Excellent advice, EL. And a hearty welcome to all current and future newbies.

I checked on the status of the new gourmet deli that's supposedly going in on the street level of 10 South Street (under the red/white striped dual awnings). Attached to the front window are the usual permits that indicate the entire building of 6 or 7 floors is being rehabbed. A pair of brand-new attractive wooden doors have been added to the main entrance but so far there is no further indication as to the deli's name or opening date. Just an FYI ...

Excellent. Thanks.

BTW - what is the actual date of D@L's anniversary? This might figure into the plans for the Blogger Party ...

April 18. Celebrations will be held.

Obviously Bacon Girl's name was a madeleine for me. Plus, come on, everything's better with bacon.

The Membership Committee has held an Emergency Meeting and, the Matter Brought Before Them was throughly discussed (well as throughly discussed as can happen in the middle of a bread roll fight) and a Vote was taken. The Special Select Committee on Nome de Plums having both Met and Voted, it is Decided that Hal Laurent (VoR) may Coin, Select, Adopted and Use a New Nome de Plum so long as an initial period of dual identification is used. This Vote of the Special Select Committee on Nome de Plums has been Ratified by the Committee of the Whole Wheat of the Membership Committee, sitting in Special Session. The Minutes are Hereby Approved for Publication.

Good advice. In my case, I have yet to find someone who spells my name in this fashion, so I feel pretty good. Then again, I'm less likely to be one of your more colorful or opinionated commenters, so I fly slightly lower on the radar

I'm not sorry I use my real name. I believe that one is more likely to be reasonable when not hiding behind an anonymous handle.

Elizabeth - I just looked at the post that you linked to above. We have very very topics now days that have only 6 comments.
My, how we've grown!

I was thinking of going back and linking to some topics that could use more discussion one of these days.

such as where to get peppermint ice cream.

Cheap topic ideas during the Dark Time: link to those old little commented upon posts.

Rosebud (and everyone else): Please check my latest post on the Blogging Party thread. Thanks!

I think Erik is P for Pioneer, but he's got me on the O.G. I'm sure he'll enlighten us. Perhaps it has something to do with Owls and Gravy.

I forgot to mention Eric. I can't even remember why he's Eric (P.O.G.) now.

I could link why but I'm too lazy...but mostly since everyone else is doing it. Besides, every once and awhile there's another Eric that props up and for some reason I feel violated. I think I need help...Thanks for the free therapy Elizabeth!

Not sure what name to change to: Has Gailor been taken?

Alan - Thanks for making me LOL! Of course now everybody around my cubicle thinks I'm certifiable.

Me! Me! What about me? Don't I comment enough to make the list? And I even have a linkable name!

Yes, but you were a good girl and chose an unusual user name from the beginning. That list is regular commenters who have had to modify their names.

As for using your "real" name Hal Laurent, assuming that is your real name, the Devil always hides in plain sight.

Oh crap, I just realized I've morphed into VD Pork. Damn!

I blame Piano Rob.

A shot of Vitamin E should clear up that VD Pork.

Drats. I'm still trying to figure out the social tags from that January thread.

This made me laugh out loud when I realized what you meant. I better link to it in case others have forgotten.

My daughter's new pet inspired my new identity. It was time for a change anyway - was having a mid-blogging crisis.

Excellent, but please note RtSO's notes from the Membership Committee above.

VDP - Wow! I'm a link! Thanks.

Can that pooch play Prokofiev's Third Piano Concerto?

Oh, and I fully accept and acknowledge the blame.

If you copied that picture's or some other's URL (web address) to the URL box here, people could see you all the time. That goes for anybody. You can put any web address in the URL box: your blog, a picture of dog playing the piano, whatever. And then if someone clicks on your name .... woosh ... there it is. Get happy!

It's not even my best side.

Hey, hold on there Mr. Pork. It was bad enough when Mr. OMG outed me with the publication of my picture, sometime back, but please tell me your not my (obviously) evil twin. The family resemblance is, well, striking.

Or, is the mystery revealed, Mr. Pork. This is the proof we have needed. You, Sir, are in fact Mr. OMG!

Lemme skool ya Dahlink - sorry but "what is O.G." means you're over 40. Not that there's anything wrong with that, my moms is 2score. O.G. is so last Tuesday that it should be culturally accessible to all older blancos who have recently added a skosh of "fo shizzle" to their frappacinos.

BTW I bounced by ChinJolly the other at lunchers and spied with my little eye the dining room which looked like a posh veal pen, all tightwise and linear. Not beckoning this calfster. Then I slinkied past RA Skushi (Skanks + Sushi) where a servatron's mamgear implored Pleasure Yourself! Oh, no skanks Tunacado, keep your BOB, this FMG (Fresh Mint Gaijin) is airborne.

Gosh, it appears that the upcoming Bloggers Party will be the exquisitely perfect opportunity for OMG and VDP to prove they are/are not one and the same.

But here's a frightening thought: What if there really are only five of us contributors using different monikers?

I swear that I am the one & only, original Piano Rob and I go by no other screen name.

Oops, busted. I liked the picture. Recycling is sincerest form of flattery.

Congrats RTSO, you solved a mystery, but not exactly the one you think. You Mr. Pork have some splainin' to do. Now I have proof that you have been stealing photos from my cool library of cool things. I said you could use my office computer when I was away for emergencies. Does D@L ever meet that criterion? I think not.

feel my wrath

Pretenders beware.

OMG - I have to beg to differ with you.
D@L always meets that criterion!!!

You are right Rosebug, but he's still out of the Taloned Avengers. I'll expect his unitard and cape on my desk by Monday along with the quarterly sales projections for Allied Conglomerated. Bacon Girl sounds like a promising replacement or maybe krazee RokChik if she's old enough. Skushi ... good one.

So far, I think RokChik has the edge.

Maybe if she changed her name to Hickory Smoked RokChik.

Mr. Pork, I am sorry to hear you are not my twin.

Ms. Rokchick, I took the last paragraph to Babble Fish, but could not determine the language of origin. Could you please provide simultaneous translation. Feel free to use American, if English is a foreign tongue.

RTSO, I do see a resemblance between you and piglet, but as you can see I am much more evolved.

To quote The Tick:

"We are a justice sandwich!"

Evil-doing chains, EAT OUR JUSTICE!!!!

Welcome Bacon Girl. What is your superpower? Mine is sarcasm. Take heed arch-nemesis Dick Chainy, your onion will bloom no more. Ca-CAW!!

The very smell, much less the taste, of bacon supplicates even the most formidable foe.

Much better superpower than carpet man, who would use his carpet suit to build up static electricity and shock his opponents, only to quickly overheat and pass out.

Plus, I can fly.

Together, Feathered Friend, we will defeat the Chains of Evil.

I'm hoping this is Bacon Girl who forgot to type in her user name, and not some pretender. EL

A bacon pretender? Oh, that's low. I suspect my former comrade and now arch rival Voodoo Pork, the obverse of Bacon Girl. (Okay, I've been waiting to use obverse metaphorically my whole life.) Fear not Taloned Avengers, RokChick is defending our fortress of solicitude with her Axe of Mighty Power Chords. Oh this is all so frustrating as I am not yet back at the Owl Lair, I must leave the defensive details to my trusted manservant Harpischord Barry. As the meaty riffs from Foghat and Blue Öyster Cult resonate throughout the Halls of Arbitration back to the Nest of Fortitude, I beseech you: Beware the Forces of Oversalted Pork products, the Taloned Avengers will shred you like, well, overcooked salty meat.

Bacon Girl seems to have fled the scene.

Just struck by a horrible thought--now that Lady E. has urged people to choose distinctive names, what if Gailor has morphed into rokchik? Gailor, come back!

The story of Crisco (actually interesting and scary):

http://www.westonaprice.org/motherlinda/fats_crisco.html

And another elucidating short article on lard in pie crusts, with a recipe. Great stuff. The name of the pie place is intriguing (OMG).

http://www.westonaprice.org/motherlinda/lard.html

This is a great site for this kind of topic. Somebody here turned me on to it. There is also something on this site (I can't find it right now) that talks about a much higher quality lard that you can get from a butcher. I would imagine that better raised and fed pigs have better lard. Here's something on the topic:

While some bakers and cooks insist that nothing equals lard, not all lard is equal. The best lard is what’s known as leaf lard, which is obtained from the hard white fat around the kidneys (the leaf) of young pigs. It has a neutral flavor that won’t make pie crust taste like bacon.

Leaf lard is different from commercial brands of lard sold in supermarkets. First of all, most commercial lard comes from back fat. But worse, some commercial lard contains harmful trans fatty acids – artificial saturated fats that are introduced by bombarding fat with hydrogen gas and a metal catalyst to give it shelf life and the ability to stay solid at room temperature (think original Crisco).

“The leaf lard is the purest,” said Lee Markholt, owner of The Meat Shop of Tacoma, which sells leaf lard obtained from certified organic pigs.

from:
http://dwb.thenewstribune.com/soundlife/story/5160098p-4693041c.html

I actually use another name when at work - Harbinger. There's a crisis in the DC universe.

R(tSO), I ran RockChik's message through my own homemade Sk8rGurl translator.

She said:
BTW I bounced by ChinJolly the other at lunchers and spied with my little eye the dining room which looked like a posh veal pen, all tightwise and linear. Not beckoning this calfster. Then I slinkied past RA Skushi (Skanks + Sushi) where a servatron's mamgear implored Pleasure Yourself! Oh, no skanks Tunacado, keep your BOB, this FMG (Fresh Mint Gaijin) is airborne.

Translation:
She walked past Cinghiale at lunch and the seating in the dining room looks cramped, which displeased her. Then she stopped by RA Sushi where a server was wearing an onanistic t-shirt, she cleverly references the Tunacado from their menu in a sarcastic manner, she plays on O.G. sort of, gaijin means she's not Japanese and then leaves. Simple.

Ms. Terriermom - Thank you. I could have been waterboarded and forced to eat RF sushi and would never have understood.

terriermom, thanks for leaving out the parts where she trashed me. Yes, I am over 40 and proud of it. May you look half this good when you're as old as I am, young'un!

Terriormom reminds me of Barbara Billingsley in Airplane.

Bingo, Rosebud. Yes, I speak fluent jive!