic'). Is it actually a place name? I do know that 'Washington' is both a city and a state.


'Mid-atlantic' I would never have guessed... I thought it obviously meant the middle of the Atlantic.

the Olympic Mountain Range is on the Olympic Penninsula. I think the chicken/egg progression is; Mountains, Penninsula, City

Originally Posted by montsnmags

No, think of me as the Not-at-all-wonderful Thimblerigger of OZ. If you visit though, you're certainly not in KS anymore.

Cheers,
Marc
Noosa Heads, QLD ("The Sunshine State"), OZ

Yo! Toto!

[Ea]

Originally Posted by kcarscadden

- Ea, who is your avatar picture of, she is certainly beautiful!

Originally Posted by Patricia

Greta Garbo, I think.

It's Mlle. Chanel.

[martys5150]

Originally Posted by dsvick

Even better, let's go for max clarity and use latitude and longitude. Instead of saying "Northeast Ohio" I'll say...

41.415569 North
82.048044 West

Not helping am I....

Avon? I lived in Ashtabula for 6 years. Heck I still own a house out there I cant seem to find a buyer

[martys5150]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

53.353041 North
6.849772 East

It does show on which side of the big pond you live!

Krewerd (53°21′N 6°51′E / 53.35°N 6.85°E / 53.35; 6.85) is a town in the Dutch province of Groningen. It is a part of the municipality of Delfzijl, and lies about 24 km northeast of Groningen.

The statistical area "Krewerd", which also can include the surrounding countryside, has a population of around 100

[dsvick]

Originally Posted by martys5150

Avon? I lived in Ashtabula for 6 years. Heck I still own a house out there I cant seem to find a buyer

North Ridgeville actually, but I could throw a rock to Avon from my house

I've got a friend who lives in Ashtabula, been then many times, although none lately. We've still got a house in Cleveland we're trying to sell

[The Straven]

I too, wish people would spell things out. It was the longest time before I figured out that the "UK" that so many people here are from actually is the postal code for the Yukon, which is the state to the upper left from Wisconsin. I've never been there but it must be full of immigrants from the East Coast, because all the towns sound like they're named after cities in Mass.

.
.
.

And I broke lurker status just to make that lousy joke. It's great to be here! I plan to lurk moar for the most part!

- James

[Ea]

Welcome, James. If you hadn't written it was a joke, I would (almost) have believed you

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by martys5150

Krewerd (53°21′N 6°51′E / 53.35°N 6.85°E / 53.35; 6.85) is a town in the Dutch province of Groningen. It is a part of the municipality of Delfzijl, and lies about 24 km northeast of Groningen.

The statistical area "Krewerd", which also can include the surrounding countryside, has a population of around 100

It's 89, actually... Some larger families left

[meepster]

Originally Posted by RCR

I must be feeling especially grumpy this morning because I'm no longer going to hold my tongue. I want to have a rant about something that's been bugging me for a long long time -

It's folk who introduce themselves as "Hello, I'm from Everytown, ZX."

Now, I'm sure Americans will immediately know where ZX is. But as a non-American, first I have to figure out this poster is from the United States of America, but isn't saying that, because they assume everyone else on the forum is American. Then I have to figure out, with my limited knowledge of US geography, what American state the letters ZX stand for.

And don't get me started on folk who write such things as: "I'm from the good old Green Melon State. Yay the Hawks!". That leaves most non-Americans completely lost.

Could I make a plea - that everyone clearly name the town, state and country they come from. Don't assume we're all Americans. Don't assume we know what ZX means. Don't assume we know where the Green Melon State is and what sports the Hawks play.

On another forum I belong to, a country flag appears under the member's avatar and profile. This gives readers an idea of where the person is posting from, what is influencing their point of view, and what is influencing their use of the English language. And all those different flags are a constant reminder of how truly international that forum is.

Rant over.

I must be a bit grumpy myself, but it is fascinating how so many people are willing to accord all sorts of respect to the culture and customs of others - unless those "others" are American. In the US, it is customary to refer to a city by also naming the state it is in - as in "San Francisco, CA". Most Americans do that instinctively. Most Americans also have a great deal of respect for other people's cultures and customs - alas, they seldom get (or even expect) the same amount of respect and tolerance for their culture and their customs.

Now, if I see someone listing their location as "Adelaide" or "London" or "Amsterdam", I will not get too terribly grumpy about the fact that they failed to also list the country that the city in question is in (and seriously - if someone says they are from Paris, do you insist that they specify that Paris is in France?) Nor will I get too terribly grumpy about the fact that someone listed their location as "Montreal, QC" or "Melbourne, VIC" or "Toronto, ON". If I'm not too terribly sure about where a place is - well, that's what Google is for. I am here to learn about other cultures, customs, and places - but I would appreciate the same courtesy shown to my culture and my country.

meepster (posting from San Francisco, which is in California, which is in the United States of America, which is on Earth, which is in the Solar System, which is in the Milky Way)

[Sparrow]

Originally Posted by meepster

...(and seriously - if someone says they are from Paris, do you insist that they specify that Paris is in France?)...

Iirc Zelda Pinwheel specifies 'Paris, France' because there was some confusion with 'Paris, Texas'.

[RCR]

Originally Posted by Sparrow

Iirc Zelda Pinwheel specifies 'Paris, France' because there was some confusion with 'Paris, Texas'.

Oh come on! "Paris, Texas" was a movie. Not even I would believe Zelda P lives in a movie. And if she did live in a movie, wouldn't "The Purple Rose of Cairo" be way more fun?

[pshrynk]

Originally Posted by RCR

Oh come on! "Paris, Texas" was a movie. Not even I would believe Zelda P lives in a movie. And if she did live in a movie, wouldn't "The Purple Rose of Cairo" be way more fun?

Well, the Frappr Map thought she lived in Paris, Texas for quite some time.

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by RCR

Oh come on! "Paris, Texas" was a movie. Not even I would believe Zelda P lives in a movie. And if she did live in a movie, wouldn't "The Purple Rose of Cairo" be way more fun?

Originally Posted by pshrynk

Well, the Frappr Map thought she lived in Paris, Texas for quite some time.

actually, the frappr map insisted on putting me in Carollton, Texas for the longest time. there was no escape. to be honest i'm still not actually sure exactly how i managed to get out of there. that'll teach me to put in my postal code ("75010 Paris, France" = "75010 Carrolton, Texas" to frappr, apparently).

[RCR]

There's a post today on "Introduce Yourself" -

"Hi from Surprise, AZ"

Who did it? Who did it? Admit it. One of you meanies faked that just to mock a poor grumpy old man.