Wash: Mal, your dead army buddy's on the bridge! Zoe: He ain't dead. Wash: Oh.

'The Message'


Natter 69: Practically names itself.  

Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.


aurelia - Feb 10, 2012 11:08:24 am PST #21307 of 30001
All sorrows can be borne if you put them into a story. Tell me a story.

This kind of parenting amuses me. I know parenting isn't supposed to amuse me, and parenting with bullets is a dodgy premise, but, seriously, child? Shut up.

He could've donated that laptop somewhere.

I still think any "compromise" at all is conceding the point in a way that is not helpful long term.

Right. I'm increasingly disinclined to try to compromise with people who don't know how to compromise.

For some reason I didn't notice any weather reports about today's snow, and now I'm at the office with no hat or snow boots. Bah.

Oops. You may want to pick up a hat at Walgreens.


Kate P. - Feb 10, 2012 11:08:25 am PST #21308 of 30001
That's the pain / That cuts a straight line down through the heart / We call it love

She came to me late in the paper saying she had the hardest epiphany when she realized that you could be for preserving all life, or you could be for the best possible life for those who are born, but you couldn't be for both.

It is definitely hard to come to terms with this. I'm seriously impressed with your student.


le nubian - Feb 10, 2012 11:12:00 am PST #21309 of 30001
"And to be clear, I am the hell. And the high water."

What Kate said.

I'm embarrassed about the "nauseous" bit. I clearly have been misusing that term ALL of the time. I'm not sure I have ever used that correctly.

I feel sick about it.


sumi - Feb 10, 2012 11:20:56 am PST #21310 of 30001
Art Crawl!!!

Man, I wish I could knit at my desk. . . because it is in fact extremely slow today.


§ ita § - Feb 10, 2012 11:21:25 am PST #21311 of 30001
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.

He could've donated that laptop somewhere.

Who knows what he's done for charity. I'm not going to judge without evidence. However, in terms of drilling things home to the former owner, he can set charitable examples later.

I clearly have been misusing that term ALL of the time. I'm not sure I have ever used that correctly.

The dictionary thinks you've been using it right, so I wouldn't lose any sleep over it.


Dana - Feb 10, 2012 11:23:42 am PST #21312 of 30001
I'm terrifically busy with my ennui.

I have called into a meeting I usually attend. It is not any more fun on the phone than it is in person, because it is so poorly run and inefficient. I am hardly a model of efficiency, but I always come out furious about how much time everything takes.


Ginger - Feb 10, 2012 11:24:12 am PST #21313 of 30001
"It didn't taste good. It tasted soooo horrible. It tasted like....a vodka martini." - Matilda

Ginger, how long are you willing to fight that fight?

Until she's nauseous?

I do not have that effect on others. Usually.

According to the OED, nauseous entered written English as "feeling ill," but that meaning was later considered obsolete, replaced by nauseated for feeling ill. We apparently rocked along for a while with nauseous meaning "causing nausea" and nauseated meaning "feeling nausea." Then American usage in the 20th century started using nauseating rather than nauseous for "causing nausea," and it all started going to hell.

I do not correct people's spoken English, although when some people say, "I feel nauseous," I think, "You're certainly having that effect on me." I'll probably always change "I feel nauseous" to "I feel nauseated" in written copy. After all, I still care about the distinction between different from and different than.


aurelia - Feb 10, 2012 11:28:28 am PST #21314 of 30001
All sorrows can be borne if you put them into a story. Tell me a story.

The only judgement I'm making is that putting bullets in the laptop was wasteful. eta: Well, I also wonder why the arms on that chair are so high, but that's less relevant.

Contrary to common misuse, “moot” doesn’t imply something is superfluous. It means a subject is disputable or open to discussion. e.g., The idea that commercial zoning should be allowed in the residential neighborhood was a moot point for the council.

Common misuse is the only way I've ever heard this word used. Perhaps the meaning has now changed.


Dana - Feb 10, 2012 11:32:09 am PST #21315 of 30001
I'm terrifically busy with my ennui.

Oh, jesus, we're sitting here while someone scans a QR code.


Ginger - Feb 10, 2012 11:34:39 am PST #21316 of 30001
"It didn't taste good. It tasted soooo horrible. It tasted like....a vodka martini." - Matilda

I don't get their problem with moot. Here's the Oxford definition:

adjective

subject to debate, dispute, or uncertainty, and typically not admitting of a final decision: whether the temperature rise was mainly due to the greenhouse effect was a moot point

having no practical significance, typically because the subject is too uncertain to allow a decision: it is moot whether this phrase should be treated as metaphor or not