What was the first one? Do you remember? Do you remember how you got here, who told you about Squishy? Have you been here for the full year, or did you join on recently?

-- Anonymous, June 09, 1999

Answers

The first one I read was about Pamie going to a bachelor party. I hated it. Hated, hated, hated it. I was so caught up in reading about people's angst that I thought, "What, is this chick trying to be funny?"

Then I realized. Uhhhhh....yeah.

And now I love it. Love, love, love it.

Happy Birthday Week, Squishy!

-- Anonymous, June 09, 1999

Well, let's see. I had never heard of web journals until someone posted something on the Jane discussion boards, and I followed the URL to Squishy. I think the entry was the one where you were at work, and the whole office was trying to eavesdrop on a closed-door meeting, so you kneeled down and looked under the door to make fun of them, but then they opened the door and you took off down the hallway, looking incredibly busted for eavesdropping.

I think that was the first one. After that I went to the archives and read them all chronologically until I was caught up to the present.

-- Anonymous, June 09, 1999

First off: Happy Birthday Squishy. Do you know there's somebody at hotwired.com using that name? Blasphemy!

The first journal I ever read was pow! through which I found a link to you. That was back in March of this year. The first entry I read was 'insanity at pamie.com' (I just checked). I was pretty impressed even though I thought you were a geek for having your own domain name. But I continued to read and found out that while still a geek, you were a cool and funny geek if that's possible.

Here's to another year of Squishy.

-- Anonymous, June 09, 1999

The first one I read was... February 7, 1999. I got here from a link. I remember thinking your site was weird, but then I read the entry and the comedy troupe stuff and I'm like "hey, this is cool". Now, I'm hooked.

-- Anonymous, June 09, 1999

Well, I had recently found Sei Shonagon's journal, the Pillow Book, through somebody or other...I think the Archipelago Webring (journal rings are the only ones I even take time to follow) And she said something about Pamie, and her being another journaler. She mentioned a really funny entry, or something, I think. I remembered seeing Pamie's journal on the Archipelago ring, and saying to myself "squishy? What the heck? I don't think so...it's not even capitalised! If she can't even take the time to capitalize her title, for crying out loud, then how fun is her journal gonna be?" But when Sei mentioned it, I gave it a try, and happened upon the XXXIII rules for XXXIII entry. I laughed so hard I cried. Seriously. I was sitting there in from of my computer, and my fiancee (who I had recently begun dating, at that point) came in to see what the heck was the matter.

"You okay, sweetheart?" "Yeah! This is funniest journal I've ever read! Listen to this!" We read it a second time, and Bill ended up in stitches. So we printed it out, and took it downstairs to show my parents, whe loved it as well. My Dad asked for the url of the site afterward. Since then I come back regularly to see what new hillarity has been concocted, and I send particularly hysterical entries to Bill and Dad at work to amuse them.

-- Anonymous, June 09, 1999

I honestly don't remember the first entry I read. I have to admit that the first time I came here, I didn't like the journal. I only read a part of an entry and just gave up. After that, I kept finding myself back here following links from other people, always forgetting that I had been here before and didn't like it.

I did that about 3 or 4 times until I read one of your entries back in March, I'm not sure what day it was, but it was about the one where you and Eric were shopping and it was raining and you were looking at him and thinking how romantic it was for the two of you to be shopping together and how good he looks wet and then wondered if he was thinking the same thing and he started cursing because of the rain. Very funny stuff. Folks, if you haven't read it, you just have to. I read it from work and was pitifully laughing at my desk like a fool.

I've been totally hooked since! Happy birthday Squishy!

-- Anonymous, June 09, 1999

I first read Squishy whilst searching for reviews on Beastie Boys "Get Nasty". I found a link to "Confessions of a Beastie Girl" and thought "Huh. This outta be good".

And it was.

Sb

-- Anonymous, June 09, 1999

I'm such a newbie. My first post was recent compared to everyone elses (plus this is my first forum post to boot). I didn't even know online journals existed, but I stumbled on one and started to read it, then I found Pamie's "Dammit: Why must I be so tortured and dumb?" from April 2, 1999. Even though I was reading a couple of journals at this point, this was the first one that genuinly made me laugh. I've been hooked ever since.

Oh, and Happy Birthday!

-- Anonymous, June 09, 1999

i don't remember the first one i read, but i had read a pamie hissyfit, and just clicked through to squishy (i'm a sucker for links) i then went in and read about five months of archives...this site is going to get me in trouble, because i always read it at work, and bust out with my terribly terribly annoying laugh that the whole office can hear, because i find it so so so funny...happy birthday squishy.

-- Anonymous, June 09, 1999

The first entry I read was "shave what hair? why i probably shouldn't audition 20 May 1999"

How did I get here? Sort of from Ceej's Black Book by way of one of the webrings. I'm a regular reader of Ceej's pages, have been reading her for about a year and a half now. I started reading online journals for about five years ago... back then there were only a few and now there are countless thousands. Throughout 1996-97 there were a half a dozen journals that I read faithfully but they have all ceased posting. Every once in a while I will go from Ceej's page to one of the webrings and pick a few addresses to check out. A couple of weeks ago I found Squishy and I guess I'm now hooked.

-- Anonymous, June 09, 1999

happy birthday squishy!

here is the path i took to your awesome journal.. which i'm now addicted to! i was checking out Cruel Site of the Day (www.cruel.com) which i usually do when i get extremely bored at work. one of their old site of the day was Dave's (something about mud and rainbows) journal... the link was to the entry in which he strips. [gasp!] i checked out the rest of his journal which was pretty well written and then visited his links section. of course the one that jumped out at me was Pamie's Panties. =)

the very first entry i read was "how to fake a football orgasm" rules for XXXIII. i couldnt stop laughing and i was at work! (i have a cube) i kept checking back and fell in love with the tiny wooden hand and your tae bo adventures. the entry that got me hooked for good was the one about your newly-acquired mach3. and now, i'm not only a daily reader, but also a faithful mach3 shaver.

keep up the great work!

-- Anonymous, June 09, 1999

The first one was Sept 16th 1998 about lookout here comes the Crimson Tide AKA Menstrual Girl. I laughed so hard I got a nosebleed. Rather fitting. I followed the link from Hissyfit and have been hooked ever since. I even read all the back Squishies at the time...how's that for devotion? *grin*

-- Anonymous, June 09, 1999

Menstrual Girl was the first entry I read, too. And I think this must be the fifth or sixth time I've told Pamie that, too. Oy. I really had no idea it was a journal, and then I checked back and poked around, and got addicted.

And then started my own...

Damn you, Pamie!

And thank you.

-- Anonymous, June 09, 1999

I'm not sure this really counts, since Pam came running down the hall to give me the URL. I've been here since the beginning. And I think we need to give Squishy a great Birthday Week. I remember when everyone thought me and Weldon were weird for having Birthday Weeks until they saw the light of day and the huge pile of gifts at the end of the week.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SQUISHY!!!

I don't always read every entry from start to finish but I do read it regularly. So Thank you for adding a little comedy into this hell we call work.

-- Anonymous, June 09, 1999

Feb. 25, 1999 -- The Grammy Awards Wrap-Up Show. And David Kravetz pointed me this way. Since then, I've been reading the column every day.

-- Anonymous, June 09, 1999

I first read the one about the sex tips, which I thought was hilarious. I've been reading them daily since then and trying to catch up with the old ones, but I haven't had enough time :(

-- Anonymous, June 09, 1999

I actually had to go look this one up in "the drawers" because I wanted to make sure I was right and that the timeframe was correct and all.

The first entry I read was in September and it was the one where pamie tells us how she received the scariest "birds and bees" talk of anyone in the universe. Her dad sat her down and -- oh, you should all go read this one. Immediately. It made me laugh out loud, right in the cubicle. No wonder I kept reading. Twisted yet hilarious ... just my style.

-- Anonymous, June 09, 1999

I went and read that entry about Pamie's father giving her the "birds and bees" talk (September 18, 1998). Oh-my-God! Funny isn't the word for it. There is no word for it.

If you haven't read it...go now and read it - you won't regret it!!!

P.S. -- Pamie, I'm sooo sorry! :-)

-- Anonymous, June 09, 1999

Pamie, could your Dad's personality be described as on the Ernest Hemingway/Jesse Ventura side of the spectrum?

-- Anonymous, June 09, 1999

Maybe I should clarify what I mean by the Hemingway/Ventura side of the spectrum: Would you say he tends to lean toward cold-blooded, and gets bored easily, sometimes to the point of picking up self destructive habits?

-- Anonymous, June 09, 1999

Happy Birthday Squishy!

First visit was only on May 14, linked from Kymm. I had been fighting with my husband and I read:

" ERIC
I'll see you later.

PAMIE
Okay.

INSIDE PAMIE'S HEAD
Maybe. Unless I get married on my way home. "

I laughed so hard! I thought I was the only person who thought like that (yes, I plan on running off and finding a "new" husband when I'm pissed). Well, I had to show my husband, which got us laughing and we made up. The Drawers led me almost immediately to Menstrual Girl and that was it, we were hooked!

-- Anonymous, June 09, 1999

im so new to this site, i just found it last week. i was looking at the awards winners for the journals, liked the sound of "squishy"...followed the link...and read about the wooden hand. now, im addicted. happy birthday squishy!!

-- Anonymous, June 09, 1999

It was really hard for me to remember which was my first entry to read, since I immediately went back and started reading all of the previous entries. I'm pretty sure it was 'Pre-Show Nightmares', because I remember thinking, "Damn, Pam's really under a lot of pressure. Maybe I should be nicer to her at rehearsals. Wait, I'm pretty nice. I just get off track a little bit. Kind of like right now." Anyway, I went back and read everything before that and have been reading it ever since. Happy Birthday Week Squishy!

-- Anonymous, June 10, 1999

the first one i read was "twenty months". i thought it truly captured the essence of how relationships mature and we let our defenses down. i was hooked. i think i stumbled across squishy thru geocities of all things because i was hosted in wellesley as well. i didn't read it, however, until i saw it on lemonbugg's links.

-- Anonymous, June 10, 1999

The first one I read was a serious one - about violence in schools. Then I read all the archived ones and cracked up big time.

The reason I like your writing, Pamie, is because I'm so over the whole depressed Gen-X thing, and most journals seem to fit that genre - I don't understand why people inflict their miserable crap on everyone else instead of just going to a therapist. I like reading about the lives of people who are happy, and are intelligent enough to fix a situation if it's not entirely to their liking, instead of just bleating about it.

I found Squishy through a link from Love, Curiosity, Freckles and Doubt, in which Dorothy referred to the school shootings and mentioned Pamie's experience. I'm very glad I found it!

-- Anonymous, June 10, 1999

I first found Pamie through a Tae-bo link (I didn't even know about online journals). I was immediately hooked and spent the better part of the work week reading squishy chronologically, with fascination. Pamie, I'm amazed at your energy and how you successfully juggle so much at once! Keep it up, grrrl!!!

-- Anonymous, June 10, 1999

Hmm.. I don't really remember what entry was the first one I read. It was back in September, or maybe August. then I slowly became addicted.

And how'd I get here? Hmm.. Hissyfit may be a good guess. But probably, through Rebecca Eisenberg.. yeah, I would probably bet that's the path I first took.

-- Anonymous, June 10, 1999

Oh... squishy birthday to you, squishy birthday to youuuuuu....

The first Squishy entry I read was "Punch Drunk: Billy Blanks beats me up." I cracked up when I read it, and then immediately emailed the link to my friend Laura, who'd been telling me about Tae Bo just a few days before. She loved it too. I don't know if she became a regular reader, but I did. (and that entry inspired me to invite Laura and her tae-bo tapes over...but that's a story for another thread.

-- Anonymous, June 10, 1999

I do believe the first one I read was "chihuahuas can talk" Yes, I'm quite new around here. I like it though, I think I'll stick around.:)

-- Anonymous, June 10, 1999

This was the first page from the first vist after following a link from diarist.net link from about.com where I was merely browsing for a playwright's section that they don't appear to precisely have. Oh, right, that wasn't the point of your question. The insurrance company claim dialog sounds like ones I've had with the cable scum. As the man says, "I feel your pain."

Good luck, eh?

-- Anonymous, June 10, 1999

I believe I first read Squishy right before you left on the CO vacation where you got hurt on the slopes, because I remember reading one entry and thinking "I have to wait for her to get back??" I have been reading ever since. I think my fave so far has been "Chihuahuas can talk."

Keep it up, pamie. Happy Birthday Week to Squishy.

-- Anonymous, June 11, 1999

The first Squishy entry I read was the one about the new sheets. I was at work and the other people in my office kept asking me what was so funny, and I couldn't stop giggling long enough to explain or to read it to them. I was hooked at that point, both from the story (humor and good writing, what a concept) and because my ex-fiance is an actor and I miss hearing about rehearsals and auditions.

I linked to your site from Trey's (It Came From The Porch)... figured if he liked your site there must be something special about it, and I wanted to see what that was. I'm now an official Squishy addict. Happy Birthday Week!

-- Anonymous, June 13, 1999

I think the first thing I ever read was the Menstrual Girl episode. I died. I thought it was the funniest thing I ever read. I showed it to my boyfriend. He said, "Did you write this?"

"No," I said. "Pamie did."

"Who's Pamie?"

"The person who wrote this."

"Why is she writing about her period?"

"To give us girls insight into what you guys go through each month."

"Oh."

Don't take it to heart that he doesn't appreciate your sense of humor, Pam. This is coming from a guy whose lawn mowing uniform is a San Antonio Spurs jersey and red boxers. The fact that he has a lawn mowing uniform is amazing in itself, is it not?

I want everyone to know that the 'r', 'd' and 'a' keys on this particular computer stick. That comes from me spilling beer all over it. I will resume typing without correcting the stickage to see how it looks.

......

It's not sticking. Of course, I'm not using the 'r', 'dddd' and 'a' keys very much. Oh, D is working now. Isn't that just so typical? You try to make something funny, and it oesn't (it worked again!) want to cooperate.

Anyway, I found squishy after Pamie wrote me e-mail to tell me that my Geocities piece-of-poop guestbook refused to work. The whole 'panties' thing freake me out at first, but it's aaaaaall good now.

I'm done.

-- Anonymous, June 14, 1999

I can't remember if the first entry I read was the Valentine's day cards or the Alanis 'Letter's to Ex's' entry. The "And I want my Pixie's tape back. I mean it!" line is a regular between my friend's and I.

Thanks for all the laughter! Happy birthday Squishy!

-- Anonymous, June 15, 1999

I haven't been coming here very long. I got here through Shmuel and the first entry I read was about violence in schools. It made so much sense and was written in such an interesting way that I just had to read more. I have a lot of time on my hands, and needless to say, I now spend a lot of it catching up on Squishy. There's still lots to go, and I hope it's a long time before I run out because I can't see myself taking interest in French class anytime soon, and I'm in for two more years of it.

Happy birthday Squishy!!!!!

-- Anonymous, June 16, 1999

it was the one about lili taylor! one of the early ones! that gives me squishy street cred, right? another favorite was the football/orgasm one. happy belated birthday, smarty.

-- Anonymous, July 15, 1999

The rant about Brittney Spears was the first entry I read.

I read a forum semi-regularly for Gen X people (ooo, look, Mom! A label!) and a thread was discussing Ms. Spears and her, , qualities.

I have a vested interest in her, because a friend of mine was involved in a mall signing with her just before the heavy Hollywood promotion took off. I found everything funny what everyone bitches about or oohs at, concerning her. I've asked my actor friend several questions about her and his experience with her, all to my own amusement as the forum and several other people talk about her.

I cannot decide which entry is my favorite! The tiny wooden hand, the nose hair episode, the numerous family stories involving your grandmother and the "I may date Barney" entries all rank highly as far as I'm concerned.

I've been reading for roughly two months now, but I think, think I have caught up and read all the entries. That was the longest two weeks of my life I've ever had, just trying to finish reading them all! To quote Mr. T, "you sucka!".

-- Anonymous, July 17, 1999

It was the one about the back scratcher, needless to say I laughed all day and people started bringing me over tissues. I must say I now giggle like a mad woman without a dose of prozac if I see or hear anything about little wooden hands. I also had to stop ordering pizza, the poor guys would get there and wonder why I burst out laughing when they come to the door.

Thanks for the giggles.

Stacy

-- Anonymous, September 14, 1999