Y’know what? E2 makes me happy. I like reading nodes and surfing around, I miss my votes as soon as I’m out, I like writing comments on things that I read and then getting messages minutes, hours, or days later and realizing I’ve made a new acquaintance, maybe even a friend. It’s great when someone writes to tell me that what I’ve written touches them, and even though I was taken aback the first time I was *hugged*, I’ve gotten used to it—and feel all warm and fuzzy when it happens.

I had only had my computer for about a month before I found this site, and so I learned copying and pasting and HTML from E2. I had visited a few chat rooms here and there, but was supremely unimpressed. I don’t use a computer at work; this is mostly for fun (and occasional report-writing). About 90% of my time online is spent here.

I’ve got a Word file called wertperch words where I stash the /msgs I get from people (guess whose words I started with?), so that I can go back and read them later. I love it when a writeup or a /msg makes me laugh out loud, and I love it when I find myself in conversation in real life with someone, quoting something I’ve learned here.

I didn’t understand “node what you don’t know” when I first heard it, but now I get it. I may have a vague understanding of a place, or a book, or an idea, but because it interests me and I feel the urge to share it by recording it in the nodegel, I end up researching it. I like learning things, and I wouldn’t have done as much of it in the past four months without this site.

I’ve found that, if I’m in a bad mood because something in my life isn’t going the way I want, or I’m feeling tired or listless, E2 often distracts me and refreshes me and sends me off in new directions. It also works as an extension of the alarm clock (in my case, alarmcat)—I drag around in the morning, I’m not a coffee drinker, I’d rather sleep until the last possible second. But I can bribe myself out of bed with E2.

I did put my money where my mouth is, and I’ll do it again, once I pay off my ridiculously high credit card bill. In the meantime, I wanted to thank y’all for being there, for being funny and smart and open and friendly.

Long live E2!

I did tell dannye that I wouldn’t node about noding anymore, but I think probably a daylog is okay.