The following is a public service announcement from N.A.D.S: Noders Against Drunken Stupidity.
My Fellow Noders... there is a menace among us, slowly claiming the respect and reputation of noders from all walks of life. I speak of course, of the crazed monkey noding spree sessions that can erupt when a noder has consumed too much alcohol. Once a certain drunkeness point has passed, Madness flows from the fingertips into the nodegel bringing descruction and mayhem everywhere it seeps. Some noders it would seem thrive on this type of pain and disorder, but for the rest of us, it's well... embarasing.

The worst part of this entire ordeal is that, quiet frequently, the noder will not even remember noding the fruits of his or her delirium until the next time they visit everything2 and see that dreaded "You have lost exp" message in the epicenter. This of course leads to a review of their nodes, and a somber reminder that yes, indeed, they have made a fool of themselves.

Even I, a humble lvl 1 noder, who's been around here for two years, yet only written 15 writeups (mainly because I only node what I know or node what I feel most of the time) have made the trip to drunken node hell. It's been over two months since that node was written, then promptly (when I had sobered up) cleared out and left to have something good come of it later.

But sadly, even after two months, it serves as nothing but a reminder of a foolish drunken noder who should have stayed away from the keyboard that night. I know the future of that node will eventually lead to the great bit bucket, and to be honest, I wish it would just Rot In Peace at this point, as I hate being reminded of what I had done with that poor helpless node in the middle of the night. I know nothing can make it all go away completely, that somewhere there is a little node family who's newborn-nodette I stole away from them to create a drunken ramble, only to later clear it out to nothingness.

So Remember, the lesson here is: "Drinking and Noding can kill a reputation. Friends don't let friends Node drunk. Take their keyboard, rent a movie, give them more alcohol until they pass out; whatever you have to do, but for the love of everything, don't let them node!"

Perhaps future releases of E2 will come bundled with a breathalyzer and require you to pass a test before you can node, but until that time, it's up to all of us to help our fellow noders out, and keep the nodegel from becoming one gigantic morning after puke bucket.
Update 01/26/01: I want to just drop back by and say Thank You to whatever god/editor/whomever hath smiled down apon me in the last 24 hours and deleted the node I created in my drunken madness that night. I thank you, and more importantly, the nodegel thanks you.