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I was pretty sad thinking I wouldn’t be able to do this this year as I’m currently freelancing away from home and don’t have any access to craft supplies to make cards. ...Then it did occur to me that I am working for a department of one of the world’s largest card manufacturers, so I do actually have the access to buy as many cards as I might need! It does feel a bit  using store-bought cards, (and I’d prepped lots of Christmas stickers at home to bling out envelopes which I wont be able to use for now), but hopefully some of you wont mind!If you’re open to that, and would like to send some Christmas cheer my way, I would absolutely love some goon mail! The company I’m working for has put me up in a remote cottage which for some reason doesn’t have a letter box, but if you would like to write to me, I’ll be back home with my family from December 16th and would be so thrilled to arrive home to some post! I promise to post pictures of everything I get  Meg Williams/Hemlock 1 Weston Road Petersfield Hampshire GU31 4JF ENGLAND I’ll be sending out mail nationally and internationally, but the latter will have to wait until the weekends when I can get a bus to a post office. Hopefully some more Brit goons will post their addresses as I bought a tonne of stamps on Saturday to get started with! --- An important side note/callout – this year I’ve stayed away from SA a bit while I was finishing my degree, and I definitely got at least two bits of unexpected goon mail during my self-imposed ban (one was definitely a St Patrick’s Day card). I was seriously thrilled to get them and had them up in my room until I moved back home, when I packed them up to make sure I got around to replying when things calmed down. It’s been a manic summer though and to my shame I still haven’t done it, and now I’m away from home and I can’t remember who I owe mail to. So if you’ve sent me something I haven’t replied to pleeease let me know so I can make sure you get a Christmas card! And also massively sorry that I didn’t say a big thank you sooner- your sendings really cheered me up during a stressful time!
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Nov 27, 2011 20:21
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Apostate posted:Also thank-you to HEMLOCK. That card pretty much made my day. tiddlez posted:thank you Hemlock ! for sending me my first Christmas Card of 2011 Yay! Glad some of my cards have started arriving! I’m afraid future foreign ones will have to be small as one of the standard ones I sent (without anything extra in it) cost £1.68 to send! I’ve heard from home that a card has arrived for me and I am VERY excited!  Thank you mystery sender. I will post pics when I get home.
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Dec 5, 2011 19:38
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In the hustle bustle of Christmas/New Year I have neglected my posting duties! I have however been carefully photographing my wonderful horde of festive post to share with you...unfortunately either my camera or SD card seems to have eaten unknown numbers of my photos, so I’ve retaken some of the main cards but may be missing the full contents of the envelopes where you lovely people sent me stickers and such like! Apologies! Also sorry it has taken me sooo very long to thank you all! When I got back from the North before Christmas I arrived home to a very exciting little pile of letters.  Firstly, a wonderful collection of goodies from the lovely Lamb-  Loving that penguin! Showed my mum the recipe card and she was bemused by the ingredients list- not sure we have access to a lot of the items in the UK! I need to choose a suitable companion to play Hanukkah Charades with, but I was all over that Christmas Coundown...  Those stickers will definitely be put to good use next Christmas! Thank you so much! I’m sorry my card didn’t contain anything exciting --- Next up, a fab homemade card emanating blinding Christmas cheer-   You were right Eumenidy, my face quickly began to ache from too much smiling and I had to take regular breaks from gazing at your card in wonder. I was forced to load up clips of Mufasa getting trampled and Bambi’s mother getting shot just to give my muscles some relief! Thanks for the smiles (and the tears)! --- Lord Wombat sent me an incredible hand-drawn postcard of demented Christmas bees and a bee sticker.  Yes, as a goon, of course I do share your love of bees! I shall treasure my new insectoid friends- thanks! --- I love punk snowman and am now sad that we haven’t had know since I got this so I haven’t been able to recreate him in 3D. I have the carrots prepped...  Thank you for all the goodies Rufus en Fuego- I had to restrain myself from slipping while carving the ham this Christmas just so I could use that amazing plaster. Maybe next year... Love the patterned paper- if I can bear to cut it up I may have to use it in some sort of paper collage art. Also- I clearly need to dig out the old crayons to colour in those dinosaurs!  --- Another envelope full of delight arrived from When Worlds Collide...  Aside from the lovely card I received some brilliant stickers and a bookmark!  Did you read on another thread about me and my friend’s whale-theme gifting, or were those stickers pure, marvellous, coincidence? Either way- thank you so much- they are amazing! She is in her last year of uni and I will undoubtedly be sending her some post over the next few months- which will now be amazingly blinged out with these stickers. Thank you WWC! --- Over the next week, more post arrived... The magnificent Reverend Genesplicer graced me with a missive. But before I get to the card and contents, can I just say that the stamps on the envelope are amazing (both the postal ones and your ink stamps)-  Inside the envelope- a lovely homemade card-  Authenticated with another wonderful stamp-  Inside the card, a fab mini calendar to keep me up to date this year!  Instructions?  Ooh-  I confess, I haven’t answered the challenge yet. I shall endeavour to rectify that very soon! Finally, a lovely seasonal message-  Thank you very much! --- Team Lunch sent me a festive upside down envelope ( ) – Sadly, my camera seems to have eaten the photo of the actual front of your card My Mum put my goon mail in with our family cards but I can’t seem to find it at the moment to take another pic. Sorry On the plus side, I still have my pics of the contents- A devastatingly difficult dot-to-dot. I’m working on it, but it’s very challenging- it may take me a few months to complete!  Stickers (bring on next Christmas for reuse!) and a quiz card...embarrassingly I only knew the answer to A...oh dear...  Thanks Team Lunch! I hope you’re having a great time at college! --- Last but by no means least, goon mail from Japan! Once again, my camera ate my original photos (aaarg) so am missing the additional bits sent to me by the lovely Fish on a Stick. Sorry  Ooh! Another scratch card- I must reveal the mystery under the foil! I found my trusty 2p and after some hard labour, I uncovered-  ...ummm... Oh dear...I actually did a beginners Japanese course during my first year at uni and learnt Katakana and Hiragana...aaaand have promptly forgotten it all! Must dig out my old charts and decipher these symbols!  The year of the dragon? My favourite mystical beast! Hurrah! Thanks for your message and the educational challenge! --- Thank you everyone SO MUCH for all the lovely post! And apologies once again that I have been so horrendously slow in getting this post donel It’s a bit late to respond with Christmas cards now but I do have a zillion others for various occasions! If anyone does want to post/pm their birthdays (I hadn’t thought if the identity fraud issue either- a bit naive?) I have many such cards at the ready, and if not, I’m prepped for Valentine’s in any case! I hope you all had wonderful Christmases and each have a very, very HAPPY NEW YEAR!
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Jan 3, 2012 03:27
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My camera went walkies for a week so this is overdue (again!) but last Friday and Saturday I got two more lovely Christmas cards. Firstly, an envelope from Jendawn13- I love those Christmassey stamps!  Since I have a bit of a phobia of all things eye-trauma-related I am just going to avoid reading the copy on the front and skip straight to...  Mr. Happy Happy Gingerbreadman! All ill-thoughts are banished and joy reigns! Thank you Jendawn! My beloved feline pets have sadly all died, so I was filled with joy to receive a late Catmas from Apostate .   Thank you! I hope you had a nice Christmas in the North! --- I’ve dug out lots of Valentine’s cards this evening so will try and get some written tomorrow to send off next week.
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Jan 15, 2012 04:58
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I have to say, I am absolutely in awe of those of you who manage to send out a huge batches of cards on a frequent basis. I just did sixteen (without lots of exciting goodies inside sadly ) and it took me aaages! I didn’t get around to making anything I’m afraid but I think everyone has been sent something different. International postage is depressingly expensive- most of them cost £1.65 just to send a normal sized card! Hey ho, at least they’re on their way...  More importantly, I received my first bit of goon love this weekend  I’m rich! Rich! Thank you so much Pennington Since you gave me a whole wad of £50s I went ahead and ‘spent’ that 10 pence right away :P Also thank you for the fabulous origami. I feel bad now as my Valentine’s to you is decidedly less exciting...sorry in advance. --- when worlds collide posted:Wasn't there someone's birthday near Vday? I’m a ‘Valentine’s baby’. It’s not a great birthday to have but at least it means any goon mail I receive is doubly special!
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Jan 23, 2012 14:33
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Hey! Just wanted to check in and say I arrived back home after a few days away to a lovely pile of goon mail. I had a fun time opening it all (taking lots of photos as I did) and plan to do a big, specific picture post- but I’m out of time at the moment and wont be able to get it done until next week- so in the meantime, I just want to say a big, huge THANK YOU to everyone who has sent mail. You put a massive smile on my face and I’m filling up a window sill of goon-love hyperhazard posted:I was wondering if it would be possible to add a column of people's interests to the spreadsheet? I find that I keep scrolling back through each person's set of posts to see if they've listed their hobbies or interests or preferences for NWS/no-NWS material. It takes some time, and makes me feel a wee bit stalker-ish. This would be really brilliant! -I always go through to check people's posts for any interests but it would be great (and time-saving!) if there were some notes on the spreadsheet. lamb posted:Give me a few days and I'll update the master w/ interests. I'd prefer not to have a doc that anyone could edit, because I could see it getting messy. You are marvellous! Rufus En Fuego posted:Simply put, it's a totally badass machine that creates die-cut paper shapes, or makes negative cuts in larger pieces of paper. The one I got is the Cricut Expressions 2, so it also cuts fabric for my various sewing projects. Oooh! So can you design/load your own shapes for it to cut? I.e. could you design a stencil and get the machine to cut it out?
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Feb 10, 2012 03:32
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I need to grovel and offer thanks in equal measure. I was last signed up for the Valentine’s exchange I think and after posting about the initial mail that I got, and sending out my own, I suffered from a combination of technical issues (laptop ate my memory card) and real-life interruptions that kept me putting off my next post and here we are many months later and I’m only now coming on to properly thank everyone who has brought postal-joy into my life. Even in the last few weeks I’ve had two completely unexpected bits of mail that have brought a massive smile to my face and cheered me up when I’ve been feeling very down about continuingly ‘just’ missing out on getting that first job. Anyway, less excuses more photos (I’ve just found I’d backed up quite a few before the card fell apart- if you know you sent me some post and I haven’t included it I’m really sorry as I did lose some files -I do keep everything that you send though and I treasure it!)Anyway, back in time to February… Look at all the bedazzled envelopes! Goon mail is SO MUCH FUN!  The lovely Lamb sent me an incredible selection of goodies including funky elastic bands, stickers and even a hug token! As a Brit I’m still not entirely sure what ‘cooties’ are? I’d thought it was a slang word for a sexually transmitted disease so I was a little nervous about playing the ‘Cootie catcher’ game!  Inside the fab robot card was a lovely little crochet heart- did you make it yourself? I love it!  I also had to instantly have a play with the spirograph!  I also just have to say that aside from the incredible contents I LOVED the stamps on the envelope too! The wonderful When Worlds Collide treated me to goon love, stickers and even a fabulous moustache!   From sensational Skels I had a lovely card all the way from Australia (where I hope you’re still very happy!) complete with a very cute Dingo stamp on the envelope  From the generous Genesplicers I received a lovely card and laser cut felt heart I shall treasure. I also love the little birdie love stamp on the envelope.   From the fabulous Rufus en Fuego I received an incredible glittering fembot card containing such wonders as Dehydrated Unicorn Semen and a recipe for intriguing and tasty sounding Indian Pudding! Thank you oh sparkly one!   Through the marvellous Off Kilter I received curses from Socrates himself!  I loved the drawing and was thoroughly miffed with myself recently when his death came up in a pub quiz and I failed to remember that Hemlock was the cause!! Arg. I chose the forum name because of the book Fire and Hemlock which I grew up with but I was an idiot and didn’t even realise it was a poison at the time I picked it as a moniker- silly me! Anyway, my ignorance aside- many thanks for that and the sticker and cardlet you also sent From the splendid Pit Goddess I received a lovely flocked owl card- though it’s a little saddening to reread your queries now and see that beyond a bit more work experience I’m still in exactly the same spot I was when I last wrote you- unemployed and sending out endless cover letters! I hope your studies are progressing well- I shall have to enquire further by post in future!  Super Shoozy gifted me a very cute little heart shaped note book and an amazing holographic cat greeting that has addictive viewing qualities!   The terrific Thermophonic Joy went all out on my envelope and sent me a wonderful reply packed with Peta goodies and colouring-in fun!   From the amazing Team Lunch I received an enveloped jam packed with Valentine’s goodies- one item of which directed me to make my first ever paper aeroplane!  -I tried to take a picture of me soaring it around the kitchen but it just came out a horrendous blur every time.  She also very kindly sent me a St Patrick’s Day greeting- Erin go bragh!  Finally I received a mysterious box from Canada.  Its outer claim that Goon Love is The Best Love was soon to be proven when I tore into the brown paper packaging…  Wow, they sent me Toffifee? I was a little nervous as I don’t eat nuts but thought it was still a really really kind gesture to send me tasty birthday/Valentine’s edibles, but wait…  WOWOWOWOW! It wasn;t Toffifee but beautiful HOMEMADE marshmallow hearts with chocolate drizzles! I am still so so touched you went to the effort to make and send them to me. They were absolutely delicious and incredibly moreish- I had to restrain myself from eating them all at once. I feel horribly guilty for not thanking you profusely at the time and must make it up to you somehow. It’s probably best I don’t do so through culinary means (due to personal ineptitude and physical distance) but I definitely want to send something your way either now or Christmasish if you’d prefer? Despite having archives I can only see 11 of your posts but if you have an old SASS list somewhere or pine for something British let me know Thank you Xeed!With all that wonderful goon mail I got to fill a whole windowsill at home with Valentine’s goodies- made my birthday extra special as most of my friends don’t do the whole ‘card’ thing anymore!  So having been ‘absent’ for so long it was a really wonderful surprise when a month or so ago a lovely flamingo card arrived from Mr and Mrs Genesplicer- my photos don’t do it any justice at all but there were some clever paper mechanics involved!   Most recently I received this super-cute postcard that made me squee and long for some cat-action (since mine are all dearly-departed). Thank you so, so much Thermophonic Joy for this surprise bit of postal-cheer.  I’m sorry this has been such a long and image heavy post- not sure if I should have split it up but I didn’t want to double post. Also sorry and thanks once again to everyone who has sent me things. Still jobless (sob) or no I’ll definitely be sending out some goonlove of my own again this Christmas if not before.
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Sep 10, 2012 03:36
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Post post post! I finally got a job at the end of September (after over a year!) and started November 1st. I’ve moved away from home and things have been pretty hectic since so I haven’t gotten into the swing of goon mail yet (despite bringing provisions with me). But some lovely lovely senders have remembered me and been sending me surprise bits of post- which my Mum has forwarded from home. For reference to those still very kindly sending me things here and there, my new address is: Meg/Hemlock Flat 5 2 North Place Cheltenham GL50 4DW England I will attempt to get some Christmas cards sent out but they may be a little late. Now, onto photos… Apologies first to the lovely Lamb who sent me a fantastic collection of stuff that was forwarded here a few weeks ago- it was actually the first bit of non-spam post I received and I really appreciate it (and am very sorry for taking so long to say so!). You know I love stamps so this was fantastic-  I ignored the crime scene tape and went right in to find a festoon of goodies- thank you so much!  Then today I had two lovely Christmas cards from Marlowe and Fluffy Bunnies. You can’t tell from my terrible picture but they were both beautifully decorated- Marlowe’s with some very classy stickers and Fluffy Bunnies’ with pretty Christmas stamps (love them!).  Inside the wonderful envelopes I found a very classy wreath card from Fluffy while Marlowe’s exploded with stars that are now blinging up my bureau and rendering it suitably festive. The card itself featured a very cute cat and there was an amazing penguin-sticker to construct which I may well use to Christmasify the fridge!   Thank you both- you have brought me much Christmas cheer!
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Dec 7, 2012 00:51
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Bampf Kerpow! posted:I have a question for the UK people in this thread. How much does a page/book of stamps cost there? Stamps here are pretty expensive these days (I’m not sure how they compare to international prices but they’ve increased rapidly in the last couple of years). According to the Royal Mail website: 12 x First Class £7.20, 12 x Second Class £6.00, 6 x First Class £3.60 I live about two minutes from a Post Office so I’ll nip in tomorrow and see if they have any. Sometimes special collections like these tend to sell quite quickly so I can’t guarantee I’ll be able to get them but I’ll try. --- On to more unexpected and heart-warming goonmail... Just before I left for Christmas I received a lovely card from the wonderful Apostate, complete with a very nice owl bookmark I will be putting to good use this year (should make my work reading a little more aesthetically pleasing at least)!   Thank you! I’m sorry I was too late and disorganised to send one back in time but I’ll make sure something heads your way shortly! --- After going home for Christmas, I arrived back in Cheltenham a couple of days ago to find a big pile of wonderful stickered post waiting for me- it bought a massive smile to my face!  Hmmm…I spy a similarity on a couple of those envelopes... Not one, but TWO cards from the lovely Team Lunch!     What a lucky girl I am to be so spoiled! Doubly Thank You for all the goodies- I shall have to start an origami aquarium with all my little fishies! From the kindly Kitten Tits and her nieces I received a lovely handmade card sending me Norwegian goodwill!   Are you still seeing them regularly? I’d like to send something back (obviously to you) but to them too if it’s still appropriate? I’ll see if I can find something suitable in town tomorrow! Finally, the fabulous Kafka's Goldfish sent me a magnificent octopus card, complete with a very elegant fleur-de-lis seal on the envelope and brilliant apple cross stitch I shall treasure- thank you so much!   Then yesterday another envelope bedecked in cute stickers arrived- this time from the lovely Lamb- who once again has sent me a wonderful array of bits and bobs, including a brilliant post card, stretchy snowman and quality plaster for when I next slice my finger open with a scalpel!   That was all excellent but I was seriously excited and amazed when I opened up the little brown box to find an incredible pop up Christmas tree light- I am going to save the battery life on it and have it be my flat tree next year, as I’m unlikely to have a real one here. Thank you!!!  I don’t care that Christmas has passed- I am going to be keeping my cards up for some time!  Thank you everyone! I will now attempt to get my act together and return some long overdue letters. Unfortunately I forgot to collect more stationary from home and I think it’s a bit late for Christmas cards now (!) but I’ve got some Where’s Wally postcards I hope will be acceptable and I’ll see what else I can dig out from my stash or find in the shops tomorrow!
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Jan 5, 2013 02:31
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Bampf Kerpow! posted:I have a question for the UK people in this thread. How much does a page/book of stamps cost there? I went to the post office yesterday- the stamps wont be released until March (it probably said that in the article but I didn't actually check beforehand!). If you remind me nearer the time I'll pop in again to try and pick some up.
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Jan 6, 2013 17:13
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Apostate posted:lamb thanks for the packet of goodies! Very awesome. Can I also take myself off the list? I am moving countries on the 22nd. I will be sending stuff out, but can't guarantee I'll get anything in. Can you post your new Canadian address when you know it? I very much want to send something your way and have probably missed getting you in the UK now...
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Jan 19, 2013 12:02
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Got my first 10 cards/packages sent out today (I am always so impressed by those of you that churn out a tonne- I'm so slow!)…turned around after finishing with the lady at the Post Office (who blatantly overcharged the postage on at least one of the items, grr) to find my boss was waiting in the queue, giving my handful of heart-stickered envelopes a quizzical expression…oh dear! Going to try and get some more done this week- my floor is currently strewn with cards and post cards I need to write!
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Feb 6, 2013 01:03
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I’ve had two lovely bits of goon mail in the last couple of weeks. First, belated thanks to Jimmy da Fish for the wonderful heart card (seriously- I love it ) and loveheart stickers- it arrived in the week before Valentine’s but I waited until the 14th to open it as birthday mail!  Thank you very much - it will be sat on my bureau for quite some time (that’s not too sad right?!). Then this week I got a second piece of mail from Kafka’s Goldfish, who sent me a kindly invitation to have any future dental work done by her apparently very skilled compatriots! I also received valentine’s wishes and a very cool temporary tattoo that I will have to choose the right moment for!  Thank you Goldfish…I notice the note was on Hello Kitty paper and I just so happen to have recent acquired some Liberty Art Fabrics Hello Kitty notecards just waiting to be used, so hopefully one will be wending its way to you soon! --- I’m a bit concerned that not many of my valentine’s made their way to the recipients…it was probably a mistake to not put return addresses on them like some of you more sensible goons…or maybe the excessive stickerage jammed up the sorting machines?! 
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Feb 25, 2013 00:55
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Team Lunch posted:I also got one nice letter from a mystery UK goon who didn't sign their name or return address! It had a card with a pear and a little notebook. Thanks mystery goon! I didn't sign my name?! Whoops! Sorry- that was me. I think I must've been very tired when I wrote some of the last batch...
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Feb 27, 2013 00:28
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lamb posted:I just placed my order for goon Xmas cards. I hope you guys will be participating this year! Thanks for the redirect from the SASS thread! I've got Christmas cards aplenty - probably not too exciting but hopefully it's the thought that counts. Just moved house, so new address since I last joined in! Meg W/Hemlock 47 Rock Hill Chipping Norton OXON OX7 5BA ENGLAND/UK Can people posting their addresses make sure they put the country at the end? Assume they're mostly US/Canada if they're not listed and will Google to try to check but don't want to muddle any up by mistake! Edit: Wrote my own post code wrong- O not 0!! Hemlock fucked around with this message at 23:48 on Nov 15, 2015 |
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Nov 15, 2015 21:34
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I'm going to do a proper post with pics if I can (computer is not playing ball at the moment) but just wanted to say thank you to everyone who sent me goon mail. I don't know when it all arrived as I had to dash home early for Christmas after a drunk driver careened into my Mum (luckily she's not too badly hurt). It was really lovely to get back and find exciting post waiting for me, and it's all now going to stay on my mantel piece for an inappropriately long time. I did manage to get some sent off myself before Christmas so hope they've arrived also. I'll try and be organised for Valentine's if I can! Happy New Year everyone
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Jan 4, 2016 23:51
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