rick

Ah, that most republican of republican activities: defending the indefensible. At least Jon Stewart is capable of calling them like he see's them in a calm and thoughtful way. Rick

Coming along very nicely...thanx Ron! Rick

I think the point Cole and the rest of us are attempting to make is that we all develop our own style as we learn the craft of creating a story. Wibby's point is well taken, however, in that if I stumble across poorly written text, i.e. gross spelling errors, incorrect word choice, and glaring punctuation errors, I have a tendency to get hung up on the problems, and overlook the story itself. In fact, I tend to just walk away from such things anymore. Part of my revulsion with the above mentioned issues centers around the crap that passes for official office communication these days. Being an engineer, I'm constantly amazed that some of today's young engineering graduates were able to earn passing grades with their dismal skills in the use of the English language. I've even noticed a serious decline in the standard of writing at some of this nations major journalistic institutions...I am depressed. At the rate we're going, we'll all be reading text message speak as standard English in a few more years... Rick

Cole; I have to admit to breaking those rules on a regular basis. I'm rather fond of the long sentence and, fortunately, I have an understanding editor. We have the odd disagreement here and there, but I just have a problem with the choppy nature of writing that tends to follow the "rules" too closely. I can't stand reading something like: "See Dick. See Dick run. See Dick catch Spot the dog." You get the general idea... I admit to getting carried away on occasion, but my trusty editor tends to step in and point out the problem, along with suggested changes. I sometimes modify his suggestions, but we get there in the end. Thanks, O' Blue one! Rick

Ouch! Narayan...I would have thought the family name would have been Bobbitt... The little woman must've caught her hubby giving the cleaning lady a right good servicing. Rick

Mine is neater than many of those, but messy enough to feel lived in.... Neatness is a communist plot or, possibly, the sign of a very disturbed mind. Rick

That's a shame, but is certainly understandable. GA has more than a few extremely disagreeable people that seem to go out of their way to piss people off. I probably haven't posted over there more than once or twice in the past year. Maybe the Dude should extend an invitation to Dan to jump ship and become an AD hosted author! Rick

My point exactly. Rick

I'm sure that the right wing god they believe in will provide for them...after all, given the choice of passing proposition 8, or having a job, is an easy choice for someone from the radical right wing, isn't it? Still, even if they are right wing nut cases, this is a bad time to find yourself laid off. I feel sorry for the kids, if not the parents. Rick

Detail can be overdone. How do I define overdone? When it becomes a drag on the storyline and leaves nothing to the readers imagination. The ability to escape into my imagination is one of the reasons I read sci-fi/fantasy Hi, my name is John, and I'm 6'4" tall with blond hair, purple eyes, and a 12 inch....you know This is clearly detail that doesn't need to be included...at least in that fashion. I've also read books where the descriptive detail became so overwhelming I never finished the story. Like all things, there's a fine line to be trod between enough and too much/too little. Rick

Well said and well reasoned. Reason, however, won't work against the unremitting, unreasoned hate of those unable and unwilling to use the intellect they were gifted with. Heck, they even discount their own belief system: 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Sure seems to contradict the spirit of proposition 8, now doesn't it.... Rick

I was at home, lounging on my nice comfy sofa, watching the returns come in in high definition. Once it was clear President-elect Obama had locked it up, I popped the cork on an expensive bottle of French Champagne I'd been saving for something special, and toasted the America I served with most of my youth, the America I believe in*, and my hopes for our charismatic new president-elect. Cheers! Rick *Note: The America I believe in is one where we live up to our ideals, not George Bush's twisted vision of an Imperial America with himself in the role of God-Emperor. 76 Days and counting!

It's nice to be proven wrong for a change. I know I said I thought this country was still too racist to elect a black president. Either one of two things happened. Either people were just so sick and tired of the politics of hate and division that they finally paid attention -OR- as Winston Churchill said, 'You can always count on Americans to do the right thing - after they've tried everything else.' Net, Net, there are two great pieces of news: I can say, President Barak Obama. I can also say to George Bush, Dick Cheney, and the specter of Karl Rove: You're Fired! Now, the hard part starts; rebuilding civility and public consensus, healing the bitterness of a very partisan decade, all while fixing the major problems we face at home and abroad. The democratic party has been given a new lease by the landlord, but if they muck it all up, they can be tossed just as easily. Given the mood of the electorate, their honeymoon will be a short one. Lets hope they take the high road the President-elect has outlined and don't do something so stupid they alienate the electorate in the first weeks of the new administration. Still, I guess we can all celebrate for a day, so, in the spirit of the moment, I say: Woo Hoo! Rick

Well put, Wibby! :hehe: Rick

Naw, Tasers cause raccoons to lose control of their bowels, and I don't know about you, but I'm not cleaning that mess up! Rick

The next thing we will hear is the AFA announcing a boycott of Apple.... Right wing nut jobs.... Yea Apple! At least one company in this country has the balls to stand up for what's right once in a while. Everyone go buy a new Ipod. Rick

I've got to chime in with my comments and agree with Pecman here: Card is a homophobic, right-wing, card-carrying, religious, nut-job whose recent comments have me yearning for the return of the sedition act, but I digress. Despite his many failings as a decent human being, Card is still a talented and gifted writer. I've read his Elements of Writing Fiction and How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy. Unlike most texts on the subject, they are well written, funny, and very easy to read. They convey a wealth of practical advice and I strongly recommend them both to a beginning writer... Rick

Concerning Sarah Palin, I won't say "I told you so", I won't, I won't, I won't...ahhh, the heck with it. I did. Sue me. Just as I predicted, she's yet another in a long line of right wing nut-jobs...and, just for the record, blaming America's regressive attitudes towards sex on the Victorians is just wrong. The people who founded many of our original colonies were so right wing it's a wonder they survived as a species: yes, we're talking here about the Puritans. The Puritans would have considered the Victorians to be wild and bohemian in their attitudes and lifestyles. The Victorian era's namesake, Queen Victoria, was quite the hedonist: she had 9 children with the Prince Consort, Albert, and then, after Albert died, had a poorly concealed affair with Mr. John Brown and an Indian gentleman named Abdul Karim. She enjoyed sex so much she had electronic locks installed on the bedroom door to prevent any of her children from causing coitus interruptus. Definitely a lusty sort of woman! I digress, getting back to the point: where was I? Oh, yes, I told you so. Rick

Orwell was right in principle, he just got the date wrong. Last year they fitted our field guys trucks with GPS locators. What are they there for? To see if the truck is where its supposed to be and if it stops at places the company thinks are verbotten. I don't know who scares me more: the government or big companies. There a few restrictions on government, in theory, but companies just go and do things until they're sued over it.... I'm reminded of a bumper sticker a friend has on his car: I love my country, but fear my government. Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain... Rick

Now Wibby, temper, temper, temper.... Remember, he's still a youngun... Rick

ROFLMAO!!! Thanks Des! Rick

Ahhh, Terpischore: Meaning The Greek Muse of dancing and choral song. Nope. Not me. People pay me not to sing. Rick

Crap! I still have no idea what a terpishore is! Guess I'll have to look it up myself... Still, to satisfy Cole's insatiable curiosity: Hoist with your own petard Meaning Injured by the device that you intended to use to injure others. Origin The phrase 'hoist with one's own petar[d]' is often cited as 'hoist by one's own petar[d]'. The two forms mean the same, although the former is strictly a more accurate version of the original source. A petard is, or rather was, as they have long since fallen out of use, a small engine of war used to blow breaches in gates or walls. They were originally metallic and bell-shaped but later cubical wooden boxes. Whatever the shape, the significant feature was that they were full of gunpowder - basically what we would now call a bomb. The device was used by the military forces of all the major European fighting nations by the 16th century. In French and English - petar or petard, and in Spanish and Italian - petardo. The dictionary maker John Florio defined them like this in 1598: "Petardo - a squib or petard of gun powder vsed to burst vp gates or doores with." The French have the word 'p?ter' - to fart, which it's hard to imagine is unrelated. Petar was part of the everyday language around that time, as in this rather colourful line from Zackary Coke in his work Logick, 1654: "The prayers of the Saints ascending with you, will Petarr your entrances through heavens Portcullis". Once the word is known, 'hoist by your own petard' is easy to fathom. It's nice also to have a definitive source - no less than Shakespeare, who gives the line to Hamlet (1603): "For tis the sport to have the enginer Hoist with his owne petar". Note: engineers were originally constructors of military engines. See other phrases and sayings from Shakespeare. I read too many old classics when I was in school...and thus ends today's english lesson boys and girls! Rick

What the heck is a Terpsichore? Rick

Bye, bye, McDonalds (not that I do much business with you saturated fat merchants anyway). Rick