somebody should take this nyt article about the dynamics and lives of the transient inhabitants of a nyc apartment building and apply it to an internet community, like the commenters over at unfogged or making light or an IRC channel. i participated once in an IRC channel that had twice the drama of these people. they like to party? they sleep with each other? they live above a cupcake shop?! PSHAW. you weren't seein nuthin until you were spending four hours a day on the dalnet radiohead channel (not the "official" radiohead channel; the supercool secretish one) that i was when i was 17. the drama was beyond belief: deep and, i assure you, seriously intellectual conversations; rampant flirting; backstabbing when ops stole control from other ops and banning was raging. all set to the sounds of "ok computer" and "the bends." MADNESS, PEOPLE. madness.

and thus my nerd roots are revealed. as if they hadn't been multiple times before.