Thank you!
 

HOMOSEXUALITY. This topic has been discussed on multiple threads already, we've all said our piece, and no one has changed anyone's mind. The last surviving homosexuality thread is labeled something like "Propostion 22". Hopefully, we can keep it in that cage for the rest of its natural life.

JAKE LLOYD vs HALEY OSMENT as ENDER. This topic is both tired and moot. Tired because it has been discussed ad nauseum in multiple message threads, and moot because both kids will be too old for the part by the time Ender's Game: The Movie EVER goes into production. So if anyone EVER tries to bring this issue up again, they will be immediately found, drawn, and quartered.

Dog
 

The facts for the curious are this: OSC never went to see Sixth Sense but felt that a) it would ruin the chances of Lost Boys ever becoming a movie (because he believes it would seem to be dirivative of Sixth Sense) and b) that Haley Joel Osment is too fragile-seeming to do Ender justice and c) that HJO is too old and old-seeming. He believes that HJO seems like the sort of person that adults protect not the sort who could be a fighter. Though many of us disagree, Ender never did nor ever will belong to us. He belongs to OSC to do with as he pleases.

Jake Lloyd, on the other hand actually read the book and wrote to Card asking if he migt be allowed to play Ender. Card actually rewrote the screenplay (which previously had not focused on Ender because Card believes that few child-actors are up to truly demanding roles) because he believed that Lloyd could do justice to Ender's inner character in a way that he previously hadn't thought possible. If you object about this to Card, he will tell you that you must be confusing the acting with the directing, that Jake Lloyd can hardly be blamed for not being able to salvage a badly directed movie when more experienced actors could not, and tat Jake lloyd is perfect for the part.

Anoter faux pas: do not critisize what you have seen of the sreenplay. When Card put the first version on display, he got a great deal of well-meaning criticism, and it made him mad. If we were that smart, we'd be publised already and not kicking around on someone else's website.

Try not to double post.

Try not to start new threads about topics that are already in other threads. For example: if you wish to discuss gun control, you might want to revive "Shoot 'em up bang bang" or Brettly's more recent version, "so tell me again, why do we need guns?" if you want to talk about gayness there are already at least five threads that can be revived. As many of you mentioned, this board is getting pretty lengthy. Help us prevent that by not posting more topics if we don't need them.

Try not to be mean but to be respectful.

Be honest.

Have fun!
 

I´ve seen TomD flame, but they´re usually well-written, even witty, so that I´m not unhappy to have read them
 

1. How about homosexuals?
2. California Proposition 22
3. Cheapening Marriage
4. Not About Gay Issues (of course)
5. Gays in the Military
6. Salon Article
7. Gay Therapy?

Of course, you can also use this list to AVOID the debate, too. (Perhaps a wiser course of action... )
 

The only suggestion I might make is to view some of the topics covered over at least the last few months so as not to duplicate topics which have been covered in recent memory (at least in the memory of the "old timers"). For example, "Lost Boys" has been at least 3 or 4 recent topics.

Oh, also try to use happy faces.

To Dog, regarding another post on world religions someplace else: this entire forum is really Taoist, isn't it, requiring people to go with the flow to enjoy it. As a Confucianist trying to be Taoist, my tendency is to want FAQ pages and lists of threads with common topics .
 

Dog
 

If you are wondering how to change from New Member to Member, I am not exactly sure the critical mass of posts is relavent, but it seems to change after a week of membership and at least five posts.
 

2. Don't overdo it at first. Posting in high volume for a week and vanishing is rather annoying to regulars. Posting in high volume in general can be annoying, if no one else is responding.

3. Use decent grammar, spelling, capitalization, punctuation, etc. Just as you wouldn't expect to enjoy watching a television show with poor reception, the static of improper English usage is obnoxious and drowns out your message. Go back and proofread your posts and edit the mistakes.

4. Actually say something when you post. "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all," has its corollary, "If you don't have anything to say, don't say anything at all." This goes for starting new topics, too.
 

Secondly, I agree with pYx again - don't read it if you don't want to. No one, I hope, has a gun to your head.

Third, lurking is probably a good, respectable and decent thing to do. Unfortunately I'm a cocky - probably arrogant - and I would rather jump in the deep end than dip my toe in the shallows.

Fourth, grammar and punctuation: Yes! I could not agree more, though you will excuse an Aussie for capitaliSing instead of capitalizing

Fifth, I'm not going to come close to agreeing with TomD on oldtimers not being irriated easily but we won't go there. I'd prefer to be treated on the quality of my posts, not how long I've been putting them up. (So feel free to rip them to shreds if they deserve it... Go on, pYx )
 

But the forum does seem a little more empty lately...

{okay, I didn't proofread and just realized I left out a VERY important little "not". I hate it when I do that.}

[This message has been edited by katharina (edited April 19, 2000).]
 

quote:

---

And I think this FAQ thing is a bunch of crap. It's not as if a frequent few own the place and everyone else is a complimentary guest.

---

Well, pYxie stick, I guess the best response is another quote from... youself!

quote:

---

And yet somehow people forget how they have the option of NOT reading as well. Not as if the internet gods hold a gun to your heads to read everything anyone dares to stick up here or anywhere else, puhleeze.

---

BTW, Ethics Gradient, are you just caliginous from Fresco in disguise? You have the same posting style.
 

And I actually have no idea what you are talking about.

[This message has been edited by Ethics Gradient (edited April 19, 2000).]
 

BTW, "retardeder" is not a word.
 

Try not to get drawn into an argument. Perspective is important. The post that you wanted to write in anger diminishes in importance if you set it down beside a few days of rl.

Don't say that anyone else is retardeder than you, in any way, shape, or form. They may be, but just don't say it.

I think that about covers it.

~Ele

[This message has been edited by Ele (edited October 22, 2000).]
 

Hmmm. Upon actually taking a look at my own sig for the first time, I am surprised to discover that I am no longer a "New Member" according to the system - even though I only registered two days ago! The speed at which one is no longer considered new would explain why it looks as if there are no "New Members" posting to this thread. I certainly consider myself new! Besides, I'd bet newbies read this thread and just don't post.
 

Tide
 

Keep on bringing it up, though. It serves a purpose (at least I hope so).
 

Then I realized how I could figure out what you'd done. All I have to do is divine it from what I know of you. Are you the sort of woman who would put up an empty posting, just to trick me into checking the thread, or are you the type who would post something that was rich in content? Now, a clever person would put up an empty posting, because they would know that only a great fool would actually check this thread for new content after all this time. I am not a great fool so I can clearly not check the thread brought to the top by you...But you must have known I was not a great fool; you would have counted on it, so I must clearly check the thread in front of me.

Of course, you and I are probably the only two bothering to check this thread, and since you're travelling you won't even see this until next week. And if you aren't familiar with the Princess Bride you'll just think that I'm a bit of a freak.
 

And that's one of my favorite scenes from Princess Bride...although the best is "My name is Inego Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."
 

The whole Reugen and Humperdink homosexual undercurrent is pretty funny too.

But yeah, my favorite scene in the movie has to be the battle of wits. I'm smiling just thinking about it.
 

My favorite scene is when Westley wakes up and they are planning on storming the castle. And, or course, anything with Miracle Max.
 

I guess I will rent it this weekend. I've heard so much about it. It must be good. I hope. ??
 

Honestly, thouh I'd seen it a hundred times, I never saw it until last year sometime. You have to understand the context of the Count as being played by Christopher Guest. If you have ever seen "Waiting For Guffman" [one of the greatest movies ever made, IMHO] than you would know about Corky St. Clair, and you would see the similarities between that character and the Count. In the right context, lines like "afterall, if you haven't got your health, [pause, looks him over] you haven't got anything" become pretty funny. Not to mention the prince plans on killing the pretty girl and is pretty much a wuss... oka PLEASE dont pie me for those terrible stereotypes, I am just testifying that I saw the undercurrent too. Another Christopher Guest flik coming out is "Best in Show" which I'm going to Kansas City to see this weekend, should be hilarious!
 

"Why is it all Wesley jumping in front of the flames, Wesley running the dangerous errands, Wesley dying, and so on? *Not* the epitome of a healthy relationship."

Actually, the book addresses this at some length; it's far more cynical than the movie (and slightly better, IMO, though very different).
 

Sure, two guys can be friends. But watch Reugen and Humperdink's body language, and listen to their tone of voice when they're interacting. It looks to me like they're more than friends. If I read your post correctly you haven't seen the movie, but have memorized it. Did you get ahold of a script or something? If you haven't seen it, I'm surprised that you'd care enough to memorize it. And if you cared enough to memorize it, I'm surprised that you haven't bothered to actually sit down and watch the thing. In any case, the undercurrent isn't something that you could really pick up from the script.

dean, like most movies, books, etc, either it grabs you or it doesn't. You might give it another watching and see if you change your mind though--sometimes my mindset while I'm watching a movie or reading a book can really effect my perception of it.

ClaudiaTherese,

Pointing over your shoulder "What in the world can that be?"

I've never read the book, I'm afraid. When I saw that it wasn't actually by F. Morgenstern I just felt disappointed. I'll have to track down a copy of it now.
 

userAnnie,

Do see it, but try not to get your hopes *too* high. No matter how good a movie is, it's can never be as good as its hype. And we've hyped this one up quite a bit, I'm afraid.
 

And I thought I was so clever! Maybe I can blame low bloodsugar--it's lunch time, and I'm starving.

The reference I was making, by the way, was to Vizzini's attempt to distract The Man in Black long enough that he (Vizzini) could switch the goblets.

If you just want to refresh your memory, but don't want to pay your late fine, you could always just read a transcript of the movie. There are quite a few knocking around the net, but this one is one of the better ones out there:
http://www.tough.net/eempje/princess.htm
 

Honestly, I think it appeals to the kind of men who always really liked Han Solo but always knew that they were, deep down, Luke Skywalker. Wesley's tough, clever, skilled at EVERYTHING, caring, witty, and kind; he's literally a paragon of the modern manly ideal, and the movie is at its best when he's facing off against other men worthy of either respect or fear. Unfortunately, all the women in the film -- including Buttercup -- are pretty incidental, and rarely more than sniveling centerpieces.

I think a BETTER question is why so many WOMEN like the film, since the thing borders on early chivalric misogyny more than half the time.

In its own way, "Princess Bride" is a classic film of the Errol Flynn variety; men are Men, swinging and leaping and cracking jokes and rescusing damsels -- and, sure, wearing tights and occasionally winking at each other to make sure we get the joke. It throws in some luscious scenery, clever pomo references, and a framing story to update the genre, but there's really very little that differentiates it from, say, "Captain Blood."

(Note: I really liked the movie, before y'all kill me. *grin*)

 

And at least the book lets Buttercup redeem herself somewhat towards the end. In the movie she was essentially useless.

The rest of the movie works for me, and the swordfight was excellent.
 

ClaudiaTherese, don't worry about it, no harm done. And like I said, looking back at her posting I can't imagine how I could have misunderstood. I guess you might say that I fell victim to one of the classic blunders!

Y'all are right, Buttercup is a wimp. Perhaps this is my favorite movie because I wish that guys really WERE always like Wesley, and that the bad guys could always be so easily vanquished. And, of course, if Wesley loved Buttercup and she was such an idiot, he would certainly love me.

That, and the whole movie is just funny in a low key kind of way. My kind of humor.

[This message has been edited by katharina (edited October 26, 2000).]
 

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
 

I like that idea of royalty classes. I think I'd like to take some.
 

The author of this article finds the premise as ridiculous as any of us will, by the way.

Just for the record, I can remember not being able to read, and I can remember learning how to do it. Learning to read wasn't painful in the least, but not knowing how was pretty frustrating. I was probably 1 and a half or so, and was looking at a magazine that my parents had left out. I was trying to figure out what they found so fascinating about the text. I knew the alphabet, but I didn't have any concept yet that the letters came together to form words, so I couldn't figure out what it was all about. I knew that the letters weren't in order though.

I wonder if the person who came up with this theory had literacy drilled into her at the end of a whip or something?
 

This is to let all comers know that the word prention refers to the act of starting a new thread on an already exhausted subject. Those found behaving in a prentionistic manner, that is, prentionistically, will likely have their prention pointed out to them, ad nauseum.

Those with a penchant for prention will, no doubt, get the more severe keyboard lashing they so richly deserve.

Of course, prention is also used to refer to the act of pointing out the prention of others, so, neatly (and ipso facto) the person pointing out the prention is guilty of the same crime.

This keeps us all friendly, I would imagine.

We now return you to your previously mutated thread.

 

I can remember being able to understand English but not being able to speak though. That really made me mad. I kept trying to talk, and couldn't form any words. I started crying. Given other details of the memory, my family says I must have been about 9 months old. I've read that kids can't form lasting memories at that age, but I've got first hand knowledge that it isn't true. Of course, the experts would say that I'm making it up, or that it's a false memory that I developed after looking at a picture, or something like that. I'm as sure of that memory as a person can be of any memory, but there's no way to prove it.
 

[This message has been edited by Noemon (edited October 30, 2000).]
 

My mother told me I learned to read in kindergarten, but I can't even remember this.

I don't think reflects badly on my intelligence, but I wonder what it means to have a bad memory. Now, I have a very good memory for ideas and books - I can remember everything I read, but I simply cannot remember events and places and people. It is like it has all been wiped. Weird.
 

What I do remember was how pleasurable it was to read when I first learned. I'd read aloud every single sign or billboard visible from the car as we were driving around. I bet it sent my mother crazy!

I remember my little brother looking at books and wanting really badly to know what they said. He'd ask me "what's that say?" and I'd tell him, then he'd ask "what's THAT say?" and then I'd tell him that one. This would go on for hours.

Sometimes I think I'd like to know what the sensation would be like of not being able to read. Then I realize I can just look at Chinese writing, or Arabic, or something, to get that feeling.

In Chinese restaurants I often stare and stare at the banners and things that are draped around with Chinese writing on them. I keep thinking if I look at them long enough I'll understand what they mean. When I first started looking, I was thinking fortune-cookieish things, and Tao-Te-Chingish things, but after a long while, it finally occurred to me that they probably said things like "$20 fee on all returned checks", or "No shirt, no shoes, no service".

[This message has been edited by aka (edited October 30, 2000).]
 

*shrieks* THE CLIFFS OF INSANITY!!!!!

No more rhymes, I mean it!
Anybody wanna peanut?

The book really was better, though. I mean, what other story takes place after Paris but before Europe? Or has a Lady and the Tiger ending? (Oh, wait, except for "The Lady and the Tiger," I suppose. ) Did you know there is a sequel? I think it's called "Buttercup's Baby" or something like that. I saw it a couple of years ago in a bookstore in Portland but didn't buy it because it could never live up.
 

I remember staring at a box labeled "computer paper" when I was really young. I stared at it every morning. I knew the word paper, but I wasn't sure what paper was. I didn't know the word computer. I mused about it and tried pronouncing the word computer in different ways to see if anything came to mind. One problem I always had as a kid was that I would read something and mispronounce it so I didn't recognize it. Like "determined," I read it as "de-ter-mind-ed" so I made no connection. But as soon as I could read pretty well I definitely enjoyed it. I read all the time as much as I could. My mom took me to the library like once a week and checked out four library books for me. By the time I was in first grade, I could read them all in one sitting, so I got advanced to big kid books.
 

Dad was an Army man, and not a big one for tact.

I remember my sister breaking her finger on a girl scout hike, what the cast and splint looked like. All that happened before I was 2.

I do remember learning to read. I was the youngest of three and really didn't get much attention if I wasn't bleeding or something. When Mom found out I had to know my abcs before I could go to first grade, she got my brother to teach me. I knew my numbers and simple math already, and I knew how to write my name and certain other words. I'd copy words from books and catalogues, but I couldn't read.

It really didn't take a lot of effort to teach me, I wanted to learn so badly. I hope I still have the energy to give my younger children reading time with me.
 

I can remember spending a fair amount of time trying to pick myself up when I was 2 or 3. I'd stand there, pick up one leg by the knee, and then very carefully try to pick the other leg up. Then I'd get up, dust myself off, and try it again. I remember doing this *alot*. It just seemed like it ought to work.

Ophelia, Your story about using the term Blue for all colors, but knowing that it wasn't right--how absolutely fascinating! I mean, pretty much any person who studies child development would tell you that at that point you didn't understand that blue was a term for a specific color--they'd say that you were using it as a general term for color. But you weren't! You knew exactly what color blue was, but found yourself saying it in place of the other color names. I wonder why that was?

I would really be able to tap into more of my very early childhood memories--I don't remember learning how to walk, for example, but that must have been a big deal to me at the time. I can remember not being able to talk, like I mentioned earlier, but I can't remember when I was finally able to do it. I can't help thinking that it would be really illuminating to remember what it was like to be learning all of that stuff. Remembering what it was like to realize that those noises people made had meaning, and to be actively puzzling it out--that would be fascinating.

[This message has been edited by Noemon (edited October 31, 2000).]
 

I can remember beating the stuffing out of my brother regularly, but that's about it...
 

It's been too long since my linguistics classes for me to remember the names for the different classes of writing systems (yes, I could look it up online, but I'm feeling lazy)

In any case, if that is what you meant, then I'm sorry to say that I haven't learned any charactered systems yet--Thai is an alphabetic system. It just used a completely different alphabet than ours (Interestingly, though, the Thai "L" is *very* similar to the Attic Greek lambda, and I think that you can kind of see how our "L" is related to lambda, although maybe I'm stretching it a bit on that one).

I may have an opportunity to learn Chinese though--I just caught wind of some teaching positions in China that my wife and I might be in a position to accept. It will be kind of weird just throwing over the computer networking stuff I've been doing for the past few years to teach ESL again, but I'm feeling kind of excited about it. Of course, right now it's just a possibility--I haven't even met with the recruiter yet--but it's an interesting possibility.

Anyway, I haven't noticed any particular change coming from learning such a different language, although I do think that anthing like that is generally exercise for the mind. Maybe after I've gotten more proficient in the language I'll see more of a difference in the way I think.

If we decide to accept the positions, we'll both be teaching. That's one of the nice things about ESL--if you're teaching overseas, it's generally a very family friendly situation. They'll often hire couples. Since my wife and I met in the same ESL MA program, that works out nicely for us. Or it would if either of us were doing ESL at the moment
 

I remember playing with a bucket of army men my dad got me, at the commissary, for my first birthday , trying to set them all on their feet. Not easy, since I was still bad at fine motor skills (and some of them were made to be on the ground -- as if belly-crawling through the trenches}. My mother was on the phone.

I remember thinking I should tell her I needed to go (I didn't quite think in those terms yet, but something like that) but I just had to make all my little men stand up first. I remember my diaper getting sort of un-comfy, but I was intensely focussed on the Army men.

Later, mom told me that if I went to the potty when I had to go, I could get back to playing faster than if she had to change my diaper. That was basically it, though sometimes I would get involved in something and not quite make it. My mother says it took less than a month, and I was older than 1 year, but less than a year and a half.

The thing I remember most is how focussed I was on those Army men. I've always had times when I was concentrating so hard on something that people could come up to me and speak loudly and I wouldn't respond. I was aware they were there, usually afterwards I could remember most of what they said, but I wouldn't acknowledge them until I was done with whatever it was. The extreme opposite of ADD.

My mother used to take pictures of me like that. She had me tested for epilepsy and everything. Finally, they said, "She just thinks real hard." Mom thought that was a hoot. (These were Army doctors, mind you. Usually going out of their way to sound professional.)

I would get really frustrated when people didn't understand me-- so much so that I would just break down in tears-- but the potty thing wasn't like that. It was just like, "So THAT'S how you do it." End of story.

Good luck on the ESL thing. My husband and I nearly went to Japan, but the first place we talked to preferred singles. Then half my family died an the other half got sick or divorced, and we moved back to take care of my mom. The second place we went to would have sent us to Kyoto, and that was 2 months before the big earthquake in '94. Good thing we didn't go.

[This message has been edited by Olivet (edited October 31, 2000).]
 

My brother was about two and wanted to go on the Father/Son campout his daddy and big brother was going on.

My mother told him he couldn't go unless he didn't wear diapers anymore -- he had to be like the big boys. Well, that was it. It took about a week to work everything out and my brother was potty-trained. He just needed a motivation.
 

When I was a kid my mom kept taking me for hearing tests. She thought I was deaf because I'd be concentrating so much on what I was doing that I didn't respond to her unless she actually came and put her hand on my chin and turned up my face and spoke right into my eyes.
 

[Edit--turns out I related a story here that I had already related in an earlier posting. I remembered typing it in, but I thought that it was in the posting that I lost when my computer crashed. Turns out it was just in an earlier posting]

It's interesting now to look through picture books that completely captivated my attention as a child, and try to remember what it is about those illustrations that seemed so fascinating to me. I used to spend a lot of time pouring over the pictures in _Snowy Day_ (I think that's the title), and there was a book about a live mouse and a wind up mouse that had illustrations that I used to loose myself in. And things that I appreciate now, like the gleam of winter sunlight on a bale of hay (when it catches the light just right), I used to go into a meditative state staring at back then (I recognize it now as having been a meditative state--I didn't think of it that way at the time).

Another interesting thing is that I can remember foods tasting differently than I now perceive them to taste. Cantaloupe, for example, tastes completely different to my adult palate than it did to my child palate. I can remember distinctly what it tasted like, and it's nothing like what it tastes like to me now.

This post is getting long, so I'll wrap it up, but one other thing on the subject that I've been thinking about is this: I've read in a number of places that virtually all of the things that we consider instinctual are actually learned, and the writers usually point to the fact that babies show no sign of revultion at the odor of feces to be proof of this. I wonder though--is it possible that babies sense of smell is different than ours? They definitely have a developed sense of smell, since they are able to recognize their mothers by their scent, but could it be that it's just really different from our own sense of smell? Kind of like that taste thing I was discussing above? It might not be a question of learning that feces stink so much as their olfactory perceptions changing so soemthing that was at perceived to be at least neutral before is now perceived to be unplesant.

[Edit--well, looks like I ended up with another mammoth posting anyway! Guess I had the energy after all]

[This message has been edited by Noemon (edited November 01, 2000).]

[This message has been edited by Noemon (edited November 02, 2000).]
 

I remember when I first learned that everything falls at the same speed no matter what it weighs, and I didn't believe it. So I got on my parents' bed with Poochy Pooh, the stuffed dog, and jumped up and down on it. Each time at the top of the jump, I'd let Poochy Pooh go, and watch as he stayed in the same position relative to my hands until I caught him again at the bottom of every bounce. So it really was true. I remember just bouncing and doing that for a long long time one day.

One time when my niece was about 6 I asked her to please explain everything to me. To tell me what made it day or night and how the sun worked and why it moved around in the sky and why did it stay up instead of falling. Her theories were very interesting. She thought it was probably scotch tape keeping the sun stuck to the sky, for instance.
 

"Mom, do you remember when you became a person?"

Not sure where this was heading: "Do you mean when I was born? Not really."

"No, no, when you became a PERSON." Impatiently: "You know, when you were turned on, like a light."

Still not sure what she meant but not wanting to cut off the conversation: "I'm not quite sure -- do YOU remember when you became a person?"

"Yes."

"What happened?"

"You know, I became ME, the person I am."

"Who were you before that??"

"Oh, I was just hanging around."

I'm still amazed and baffled at this. She still swears she remembers "turning on" sometime around three years old.
 

as for learning to read:
i had 'mommy school' when i was little before kindergarten. i learned shapes and numbers and letters and how to do chores like scrubbing the bathtub. a few months before kindergarten-i started when i was almost 5-i could read small 3-4 letter words.reading never gave me a problem untill i was still at a 7th grade reading level at the beginning of 9th grade.(i now read shakespeare and plato for fun,dont worry about having an incompetent reader at hatrack)

my little brother is a different story. words on paper confused him until my mom got him a tape and book set that had the letters sounded out for him.
 

On a completely different subject (not that I'm not trying to derail the current subject (it's fascinating, but conversation on it seems to be slowing down), but I just came across the following:
http://www.salon.com/tech/wire/2000/11/02/minesweeper/index.html

And thought that some of our resident Minesweepers, such as aka, might find it interesting.

There's something very satisfying to me about minesweeper. I'm not sure what. Same is true for Freecell and Tetris. Those are the only three games I've ever become addicted to, but I've avoided all the really interesting games because I want to be able to keep my job and stuff.

[This message has been edited by aka (edited November 03, 2000).]
 

(you can read it at http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2000/11/15/sturgeon/index.html )

and I found what the critic had to say to be very much at odds with what I remember of Sturgeon's work. The thing is, I haven't read anything by him in the better part of a decade, and I'm a much more perceptive reader now than I was then, so it's possible that I just missed quite alot last time I read his stuff. Then again, the critic could be full of crap.

One thing that he said that just seems ridicuolus to me was this:

"Over and above the pleasures of his storytelling -- for he could tell a rattling yarn when it suited his deeper needs to do so..."

I find it bizarre how often the ability to write a good and involving story is denigrated by critics--in this case, in the context of the article, it read (to me) almost as though the critic were apologizing for Sturgeon's being a skilled story teller, or maybe apologizing for his praising someone who was a good story teller.
 

As for the "remembering before reading" topics, a book suggestion:

A is for Ox: The Collapse of Literacy and the Rise of Violence in an Electronic Age by Barry Sanders

The author deals with the connection between literacy and abstract thinking. Very interesting reading, particularly in a world where, reportedly, the great majority of people cannot read. Perhaps it is the fact that abstraction is closely tied to memory that accounts for our typically not remembering life before reading.
 

That's the most brilliant of my nieces; the one who's going to be a scientist or research doc or something.

Another thing she said once that blew me away. When she was about four she said something I didn't understand and I asked her, "What did you just say, Mary?" And she answered, "I don't know.... ... Sometimes I don't know WHAT I say." It seemed to be very much in the spirit of her early attempts at writing. That she just made noises with her mouth sometimes and wasn't sure whether she was really saying something and if so what it might have been that she said. That seemed so bizarre to me. I still puzzle over it, and what it means about how people's brains work and who they really are.

[This message has been edited by aka (edited December 27, 2000).]
 

Thanks!
 

And also there's a brand new rule (or actually it's more like a guideline or maybe it's one of David's beloved memes) that peek-a-boo seems to be successfully propogating, namely "it's all good". It keeps growing and growing on me. Like "Yeah! She's right! It IS all good!"

[This message has been edited by aka (edited January 29, 2001).]
 

I am an advocate of not getting involved in threads already more than 50 posts long if I haven't already posted in the thread. Saves lots of time and trouble.

My heartfelt condolences if you have actually read every post in this thread in an attempt to familiarize yourself with this forum and its idiosyncracies. I did not, and I still haven't.

One more thing--I have never seen any other posts by Emily Milner. Of course, I am a relative newcomer myself. Doubtless the oldcomers will all say "Oh, Emily Milner used to post here all the time. She was the cat's pajamas! Man, those were the days. I knew Emily Milner well, and jRc, you're no Emily Milner!"

-j.
 

I vaguely remember Emily Milner...I don't think she was here that long, actually...
 

Emily Milner was really cool! She posted a whole bunch in several of my threads about sexual politics and the past and future relationships of men and women, the balance of power within marriages, and so on. I wish she would come back.
 

The biggest problem with "jumping to the end" syndrome is that newcomers to the thread who post the same old points practically DEMAND the same old response from the people who've already posted, since the latter group knows that OTHER newcomers will visit the thread, notice such an unchallenged point, and either accept it or go off on their OWN response. This tends to snowball; any thread longer than three pages almost always demonstrates this to some degree.

-j.
 

I've always figured that they're probably made out of fruit roll ups, but I guess I don't know for sure. Why don't you buy a pair and let us know?

 

"Hi, will you give me money?"
"No."
"Um, right then, ok." and on to the next call. (OK, so that's not exactly what I say, but you know )

Sometimes instead of "No" I get a response more like, "No, I hated that school and I hate everyone there including you, you putrid camel excrescence."

And then there are the hang-ups. I hate hang-ups. Couldn't they at least say no and good-bye like a normal person? It's not like I don't give them plenty of opportunities throughout the conversation. When people hang up on me, I am always tempted to call them back and ask how on earth they can consider themselves Christians and be so rude (it's a Christian school so the chances are good that they do consider themselves Christians).

Ooh, and then there're the people I call who say: "Are you calling on the Sabbath?" The answer, of course, is "No, the Sabbath was yesterday. I'm calling on Sunday." But I've never been brave enough to contradict irate right-wing Christians to their faces.

But the real point of this post is the people I work with. I have just one complaint: "alumni" is a plural noun. This means that one cannot say, "I/he/she am/is an alumni." It should be "alumnus" or "alumna", depending on...well, you know. I would even accept "alum" as a casual option. But agreement problems like that just IRK me -- and they tell the people we're calling that even though we (the callers) are in college, we don't know how to use the dang word correctly.

Anyway... *bump*

[This message has been edited by Lissande (edited April 01, 2001).]
 

Yep Tootsie roll pops

Bad joke folling this line ladies turn your head leave now dont read

you canb now seee.....

nope better not might get me banned

just think about that commercial and smile

How many ....nope better not...toostie rolls pops get it get it get it

sorry couldnt resist

aw come one dont look at me that way.

im just joking

librarians walking this way must controll my laughter.

[This message has been edited by Yebor1 (edited April 04, 2001).]
 

ha ha ha ha

rolling on the floor

getting dragged away b y the ea rs
 

I just put the part of it in other threads to keep from offending too many people
 

I have even gone back to proof before sending. Is it me, or can I blame the computer?
 

*stands back, happy that he's put this thread at the top of the list for at least half a second*
 

http://www.hatrack.com/ubb/forum/Forum1/HTML/000385.html

**Ela**

[This message has been edited by Ela (edited August 30, 2001).]
 

Well, that and the Word of the Day thread.

He was banned shortly before I stopped lurking. About a year ago, I believe.

He tried to create a 1000 post thread. All at once. Crashed the site and caused quite an uproar. I've heard that he didn't even apologize, but I can't confirm that.

 

Thanks, Frisco!

Newcomers should see this....

[This message has been edited by James Tiberius Kirk (edited December 30, 2002).]
 

quote:

---

He tried to create a 1000 post thread. All at once. Crashed the site and caused quite an uproar.

---

Hobbes
 

Hobbes
 

For you:
 

Hobbes
 

Not that these aren't interesting, but hardly required reading.

Is that what is sounded like Frisco? That wasn't what I meant to do at all. I was just curious whether people tended to actually read the whole thing, or if they just read over the useful part.
 

Subsequent tellings of the same story have an obligation to get more interesting.

*bump*