The End of YesButNoButYes -Goodbye from Miss Cellania

Scaramouch told me we was considering ending YesButNoButYes and I said mmm, OK, whatever (or something like that) because I really didn't know what to say. Then later he suggested we all write a goodbye post and asked how we felt. I don't know if anyone else responded, but I didn't, because I still didn't know what to say. Man, saying goodbye after these past few years turned out to be a lot harder than I thought. I'm going to miss being a part of the greatest pop culture blog on the planet. Or maybe not.

Back in 2005, my circle of friends in yahoo groups discovered a website by a really funny woman and I was intrigued by the format. A blog? The group geek suggested I read Boing Boing, which I did, and by following links, I found YesButNoButYes. What a cool blog! Inspired by YBNBY and a couple of other sites that no longer exist, I upgraded to a new computer so I could start my own blog.

I wanted my site to be as cool as YBNBY, except maybe not so ...male. I can't describe how excited I was when Jellio actually mentioned me in the Breakfast Links one day. Well, of course, no one here knew how excited I was, since I hid it behind a snarky comment. Soon after, someone, I think it was Aquaman, emailed me about becoming a contributor. Man, that was big. I idolized Jellio and Evil Richard and Big Picture and Razen and Aquaman. I think I had also heard of Scaramouch, but I'm not sure. New York admen! What a cool bunch -and they wanted me to post at their site!
Scaramouch found my first post and remarked how prescient it was.

Anyway, my name is Miss Cellania and I'm glad to be part of the team. My five-year mission: to make sure this site never gets too serious.

2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010. Isn't that five years? And it was a lot of fun. I posted things over here that I was too shy to put on my own site. I wrote about penises (a lot) and boobs and porn stars and sex toys while trying to maintain a ladylike air. I found sex in science, math, history, art, language, and literature. I tried new things, likes quizzes, recipes, and comics. I tried contests and collaborations, but nothing succeeded like sex and humor. Both at the same time is best.

As time went by, I had to stretch to come up with original material. That's hard when there are so many people, here and elsewhere, mining those themes you like best. Posting things about my personal life was one way to publish what no one else had. I'm surprised to find I put so much of my real life on YBNBY ...actually more than I put on my own site! You read about when my equipment failed. And my job as a full-time blogger. The wonders of my new home became a series: the mystery of the second floor, part one, part two, and part three. That second floor is now a living space. You saw embarrassing photographs of my younger days and even who I fantasized about in the "I Would" list. But you know YBNBY is special when I chose this site to chronicle how I fell in love and got married. And no one gave me a hard time about it! What a wonderful bunch of readers!

For my birthday gift one year, Scaramouch posted a list of my top ten stories. Besides those that did well (and other stories linked here), my favorites include the video of a mule that kicked a chicken, my Thanksgiving leftovers, and the Monty Python spoofs and remixes. Some that I worked really hard on (heh heh) but got very little traction were The Boys of Tiger Beat, All Praise the Penis!, and Up Yours, Cupid! I also had a lot of fun with the Lunch Hour Veg section.

A couple of years ago, I finally got to meet the crew when I took a personal (no kids) vacation to New York City. I knew their voices, I knew their pictures, and I finally got to put them all together in a loud and crowded meeting with Scaramouch, Bairman, Johnny, Echowood, and Razen in a neighborhood bar. I found out that chili and gin go together just fine. Then Johnny and Echo escorted me through the subway, which would not have been necessary if it weren't for the gin. A good time was had by all.

There have been times when I felt a little overwhelmed by the testosterone at YNBNY. Sometimes it was a balancing act. There were some ideas and links I thought about twice and left for the guys to post instead, cutting my own throat financially, but some posts were really not appropriate for my byline. There were other female writers who didn't last long here, and I suppose each had their own reasons for leaving. But I stayed, because I love these guys. And you know what? Despite the locker-room posts and banter, they really love women. They love the concept of womanhood, and as you know, they love women's body parts. They also love the women who are close to them. They never throw disrespect at anyone who didn't ask for it. They are not the kind of writers who rely on meanness for a laugh. They all have a great way of recognizing the absurd where they find it, without going for the throat. I've learned a lot from all of them.

Since joining YesButNoButYes, I've gone on to writing for Neatorama, then mental_floss, then Geeks Are Sexy, and now I'm the managing editor at Neatorama as well. Those doors might not have opened up if it weren't for the guys here who gave me that first chance. I still try to keep up with my personal site, Miss Cellania, since it started making money recently, as well as an additional link blog Miss C Recommends. I will certainly miss the wonderful camaraderie from the contradictors and the Loyal 77 here, but y'all are invited to come by and visit me everywhere else!

Portrait by Ben Rollman.