What an e-mail:

The discussions of the last few days have compelled me to write to you. First of all, thank you so much for The Corner. It’s amazing the quantity and quality of the free content you provide.
I am about to turn 30. When I was a teenager, I spent most of my time smoking pot and listening to Iron Maiden albums in my Mom’s basement. Believe it or not I had a subscription to National Review back then. I can’t even remember how I became aware of it, but I used to read it each month. I always put it down having enjoyed it, but feeling a bit like the guy who laughs but didn’t really get the joke. It was a bit over my head and I let the subscription run out.
Fast forward to today…. A few months ago I quit one of those Office Space jobs….OK, it wasn’t that bad, they treated me well, and the money was good, but I was bored senseless with it. In my free time I discovered NRO and The Corner in the run-up to the election. One of the first things I read was John Miller’s Powerslave article, and I was floored by the memories it brought back, not only of Mom’s basement but of trying to explain to my friends what National Review was all about (what’s wrong with you dude, my dad reads that…etc). I now check it so often that I just leave a tab open in Firefox with The Corner on it. I must check it 20 times a day, and there is almost always something new and worth reading.
Anyway, depending on how fast I can lose this remaining 10 pounds, I ship out for basic training at Fort Leanord Wood in about mid-February (21B-Combat Engineer). The Army needs help, I need a job, and if I let another few years slip by I’ll be too old to serve at all. The Office Space job just sort of fell into my lap after college, I wish I had joined up then.
So there you have it…from teenage pothead headbanger, to respectable (hopefully) US Army Specialist, with National Review there on both ends. I have a hunch I’ll be getting an NRO Digital subscription for Christmas, if not I’ll be ordering it myself after the new year.
Thanks to Ramesh and Derb for being so damn smart, Jonah for being so funny, John Miller for being so cool, K-Lo for keeping it all running and everyone else for contributing…. OK, you are all smart, funny and cool….
Thanks for the best site on the web by a million miles,