Random thoughts 1: Just Sayin'

[Valka D'Ur]

And I, at the medium point of your two ages, don't recall being taught whether to say either 'he' or 'they'. I rather suspect I wasn't.

The school system might have something to do with it. My high school English teacher didn't bother with spelling or grammar, other than to allot 15% of our essay grades to "mechanics" - spelling, grammar, punctuation, general word usage, etc. She assumed we would already have learned those basics in junior high. One of my classmates who had gone to the same junior high school as I did (we had a strict teacher there, and I loved driving her nuts by bringing science and science fiction into as many assignments as I could) once asked the high school teacher about gerunds, and she snapped, "Don't talk to me about gerunds!"

When I got to college and started taking English classes there, the instructor discovered that many of my classmates had a dismal grounding in grammar. So she revised the syllabus to include exercises out of the Harbrace College Handbook and told us that unfortunately this would take away time we should have been using to discuss the actual items on the reading list. We would have to do more of that on our own, because she was appalled by how poorly some of the first essays were written.

That's the class in which my first A was downgraded to a B because I misplaced two punctuation marks in my bibliography. The rest of the paper (on Shakespeare's Sonnet 18) was perfect. So after that, my Harbrace became a constant companion both as a student and as a typist. If any of my clients were having particular problems with something, I'd recommend they get their own Harbrace, or take advantage of the free tutoring sessions in the library.

 

[Ryika]

I have spent the last two hours meditating and thinking hard about the important questions of life, and I have come to an important realization:

Siblings who live together - be it in an incestual relationship or just as as siblings - should be allowed to adopt children.

 

[Manfred Belheim]

I don't even refer to my pets as "it." Anyone talking about my Maddy had better refer to her as "she" since she's a female cat. Otherwise, I will correct that rudeness.

I hope she wears a pink bow on her head or something then, as it's not all that obvious without being even more rude.

 

[Arakhor]

I just assume all cats are female unless told otherwise.

 

[Ryika]

So this quote I found in the New York Times comments section made me think:

I am a white person and I agree with you, that if we whites are to be trusted, we have to put our money where our mouth is. That means stepping out of our comfort zones and speaking out if someone in our inner circle says or does racist things. It means taking meaningful action to be allies. I am doing my best. Those of us Whites who resist your words are experiencing "fragility" from losing control of the narrative and protesting too much that we're just living our lives, you've got things wrong. They believe in their own inability to cause pain just by virtue of their White privilege. My heart is heavy.

I think we should call this "Alt Racism". Or "Neo Racism"?

 

[EgonSpengler]

So this quote I found in the New York Times comments section made me think:


I think we should call this "Alt Racism". Or "Neo Racism"?

I think I agree with their first couple of sentences, about stepping out of our comfort zones and taking meaningful action. I'm having a hard time parsing the last couple of sentences, though.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

I hope she wears a pink bow on her head or something then, as it's not all that obvious without being even more rude.

She doesn't wear a pink bow. She does wear a pink collar.

It's pretty obvious in most cases in adult cats if they're male or female, even without flipping up the tail to look. Male cats are generally larger and more muscular, and if they haven't been neutered, there's a musky smell about them. Female cats are smaller, less muscular, and while unspayed females don't give off any particular smell that I noticed, it's extremely obvious when they start howling when they're in heat.

 

[EgonSpengler]

Yesterday I was talking to someone about the election in Kenya, and I accidentally said Nigeria. Kenya and Nigeria are nowhere near each other. New York City and Los Angeles are closer to each other than Nairobi and Lagos. Everyone once in a while, I have to remind myself that Africa is, like, mind-bogglingly huge.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

It has the surface area of the moon.

 

[Ryika]

I just realized that Sylvanas from World of Warcraft is basically the equivalent of a Nationalist. Focused on the survival of her people over the rest of Azeroth. That's why people on Reddit think of her as evil, when in reality she is just a really good leader.

 

[Snerk]

It has the surface area of the moon.

Luckily it's wildlife is far superior.

 

[Broken_Erika]

Luckily it's wildlife is far superior.

And it doesn't have any of those horrible Onion Men.

 

[Takhisis]

I just assume all cats are female unless told otherwise.

<---- What about my avatar?

Everyone once in a while, I have to remind myself that Africa is, like, mind-bogglingly huge.

It's more that the landmasses of the northern hemisphere are smaller than people think, because the Mercator projection really distorts things.

 

[Arakhor]

You're male: I assume that your avatar is too.

 

[EgonSpengler]

It's more that the landmasses of the northern hemisphere are smaller than people think, because the Mercator projection really distorts things.

Yeah, it's definitely the map's fault. However, for me, I always underestimate the scale of Africa, rather than overestimate North America, which I'm more familiar with in the real world. For example, Mombasa and Dar es Salaam look like neighbors on the Mercatur map, but in reality, they're as far apart as Boston from Philadelphia. I've driven Boston to Philly a couple of times, and those cities aren't "right next to each other" in my mind.

 

[Snerk]

And it doesn't have any of those horrible Onion Men.

Onion Men? Sounds erotic.

 

[Takhisis]

You're male: I assume that your avatar is too.

I hope that the follwing reply will suffice:
<scribble, scribble>

Yeah, it's definitely the map's fault. However, for me, I always underestimate the scale of Africa, rather than overestimate North America, which I'm more familiar with in the real world. For example, Mombasa and Dar es Salaam look like neighbors on the Mercatur map, but in reality, they're as far apart as Boston from Philadelphia. I've driven Boston to Philly a couple of times, and those cities aren't "right next to each other" in my mind.

*Mercator.

Just get maps done in better projections.

Onion Men? Sounds erotic.

Have a cookie.

 

[Snerk]

Have a cookie.

Onion flavoured?

 

[Manfred Belheim]

She doesn't wear a pink bow. She does wear a pink collar.

It's pretty obvious in most cases in adult cats if they're male or female, even without flipping up the tail to look. Male cats are generally larger and more muscular, and if they haven't been neutered, there's a musky smell about them. Female cats are smaller, less muscular, and while unspayed females don't give off any particular smell that I noticed, it's extremely obvious when they start howling when they're in heat.

Hmm... well having owned various cats and known other people who own various cats, I don't really agree with that. Although obviously there's been variation in size etc, I've not seen this correlate with sex. Nor have I noticed any particular smell variation (and I think that would be odd to check anyway, unless they absolutely stink). And waiting around to see if the cat goes into heat isn't exactly a fast process either.

 

[W|M]

Yeah, it's definitely the map's fault. However, for me, I always underestimate the scale of Africa, rather than overestimate North America, which I'm more familiar with in the real world. For example, Mombasa and Dar es Salaam look like neighbors on the Mercatur map, but in reality, they're as far apart as Boston from Philadelphia. I've driven Boston to Philly a couple of times, and those cities aren't "right next to each other" in my mind.

Just get maps done in better projections.

Here's a quick guide on what to get: