I’m not the official welcome wagon, but I do spend a lot of time on A|N, so I’ll take the liberty to welcome you and tell you a little about the site.

There are three ways to join in the conversations here. You can use the CHAT ROOM, or you can post a discussion in either the FORUM or in one of the GROUPS. The FORUM has different categories for posting discussions, and it is open to everyone here. To post a discussion or comment in a GROUP, you must first join that group.

There are over 500 groups so far, so just about any area of interest you can have will be represented. There are regional groups, groups for ex-Christians or ex-Muslims, and groups for pot smokers, bikers, singles, gamers, the LGBT community, parents, and pet lovers. Groups of common interest include: music, science, writing, politics, Chomsky, Dawkins, philosophy, morality, ethics, cinema, feminism, human rights, memetics, sexuality, history, race & culture, gardening, vegetarianism, books, beer, propaganda, Cynicism, Objectivism, news, anime, Doctor Who, free speech, the NFL, Carl Sagan, psychology, Humanism, science fiction, horror films, gun owners, Star Trek, and much more.

You are welcome to start your own group, but I might suggest that you first check to make sure that no such group for that particular interest already exists (for example, we already have four LGBT groups).

I've started ten groups here (no comments my OCD, please), so please join any you think you might be interested in: HERCULANEUM: A PLACE FOR MEN, FOUR SCORE AND SEVEN YEARS AGO, THE KNIFE & FORK, HUMANE ATHEISTS, CONSUMER ETHICS, A TRICK OF THE EYE, ODDITORIUM, ARS POETICA, LOVERS OF SHAKESPEARE, and LINGUAPHILES & SESQUIPEDALIANS.

When commenting in a group, be sure to select FOLLOW at the bottom of the screen so that you’ll be informed of follow up comments to either the discussion, or to your comments. Also, the unspoken preference on A|N for responding to the comments of another member tend to be that you copy the text to which you are referring, paste it in your comment, italicize it, and then write your response below that. That way everyone knows to whom or what you are referring. You should also activate all links or URLs you post.

The best way to see what’s going on elsewhere on the site is to monitor the LATEST ACTIVITY feed on the right side of the screen. You’ll see new members announced and the conversations that are attracting the most attention.

Again, welcome aboard. I hope you enjoy it here, as I do.

Thanks for joining ODDITORIUM, and thanks for the add, Soup.

We don't have nearly enough of them here in Idaho ;)

I bet you don't. They're not exactly coming out of the woodwork here in Texxus either.

Understood, while I don't really talk much about atheism here, it is nice to socialize with atheists. I think, for the most part, they tend to be more analytical. Though I'll have to admit that there is a HUGE variety of people, some nicer, some more liberal, some more intelligent, some more thoughtful than others. But, of course, other than non-belief in fairy tales, there is not much more that atheists have in common, generally speaking.

As for Dallas (re your Boise comment), it has gotten quite liberal here. Dallas County has been Democrat for some time, and in the last Mayoral election we had an openly gay candidate. He lost only by a little bit. There have been several gay members on the city council in the past, and many on there now are openly gay friendly. In fact, I've heard that most plan on appearing in the upcoming gay pride parade, though I never attend stuff like that. I'm not really into the gay scene. We also have a lesbian Sheriff, though the Republicans are always trying to unseat her.

If someone is going to try and debate that with me, chances are they're just as convinced that there is a god as I am that there isn't one.

Ditto, understood. There's no point discussing it, it seems. If they are ready for atheism, they'll seek it out themselves.

Idaho sounds, well, kind of pathetic. Alas, there is so much of that in the US, though.

Thanks for the kind words, man!

The Mormon element has been dragging us down for years.

All religions drag us down, slow us down, and turn back the clock.

...than ever set foot in Arkansas again...

Never been, but I can't say I've ever wanted to go either. People tell me I'd like Seattle, but I've never been there either. If I could move somewhere it might be there, Boston, Portland, or perhaps Berkley.

Sorry I didn’t respond earlier.

All religious elements drag us down, sure. But you haven't seen anything until you've seen an area under a Mormon stranglehold.

No doubt.

The outdoors element of Utah is awesome (same goes for Idaho - even in Boise, we have a pretty excellent trail system in the hills around town).

I bet it is. Very deserty, isn’t it? The desert has its charm.

Seattle ain't bad. The people aren't the friendliest…

Why is that?

How was your trip to Encinitas?

Your description of Utah sounds a lot like Texas.

Aside from an emergency room visit and an unfortunate encounter with a very religious Englishman who was offended by my Circle Jerks t-shirt...

You can't just leave it at that. What the heck happened?

Racer 5 IPA is one of my new favorites.

Have you tried the Chinese beer Tsing Tao? It is awesome. I also like Young's Oatmeal Stout, and Asahii Black.

My week was fine, kind of busy, kind of boring, and a little stressful. There is a possiblity I could get laid off, so that has me a little worried. Won't know until later this week though.

Soup, again, sorry for such a slow response time. Sapporo is nice, but I still think Tsing Tao is better. But what a person likes is highly subjective, so my advice is for people to always eat or drink what they like. :)

Asahii Black isn't everywhere here, just in certain kinds of stores. It's about $14 a 6-pk.

I can't remember if I've tried Samual Smiths or not, same for Old Speckled Hen and Boddingtons.

What's TMJ? How could the jaw become dislocated like that without any force?

Of course, the xtian English guy is just a hypocrite and fascist, like they all are.