I was certainly hoping to find out to where the old core of reddit users flocked, and I figured that would probably happen through a reddit thread.

You should give Cinnamon a try.

I usually disabled all graphic enhancements and animations of OS', but I gotta say, I've been appreciating the extra bits of nice-nice that Mint Cinnamon has to offer.

I work for a rather large online fabric/quilt store and I think they've successfully gotten into my head. The last thing I finished (in my spare time) was a little proof of concept nine-block pattern generator. http://blockrockingrepeats.com

Might want to give The Roots a listen, particularly their stuff from the same era as the Can I Kick It? track, like the albums Organix and Do You Want More?!!!??!.