What's Your Fucking Problem?? - Authorized stand-in edition

Good evening and welcome!  Elizabeth put out a call at Street Prophets for a stand in host/hostess for tonight's edition of WYFP as she is attending a retreat/conference this weekend.  She graciously gave me permission to post in her stead.  She was very much looking forward to this weekend, so here's hoping she has a wonderful time!

* Won't you please share the joy of WYFP by recommending?

WYFP is our community's Saturday evening gathering to talk about our problems, empathize with one another, and perhaps share advice. Everyone and all sorts of troubles are welcome. May we find peace and healing here. :-)

Welcome to tonight's edition of  *WYFP??-Postcards From The Peanut Gallery

"No noise from the peanut gallery" my father would sometimes say with a wry smile and a twinkle in those lovely, changing-color eyes of his.  What he was really saying was: "Hey, you little smart ass, quit pointing out when I'm wrong about something (and by the way, I'm proud of you for doing it)".

Other times, the same phrase carried a more instructive intent: "You do not know enough of that which you speak (but I'm proud of you for speaking up anyway)".

I have long since regarded the Peanut Gallery as a quiet place of observance with occasional forays into commentary.  Its derivation is a bit different from my interpretation:

    "The term Peanut Gallery became popular in the late  1800s, referring to the peanut-munching patrons who sat in the cheaper, upper rows at the theater and would throw their snacks on theatergoers seated below."

I came to DailyKos to get information.  I was not well-informed and good information was hard to find.  Now, after two years, I have countless examples of taking what I have learned and going out into my little corner of world.  I am better armed because of it.  I believe I've touched people with information I have gathered here.   I attribute that to participating in a well-informed community, albeit I read far more than I contribute. The Peanut Gallery is often the first stop after lurking and many of us stay there.  Many go on to become fantastic diarists and leaders of great causes.  And no matter where we find ourselves, all of it counts and all of it matters.  Such is the function of community.

But as many of us have learned, it's more than the exchange of information here.  I have celebrated births, and mourned deaths.  I have laughed a little, and I have laughed until I cried.  I have wept for the loss of innocence and I have rooted for everything from new jobs to fixing a leaky faucet. I've kept some of you in my thoughts, because I said I would.

Have you not noticed that the "community-based" diaries have grown in proportion to the growth of site participants?   The reason is clear.  The sense of community that we experience is not only sharing of ourselves and taking a break from the rigors of the day, it is essential to our growth and survival.

MFP is this was a hard week and my heart is heavy still. Also, today we moved my 78 year old mother out of the dream home she built with Dad nearly 35 years ago and into a spanking new condo.  Beginnings are good. But when I opened a drawer and gazed down at a 25 year old picture of my father and me smiling with our arms around each other, I realized that saying goodbye has many, many levels and goes on for a long time.

So once again, I need you (like the flower needs the rain) and I'm feeling worn ( I'm tired, Joey boy, of the makings of men) so I turn to my family and I turn to you.  And thanks, for being there.  I am a proud member of the Peanut Gallery.

     -"Brotherhood is the very price and condition of man's survival." Author: Carlos P. Romulo

     -"What we have to do ... is to find a way to celebrate our diversity and debate our differences without fracturing our communities". - Hillary Rodham Clinton

     -"There is a communion of more than our bodies when bread is broken and wine drunk". - Richard Louv

     -"Sisterhood and brotherhood are conditions people have to work at. It's a serious matter. You compromise, you give, you take, you stand firm, and you're relentless...And it is an investment".- Maya Angelou

     -"We may not be on the same page, babe, but at least we're in the same book - One Bite At A Time:(

So tell us, brother/sister, what's your fucking problem??