Comments for Meet Your New Freelance Assistant Editor, Laura Northrup!

Meet Your New Freelance Assistant Editor, Laura Northrup!

2009-03-23T21:48:31Z

We have a new tipline czarina, Laura Northrup. She'll be digging through your emails to tips@consumerist.com, thanking you for sending in tips, and pushing good stories to the editors. In due course, she'll start contributing posts, too. We snagged Laura from the Albany Times Union, where she assisted consumer reporter Dan Higgins with his columns and posted on their consumer advocacy blog, The Advocate. A reformed professional librarian, she also owns several hamsters and has been known to engage in cheeky cross-stitching. Please join me in giving her a big Consumerist welcome!

Comment from JeremyFelt on 2009-03-24

2009-03-24T19:21:09Z

Go Albany! Go Times Us-... Union! Welcome to Consumerist.

Comment from uncooperative on 2009-03-24

2009-03-24T12:10:02Z

@Hyman Decent:

Comment from tankertodd on 2009-03-24

2009-03-24T09:38:53Z

When you play with your hamsters do you sometimes pretend they're talking like Chris Rock?

:-)

Welcome!

Comment from polyeaster on 2009-03-24

2009-03-24T08:17:05Z

oooh...is that a teddy bear hamster? saweettt! welcome...

Comment from xredgambit on 2009-03-24

2009-03-24T06:41:12Z

Soo... You single?

Comment from the_gank on 2009-03-24

2009-03-24T06:21:39Z

Well well well...Thumbs up! Finally someone from my city post here.. nice pic btw...hopefully that's real and not photshop.. :D

Comment from Hyman Decent on 2009-03-23

2009-03-24T03:27:09Z

@Trai_Dep:

Welcome, Laura's hamsters. I look forward to many, many more inclusions of rodents on Consumerist.

Hells to the no! MOAR KITTEHS PLZ! kthxbai

Comment from MrAndy1369 on 2009-03-23

2009-03-24T03:06:58Z

Welcome! I'm sure you'll do a good job!

Comment from RattedOutAnneFrank!_GitEmSteveDave on 2009-03-23

2009-03-24T02:40:33Z

Any chance we can get a tips twitter or AIM name? I only ask b/c it's a pain to log out my one gmail account to go to the other to post a tip. Yeah, I'm lazy sometimes.

Comment from ExtraCelestial on 2009-03-23

2009-03-24T02:15:26Z

Ugh this reminds me of the time I took home the class hamster for the weekend and my neighbors dog ate it.

Sigh, welcome anyways.

Comment from RandaPanda on 2009-03-23

2009-03-24T02:02:19Z

Welcome Laura!

Yeah for hamsters!

Comment from Your friends can call you HoJu! on 2009-03-23

2009-03-24T01:05:34Z

Which one is Laura?

Aaaaaaahhhh I kid! Welcome aboard. Hope you have a spamfilter.

Comment from Whiskey Tango Foxtrot on 2009-03-23

2009-03-24T01:02:11Z

Welcome!!!

Comment from CumaeanSibyl on 2009-03-23

2009-03-24T01:00:53Z

Aw nuts, somebody qualified applied for the job. And here I was hoping they'd hire me based on my offbeat sense of humor.

Seriously, congrats and good luck!

Comment from crashman2600 on 2009-03-23

2009-03-24T00:51:59Z

I for one welcome our new hamster overlords. Oh, and Welcome Laura!

Comment from Verucalise(countingcalories) on 2009-03-23

2009-03-24T00:51:32Z

@Meg Marco: Seconded! Welcome fellow upstate NYer!

Comment from RedwoodFlyer on 2009-03-23

2009-03-24T00:43:47Z

Wait, is that a hamster or a Guinea Pig?

Comment from jwissick on 2009-03-23

2009-03-24T00:36:27Z

Welcome to Laura and her human. :D

Comment from tbonekatz on 2009-03-23

2009-03-24T00:10:06Z

Welcome, Laura! I hope you enjoy your new job.

Comment from Trai_Dep on 2009-03-23

2009-03-24T00:04:54Z

@Dafrety: Burrito Night.

Welcome, Laura.
Welcome, Laura's hamsters. I look forward to many, many more inclusions of rodents on Consumerist.

I also look forward to a multi-tiered bracket featuring various Consumerist columnists' pets, although a Twinkles* vs Captain Duvel Moneycat cage-match face-off seems (gratuitously) inevitable. Tragic but so long as there's copious video, well worth the sacrifice. I recommend training Twinkles to scatter Perfect Oatmeal across the Octagon floor as a feint before she draws her hamster-sized daggers ("Aww, lil' bitty knives held by a lil' bitty hamster, so cute - OWW! Oh gawd my fingertip's gone, my fingertip is gone!")

Oh, as your status being a former librarian, I expect to see lots of rapped knuckles when commentators misuse "its" vs "it's". We need order, discipline and grammar, delivered in a tight sheath black mini-dress.

* I'm assuming "Twinkles" is a valid hamster-type name.
...So is "Poopy" but it's too easily confused as an adjective.

Comment from Adrienne Willis on 2009-03-23

2009-03-24T00:00:46Z

@Dafrety:

Not easy, especially since I just had knee surgery and cant walk for 3 months! I clean the girls cage (i have 3) every week because they pee the most. The other cages (2, 2 boys and 1 alpha male all alone) i clean every two weeks.

The hardest part is dealing with their non-stop WHEEKING!!! Holy moly do they have me trained.

Comment from Adrienne Willis on 2009-03-23

2009-03-23T23:57:05Z

The hardest part is dealing with their non-stop WHEEKING!!! Holy moly do they have me trained.

Comment from oregongal (lynnie421 on Twitter) on 2009-03-23

2009-03-23T23:55:23Z

Hi and welcome :)

Comment from rickhamilton620 on 2009-03-23

2009-03-23T23:19:51Z

Hi! Hamsters FTW! :D

Comment from CoarseLive on 2009-03-23

2009-03-23T23:12:22Z

You don't look like anyone to be messed with. Congratulations landing a writing job - I understand doing so is tough these days.

Comment from KerriNiger on 2009-03-23

2009-03-23T23:05:12Z

Welcome Laura! As a librarian who used to live in Albany, I feel an instant kinship....

Comment from Steve Walker on 2009-03-23

2009-03-23T23:02:44Z

Welcome to our little virtual-town Laura! May you and you hamsters find peace amidst the posts... = )

Comment from floraposte on 2009-03-23

2009-03-23T22:52:12Z

If "reformed" is what you're telling people, I'll fully support the claim. Welcome to 658.812.

Comment from The Queen of Everything on 2009-03-23

2009-03-23T22:47:00Z

Hello there, friend of mine! <3

Comment from ViperBorg on 2009-03-23

2009-03-23T22:44:08Z

Welcome, Laura.

Comment from Bargaineering.com on 2009-03-23

2009-03-23T22:40:31Z

Welcome Laura!

Comment from Taliskan on 2009-03-23

2009-03-23T22:40:00Z

@wallspray: Something I've mentioned a few times... and everyone seems to be OK with that. /shrug

Comment from wallspray on 2009-03-23

2009-03-23T22:35:25Z

Does Albany Times Union know "The Advocate" is a gay issues magazine as well?

Comment from ZukeZuke on 2009-03-23

2009-03-23T22:34:55Z

Welcome, Laura!

Comment from p012382 on 2009-03-23

2009-03-23T22:32:29Z

Welcome :) im looking forward to reading what you have to post!

Comment from Dafrety on 2009-03-23

2009-03-23T22:31:11Z

Hey Laura! I welcome you and your hamster. :)

Comment from mac-phisto on 2009-03-23

2009-03-23T22:29:21Z

my friend's guinea pig was just killed by his 2 hamsters & when he pulled the body out of the cage, the hamsters had gnawed a hole in his head & ate his brains!

word to the wise: keep the hamster away from your noggin.

BEWARE THE ZOMBIE HAMSTERS!

Comment from Dafrety on 2009-03-23

2009-03-23T22:25:43Z

@Adrienne Willis: How do you deal with all their crap? I only have two and that's already too much.

Comment from Project Thanatos on 2009-03-23

2009-03-23T22:23:55Z

I see I'm not the only one who has accepted our hamster overlords.

Comment from Nick1693 on 2009-03-23

2009-03-23T22:22:41Z

Hello Laura!

I hope you have a good time reading through the emails of the Consumerist!

(Oh, and the login button is back! Did you make it come back by letting it pet one of your hamsters?)

Comment from Radi0logy on 2009-03-23

2009-03-23T22:22:12Z

I have no idea what youre talking about, so heres a girl with a hamster on her head

Comment from ideagirl on 2009-03-23

2009-03-23T22:18:18Z

Please define "cheeky cross stitching..." oh, and welcome!!

Comment from Laura Northrup on 2009-03-23

2009-03-23T22:17:36Z

@Taliskan: But, thanks!

Comment from Laura Northrup on 2009-03-23

2009-03-23T22:17:26Z

@Taliskan: Great, now I work here and I still can't get the comments working properly.

Comment from ironchef on 2009-03-23

2009-03-23T22:14:37Z

welcome

Comment from ElizabethD on 2009-03-23

2009-03-23T22:13:55Z

Hammy love!

Comment from Meg Marco on 2009-03-23

2009-03-23T22:12:00Z

Yay! Welcome!

Comment from HogwartsAlum on 2009-03-23

2009-03-23T22:09:22Z

Welcome Laura! :) That's a very cute hamster!

Comment from moore850 on 2009-03-23

2009-03-23T22:06:45Z

Welcome to the jungle! Just kidding, can you imagine if I was like that?

Comment from Taliskan on 2009-03-23

2009-03-23T22:05:49Z

@lnorthrup: Eerily so, sometimes. Glad to see you aboard though. :D

Comment from Laura Northrup on 2009-03-23

2009-03-23T22:03:54Z

@Taliskan: The world is small.

Comment from thatblackgirl on 2009-03-23

2009-03-23T22:03:16Z

Hello!

Also: your hamsters and glasses are both cute.

Comment from Anonymous on 2009-03-23

2009-03-23T21:59:23Z

I miss having Laurie as a co-worker, but I'm glad you hired her. She's smart and funny, and has top-notch research and blogging skills. Congratulations, guys. You made a good decision.

Naomi Seldin
http://blogs.timesunion.com/simplerliving/

Comment from Taliskan on 2009-03-23

2009-03-23T21:57:42Z

My upstairs neighbor! :D Hi!!

Comment from robocop is bleeding on 2009-03-23

2009-03-23T21:57:24Z

Point of Fact: We Librarians Never Reform. Once you get your MLS, you're in for life, no matter how much you pay to get the tattoo removed.

Comment from Adrienne Willis on 2009-03-23

2009-03-23T21:55:47Z

well hello!!! I love you love of hamsters as I have 6 Guinea Pigs!

Comment from shaken_bake on 2009-03-23

2009-03-23T21:54:10Z

Awww, that is so darn cute! Welcome! Looking forward to benefitting from the fruits of your labor!

Comment from John Harrison on 2009-03-23

2009-03-23T21:52:53Z

y helo thar.