After a year and a half of blood, sweat, and tears (and a healthy dose of fun), I'm about to abandon my job as Staff Writer for Tripod. I'm off to someplace exotic and exciting. (I could tell you where, but then I'd have to kill you.) Those of you who read my last letter know that I'm a Billsville native; to prevent familiarity from breeding contempt, I've decided to move on. But before I do, I want to share with you some of my most memorable moments from my time at Tripod:

1. Gossiping with Emma and Maggie
   Emma, Maggie, and I used to schedule gossip sessions every Friday at five. We'd take turns buying food (usually cheese, crackers, fruit, and chocolate), and just set aside an hour each week to catch up on the local news. (Our gossip was never malicious — honest. It was all in good fun.) I think it's one of the healthiest, most relaxing ways to end your week.
2. Curry Puffs
   During the production of Homepage Studio 2.0, Jay, Brian, and I were regularly working late nights and weekends. We pretty much ate three meals a day from the Malaysian Cafe, and always got one order of curry puffs — each. (There are about six to an order.) If you've never had curry puffs, you're missing out; they're little slices of heaven, found only in North Adams, MA.
3. Spice Girls Paraphernalia
   Jay and I annoyed Brian to no end during the production of Homepage Studio 2.0 by downloading and playing every Spice Girls video we could get our hands on. In the spirit of the moment, I logged onto eBay and bid on all of the Spice Girls items I could find. Sadly, I lost out on every Ginger doll. I was so delirious in the process that I lost track of how much I had bid on. It all became clear later that week when sellers were e-mailing me, demanding their money. I ended up with a wallet, a poster, a key chain, another wallet, and a pair of socks. I haven't logged on to eBay since.
4. Michelle's Office
   Sometimes you just need a change of scenery, especially when you're feeling overwhelmed by work. So I would sometimes seek refuge in Michelle Greenleaf's office. Not only is Michelle way cool, but she has the most hysterical picture on her wall of her cat. I'm sure to others it's just a cute picture, but for me, it made everything seem a little brighter. Whenever you're down, I highly recommend going into Michelle's office — you'll leave thinking the world is a better place.
5. Margaret as Airline Stewardess
   Last summer during the site redesign, we were all here late for many consecutive nights. Staying late is just par for the course during a redesign, but it didn't mean that we wouldn't have rather been down at Mezze, sitting on the deck and drinking cosmopolitans. Margaret helped make those nights go by just a little bit faster by coming around the office every half hour with bags of cookies and chocolate to keep us going.
6. The Trampoline
   You may have heard about the tradition of having a new staff member bring in snacks for the weekly staff meeting. David Martel brought in something better — a trampoline. Sitting in front of a computer all day can make you sluggish. Now all you need to do is take a few minutes to bounce on the trampoline, and you're as good as new.
7. Richard's Demerit System
   Senior Editor Richard Egan wasted no time setting up a demerit system within the Editorial Department. The only rule: You can't receive a demerit for anything work-related. I'm leading the demerit pack by three points, as of today. Maybe I should experiment and see how many I can rack up before I leave tomorrow.
8. A Table of Cosmopolitans
   There's always a lot to celebrate here at Tripod. For our bigger projects, we usually set an evening aside for the whole company to join in the celebration. I had a scheduling conflict during the Homepage Studio 1.0 fete at Mezze, and was going to arrive late. Wanting to arrive and be on par with everyone else in attendance, I assigned a few Tripodians with the task of filling a table with my drink of choice, cosmopolitans. I expected I'd have maybe two or three drinks waiting for me, but I underestimated my coworkers — there were SEVEN drinks waiting for me when I got there. Of course, I HAD to drink them all — it would have been rude if I'd let any of them go to waste. Unfortunately, I don't remember if I ever got to drink six or seven — somehow, it's all a big blur ...
9. Tripod Bowling League
   The Tripod Bowling League is a breeding ground for memorable moments, including Jenny's famous hop, Jesse's ability to throw the ball so hard that the pins run in terror, my ball — the Siren, and the snack bar's $1.25 grilled-cheese sandwiches.
10. Rubber Bands
    That's where it all began ... When the Membership Department interviewed me for my first job here, they wanted to know if I could shoot a rubber band. I was a pathetic rubber-band shooter when I first arrived at Tripod — now I take pride in my ability to shoot them over the Editorial wall and square onto Mikey Bronder's head.

So there you have it — my most memorable moments. Of course, I have many more memories than space permits. I'll miss Tripod and Williamstown — I'll miss sitting next to Insider Diva Anna Groskin; I'll miss honey-walnut cream cheese at Hot Tomatoes; I'll miss the seasons; I'll miss curry puffs and demerits and healthy gossiping.

I'll be back.

— Gayle