Path: mit-eddie!bu-cs!lll-winken!uwm.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!usc!hacgate!lori From: lori@hacgate.UUCP (Lori Barfield) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: The Answer, Of Course, Is 42 Message-ID: <6424@hacgate.UUCP> Date: 12 Dec 89 17:40:28 GMT Organization: Hughes Aircraft Company, El Segundo CA Lines: 38 Keywords: puzzler with a twist OK, Mike, I'll buy for anyone who sets down his glass and figures this one out. The theme tonight *is* Computerness, isn't it? clock chip technology _ _ _ R _ _ XXX compile time reading material _ _ _ _ _ O _ _ _ link B _ _ _ remove trailing blanks _ _ I _ type of variable _ _ _ N _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ nerd personality trait _ _ _ _ S _ _ _ _ _ _ sorce of the last bug in any program _ E _ VAX communication link _ _ _ N _ _ The spelling? Why, that's the OCI (Obligatory Callahanian Inconsistency)! CAVEAT: My mailer is sick-- answers will bounce back for a couple days. Or I'll buy for the person who volunteers to capture the responses in his mailbox 'till mine is speaking to the outside world again. [From the corner, Eddie strikes up "Hey, Mr. Postman"....] Good luck! [Heh heh heh....] ...lori Path: mit-eddie!bu-cs!lll-winken!uwm.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!usc!hacgate!lori From: lori@hacgate.UUCP (Lori Barfield) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: Re: The Answer, Of Course, Is 42 Message-ID: <6425@hacgate.UUCP> Date: 12 Dec 89 18:11:16 GMT References: <6424@hacgate.UUCP> Reply-To: lori@hacgate.UUCP (Lori Barfield) Organization: Hughes Aircraft Co., El Segundo, CA Lines: 26 Summary: correction Whoops! Mike, tell the guys I came up a blank short on the sixth line! To typos! clock chip technology _ _ _ R _ _ XXX compile time reading material _ _ _ _ _ O _ _ _ link B _ _ _ remove trailing blanks _ _ I _ type of variable _ _ _ N _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ nerd personality trait _ _ _ _ _ S _ _ _ _ _ _ sorce of the last bug in any program _ E _ VAX communication link _ _ _ N _ _ ...lori Path: mit-eddie!mintaka!think!snorkelwacker!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!shelby!csli!cphoenix From: cphoenix@csli.Stanford.EDU (Chris Phoenix) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: Re: Dating confusion and such Message-ID: <11419@csli.Stanford.EDU> Date: 12 Dec 89 21:48:45 GMT References: <89346.011913SXW103@PSUVM.BITNET> Sender: cphoenix@csli.Stanford.EDU (Chris Phoenix) Reply-To: cphoenix@csli.stanford.edu (Chris Phoenix) Organization: Center for the Study of Language and Information, Stanford U. Lines: 104 Yep, more advice from me... If any of you think I'm talking too much, please let me know. In article <89346.011913SXW103@PSUVM.BITNET> SXW103@PSUVM.BITNET (Stephanie Wukovitz) writes: >Part of the solution, I think, is that I refuse to wear a mask, and >that other people seem to find my masklessness interesting and >comfortable. I believe that copious amounts of self-confidence >are sufficient to allow one to have good friends without feeling >like a hypocrite. I'm jealous... I wish people would feel that way about me. I guess actually a lot of them do--it's just that the ones who don't know how to take it are so unpleasant about it. > "I do seem to have one problem, one that makes me very angry. >I am having one hell of a time trying to find an SO. Through >experiment, I've found I definitely don't want someone who is >just a lover, and most of the men I've met in the past 9 months >are really unsuitable intellectually or in their personality. Sounds like you're looking for a rather specific type of person. I think that's good, but you're going to have to look for them--they won't just come to you. > I've >gone out on dates with people that look like potential SOs, and >what usually happens is that I am nice (?!) to the male in question, > ... Usually I discover that I am attracted to him as a friend only. > ... Eventually, he either >realizes that I am not interested in him and then thinks that I >"led him on", or else he is too oblivious to notice, gets carried >away, and then I have to explain the situation to him nicely. >(if there is such a thing). In either case, he refuses to have >anything to do with me afterwards. > "So, must I be nasty to men who are "interested" when I don't >want to have a sexual relationship with them? I *do* have male >friends, but these relationships have *always* been 'like a brother' >from the very beginning. Why can't these others accept me as a >person and not just as a potential SO? It's gotten so that I'm >afraid to go on a date, even if it just *might* turn out to be >fun. Have you tried telling them at the start? From a man's point of view, things look a lot different. Let's say I meet this woman, I ask her out on a date, she accepts, we have fun, we see each other a lot. At some point, I start to hope that maybe she's actually interested in me. Maybe I start telling my friends about it. Maybe I start to hope too much. In any case, after several weeks of this, I 1) realize that you're not interested after all, or 2) try something, expecting that it will be accepted, and then get rebuffed with the dreaded "Let's Just Be Friends". Either way, my pride is probably hurt, and I'm certainly very disappointed. If I'm looking for a SO rather than another friend, I may even feel like you've been wasting my time. I can't speak for all men, but personally I'd rather be told at the start, before I have so much time and mental energy invested in it. There will probably be some men who still get angry and never speak to you again, but I think a lot of them will appreciate your honesty. No, you don't need to be nasty to men who are interested. But it is probably better to let them know at the start. Men are likely to be oblivious, and to assume too much... if you're going to make friends with men you have to expect that. But IMHO, letting them know at the start will stop a lot of the trouble that such things can cause. Even when you're not flirting, men's expectations can make them see you as interested. But if they know you're not available, they'll probably be able to deal with you just as a friend. > "It's getting worse. It's been 9 months since the breakup. >I would really like to find an SO, but there are very few men >out there who have a passion for mathematics and other qualities >I wish I could find more; such men that I have found either have >SOs or are teaching my classes-- or both. I get the impression that you're not putting forth a large effort to look for men you'll be compatible with. If you wait for a math person to ask you out, you'll probably be waiting a while. Try studying in the math building's lounge, and other things like that. If you're getting asked out a lot, you probably won't have too much of a problem once you find the guy... but don't just wait for him to come to you. > "Sometimes I wonder whether it would be better to be a social >outcast again than to have things be so confusing. Before, at >least, I didn't want an SO this badly, and nobody's feelings got >hurt except mine. I'm happy for those of my friends who have SOs, >but seeing them together makes me angry sometimes. People assume >that I could 'have a boyfriend if she really wanted to.' It isn't >that simple, folks. Well, they're right, in part. If all you want is "a boyfriend", just pick the nicest of the guys who asks you out, and accept his advances. Voila, instant boyfriend. But if you want a boyfriend who has a passion for mathematics and red hair and is from the Southwest and likes sushi, you have to go out and find one. > "Just ramblings, I suppose, but they have made me feel at least >marginally better. Thanks for listening. No problem... I hope this is at least marginally helpful. -- Chris Phoenix | A harp is a nude piano. cphoenix@csli.Stanford.EDU | "More input! More input!" Life is the only game in which the object of the game is to learn the rules. Disclaimer: I want a kinder, gentler net with a thousand pints of lite. Path: mit-eddie!mintaka!think!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!rpi!jefyoung From: jefyoung@pawl.rpi.edu (Jeffrey Young) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: Strangers And Stranger Things, Soul-outions,More Summary: LURU! Get back here! Message-ID: Date: 12 Dec 89 22:11:28 GMT References: Organization: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy NY Lines: 187 The Unicorn stands up from his place by the fire, and walks to the center of the room. "This is gonna feel like that pinwheel ride..addressing several people at once..." "First off.." The unicorn turns, goes to the door, and it opens for him. He looks out into the night, tail swishing slightly, and shouts something that is muffled over the crackling of the fire. He pulls his head back in, leaving the door ajar, and walks back... ..pointing his horn at Shadow "I am an outcast, Shadow. Those whom I call my Oath Friends were themselves outcasts, and the six of us had that in common: we were too different from the norm, and found in each other a bit of our own wackiness. In time we ended up as an exclusive group, and others sought to gain entrance to our circle..and we let them, because we cared even when they did not. The Pack is the Pack, but we're always letting people run with us.." "This story, unfortunately, doesn't have a happy ending. Currently we've lost half the Pack to the 'tute boot (failed out) and we're drifting slightly, those of us left. Perhaps we really don't need each other as much as we did then anymore. But I couldn't have done it then without them...you know they care when they go chasing after you in the snow, because they think you're going to kill yourself.." The unicorn pauses with a faraway look in his eyes, remembering a time seemingly long ago.. "Nothing wrong with being an outcast sometimes. Perhaps it's not really you who requires the changing. If you like what you are, then perhaps you're in the wrong place for it. I didn't need to change, just had to get people to accept me for what *I* was..and that is a Unicorn. It's not a mask. My real self is the mask for the Unicorn, not the other way around." "I'm good at seeing through people's masks, an empathic gift. I try to get them out of theirs, if they're willing to let me.. show them that it can be done without, and they trust me, because of what I am." ...with a nod to Greywolf "You know it, my friend. If you have to radically change what you are to fit in, then it's the same thing as putting on a mask... exactly what you don't want to do." (chuckling at the fact he still isn't wearing anything) "Who needs to be uniform(ed)?" (ARGH, double pun..) "And it is true.. real people do care....common courtesy isn't quite dead yet." ..to point at the Phoenix "Some rules are made to be broken, true. But there are some that are not-- they are the ones you make for yourself, that give you your self-respect. To quote Shakespeare, 'This above all, to thy known self be true.' Remember who you are, inside, and don't turn yourself inside out to get in. You won't enjoy it." "and I don't hate people with masks, either. I do love breaking them though.. but I always ask permission first." "In other words:Go with what feels natural to you." ..spins to point at the Unbeliever "You sound a lot like me. Don't get bitter, get better. Bitterness is a shadow that blocks rthe light you want to show to others. Noone can see you in the dark, and if you stay in the darkness that you bring upon yourself, you'll be more bitter about it, and darken further still. A cloak of Darkness is not the garb for a healer, but for a hider. As for going to those 'wonderful' social events, it won't work because it's not in your nature. Too impersonal, too fast. Keep being what you are, and keep hoping. I know I am.. maybe nothing's happened yet, but I have my whole life ahead of me, and can wait with light in my hand showing the way." "High standards? You *do* want to overlook the people who will simple make you miserable, who will leave you and make things hurt even more. Don't lower your standards-- you get hurt every time. Don't raise them either-- remember never to stand higher than yourself." "Oops! Are those RULES I am speaking? Well, in a sense, but they are the rules *I* live by, and it has gotten me compliments, from girls who were already "attached", and a lot of respect from others. Disregard them if you wish, for they are for my life being what I am." "That's a good toast. TO SELF RESPECT:Never put yourself in the gutter, others do it to you far too much." ..points at the Alaric: "Noble, yes, nobility, no. I never claim to be a leader, never want to run people's lives for them. I serve no master, but am master to none, either. I do favors for friends, and they do them for me. That is a good relationship-- a fellowship of equals." The unicorn blushes a little at the compliment anyhow. (Purple Unicorns look VERY odd..) "Heh.. if you give something, and expect nothing, as I do...then when you do get something, it is so much more valuable." "And blue is a color of intensity as well, so I've been told." "as for purity, well, perhaps not purity in the sense of pure-- that's what White Unicorns are for, but they are ofttimes cold and aloof, feeling too pure for any mortal to touch them. I may be good and chaste, but I am by no means pure...I am one who enjoys physical contact..you might remember in a previous posting, 'Hugs are an excellent way to transfer positive energy. Charge someone's life today!'" (gotta get myself a button for that one..) "On souls: Of course you have a soul, because you care, or want to. A soul is what distinguishes *you*, it is your feelings, desires, fears and cares. It is what takes the wounds that do not show, and that which is hardest to heal. It is the source of the Light that I speak of...the light within.. If it goes out, you lose yourself, and you are a zombie, a face in the crowd.. still, you have yours, I can see it. Kinda dim, but then life's been kinda grim for you, I'll bet. That's the key, I think.. Taldin is my soul, and I'n not afraid to show it to others. You have a light.. it's just hidden in the shadows that you have placed it in, courtesy of the demon whom I call Despair." ..spins to point at the corner of the room, where many people sit silently watching me.... "And you there. Yes, you. Show yourselves, we don't bite. This is the best place to get away from those shadows, I doubt anyone here will laugh, except maybe good-naturedly.. Avoid the masks, too...BE YOURSELF!" I cock my head sideways as I regard the silent eyes.. "C'mon.. you can do it.. I can't force you to...I suppose that shadow is there for just that reason.. but if not here, then where?" ...spins to point at Diana "Aye, spiritkin are rare, they are those I call Oath Friends. That kinda relationship runs deep and until the end of time, and only soulmates can be closer." ..and back to the Phoenix.. "Assuming I had a mask, which I don't, I know I'd be scared..it's a big step to take, and requires courage that masks don't encourage. The best thing to do if you are the friend, is to advise the person to 'just close your eyes and do it.' They'll be a lot happier later in most cases." "Second Question:No, why should I be afraid? He's broken free of whatever prison he's built around himself, and he's (that's a generalized he, ladies) probably the better for it. I wouldn't be afraid, more like proud of him, and would respect him more... ..as long as what was under the mask isn't radically Evil. But my empathy tends to keep me away from those people to begin with, and as I'm already without a mask when the meet me, they know what I am like and generally avoid me first. Good riddance to those who hide behind masks to hurt others, I say." ...turns to face the bar. "Whew! A Spiked Apple Juice, m'friend...and in case you were wondering, it has absolutely no alcohol in it whatsoever-- just Orange Juice. It's good, and it doesn't rot your teeth. Just the thing for a dry throat." Hooking the mug on the end of his horn by the handle , Taldin walks back over to the table where Jilara, Magyk,Alaric, and the quiet scarecrow sit. He (I) lie down in front of the table, take a sip of the drink from the mug (putting it down first of course) and nuzzles the dozing tabbifli once between the ears. -Taldin The Blue Unicorn Defender Of Light Furry At Large -- "You are blue, Unicorn.. the Blue of clear, cloudless days where everything seems like it's going right and nothing could go wrong.. and the Blue of despair and lonliness." jefyoung@pawl.rpi.edu Path: mit-eddie!snorkelwacker!usc!brutus.cs.uiuc.edu!jarthur!estokien From: estokien@jarthur.Claremont.EDU (Eric Stokien) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: Re: A lurker speaks Message-ID: <3563@jarthur.Claremont.EDU> Date: 13 Dec 89 01:07:13 GMT References: <49484@bbn.COM> Reply-To: estokien@jarthur.UUCP (Eric Stokien) Distribution: alt Organization: Harvey Mudd College, Claremont, CA Lines: 11 A glass answers from a dark corner of the room. To Billy Joel!!! it replies. Now there's a giant of singer who can usually speak for me. I'm no longer Sleeping with the Television on, but occassionally I forget to Leave a Tender Moment Alone, and I'm not very good at telling her about it. Oh well, I may be getting Close to the Borderland, with semester finals here but I'll handle the Pressure and give my thanks to the Piano Man who has helped me get through life without making too many dumb mistakes. The formerly Inigo Montoya persona has faded into a young man in a bright green Flying Karamazov Brothers stupid hat, which he removes in a melodramatic flourish before returning to his seat with a Monaco. He grins to the room a little sheepishly. Path: mit-eddie!snorkelwacker!think!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!brutus.cs.uiuc.edu!jarthur!estokien From: estokien@jarthur.Claremont.EDU (Eric Stokien) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: Re: Montreal Message-ID: <3564@jarthur.Claremont.EDU> Date: 13 Dec 89 01:13:44 GMT References: <19178@watdragon.waterloo.edu> Reply-To: estokien@jarthur.UUCP (Eric Stokien) Organization: Harvey Mudd College, Claremont, CA Lines: 10 In article gh1g+@andrew.cmu.edu (Gregg Fielding Hinderstein) writes: >I'll take one...may we someday see a world without senseless >killing...of anything >Gregg Ditto, I don't understand these people, but women hating is a horrible thing and this a thousand times as bad. And a toast to all victims of senseless violence, we're sorry it was you who had to pay for another's problems, we hope you didn't wait around to have a happy life, and had some joy before you left this world. Newsgroups: alt.callahans Path: mit-eddie!mcmullan From: mcmullan@eddie.mit.edu (Greg McMullan) Subject: Re: Archives by FTP Message-ID: <1989Dec13.025219.21337@eddie.mit.edu> Summary: hold off on FTPing first 200 for a while Reply-To: mcmullan@eddie.MIT.EDU (Greg McMullan) Organization: MIT EE/CS Computer Facilities, Cambridge, MA References: <1989Dec12.160259.21563@eddie.mit.edu> <1989Dec12.182621.28722@eddie.mit.edu> Date: Wed, 13 Dec 89 02:52:19 GMT Lines: 7 ARRGH! It has just been pointed out to me that the file that is supposed to have the first 200 articles in alt.callahans contains many duplicates of articles. I will have to check into this further and get back to you all when I know what is going on. I'm really sorry about this mixup. Greg McMullan Path: mit-eddie!mintaka!think!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!uwm.edu!mailrus!uflorida!beach.cis.ufl.edu!johnnyb From: johnnyb@beach.cis.ufl.edu (John Berlo) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: Last Romantic Message-ID: <21449@uflorida.cis.ufl.EDU> Date: 13 Dec 89 03:01:37 GMT Sender: news@uflorida.cis.ufl.EDU Reply-To: johnnyb@beach.cis.ufl.edu () Organization: UF CIS Department Lines: 24 This article was submitted to alt.sex a few days ago. In the mail I received, one was a request that I post it here. So, here is the article. I hope that all of you like it as much as many others have. I'm not really sure what this news-group is, but I hope that this fits in. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ It seems that most of the guys on the system are interested in just one thing: SEX.....and cheap sex at that. Am I the only Hopless Romantic left in the world? Am I the only one who gains pleasure from taking strolls along the beach during sunset? Are candlelight dinners and a quiet evening sitting by the fire a thing of the past??? I'm not saying that I don't enjoy making love, it's that I feel that it should be part of an entire experience. Romance adds a LOT to the feeling, emotion, and pleasure involved in sex. It also shows that you don't need sex to have a pleasurable time with someone. So let's hear it. Am I truely the last of the Hopeless Romantics? Or are there others our there? I would like to see responses posted here and in mail from others. Romance is not dead......it's just hibernating in the coldness of mankind. John J Berlo Johnnyb@beach.cis.ufl.edu The University of Florida-sports you can bet on! Path: mit-eddie!mintaka!think!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!rpi!image.soe.clarkson.edu!news From: stadnism@clutx.clarkson.edu (Steven Stadnicki,9B23 Woodstock,2680000,5186432664) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: Thank-yous and goodbyes Message-ID: <1989Dec13.040548.9494@sun.soe.clarkson.edu> Date: 13 Dec 89 04:05:48 GMT References: Sender: news@sun.soe.clarkson.edu Reply-To: stadnism@clutx.clarkson.edu Organization: Clarkson University, Potsdam, NY Lines: 203 Yet another of the customers gets up, from his chair at the side of the room (:-) and starts speaking... "Well, that's how I wanted to start the article...just to give it the right "feel", if you will, and to inject a bit of levity into what is going to be one bodaciously long and generally depressing article, in which you will read The Story Of My Life, some very appropriate lyrics, some comments on topics that have cropped up, both here and on IRC, and a whole bunch of other stuff. At least, unless you hit 'n' at some point... From article , by jefyoung@pawl.rpi.edu (Jeffrey Young): > -Taldin The Blue Unicorn > Defender Of Light > Furry At Large ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Since I'm responsible for this, I might as well explain it... I've been chatting with Taldin over IRC a lot lately (and we'd love to chat with you, too, if you've got IRC--at least, I don't mind, and I'm sure Taldin won't--right, Tal? Anyway...) and sent him an article, which I clipped bits from to post here a while ago, but they deserve reposting... [relevant paragraphs only...] FURRY FANDOM OBSERVED 0. This is an attempt to concisely explain furrydom to the curious. I am not myself a member of this group, this is what i have been told, have heard and read, or just observed in action. This is by no means complete but it is a start towards understanding. 10. But some people are more than just furry FANS. These people are simply called FURRIES. 11. Furries are those who get into the concept so much that they deliberately develop alternate personas that actually have those animal traits. Each persona takes on a life of its own in a sort of controlled schizophrenia such as ventriloquists and fantasy gamers practice. 12. Furries have many different ways to relate to their furry personas. Some think of them as totally different beings who happen to live inside them. Others see them as simply minor varients of themselves. And still others see them as vehicles for normally suppressed aspects of their own personalities. 13. The most interesting way of viewing a persona though, is to see it as some sort of mystical entity that can confer benefits which are represented by the animal shape. Some relate this to a witch's familiar or to the spirit guardian of the plains indians. This can be taken literally, that is with actual belief in such entities, or in a Jungian fashion, that the animal shape is a symbolic key to unlock unconscious abilities. 14. Fine. So what do furries do their personas? They communicate through them. The definition of the persona determines how the furry will express themself. This can be quite different from how the actual person does it. This may facilitate communication under circumstances in which the person would normally feel inhibited. 15. In fact it has been claimed that, despite the impression one might get about the persona as "putting on a mask", the use of the persona actually enables a person to be more genuinely themselves. That's because the persona has more freedom, not being subject to the stifling layers that social convention puts on us mere humans. I'm not going to comment much on all this, since that'd make a long article even longer, but if you really want to you can catch either me or Taldin on IRC most of the time (I'm usually on as Omaha, btw), and we'll be happy to talk about it (though he knows more about some aspects than I do). It's fascinating stuff, people... Anyway, I'm going to give my home address now... there's a reason why, but that's part of The Story Of My Life, which is up next. If you want to get in touch with me after Christmas, this is your best bet... Steven Stadnicki 4 Beechwood Drive Morrisonville, NY 12962 You see, I don't know whether I'm going to be back or not next semester (at this stage, I doubt it), and that address is your best bet to reach me. And now, even though you didn't really ask for it (and several of you have heard it before): The Story Of My Life, in vivid prismacolor, with the deepest blues you've ever seen... My main problem, which I generally consider to be so big that it dominates my personality and is the reason for a lot of my actions, and most of the other problems in my life, is simple: I can't work. Or at least, I can't seem to work on anything for myself. I'll take on little projects for other people, helping them with their assignments and such, without any problems... I just can't seem to do it for myself. Now, throughout most of high school, this didn't make much of a difference, 'cause I'm pretty bright, and there wasn't much homework involved, so I got along pretty well on test scores and such. Not phenomenally, but good enough to be accepted to several schools, even though my grades slacked off my senior year. My first year here at Clarkson, I was in the same program that Chris Phoenix was... it really was helpful, and I did alright. Then, my sophomore year, things started slacking off again--to the point where, after the second semester of my sophomore year, I lost my scholarship (you need to have a 2.7 GPA or higher for the semester to keep it). I was allowed by my parents to come back for the fall semester my junior year, under the condition that if I didn't recover my scholarship, I wouldn't be back that spring (there were a couple of other conditions, but they're not important here). Well, unfortunately, I didn't (I ended up with a 2.6), and so I spent this past spring and summer working at various jobs back home, then came back to Clarkson this fall, under much the same conditions. And at this point (half a week left to go, plus finals), I don't think I'm going to make it. There's a chance that I might make it, but it's slim, and that's why I'm posting this now... a lot of you are going to be leaving after this week, and I wanted to say good-bye--and thanks--while I have the chance. (There's more to this posting yet, though; don't leave yet). Anyway, on to our next topic: empathy... I've had some (well, ok, a lot) of interesting conversations with Taldin about this... he's an impressive empath, and he's been slowly training me to use my own empathic abilities (all of us here at Callahan's are empaths), with some success. Part of what we've been talking about is that empaths seem more intense, more *real* than some people. Perhaps it's because most empaths have dropped their masks (it's tough to see through someone's mask if you've got one of your own, although in my case I think I *can* see through other people's masks, only because I've gotten used to my own), and so what you see is *them*, and you can sense that. Anyway, this happened to come up while I was listening to this song on the tape in my walkman: ('Valley of Blue, written by Poncho (Roy Hurd) from the album Night Visit, (c) 1987 Poncho and Happy Heart records, Box 2139 Wilton, NY 12866) Some of us were born to feel that fire Driven by a restless heart and deep desire I've seen the sun caught up in drops of morning dew Dancing diamonds down in the valley of blue (chorus) I never did need a reason to run I wanna do some good before my life is done Melt away when the morning sun comes through Way down in the valley of blue I try to keep my passion under control A neglected need is bound to take its toll It's a slow hard climb to a spot with a cloudless view All is clear down in the valley of blue (repeat chorus) Naked and scared I hug the rocky ledge Be it life or dream, I've always been a little over the edge In a whirling wind of words strong and true I'm falling free down in the valley of blue (repeat chorus) Love may get lost, it'll find its way again There's not one single place where sorrow has not been After a storm the whole world smells brand new It's raining down love in the valley of blue (repeat chorus, fade) It's a powerful song, even moreso live... and the first and third verses especially are how I'd like to think I am, more or less. As far as empathy goes: like I've said, I believe all of us here have it, to some degree, and it's tough to say more about it... because it's not really something that I can get a good grasp on. Taldin is *much* stronger on it than I am... he's really the one who should be talking about it. So... To the empaths! We need all we can get... <*Crash*> Well, this was shorter than I thought, as I can't really think of anything else to say right now, except some good-byes. (but on the other hand, that means I'll probably have *another* pretty long article later this week...) So, good-bye to Magyk, and Taldin, and Greg and Greg (two IRCers, at least one of whom is lurking around here somewhere... the other will, if he can get a newsfeed--he's working on it), and Jen, and Kathy, and Gilly, and Tabbifli, and Chris, and Jeff, and the dozens of people whose names I've forgotten... remember, 'I love you' are among the most beautiful words in the English language, but two more beautiful still are 'I understand'. And finally, some more lyrics... I think this says what Callahan's is all about: ('A Friend to you', also from Poncho, off the same album) In troubled times, when you're lost in confusion No peace of mind, you're feeling so disillusioned Your dreams are fading like your smile that I treasure When the warmth of your own goodness cannot keep you from the cold (chorus) Think of me, I'm the one you can turn to With open arms, like a door that's never locked I can't say I hold the key to all the answers But through all my own confusion In my deepest, darkest blue I know I'd find the love and time To be a friend to you. (end chorus) (repeat chorus, and fade out) So thank you, and good-bye, and a final toast: To dreams, and friends: <*crash*> Sometimes they're all you have left. Steven Stadnicki stadnism@clutx.clarkson.edu I've said that home is where your friends are... so this must be my home. Path: mit-eddie!snorkelwacker!think!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!goldfarb@ocf.berkeley.edu From: goldfarb@ocf.berkeley.edu (David Goldfarb) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: A Toast Message-ID: <33185@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU> Date: 13 Dec 89 04:46:19 GMT Sender: usenet@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU Reply-To: goldfarb@ocf.Berkeley.EDU (David Goldfarb) Organization: ucb Lines: 24 A young man, hitherto unnoticed, stands up. He's wearing blue jeans and an Escher t-shirt. His hair is dark, and he wears glasses. "Hello, everyone." he says, smiling. "I've been sitting around for a while, just listening." He turns to Mike. "A Horse's Ass, please..." He gestures, and pennies rain down. People dive for cover. 100 of the pennies pile up obediently on the bar, next to Mike. "No endangerin' the customers, please," he growls, taking them. "Sorry," replies the man. "I find magical powers amusing, so I'll be one of those that use them, here in this virtual reality." The drink leaps into his outstretched hand. "My name's David Goldfarb. I, as I noted, have been listening for a while...I just wanted to say that you're a terrific bunch of people. This is the newsgroup that talk.bizarre.nice wants to be--the antithesis of alt.flame. In a net full of people who consider being flamed to be attention and abuse as an art form, it warms me to see the kind of compassion, and yes, love that I see here." He drinks the ginger ale, and walks to the chalk line. "So here's to all of you...May this group continue thus for a *long* time." He throws the glass. The shards twinkle merrily in the firelight. David Goldfarb goldfarb@ocf.berkeley.edu (Insert standard disclaimer) "Do you think 5 pages is long enough for a final paper, or should I increase the size of the letters?" --Benn Herrera