I have lurked around these forums for a while, and have (finally!) started posting.

About me...I'm a 30-something living in the Chicago suburbs. I grew up in Illinois, spent a few years practicing law out in Seattle, and then spent a few years down in San Jose, CA. I moved back behind "The Corn Curtain" a few years ago to be closer to family again. I just got married this spring. :)

I was a latecomer and didn't really get into the Dead until 2000. I had picked up American Beauty and Hundred Year Hall in '96 when I was in law school. I liked AB and the 1st disc of HYH, but (for reasons now beyond my understanding) they didn't get more than the occasional spin.

By 2000, I was living in Seattle and happened to see a few of the "floating ticket" series of Dick's Picks at the store. At this point I had never heard "Dark Star," so on a whim I bought DP11 just to see what it was all about. WHAM!!! Fast forward to the present...between Dick's Picks, vault releases, the Golden Road/Beyond Description box sets, DVD's, and about 30 shows burned from Archive before they clamped down on the good stuff, I'm sitting on over 200 discs worth of bliss.

For a long time my favorite years were '72 and '77, but I have recently gotten into '73 and '74 big time. The bulk of my collection comes from these four years, but I've got plenty of 60's shows, and a few from the 80's to keep things interesting. I also have a few shows from the '90s rarely see the light of day...I just can't get into the Vince/Bruce era.

I'm currently listening to 2/24/74 streaming on Archive, riding out the end of the workday, and looking forward to reading and writing many future postings!

Hey Now!
I've been a member for a while, but I haven't made it over here to introduce myself yet! Hi, I'm Andie B! Assorted hobbies: Harp, Guitar, Mandolin and assorted stringed things, camping, hiking, biking, my motorcycle, laughter, good friends, good music, good wine, travel and lively conversation. I was born in Wales, UK, but grew up from age 9 in Massachusetts. I come from a musical family (my mother was a concert pianist, and my father played sax) so grew up with a wealth of musical diversion. I have been playing the harp since age 5 and the guitar since age 8. I graduated early from HS and went from struggling musician to signed artist to someone who plays mostly for her own pleasure. I'm also a mad scientist of sorts and work as a PharmD in research... I saw my first Dead show in the late 70s. I was just a kid getting dragged to a show by her best friend. I can still remember my brother teasing me as we drove to the festival "there's going to be HIPPIES there!" I had no idea what a hippie was then, but God bless the hippies. God bless the Dead. Since then between school and various other adventures, I have seen over 250 shows, met a lot of nice people and wouldn't trade any of it for the world. I used to travel a lot for work having lived from MA to Alaska, San Fran, New Mexico and even Denmark for a while. Now I'm settled in Florida, but still return to New England when it gets too hot down here. I love to catch live music when I can and was able to see quite a few Ratdog shows this tour. Great music, but there is a lot of it everywhere. Thanks to everyone out there who has sent kind notes to me either here or via the Ratdog site... Strangers stopping strangers. I live for this!!
~Honest to the point of recklessness~
~~~ Andie is Althea~~~

Truly sorry for the loss of your wife. Welcome back to being a deadhead!

luv ur logo my brother and well beams out to u and ur ever changing life!

stay safe and feel good!
>><<<< :>

Hello Friends, some of ya may know me from other online GD forums/chats.. For those who don't My name is John...or Johnnycable as I have been known online since the early 90's. From the my old AOL days being a guide JCGuide and hanging in the 710 room and the Rose Garden, to IRC dalnet GDead rooms and MarsHotel and others inbetween to here and DNC. Still on that long strange trip, and loving it. My 1st Grateful Dead show was, and I was lucky to have seen them then....Roosevelt Stadium, NJ Aug. 1974 incredable to have seen the wall of sound, and 4 hrs of music. I was 15, changed my life, about music, about life in general. From there I ended up here, and all because of friends. If there was nothing else to be grateful besides the music they have given us, it would absolutely have to be friends and love and all the grate things that go with them. After Jerrys passing, we all felt the loss and also felt lost, and somewhat helpless. Members reformed, regrouped, rejoined, but it was'nt the same for us and would never be. The Net developed, and we all slowly became rejoined even without our fav band, but with new bands and old friends, and here we are somewhat together again, and with that mutual place we can always talk and hang with our friends, and continue the culture we created. We truly are everywhere and truly are a bond of people that is unrivaled by any other humans on the planet. There's nothing like a Grateful Friend Concert
: )) To all my friends, I am the soundman for LA's Grateful Dead Music Tribute Band "Cubensis" www.cubensis.com Stop by and see us if your around or gather your friends and invite us over your way. Either way we'll see ya at the next show : ))
Peace Johnnycable
www.electricblue.net/JRMAudio/
www.electricblue.net/Deadspace/