As some of you know (though some of you don't) tomorrow, May 30th, is our founder's Birthday. In the midst of glitter and celebrations I thought it would be neat to do something a little different from a typical birthday thread...

How did you first meet Jay Lauser? Did you find him through Holy Worlds or the other way around? Share as much as you feel like, and let stories of friendships abound. Feel free to use this to post your congratulations as well, or to tell us what everything he's done means to you.

Celebrate!

I met Sir Emeth when I started prowling these forums as a guest. I read his posts and learned his essence mapping. Then I went and joined, and continue to enjoy swapping LOTR trivia and insights with him, as well as reading his thoughtful posts.

Met him the day I was born. He was about eighteen months old. I don't remember it but we have a picture...

*raises hand* O! O! O! I have a good story! Funny story, it is! *clears throat*

So, a month or so after joining, I had gotten to know Inesdar and Airi relatively well...sort of. Anyways, so I knew them well, but I didn't know Emeth, persay. I just read a lot of posts referring to him as "The Dark Lord" and etc. therefore, I was sort of timid of meeting him. For the main reason; I had never met the site admin of any other forums I was on...they ish the silent, but deadly people that aren't very active in the forums.

Anyways, I told Inesdar (I'm probably going to end up calling him Shark Bait by the end of this post. ) that I was scared of the admin. Little did I know that he was actually telling Emeth these things I said. Otherwise I would have never said I was scared of Emeth.

So, one day Shark Bait told me that he had been telling Emeth about me and that he was sad that the hyper-active user (because I don't think I was an editor in yee olden days...) was scared of him. I found it kind of funny that this big, scary, admin-person that can memorize 42 digits of pi in one night was actually upset that I was scared of him.

Skip ahead to the next day and Emeth shows up in the chat room, not a very uncommon occurrence. Since I'd joined, I'd seen him come into the chat room, lurk some, then disappear. So when Amanda said "Hi, Jay!" (or something of the sort) I said "Oh, he never talks. He's just lurking." to which I was shocked to hear (or rather see) Emeth say "I don't?"

A long chat, a few attempts to solve a riddle, win the war of who knows more words, and wrestling between Shark and Emeth later, we ended up with two council members and an admin all in the same chat room and it was hilarious chaos. In the end, I found out Jay was really nice and funny and I wasn't even remotely scared of him.

Anyhow, I can say I "know" Emeth now, but I don't remotely know him compared to the council members and etc. But just thought I'd pop in and say happy birthday, Emeth!

Bethany Faith

Well, it was through HW. This isn't a meeting-Jay story, but rather an one-of-the-first-real-conversations with him and Dieki.

It was funny because I had figured out how to do all of the different fonts, like this before them. Hurricane was there (Vanya to the rest of you), and she's saying something like 'how it was funny because Elly was showing the two techies how to do the fonts'.

I met Jay through Christian Filmmakers. Our first memorable encounter was Easter: A Twitter Reenactment, where he did an excellent job of playing the roll of a hardened centurion. (If you ever need a Roman soldier, Jay's your man!)

Some time later, the Kondraels were attempting to interest me in Holy Worlds. (I know... 'tis a shame one has to be convinced to join Holy Worlds. The things the uninitiated miss!) I was encouraged when I heard Jay was in charge of it. Knowing Jay's standards of morality, I figured anything he was a part of was worth investigating.

After joining Holy Worlds I had more opportunity to get to know Jay better. I've been blessed to work with him on several other projects, including Debugger and the Christmas reenactment. And, of course, I am VERY happy I joined Holy Worlds.

Thanks, Jay, for all that you do around here! You started this (read: it's all your fault), and your spirit set the tone of this forum. Thank you, and may God bless you on your epic 21st!

I kind of sort of met Emeth through a topic about HW on the Rebelution forum. I asked if he could give me the link to it so I could save it for later (and I ended up a couple months later actually looking at it). I don't have many good stories, but I've sometimes harrassed him with PMs for help, to which he has patiently responded.

I met Jay on CF.org. He was asking for help on the Debugger project.
I periodically make attempts to help with projects, and usually get brushed off or ignored. I don't know anything, and so I have nothing to offer, and I expected nothing else from this project either, although the premise intrigued me more then any other film I'd offered to help with. And then he made what I call his fatal mistake... he encouraged me to find something to help with. So I did! I posted on every single thread he started, and started coming up with ideas whether I knew what I was talking about or not. When we started getting setup off site, starting with just Google docs and e-mail I was delighted to find I was still on the project. There was this spreadsheet we were making with all the potential team members and I about fell out of my chair when I saw my name was second... and that's how I became the assistant producer for Debugger.

We started talking almost every day, and I discovered that he was remarkable in more ways then just being willing to pay attention to me. I already knew the Kondraels from the same site and I'd signed up for Holy worlds some months previously, and finally started hanging around and participating. One thing led to another, friends led to more friends...

I still remember being nobody. No one ever listens to me, that hasn't changed. I would look at people who were moderators and think "That could never be me." I heard about teenagers who managed to do things, but I had no opportunities. I can't be a one-man team. I tried and tried, and failed. I had no friends in the area to work with, and I had no contacts online either. And then, suddenly, overnight, my life changed. I find it so ironic when other members say something about being in awe of the Council, or never being able to do something big like that. It took me forever to get used to being asked questions, and be able to give authoritative answers. All of this... Holy Worlds and Debugger, Dreams and Triumphs... it's something I never had until a year ago.

A single year.

Jay, you're one of the best friends I have ever had, and I wish you a truly happy birthday.

Happy Birthday Jay!

Well, I met Jay on Twitter; one of my friends introduced me to him. I think it's quite funny, he had no idea I was me for a long time. I hope you have a blessed birthday, Jay! Thank you for all that you do around here, it is appreciated!

I do not remember when I first met Jay. (It was on HW.) But I do like it when admins do come on and post and chat with us members from time to time. Some of the other forums that I have been on the admins are usually too busy.
Happy Birthday!!!

I first heard of Jay on the Rebelution forums, through which I found HW. Like Bethie, I was rather intimidated at first; that didn't last long! Once in the Chat Room...

Thank you, Jay. This forum has blessed me immensely in my writing and in a community of writers. Happy birthday, sir.

I joined Holy Worlds the day after I stumbled onto it. It was so obviously good and active that I didn't even bother to browse it much. However, that meant I knew nothing about anyone on the forum, including Jay. Eventually, I talked to him through a chat feature on one of his blogs, and now e-mail him regularly to tap into his vast knowledge.

I met Jay on the Rebelution Forum. His posts were very intriguing, and we contacted one another. Soon the internet-friendship extended to facebook and we kept in touch regularly. We even started an email-accountability group.

I actually came to Holy Worlds on the recommendation of a friend. After reading the posts of a chap called Sir Emeth, I began to think "he writes a lot like this guy I know." Finally, I emailed Jay and asked him if he knew anything about the fella. He responded, "Yes. We are one and the same." So I joined.

God has blessed me richly through my brother, Jay Lauser. He may never know the times his influence has spared me from falling. God bless you, Jay! Increase in the favor of your LORD daily!

Deo Volente,
Pavalini

Happy Birthday!!!


As far as I remember, Jay posted something on the Rebelution about HW, so I decided to check out the site. I've never chatted with him, really, but I've got to know him a bit better through his blog posts and work on HW. (and Buzz and Twitter)

I met Jay (Sir Emeth) through Holy Worlds. When I joined I was having some issues setting up a username for some odd reason. Jay helped me figure it out eventually.

I, too, have been immensely blessed through this site and the people here. ^^

~Calen

I know of Jay more than I know Jay but I want to wish him a happy birthday.
Happy Birthday! *Gimli trumpets extra loud*
*Gimli wonders why I'm not cowering in deafness*
*Gimli notices I'm wearing ear plugs*
*Gimli is mad for being tricked*
Me:

I "met" Sir Emeth through HolyWorlds. Varon shared the link with the young writers over on the YWP nanowrimo forum. I explored HW a bit, and I thought it looked really good, but since I was heavily involved in nano forums at the time, I didn't join. However when I was told I needed to leave YWP because I had exceeded the age limit, I took a second look at HW, and decided to join.

I have always had (and still do, to a certain degree) a fearful awe of admin on pretty much any website I happen to have joined. Especially when I'm new and unsure of what I'm doing. I don't know Sir Emeth very well, but what I do know of him is all good. My first contact with Emeth was when I asked his permission to use my ASCII art sword in my signature. His reply was so nice; and he liked my sword. Since being a member of HW, I've learned much through discussions I have been a part of with Emeth, and I have especially been enlightened through Emeth's insightful and challenging blog posts on his blog.

HolyWorlds has been a real blessing in my life, and I want to thank you, Emeth for making it so. May you have a joy-filled, and overflowingly blessed birthday!

I was looking forward to today for a lot of reasons. One was that I knew all you wonderful people would do something. I couldn't wait until I knew what it was. And you all didn't disappoint. :D May all your well wishes and felicitations rebound and redound upon you all with exponential extravagance. :dieshappy:

Reiyen: You actually learned essence mapping before you joined? Wow, brave man. Haha.

Matthew: * grins * I remember that picture. We've gotten into a lot of trouble over the years, haven't we? ;)

Bethith: I was hoping you would tell that story. :D Don't worry... a lot of people are scared of me before they actually get to know me. Even some of my best friends were scared of me when they first had contact with my writings. I've gotten better about it, though. Word wars help, yes? ;) :D

Elly: Haha! I remember that. I installed that feature but never really used it, and so forgot the syntax. :P Oh well, I got to learn it twice!

Rachel: Haha, no problem. Oh, wait, sorry, wrong spot. ;) I've never regretted joining up with that most enjoyable and challenging endeavor of yours. Thanks for putting up with my crazy time zone! Haha.

Lady Aris: I remember that, actually. Funny the things one remembers. I doubted you actually would get the link back out later (statistically speaking, it never happens), but I am so glad you did! And your PMs require no patience, it is an honor and a pleasure to help. :)

Katie: I listen to you, sister. :) Always. I remember those early posts of yours, and thinking, "Anyone who has a harp and long hair in their avatar has to be awesome." * grins * I also saw a lot of potential in you that other people weren't seeing, and I wanted to bring that out. I knew you were a good investment, and I still know it. You are one of my best friends, and I pray you always will be. Thank you for being there for me when I need you.

Stephanie: * laughs * I recall that quite vividly. I think you were recommended to me as a fun person in the "talkative" class. ;) You are fun to chat with, definitely, so it wasn't wrong. :)

Eveningstar: Yes, it is a chronic tendency of us 'big folks' to get wrapped up in our admin panels and leadership boards, that we forget that we started the forum... for us to use! Haha. Besides, I doubt I would ever be able to keep from interacting with all you wonderful peoples for very long. ;)

Shawn: Another Reb! :) That chat room is handy, eh what?

Jonathan: I remember that first chat... took me forever to figure out who in the world you were. :D But I am glad I figured it out, you are a good friend. I really enjoy our email conversations (even when I can't get to 'em as fast as I would like to... such as the one in my inbox right now, haha).

Blake: * shakes head * Ironically, you weren't the only one to confuse alternate names. Took me forever to figure out that you two were the same. Haha. I look back on those early days with fondness... I need to get back on the Reb forums again. I've learned so much since then. Sometimes we wish we could do things over, but we have to realize that God works through us... mistakes and all. Thank you for your encouragement, brother. :)

Brendan: And we had many vibrant discussions afterwards, on everything from Warhammer to word wars to our races in our worlds. Lots of fun. You were one of my initial inspirations that incited the creation of HW. :)

And... there is more to that story. ;) You didn't tell us which bus stop you were going to, and so we were waiting at the wrong one! You're fault there, buddy. :D But it was so worth it to spend those few days with you and meet you in real life. The first Reb I've met in person. :D

Arias: Yep, I am pretty networked, haha. I try to make it easy for people to "know" me, even if they never email or chat me directly, although I love it when they do that too.

Calenmiriel: Oh yes, I saw that list of various spinoffs from 'calenmiriel' and I figured, "Ah, the system must have been acting up again. Poor girl." Haha. Glad we got it worked out finally! :D

Suiauthon: I've seen you about, though, so ours is a mutual following. :)

BushMaid: I always think of you as 'Wombat' haha. And I do love your sword. ;) And I always look forward to your comments on my blog. :)

Okay that is way over the smiley limit. ;) So I am disabling the graphics for this post, so I can keep all my facial communications intact. :D

Thank you all with exuberant gratitude!

*giggles* An Emeth post that went over the smiley limit. *puts on things I'd never thought I'd see*

Oh, yes! I love telling that story...though, the one with the flame thrower and the water boiling is also pretty funny. Vanya said she liked this story best, though, so I thought I would tell it. 'Twas fun!

My dad is sort of like that. Everybody is scared of him from a distance, but then we they talk to him they just found out he's a big ol' Teddy bear. Yup! Word Wars do help!

I know I'm a tad late, but... that's not really new. Happy birthday, Emeth!

How I met Jay? Hm, well, I'd seen his posts on the Rebelution a lot. So when I saw about Holy Worlds, and all those crazy fantasy writers like me, I just had to join! I'm ashamed to say I know a lot about Jay, but don't really know him.

Anyway, have a great day, Sir Emeth!

That was a very long post, Sir E! Happy Birthday!

That's alright, Celestria.

Well, that isn't uncommon at all, so don't be ashamed. Thanks!

Haha, twas, Elly. But very fun to write (and, I hope, read).

Ooh, I enjoyed reading it.

You're not late! It's still his birthday! Katie just wanted a good chunk of posts written before Jay woke up. Muhaha, the benefit of wacky time zones.

I hope you're having an awesome day, sir!

* laughs * Thank you! I am indeed.

There was almost an overflow of posts.

The whole thing worked better than I thought.

Worked out awesomely.

Happy birthday, Jay!

I met Jay through my brother. I don't know how he met him. I guess I was a bit scared of him too, being this big internet person when I was just getting into Google Buzz and Christianfilmmakers.org and really being nervous about meeting people online. (Not a problem now, haha!)

I don't talk to him very often, but he's always been a perfect gentleman to me - put me at ease when I was nervous.

Methinks you were a bit scared of everyone, Melody. I am glad I was able to put you at ease though, that is an encouragement to me.

@Katie: It seems to have work out splendidly

@Melody: *laughs* I'm still nervous about meeting people online (and having said so I realize that a forum is an odd place to say that XD). I grew up being told all this stuff about not giving people personal info or chatting to people I don't know. It's all sloooooowly fading, but only slowly.

@Jay: Ah, well maybe I'll have to say hi next time I see you on chat if you aren't too busy. I typically don't start conversations because I'm afraid of bugging people.

Oops, forgot to say happy birthday. So, happy birthday!

I am glad you think I am fun to chat with, Jay. I am rather quiet in reality until I get to know people better, but I feel so at home with everyone on here; it's great! I like to chat, yes that is true. I can be a real chatterbox.

Oh yeah...Remember playing out behind Berean Bible Church with the Lafayette boys?

O Sir, Happy Birthday!
Let's see...my sister told me about Holy Worlds, and I began to browse through the forums. Gradually I became more and more interested...and then I caught my first glimpse of Sir Emeth.
He had an avatar of a guy in full armor with a huge sword. He had a very impressive signature. He was like 20. And he was a PUBLISHED AUTHOR. I was surrounded by quiet awe.
After I joined and learned that he was the site administrator, my respect deepened. Also his impressive knowledge of martial arts helped.
I can't say I'm still afraid of you, O Sir. But you still have my respect.

Happy Birthday, Sir Emeth!

I'm afraid I don't have any funny stories... I just met Jay through the Reb. Since then, I've gotten to know him a little better through his blog and HW, even though I haven't talked to him much.

Definitely was fun to read. Even if I do bring to your mind the thought of a big, fat, lumbering, black, Australian animal... I don't think I will ever shake that image or memory every time I see one now.

Arias: And thou didst! Unless that was some other personage by the same name, haha.

Lady Aris: Haha, thank you!

Stephanie: Yep, the computer tends to bring out the chatter in people somehow. Haha.

Matthew: Oooh yes. Those old-style pine cone fights were awesome. Do you remember going out to their place? They had an awesome house. First place I learned about stick-sword fighting.

Aemi: Knowledge of martial arts coupled with full armor and a sword would definitely inspire respect, I guess, no matter who you were. * grins and bows * Many thanks, O Aemi.

Brendan: My dear fellow, methinks you need an update on the state of my facial adornments. My current beard is quite martial.

Princess: Thank you! Yep, a lot of people came from the Reb onto here. I wasn't super prolific over there, but at least I was at least reasonably prominent. Haha.

BushMaid: * laughs out loud * I always think of the wombats in Rescuer's Down Under. * grins *

*sigh* Late as well.

I first met Jay on the Rebelution forums! I noticed the officer (were you an HRM?) in several posts and I thought "Wow, this guy really has his head in the right place." Anyway, I found his post on HolyWorlds, checked it out, decided to take the risk, and signed up. I've been addicted ever since, and Jay has been one of the inspiring mature people in my life.

Haha, yep that was me.
My usual problem of not having anything to say doesn't help much though =P

Ciela: Yep, an HRM (still am, technically, though my official title is Content Moderator or something like that). Glad you approve of my cranial locale.

And being late is fine! It just makes the celebration longer!

Arias: * laughs * Well I would have been more conversational too, but I was talking to 5+ other people and answering emails and posting on twitter and getting ready for bed at the time, so my conversational skills were spread a bit thin.

Yeah, I was. Obviously not so much anymore... <grin>

Arias, yeah, I got told the same things. Expected everyone on the internet to be freaky child abductors. Hehe. Obviously that's not the case. XD I've met some insane people, but not the child abductor kind. XD

Haha, well I'm assuming y'all aren't child abductors

One of my friends is convinced that you are all either creepy 50 year old men or child abductors... he gets on my back about it some times.

I could also say I just met Emeth about half an hour ago... having a name changing duel in the chat room. Hence the nickname I have for right now...

^_^ That was an interesting duel..

The "Indefatigable" is a ship in Hornblower...

I was thinking about it this morning, and my story is actually rather interesting. So I thought I'd go ahead and post it, even though I'm late. haha.

The first I ever knew of Jay was when I was about... oh, I don't know... somewhere between 10-14. He was defending Creationism in a Nature Friends magazine, and I remember being very interested in the conversation (it went over at least two issues) and rooting for Jay.

The next time I saw his name was also in Nature Friends: I had a picture published in a reader's issue, and on the next page-- was Jay's first published article, about bombardier beetles. Which happen to be one of my favorite insects. We were both sixteen then.

After that, when I was 18, I joined the Rebelution forums, and my first real thoughts about Jay were something along the lines of, why does it say he's from "Cork, Co. Cork, Ireland"? That seems repetitive... haha. I also thought his signature interesting. (though of course I didn't connect him on the Reb to him in Nature Friends... we figured those two things out much later on.) Otherwise, I didn't have any contact with him, and he was just part of the scenery on the Rebelution.

Then my sister found the Daunting Books Reading Endeavor, and we thought that was interesting...

A friend of mine bought me the book "Don't Waste Your Life"-- and then the Rebelution cafe announced that it was studying that book, so I joined the study since I was reading the book anyways. And since I was almost done reading it, and they were looking for more discussion leaders, I figured, "what have I got to lose?" so I went ahead and applied to be a discussion leader-- and was accepted!

Well, guess what? Jay was also on the team of discussion leaders. We all posted, introducing ourselves... and I read Jay's (along with everyone else's, obviously), and was quite startled at the similarities between us and our families. So I hunted up his blog, found tons more things we had in common, and commented on his about page. And he commented on my blog and we went back and forth.

And then I got on gmail, and Jay chatted me and we started working on projects right from the very start--In that first chat, he asked me to critique a banner he was working on. We also sort of led a small group for the Don't Waste Your Life study together, though it wasn't very active.

And, as they say, the rest is history. haha.

Jay wrote that article about bombardier beetles? Wow... I never connected him to that...

Anyway, I've always wondered how you two met. Now I know!

Nice story, Miss Daisy!

Haha, you remember it too? Isn't that funny?

Yup! Now you know!



Thanks Bethany! haha.