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Author Topic: extrinsic's swan song
extrinsic
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extrinsic has determined that further participation on the Hatrack River Writers Workshop forum is harmful to his well-being. His severe senstivity to insensitivity caused by his damaged personality has overwhelmed his tolerance for the callous brutality of the Forum's ruffians. He believes he's paid forward as much as is in his capacity to do for the present and foreseeable future time. He's completed his goals he feels can be fulfilled by participating as sincerely and courteously as he's been able against an all too excruciating backdrop of trespasses.

In his time on the Forum, he's grown as a reader, an editor, a creative writer, as a person, and as a digital citizen in ways he foresaw, and in unforeseen, welcome, sublime, and profound ways, for which he gives hearty thanks.

He heartily thanks Forum members who have provided him insights, topics and subjects for study--and unwitting subjects for observation--and who generously welcomed and supported and encouraged him. He gives special thanks for those who, for a saddly too brief a time, shared with him a moment or two of intimate comraderie in his passions. He is deeply moved by those figurative embraces.

If the one-percenter rule applies--he believes it does for both you heroic outliers and you ignoble miscreants participating above and below the pleasanter corps of the Forum's participants--he thanks you one-percenters too for forcing him to appreciate that a healthy, diverse lifestyle gives and takes all kinds of viewpoints.

Therefore, with one percent of his gratitude, he also thanks you ignoble miscreants for your unwitting, impulsive, or deliberate trespasses. You contributed in large, unintended ways to his personal and creative growth. Noteably, you gave him deep insights into his failings and frailities. You goaded him into learning how to better cope with his damaged personality and your trespasses upon it.

He offers in return an earnest fare-thee-well gift, a list of principal causes of you ignoble miscreants' trespasses you perpetrate on the Forum and those you and others of your ill-willed ilk perpetuate abroad so that you may know them in order to take what corrective action you can, and so you will be known by your ignoble actions.

  • Uncalled-for personal criticisms; also known as argumentum ad hominem
  • Pointless point-by-point refutation arguments; also known as argumentum ad nauseam
  • Self-indulgent, self-justified arguments based on an "everyone else is doing it" irrational excuse or an after-the-fact hypocritical justification of "you do it too;" also known as argumentum tu quoque
  • Miscelanea: self-righteous justification for trespasses due to their tempering effects, otherwise known as "thickening skin," use of imperative voice, gloating of any kind, browbeating perceived subordinates, gibes deviously calculated to incite and perpetuate arguments, negative cohort and peer pressures, your indifferent ignorance of others' vulnerable personalities and toward your own vulnerable personalities, your intolerance of others' beliefs, opinions, values, needs, desires, passions, and convictions, holding others hostage to your unyielding standards, artlessly singing one's own praises, assigning and using belittling or derogatory terms or names, and a host of your other picky-petty disruptive minutia; also known as the sin of pride

He thanks you ignoble miscreants for prompting him to learn how to write about, read, interpret, and understand those fallacies and frailties in whoever he encounters them, and thanks you for teaching him how those trespasses once crippled his ability to communicate, due to and contributing to his miseries, and from learning about, now offers him some small measure of quiet, patient endurance for yours and others' trespasses.

He thanks all for their positivity, and you ignoble miscreants' negativity, for prompting his sharing this swan song. Although it has kicked around in his mind since his abrupt departure, prompting this farewell soliloquy, he intended to keep it to himself. However, after a critical examination of his motives, his stakes, his conscience, he decided to let it fall where it may.

He asks forgiveness for his trespasses, please.

Thank you, Ms. Dalton-Woodbury, for your judicious forbearance, your many and various praiseworthy contributions, and your compassion.

Once again, extrinsic ranges alone on the coldly comforting periphery; pages to read, to write, to study, to edit, to publish before he sleeps.

[This message has been edited by extrinsic (edited February 26, 2010).]


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Teraen
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"harmful to his well-being"

No longer helpful, I understand. But harmful? Now I'm worried.

Any chance we could entice you to stick around with a gold-membership? Maybe chocolates?


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genevive42
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It'll be sad if you really do go. Consider staying?
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philocinemas
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I can tell you are determined in this matter, so I regretfully bid you adieu and wish you much success.

Edited to add: Feel free to email me if you ever need a respectful discussion or critique.

[This message has been edited by philocinemas (edited February 26, 2010).]


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MAP
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Extrinsic,

I understand you leaving if you feel that you are gaining nothing here, but I think it is sad if you are leaving only because of a few people have been disrespectful.

I enjoy your posts and insights. I think that you bring a unique perspective to this community, and I will miss you. I hope you change your mind.

Thank you for the help that you have offered me and others. And I wish you luck in your future endeavors.


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Kathleen Dalton Woodbury
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Thank you for your kind words to me, extrinsic, and for all you have contributed to the forum.

Best wishes in your continuing endeavors.


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Phobos
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To an association with one whom I have never seen the face, but whose words I have enjoyed, contemplated, and appreciated I say fairwell.

Timid as I was upon my first posting in this forum, I braced for a noobie brow beating the second I hit submit. To my delight and relief insightful feedback, which came in a long and wise post was what I instead recieved. This contribution led to a few group sessions that discussed published short stories and to this day was the most valuable experience I have had in this workshop.

Thank you , Extrinsic. Your participation in that little group and your contributions to this workshop overall will certainly be missed by me, for one.

I certainly understand the reason you are parting. I myself and a few others I respect and have worked with here have been facing a similar choice to leave for the same reasons.

I wish you the best in all you do. Please shoot me an email, so at least I will be able to contact you when I want to put on a french-press and sip on some wise words for a morning.


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billawaboy
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Extrinsic, sorry to see that you're leaving, man. Always regret it when a writer leaves a group (or community in this case), but you know what's best for you. I admit reading a post in the 3rd person was kinda weirdin' me out- but I hear ya. Sometimes we all need a break. Sometime a short one. Sometime a really long one.

Hopefully your leave will only be a brief one. And hopefully you can forgive whoever riled you up. I always say nobody's perfect - one day they are angels, the next day they are a**es, then the day after that they are angels again. Can't be helped, we all are an unpredictable bunch. Forgive, accept, and move on, I always say. Or it'll drive you nuts, lol.

Anyway, good luck on your future endeavors, hope you get a lot of writing done, and hope you one day decide to come back.


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Robert Nowall
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Best of luck to him, then.
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skadder
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Shame.
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Brad R Torgersen
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It's been awhile since I saw an exit that dramatic.

I suspect he will be back for one or more encore performances.


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Pyre Dynasty
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Well, if you gotta go, I guess you gotta go, even though I hate to see ya go. When someone leaves I like to think of Good Will Hunting, I think of my old friends off doing great things in the world. So go and do great things.

Oh, and thanks for introducing me to poly-modernism it gave me hope that there was life after post-modernism.


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Kitti
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Every time I see the title of this post, I can't help but think of the roasting swan in Carmina Burana.

Yes, I'm a dork. But it's such a great tenor solo!


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Robert Nowall
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Anybody besides me notice he's speaking of himself in the third person? Either that, or he got somebody else to write what he wanted...
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Zero
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I don't come here that often lately, too busy, but when I do I seem to be seeing a lot of this kind of stuff. People talking about leaving, or talking about those who have left because of "ruffians" or impoliteness, or conflict, etc.

Where are these ruffians? And where is this conflict? I'm not saying it isn't here, I just don't see it so I'm curious.

I always thought I was the resident miscreant. And I don't think this is my fault, given my absence.

So who's been upstaging me? I know the job market has been rough lately but come on!


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billawaboy
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guess you didnt read my post Robert, lol!
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Andrew_McGown
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There are some 'ruffians' here.

And like the three ruffians of old, you'll never gain a master craftsman's understanding by killing him and hiding his remains under an acacia.

[This message has been edited by Andrew_McGown (edited February 28, 2010).]


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snapper
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One thing you can say about extrinsic, he really lived up to that name, right up to the end.

Best of luck to you.


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Robert Nowall
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It gives me a headache to read all these long and dense posts...
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Phobos
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You must enjoy headaches, or what was it that Albert Einstein called those who do things over and over again, expecting different results?
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Brad R Torgersen
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I'm pretty much with Robert. The "dense" factor, where extrinsic's material was concerned, was too high IMHO. Especially for a non-academic setting.
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Robert Nowall
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Well, the reference was in a much shorter reply, so I have only myself to blame...
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Zero
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Phobos, I think it was actually Rita Mae Brown, not Einstein.
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Robert Nowall
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quote:
or what was it that Albert Einstein called those who do things over and over again, expecting different results?

Democrats.


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shimiqua
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As a democrat, I have to say that last post was hilarious.
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