FreeThinker
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Posts posted by FreeThinker
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I've pretty much figured out how to handle contractions in dialog, (or is it dialogue? Oh, well, I'm American, but I'm also pretentious. Hmm...). Its the narration. If I were writing in first person, I would consider the background of the narrator. However, since I'm writing in Third Person, as God or Me, (or both), I am trying to figure out what would be best for the audience, which will consist of the highly literate and sophisticated members of that august body of writers known as the Awesome Dudes AND the morlocks and sans coullotes at Nifty. (As I said, I'm pretentious). Just kidding.
I'm just trying to judge the audience and whether it would be off-putting to make it sound more formal by not using contractions or more comfortable for the reader with contractions. I think, since I feel more comfortable WITH the contractions, that's the route I will take, rather than the one less traveled. Although, I still try to avoid ending sentences with prepositions, knowing that is something up with which fewer and fewer people will put.I noticed that my Chrome spellchecker wanted me to change "Morlocks" above to "bollocks." Perhaps, since I was referring to Nifty, that might have been more appropriate? BTW, I am not insulting Nifty readers and I'm an avid Nifty reader myself! I was just being my usual "ass" or "arse" and being self-deprecating.
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I tend to write my stories in an informal style, mostly using the third person omniscient viewpoint. I have a question about contractions. I try to be a bit more formal in my writing, I try to use good grammar and I think sometimes it comes across as a bit pretentious. When I write in first person, I make it more conversational, so I have no problem writing "Can't," "Won't'" or "Didn't." However in third person, I am a bit uneasy. I tend to write, even in third person, in a somewhat formal conversational style, but I catch myself writing in contractions. Spelling out "will not:" or "did not" seems a bit pretentious, especially when I read it back to myself out loud. Of course, I feel no restrictions using contractions in dialogue, however how do you handle this in other situations? I don't want to seem pretentious and I know what a strict English teacher grammarian would say, but in the real world, what do you people do or think? If I were writing for the New Yorker (yeah, right) I would know not to. But, for the kind of stories I write in third person, what are your thoughts? It just seems a bit off putting to write out "Did not..." rather than "Didn't."
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I thought watching the Archbishop of Canterbury getting down with Princess Anne to Elton John at the Queen's Jubilee Concert was the most amazing thing I had ever experienced, but that has now been surpassed by listening to a disco mix of Enya performing "Oronoco Flow" on Awesome Dude Radio this afternoon, followed perfectly by "Anything Goes." I guess it does!
Although I do remember back in the ancient seventies dancing to a disco version of "Climb Every Mountain." Well, it was the seventies and people also wore platform shoes and bell-bottoms, and there were lots of chemicals involved... -
There was a report on CBS Sunday Morning not long ago about a warehouse in LA that provides period artifacts for TV shows and movies and how picky and particular they are to make certain that everything works for that period. The report used AMC's Mad Men as an example in which they seek to make certain that everything, clothing, the furniture, the glasses they drink their liquor from, the labels on the liquor bottles, everything is contemporaneous for the time period. Sadly, not every TV show is that picky.
And, neither was I, unfortunately, when I began posting stories. Pecman was kind enough in a 2002 email to me about my dreadful first story on Nifty, Odyssey which takes place in the fall of 1971, and I had my protagonists dancing to the Johnny Nash song I Can See Clearly Now a year and a half before it's release, as well as a couple of Elton John songs that didn't come out until 1973. At the time, I was relying on my memory, which was obviously faulty and clouded my chemicals. I do remember I may have been less than gracious is my response, too.
I have since learned to be more careful (and a little more accepting of such help!) 
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I would think that quoting a verse from a song, as long as you aren't reprinting the entire song, merely quoting it, would not be any different than citing research in a paper. You can quote as long as you properly cite the source. When I quote lyrics, I always cite the composers and the current holder of the copyright. I might be wrong, but I can't see that it would be significantly different than citations in a research paper. Then again, I haven't written a research paper since 1981!
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Pecman's comments in the thread about the Top 40 Radio Archive has prompted me to mention another site I visit online when researching for a story or for just the pleasure of diving into the past. It's called Mr. Pop History
The man who runs it has gone back and posted a page for EVERY week since January 1, 1950! He looks at the news of the week, entertainment news, the popular songs and TV shows of the week, what movies are at the theaters, etc. It's a fascinating archive. My only serious complaint is that he doesn't proofread his pages very well. But, the information is fascinating and very helpful if you are researching for a story set in the past. As of now, he hasn't gone past August 2009. I love to just randomly pick a decade and then a year and then a week and just delve into the past. Its a free site and so far unpolluted with obtrusive advertising, though it does have some simple click-line ads.
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Pecman- isn't WLCY the station you reference in A Groovy Kind of Love?
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Our manager finally showed up at 6AM Okla. time and we discussed a few things. I made some "suggestions" about security and each of my ideas is going to be implemented. I'm home now and I feel better. Posting on AD was all I had for four hours since it was overnight here. I'm glad there was someone here! Thank you! And I strongly urge you to listen to Awesome Dude Radio when you're freaking out. It's a nice way to calm down and relax!
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LOL!
Speaking of the fundies, I have a scene in the story I'm writing about a famous ballet dancer flying home to Oklahoma. The lady beside him on the plane has been irritating him for the whole flight and at one point asks him why he's flying to Oklahoma. He replies dryly, "I'm on a mission for the Soviet Motherland to subvert American freedom by turning all the evangelists in Oklahoma into drooling homosexual Communists."
Thank goodness for Awesome Dude Radio! I've been listening to it all night and it has helped my mood enormously!!!!!!! Its' AWESOME!
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Thanks! I could use a hug right now. I want my Daddy! Oh, well. It could have been worse and I'm grateful it wasn't. I'm not really impressed with my employers right now.
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2:15 and still no word from management or corporate offices. This is frustrating. I'm not very happy with this company right now.
I've never had a shotgun pointed at me before. I've never experienced anything like this before. Its strange. I was fine while it was happening, but I am freaking out now. Well, not freaking, but it's really hitting me. And, I have no one to talk to in the middle of the night. I'm here alone now with just my computer. I'm writing emails and I've written in my journal. I suppose I'll journal a little more.
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I work as a night auditor in a hotel and I was just robbed about 45 minutes ago. I am okay, just a little shaken up. I commend the police in my city for their promptness and professionalism, but my management is worthless. I have been unable to get anyone to answer their phone, so I am now sitting alone behind the counter for another six hours, unable to provide a security camera file to the police because no one in management will answer their phone. I've never had to look down the barrel of a sawed off shotgun before. Its a rather disconcerting event. I was calm while it was happening, but I'm a little freaked out now. But, the good thing is that I'm okay. But, WOW.
I don't really have anyone else to talk to right now at 1:30 AM. So, I thought I would share here. Thanks.
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Mike, Do you have any airchecks from that time? If so, you can upload them to the site! And you will be immortal!
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Listening right now at work. So much better than the Weather Channel, but that may be damning with faint praise. Oh, well, let me rephrase this--- Awesome Dude Radio is Awesome! OMG- ABBA! I'm dancing behind my desk and I think the security camera is catching every hideous writhing motion. Oh, the horror. Oh, the humanity.
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Roy Nilson and Dick Wilson WLCY Tampa-St. Petersburg 1966
Mark Edwards WLCY Tampe-St. Petersburg 1968
With your background in broadcasting, Dude, this would be the perfect site for you to check out! You can visit without actually subscribing if you want to see what they have, it just costs to listen.
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Dude mentioned Awesome Dude Radio on another thread and it reminded me of something I think a number of members may be interested in. There is a web site that had archived hundreds of hours of recordings of actual radio broadcasts from the Golden Age of Top 40 radio in the fifties, sixties, and seventies from such giants as Boss Radio 93-KHJ, 77-WABC, WMCA, WLS, etc. You can hear the music, the deejays patter, the commercials, even an occasional newscast. It's amazing and it's just like being a kid again and listening to the way radio used to be. You can hear some of the great deejays of all time like The Real Don Steele, Dan Ingraham, Robert W. Morgan, Bob Crain before was Colonel Hogan, etc... It can be found at http://www.reelradio.com/ It is a subscription service and you pay $20 a year, but it is WELL worth it if you miss radio from the 60's and 70's.
There is also the oldest aircheck, of Bing Crosby on KHJ in 1932, plus several recordings of Dallas radio stations on the day of President Kennedy's assassination. This is an invaluable collection. Check it out.
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Oh my.... Probably only The Pecman knows what these old songs do to me. Maybe I'll fire up AwesomeDude Radio for the day!
YES! AD Radio is awesome. Bring it back!!!!
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Ronan Rules!!!!
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Ron Dante was certainly cute enough to be gay! And, I just got to see Barry Manilow recently. It was one of the best concerts I've ever attended. And, Blue, I remember playing a mean air guitar to "More Than a Feeling" in the parking lot at school my senior year.
![:accordion[1]:](https://forums.awesomedude.com/uploads/accordion%5B1%5D.gif)
Oh and Stairway to Heaven! -
One of my more embarrassing moments as a kid occurred in the fall of 1969 when an eleven year-old FreeThinker was caught in his bedroom by his mother dancing to Sugar Sugar, by the Archies.
Fast forward to about ten minutes ago, and 54 year-old FT was just caught in his bedroom by his mother getting down to Martha and the Vandellas, Dancing in the Street. Oh, my...
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Free Thinker, we didn't know you were an organic chemist! Or a nutritionist. Or a botanist. Or you read a lot of alternative publications. Or whatever.
Colin
There was a movie about Sonny Von Bulow and the trial of her husband Klaus, staring Glenn Close and the wonderful Jeremy Irons. I can't remember the title, but at the end a store clerk says to Jeremy Irons, "You're a very strange man," to which he replies in that wonderful voice and accent.... "You've no idea."
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The brownies work better if you let the leafy green stuff soak in melted butter overnight in the fridge, then strain the butter after the THC is absorbed into the butter. Oh, um, oops. I guess I'm, uh, revealing more about my misspent twenties and thirties than I should....
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EleCivil makes good points and perhaps its too easy to stereotype and what I wrote earlier could be used to justify bullying and other forms of negative behavior. I suppose what I want to say is that sometimes boys are negatively stereotyped as aggressive and troublemaking and often the solution by some faculty and administrations- not all- is medication just to get them to shut up and conform.
I certainly agree that equalizing funding between affluent suburban schools and poverty-stricken urban schools would make a tremendous difference. The United States is 26th in the world in education achievement. Pathetic. But, those in the suburbs see any attempt to equalize funding as taking away from them and giving to those who don't deserve it.
My point is that sometimes, girls may perform better in a segregated environment free of the distractions of boys who in some ways be negative influences and that boys may perform better in a segregated environment in which they are not made to feel bad because they are boys. Some boy traits may not translate to all boys-- I certainly wasn't a "typical" boy, whatever that might be-- but choosing some other way of dealing with traditional boy issues other than medication and enforced conforming to certain standards.
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Am I an asshole? Well, don't answer that. But...
Both my niece and my nephew have become parents to two beautiful, precious little baby girls over the last half year and I couldn't be happier (well, I could be if they were boys, but I accept what fate puts before me). However...
At a family gathering last week, little Aubrey and Tinley had bizarre black ribbons around their heads, both had gaudy fingernail polish, and both had pierced ears. I thought it was... unseemly, a little extreme, somewhat tasteless... All right, I thought they were being prepared for a life as pole dancers and that I should stick a dollar in their ribbons.
Apparently I pissed some people off when I remarked, "Well, I hope you'll wait until they're at least out of Kindergarten before you tattoo them."
All right, my smart mouth could have been engaged AFTER I thought this through rather than before, but am I being unreasonable? Isn't six months just a little young for piercings and nail polish? With all the prostitots on Disney getting into trouble before they get their drivers licenses, shouldn't we let kids have some time to be kids before we start encouraging them to emulate Gaga? How about a few years of innocence?
Perhaps, it's a little ironic coming from one who writes stories about panting and grunting twelve year-old boys, but...
Thoughts?
I'm just trying to judge the audience and whether it would be off-putting to make it sound more formal by not using contractions or more comfortable for the reader with contractions. I think, since I feel more comfortable WITH the contractions, that's the route I will take, rather than the one less traveled. Although, I still try to avoid ending sentences with prepositions, knowing that is something up with which fewer and fewer people will put.
Although I do remember back in the ancient seventies dancing to a disco version of "Climb Every Mountain." Well, it was the seventies and people also wore platform shoes and bell-bottoms, and there were lots of chemicals involved...
I have since learned to be more careful (and a little more accepting of such help!) 
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Contractions
in Writers' Workshop
Posted
I just read "A Brass Monkey" and it's wonderful! Hilarious. And, apropos to the discussion, (particularly the bollocks)! I will happily use contractions now!