Re: Guest post: Eebie-eebie writes:

1

It means lurkers should start commenting already, of course.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 09- 7-09 9:00 PM
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Indeed. Hear that, lurkers? After all, only chatting with strangers helps, and the regulars aren't strangers anymore.


Posted by: essear | Link to this comment | 09- 7-09 9:03 PM
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"So true" seems like a really lame comment. But still, so true.


Posted by: Di Kotimy | Link to this comment | 09- 7-09 9:07 PM
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In supporting others in e-mail, the lurkers support themselves.


Posted by: eb | Link to this comment | 09- 7-09 9:16 PM
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Lurkers, you are only hurting yourselves. (shakes head) It's science!


Posted by: A White Bear | Link to this comment | 09- 7-09 9:40 PM
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SCIENCE!


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 09- 7-09 9:53 PM
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I'm a lurker these days. I'm no longer convinced the world wants my opinion on everything.


Posted by: foolishmortal | Link to this comment | 09- 7-09 10:04 PM
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i recalled how i attended LM's concert at the madison square garden, all nyc latino population was there i guess, so people were moving constantly, singing together, dancing and only the section where i sat didn't dance for some reason
the lady who was sitting next to me offered her binoculars so that i could see the stage
afterwards i imagined the reason they didn't dance was me watching them perhaps
the young korean couple i met when was going out of the place were only other asian people i saw there cz
i mean when i lurk it's for the community, to not bother without much need


Posted by: read | Link to this comment | 09- 7-09 10:23 PM
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What about surfing for pornography unsuccessfully?


Posted by: nosflow | Link to this comment | 09- 7-09 10:26 PM
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9: Click, click, masturbate click, click.


Posted by: Stanley | Link to this comment | 09- 7-09 10:28 PM
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I'm no longer convinced the world wants my opinion on everything.

One thing I've always liked about online conversations is the variety of roles that are available. You can be a discussion-sparker, breadcrumb-dropper, instigator, peacemaker. You can share opinons, add links and trivia, or play a quasi-geisha role* in facilitating and encouraging others' contributions. You can be a flirt, you can be an activist, you can be a troll or a jerk.

It's nice to see this research (although it doesn't seem all that different from the informal papers I was hearing about in the mid '90s). I do think that having more avenues for young people to explore a variety of social roles is a good thing, regardless of the source.

Now you young texters stop staring at your hands and look up when you're walking across my lawn!


*Based on my understanding of the term; I don't have good cites so am happy to be educated if anyone knows a better term for what I'm describing.


Posted by: Witt | Link to this comment | 09- 7-09 10:28 PM
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You can be an activist,
And you can be a flirt.
You can be a troll,
Or you can be a jerk.


Posted by: nosflow | Link to this comment | 09- 7-09 10:30 PM
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8: Who's LM?

The first names I can think of are Luka Modric, Loren Mazzacane Connors, and Leonard Maltin. No help there.


Posted by: Cryptic ned | Link to this comment | 09- 7-09 10:31 PM
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Or a plagiarist sampler.


Posted by: Witt | Link to this comment | 09- 7-09 10:32 PM
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It was an hommage, Witt.


Posted by: nosflow | Link to this comment | 09- 7-09 10:32 PM
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You can read another's post
And spot the unintended rhymes
And then you've got a little song
To while away the time


Posted by: Gabardine Bathyscaphe | Link to this comment | 09- 7-09 10:33 PM
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"unintended" s/b "hidden".


Posted by: nosflow | Link to this comment | 09- 7-09 10:34 PM
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LM


Posted by: read | Link to this comment | 09- 7-09 10:35 PM
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For many people, the threshhold between lurking and commenting seems to be more around "no longer convinced the world will impose sanctions on me for offering my opinion." And then they say something wrong and get banned.


Posted by: eb | Link to this comment | 09- 7-09 10:35 PM
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No no, that was part of a post-Tupac radical experiment with scansion.

...oh all right.


Posted by: Gabardine Bathyscaphe | Link to this comment | 09- 7-09 10:36 PM
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And then they say something wrong and get banned nosflow red-pencils their comment.


Posted by: Josh | Link to this comment | 09- 7-09 10:37 PM
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You can be a little bitch,
Or you can play the fool;
Just don't ever start to think
It really makes you cool.

(Too off-message?)


Posted by: nosflow | Link to this comment | 09- 7-09 10:39 PM
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Nah, GB is right; it was totally unintended. It took neb's carving to reveal the facets of the gem tchotchke.

And then they say something wrong ungrammatical and get non-seriously banned and realize failing is not the end of the world! Especially on the Internet! And lo, they are a participant forevermore, even when they have a third baby or move to Narnia or fall in love.

Yeah, love takes precedence.


Posted by: Witt | Link to this comment | 09- 7-09 10:43 PM
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Thanks a lot, Josh. That's what I get for taking time to do the HTML.


Posted by: Witt | Link to this comment | 09- 7-09 10:44 PM
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I don't doubt it was unintended but was it not also precisely thus hidden? Plus "hidden" works better.


Posted by: nosflow | Link to this comment | 09- 7-09 10:45 PM
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Further to 21: Although neb appears to be slipping. Did you not notice the spelling error in my 11, young man?


Posted by: Witt | Link to this comment | 09- 7-09 10:47 PM
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I guess not.


Posted by: nosflow | Link to this comment | 09- 7-09 10:49 PM
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24: Lurkers also have to get over their fear of being pwned.


Posted by: Josh | Link to this comment | 09- 7-09 10:52 PM
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Neither a lurker nor a commenter be.


Posted by: eb | Link to this comment | 09- 7-09 10:55 PM
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For many people, the threshhold between lurking and commenting seems to be more around "no longer convinced the world will impose sanctions on me for offering my opinion."

Ah, so true. (Of course the world wants my opinions. Why else would have it created me?)


Posted by: Parenthetical | Link to this comment | 09- 7-09 11:14 PM
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Why else would have it created me?

...


Posted by: eb | Link to this comment | 09- 7-09 11:15 PM
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Sigh.


Posted by: Parenthetical | Link to this comment | 09- 7-09 11:17 PM
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||

Not that anyone cares, but leaving town all weekend was apparently the wisest move possible. I missed all sorts of weird roommate drama. My only mistake: not staying away for a bit longer, so as to avoid the tail end of it.

|>


Posted by: Stanley | Link to this comment | 09- 7-09 11:22 PM
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I care, Stanley.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 12:07 AM
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(Mostly I just can't sleep.)


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 12:07 AM
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Thanks, teo.


Posted by: Stanley | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 12:08 AM
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(I mean, sorta.)


Posted by: Stanley | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 12:08 AM
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In any case, I'm here for you.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 12:10 AM
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Touching.


Posted by: eb | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 12:10 AM
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(Kind of.)


Posted by: eb | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 12:11 AM
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Örebro, bitches, ÖREBRO!


Posted by: OPINONATED SWEDOPHONE | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 12:22 AM
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I (largely) lurk not for fear of pwnage but because I'm in the completely wrong time zone to participate in meaningful discussion, and because I have a nasty habit of jumping in and then not checking the blog for ages. This is, sadly, not really conducive to conversation.

But, since my mental health apparently requires it, I felt it necessary to delurk just now. Hi everyone!


Posted by: Forza | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 4:41 AM
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Hi, what time zone is that? There are Europeans and New Zealanders who manage to hurl abuse at talk to each other. Could you have discursive one on one conversations with alameida?

(One of the Americans will wake up and give you a fruit basket shortly, which you can take home to the twilight zone.)


Posted by: OFE | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 4:49 AM
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Middle of Australia - so it's about 3-4 hours off of New Zealand, I think. If there is anybody from China here, that would be about the same.

I'm good at hurling abuse, though. Less good at talking.


Posted by: Forza | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 5:01 AM
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It's kind of nice, though, because I wake up and there is a whole days' worth of conversation waiting for me.


Posted by: Forza | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 5:02 AM
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Geez, you going to let someone else get a comment in edgewise here?


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 5:17 AM
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Forza, f' you.

That's a conversational opener. Are you in Alice, then?


Posted by: W. Breeze | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 5:38 AM
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Good morning!


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 6:48 AM
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Good morning! Did HP let you sleep in today?


Posted by: W. Breeze | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 6:51 AM
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Nope! I've been up for about three hours. Over the weekend, around 10 am Jammies and I would look at each other and say "It's not three in the afternoon, is it," because it felt like the day had been so long already.


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 6:58 AM
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I'd comment more, but much of the time someone else has already said what I wanted to say. And far better too. I could pile on I suppose, but that seems superfluous.


Posted by: Mo MacArbie | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 7:04 AM
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W. Breeze: back to you, mate. I'm not in Alice. Same time zone, though, I think: Adelaide.

And now, g'night to y'all. Or good morning, as the case may be. It's my bedtime.


Posted by: | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 7:05 AM
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Clearly the other reason I lurk is because I can't figure out how to make a proper comment. 52 was me.


Posted by: Forza | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 7:05 AM
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I'm practically a lurker nowadays.


Posted by: paranoid android | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 7:18 AM
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I have no wit, and I don't know the html code to strikeout.

Also, it's 12 hours after the original post, and no one has commented for at least two hours.

Not to mention the risk of grammatical errors and pwnage.

Back to the dungeon go I.


Posted by: Sam-I-am | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 7:38 AM
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I commented within the last half hour!


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 7:43 AM
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Inspired by 55, I'm using, for the first time in my life, html tags. If this looks wrong, please excuse my first experimentattempt.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 7:45 AM
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Doesn't it mean that you guys need more pornography for the lurkers?


Posted by: Timothy Burke | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 7:46 AM
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crap


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 7:47 AM
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the html code to strikeout

<strike></strike>, but <s></s> also works here.


Posted by: apostropher | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 7:47 AM
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The tags aren't so bad, but I can never remember the special character codes. I even have places like this bookmarked too.

However, there aren't yet any characters provided to properly spell Led Zeppelin's 4th album. Is that in Web 2.0?


Posted by: Mo MacArbie | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 7:51 AM
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This is my second attempt at html tags. Let's see if it is less screwed up works better now that I have realized you need to use a little slash thing to close the tag.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 7:53 AM
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THIS IS MY LAST AND FINAL ATTEMPT TO USE EMBELLISHMENTS


Posted by: OPINIONATED GRANDMA | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 7:55 AM
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coördinate


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 7:58 AM
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Thanks, Mo. I feel like I'm writing in the New Yorker now.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 7:59 AM
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Once again, few share my joy when I discover new things. Just like when I figured out there was a singer named Morrissey who should not be confused with Jim Morrison of the Doors.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 8:10 AM
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Moby, you're just awesome. If this was 1999, you'd so get a job as an ΗΤML “prögrammer”


Posted by: W. Breeze | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 8:17 AM
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66: Oh, so it was good for you too?


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 8:19 AM
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50: Three extra hours of work! Productivity!

hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. If only. (Jr got me up at 5am.)


Posted by: W. Breeze | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 8:19 AM
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1999 is when I started my first Roth IRA. Since the balance is back to what it was then, I'm feeling young again.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 8:20 AM
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61. Bløødy Hell! It's the fücking Dånes!

- Æþelræd Unræd

Thanks for that link, Mo.


Posted by: OFE | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 8:21 AM
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Wow, I really do feel better when I comment. Thanks guys!


Posted by: Mo MacArbie | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 8:24 AM
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70: Eternal youth! wøøt!


Posted by: W. Breeze | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 8:28 AM
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I think 63 was actually posted by Pokey the Penguin.


Posted by: nosflow | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 8:28 AM
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This thread got typographically interesting from comment 241 on until dad^h^h^h ogged, came in and shut it down. You can still make out some of the damage fun at the link. I actually grabbed the original html source before ogged stepped in, and still have it on my hard disk at home.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 8:34 AM
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58: Is that a request?


Posted by: Josh | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 8:43 AM
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Oggie-Daddy being the foot from that thread

284: [10:31 PM] You have until comment 300 to play with. Knock yourselves out. Don't try to wander into any other threads, either.

306: [10:42 PM] And now that I don't have to babysit you lot, I'm going offline. Tell it to the wind!


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 8:43 AM
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Is there an Unfogged FAQ?

How does one move from lurker status?

How does one move back to lurker status?

Does it depend on quality, frequency, or quantity?



Posted by: Will | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 8:49 AM
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Girth and technique, I hear.


Posted by: lw | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 8:51 AM
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Blog comments should flow like a river. So, length and discharge.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 8:58 AM
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Don't forget the LB pseud evaluation process.


Posted by: nattarGcM ttaM | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 9:18 AM
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Lurking here certainly seems harmful to my self-esteem, but I haven't been able to stop after 3+ years. There are a few reasons why I rarely comment, but mostly I feel too slow, too thin-skinned, and fear my convictions are too flaccid and poorly fleshed-out to dare wade into the fray.


Posted by: toops | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 9:20 AM
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Woot! two years since my last comment! I am on a role! My lurkitude is unmatched and unbounded... oops.


Posted by: Ukko | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 9:21 AM
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82: Then just write glibly and without conviction—on Unfogged as in life, if you want to play it safe. I can't help you with the slow-wittedness, though.


Posted by: Jesus McQueen | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 9:23 AM
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82: You've already got a passable pseud. What else do you need other than the ability to italicize?


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 9:25 AM
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If toops, Ukko, and Forza all join together under one pseudonym, they could get the ball, or critical mass as it were, rolling toward full commenter status.


Posted by: Cryptic ned | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 9:27 AM
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I can help you with the slow-wittedness. If you like, when you make slow-witted comments, I could critique them, showing where you missed the funnier alternatives and suggesting reasons for the deficiency. A few rounds of that should turn anyone into quite a funny person.


Posted by: Megan | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 9:27 AM
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87: Or a quivering wreck of self-doubt.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 9:31 AM
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There are lots of quick-witted people here, and I would only take a comment in the directions I could think of. It might be a faster learning experience if several of the funny people here were to analyze slow-witted comments, suggesting improvements. It would be like a panel discussion or a seminar.


Posted by: Megan | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 9:35 AM
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'toops' spelled backwards is 'spoot'!


Posted by: Merganser | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 9:36 AM
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89: So, like graduate school? Nobody deserves that.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 9:38 AM
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showing where you missed

Women just can't do interpersonal criticism, they're not very good at it in general.


Posted by: lw | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 9:38 AM
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Megan's right, the world needs more group critiques, especially like the kind you see in art school. Or maybe the Cultural Revolution.

I think there should be an event where a person sits naked in front of a group of people who critique their body, offering helpful suggestions for improvement.


Posted by: rob helpy-chalk | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 9:49 AM
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Rob, I thought your Cultural Revolution reference was a little easy, but you've really got something with that naked critique idea. Have you considered giving each participant a magic marker that they can use to highlight problem areas?


Posted by: Bave Dee | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 9:53 AM
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86: Thanks. My pseud was actually bestowed upon me in earliest childhood by my mother, who has a penchant for goofy, apt nicknames. I've shown my face at a couple of the LA meetups though, so I guess I'm not a total stranger to everyone.

By the way, hello to Halford, jms, DE, BH, k-sky, et al.


Posted by: toops | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 9:53 AM
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I think there should be an event where a person sits naked in front of a group of people who critique their body, offering helpful suggestions for improvement.

I hear that Obamacare will include a pared down version of this sort of thing. Specifically, the focus will be on reducing halitosis. That's right: Breath Panels.


Posted by: Stanley | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 9:53 AM
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92: Or golf. What with glands interferring with the swing and all.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 9:53 AM
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94: Thanks Bave. I thought your comment about easiness was too facile, but I really liked the marker reference and the way it indirectly let me know that my idea wasn't actually original.

Have you thought about shaving your back?


Posted by: rob helpy-chalk | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 9:59 AM
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Bave may be easy, but he's not facile.


Posted by: Cryptic ned | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 10:00 AM
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Your mom's facile.


Posted by: Bave Dee | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 10:05 AM
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98.2: I have disposable razors with hollow handles. To get the hard to reach parts of my back, I shove a pencil into the handle and thus get the reach I need.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 10:08 AM
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93.2 I tried that, but got no useful critique. Everybody on the bus just threatened to call the cops.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 10:14 AM
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102: The critique was implicit.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 10:22 AM
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Yes, but too general to be useful.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 10:23 AM
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102 to 101.


Posted by: apostropher | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 10:26 AM
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56: Ah, see, that might be part of the problem. I've always thought I was two hours behind the last comment.


Posted by: Sam-I-am | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 10:34 AM
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105: Then why does nobody call the cops when I ride the bus shirtless?


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 10:42 AM
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106. Yes, this thing seems to run on Mountain time. Presumably the server is buried in a disused cold war bunker deep inside some inaccessible cavern where it is forever guarded by Unf, Labs and Bob with laser canon.


Posted by: OFE | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 10:50 AM
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106: No, this time you seem to be three hours behind.


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 10:53 AM
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108: I still use LASER, in deference to the acronym.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 10:54 AM
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People should just set their clocks to Mountain Time.

For the reasons explained in the MMWB song, MST, among others.


Posted by: CharleyCarp | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 10:57 AM
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|| Quick! Academics and other miscellaneous smart people, please tell me if the following is consistent with the capitalization rules you are familiar with:
Capitalize words in a hearing or title, including the initial word and any word that immediately follows a colon. Do not capitalize articles, conjunctions, and prepositions when they are four or fewer letters unless they begin the hearing or title or immediately follow a colon. Verbs are capitalized, even if they are short (Is, to Be, Are).
This is terribly important in an utterly petty sort of way.|>


Posted by: Di Kotimy | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 11:01 AM
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(After the colon but before "This" was supposed to be a block quote. I just wanted the lurkers to feel less threatened by the html prowess the rest of you people flaunt.)


Posted by: Di Kotimy | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 11:02 AM
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SOUNDS RIGHT, BUT I HAVE BEEN KNOWN TO OVER CAPITIALIZE.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 11:02 AM
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Is there no Blue Book rule on this?


Posted by: CharleyCarp | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 11:04 AM
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I shove a pencil into the handle

But sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.


Posted by: bill | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 11:05 AM
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That is the Blue Book rule. The capitalization of "is, are, to be" seems off to me. Truthfully, as long as people don't insist on using ALLCAPS (I'm looking at you, Moby), I don't have any strong feelings. But I want my return snipe to be as thorough and accurate as possible...


Posted by: Di Kotimy | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 11:06 AM
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Then why does nobody call the cops when I ride the bus shirtless?

Maybe it's not apparent you're shirtless until you start shaving?


Posted by: apostropher | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 11:08 AM
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That is the correct rule as far as I know.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 11:09 AM
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At least, it's the rule I use.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 11:09 AM
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I'm as sick of the Blue Book as it is possible to be for someone who has never opened one. They should really warn people who get on law review. Something like, "Your spouse or partner will not want to hear about this for more than 15 minutes a week."


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 11:10 AM
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If the BB isn't good enough, you think a cite to Unfogged.com is going to be persuasive?


Posted by: CharleyCarp | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 11:11 AM
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118: When I was in North Carolina, I just shaved a big '3' and never had any problems.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 11:11 AM
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I figured one of the academics would tell me "MLA says..." or the like. I hate the Blue Book.


Posted by: Di Kotimy | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 11:13 AM
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If the BB isn't good enough, you think a cite to Unfogged.com is going to be persuasive?

Considering how many lawyers we have here, maybe.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 11:15 AM
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I don't capitalize forms of 'to be' in headings. Unless it's the only uncapitalized word.

My BB doesn't mention verbs at all -- you're probably using one of those new editions I've kept off my lawn -- and I prefer to read the exception for articles, conjunctions, and prepositions as sufficient warrant to avoid capitalizing 'to be.'


Posted by: CharleyCarp | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 11:15 AM
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Mea cupla: it's Bluebook.


Posted by: CharleyCarp | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 11:16 AM
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(Cupla means more than one error at a time.)


Posted by: CharleyCarp | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 11:17 AM
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Sure, capitalize Is. What more essential verb is there?

Similarly, capitalize Ain't.


Posted by: Mo MacArbie | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 11:17 AM
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According to the American Psychological Association's Publication Manual (5th edition), in titles you should capitalize all major words. This includes all verbs (including linking verbs), nouns, adjectives, adverbs and pronouns. Also, capitalize the first word and the first word after a colon. (Page 95.)


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 11:17 AM
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Moby, once a person is a lawyer, they're not really allowed to discuss much of anything about their work. Spouses of law students can help in the training for this by reminding the student that any shop talk is out of bounds.


Posted by: CharleyCarp | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 11:19 AM
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The rules in 112 are basically the Chicago rules, except: The latter would have articles, conjunctions, and prepositions in lowercase regardless of length. Also, prepositions should be uppercase when they're part of phrasal verbs.


Posted by: bizzah | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 11:21 AM
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Don't know what the MLA says, and don't know what the Blue Book is, but the Chicago Manual of Style 8.167 says all prepositions (regardless of length) should be in lowercase unless they're stressed; that articles, coordinate (but not subordinate) conjuntions, and an infinitive's "to" should be in lowercase; and that the first and last word should always be capitalized. There are enough variations of these rules that what matters most is consistency within a document or set of documents.

Unless of course this is all going to be judged by an ill-informed pedant who learned in third grade that there is one true way, in which case you should either (1) bribe that person's secretary to learn what the one true way is taken to be, or (2) take your chances.


Posted by: Gabardine Bathyscaphe | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 11:23 AM
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"but the Chicago" s/b "but Chicago"; alas.


Posted by: Gabardine Bathyscaphe | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 11:23 AM
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The Bluebook is the most annoying style guide in the world.


Posted by: nosflow | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 11:32 AM
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I hate the Blue Book a lot -- it is the least comprehensible reference book I've ever encountered. Whenever I try to look up a citation form, I end up looking at an example which is significantly different from what I need, such that I have to guess how to alter it to do what I want.

Other people don't seem to have nearly as much trouble with it as I do, so it may just be a mental block. Mostly, once I get off the beaten path citation-wise, I just keep it internally consistent and figure that no one's all that worried about the details.


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 11:33 AM
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Or what nosflow said.


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 11:33 AM
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131: Yes, for years I thought that attorney-client privilege was something my mom invented for her own reasons.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 11:34 AM
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But the blue pages section of the BB are worth it. How else would you know that on Apr. 1, 1982 all cases pending in the US District Court for the District of the Canal Zone were transferred to the E.D. La.? Or how to cite a Navajo statute? Or the Transvaal Supreme Court reporter (in use between 1902 and 1909)?


Posted by: CharleyCarp | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 11:39 AM
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Or, for that matter, the Extravagants of John XXII? (Which are not in the Common Extravagants).


Posted by: CharleyCarp | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 11:41 AM
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If someone has committed all three of the totally unrelated definitions of "barratry", do they cancel each other out in four-dimensional fraud space?


Posted by: Cryptic ned | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 11:44 AM
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Huh. I only knew definition 2.


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 11:45 AM
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The Scots have a fourth definition.


Posted by: CharleyCarp | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 11:50 AM
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Isn't the third definition the same as simony?


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 11:50 AM
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It's at least pretty close to simony.

Along the same lines, I've never been able to pin down whether mopery was ever a non-jocular criminal offense.


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 11:52 AM
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I think the Bluebook is pretty straightforward. The trick is to remember that it contains arbitrary rules made up by law students. It does not have to make sense.

Plus, further to 139, mostly all I care about are the blue pages.


Posted by: Idealist | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 11:55 AM
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I think the Bluebook is pretty straightforward.

This confirms everything I've always thought about you.


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 11:56 AM
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My dad's favorite, archaic criminal offense was 'lacking visible means of support.'


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 11:58 AM
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Mopery just sounds like a synonym for loitering or vagrancy, or possibly the "cruising" which you could be busted for by driving past the same intersection more than twice back in my hometown.

Where are the wandering mendicants on this board to tell us if they've ever been charged with mopery?


Posted by: Cryptic ned | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 12:00 PM
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Now that I think of it 'lacking visible means of support' was probably just part of the definition for vagrancy. There were various other people (all other lawyers) who he thought could be convicted if that law was still on the books.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 12:02 PM
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142 -- Blackstone spelled that one with an E, 4 Bl. at 134, while Justice Story, in Marcardier v. Chesapeake Ins. Co., 12 U.S. 39 (1814), spelled the one in meaning 1 with an A.


Posted by: CharleyCarp | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 12:05 PM
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Someone could check the Common Extravagants for item 3, but I'm headed for lunch.


Posted by: CharleyCarp | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 12:07 PM
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I think the Bluebook is pretty straightforward.

Richard Posner disagrees. Richard A. Posner, Goodbye to the Bluebook 53U. Chi. L. Rev. 1343 (1986).


Posted by: Di Kotimy | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 12:07 PM
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(Yes, I know there is supposed to be a comma before the 53. I'm rebelling.)


Posted by: Di Kotimy | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 12:09 PM
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The Bluebook is like the tax code. It is what it is. Madness lies down the path of trying to make it all make sense (though a lot of it actually does).


Posted by: Idealist | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 12:12 PM
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I know that it's important to have clear and consistent citation rules, but isn't it a little absurd to insist that only certain types of words can follow an open parenthesis?


Posted by: nosflow | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 12:13 PM
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Speaking of the tax code, if the IRS fails to register that we sent them a reply one more time, I'm going to have no choice but to become a libertarian flat-taxer.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 12:14 PM
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I just keep it internally consistent and figure that no one's all that worried about the details.

This is pretty much my entire attitude toward life. I didn't become a lawyer because I figured the law was one of those areas where the "eh, it's just petty detail" attitude wouldn't fly.


Posted by: PGD | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 12:15 PM
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159 -- We've cured you of that, though, right?


Posted by: CharleyCarp | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 12:17 PM
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I am all about petty detail. I didn't become a lawyer because lawyers are jerks (present company excluded, of course).


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 12:18 PM
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161: So you went to graduate school to avoid jerks? That's like going to Kansas to avoid wheat.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 12:20 PM
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The Blue Book has no capitalized headings at all.


Posted by: rob helpy-chalk | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 12:21 PM
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I really wouldn't call the Blue Book "zionist agit-prop". But what do I know, really?


Posted by: Unopinionated Grandmother | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 12:22 PM
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I just keep it internally consistent and figure that no one's all that worried about the details

On things where the Bluebook is vague, that's what I do, too. For me, the point of follwing the Bluebook is so that a judge or law clerk does not fault us for what they view as sloppy work. Such things should not make a difference but they can.


Posted by: Idealist | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 12:22 PM
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The Bluebook is like the tax code. It is what it is. Madness lies down the path of trying to make it all make sense (though a lot of it actually does).

The difference being that the Tax Code is, in fact, law.

For me, the point of following the Bluebook is so that a judge or law clerk does not fault us for what they view as sloppy work. Such things should not make a difference but they can.

As long as you are internally consistent, no judge is going to punish your client depending on whether or not you inserted a space between F. and 3d. As long as you are internally consistent, you don't look sloppy.


Posted by: Di Kotimy | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 12:28 PM
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As long as you are internally consistent, no judge is going to punish your client depending on whether or not you inserted a space between F. and 3d. As long as you are internally consistent, you don't look sloppy.

I wish I agreed with that. My life would be a touch simpler. The more I practice, the more I come to the conclusion that judges decide cases--even legal issues--based on a wide array of things that should not matter but do.


Posted by: Idealist | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 12:33 PM
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This thread is making me wonder what my internal consistency is.


Posted by: nosflow | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 12:39 PM
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My internal consistency is oatmeal-like.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 12:41 PM
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I wish I agreed with that. My life would be a touch simpler. The more I practice, the more I come to the conclusion that judges decide cases--even legal issues--based on a wide array of things that should not matter but do.

Or, I will grant that they decide cases for some pretty idiosyncratic reasons. So why make yourself crazy looking up whether or not to italicize "cf." when odds are the color of your tie will make just as much difference.


Posted by: Di Kotimy | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 12:45 PM
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(Also, I am really pissy today and wish I hadn't quit smoking. Again.)


Posted by: Di Kotimy | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 12:46 PM
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I correct my student's footnotes, even the commas. Does this make me a petty jerk?


Posted by: Parenthetical | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 12:49 PM
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That should be students', of course.


Posted by: Parenthetical | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 12:49 PM
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171: Correcting your students' references makes you a dedicated instructor. Correcting me makes you a petty jerkk.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 12:54 PM
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So you went to graduate school to avoid jerks?

No, I went to graduate school to get a job. I chose the type of graduate school to go to in part by comparing the number of jerks per capita in various professions.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 12:55 PM
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what my internal consistency is

Guts. And black stuff. And about fifty Slim Jims.


Posted by: Nelson Muntz | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 12:56 PM
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I tell my students that I don't care how they format their references, as long as it is internally consistent and contains all the needed information.


Posted by: rob helpy-chalk | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 12:57 PM
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No, I went to graduate school to get a job.

I wish you more luck with that plan than I had.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 12:58 PM
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173 makes precisely the distinction upon which my present pissiness is predicated.


Posted by: Di Kotimy | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 12:58 PM
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176: Which they're also largely incapable of.


Posted by: Parenthetical | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 12:58 PM
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update to 177: Just to be clear, I have a job and one that I mostly enjoy. But, usually when people talk about going to school to get a job, they usually mean one that pays better than they could have gotten otherwise.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 1:01 PM
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I went to graduate school to read blogs.


Posted by: Otto von Bisquick | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 1:03 PM
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But, usually when people talk about going to school to get a job, they usually mean one that pays better than they could have gotten otherwise.

Or at least one that's more interesting and less soul-killing.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 1:03 PM
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Also, I don't think anything bothers me more than putting footnotes on the inside of punctuation.


Posted by: Parenthetical | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 1:04 PM
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Forza Forza!


Posted by: beamish | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 1:10 PM
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179: I suppose it would be petty to suggest that "of" would have been better placed at the start of the sentence?


Posted by: Di Kotimy | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 1:10 PM
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183: When I was in college, we had a party and one of our guests became violently sick from drinking too much. This was an old house and the cold-air return for the furnace was large wooden grate set in the floor. This grate was where he puked. After puking, he said, "Don't worry. I hit the drain." Ever since, that has been my baseline for most bothersome, baring anything that isn't a felony.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 1:11 PM
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"barring" not "baring".


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 1:12 PM
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186: Probably so. I don't teach grammar, I teach footnotes.


Posted by: Parenthetical | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 1:12 PM
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How do you feel about 'bating'?


Posted by: beamish | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 1:13 PM
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I'm not familiar with the Blue Book, but the only bit of formatting that I get really hung up on is quotation marks and other punctuation. AP style has quotation marks after periods, commas, question marks and such no matter what, but GPO style has quotation marks before those other punctuation unless it's intentionally part of the quoted material. Both blanket rules lead to occasional situations that make no sense, but a rule that states "use quotation marks sensibly" would be very complicated and look inconsistent even when it's not.

Help.


Posted by: Cyrus | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 1:13 PM
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191: I'm just happy to know that there is some other "official" rule contrary to AP! I'm not violating the rule, I'm following GPO! (What does GPO stand for, anyway?)


Posted by: Di Kotimy | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 1:18 PM
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Baring anything, that isn't a felony.


Posted by: F//tana L//s | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 1:19 PM
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Punctuation outside of quotation marks is standard in British usage.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 1:21 PM
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194: GPO.


Posted by: Stanley | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 1:21 PM
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Er, uh, 192. That's what I get for trying to be snarky.


Posted by: Stanley | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 1:22 PM
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Actually, don't answer my question in 192. I've decided I'll be happiest believing it stands for Government Punctuation Office. "I'm sorry Idiot Partner. But the Government Punctuation Office has dictated that the question mark go outside the quotation marks in that sentence."


Posted by: Di Kotimy | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 1:22 PM
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197 before reading 195, for the record.


Posted by: Di Kotimy | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 1:25 PM
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183: What about quotes?


Posted by: paranoid android | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 1:27 PM
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199: What about Kobe?


Posted by: Tiny Hermaphrodite | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 1:35 PM
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Hi toops! Toops is nice.


Posted by: k-sky | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 1:36 PM
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191 -- The Bluebook resolves this correctly, saying that periods and commas go inside, and other marks outside, unless part of the quoted material.


Posted by: CharleyCarp | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 1:38 PM
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I personally prefer the HWS standard.


Posted by: paranoid android | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 1:41 PM
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183: What about quotes?

What about air quotes?


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 1:42 PM
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Don't you mean air "quotes"?


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 1:46 PM
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No evidence of Mopery as an actual crime, although Embracery was punished, according to Blackstone, by fine, imprisonment, and, for the embracee, perpetual infamy.


Posted by: CharleyCarp | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 1:48 PM
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Don't you "mean" air "quotes [sic]"?


Posted by: paranoid android | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 1:49 PM
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202:

Who is deciding that the Blue Book is correct?

Law students?

Or Strunk & White?

Or The World According to Carp?


Posted by: Will | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 1:49 PM
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Embracery is when you make one thing into a pair of things, right?


Posted by: nosflow | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 1:50 PM
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That's called cutting in half.


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 1:51 PM
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If you do it right, embracery can make a pair of things into three or more things, at least one of whom will persist in waking at 1:00 a.m. long after that shit is supposed to stop.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 1:53 PM
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Someone ought to explain to Avalon (and then to me) to to fix the F and S thing.

EMBRACERY is an attempt to influence a jury corruptly to one fide by promifes, perfuafions, entreaties, money, entertainments, and the like. The punifhment for the perfon embracing is by fine and imprifonment; and, for the juror fo embraced, if it be by taking money, the punifhment is (by divers ftatutes of the reign of Edward III) perpetual infamy, imprifonment for a year, and forfeiture of the tenfold value.

Posted by: CharleyCarp | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 1:56 PM
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Is m-bracery like m-fun?


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 1:58 PM
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212: So, the defense attorney wasn't hitting on me?


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 1:58 PM
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212: I blame the Germans.


Posted by: Di Kotimy | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 1:59 PM
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214: It sort of depends on what s/he was using to perfuade you, doesn't it?


Posted by: Di Kotimy | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 2:00 PM
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"Life, liberty and the purſuit of happiness"


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 2:02 PM
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We've discussed the long s before.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 2:02 PM
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216: Promifes. I got nothing but promifes.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 2:06 PM
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My Ss are long where it counts.


Posted by: Stanley | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 2:06 PM
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You could be sentenced to perpetual infamy for Maintenance, as well.

Thefe pefts of civil fociety that are perpetually endeavouring to difturb the repofe of their neighbours, and officioufly interfering in other men's quarrels, even at the hazard of their own fortunes, were feverely animadverted on by the Roman law: "qui improbe coeunt in alienam litem, ut quicquid ex communicatione in rem ipfius redactum fuerit, inter eos communicaretur, loge Tulia de vi privata tenentur" and they were punifhed by the forfeiture of a third part of their goods, and perpetual infamy. Hitherto alfo muft be referred the provifion of the ftatute 32 Hen. VIII. c. 9. that no one fhall fell or purchafe any pretended right or title to land, unlefs the vendor hath received the profits thereof for one whole year before fuch grant, or hath been in actual poffeffion purchafor and vendor fhall each forfeit the value of fuch land to the king and the profecutor.
The infamy isn't looked exactly 'perpetual' just now.
Posted by: CharleyCarp | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 2:48 PM
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I confeƒs; my eſſes are meſſes.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 2:55 PM
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224.last to everything www.xxx.com where xxx is any group of characters with a length of 1 or more.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 3:12 PM
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.last, nothing! The whole internet became a lot clearer once I knew UNG was German.


Posted by: k-sky | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 3:22 PM
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If I knew how to do umlauts, I'd add one to the UNG, just to make it clearer to all. And pain, I will never put the negativity behind me. Never, I say!


Posted by: Di Kotimy | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 3:28 PM
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Put the negativity behind you!

I once knew a negative man from a Negativland.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 3:29 PM
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227: See the link in 61.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 3:32 PM
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There was some Bluebook rule that they really wanted to instill about not shortening the first word in a case, but the Book had just changed the rule that year.

Also, California is stupid (or more likely just guild protectionists), because they have their own stupid citation method.


Posted by: Bostoniangirl | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 3:34 PM
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Wasn't there some alternative citation book that was being proposed, but it never caught on? Maybe cause it wasn't put out by the editors of the Harvard Law Review.


Posted by: Bostoniangirl | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 3:35 PM
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Wait, UNG is German?

What other key bits of information am I totally missing?


Posted by: Forza | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 3:36 PM
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232.1: ÜNG is German.

232.2: Up is down. Also, black is white. And Satan is our Lord.


Posted by: Cryptic ned | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 3:39 PM
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86 (suddenly it's relevant again!): Toopsukkoforza sounds like a cool pseud. Like Dr. Seuss' version of an Italian name.


Posted by: Cyrus | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 3:41 PM
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The U'dariat has almost as many connections to Germany as to Pittsburgh. Someone ought to get a grant and figure out why this would be.


Posted by: CharleyCarp | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 3:43 PM
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233: Oh! Well, that's no problem. Is Satan another name for this Ogged person I keep hearing about? Cos that would explain a lot too.


Posted by: Forza | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 3:45 PM
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235: Someone ought to get a grant and figure out why this would be.

Germans are notorious punctuators.

max
['But the war is should be behind us now.']


Posted by: max | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 3:47 PM
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And maybe more Texans than either, if you count transplants . . .


Posted by: CharleyCarp | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 3:51 PM
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231: The University of Chicago adopted its own manual in the mid-80s that never caught on. The Association of Legal Writing Directors came out with another manual sometime thereafter which has had a bit more success and is taught in a healthy number of legal writing programs. I'd find a reference for you, but it's hard on the phone and I'm lazy.


Posted by: Di Kotimy | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 4:04 PM
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157 Speaking of the tax code, if the IRS fails to register that we sent them a reply one more time, I'm going to have no choice but to become a libertarian flat-taxer.

That reminds me that I never got my refund from my state taxes. I wonder at what point I should start making calls and complaining.


Posted by: essear | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 4:08 PM
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Or I could just add it to the long list of "money that was owed me that I was too lazy to bother people about and thus lost forever".


Posted by: essear | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 4:09 PM
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I hear you get that all back in heaven and can use it for an upgrade to a suite.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 4:13 PM
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241: If you had taken all the effort you put into making that list and redirected it toward getting some of that money, I bet a lot of those debts would be repaid by now!


Posted by: Otto von Bisquick | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 4:16 PM
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241 -- You need to get some friends who aren't afraid to engage in a little barretry now and then.


Posted by: CharleyCarp | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 4:30 PM
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245: Wow! I never read that read comment before. It's really great.


Posted by: essear | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 4:38 PM
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I see that both of the so-called "thoughtful conservatives" have disappeared for the most part. Ogged's machismo is sorely missed.


Posted by: Cryptic ned | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 4:41 PM
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Wow. I had no idea read had been around that long.


Posted by: Di Kotimy | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 4:47 PM
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a more comprehensive listing

But one that doesn't include me! Intolerable.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 4:48 PM
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You're damn right I'm a genius level black american.


Posted by: nosflow | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 4:51 PM
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251: True enough.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 4:53 PM
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It did too, teo. You're a nice jewish boy.


Posted by: Parenthetical | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 5:03 PM
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Oh, never mind. I was confused as to which comment was being discussed.


Posted by: Paren | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 5:04 PM
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heebie-geebie - a sorority girl

I am, am I?


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 5:06 PM
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253: That was right around the date of my prove-up, so I was understandably in good spirits back then.


Posted by: Di Kotimy | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 5:07 PM
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257: Be happy with what you got. Some of us are over in the corner feeling slighted by read.


Posted by: Stanley | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 5:08 PM
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Not too long before 245, read had gone over to the dark side.

since Ogged is ED (emotionally distant, alas) and plagued with many and different gfs
may i ask you,
[neb] w-lfs-n, to be an object of my next worshipmanship and dedicate to you my little and precious offerings from time to time and follow your linguistic guidance, please?


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 5:14 PM
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I missed that one first time round - Autobanned called me a lawyer!


Posted by: asilon | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 5:15 PM
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That link is a great. There are an intimidatingly large number of fun-loving people here. What if you are an irritable, slightly disgruntled weirdo nerd? ... Although I see there are plenty of those, too.


Posted by: Forza | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 5:55 PM
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262: Those all tend to blend together, is the problem.


Posted by: Cryptic ned | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 6:04 PM
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Fun is mostly loved in the abstract.


Posted by: nosflow | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 6:07 PM
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262: A world in which I am described as fun-loving is a world with exceedingly relaxed standards.


Posted by: Di Kotimy | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 6:19 PM
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I think the world of Unfogged commenters qualifies.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 6:21 PM
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I HATE FUN.


Posted by: OPINIONATED ESSEAR | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 6:24 PM
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YOU'D BETTER KEEP HATING IT OR WE'LL TAKE YOUR DIPLOMA AWAY.


Posted by: OPINIONATED UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 6:36 PM
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Not feeling the Auto-banned analysis.


Posted by: CharleyCarp | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 7:01 PM
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265: Wouldn't it be 'exceeding unrelaxed'?


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 7:25 PM
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I omitted the 'ly' on purpose to show how relaxed I am.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 7:25 PM
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269: So what you're saying is, may we ban him?


Posted by: Cyrus | Link to this comment | 09- 8-09 7:27 PM
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You went to grad school to get a job?


Posted by: Walt Someguy | Link to this comment | 09- 9-09 12:09 AM
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the F and S thing

F and S.


Posted by: eb | Link to this comment | 09- 9-09 1:15 AM
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38: In any case, I'm here for you.
39: Touching.

Hott.


Posted by: Robust McManlyPants | Link to this comment | 09- 9-09 9:53 AM
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274: Heeeeeeeeeeeliuuuuuuuuuuuuuuum! Man, I haven't seen that in years. Awesome.


Posted by: Stanley | Link to this comment | 09- 9-09 5:24 PM
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245 was much appreciated.
I'm another lurker; I feel too out of my intellectual depth to comment here. And since everyone knows each other, it makes it a bit awkward to just jump in. And then there's the fears of being pwned, and perpetual infamy.


Posted by: briefly visible | Link to this comment | 09-10-09 11:44 PM
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277: Nonsense. Jump away. Getting pwned is just part of the fun.


Posted by: Stanley | Link to this comment | 09-10-09 11:51 PM
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Indeed. I'm talking to myself in the Willpower thread, we need people!


Posted by: Parenthetical | Link to this comment | 09-10-09 11:53 PM
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Stay visible, please. So far you're doing great.


Posted by: Megan | Link to this comment | 09-10-09 11:56 PM
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But if you don't respond to earnest entreaties, we'll ban you.


Posted by: Stanley | Link to this comment | 09-10-09 11:59 PM
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Please don't worry about your intellectual depth. Someone will let you know if you've exceeded it.


Posted by: Megan | Link to this comment | 09-11-09 12:00 AM
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Someone will let you know if you've exceeded it.

Megan, specifically.

Anyway, the catalog of commenters—"Funny anecdotes"? "Funny anecdotes"? Is that all I am?


Posted by: Jesus McQueen | Link to this comment | 09-11-09 12:09 AM
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At least you made the list.


Posted by: eb | Link to this comment | 09-11-09 12:12 AM
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No! Not me, goodness. I've already signed up for way too much, coaching new people on how to make comments funnier. Someone else is going to have to cover intellectual depth. Or, like we talked about, a committee of people could work on it.


Posted by: Megan | Link to this comment | 09-11-09 12:17 AM
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And since everyone knows each other,

Really not so. I know a couple of people in person, know a bunch of others pretty well from talking to them online, but there are a lot of people here who I don't know anything personal at all about beyond the fact that they say stuff. If you wanted to, you too could achieve that status by starting to say stuff.


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 09-11-09 5:23 AM
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wow, it seems i've already reached perpetual infamy
always wanted my comments to disappear like ToS's
my apologies to all for any misrepresentation
bi could be a nice handle, it means i in my language, if to add in before visible
b/c i like to give names


Posted by: read | Link to this comment | 09-11-09 5:37 AM
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but it reads not like bi, but bee


Posted by: read | Link to this comment | 09-11-09 5:39 AM
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What's a person gotta do to make the goddamn lists around here?


Posted by: Walt Someguy | Link to this comment | 09-11-09 5:44 AM
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That's funny. I scrolled down further on that thread, and I'm already making idle threats about what will happen if I keep getting left off of lists. Clearly I have very modest goals in life, and yet I have failed to meet even those.


Posted by: Walt Someguy | Link to this comment | 09-11-09 5:46 AM
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You're on my list, Walt.


Posted by: CharleyCarp | Link to this comment | 09-11-09 8:00 AM
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Thank you all, I feel so welcomed! And encouraged to say stuff. I feel healthier already. I will try to think of stuff to say in the future. When I'm not so tired.


Posted by: briefly visible | Link to this comment | 09-11-09 11:25 PM
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