45 thoughts on “Hello, Awkwardeers, We’re Famous”

  3. Ahhh, that is a beautiful article and captures so perfectly the spirit of community that both you on your blog and the Friends of Captain Awkward in the forum foster. I’m really happy about y’all.

    Also, no joke, I credit Captain Awkward with making me a better person and changing my life for the better. And I’m positive I’m not alone in that.

    1. I credit the community for making ME a better person and changing my life for the better. ❤

    2. Seconded. And it’s wonderful to see the blog getting the attention it deserves. (Tangential: I’m SO glad London/Bristol meetups seem to be going strong, as I’ll be Bristol-adjacent in two months! I’ve been waiting for a chance to attend one of these things for about two years.)

    3. Same here, and I’ve spread the Awkward love and wisdom to friends in my life who also have enjoyed and learned from CA and the awesome community of commenters. And I’ll be checking back for that mug!

    4. ABSOLUTELY NOT ALONE IN THAT. Has definitely improved my communication with family, friends, coworkers, roommates, people on the street, etc. Better at recognizing and defending my own boundaries, and respecting other people’s (esp. when implicit). So important.

    5. Definitely not alone. And any time a friend has an Awkward type issue, I send them here. Especially if they don’t care for advice columns (I don’t, but I love CA). I’m so happy for this piece!

  4. Celebrate good times, come on! We should do a conga line of awesomeness!

    I love that pic of you, Cap, and I’m so happy for this blog and that we started FOCA. The board has been open for almost a year, can you believe it?

    1. I cannot believe it! It is such an incredible space and I’ve been so grateful to be able to send questioners there and see all the love that comes out of it.

      Pic = bathroom selfie, made artsy & black & white. 🙂

      1. It is SUCH a great photo. I was going to say the same thing in addition to the big smiles over the article! Just an amazing smile and a great face and full of Awesome.

        Also what a cool piece!

  5. Awesome!

    Minor, pedantic nitpick on an otherwise stellar article, the writer refers to the Awkward Army as “Awkwarders” rather than Awkwardeers. Whoops!

        1. I would imagine there can be only one *thunder&lighting* Awkwardest and we’ll have to have a tournament to find out who it is, once our wealthy benefactor starts funding stuff.

          2. Who can hold an awkward silence the longest without saying anything, maybe? Race to stand in the farthest corner of the room?

  7. this seems like a good time to mention that because of what i have learned about how to stand up for myself and use my words in this blog, i am now able to talk with my mother again. thank you SO MUCH Captain!

  10. Heart this article, heart Captain Awkward, heart the Forums so hard. When I stumbled on this whole parade of awesome, it was the first time I think I ever felt “not-alone.” Thank you, everyone.

  11. This makes me so happy ❤ and a Captain Awkward convention would be amazing! I would go to Chicago for that.

  13. Captain (and Awkwardeers),
    Congratulations for well-deserved recognition and thank you for all of your hard work building this space and this community!
    It has helped me be a better person and a better friend.

    ❤ ❤ ❤

  14. Woohoo! Aside from that awkwarders thing, which, hey, is awkward so at least it fits the theme, that’s a great article.

    – If Jill might be interested in doing another graphic, please hook us up; we don’t have art for the forum and I would lurv to have some.*

    – What’ll it take to make a convention happen? If the problem is monies, with this much readership, I bet a kickstarter would do pretty well for seed money. Is there a planning committee? If there is, can I sign up? If there isn’t, what’ll it take to get one going?

    *Properly recognized in the way Jill The Artist would prefer.

    1. Hello!

      There’s more art a-coming and one piece in particular might suit your needs, but I’m happy to email you Jill’s portfolio, etc.

      As for a grand Awkward meetup, I’m sort of waiting for Geekbar to open here as a home base for the event (the owner is a friend), and then figured we would make some kind of planning thread in the forums.

      When we organized these back in the Straight Dope Message Board days (or the days I was on the boards, as that is still a going concern), basically we would pick dates, find one venue that could hold us for a big event on a Saturday evening, and then people would arrange their own travel & lodgings (sometimes locals hosting friends, sometimes hotels) and a bunch of smaller side events, like a happy hour the night before or meeting up at the art museum for a tour. Everyone paid for their own food and admissions to things, so it didn’t really need a Kickstarter per se, though if I had a wealthy benefactor I would try to make the big event free to attend/eat/drink at and pay for Elodie, The Goat Lady, Dianna, and other guest-contributors to come if they wanted to. Let’s talk more by email!

      1. Okay great! I don’t think we should have the exact same art as your site, but something with the same look and feel would be awesome. But if there’s something coming then brilliant! I shall await the word.

        Okay cool beans. It’s a great idea, I know a whole lot of people are excited to hear about it!

      2. Aw, are you no longer on SDMB?

        It always gives me a thrill when I run into someone I know from one tube of the internet, in a different tube. Well, almost always; if I deliberately use a one-off handle in one of the places, don’t contact me if you recognize me, Ed.

        1. Not for about 10 years now. I made a bunch of great friends there but moved on to other internet spaces.

  15. I love the idea of the grand meet-up – I’d even be tempted to cross The Atlantic – board games and karaoke in one room?!?!

    As my handle here suggests, I’m also incredibly thankful for this blog… it’s not just practical advice, it’s a fresh and useful perspective to have on life. So many questions have mirrored something of my problems and it’s given me great ways of dealing with those problems. The only issue is that I get impatient with non-Awkwardeers who forego the most basic CA advice (e.g. with dating, getting too invested in the emails sent before they’ve even met the person). But at least I get to sound all knowledgeable and stuff when I talk about it 😛

    Lovely article all round, and a very glamorous photo too 🙂

        1. Cafepress store in process of being built, will launch by month’s end. 🙂

  17. Whoa, I go away for, like, a minute, and my design work’s in an article. Awesome!

    Carbonatedwit, my website’s linked in my name, and it’s got my email address, but I think the Captain’s right that there’s a thing we’re working on that could work for you.

    Re-lurking now. 🙂

  18. There was just one line that bugged me: “Elodie also admits to being much quieter in real life than on the comment threads…”

    No, no. “Elodie JOYFULLY EMBRACES being much quieter in real life than on the comment threads, much like [I’m guessing] the majority of commenters, which is what makes the comment threads so awesome!”

  21. Best place on the internet 😀 thank you again, Captain, for being the best moderator ever in addition to your awesome posts

  22. Thank you, CA, for wisdom that is reaching another generation. I’ve often considered myself a staunch humanist, an enthusiastic supporter of people’s rights regardless of gender, religion, skin color, etc. I must admit over the many decades that I often see things getting worse–rape cases where cities vilify the victim, friends groups where the guys all nay say the females saying CreepyDude needs to go, etc. It just seemed to beat me down. I felt like my voice in trying to teach my daughter was being swallowed up by the world around us. I kept going, determined that my daughter understand that it used to be so much worse: that pregnant women were never able to prove paternity, much less get child support, that women used to have to get their husband’s permission in writing for birth control, that women used to not be able to get credit for purchases, that men used to not ever be considered for parental custody. Still, it feels like we’re going backwards in some ways. Little did I know that I was starting to slide down the slippery slope of not speaking out and worse, I was beginning to think in unfair and unjust ways.

    Then my daughter started vehemently pointing out how unjust this case was, or that I should really read some websites regarding some news stories. She showed me online writings about rape culture, and it was an eye-opener.

    It was gratifying. It shone a light on everything I had always felt about the injustice of it all. It was sobering. It showed me how much I never questioned things some things. It was shocking to learn that I had never realized that some things were downright criminal.

    This blog has helped this old dog learn new tricks and has helped my daughter learn things that will help make her a better person and my gift to the world.

    My heartfelt thanks to all who participate here and my undying thanks to the Captain who is helping shine the light on the dark places of the earth and making it better by doing so.

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