Another thing that depressed (her) was prescriptive rhetoric, which supposedly had been done away with but was still around. This was the old slap-on-the-fingers if your modifiers-were-caught-dangling stuff. Correct spelling, correct punctuation, correct grammar. Hundreds of itsy bitsy rules for itsy bitsy people. No one could remember all that stuff and concentrate on what (she) was trying to write about. It was all table manners,...
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VIEW 4 of 4 COMMENTS
VIEW 17 of 17 COMMENTS
1stxer:
I saw previews of the movie the other night .. gonna see this one for sure. Thanks for replying also. Done some climbing been awhile though.
artrob:
looks interesting
I just heard this on the radio:
Then I'm walking in Memphis
Walking with my feet ten feet off of Beale
Walking in Memphis
But do I really feel the way I feel
Saw the ghost of Elvis
On Union Avenue
Followed him up to the gates of Graceland
Then I watched him walk right through
Now security they did not see him
They just...
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Then I'm walking in Memphis
Walking with my feet ten feet off of Beale
Walking in Memphis
But do I really feel the way I feel
Saw the ghost of Elvis
On Union Avenue
Followed him up to the gates of Graceland
Then I watched him walk right through
Now security they did not see him
They just...
Read More
VIEW 22 of 22 COMMENTS
jjay:
never used the contact button
never had an "email" relationship
you are a cool cat
never had an "email" relationship
you are a cool cat
tadzi:
id rather just post to people on here....the email function is more for personal stuff.
VIEW 4 of 4 COMMENTS
commonman:
I think I would go with the bangs. And the flowers make me smile, too.
oldpunkbastard:
BANGS.
I won't bother trying to explain myself anymore. What I give is what you get. Complaints? You get a thwack on the derrire.
I detest my grammar foibles. I only catch a few of them, and the rest remain for everyone to silently groan at. There is no excuse for it. I tend to put together awkward sounding sentences which makes sense to me at...
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I detest my grammar foibles. I only catch a few of them, and the rest remain for everyone to silently groan at. There is no excuse for it. I tend to put together awkward sounding sentences which makes sense to me at...
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VIEW 25 of 30 COMMENTS
opticnerve:
Ha! Mr. Know-It-All. I don't even know what I'm going to do in the next hour.
oldzork:
Nah, not S&M... not really my thing. I just want somebody who will say what she wants, clearly and honestly, and who is happy to make decisions about things if I don't have a preference (and negotiate frankly if we both have preferences). There are a few reasons. One is that there are a lot of things I don't care much about: do I want to go out for dinner, or eat at home? Doesn't really matter. Would I prefer this movie or that? Sure, whatever. And so on. I get tired of expressing preferences regarding things I have no special preference about... yet most women I've spent time with seem to think it's very important that I do so (then they argue with me about it... 
). Another reason is that I've had a few unhappy experiences with women who were very determined to get what they wanted, but would never just say out loud what they wanted... instead the "correct" technique was manipulation, or trying to explain to me why I should want it, and so on... If they'd just say, "This is what I want," typically I'd have been happy to go along... but no. More generally, self-confidence is sexy (to me, anyway).
Anyway, enough about that.
I said I'd post something more cheerful soon... so: I got my bicycle fixed today, so I'll be doing lots of riding for the next while (the back wheel was unreliable, so I could only use it for very short trips). This will be good.
). Another reason is that I've had a few unhappy experiences with women who were very determined to get what they wanted, but would never just say out loud what they wanted... instead the "correct" technique was manipulation, or trying to explain to me why I should want it, and so on... If they'd just say, "This is what I want," typically I'd have been happy to go along... but no. More generally, self-confidence is sexy (to me, anyway).
Anyway, enough about that.
I said I'd post something more cheerful soon... so: I got my bicycle fixed today, so I'll be doing lots of riding for the next while (the back wheel was unreliable, so I could only use it for very short trips). This will be good.
I watched I Capture the Castle for the first time. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It made me think of Stealing Beauty the movie with Liv Tyler, even though these two movies didnt have much in common aside from similar themes of self-discovery and young love.
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There are few things that are as debilitating as frenzied paranoia - the obnoxious unerring certainty that everything I...
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----
There are few things that are as debilitating as frenzied paranoia - the obnoxious unerring certainty that everything I...
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VIEW 12 of 12 COMMENTS
suoda:
and i can't even write journal entries! my brain seems to fake it when it comes to conversation. this leads to the everlasting lack of journal entry frustration. my life is just less meaningful than the other SGers. yea.
shard:
Honey bees, bumble bees, killer bees, all useless categorizations. It boils down to the DO bees and the DONT bees. DO bees think things through and get things done. They take action and succeed. Sometimes their actions dont end in success, but they keep trying and find pleasure in the PROCESS more than the final PRODUCT, thereby creating happiness where otherwise none may be found. DONT bees think big and act little. They dream and drift, and endlessly dawdle and fear change. They may have inspiration but lack the initiative. They have ideas but no follow-through. BE A DO BEE! STOP BEING A DONT BEE, for the love of yourself if not God. THIS IS THE DIFFERENCE between TAKING ADVANTAGE of your skills and creativity RATHER THAN taking advantage of those who are still TAKING CARE of YOU! Stop annoying me with your woe is me journal entries. Your glum disposition is ruining the bee hive. STOP moaning and groaning. STOP BEE-LITTLING yourself. The luxury of idleness has taken over the modern world. BEE useful. VOLUNTEER your time for charitable organizations. OR if you dislike organizations, BE YOUR OWN VEHICLE FOR SOCIAL CHANGE. START by leaving your zone of comfort. TAKE RISKS! FALL OVER and GET BACK UP! GET A FUCKING JOB! IF YOU DONT WANT A FUCKING JOB, then I REPEAT, STOP taking advantage of those who SUPPORT YOU. YOU ARE NOT A VICTIM UNLESS YOU CHOOSE TO MAKE YOURSELF SO! You have issues, AND SO DOES EVERYONE ELSE! What is trouble but a common denominator among ALL PEOPLE? Everyone has TROUBLES/PROBLEMS but the difference between the SUCCESSFUL AND THE FAILURES is that one group CHOOSES to do something about it, rather than dream about it. You claim you are intelligent but apparently not enough to take a challenge and take charge of your emotions. DO NOT DENIGRATE YOURSELF. LIVE WHAT YOU DREAM. BECOME WHO YOU WISH TO BE. THE COMING OF AGE phase and the NEED TO FIND YOURSELF craze is SO BLAS! STOP THINKING SO MUCH OF YOURSELF THAT YOU END UP THINKING SO LITTLE OF YOURSELF. YOUR EMOTIONS AND THOUGHTS are controllable. YOU HAVE THE POWER. YES YOU SUCK BUT YOU CAN CHANGE!
VIEW 13 of 13 COMMENTS
artrob:
holy cows!!!
Biology/anatomy buff?
Biology/anatomy buff?
oldzork:
Hey...
I'm no kind of expert at all on knives, but I know that people who care about such things do distinguish between, say, a meat-carving knife and a vegetable-chopping knife and a cleaver and so on... different-shaped blades work best for different purposes. But that has little to do with my mention of a carving knife as my weapon of choice. I was mostly concerned with the idea of the "analytic knife", with which we divide large concepts into smaller ones. The canonical example is a motorcycle (from "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance"): one can divide it into components in many ways, depending on the objectives one is seeking. This is what science does, which is why I find it interesting: classify things into successively more refined groups, according to criteria which may or may not make sense... there is endless room for debate about how to carve up the world of ideas to maximize utility... even supposing we could agree on a utility function. So it really has nothing at all to do with the kinds of knives chefs use...
About the Tao Te Ching, I can offer little help. Which edition are you reading? Mine is translated by D. C. Lau. He has this to say about other translations: "The Lao tzu is, without a doubt, by far the most frequently translated work in Chinese, but unfortunately it cannot be said that it has been best served by its numerous translators, as the nature of the work attracted many whose enthusiasm for Eastern mysticism far outstripped their acquaintance with Chinese thought or even with the Chinese language." In other words, what you're reading may or may not have much to do with what was originally written (unless you're reading it in Chinese, of course...). But I can offer a couple of comments:
1) The introduction to my edition makes it clear that this can be seen most clearly as a political (as opposed to philosophical) work: how is the peasant to survive in the face of a powerful government, and how is the governer to best govern? Then a lot of it makes more sense (to me, at least).
2) There is an implied progression of learning. The bit about "those who know don't teach, those who teach don't know..." can be perceived better if you imagine degrees of knowing. At the ultimate end of knowing, one won't bother teaching or speaking at all... but in the intermediate stages, when one has achieved some knowledge but not all, one might pass along the bits one has learned to those who haven't learned it yet. That's how I read it, anyway...
But I'm the first to admit that I'm just guessing wildly here. I recommend Huston Smith's book "The World's Religions" for an excellent overview of the main points of Taoism (as well as the other major religions of the world, as the title suggests).
I hope you were visited by the solid chocolate bunnies of redemption (or something like that) this weekend...
I'm no kind of expert at all on knives, but I know that people who care about such things do distinguish between, say, a meat-carving knife and a vegetable-chopping knife and a cleaver and so on... different-shaped blades work best for different purposes. But that has little to do with my mention of a carving knife as my weapon of choice. I was mostly concerned with the idea of the "analytic knife", with which we divide large concepts into smaller ones. The canonical example is a motorcycle (from "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance"): one can divide it into components in many ways, depending on the objectives one is seeking. This is what science does, which is why I find it interesting: classify things into successively more refined groups, according to criteria which may or may not make sense... there is endless room for debate about how to carve up the world of ideas to maximize utility... even supposing we could agree on a utility function. So it really has nothing at all to do with the kinds of knives chefs use...
About the Tao Te Ching, I can offer little help. Which edition are you reading? Mine is translated by D. C. Lau. He has this to say about other translations: "The Lao tzu is, without a doubt, by far the most frequently translated work in Chinese, but unfortunately it cannot be said that it has been best served by its numerous translators, as the nature of the work attracted many whose enthusiasm for Eastern mysticism far outstripped their acquaintance with Chinese thought or even with the Chinese language." In other words, what you're reading may or may not have much to do with what was originally written (unless you're reading it in Chinese, of course...). But I can offer a couple of comments:
1) The introduction to my edition makes it clear that this can be seen most clearly as a political (as opposed to philosophical) work: how is the peasant to survive in the face of a powerful government, and how is the governer to best govern? Then a lot of it makes more sense (to me, at least).
2) There is an implied progression of learning. The bit about "those who know don't teach, those who teach don't know..." can be perceived better if you imagine degrees of knowing. At the ultimate end of knowing, one won't bother teaching or speaking at all... but in the intermediate stages, when one has achieved some knowledge but not all, one might pass along the bits one has learned to those who haven't learned it yet. That's how I read it, anyway...
But I'm the first to admit that I'm just guessing wildly here. I recommend Huston Smith's book "The World's Religions" for an excellent overview of the main points of Taoism (as well as the other major religions of the world, as the title suggests).
I hope you were visited by the solid chocolate bunnies of redemption (or something like that) this weekend...
1. First name? rhymes with carrie
2. Were you named after anyone? classified.
3. Do you wish on stars? i love disney, dont you
4. When did you last cry? why bother
5. Do you like your handwriting? yeah sure
6. What is your favourite lunch meal? anything quick&easy i.e. microwavable
7. If you were another person, would YOU be friends with you? yes, i'd...
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2. Were you named after anyone? classified.
3. Do you wish on stars? i love disney, dont you
4. When did you last cry? why bother
5. Do you like your handwriting? yeah sure
6. What is your favourite lunch meal? anything quick&easy i.e. microwavable
7. If you were another person, would YOU be friends with you? yes, i'd...
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VIEW 17 of 17 COMMENTS
xixi:
huzzah not only did you waste your time, you wasted several other peoples' as well!
how tall are you? i think you should join the group that i'm about to start: Midgets Unite
it's pending right now but soon...soooon
how tall are you? i think you should join the group that i'm about to start: Midgets Unite
it's pending right now but soon...soooon
tadzi:
1. First name?
just j. works.
2. Were you named after anyone?
partially....my middle name is after my grandfather.
3. Do you wish on stars?
shooting stars
4. When did you last cry?
its been too long....i dont know
5. Do you like your handwriting?
i dunno. nobody can read it.
6. What is your favourite lunch meal?
youre going to shudder.....cottage cheese and potato chips
7. If you were another person, would YOU be friends with you?
of course. only stupid people wouldnt.
8. If you were a weapon which one would you be?
some sort of bludgeon
9. Have you ever told a secret you swore not to tell?
sort of.
10. Do looks matter?
unfortunately, yes. and fuck people who say they dont, because trying to sound magnanimous doesnt make you a better person.
11. How do you release anger?
i control mine pretty well
12. Where is your second home?
krissies house
13. Do you trust others easily?
fuck no
14. What was your favo(u)rite toy as a child?
he-man....transformers
15. What class in school do you think was totally useless?
gym
16. Do you have a journal?
just the one on here
17. Do you use sarcasm a lot?
who...me?
18. Favourite movie(s)?
shawshank redemption
19. What are your nicknames?
j., cloud, shaggy, the commie, the miserable bastard of 230
20. Would you bungee jump?
fuck yes
21. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off?
if i have to
22. Do you think that you are strong?
stronger than anyone thinks i am
23. What's your favourite ice cream flavour?
chocolate mint
24. What is your least favourite thing about yourself?
my appearance
25. Who do you miss most?
friends
26. Do you want everyone you send this to send it back?
i didnt send it
27. What colour pants are you wearing?
denim blue skirt...no wait...thats you....dark blue pants
28. If you were a crayon, what colour would you be?
paisley
29. Last person you talked to on the phone?
gingers mom
30. The first thing you notice about the opposite sex?
eyes
31. Do you like the person who sent this to you?
i think youre rad
32. How are you today?
tired
33. Favourite drink?
coke
34. Favourite sport?
football
35. Hair Colour?
brown
36. Do you wear contacts?
when im not feeling lazy
37. Favourite food?
beef stew
38. Last movie you watched?
super troopers for the umpteenth time
39. Favourite day of the year?
any day i get to smoke pot.
40. Scary movies or happy endings?
scary
41. Summer or winter?
spring
42. Hugs or kisses?
hugs
43. What is your favourite dessert?
chocolate pie
44. Who is most likely to respond?
jesus
45. Who is least likely to respond?
a sock
46. Living arrangements?
sucks
47. What's on your mouse pad?
my mouse
48. What did you watch last night on TV?
nothing, i had to get up at fucking 3:00, so i went to bed at like 6 at night
49. Favourite smell?
vanilla
50. Rolling Stones or Beatles?
beatles
51. Do you believe in evolution or creationism?
cant it be both?
just j. works.
2. Were you named after anyone?
partially....my middle name is after my grandfather.
3. Do you wish on stars?
shooting stars
4. When did you last cry?
its been too long....i dont know
5. Do you like your handwriting?
i dunno. nobody can read it.
6. What is your favourite lunch meal?
youre going to shudder.....cottage cheese and potato chips
7. If you were another person, would YOU be friends with you?
of course. only stupid people wouldnt.
8. If you were a weapon which one would you be?
some sort of bludgeon
9. Have you ever told a secret you swore not to tell?
sort of.
10. Do looks matter?
unfortunately, yes. and fuck people who say they dont, because trying to sound magnanimous doesnt make you a better person.
11. How do you release anger?
i control mine pretty well
12. Where is your second home?
krissies house
13. Do you trust others easily?
fuck no
14. What was your favo(u)rite toy as a child?
he-man....transformers
15. What class in school do you think was totally useless?
gym
16. Do you have a journal?
just the one on here
17. Do you use sarcasm a lot?
who...me?
18. Favourite movie(s)?
shawshank redemption
19. What are your nicknames?
j., cloud, shaggy, the commie, the miserable bastard of 230
20. Would you bungee jump?
fuck yes
21. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off?
if i have to
22. Do you think that you are strong?
stronger than anyone thinks i am
23. What's your favourite ice cream flavour?
chocolate mint
24. What is your least favourite thing about yourself?
my appearance
25. Who do you miss most?
friends
26. Do you want everyone you send this to send it back?
i didnt send it
27. What colour pants are you wearing?
denim blue skirt...no wait...thats you....dark blue pants
28. If you were a crayon, what colour would you be?
paisley
29. Last person you talked to on the phone?
gingers mom
30. The first thing you notice about the opposite sex?
eyes
31. Do you like the person who sent this to you?
i think youre rad
32. How are you today?
tired
33. Favourite drink?
coke
34. Favourite sport?
football
35. Hair Colour?
brown
36. Do you wear contacts?
when im not feeling lazy
37. Favourite food?
beef stew
38. Last movie you watched?
super troopers for the umpteenth time
39. Favourite day of the year?
any day i get to smoke pot.
40. Scary movies or happy endings?
scary
41. Summer or winter?
spring
42. Hugs or kisses?
hugs
43. What is your favourite dessert?
chocolate pie
44. Who is most likely to respond?
jesus
45. Who is least likely to respond?
a sock
46. Living arrangements?
sucks
47. What's on your mouse pad?
my mouse
48. What did you watch last night on TV?
nothing, i had to get up at fucking 3:00, so i went to bed at like 6 at night
49. Favourite smell?
vanilla
50. Rolling Stones or Beatles?
beatles
51. Do you believe in evolution or creationism?
cant it be both?
Analog girl in a digital world. 
VIEW 11 of 11 COMMENTS
commonman:
Video killed the radio star.
oldzork:
The symbology certainly admits the interpretation you give it. However, Christianity "borrowed" a lot of its symbols from other traditions (nothing new under the sun...). The son being tied (or glued, in some odd variations) to a tree is older in Norse mythology (I think) than in Christian. In particular, Odin's son is slain at Loki's instigation using an arrow made of mistletoe. The "world tree" is a classic element of Norse mythology: one root in Hell, one in Heaven, one in Earth. One might speculate on the relationships between Christian and Norse symbolism (and many have... ). But since the whole book is framed in terms of Norse mythology, I'm inclined to see it this way.
Which (if you buy any of this ) answers one of your questions... Shadow's real name is Balder.
). But since the whole book is framed in terms of Norse mythology, I'm inclined to see it this way.
Which (if you buy any of this
) answers one of your questions... Shadow's real name is Balder.Looks like I have a new job. Orientation/training starts tomorrow. 
I won't be able to dye my hair in creative new ways with radical hues. I guess this means the dye I bought will stay in the closet. 
Oh yes, I saw Ring 2 the other day. It terrified me, but most scary-ish films do. Why oh why do I get sucked into the hype...
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I won't be able to dye my hair in creative new ways with radical hues. I guess this means the dye I bought will stay in the closet.
Oh yes, I saw Ring 2 the other day. It terrified me, but most scary-ish films do. Why oh why do I get sucked into the hype...
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kozmikgirl:
I have this new thing where I love curling up when I am alone & watching foreign horror movies. 
tadzi:
i guess you do what you gotta do with jobs.
its still better than being po'
anyway, congrats!
its still better than being po'
anyway, congrats!
I read "The Human Stain" (actually the first Roth book I read). I found it more accessible than "American Pastoral", perhaps because it is more based in events and less in introspection on the part of the protagonist. But they're both good. Haven't read the others yet.
I'll take a look for "Glory". I read "Lolita" years ago, but haven't read anything else by Nabokov. Like you say, authors must hate that. I guess it happens in any field, though... one of the profs in our department is most famous for a paper which he considered a trivial side issue, almost unrelated to his *interesting* work. But it turned out to be useful, so everybody reads that one and nobody reads his other stuff (which he considers better and more interesting). Same in music, etc... On the plus side, it gives you an opportunity to discover a whole side of somebody that most people don't know exists, which can be fun.
The Big D is coming along, but slowly. I need to narrow my focus until I can't think about anything else, but I'm not having much luck. Know any magic tricks for increasing one's powers of concentration?
I liked Pirsig's take on prescriptive rhetoric... that it's all about trying to communicate clearly and convincingly, and with "kwality" (whatever that might be). As you say, if nobody followed grammar rules, anybody would nobody sentences else's understand.