NPF: MARKET RESEARCH

Posted on | by Ed

Last weekend a comedian-friend and I went to see a group of four touring comedians making an appearance at our favorite local venue. They were unknowns, but they all had TV credits and other vaguely impressive credentials. I will spare you the details of how awful it was – I later noticed that many of the TV credits were from MTV; imagine the kind of comedy that a person who enjoys Jersey Shore would like – except to note that about 30-40% of the words used on stage that night were "dude", "bro", and "fag."

Yes, one of them imitated an Asian accent for about 2 minutes.

More annoying than the set was their persistence in asking nearly every person in attendance how he or she heard about the show. No doubt this was for cynical if casual market research. These guys were the kind for whom the phrase "selling out" has no meaning, as they enter the world of comedy with no integrity to sell. They were quite curious, apparently, which of their marketing methods had been most successful.

It got me thinking (not their comedy, of course, which inspired thoughts about nothing except homicide and escape) about the same question for Gin and Tacos. There are lots of readers now. I can still remember the days of getting 50 hits, mostly from my friends, and calling it a success. Over time things have grown considerably.

The purpose of this question is solely to satisfy my curiosity and will be used for no sinister marketing purposes nor to attract a corporate sponsor: What brought you here initially? Was I suggested by one of your friends? Did you arrive from a link on a different site – especially Crooks & Liars? Random internet search? Internet search specifically for gin and/or tacos? Saw a sticker on someone's car? Wrote three words in the search bar, hit ctrl-Enter, and hoped for the best?

I'm glad you're all here. Some of you have been here for many, many years. Some of you are brand new. Regardless, I am at the point at which I am looking at the traffic and wondering where in the hell all of these people are coming from. Incoming links are easy enough to track, but I'm not interested in who visits once for 60 seconds via C&L links. I'm curious about how the people who come back again and again were introduced to this site – how the addiction began, so to speak.

348 thoughts on “NPF: MARKET RESEARCH”

  • Ke says:

    Jazzbumpa mentioned you in the final days of edge of the american west (edgeofthewest.wordpress.com, i believe). I would pay for shwag, such as t-shirts and/or mugs, just so you know

  • Rick says:

    When Neal Boortz linked to your website for the first time. I've been a regular reader ever since, though this is the first time I have posted anything.

  • Greg says:

    Introduced by a good friend from grade school, one of the smarter people I've met. That helps when you read your stuff. G&T is a highlight of the day. Keep it up. BTW I'd buy swag too.

  • J. Dryden says:

    Oh, Christ. It's been a long, long time. You were still collaborating with Mike and Erik and rating various individuals as "bitches" while expressing admiration for Pat Buchanan. Also, the site was about, you know, "Gin" and "Tacos." So, yeah, going back a bit. It was a different time–everything was sepia-toned and post-war jazz played in the background constantly. But as I recall, my younger brother, who was an undergraduate at Madison at the time, told me I had to check this site out. I did. I stayed.

  • Matthew says:

    I've been reading this blog since way back when – there was a time when I would leave a comment just so a post would have one! Now I can see there are already ten comments 20 minutes after the post goes up. I'm no longer really needed. Ah, well.

  • Dave says:

    I believe you were linked to by An und fur sich, but I could be mistaken. When I stumble across blogs with anything vaguely interesting to me, I subscribe and then see if I want to keep reading. I just came here through my google reader, so I do want to keep reading!

  • JK says:

    Found you a bit over a year ago from a balloonjuice link if I remember right. Love the blog and keep up the good work.

  • LordDon says:

    I believe I found you either through a gamer friend, Nathan Scholten, or linked from Pharyngula or some other Atheist Liberal Pink Commie blog.

  • Zeb says:

    Brian Leiter linked to one of your classic articles on Ayn Rand a few years ago. Ever since then, I've read almost every post at 9 pm PST.

  • Quimby says:

    It was a link from mimismartypants that got me here, and the line "you are the sorbet of popes" that got me hooked.

  • acer says:

    In mid 2009, when the Tea Party was getting going, a younger woman in my office said she saw a hot guy reading Atlas Shrugged at a hip coffeeshop and asked me about it. In an attempt to help me articulate my thoughts, I Googled "Fuck Ayn Rand."

    Weeks later, hungover and bored on a Sunday morning, I recalled how much I liked that piece, reread it and looked around the site. Digging through the archives, I discovered the "Treatment Effects In Plain English" post. And I became a daily reader.

    It helps that I have a history in the mysterious Southern town that you may or may not currently live in.

  • sue says:

    It's been awhile, but I think it was from Andrew Sullivan? Is that possible? I look at this site almost every day.

  • Jack says:

    I visit the site at least once a day, and have for over a year. But I don't remember how I first discovered the site. Maybe from Instaputz? Or No More Mister Nice Blog? Undoubtedly it was from one of the other good liberal blogs.

    The reason I stayed? Because the analysis is so spot on. I mean, I like Steve Benen at Washington Monthly, but he has no idea how screwed we are. This is the same reason I like No More Mister Nice Blog: No illusions that the plutocrats are going to lose any time in the near future. And it's the same reason I listen to the podcast by Driftglass & Bluegal: The Professional Left. No illusions about how badly we're fucked. We really need to come to grips with how bad things are — and what, specifically, is wrong — before we're ever going to have any chance to fix it. And with the exception of this blog, NMMNB, TPL, and a couple of the bloggers at Balloon Juice, there just aren't many on the left who really seem to get it.

    One of the first things I ever remember reading here — and maybe this was the first thing I found — was something about Timothy McVeigh.

    Anyway — great blog, and cheers. Keep up the good work. God knows we need you.

  • Middle Seaman says:

    A link from Historiann, kept me here: good writing, humor, topics. Cannot stand Matt, Ezra and Glen. I read about 5-6 blogs and gone through many and discarded them due boredom and stupidity.

  • T says:

    Been reading about a year. Google searched something along the lines of stupid american politicians and happened to stumble onto an fjm. Started going through the posts when I was bored at work. From BC, Canada.

  • Tiny Bubbles says:

    Found your address scrawled on the side of a vending machine at a truck stop in Norman, OK with a note that "SEXYTIME IS HERE" and a crude drawing of a penis.

    I never found anything here worth masturbating to, but found the political insight so compelling and spot-on that this has been my first post-wank blogread every morning for well over a year.

  • Basilisc says:

    I'm pretty sure I first came here for your rundown of 2010 Senate races, but I forget how I heard about it. Possibly balloon juice.

  • Baltimore says:

    Tbogg's blogroll (I think) or it could have been on the wall of the men's room in a rest area on the NJTP.

  • Bill Casey says:

    A friend sent me a a link to your review of Going Rogue. He was linked by another friend. I loved it.

    By that time the entry for the next day had been posted. Its title was "Some Pantload Gets the FJM Treatment". The idea of FJM-ing political commentary (FJM had been gone for a full year at that point and Christ did I miss it), combined with your use of the word "pantload" sealed the deal. I've been a daily reader ever since.

  • greatestwirefan says:

    I've been reading you for so long and have had you on "favorites" that I can't remember where I found you. Just glad I did.

  • James Edwards says:

    A friend sent a link to G&T several years ago and I've been a daily reader ever since. G&T is my first read in the AM. And BTW, I'm a schwag buyer too. I would have no problems with you supplementing your income with sales of "stuff"

  • mk says:

    If memory serves, I came here through zunguzungu. Does that sound right?

    I also like gin, tacos, and I'm a college professor at a giant public university in the south. Parallel lives, I guess.

  • Landru says:

    No specific idea–followed links from various places. I think I got hooked about 2-3 years ago after you FJMed someone or other. I just searched FJMs here and couldn't figure out which one did it, though.

  • lurkey what we have here says:

    May have been a jus du ballon link, but je ne sais plus… I generally stop by once a day and nine times out of ten I like what I find. The one thing I absolutely hate is my browser doesn't properly render the typeface and you get things like – “just-try-making-sense-of-this-in-the-middle-of-a-sentence” but I suppose that's more my problem than yours.

  • lurkey what we have here says:

    Oh, poo. I just refreshed the page and noticed I've spent time complaining for nothing. All of a sudden the quote marks are properly rendered… Thanks for solving that, computer elves?

  • Fraz says:

    Wonderful Balloon Juice pointed me in this direction. I would enjoy a chance for some T shirt swag to help pay for your outlet for venting.

  • AMW says:

    I got here via a link from Mike the Mad Biologist at ScienceBlogs, maybe early 2010? I don't remember which post, but the site became an immediate daily read.

  • sadness says:

    I came by way of Boortz. He changed his format and now I read you more than him. Occasional commenter. Really like the blog.

  • Mr. Prosser says:

    A link from Balloon Juice, probably DougJ or mistermix. Good site, this is praise from an old Boomer who sometimes gets put off by the hyperbole but in most cases you're right on.

  • Kather Snyder says:

    I reside in the conservative wasteland called Georgia. I am always looking for edification of my left views. I check in daily with TBogg, Zandar, Balloon Juice, Daily Kos, C&L, Firedoglake, Not More Mister Nice Blog, etc.
    My mother told me the day that Ronald Reagan was elected that this is the direction that our country was headed. I had no idea what she was talking about. I am glad she is long gone so that she cannot see the carnage that these bastards have inflicted on the working people of this country.
    I was once middle class, had a home (and mortgage) and thought that my life would be better than my parents. Now I make just a few dollars a year more than I was making in the early 80s, have gone through a foreclosure (husband can't work, has early-onset alzheimers – heck he doesn't even know what day it is) and worry constantly about how I'm going to pay all of the bills. It's not at all what I thought my life would be like. The only thing that keeps me sane is reading the blogs.

    Keep up the good work.

  • c u n d gulag says:

    For me, at first it was C&L, when they had you in their morning summary a few years ago.

    I laughed – I'm Ukrainian/Russian and can speak the latter fluently.
    I bookmarked, but I didn't come too often. And I can't tell you why not. I love your writing, and I found the commenters smart an clever – most of you, anyway. :-)

    Then, I started reading Steve M's blog, and the link was there, and I've been a regular for a while now. And I started leaving my word-turds a few months ago.

    Keep up the great work!

  • Chris says:

    I had been an avid reader of Crooks and Liars for a couple of years, but John Amato's righteous indignation and crappy writing grew tiresome, so I made the decision that I would give up C&L and all other political blogs and stick to straight news sites. After a few months, this abstinence had lowered my blood pressure, and my brother sent me a link to one of the posts here, probably in mid-2010. I enjoyed the humor and sarcasm, and the writing is far better than at C&L. I started coming here a few times a week, but have been a daily visitor for at least 6 months. I'm really disappointed when you skip a day, but I've been unemployed for awhile, and sometimes forget that other people have jobs that keep them from churning out blog posts.

  • Marc says:

    I just remember it being early one morning during the holidays and I was reading another blog that referred to your post. I was hooked from that day on.

  • Dan says:

    Followed a link from another site, but cannot remember which. It was not C&L. G&T is a daily must-read for me. Thanks!

  • Chris Franczek says:

    A couple of friends regularly mention your stuff on line, followed one of their links, here I am.

    T-shirts and coffee mugs with that nifty logo would be cool.

  • Nick says:

    I was searching for gin reviews as I recall. Stmbled upon the Gianaissance and the glorification of Burnett's.

  • Tom says:

    Forget how. One of many blogs I read linked to you, and I dug the cut of your jib. Subscribed. You publish once a day, so you don't overpower my RSS feed, and what you publish is always good.

    Keep it up, Ed.

  • Misterben says:

    I was researching gin once upon a time, several years ago, and stumbled on your old gin reviews. Then I discovered the rest of your blog, and I've followed ever since. Never miss it.

  • Keith says:

    G&T was linked in another blog I read on occasion. I think it was the story of when you attended a tea party rally in Bloomington, doing your best to fit in. You do good work, and I'm impressed by your daily commitment to posting. I learn a lot from all the funny and thoughtful comments, too. This stuff helps keep me sane in our increasingly bizarre political landscape.

  • Jason says:

    To be honest, I don't remember. You were either linked in a post on another DFH blog or were in their blogroll. I do a lot of browsing of blogrolls. But I click through a lot too.

  • Hazy Davy says:

    I think there was a referral from Mimi Smartypants, which differentiated between gender expression/gender identity (or some such), and said you were an expert. I had no idea what she was talking about, came over, and found the funny.

    (Also, I had been writing political articles on my site for years, and it felt like an echo chamber.)

  • prairie joe says:

    I picked your site off tbogg's blog roll by random some months back. I liked what I read and have kept coming back. I enjoy your stories about your students. Their comprehension of the world around them hasn't changed much in the 40 years since I was in college. I was a math major but my buddy was a PoliSci major (now a federal prosecutor) and his description of his classmates then pretty much matches your students – about half were total dingbats.

  • Jon says:

    A friend of mine posted one of the posts on facebook, and I thought it was awesome. So I went through the archived posts and I now read pretty much every post.

  • James says:

    I followed a link from Leiterreports to a post I believe was titled "Seriously, Fuck Ayn Rand." Loved it.

  • ChicagoJo says:

    I was having a shit at work, and I googled my two favorite things in the world to make myself feel better. It's now a daily read.

  • roundcrow says:

    Probably Balloon Juice, don't remember. Made it into my RSS feed with the "reenacting the Air Battle of Britain with your ass" line.

  • kama says:

    TBogg, about a year ago. I am always fascinated by the oddball names on blogrolls, but when I actually click on em they usually leave me flat. You, on the other hand, never fail to satisfy. And as I come from a education background, I always enjoy your insights on university politics. Keep up the good work!

  • San Erino says:

    I got here through the comedy/NFL site kissingsuzykolber.com One of the Kommentariat linked in the comments two or three years ago and I've been coming here (almost) daily ever since.

  • Eric S. says:

    From Balloon Juice. I was bored at work and had finished reading all the posts of my regular blog stops. I scrolled through BJ's blog roll and saw "Gin and Tacos." Yum!, I thought. I'm going there.

    I couldn't tell you what the first post I read was now but I enjoyed it and now G&T is a regular stop.

  • Jimcat says:

    A college friend of mine posted a link to your blog on Facebook. I've occasionally posted some since then myself.

    But getting back to the topic that kicked off your post: I don't see self-promotion as "selling out". It's a necessary evil if you want to pursue art as anything more than a weekend hobby.

    I know many people who try to make a living as musicians, and some who actually succeed at it. One thing on which they all agree is that you have to be constantly, relentlessly, out there plugging yourself and trying to get the next gig, and making sure that as many people as possible show up so that you can get future gigs at the same venue. I'm sure it's the same with comedy. Although the acts you described aren't the sort of thing I'd go to see, I see nothing inherently wrong with trying to find out what the most effective channels of promotion are.

  • Chris says:

    Of all the things, you got a couple of links from Brian Leiter a year or two ago. That's what sent me here, and I think I stuck around after the second one.

  • ladiesbane says:

    I'm another referral from Dr. Mimi Smartypants. Was it when her mind had been overtaken by your use of the phrase "Christ-rapingly bad"? I'm not certain. But there was a link and I clicked it. The combination of erudition and vulgarity hooked me, but I worry sometimes that catering to us is what keeps you back, career-wise.

    I wish Mimi's site had a comments section, and I wish your site had a searchable archive. Neither Santa nor Jesus has listened to my reasonable requests — but then, they never did.

  • jp says:

    It was a year or two ago that I first stumbled upon G&T, but I'm lucky if I can remember last week, so I have no fucking clue how I initially got here.

    I do remember that G&T went immediately into my daily reads list. And it's a short list. Not that I'm hot shit or anything, but…

    What the hell was I talking about again?

  • Ryan says:

    It was probably about a year ago that I found your site. If I remember correctly, I happened upon your statement of political philosophy on StumbleUpon, and into the RSS feed it went.

  • Jeff says:

    I actually remembering googling "objectivism sucks" and stumbling to the site. It was about last year, I remember, and I really started reading in earnest when you were talking about the guy who makes over $400,000 a year and still feels like he can't make ends meet.
    There's another political that I read that I really like. Mrdestructo.com is mostly a politics blog, but it has a few other interests, mainly sports.

  • K. says:

    I got here from a link in one of Mimi Smartypants' archived blog entries. I've been reading her since 2006, and you since 2010.

  • Lecturer says:

    I saw a link to your take-down of the notion of online education via Marc Bousquet and followed it. I stayed for the grim and relentless negativity.

  • ixnay says:

    Probably Tbogg's blogroll, it's my go to portal for checking the intertubes. Came for the name, stayed for the snark and analysis. Good work. Thanks.

  • John says:

    During one of my nigh-monthly "Seriously, fuck Ayn Rand and everyone who agrees with her, who else on the internet agrees with me?!" searches, G&T came up with your "There are no Libertarians on Airplanes" article. I came for the Gin, and stayed for the Tacos. Daily visit ever since.

  • kathy k. says:

    I think via a link a friend put on a message board – several years ago now. What amused me was seeing a different friend use something of yours for a 'quote of the day' thread :) You're on my RSS feed here at work – it gets me through the day.

  • Mike R says:

    Came from Crooks and Liars you were in the blog round up. Ended up visiting each morning, first stop on the circuit.

  • Joshua says:

    Your blog came up when I was wasting time with StumbleUpon about three years ago and reading it quickly became one of my morning rituals.

  • j says:

    I guarantee I have the best story.

    I read a op/ed in the UW-Madison student newspaper The Badger Herald (or perhaps The Daily Cardinal) by someone I've now forgotten, probably a friend of yours, in 2000 or 2001 (!!!). The title was "20 Things I've Learned in College". Number 12 or 13 was "The greatest website ever: ginandtacos.com." Of course I had to check it out and I was very happy to find entertaining parodies of Lou Bega and Full House and a friendly young medicine man billed as "The Taco Doctor."

    I've stuck through ten years of the eventual maturation, but could we please have a link to "The Taco Doctor" for old time's sake?

  • JohnR says:

    Beats the Hell out of me. I'm lucky to remember what happened last week, let alone whenever it was I stumbled across you. Probably a link from one of the usual suspects. As both Gin and Tacos give me horrendous flatulence, I thought the combination must be too good to pass up. And I was right.

  • Kirk says:

    I've been here religiously since the aforementioned Balloon Juice post by John Cole about a year ago. Only recently when perusing the archives have I discovered the Champaign-Urbana heritage here, which makes me even more of a devotee.

  • Da Moose says:

    A buddy of mine up in NYC sent me your Palin book evisceration. Content is king, baby, and you got it down. Monetize this bitch!

  • Emily says:

    Wonkette, TBogg or a friend on Facebook. I honestly can't remember, but I've been hooked since my first visit. I caught malaria last year, and once the fever dreams subsided, I spent the next week recuperating on the couch and reading everything in your archives.

  • jpeg says:

    A friend of mine sent a link to one of your posts about a year ago and it was so well written I started reading earlier posts. They were equally good so I just had to add Gin and Tacos to my RSS feed.

  • Halcyon says:

    Someone mentioned it in comments on Sadly, No!, one of your pieces hating on Ayn Rand I think, and I loved the pure, beautiful, unadulterated hatred so much I added it to my RSS reader immediately.

  • Dan says:

    Someone linked to your blog during the Wisconsin Walker v. the unions debacle. You had read the proposed legislation and pulled out the section where Wisconsin was allowed to sell certain assets without a competitive bidding process and at a price the state deemed reasonable. I feel like the link was from salon.com, but not sure. At any rate, I loved what I read and have been following you (and forwarding to friends) ever since.

  • Billie says:

    Probably Tbogg, but it could have been Balloon-Juice. It only took one or two of your postings before you were a daily read.

  • Paul says:

    Link from one of the usuals a couple years ago.

    You have the snark to outrage ratio that I enjoy, like Tbogg and Roy. And, like them, you're a fine writer. The three of you and Balloon Juice are about my only daily stops any more.

    Nice work.

  • smelter rat says:

    It's cold and lonely up here in the Canadian tundra. A friend from California recomended youyr site. Been here for about 3 years or so. So… came for some respite, stayed for the writing.

  • anotherbozo says:

    I have a Bookmarks "opinion" section as long as your arm and have stopped by Balloon Juice and Crooks and Liars and Pharyngula, among others, in what was my increasingly desperate search for Intelligent Life on the internets. The well-written ones tended to be weeklies or even monthlies, but you were the only one that delivered daily (or almost). I value perspective and wit and good writing and am not-so-much with the earnest, fine-grained political day-by-day you get on so many blogs. So I now go to HuffPost for a couple of writers, but you're the first daily stop.

    So my guess as to where I first saw your blog cited is either C&L, BJ, or Phar, but maybe somebody on HuffPo. One visit here, though, and I knew I was onto something.

    Also I have to admit my being able to post my own feeble remarks without censorship (unlike prissy HuffPo), and reading some very good stuff from other commenters, are additional boons. But you're unquestionably the main draw.

  • chautauqua says:

    Pharyngula, most likely. I just happen to be a sucker for the Comedy of Despair, and you and Driftglass have the market cornered, IMHO. Put up a PayPal donation button. The swag doesn't do much for me.

  • errg says:

    another Balloon Juice reader, John said he read you regularly so I added you to my RSS reader and haven't regretted it…

  • squirrelhugger says:

    Some wacko leftwing site or other. Probably started with something innocuous and serious like TomDispatch during the 2003 war buildup, progressing to the hard stuff over the years because it was more entertaining, and one of them led me here. If I had to pick one I'd say tbogg. Leastways I come here intermittently by his link. There's only so many pictures of loose-skinned dogs I can deal with.

  • Larry Dickman says:

    word of mouth. friend sent me a link about 1.5 years ago and i've been casually addicted ever since.

  • Chicagojon says:

    First time I wrote to someone else about you was in January and about a post of Mubarak being overthrown in Egypt (and my questioning the Imperialism support behind it). 8 months later and you could write the same post about Libya and I'd write the same response.

    If Mubarak is toppled – and it appears likely if not necessarily imminent – what replaces him? Does a popular democratic movement sweep Nobel laureate Mohammed ElBaradei into power or does the anti-American, pro-extremist Muslim Brotherhood, one of the most popular opposition parties, come out on top? While there is no justification for keeping Mubarak's corrupt ass in power any longer, it's fair to recognize the possibility that the replacement might be worse.
    http://www.ginandtacos.com/2011/01/31/retro-appeal/

    I probably got here via a blogroll from a Feminist or International Relations site. Or maybe even google when looking for Egypt/Mubarak news. I wonder why bookmarks aren't dates with when they were bookmarked — that would be handy for my way of browsing/bookmarking/trolling/obsessing over sites

  • bb in GA says:

    Boortz – who I have been hearing for over 40 years.

    Read his blog occasionally, but don't have to because I know his views pretty well by now.

    Got the link when he referenced you.

    //bb

  • bliekker says:

    I followed a link from some other site I regularly visit (can remember which one), and found your writing worth the time it takes to read it. So I came back.

  • Denn says:

    Don't remember which lefty blog, it was quite a while ago. As for your "comedians," I suspect that they were actually business majors researching ad effectiveness or some such project; the audience, not the humor, was the product. A perfect microcosm of our modern uber-commercial culture.

  • john says:

    many years ago my company was closing (to medico) and i was paid to answer phone callls from the mexican engineers. so i started reading blogs. i think mimi smarty pants had a link to you back before she had a book or a baby. good luck and happy motoring!

  • Dana says:

    Another academic blog, I think. Historiann, maybe? Or Rortybomb. I find the academic blogs pretty much universally more insightful and interesting than those of the wunderkinder lefties.

  • Tommy Balestrieri says:

    A link from somewhere to your review of "Atlas Shrugged: The Movie Spectac ular". I enjoyed it so much I started poking around and found an FJM, and after that I was hooked. I spent the next couple of days reading all your entries back to the beginning.

  • Eddie Athene says:

    I think I came here through Adam Kotsko's blogroll. Started reading regularly because it's a memorable name, and the topics are fairly wide-ranging but congruent to my interests. There also aren't very many regular bloggers who live in the same cultural matrix as I do (essentially, Southern/conservative/flyover).

  • You can call me, 'Sir' says:

    Many years ago, someone else linked to you concerning, if memory serves correctly, reviews of gin and/or tacos. This was back when the site was a collaboration of writers whose cynicism and snark made for a spectacular combination. What made it even better was that everyone seemed to know how to write complete sentences using grammar, correct spelling, and punctuation. These traits were becoming rare on the interwebs at the time and have since continued to diminish, which makes your now one-man show all the better due to the consistent quality of the output.

    It'd be nice for a few reviews of gin and/or tacos for time to time again, though.

  • gordon_fan says:

    Rortybomb, which I discovered from an Ezra Klein post, I think.

    Been a daily reader for over a year now.

    I am a poli sci prof too, so I enjoy posts that make reference to the discipline (I'm in IR, not American)

  • circularreasoning says:

    It was C&L during the last presidential election for me. I have been "hooked" ever since. I am glad to say I can also take credit for having your site added to my dad's "favorites" list!

  • Dan Brisson says:

    I forget why I am here. But then I am a baby boomer about to turn 65. OH, I remember now. It was mention of the Sara Palin book review. Probably on Crooks and Liars. I enjoy your writing most of the time, except when you whine too much about people my age. Then I start remembering all of the endless, dreary graveyard shifts I put in to earn my pension, and I get pissed off. Your naivete sometimes amuses me too. I must say though, that most of the time you write pretty well, for an American.

  • J-SAY says:

    I started reading Wonkette and began seeking more liberal blogs around the 2008 election cycle. I could find much more satire on that side of the line. If I am not mistaken, your blog used to scroll on their blog roll as recommended otherwise it would have been a click-through from Balloon Juice, Hullabaloo, Rumproast or Crooks & Liars. I was hooked after the first post and made a point of reading from then.

  • Nate says:

    I think I followed a link from instaputz, which I read religiously despite the infrequent updates, because I loathe and despise Glenn Reynolds.

    The insightful, humorous writing is what keeps me coming back.

  • MarkC123 says:

    Ditto what "Dan" says:

    # Dan Says:
    August 26th, 2011 at 10:41 am

    Someone linked to your blog during the Wisconsin Walker v. the unions debacle. You had read the proposed legislation and pulled out the section where Wisconsin was allowed to sell certain assets without a competitive bidding process and at a price the state deemed reasonable. I feel like the link was from salon.com, but not sure. At any rate, I loved what I read and have been following you (and forwarding to friends) ever since.

  • Charlie says:

    I came to G&T either through Crooks and Liars, Lawyers Guns and Money, or Brad DeLong and have been hooked ever since. Keep doing great work. Demographics: WM age 31 with 2 BAs, 1 MA, and a newly-minted JD; born in Louisiana and living outside Philadelphia; raised Methodist and converting to Catholicism.

  • RandyH says:

    John Cole recommended your blog a while back when posting was light over there. I read a few of your posts, really liked it and added it to Google (RSS) Reader. I've read everything since, even explored some of the archives, and have enjoyed it all.

    Keep up the good work.

  • djplanb says:

    I came a few times from C&L or maybe FDL and liked it. Now it's one of only three or four blogs I check pretty much every day. I like the snarkier sites like Rude Pundit and Jesus' General. Plus you're not a half-assed liberal who loves everything Obama does, which goes a long way in my book.

  • Matt says:

    I completely forget how I heard about this blog, but it's in my Google reader now and I read it every morning before I start work. It's basically the only blog I follow with regularity. I'm not American and I don't particularly like sports but I love this blog. Kudos.

  • Mo says:

    Rortybomb.

    And I forget which post I read first, but I remember developing a delighted grin that nearly went into rictus.

  • Aaron Schroeder says:

    Like a few others here, I found your site via Brian Leiter's link to your Sarah Palin book review. I then immediately found a bunch of Google links to your Ayn Rand review.

    Whereupon, love. And hilarity. Thanks, Ed.

  • Silas says:

    naive liberal yin, sent me an article from the site, and now I’m a regular reader. When I come here, I hope to find either ammo for shit-fights or pictures of ugly athletes.

  • marissa says:

    One of my friends posted a post of yours regarding children and the lack of learning they do in school on her facebook page. I have been reading ever since. I may have missed a week or two here and there when I gave birth to my second child, but I enjoy your humour and practicality.

    i should note that i will often post links on my facebook page now, as i have too many friends and family members who got caught up in the tea bag movement, and i just like to irritate them as much as they irritate me.

  • Keifus says:

    Someone ran a blogs-you-should-read thread at some other liberal blog, damned if I can remember which one. (They were about one for four as it happened.) I kept reading. Your quality/update rate ratio is truly impressive

    Probably would not have bothered to respond, but my wife caught me reading your site the other day. "I've read that guy," she said (amazing in itself), "He's good. How come your blog isn't more like that one. That's what you should do if you want people to read it."

    She loves me, though. I think.

  • Tom Bloodgood says:

    It was either mimismartypants or F13.net. This has been a site I check every day. Just recently "Liked" you on Facebook too.

  • Emily says:

    Followed a link from "I Blame the Patriarchy." I think she linked to you more than once. Been a happy follower ever since!

  • Justin says:

    Same as "Tom" above. I'll add that it has been about a year and a half and that I brought my wife to the G&T party with me.

    Tom Says:
    August 26th, 2011 at 8:17 am
    Forget how. One of many blogs I read linked to you, and I dug the cut of your jib. Subscribed. You publish once a day, so you don't overpower my RSS feed, and what you publish is always good.

    Keep it up, Ed.

  • Michael says:

    I can't recall but I think I linked from another site. Probably Balloon Juice or Bob Cesca's Awesome blog.

  • evrenseven says:

    I don't remember where from, but I was linked to your "Open letter from baby boomers to their children" post, which affected me quite a bit and I shared with many others. Now i routinely link your posts on my FB page.

  • terraformer says:

    Balloon Juice, I think.

    There are very few writers out in the ether who can write succinct analyses pretty much routinely. You are one of the few.

    Oftentimes, your analyses are so obvious as to be embarrassing to the reader, in a "why didn't I think of that" kind of way, or (probably more often) they just crystallize what are various and disparate informational bits, in a "that is what I've been trying to think/write/say for XX years now" kind of way.

  • Patti says:

    At some point you took a picture of me standing next to a racist sign and had that picked up by MSNBC and HuffPo. Thanks!

  • blahedo says:

    Sometime in the last year, I got a link to a particular essay and ended up reading other posts and bookmarking the site. The link was probably on facebook, but I couldn't even tell you which essay it was that first got me here! :P

  • MM says:

    The author of the wonderful blog, The View From Hell, posted a link to one of your posts. I've been reading your blog ever since.

  • Ryan says:

    Good friend recommended it directly to me and he'd also posted a few links to it on facebook. It is the only blog I read and I generally look forward to doing so every day. I'm not really into reading people's blogs, but there is a clear value in bothering to hear what you have to say. I hope you keep it up.

  • Mike says:

    First time caller. Long time listener.
    Seriously, this is my first post on your site. I discovered it maybe 6 months ago (through a C&L link) and have been a loyal reader since. Your writing is insightful, funny, and diverse. I have recommended it to lots of people and therefore take credit for your web traffic growth in the Pacific Northwest. Keep up the good work!

  • Tynan Daly says:

    I saw a link in the now defunct laissez's faire forum and when I saw the background I knew I would like the site.

  • Colette says:

    Someone at Balloon Juice quoted and linked to some long-ago post of yours, and I liked what I saw. I confess that I've never bookmarked this site – I just click over from Balloon Juice every day.

  • CoraD says:

    Via a recommendation from a friend. I noticed my blog roll was fairly homogenous, so I asked friends if they could recommend blogs that went beyond my white-mommy dominated list. Lo and behold, your blog popped up. And here I am.

  • Jim says:

    Forget if it was DK, C&L or BJ…ironically it was a NPF post on pro athletes who you forgot played for certain teams eg. Reggie Jackson with the Orioles in 1976…that led to reading other posts here and voila, it was bookmarked. Keep fighting the good fight Ed!!!

  • Ben says:

    StumbleUpon. It kept putting your entries in front of me and after a while I just started going on my own. Also, hopefully I've brought a few here myself, as I constantly link to you on facebook and have a sticker on my laptop which gets a lot of eyeballs on it, as I travel pretty often.0

  • poop monster flex says:

    friend posted sarah palin book review to facebook, been a subscriber and daily reader ever since

  • Kevin says:

    Believe it or not, I got here from Mark Steyn's website. I don't agree with most of the lefty views here, but frequently enjoy the read and the occasional thought-provoking piece.

  • Paige says:

    I always googled all of my professors in undergrad or tried to find them on the facebook. While taking your Presidency class my sophomore year, that search led me here.

  • Betsy says:

    I came in from Crooks and Liars too. Added you to my RSS feed and read you every day. Keep up the good work!

  • David R says:

    I started following your site back in its "50 hits a day" phase, Ed. You toold me about it personally when I was hanging out in Madison with you, your girlfirend and a male friend/classmate of hers that I also happened to be friends with. I'm pretty sure my/your girlfriend's buddy was hoping you'd break up with her. Said friend of mine/your girlfriend's was kind of a skeeze at the time, btu has grown up a lot since.

    At any rate, I started reading your site because I liked the "comics" "scientology" and "sample papers written by kids" sections. Slowly stopped reading the site, and then abruptly resumed reading it again after I moved overseas in 2007, desperate for anythign I could find that would remind me of good times back in the states. Discovered you had re-worked it into an absolutlely wonderful one-man-show political site.

  • Sarah says:

    You got a mention in I Blame the Patriarchy and I was curious. I spent a month trying to figure out what the hell was an FJM (googling didn't help), and from there it became a habit.

  • Dirk Gently says:

    Pretty sure I got here via John Cole's Balloon Juice. Upon arriving, I instantly recognized someone of similar background and frame of mind, who could also write great stuff. Also, gin & tacos are delicious together.

  • Fearguth says:

    I started my first blog in April, 2001, and have been on the lookout for great blogwriting ever since. How and when I first discovered Gin and Tacos I've forgotten, but after my first visit, I knew I would be coming back.

  • Charles says:

    If memory serves, John Cole linked to something you'd written and threw in an atta boy for the site in general. I've been a regular here ever since.

  • SamInMpls says:

    Ed,

    If you are up for a little market researcj, how about some customer service?

    I never got my sticker!

    Enjoy you ill gotten gains,

    Sam

    P.S, You continue to be wrong about baseball. Not specifically wrong, just wrong in general.

  • iceblue says:

    I don't read a lot of blogs, but I do read Eschaton and First Draft every day as well as a handful of other ones, so I have to figure I followed a link from one of those to somewhere else, then maybe to here? I dunno cause sometimes I follow link after link, but I will say that whatever post I read the first time I came here….say between one and two months ago, I enjoyed reading it and bookmarked your blog. Now I check it once a day (except for baseball stuff..). TY

  • IndenturedGradStudent says:

    It was linked on some other blog, maybe Wonkette. I believe it was in reference to Ayn Rand during the debt debate and linked to your own discussion of her and Greenspan.

    Do you get hits if I read you on Google Reader. Keep up the great work. Reading this site and its comments are far more interesting than econometrics.

  • Rufus Lowgun says:

    First came here via a link from Crooks and Liars, came back a time or two because I thought the name and background wallpaper were cool, keep coming back because I enjoy the writing.

  • john says:

    A mutual friend sent me here years ago…sometime before the 2008 election…Your coverage/commentary on the 2007/08 primaries is what initially caught my interest, I think. I'm a bit disgusted with politics these days so I don't read daily like I used to…but I still enjoy practically every article I read.

  • Keith says:

    I've long since lost track, and Firefox has lost that in my history. I have been reading since at least 2/12/2011.

    I subscribe to far too many blogs.

  • mal says:

    It must have been a link either directly from a Wonkette post or by a commenter. It's probably been 8-10 months, read you every weekday. Wonkette brings the endless snark, G&T brings snark and smarts, which is refreshing.

  • Devon says:

    My wife, a philosophy prof at the University of Colorado, started posting links to G&T on facebook, about two years ago. Some of the other Philosophy profs there started linking as well. It took me about three visits before I was an addict (starting in about July '11).

    I teach in Atlanta and I'd love to buy you a beer. And both my wife and I would love to attend one of your stand-up shows.

  • vegymper says:

    Well, considering I've had some 40 cc of Uruguayan Grappa, (and that does very bad things to your memory and typing ability), I think it was zunguzungu.
    Please, Please, I don't want a G&T sticker, I want a G&T poster.
    And Argentina is far away of all things, but somehow I want to understand WTF is happening in the minds of the Americans, 'cause I don't have a clue. So I keep coming back here to help me understand (or not).
    Keep the acid in your writing, but try not to overdose! (In a few years it will make your mouth wrinkle as a chicken shithole)

  • person says:

    a link to the photos of the tea partiers in Bloomington you posted. I'm an IU prof and so dug the local connection. I dig the politics and the NPF

  • xjmueller says:

    I think G&T was on the blogroll at balloon juice. if not that, it was a link from C&L. it's been a couple of years now, so my memory isn't so clear.

  • Ashley says:

    You told me about it. Or MBL, can't remember.

    Either way, you cost me a friend, asshole. I showed a friend who had recently read Atlas Shrugged (and his life "had been changed" by it) your various Ayn Rand articles. He blocked me via all modes of electronic communication. My life has been better since.

  • JazzBumpa says:

    Interesting that Ke followed a link I posted on another site. I have no recollection of that. Nor do I remember how I found G&T. I've have it on my blogroll for as long as I've had a blogroll.

    I must have either followed somebody else's link – which be poetic in a way – or done a googly search on something that led me here.

    By all means keep up the good work.

    Cheers!
    JzB

  • Lyndsey says:

    juicycampus.com

    Just fucking with you, I can't remember. But I did want to remind you about your JuicyCampus fame.

  • Bubba says:

    Interesting post, and interesting reading how these others found you. Almost certianly Tbogg, although it could have been Sadly, No. I've been reading regularly for must be several years now.

  • Jeff says:

    I was a student of your presidency class back in Bloomington and loved it. One year later I was sitting next to a guy I realized was in the same class. He mentioned and recommended the site.

    I still remember the post from that day: rhetorical kevlar. I was hooked from then on.

  • Dr J says:

    A friend of mine from college recommended your site so I gave it a look see. You tell it like it is so I read regularly.

    Your site is one of the last bastions of honest and rational discourse which is pretty refreshing in these days of sound bites and Teabaggery.

    I still fear for the future, but at least some of us will enjoy the ride.

  • heydave says:

    I can't recall the details. It was either American West, Balloon Juice or that night I was doing shitloads of cough syrup and the ghost of Peggy Noonan led me here.

  • mr sketchy says:

    I started reading this site a few years ago.

    I was going through a quiet period at work so I started clicking links in the blog rolls of a few sites that read daily, though I can't remember now which one it was.

  • Luci says:

    I am pretty sure I found you through C & L. I've stopped in now and again, but then I decided I liked some of your latest posts, and I bookmarked you so I can stop in daily or twice daily.

  • Oscarbob says:

    Can't remember the site, but my initial foray came after seeing this link: NPF: THE ALL TIME BASEBALL ALL-UGLY TEAM. Been here ever since.

  • SeaTea says:

    It was long ago, but I'm almost certain it was Facebook. Someone shared a great article and I remember reading all the archives that same day. Consistently great stuff and I'm glad it worked out that we found each other.

  • Buffalo Rude says:

    I was looking for a specific FJM (gawd, I miss those guys) article on teh google and found one of yours. Been coming back ever since. I even have your sticker on my guitar case.

  • Radical Scientist says:

    I took one of your classes a while back, and google plopped out this site before anything with your work email. It took me to the 'There are no libertarians on airplanes' post, and I added the site to my RSS pile immediately.

  • Robert Trenary says:

    A random first taste, followed by enough eclectic rude informed humor to cause me to create a quick link for easy monitoring. Ruder and quicker than Truthout, well considered with no pulled punches, and regularly laugh worthy. Similar belief in education as a stand up art.

  • DES says:

    "I Blame The Patriarchy," baby! The only site I love more than yours. Also, I'm a philosophy professor, so the student-related observations are especially savored.

  • Binky says:

    I followed a link from Balloon Juice as well. You probably owe John a beer next time you're in West Virginia. HAHAHA, like anybody is going to West Virginia.

  • nikos says:

    Sweet swinging Jesus, that's a long time ago… A good friend from high school here in Australia recommended the site to me when there was a couple of other guys writing, and there was a lot more crass booze related humour. Been a pretty much daily reader for the last five or so years. Your scathing wit and razor sharp insights are ageing better that most posh wines.

    Keep it up, Ed. And don't be scared about selling shit to your loyal readers – it won't be selling out at all!

  • Sallad says:

    I'm fairly certain it was a Balloon Juice link to one of your succinct eviscerations of some idiot Republican. Once you started ranting about baseball I was hooked. Thanks for the awesome!

  • David B says:

    No idea, to be honest—probably a Facebook link, i'm thinking. (Because of where i remember living at the time, though, it had to have been more than two years ago.)

  • Nate L says:

    Via TBogg. I figured anybody he linked was worth reading…and man was I right! I visit your site every day–always worth the time! More FJM treatments please!!!

  • Vitis01 says:

    You and Dennis Perrin recently became permanent tabs on my browser. Multiple Facebook links to your articles from a respected friend.

  • Scott says:

    I learned about the G&T by being Ed's roommate for several years.

    What I find fascinating about these comments is that no one here found the blog through other blogs and not it's brief, but illustrious, mention on Rachel Maddow's show. Perhaps this is the death of the traditional media thing I keep hearing about.

  • Mike says:

    I came here through a link from C&L and I now check it quite regularly. Your writing is great, even when I don't agree with whatever you may be ranting about. Although, I have to say I agree more than I disagree. Please keep it up.

  • SiubhanDuinne says:

    I no longer remember the topic, but I know I came here at first because John Cole at Balloon Juice wrote something nice about you. (Or I guess he could've written something nasty and snarky about you, but no, I think it was praise that day.)

    Generally I tend to catch up on a week's worth of G&T posts on Saturdays, which explains why I am only now responding to your request of about 42 hours ago.

  • Chad says:

    Hate to admit it, but it was mutual friends of ours through facebook. For all the lazy, anti-social fall-out I see from social networking sites, they still provide an immensely effective viral forum to quickly spread the creative output of others, for better and worse. I think of them like petri dishes. They have the potential for producing penicillin…or the plague.

    Thanks for providing a blog-based antibiotic.

  • joel hanes says:

    Been a couple years, but I'm not an old-timer.

    Like Ke, I probably stumbled in here from that link near the demise of The Edge of the American West (though I read alicublog, Balloon Juice, Crooks and Liars, and Tbogg, so it _could_ have been one of them).

  • Rene says:

    StumbleUpon gave me one of your Ayn Rand posts, can't remember which one now. Maybe a little over a year or so ago. It pretty much hit the mark for me, so I started digging in to the other posts. I do this when I like a blog, I try to start from the beginning and work my way to present day posts. I can't say for certain that I started at the absolute beginning of ginandtacos, but I backtracked a couple years and worked up from there. Still an avid fan. Still check in on a near-daily basis. Liked it on Facebook. Promote it to my friends. Name-drop it in web-based comments here and there. I even read the sports stuff and I know exactly nothing about sports, but your perspective is interesting. What you do here is awesome, please keep at it.

  • Erik M says:

    I believe it was Crooks & Liars – years ago – I often reference your blog in school – Masters in Social Work at Gerorgia State – hopefully a few of my classmates have picked you up also – thanks for the work!

  • eau says:

    Gin reviews. A long time ago.

    Initially thought you were kind of a jerk. Liked Erik's posts, especially the mustache diaries.

    You've improved immeasurably. You're funnier, and a much better writer. Kudos.

    Keep it comin'.

    +1 swag.

  • Dave_c says:

    referral from a friend. and he went to brown so I knew I had to take it seriously. great blog, been reading consistently for over a year.

  • Americanadian says:

    Came over here from Balloon Juice. Now I have a sticker on my fridge and another place to lurk at.

  • Biffa says:

    Too long ago to remember but I got on board with Jesus General, LGM, C&L, Sadly No before the 08 Presidential Elections. Horrified by how naive the Great Orange Satan was and in need of finding someone in the Reality-based community in the US. (I'm from Scotland).

  • serenity says:

    I can't remember the link that brought me here, but it was within the last six months, and I have read you every day since.

  • Emma says:

    I honestly can't remember how I got here. But I do remember my first experience…I was mostly confused until I started clicking through old links, seeing how the site is laid out and reading old(er) material.

    Then I added it to my bookmarks and, pretty much, 5-6 per week I come back. Often times I tweet about a post or send to FB and I know I've turned at least a handful of people on (to your blog). At one point my friends and I did some serious research to find out who you are and where you work (and by serious it took us about 2 minutes).

  • Cassie says:

    Eons ago I followed a link to a review of bars/venues in Champaign-Urbana, IL that was not written by you. Liked the stuff your stuff though, so I keep checking in.

  • Mike says:

    I was a student at Indiana who loved your class and wanted more of your views. A fellow class mate informed me of your blog and of your drumming habits. I've been following ever since, which would have been … oh, 2006?

  • Katie A. says:

    I can't remember how I ended up here, but I've been reading Gin and Tacos consistently since, oh, last autumn, probably. I keep coming back because you have an uncanny ability to say everything I'm thinking, but in a much more articulate, informed way than I ever could.

    I've told all my like-minded friends about Gin and Tacos.

    I really hope you'll continue to write.

  • Nate says:

    I'm pretty sure I got linked from FSTDT, where I'm a member, but it could have been somewhere else. I do recall very clearly that it was a link to an FJM three or four years ago, and I followed the link almost specifically because I had no idea what an FJM was.

  • Gary says:

    Balloon Juice about three or four months ago. Been a loyal reader ever since, though I had no idea there were stickers!

  • karen marie says:

    This thread has been a wonderful trip down memory lane. I probably first came here through Rumproast.

    Unlike many other blogs G&T has withstood the test of time. Keep up the good work!

  • Quixy says:

    I had a friend send me a link to your "Seriously, Fuck Ayn Rand" post because he thought the title was something I would say (which it is). Been hooked ever since.

  • piperspace says:

    I'm here because a friend linked to a post (an FJM, I think) in Reader. That was two years ago. I've been an avid reader since, though I do like to wait a day or two to read a post because I so thoroughly enjoy the comments.

  • fire crotch says:

    I googled the effects of taco bells fire sauce on your genitals. This site was my first match…SERIOUSLY. I have been unable to duplicate this result in subsequent searches.

  • Peggy says:

    I keep trying to spread word of mouth, but it hasn't really taken on anyone but Cameron.

    Still working on figuring out how to use your column to say to my AP students SEE, THIS IS HOW ANALYSIS WORKS, JUST DON'T USE THE PHRASE "PANTS-SHITTING" ON YOUR AP EXAM without getting fired.

  • JM says:

    got here via the Leiter blog. was hooked for a while, then completely stopped, now come back occasionally. extremely well written and occasionally laugh-out-loud-by-yourself hilarious, but a little too predictably liberal sometimes.

  • Stephen says:

    A forwarded link for me. One of my friends from undergrad suggested you a few years ago, and after that first article you went into my daily read list.

  • A.B.A.B.D. says:

    My girlfriend infrequently asks me how I discovered Gin and Tacos and I only wish I could remember. I suspect it was either via Leiter Reports or Rortybomb, but may have been a link from another blog, probably sometime in '09. Regardless of the genesis story, my real regret is that I didn't discover it earlier, and I wouldn't want to imagine my life without G&T.

    Ed shares many of my specific passions (progressive politics, exposing cognitive biases, geeking out on baseball stats, Black Flag, stand-up comedy, to name but a few), and I await the daily posts every night at 9 pm Pacific Time to find out what's he's been thinking of lately.

    Ed also has my endless appreciation and admiration for being so dedicated to G&T and keeping up this pace for so many years no matter what else he has going on his life. Talk about daily delivery–no wonder he's so enamored of the USPS!

    I'll jump on the t-shirt bandwagon, too…

  • Ellie says:

    You're not going to believe this one…or maybe you will.

    I knew I found you for some ODD reason, but I couldn't remember exactly what it was. I did clearly remember having a good laugh over the "Open Cover Letter" that you posted not long after I started reading you (the line about "let's face it, at this point I'd apply for a job on a burning oil rig" was a howler). But that wasn't the thing that made me find you – it was something much more obscure than the academic employment issue – what WAS it?

    So I paged back through your archives, and then it hit me – PET RAT! I found you – or someone told me about you – because of the pet rat illness post! I, too, have had pet rats. And I, too, have spent much money on their health (and the health of othe critters under my care) for EXACTLY the reasons you articulated in that post. There was also a video of your rat wandering around your kitchen – I let mine out to wander about the kitchen, too. And then I read more….your politics were in agreement with mine, but, like me, your showed utter disgust with the establishment left. You seemed about as despairing of our current situation as I felt, while trying to maintain a sense of gallows humor about it (me too!). And you're around my age, and had snide things to say about baby boomers (hey, me too!). And you liked gin (me too!).

    Pretty soon, I was wondering if perhaps you were my long-lost twin.

    And by then, I was hooked.

  • Chris "Limey" Lewis says:

    Through Tom Tomorrow's webpage – he linked to the post "Ed goes Undercover Teabaggin'", which was hilarious

  • Cokehead says:

    Stumbleupon. Yeah, I know, pretty disappointing next to everyone's "Oh, I was reading [blog equivelant to 'A Tale of Two Cities] and somehow made it to you."

    You depress the living fuck out of me, but your dark humor makes me keep coming back for some reason.

  • kentropic says:

    Followed a link from James Wolcott, John Cole or Roy Edroso (don't remember who), and you've been a staple in my news feed ever since.

  • Rob says:

    This blog was recommended to me by google reader. I think it was a combination of reading White House press releases, USDA releases, sociological images, and xkcd.

    …and I love tacos…

  • A says:

    Don't remember, but it wasn't through following a link to any of the above listed blogs (or FB – never been on that time waster, I waste enough time already) – I've only heard of HuffPo – But I am about to go check out Balloon Juice.
    I've been here since the 08 elections…

  • Jason says:

    A link from some liberal website (probably C&L) somewhere about the time Dubya was trying to drown my grandmother in New Orleans, been lurking ever since.

  • Anthony says:

    I honestly can't remember how I got here; I think I came here from another blog ("Et tu, Mr Destructo?" sounds likely, but I don't think that was it), I liked the article I read (I can't even remember which article it was), and added you to Google Reader.

  • darms says:

    Came in via a blog link (don't remember which or when), stuck around because I like reading most of what you write. Thanx.

  • DaveKan says:

    I am pretty sure that I got here via StumbleUpon and then liked what I read and added it to my rotation of sites I read regularly.

  • red dog says:

    Found you via (a comment at) Roy Edroso and had such a good laugh that I happen to visit almost every day just to see.

    Greetings

  • John says:

    Got a link to your review of "Going Rogue" Not only have I been back every single day since, I've gone back and read through the entire archives, because I have way too much free time.

  • My says:

    I think Tim, Erik, Mark, & I were drinking (Maybe I was faux-suicidal in the wake of the 2004 elections and drowning my sorrows?) discussing the merits/demerits of gin at Mike y Molly's when Erik mentioned that you guys had a blog. Somehow I managed to remember not only this factoid but that it also related to tacos and looked it up sometime shortly thereafter…

  • celiadexter says:

    Found your site via a linque from Stinque about a year ago, now a regular must-read along with Balloon Juice, Steve Benen and Kevin Drum. Gotta have my politics and snark.

  • BigHank53 says:

    I can't remember which weblog had the link, but it was about Glenn Beck's rally, wherein you described him as bull semen and lard poured into a man-sized condom. Couldn't ignore that kind of talent…

  • Aquilegia says:

    Pretty sure it was either Tbogg or Balloon Juice…that and I went to grad school at UGA and I noticed you have an interest in GIS…most people can't even spell it, let alone know what it is (I happen to be a GIS Analyst with a certain conservation agency). Keep up the good work!

  • BigHank53 says:

    Good Lord. I just checked and that was somebody else entirely. I have no idea how I found your blog, and I seem to be losing my mind, too.

  • Alan says:

    This may have been said in one or more of the other 318 replies, none of which I've read. The essence of the viral spread of information isn't the vector, it's the virus.

    Sure, I followed a link that somebody posted to this blog. It may have been a Facebook status line, an email, or a link from another blog? But who cares?

    You're writing some of the pithiest, most insightful, funniest stuff out there. And I'm shamelessly plugging this site to anybody who'll listen to me. (For the good of the species we should all be grateful that that's a fairly limited number of people.)

    Anyhow, keep it up. Never mind where the readers are coming from. As you gain fame and fortune (right) those origins will become more and more obscure.

  • Nate says:

    I don't quite remember, it was a long time ago. I think MBL told me about the site when I was a sophmore or junior in college.

  • laura says:

    lolz, so, i'm the one that occasionally slides links to your articles in boortz.com reading assignments. anything you find on that site that appears unusual is probably my doing. it's funny, i usually have to trick them into clicking though with something like "hey, look at the stupid liberal blah blah blah." looks like a few have appreciated stepping out of the echo chamber…

    have no idea how i originally found you but it was before you moved. maybe a fark/digg/reddit link?

  • Andy kaplan says:

    Mentions from mike konczal at his blog. Thanks for all the entertaining & thoughtful commentary. Well worth the price.

  • Bobby says:

    Taking a wild guess, but C&L probably sent me here the first time & you've been bookmarked ever since.

    And strangely, despite not being much of a sports fans, your NPF posts are among my favorites. The post featuring Dock Ellis, Vince Young, Usain Bolt comes to mind – holy crap – that was amazing stuff all in one place!

    Thanks – glad I found you, however it happened.

  • cerb says:

    Had you for a Prof my freshman year at IU ('04). I thought you were pretty entertaining in class so I googled your name. I believe the first two results were 1) this website and 2) you reviewing the Arizona Cardinals' prospects for the upcoming season.

    Without this website I don't think the IU College Democrats would have been as drunk for the '04 election as they were.

  • John Cantwell says:

    You wrote some hilariously well-written piece on Ayn Rand quite some time ago; I stumbled on it and I've read you ever since. I'm Swedish and live in Sweden and your pieces give me a fragment of understanding of what is happening in the US. Reading you is a bit like reading the diary of the youngest sort-of-sane member of a deeply dysfunctional family that I can't help liking.

  • Adam Gutteridge says:

    I was introduced to your site from a friend of mine. I keep coming back because you don't disappoint.

  • Texas Jewboy says:

    I followed a link from either Andrew Sullivan or Radley Balko. Can't remember now. Interestingly enough, I'm a comic too, struggling with how to talk about the subjects I want to talk about (politics, despair, despair about politics, the politics of despair) without walking a room. I'm one of those self-obsessed Gen-Xers you mentioned in your open letter from the Boomers, still thinking the world owes me a venue and an audience. I'd do it the traditional way, but I can't bring myself to write three-minute sets of "airplane food" material. How do you manage? Thanks for the blog, it's a necessary daily ritual for me.

  • Paul says:

    I was recommended by a friend. I visit, read a bazillion posts, do a lot of chuckling, leave, and return a month or so later to do the same thing again. I can count the number of sites for which I do this on one hand. As one other poster said, "you never disappoint."

    And you don't…

  • Rich Webb says:

    Late responding — that little storm-thing that blew up the coast and all of the catching-up that resulted — but IIRC I first landed here by browsing the links on 's blog roll. Probably (but not certainly) from Balloon Juice.

    Despite some early confusion — What does FJM mean? Okay, then who is Joe Morgan? — I've stuck around as a reader for the consistently excellent writing and insights.

    Someday I'll probably try non-virtual gin and tacos, too, but I'm more of a Jack Daniels and Cheetos kind of guy …

  • Lennyb38 says:

    Can not remember how I got here, not unusual for me. Do not agree with you on most topics but really like the way your stuff is written. One thing we can agree on is all politicians suck! Keep on doing what you do so well. BTW, first comment here. Might not be the last.

  • KMTBerry says:

    I first came here via linkage. It was SO LONG AGO I don't remember anymore WHOSE. I mostly read feminist websites, so it was likely to have been Pandagon or Shakesville.

  • ElJay says:

    Another mimismartypants referral here. I've been reading long enough that I don't remember what the link was, though.

  • Name Required says:

    Linked from another lefty site- C&L, Rortybomb, Zunguzungu? Either a "look at this" article, or from blogroll because the name "ginandtacos" intrigued me.

  • bastich says:

    I am from the future! Oogityboogity!

    Kazim from The Atheist Experience blog (Freethoughtblogs.com) mentioned you. I now him a big bag of tacos and/or gin.

    Anyway…great work, Ed. I love your site, and am slowly working backwards through the archives (which is why I'm now commenting on a 14 month old blog post. Yay me.)

  • uggbootsonsale2012.tumblr.com/ says:

    No matter what happened, he would not say a word.They're in red and white.Just wait and see!Our school is in the east of Beijing.I want to have a part-time job.Many people complain that computers are taking over their jobs.Many people complain that computers are taking over their jobs.He shot the lion with a gun.Take it easy.Do you have any suggestions for me?

  • Palma says:

    Hello there! Would you mind if I share your blog with my facebook group?
    There's a lot of folks that I think would really appreciate your content.
    Please let me know. Thank you

Comments are closed.