How is this not BirthdayFilter?!

September 4, 2008 9:02 PM

Dear Askme, "Hi, my boyfriend set up a secret website and recruited all of my friends to participate in it without my knowledge. Should I seriously DTMFA for that?" Shit, I hope not! Oh! and Happy Birthday, Jessamyn!

By posting this thread, I have revealed the existence of this birthday blogcard to Jessamyn. Many thanks to all of you who tolerated my one-time spam to sign the card. (I sent a form letter to everyone on Jessamyn's contacted-by list asking them to sign it and bob's your uncle; it was the only way I could hope to keep it hush-hush until today.) Your responses to it were so... so good.

And to those of you who didn't get spammed by me, since the lolcat is now out of the bag, feel free to give Jessamyn a birthday hug via that card, too. She's 40 today, y'know! Wow, spending a tenth of your life defending MeFi from teh suxx0r...

posted by not_on_display to MetaFilter-Related at 9:02 PM (117 comments total)

Dances in my birthday suit for jessamyn.
posted by ColdChef at 9:07 PM on September 4, 2008

OMG the cuteness of the pictures in that card! This is very adorable! Happy birthday to you!
posted by onlyconnect at 9:07 PM on September 4, 2008

Hmmph. First I've heard of it. I am quite disappointed. Nonetheless:

Happy Birthday Jessamyn! You are very much cool!
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 9:15 PM on September 4, 2008

Don't trust anyone under 40, and have a great day!
posted by Dave Faris at 9:21 PM on September 4, 2008

Happy birthday Jessamyn.
posted by tracicle at 9:27 PM on September 4, 2008

jessamyn is so very, very much less than three.

Happy Birthday. And sorry for being a total douche to you.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 9:31 PM on September 4, 2008

Happy Birthday, kiddo. You should in theory take the day off.
posted by cortex (staff) at 9:33 PM on September 4, 2008

Happy birthday!
posted by Kwine at 9:34 PM on September 4, 2008

"Sheesh, it's hardly midnight on my birthday and already I'm getting email about new MeTa crap. WTF?"

O Happy Day, Jessamyn!
posted by carsonb at 9:35 PM on September 4, 2008

Eight and a half years of Metafilter ought to do terrible things to a person, but you've handled it, and us, marvelously. Happy birthday, Jessamyn, and here's to many more.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 9:40 PM on September 4, 2008

Happy birthday!
posted by klangklangston at 9:40 PM on September 4, 2008

Happy birthday! Woo, champagne!
posted by adamdschneider at 9:41 PM on September 4, 2008

You should in theory take the day off.

Pfft, didn't you guys just get Labour Day off?

*Sniggers, runs away*
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 9:41 PM on September 4, 2008

Oh, and very happy birthday!!! You get extra - and unironic, I might add - exclamation marks!!!
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 9:41 PM on September 4, 2008

♪ ♫ Hip to the hop, and the beat don't stop. Except for ♫

skrrritchhh...

You're birthday!

♫ Commence partying ♪
posted by self at 9:42 PM on September 4, 2008

Happy The Jessamyn Birthday! WOOHOO!

Also, I think there may be a some problems with comments on the card... My actual comment has "posted by RikiTikiTavi" on it, and the comment following mine has my name on it, though it's from Wilder (and her name shows up on the next one, and etc... I guess).
posted by taz at 9:42 PM on September 4, 2008

/dances in ColdChef's birthday suit for jessamyn.

Yay! Three! Three kinds of creepy! Ah, ah ah!
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 9:43 PM on September 4, 2008 [9 favorites]

Well done. Happy birthday.
posted by chinston at 9:44 PM on September 4, 2008

I signed the blog-card, but for some reason my name showed up as 'Ell' in the comments. So jessamyn, just so you know, Ell = me. And happy birthday!
posted by Effigy2000 at 9:45 PM on September 4, 2008

Happy Birthday Jessamyn!
posted by amyms at 9:47 PM on September 4, 2008

Happy Birthday, Jessamyn!
posted by crossoverman at 9:51 PM on September 4, 2008

Oh hey, it's not Ask green any more! Lovely work on that, n_o_d.

(Also: happy almost your birthday!)
posted by majick at 10:01 PM on September 4, 2008

Jessamyn! Happy Birthday
posted by Sailormom at 10:05 PM on September 4, 2008

Happy Birthday, Jessamyn!

DTMFA? n_o_d, well done, sir, well done.
posted by geekyguy at 10:07 PM on September 4, 2008

Also, I think there may be a some problems with comments on the card... My actual comment has "posted by RikiTikiTavi" on it, and the comment following mine has my name on it, though it's from Wilder (and her name shows up on the next one, and etc... I guess).

nah, the design is just off. the double horizontal lines cause the confusion:

your comment text your comment text your comment text your comment text your comment text your comment text your comment text your comment text your comment text your comment text your comment text your comment text your comment text your comment text
-----------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------
posted by: yourname at datetimestamp
posted by UbuRoivas at 10:16 PM on September 4, 2008

taz: "Also, I think there may be a some problems with comments on the card... My actual comment has "posted by RikiTikiTavi" on it, and the comment following mine has my name on it, though it's from Wilder (and her name shows up on the next one, and etc... I guess)."

The formatting's just weird -- it puts two dividers between each comment and its byline, but nothing between the byline and the start of the next comment.

I'm just glad the comment below mine was not utterly scandalous.
posted by Rhaomi at 10:17 PM on September 4, 2008

Hey Jessamyn, it's your birthday
We gonna party like, it's your birthday...

How should we do that, exactly, though? What is it like to party for your birthday? We are weak, and you must have instructions...
posted by Navelgazer at 10:18 PM on September 4, 2008

Happy birthday, Jessamyn.
posted by pjern at 10:24 PM on September 4, 2008

*hears shouting, runs in from the other room*

*******
SURPRI---- oh. Okay then.
*******
posted by LobsterMitten at 10:25 PM on September 4, 2008

I got some fail over there: "This post has been removed by the author." Er, really?

Try #2: Happy birthday!!
posted by NortonDC at 10:29 PM on September 4, 2008

pic of the reveal?
posted by LobsterMitten at 10:30 PM on September 4, 2008 [1 favorite]

Aw, that blog is adorable. Happy birthday, Jessamyn! I hope you have many presents and/or alcohols, depending upon your preference.
posted by Caduceus at 10:31 PM on September 4, 2008

Cutest birthday gift ever. I wish you love and happiness

....:busts out the al green:
posted by cashman at 10:36 PM on September 4, 2008

.
posted by blue_beetle at 10:37 PM on September 4, 2008

So, so great. You are, that is. Also, this whole scheme. n_o_d is way sneaky. Do NOT DTMF!

Happy birthday!
posted by rtha at 10:39 PM on September 4, 2008

Oh my gosh, thanks everyone!

When n_o_d told me to meet him on the chatmachine and make sure my webcam was working this is, er, not really what I was expecting. As you might guess I am nearly impossible to surprise yet this came totally and completely out of nowhere. Wow. Thanks.

What is it like to party for your birthday?

Well tomorrow I am having an early lunch with Eideteker who is cruising through town on his motorcycle. Then I am planning to fight with my new bicycle some more. Then I'm having drinks/snacks with a bunch of friends. Then Saturday is a potluck/housewarming at my newish place, maybe the drive-in. Planning some sort of pancake something on Sunday. Sleeping in, that sort of thing.

And, as always, clicking reload but this time not (just) because I'm at work. Thanks, this is sweet and really touching.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 10:45 PM on September 4, 2008 [4 favorites]

Happy birthday etc.
posted by evilcolonel at 10:51 PM on September 4, 2008

♫ Happy Birthday, happy birthday, happy birthday to you.♫
posted by Cranberry at 11:00 PM on September 4, 2008

Thank you for everything you do to make our metafilter so special!

I appreciate your hard work! Happy birthday!

winna
posted by winna at 11:01 PM on September 4, 2008

W00+! Happy birthday, Jessamyn! Hope it's teh awesomest.
posted by ugf at 11:27 PM on September 4, 2008

O hai! Happy Birthday!
posted by lodev at 11:29 PM on September 4, 2008

Happy birthday, Jessamyn! Please consider this comment as an online coupon good for one free fuck.
posted by Skot at 11:32 PM on September 4, 2008

Happy Birthday Jessamyn! You rock :D
posted by Happy Dave at 11:32 PM on September 4, 2008

Happy Birthday! I had no idea the card/site existed until this post either
posted by mathowie (staff) at 11:32 PM on September 4, 2008

Nice job pulling this off with nobody being the wiser. That takes some craft.

HBDJW!
posted by Astro Zombie at 11:40 PM on September 4, 2008

Too old; didn't read.

I kid; happy birthday! I'll be at 40 soon enough....
posted by dw at 11:41 PM on September 4, 2008

happy birthday jessamyn! hey, skot, how come i didn't get a free coupon for my birthday?
posted by judith at 12:06 AM on September 5, 2008

* hands ColdChef a towel*

Happy Birthday!
Welcome to the 40 and up club! You're just the kind of new member we like best!
posted by From Bklyn at 12:13 AM on September 5, 2008

Dances in my birthday suit for jessamyn.

And no image tag to commemorate the occassion. Pity.

Happy Birthday Jessamyn.
posted by three blind mice at 12:35 AM on September 5, 2008

Thanks, this is sweet and really touching.

One would hope that despite our {occasional|frequent|constant} douchiness you realize the esteem we hold you in.

You're a hell of a person.

Now could you please breed, multiple times, and inflict your progeny on the world? I can only imagine that a Child of jessamyn would be a hell of a world leader. Or clone. Cloning yourself would also be acceptable.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 12:35 AM on September 5, 2008

Happy Birthday!
posted by DreamerFi at 1:57 AM on September 5, 2008

oh Haipaibirthday
posted by Rumple at 1:58 AM on September 5, 2008

Recently, I was diagnosed with A. A. A. D. D. - Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder.

This is how it manifests itself:

I decide to water my garden.

As I turn on the hose in the driveway, I look over at my car and decide my car needs washing.

As I start toward the garage, I notice that there is mail on the porch table that I brought up from the mail box earlier.

I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car.

I lay my car keys down on the table, put the junk mail in the rubbish bin under the table, and notice that the bin is full.

So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the rubbish first.

But then I think, since I'm going to be near the mailbox when I take out the garbage anyway, I may as well pay the bills first.

I take my chequebook off the table, and see that there is only one cheque left. My extra cheques are in my desk in the study, so I go inside the house to my desk where I find the can of coke that I had been drinking.

I'm going to look for my cheques, but first I need to push the coke aside so that I don't accidentally knock it over. I see that the coke is getting warm, and I decide I should put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold.

As I head toward the kitchen with the coke, a vase of flowers on the counter catches my eye: they need to be watered.

I place the coke down on the work surface, and I discover my reading glasses that I've been searching for all morning.

I decide I better put them back on my desk, but first I'm going to water the flowers.

I set the glasses back down on the work top, fill a container with water and suddenly I spot the TV remote. Someone has left it on the kitchen table.

I realise that tonight when we go to watch TV, I will be looking for the remote, but I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table, so I decide to put it back in the lounge where it belongs, but first I'll water the flowers.

I pour some water in the flowers, but quite a bit of it spills on the floor. So, I set the remote back down on the table, get some towels and wipe up the spill.

Then, I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do.

Jessamyn, watch for any, or all, of these symptoms of A.A.A.D.D. Happy Birthday!
posted by netbros at 2:08 AM on September 5, 2008 [14 favorites]

Apologies for layout usability madness, I had been trying to fix it... but it was a long day at work, and I fell asleep, and I work up with a start at 4:30a and realized it was still broken, and I just fixed it now. You can now also subscribe to the signatures... I figured they might still be trickling in all day or something.

Happy birthday Jessamyn! And, much coolness on n_o_d for pulling this off. :)

Going back to bed,

blue andrea
posted by blue andrea at 2:11 AM on September 5, 2008

Netbros, that's called "Jak Shaving"..
posted by DreamerFi at 2:18 AM on September 5, 2008

Happy Birthday Jessamyn! Your tireless work on Metafilter is much appreciated.
posted by MrMustard at 2:59 AM on September 5, 2008

Flagged as wonderful!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 3:43 AM on September 5, 2008

Er is er één jarig, hoera, hoera,
dat kun je wel zien; dat is zij.

*everybody points at Jessamyn*

Dat vinden wij allen zo prettig, ja, ja,
en daarom zingen wij blij
Zij leve lang, hoera, hoera,
Zij leve la-hang, hoera, hoera,
Zij leve lang, hoera!
posted by jouke at 3:49 AM on September 5, 2008

There are only 250+ comments on the birthday card? Jessamyn is so much more interesting and important than Sarah Palin, FFS!

See you tonight, birthday girl.
posted by terrapin at 3:58 AM on September 5, 2008

Happy birthday, Jessamyn!
Will there be llama rides tonight at terrapin's place? Cos all the best birthday parties have llamas.
posted by goshling at 4:18 AM on September 5, 2008

Happy Birthday!

Life really does begin at 40!
posted by konolia at 4:25 AM on September 5, 2008

Happy Birthday! (The link downloads an mp3)
posted by micayetoca at 4:54 AM on September 5, 2008

Happy Birthday, Jessamyn! I'm going to the library today in your honor.
posted by lukemeister at 5:23 AM on September 5, 2008

Happy birthday! Welcome to the gravity club.
posted by Heretic at 5:54 AM on September 5, 2008

OMG the cuteness of the pictures in that card!

That birthday picture in which you look about eight might be the most awesome kid picture I've ever seen.

And the peculiar thing is, you don't actually look that much different now to how you looked then. Most people, when photographed, try to restrain their joy, but almost every picture I've ever seen of you seems to have all that joy bursting out in just the same way that the (estimated) eight year old jessamyn does.

I think that's a kind of rare thing. I suppose it's hard for most forty year old people not to feel weighed down by the weight of the world. It seems to suck all the spontenaity and joy out of them.

On the basis of how happy you always look in photographs, I think I probably should envy you.

Happy Birthday.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 6:05 AM on September 5, 2008

Happy birthday!
posted by The corpse in the library at 6:10 AM on September 5, 2008

Then I am planning to fight with my new bicycle some more.

OMG BARACK FIGHT
posted by cortex (staff) at 6:14 AM on September 5, 2008 [2 favorites]

Happy birthday, you young whippersnapper.
posted by bondcliff at 6:20 AM on September 5, 2008

And the peculiar thing is, you don't actually look that much different now to how you looked then. Most people, when photographed, try to restrain their joy, but almost every picture I've ever seen of you seems to have all that joy bursting out in just the same way that the (estimated) eight year old jessamyn does.

This is well observed and very true. And though I said it in the card, I'll say it again here: happy birthday! The best is yet to come!
posted by languagehat at 6:31 AM on September 5, 2008

HAPPY BIRDSDAY, JESSAMYN! As my note on the original card signs me as "Russell", I am hereby letting you know that I am known here as "hobgoblin". And I think this is the best birthday idea ever. Many more!
posted by Hobgoblin at 6:37 AM on September 5, 2008

Happy birthday Jessamyn! You are the most impressive person I internet-know.

Hm, that reads like damnation with faint praisation, but I really do mean it. Continue to rock.
posted by gleuschk at 6:40 AM on September 5, 2008

Happy Jessamyn Birthday!
posted by JohnnyGunn at 6:43 AM on September 5, 2008

Jessamyn, you are an internet demi-deity. And a gentleman and a scholar, figuratively. Well, the scholar part is literal, of course.

It's nice to know that someone like you is still having birthdays. Keep it up.
posted by SlyBevel at 7:02 AM on September 5, 2008

Happy Birthday Jessamyn! In the year ahead, may you be blessed with the beautiful, strange, wondrousness of all the best life offers.
posted by honest knave at 7:06 AM on September 5, 2008

Happy birthday Jessamyn (1968), Jesse James (1847), Dweezil Zappa (1969) and Raquel Welch (1940)!
posted by grumblebee at 7:19 AM on September 5, 2008

Happy birthday, Jessamyn! You are awesome!
posted by marginaliana at 7:21 AM on September 5, 2008

Happy Birthday, even with the creepy all-seeing bike that'll soon have its own show on Fox...
posted by pupdog at 7:21 AM on September 5, 2008

Happy birthday and many happy returns of the day, Jessamyn!

(Netbros, I like your accurate description of CRS syndrome...I am sure Jessamyn will come up with all kinds of hacks and workarounds so she can remember stuff, though.)
posted by homelystar at 7:22 AM on September 5, 2008

Oh, that reveal picture is heart-warming. Looks like you appreciated the effort.

Oh, and happy birthday!
posted by MrMoonPie at 7:23 AM on September 5, 2008

Happy Birthday, library lady.
posted by heyho at 7:43 AM on September 5, 2008

Happy birthday!
posted by middleclasstool at 7:43 AM on September 5, 2008

Happy Birthday and seriously thanks for being awesome in general.
posted by burnmp3s at 7:50 AM on September 5, 2008

Happy Birthday! Grattis på födelsedagen!
posted by gemmy at 8:15 AM on September 5, 2008

Yay! Happy birthday! sdfsld kfjso dif7jsdöf1ij!
See, I can do it too, Gemmy. :P
posted by CitrusFreak12 at 8:28 AM on September 5, 2008

Alles Gute zum Geburtstag, Jessamyn!
posted by the littlest brussels sprout at 8:33 AM on September 5, 2008

Happy Birthday, Jessamyn!
posted by owtytrof at 8:43 AM on September 5, 2008

H4ppy B1r7hd4y, J3554myn!
posted by not_on_display at 8:43 AM on September 5, 2008

Happy Birthday! I had no idea the card/site existed until this post either
posted by mathowie at 2:32 AM on September 5 [+] [!]

not_on_display: You forgot to tell mathowie!!
posted by typewriter at 9:06 AM on September 5, 2008

not_on_display: You forgot to tell mathowie!!

That's a paddlin'!!!!

And Happy Birthday, Jessamyn!
posted by tommasz at 9:12 AM on September 5, 2008

I got you a piñata, but I smashdeded it.
posted by Divine_Wino at 9:13 AM on September 5, 2008

Aw. AWWWWWW.
posted by katillathehun at 9:49 AM on September 5, 2008

Woo Hoo from me too!!!!
posted by snsranch at 9:53 AM on September 5, 2008

Because it needs saying again: Happy birthday! And many many more!

This place would go down the toilet in a nanosecond without our heroic mods, so thanks for doing what you do so well. We love you to pieces, but that doesn't mean you can take the day off, understand?
posted by Quietgal at 10:08 AM on September 5, 2008

Woo-hoo! Happy Birthday to the big J!
posted by ooga_booga at 10:49 AM on September 5, 2008

mathowie: "Happy Birthday! I had no idea the card/site existed until this post either"

Hey, I spammed you, mathowie! Don't you read your spam? Jeesh, what kinda world is this where I send spam and it gets ignored?

Oh yeah, that'd be the "real" world.

tommasz: "That's a paddlin'!!!!"

ThankyousirmayIhaveanother!
posted by not_on_display at 10:53 AM on September 5, 2008

everyone knows mathowie can't keep secrets
posted by terrapin at 10:59 AM on September 5, 2008

woohoo! birthday awesomeness!
posted by rmd1023 at 11:49 AM on September 5, 2008

Yeah!! Happy happy day!!
posted by pearlybob at 12:23 PM on September 5, 2008

Happy Birthday Jessamyn! When I get drunk tonight, know that I'm doing it in your honor!

And because it's Friday.

But mostly, for you. Mostly.

and Friday.
posted by quin at 12:33 PM on September 5, 2008

h
b
2
e
posted by dersins at 1:57 PM on September 5, 2008

Happy Birthday!
posted by jason's_planet at 2:11 PM on September 5, 2008

Happy Birthday! I love the podcasts.
posted by metastability at 3:11 PM on September 5, 2008

Happy Birthday Jessamyn.

In tribute, I promise not to reveal my true purpose of setting up a Metafilter account to spam for an SEO concern for a whole week. Would you like some HDMI cables for a birthday present?
posted by panboi at 4:48 PM on September 5, 2008

happy happy happy birthday to my favorite mod! (er, no offense to the other two.)
posted by emd3737 at 4:56 PM on September 5, 2008

I don't want to make Jessamyn's birthday too much into Metafilter's birthday, but I would like to mention here just how fucking incredibly much Jessamyn has proven herself under fire here and how much I admire her for that. We all sort of know this but I think it's worth saying out loud that Mathowie is defered to, whether you like his admin decisions or not, because he has root access control and inventor status over this entire place. Jessamyn does not have that golden hammer but she's found her ground and managed to hold it here anyway. She accomplished this mainly through being reasonable and responsive. What a fucking feat. She was the first admin. She took on one of the smartest/toughest communities on the web at the exact moment the founder realized he couldn't handle it all alone anymore. Did she survive the effort? Shit. She set a standard and blazed a trail for more to follow. I am a Corex fan also but there is just no way that his cheeky routine would have worked back when Jessamyn came in. I love Cortex's routine but the truth is that Jessamyn made it possible.

MetaFilter has been an embattled piece of shit since we've all been around but in a very real way Jessamyn breathed new life into it be relieving the founder of some single-point-of-failure status and much day-to-day angst management. Jessamyn wins a friend pretty much every time she has a one-on-one interaction with someone here, and she is at her best when this community is at its worst. She's got all kinds of qualifications that make her an interesting professional on the cutting edge of information management, but we've become astonishingly used to taking her for granted on this random noise channel we call MetaFilter.

Jessamyn - you have made this place in a huge way. It could have fallen crushed under its own weight but it's lived on and grown bigger. It's still got a human face. We love you for it.

You are awesome - I hope you had a fantastic birthday!
posted by scarabic at 9:56 PM on September 5, 2008 [10 favorites]

Seconding every word that scarabic just wrote.
posted by Rumple at 10:49 PM on September 5, 2008

Seconding every word that Rumple just wrote.
posted by UbuRoivas at 1:14 AM on September 6, 2008

(that means, like, scarabic *squared*)
posted by UbuRoivas at 1:15 AM on September 6, 2008

scarabic dung good
posted by Rumple at 8:46 AM on September 6, 2008

Yay jesssamyn! Happy belated birthday.
posted by goo at 11:02 AM on September 6, 2008

Happy Day After Your Birthday, jessamyn!

(It boggles my mind that jessamyn and I are both from Vermont, went to Hampshire, and have consecutive birthdays. I SWEAR I am not trying to be this weird creepy life-copier. It just *happened.*)
posted by grapefruitmoon at 11:15 AM on September 6, 2008

Happy belated birthday, jessamyn!

You're one of several reasons I feel (mostly) safe here, and I appreciate that beyond measure.

May the coming year bring you as much joy, love, and good fortune as you can manage.
posted by batmonkey at 12:06 PM on September 6, 2008

Happy Birthday, Jessamyn!
posted by scottymac at 2:59 PM on September 6, 2008

ALL HAIL OUR GREAT AND GLORIOUS OVERLIBRARYLADY LONG MAY SHE REIGN IN HEALTH
posted by casarkos at 7:10 PM on September 6, 2008 [1 favorite]

:)
posted by not_on_display at 10:01 PM on September 7, 2008

And I got to be the first man she saw on her birthday. Hells yeah.

Happy birthday again, Jess. That was a great breakfast.
posted by Eideteker at 11:06 AM on September 9, 2008

Woo! I've been on honeymoon and so missed the email, the blog, the signing, the birthday, the announcement, the MeTa thread, the party and all the other hoopla. Nonetheless: happy birthday!
posted by Jofus at 12:32 PM on September 10, 2008