Cole Parker
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Posts posted by Cole Parker
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Bent? The bent path?
Anyone else, I'd think he'd been smoking some of that strange smelling stuff.
Or sampling the elderberry wine just to make sure it was all right, and then the bottle was suddenly empty.
As that cannot be the case here, it must be sleep deprivation.
So, what's been keeping you up nights?
C<G>
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Perhaps it isn't a conundrum, it just masquerades as one. It's total nonsense, but you probably won't buy that, either.
We all have to make decisions in our lives, and our decisions help define us as poeple.
I decided not to follow the dicates of Oxford as far as comma usage goes.
Let that define me. If that makes me a rebel, I'll have to accept that label.
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Case in point, sir, case in point!
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And you're temerarious enough to call my writing beautiful!
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We never flame you Des because we all love you too much.
or is it we never flame you because we're scared your poor heart can't take the strain
or is it we never flame you because we're too busy ignoring you to read what you're saying/typing.
Or it could be because we love to laugh at the elderly
Nah, it's because we love you.
Jason R.
There's another reason no one flames Des. If we did so, he'd rip us a new orifice and do it so cleverly, so wittily and so humorously that we die laughing, and all the time he'd be preparing the skewers and firing up the barbie for our final roasting.
Best leave mad dogs lie.
Heh heh heh.
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I often have a problem with questions marks. Not in easy sentences like the examples Trab provided, but in more complex ones. Often, I'll have a sentence with a question imbedded within it, or at least with the question not at the very end of the sentence. Putting a question mark in the middle of the sentence doesn't work, unless I've used parentheses to sequester the question, and that's so disruptive that I almost never do so. I've generally solved this problem by simply letting the question stand without any marking, figuring the reader can work it out for himself.
Should I take an umbrella with me today, wondered George as he stood on his front stoop, watching the gathering clouds darken the horizon.
That's not the best example, but what I could come up with on short notice. If I re-ordered that and ended with the question, using a questions mark would be easy. This way, it always feels awkward.
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Split Infinitives are frowned upon in the US, or they were when I was growing up.
I'm sure the rules are still the same. It's still thought to be careless and improper to split your infinitives. However, as we all know, with the advent of emails and blogging and IM and all, a new way of expressing ourselves is rapidly developing, and a much more casual approach to writing is flourishing. I'm regularly seeing things now, written in the newspapers and books, that I'd never have seen fifty years ago.
I was a lot more conservative when I was younger, and felt that anyone writing in English simply had to abide by the rules. I have a looser approach these days, and so do most people. Maybe life has sped up to the point we don't have time to be as fussy as we once were. Maybe the education system is more lax when it comes to teaching this stuff, though Colin seems to have gotten a better English education than I ever did, so that's questionable.
I think people should follow the rules, all of them, except the ones I don't agree with (like Wibby's silly Oxford comma conundrum), and cerrtainly not split their infinitives, or end their sentences with prepositions, or let dependent clauses stand alone as sentences. However, I no longer get overly exercised when I find these rules butchered in printed matter. People will do what they will, and why try to stem the flood like the little Dutch boy? In realitiy, I'll bet he was washed away with the tide. And the tide seems to be washing away strict observance of the rules of proper English usage.
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But, but...the guide lines said that said is not read, just understood and ignored as part of the text.
Damn, I will have to go back to my stories and remove everything I said my characters said.
Well said.
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Today is Thursday. Dude puts up Saturday's adventure usually late on Friday. So it'll go up tomorrow, which is damned close to immediately.
I don't remember if Matt comes across as a drama queen in the next chapter, but believe he doesn't. Of course, that won't be sufficient to convince SOME people he isn't a DQ.
Side note: that stands for Dairy Queen in the Eastern part of this fine country. Or it did when I lived there. I think the only beverage Matt quaffs in this tale is Dr Pepper, and I don't remember him eating soft-serve ice cream--called frozen custard when I was a sprout--either, so at least that appelation shouldn't fit.
Glad to see the cuddly 'coon is on my side, where he belongs. Welcome aboard.
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That's terribly triffling twaddle, Trab.
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Oh, and yes, UCLA students are called Bruins. It's their teams' mascot/symbol/whatever. Just like Ohio State students are called buckeyes and Cal students are known as Golden Bears.
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You're nasty, Oliver. Really nasty.
Just the kind of guy I like.
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Please post again, Bruin. A lot. And bring your friends! We need LOTS more of your kind here.
C
PS: Are you a UCLA bruin, or some other kind?
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Well, exCUSE me for heigthening the drama just a little bit. The sentiment remains the same. I just wanted to add some spice to it is all.
Make it more interesting, you know.
And besides, isn't it a bit anal for someone so young to be keeping records and all?
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I thnk I just learned more about emo than I not only wanted to know, but than there was to know.
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Cole, I don't want to tell you what to do, but since you are the writer; can't you give Matt a kick in the butt for being so... so... insecure?
Oliver:
Colinian was 17 when he helped edit this story. You know how impatient youngsters are. His comment to me, while working his way through this story, was that Matt is the biggest drama queen he'd ever met and if he were Kevin, he'd just shoot him and be done with it.
I wonder how many readers feel exactly the same.
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Trab, do you have a case of the red-ass?
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You have every right to think it might be over, Des, from the way that chapter ends.
You're also absolutely right that it's the nature of the beast, the serialized story beast, that makes you wonder. With a book, you'd see a bunch of pages waiting to be read and the question would never arise. On the net, how would you know?
I've said it before, but it bears repeating: I'm a great advocate of the use of the pharse, THE END when a story is finished. Just so everyone knows. Without that, any story I write won't have finished.
I wish everyone were that polite.
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Hilarious!
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In one book, I completely eliminated the use of the word 'said' in all dialogue. This was a practice to force myself to 'show' vs 'tell' when I was writing. It was a challenge, but it was a lot of fun too!
I love this statement. And I agree with it. With everything I write, before I start, I do this same thing. I challenge myself in some way. It might seem trivial to a reader, and hopefully it won't even be noticed, but I pick out something I don't know if I can do, then challenge myself to accomplish it in what I'm about to write. If it's a long sotry, it can be several challenges. A short story might have only a single challenge. But there's always something. So far, I haven't failed; I've met every challenge I've put before myself. (Maybe I need to make them harder, although, before doing them successfully, they seem plenty hard!)
This challenge adds a peripheral aspect for me, something to shoot for besides just making the story interesting and all the other things we have to concentrate on while writing. It adds a degree of work and fun that wouldn't be there without it.
So far, I haven't challenged myselt to eliminatie the word 'said,' but that may be next.
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This one time at band camp, I double clicked my mouse and..........
Jeff, I'm sure, just sure, that it should be: This one time, at band camp. . . .
Her execution of that phrase, with the pause after 'time,' was perfect.
Damn that was a funny movie. Thanks for reminding me!
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Only you, Trab, would find serendipity in a bum knee.
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. . . but it still wouldn't be stalking, until you actually start to look up their addresses and visit their homes, at night, with a camera and a telephoto lens.
Uh, Trab, why does this sound like you have some experience in these matters?
<g><g><g>
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AJ, the problem here isn't you. It's the driver that insists someone with a history of navigation-challenged ineptitude do the navigation.
If you don't want your toast to be burned, don't hand the bread to an arsonist.
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in The Bull Pen
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Colin-- good answers!
And Trab-- hilarious!
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