An unfinished sentence I wrote and some responses to it from January 1992:
Regardless of one's intelligence level, educational background, or depth of perception, this question baffles everyone. No one can give an all-encompassing answer to it. This questions is...
...Why do nations go to war? (James D.)
...Where do you get steel sheep for steel wool? (Miranda G.)
...Why is a cow? (Shannon D.)
...Ivory Soap is 99.44% pure what? (Dana P.)
Sunday, January 7, 2018
Saturday, January 6, 2018
Finishing the sentence CXVI
I wrote this unfinished sentence in March 1989. I was impressed with the answers it received, so I asked different participants for their responses in March 1992:
One is a full-fledged actor only when...
...one is able to convince oneself that a lie is the truth. (Jenni S.)
...you actually succeed and convince the officer that you were only driving 86 in a 25 mph zone so you could get to the hospital before your beloved grandmother passes away. (Keith T.)
...the director of a play or movie has to recast because the actor/actress has died. i.e. You are an actor/actress until you die. (Jonathan L.)
One is a full-fledged actor only when...
...one is able to convince oneself that a lie is the truth. (Jenni S.)
...you actually succeed and convince the officer that you were only driving 86 in a 25 mph zone so you could get to the hospital before your beloved grandmother passes away. (Keith T.)
...the director of a play or movie has to recast because the actor/actress has died. i.e. You are an actor/actress until you die. (Jonathan L.)
Friday, January 5, 2018
"Wait 'til you see the vintage abacus I ordered."
A '90s work memory: A co-worker, noticing how old a colleague's computer was, pretended to have brain freeze and remarked, "For a moment there, I thought I was in a documentary about the '40s."
Thursday, January 4, 2018
Finishing the sentence CXV
Another unfinished sentence and responses it elicited in October 1991:
Thomas Gradgrind, a teacher in Hard Times by Charles Dickens, makes no bones about what students should master. "Now, what I want is facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but facts. Facts alone are wanted in life. Plant nothing else and root out everything else. You can only form the minds of reasoning animals upon facts; nothing else will ever be of any service to them..." This logic is most chilling (or most sensible) when one considers...
...that you're contemplating this from the bowels of a deep freeze. (Eric S.)
...that the man has quite a valid point, considering how trite or fleeting all subjective references seem in retrospect. (Christian E.)
...it's because of logic like this that "Dragnet" stayed on TV so long. (Miranda G.)
Thomas Gradgrind, a teacher in Hard Times by Charles Dickens, makes no bones about what students should master. "Now, what I want is facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but facts. Facts alone are wanted in life. Plant nothing else and root out everything else. You can only form the minds of reasoning animals upon facts; nothing else will ever be of any service to them..." This logic is most chilling (or most sensible) when one considers...
...that you're contemplating this from the bowels of a deep freeze. (Eric S.)
...that the man has quite a valid point, considering how trite or fleeting all subjective references seem in retrospect. (Christian E.)
...it's because of logic like this that "Dragnet" stayed on TV so long. (Miranda G.)
Wednesday, January 3, 2018
Finishing the sentence CXIV
I didn't elicit many responses when I wrote this sentence initially, so I asked for a few more responses to it in September 1991. Here were the results:
If a wise, old owl could speak English, I would want it to awaken the masses, proclaiming...
..."Wake up! Everyone is an individual. Stop being one of the herd (flock.) Revel in yourself!" (Anthony T.)
..."Don't sleep through life. Use the gifts God has given you, and don't bury yourself in the depths of your own problems. Help someone else, and somehow, your own troubles will fade away." (Cindy D.)
..."Sleep a lot, work a lot, play a lot, laugh a lot, cry a lot, and learn a lot about and from others, and leave pain and dying to the dead!!" (Brian W.)
..."Why the Hell are you guys sleeping in church? Don't you have any @#%&ing respect for the Lord?" (Miranda G.)
If a wise, old owl could speak English, I would want it to awaken the masses, proclaiming...
..."Wake up! Everyone is an individual. Stop being one of the herd (flock.) Revel in yourself!" (Anthony T.)
..."Don't sleep through life. Use the gifts God has given you, and don't bury yourself in the depths of your own problems. Help someone else, and somehow, your own troubles will fade away." (Cindy D.)
..."Sleep a lot, work a lot, play a lot, laugh a lot, cry a lot, and learn a lot about and from others, and leave pain and dying to the dead!!" (Brian W.)
..."Why the Hell are you guys sleeping in church? Don't you have any @#%&ing respect for the Lord?" (Miranda G.)
Tuesday, January 2, 2018
A linguistic irritant XXVI
I don't think it's ever necessary to use the phrase, "and all." It's used most frequently when a person has only one reason to justify what they're saying. (i.e. "I don't think I should go to work today, with this cold and all.")
Monday, January 1, 2018
Facing the new year with an attitude
When a new year begins, it's sometimes easy to feel wary. When memories of the previous year not turning out as you wanted are fresh, it's easy to cop an attitude, as Rosie did in this photo from 2006:
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