Mr. Card's been posting a lot today. I'm still new here. Does this happen every now and then (Like after he's finished a major book and gotten done with all the signings and stuff?) or are we just being blessed with our host's vocal presence for now? No really...I'm still getting weirded out by all the Orson Scott Card posts...I'm begining to wonder what I'd do if I actually met him in person.
Posted by urbanX (Member # 1450) on :
Look at the number of post he has. Do the math.
Posted by Boris (Member # 6935) on :
60 today, 200 in the past...6 years...Okay. OSC's got writer's block and insomnia. Gotcha. Weirdness is decreasing.
Posted by Orson Scott Card (Member # 209) on :
I could only have writer's block if I were actually trying to write something right now.
Instead, I'm directing a play, so the writer part of my brain has nothing to do. It takes over my body while I'm sleeping and comes in and posts things, while I think I'm asleep and am having completely unrelated dreams that never seep into what my writer-self posts.
Unless this is the real me and I'm only dreaming that I'm really asleep in the other room dreaming about ... none of your business.
Posted by Orson Scott Card (Member # 209) on :
But I'll go away if this is annoying people.
Posted by Boris (Member # 6935) on :
Nope. I'm cool with it It was just kinda weird for me cause, well, like urbanX said...You don't do this very often.
edit: What would you call this, though...Writer's inactivity? (By the way, which play?)
[ April 03, 2005, 05:26 AM: Message edited by: Boris ]
Posted by Stan the man (Member # 6249) on :
It did trow me for a loop earlier, but I just figured he may have had some spare time on his hands.
Posted by Verily the Younger (Member # 6705) on :
I can't say I blame him for not posting much normally. Every time he does, people make a big deal out of it....
Edited to delete the spaces in my ellipsis. I hate having no spaces in my ellipses, but in this case the last period dropped down to the next line, and if there's one thing uglier than a space-less ellipsis, it's a broken ellipsis.
[ April 03, 2005, 05:27 AM: Message edited by: Verily the Younger ]
Posted by Boris (Member # 6935) on :
Right. Like I'm doing now. Sorry. It's the insomnia. OSC may not have it, but I do. And staying up for 20+ hours without the ability to lay down and catch some sleep makes people a little...weird. (And now I'm going to get shot for scaring Mr. Card off)
Posted by Stan the man (Member # 6249) on :
From what I've read, that would be pretty tough to do. Not star crazed am I. I have met my hero, and he autographed the ball. After meeting Al Kaline there is no more goggling over famous people. Besides, you are not trying and dying for his attention with this thread anyway.
Posted by Morbo (Member # 5309) on :
quote: Unless this is the real me and I'm only dreaming that I'm really asleep in the other room dreaming about...
Once upon a time, I, Morbo, dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, to all intents and purposes a butterfly. Suddenly I awaked, and there I lay, myself again. Now I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly dreaming I am a man. OSC and all of you are dreams; and I who say you are dreams—I am but a dream myself. This is a paradox. To-morrow a wise man may come forward to explain it; but that tomorrow will not be until ten thousand generations have gone by.
OSC, you're directing a play? What play?
Posted by Boris (Member # 6935) on :
quote: Besides, you are not trying and dying for his attention with this thread anyway.
Oh, but I am. (Look at me! Look at me! I need attention!)
Posted by Jane_Lane (Member # 7665) on :
I know poeple make a big deal about OSC's postings, but I don't think it's a bad thing - Maybe it's just because I'm a young, 'star-crazed' kid but I think it's natural to be excited by such frequent posts. It's unusual to have the oppurtunity to chat with one of your heros in such a relaxed environment. I love reading OSC's posts and I think it's great that he has the time to chat with us. Don't go away!
Posted by Raia (Member # 4700) on :
Jane, you are too cute. I agree with you.
Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
I especially like that he sounds almost as insane as me. Almost. Posted by Alcon (Member # 6645) on :
quote:Al Kaline
WOAH!! Hold it RIGHT THERE. There's a famous person named Al Kaline? Are you serious? You're kidding right? ...maybe its the sleep... does that name give no one else pause?
Is he highly reactive with water?
[ April 03, 2005, 08:18 AM: Message edited by: Alcon ]
Posted by JonnyNotSoBravo (Member # 5715) on :
quote:Tigers Hall of Famer Al Kaline also ended his career with 399 homers,
From here. Although your confusion and skepticism are quite understandable.
[ April 03, 2005, 08:52 AM: Message edited by: JonnyNotSoBravo ]
Posted by jebus202 (Member # 2524) on :
OSC, how could it annoy anyone?
We're all so star struck that we even read your word association posts.
Posted by Kama (Member # 3022) on :
jebs, aim, now.
Posted by Telperion the Silver (Member # 6074) on :
Long live OSC! Keep posting OSC!
(one of the things that really attracted me to OSC's books was his in depth personal information in the afterwards...how he really wanted to connect with the population)
(I guess since he's probably going to read this I should say "you" instead of "him") Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
I think OSC explained it in another thread. He's suffering major jet lag, is not quite feeling himself, so he's here.
Or maybe I read that wrong.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
quote: if there's one thing uglier than a space-less ellipsis, it's a broken ellipsis.
What about one with too many periods? Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
better than a missing period or two.
Posted by Megan (Member # 5290) on :
You know, any deviation from the normal pattern of periods is pretty disturbing.
Commas, on the other hand,... Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Regularity is even more important for colons.
Posted by Verily the Younger (Member # 6705) on :
quote:What about one with too many periods?
Good point. I guess I overlooked those--and their less frequent cousin, the two-period ellipsis--because I regard them as abominations of nature. They are exactly as repugnant to me as would be a dog born with no head, and a butt at both ends.
[ April 03, 2005, 02:16 PM: Message edited by: Verily the Younger ]
Posted by Lupus (Member # 6516) on :
personally, I think it is fun to see you here. I was a bit surprised when I first saw you post though...I actually thought someone had jacked your name to mess with people.
over at Goodkind's official site every once and a while someone will claim to be him. Of course since the regulars know that TG doesn't go on the internet (it spooks him for some reason) not many people are fooled. Of course there are always people who ask us admins if it really is him this time. As if we wouldn't announce it if he suddenly decided that the internet would be a fun toy after all.
[ April 03, 2005, 02:44 PM: Message edited by: Lupus ]
Posted by Annie (Member # 295) on :
We really need to adopt the British convention and call it a full stop. All of this period business leads to far too many innuendoes.
If we succeed in this, we also accomplish the feat of making Rizzo not funny in Grease, and anything that makes Grease less appealing to the masses is, according to me, a good idea.
Posted by Verily the Younger (Member # 6705) on :
But then it would be a misnomer. In an ellipsis, the mark does not represent a "full" stop . . . just a brief pause.
We could call them "dot thingies".
Posted by beverly (Member # 6246) on :
I'm still all fan-girly about having OSC around here. I hope he sticks around!
The thing is, it is an opportunity to know *Scott*. OSC is way too busy for my husband and I to take him and Kristine out for dinner, as is our fantasy. I was very moved by what OSC himself said: that when people are so anxious to meet him, they are hoping to talk to Ender, or Alvin, or whoever their favorite character is. I get the feeling that OSC doesn't like the idea of constantly being found a disappointment when he is just a human being.
This makes me sad, especially since I recognized there was some truth to it in myself. I repent of it! I want to know Scott for who *he* is. We can get some of that in his essays, but here where we can interact--this is where we can really start to know him.
[ April 03, 2005, 03:54 PM: Message edited by: beverly ]
Posted by dread pirate romany (Member # 6869) on :
As much as possible..I do see OSC a human...husband..father...fellow member of "the club with the highest dues in the world". I think if we and the Cards had that chatting over dinner opportunity, we'd have a great converstaion without me expecting OSC to be Ender or Alvin.
Posted by Verily the Younger (Member # 6705) on :
I guess I just don't understand that author-as-character mentality. Card has created hundreds of characters throughout his career, some major, some minor, some walk-ons. And every one of them was different from all the others. Why should anyone expect him to be "like" Ender or Alvin any more than they expect him to be like Calvin or Petra or Abner Doon or Arran Handully or the flight attendant who helped Katerina of Taina rinse the vomit off her blouse?
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
He seems so much more fun and personable than I thought.
I guess I pictured him as more serious from his books.
I've met Al Kaline too, he used to go to the bank my mom worked at all the time. My mom loves to tell bank stories. Especially the one about Jimmy Hoffa and the mob.
Posted by Jane_Lane (Member # 7665) on :
No, I agree with you, Verily. I don't understand why people expect authors to be like one of their characters, especially a certain character more than any of the others he/she has created. I can understand why people might look for traits of certain characters but you can identify similarities between anyone and anything in the world!
There are many people in the world who I'd like to meet, but very few are authors. One of the reasons why I'd love to meet OSC is not because I'd expect him to be Ender-eque, but because of the other things I've learnt about through his site. His political views, personal beliefs, opinions on books and films, etc - I'd like to meet him not only because I admire him for writing some of the best books around, but because he's an intelligent person with interesting views.
But that's assuming I'd be able to say anything intelligent at all. I have a feeling if I met OSC, I'd probably get out 'I loved Ender's Game', and then my brain would fail me from there.
Posted by beverly (Member # 6246) on :
Since the author created those characters, it is easy to feel like those characters are somehow *inside* him. Of course, when we think about it rationally, we realize that is silly. But I think it is a natural instictive reaction to our longing to connect with those characters who became larger than life to us.
Posted by DocCoyote (Member # 5612) on :
I hope those people who expect the author to personify the character draw the line at someone like, say, Stephen King. I must confess, though, that the narrator's voice in King's books generally sounds like King's in my mind.
Back to the subject (sort of): I, too, am just too tickled to have checked in and found OSC's posts. I like the expression Fan-Girly.
I thought an ellipsis was usually called, "Uh, you know when you put three dots at the end of the sentence..." I like that good word processing programs space the ellipsis correctly when they realize your intent.
Lisa
Posted by Goody Scrivener (Member # 6742) on :
Having met King, I will absolutely agree that many of his narrator-type characters sound a lot like him, most especially the writer characters. And he's sure got an awful lot of those!!!
(p.s. Farmgirl, see, you mention King and I'm back out of the woodwork! LOL)
Posted by mothertree (Member # 4999) on :
quote: We really need to adopt the British convention and call it a full stop. All of this period business leads to far too many innuendoes.
Yeah, just ask a British person to set napkins on the table. Of course, if you don't have a baby in the house they will come and tell you that you don't have any.
Posted by Cor (Member # 4295) on :
I have written a book and hope someday to find a publisher for it, and all my characters are most definitely "in" me, although some more strongly than others. In fact, when I'm really heavily into writing, I am told by friends and family that my personality changes and that I behave and speak more like the characters I write. I sincerely hope this is a sign of deep devotion to the writing and not a sign of some emerging psychological problem . I love talking about my characters with other writers and hearing about their characters as well. It would thrill me to no end to have people ask me questions as if one of my characters would respond. Then again, if I were a famous and heavily published author as OSC is, I suppose such questions would get old after awhile....nah. Posted by Lupus (Member # 6516) on :
well, Lucus is evidence that Authors can be like their characters.
Come on, changing episodes 4,5, and 6 years after the fact, inserting characters like Jar Jar binks. That is exactly the kind of torture that Darth Vader would wish on people.
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From what I've read, that would be pretty tough to do. Not star crazed am I. I have met my hero, and he autographed the ball. After meeting Al Kaline there is no more goggling over famous people. Besides, you are not trying and dying for his attention with this thread anyway.
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I agree with you.
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