Hello, I'm EarlG

[EarlG]

Last edited Tue May 22, 2012, 04:59 PM - Edit history (2)

My real name is Dave and I'm one of the administrators and co-founders of DU. I live in the Washington DC area and work in the DU office with Skinner. We were the guys holding up the original Democratic Underground banner at the protests in DC the day that George W. Bush was inaugurated for the first time -- if you'd asked me then, I never would have guessed that DU would still be going strong 11 years later!

I used to write the Top 10 Conservative Idiots but found that after the birth of my son three years ago I no longer had the time to write such an in-depth weekly article. (Maybe it will come back for the 2012 election -- you never know.) My main role these days is general site administration and front-end HTML coding, and I create DU's daily Pic Of The Moment (with able assistance from Skinner). Now we've settled into the new DU3 software I've even found time to post the occasional Hate Mailbag, which is good news.

In my spare time -- what little there is of it -- I enjoy action movies and video games.

On edit: since Skinner has busted out the family pics I thought I'd post one of my son too. He is currently interested in becoming an astronaut...

[broiles]

1. I miss the top ten

Hope it comes back soon. That's how I first got hooked on DU.

[ellisonz]

4. Agreed.

That used to be a riot! It's what brought me here too.

[mlevans]

12. ditto

It made Mondays worthwhile.

[Fearless]

21. +3!

[William769]

2. Nice to formally meet you after all these years.

[Neoma]

3. Oooh, what video games?

Female gamer on the loose. <----

[EarlG]

15. Right now I'm playing

Assassins Creed: Revelations, once I've wrapped that up I'm going to move on to Dark Souls (gulp).

[Neoma]

17. I have the game.

But it seems to take time and effort to learn all the moves, so I left it for a later date.

[lumberjack_jeff]

5. The pic of the moment is a major highlight.

It's right up there with Bob Beaudelang, Oscar and the first couple of years of the hate mailbag.

[dmr]

6. Hi EarlG

I love the Pic of the Moment!

[Maeve]

7. The Top Ten brought me to DU, EarlG! Saw it linked...somewhere, can't recall

And the chance to chat with like-minded people without the nastiness soooooo many other boards had is why I stayed. Even an occasional "special edition" of the Top Ten would be a treat!! (hint, hint, thud)

For those who don't know me, my real name is Cathy but took the name Maeve from the Irish mythical queen of Connacht. I've been here since the summer of 2001, spent some time moderating off and on and now mainly lurk--real life work keeps interfering!

[TBF]

8. It was the top 10 idiots that brought me to DU from a music board

in 2008. I had just signed up to volunteer for Obama after a long time away from DC/politics.

[Kali]

9. nice to meet you, Dave!

As I am on sucky slow dial-up and recently had some problems with even that, I had occasion to go to the local wifi-enabled library and spent a pleasant half hour or so laughing my ass off going through your journal of all the Pics of the Moment.

Home page loads slow for me normally so my bookmark is on the Latest page and I miss them most of the time.

[sinkingfeeling]

10. Hi EarlG. Wish you or someone else would revive the Top 10 .

[abelenkpe]

11. Hello!

I found DU through the top ten. Loved it! Totally understand though. Kids can do that.

I'm from the DC area, too. Well was...

Los Angeles has no humidity.

DC has no animation studios.

[zeemike]

13. I found DU through that banner.

That was the best marketing tool ever ....I really think that and the fact you called it underground attracted people...
I know it worked for me because the Bush inauguration was a sad day for me...and I was looking for relief.
And I remember you best because you participated in a thread I started about Limericks...and you blew me away with your skill in making them up...But the top 10 was good too.

[EarlG]

20. I found the limericks thread!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2130853

Thanks for remembering that.

[zeemike]

35. Thanks for finding that

It was fun reading that again...there were so many good ones in it...including yours.

[AverageJoe90]

14. Hey there, Dave/Earl.

I've been a member for only about a year now but I'm not going away anytime soon, and I love it here.

Cheers, man.

[October]

16. Nice to "meet" you. I'm grateful for all you've done and continue to do.

Seriously -- DU made me feel SANE after the GWB/Gore fiasco. Unfortunately, I continue to feel out of step with my own country as we've since endured Palin, Teabaggers, and too many other ultra-right extremists.

Thank you for providing "virtual" refuge.

[xxqqqzme]

18. A very good friend sent

me an email telling me about DU. So I've been coming here for over 10 years. It was a stress reliever at first but it is now so much more.




BTW


I'm still pissed about 2000 and I will NOT get over it - EVER!

[Scuba]

19. Thanks for your hard work EarlG!!!

[AsahinaKimi]

22. Keep up the great work!

Ganbatte ne!! (Do your best!)

[MrScorpio]

23. You and I met at that march in '05

Cute kid!

[EarlG]

25. Yes we did

I remember walking and talking with you for a while, on the way to the White House.

[ProfessionalLeftist]

24. What a cute photo!

I hope NASA and the space program is somehow reconstituted so his dreams can come true. He's already dressed for the part!

[EarlG]

27. Yeah, he's a big fan

(Sorry about the deleted message above, I screwed up trying to edit.)

[ProfessionalLeftist]

30. Awwww..

What a cutie! I love his "Commander" patch. How did he get the cool little spacesuit?

[EarlG]

34. It was a gift from his grandparents

when they were here visiting recently. We got it from the National Air & Space museum out near Dulles airport. He loves going there to see the Shuttle.

[ProfessionalLeftist]

36. Oh heck I'd love to go there. Lucky kid! n/t

[Vanje]

28. I miss the top ten idiots ,..but...

I am enjoying Pic of the moment.
Creative and funny.
Carry on!

[Autumn]

29. Yes, I remember that day. I was so devastated and stunned . I saw

your banner and about a week later I was at work and had finished my lunch and got on my computer and came to DU. I lurked from work for a year or so and then quit for a few months. Then one day I saw a post by Will at some site and came back and never left. Thank you for creating a beacon of light in a dark world.

[grantcart]

31. great job on the new DU3

[pacalo]

32. That uniform is awesome!

He sure looks studious enough to follow through on his ambition.

One of my sons wanted to be a "blocker" when he was around 3 or 4, due to the fact that he was very impressed with the road workers wearing the orange vests, who evidently were "important" enough to block traffic.

And the Ghostbusters phase was a blast. I bought two beige, toddler-sized utility uniforms & I painted the logo on the back of each, along with arm patches. They had the proton packs, ghost-traps, & ghost meters. My sister once caught a glimpse of my sons using the toilet, side by side, with my younger son saying, "Don't cross the streams!"

My next favorite phase was Dragnet, the Dan Aykroyd & Tom Hanks version. Yes, they wore suits, but very inexpensive ones. I made the badges & id cards, which were crucial.

Savor your son's age, Dave, because time goes by too quickly.

Thanks for all that you guys do to make everything nice for us! Please check in more often; we like to know that you care. Plus, we like chatting with you & getting your points of view.

[Warren DeMontague]

33. That a britax, earl? Im thinking maybe roundabout or marathon.

Good car seats.

I could probably get a job professionally installing car seats, at this point.

[maddezmom]

37. He's gotten huge and so cute looking in the uni

Hope you'll find the time to do some more top tens and hate mailbag...but love the pic of the day!

[lovemydog]

38. thank you EarlG

for a fantastic site!

[Generic Other]

39. You always make me laugh EarlG...in the morning with my tea

A pioneer. You have made making a mockery of the right an artform.

[SunsetDreams]

40. Cute kid!

Thank you for all the time and effort you put into making this a great place to be