Doug C

That is interesting. My first Irving was The World According to Garp, but that was when I was young and I read it after I saw the movie version.. I didn't read Irving again until A Prayer For Owen Meany came out. A friend had read it and raved, so I read it. I've been hooked on John Irving ever since. I've never enjoyed a book more. I've definitely enjoyed many books before and after, but there was something about Owen...

A Prayer for Owen Meany, no question. I was pleasantly surprised to see it already mentioned.

Donna, I am trying to PM you, but it says that you can't receive new messages. It would be inappropriate to post it in the thread so please PM me your email, or allow yourself to receive new messages. It was over 5 hours without either one of us replying. It was already over. Thank you, Doug

I lied. But in my defense, I wasn't anticipating the above and I'm not private messaging. I will try very hard to resist whatever future tempting slow-pitched softball you lob my way. Mr. Heartbreak, on 30 Sept 2016 - 12:46 PM, said: "I made use of dialect for a specific purpose: I'm a pro writer and I wanted to make the post as easy to read as quickly as possible." No mention of accuracy, sir. If it was exactly your reason, why leave it unmentioned and mention 2 things that were not exactly your reason? Again, think about these things, it could be worthwhile. Also, " I am not trying to of

We should do a VC poll on which is easier and quicker to read. I'd wager it would be close to 50-50. Accuracy wasn't one of your original reasons for choosing dialect. I am not trying to offend. I am trying to get you to reflect, knowing that doing so would likely offend. I doubted I'd have any success, but felt I needed to give it a shot. I put "pro writer" in quotes because I didn't see how it was relevant to saying "stank", instead of "stinks". Writing skill has nothing to do with choosing to make sure we knew it was a black person speaking in dialect. Why? So we'd understand her intell

"Damn, girl, that food stank!" "It's good," says the ex. "It's Filipino." "I like Chinese food, but that don't smell like no Chinese food I ever had." "It's not Chinese, it's Filipino," repeats the ex. "Girl, it's all Chinese food to me!" "Damn, girl, that food stinks". "It's good," says the ex. I don't like Chinese food, but that doesn't smell like any Chinese food I ever had." "It's not Chinese, it's Filipino," repeats the ex. "Girl, it's all Chinese food to me!" I'm not a "pro writer" but which was easier to read and quickly as possible? Discounting the vertical vs. horizontal organizat

Sigh. I easily took your point about "and I can see why older, not-that-sensitive people are just like, "Oh, fuck all this. Just call a spade a spade." ". I, too, "can see why so many folks are tired of falling all over themselves to avoid offending anyone.". It's because they don't truly care if they offend anyone. Times change, meaning societal norms and mores change. If someone is unwilling to change, fine, but they can't get upset if others react accordingly. The thing is, you made other points. Those were the ones that I was addressing. If you truly tell that "food" story and use d

"Leroy"? Was his name really Leroy? When you orally tell the Filipino food anecdote, do you speak in dialect or do you only use that when you write the anecdote? So this one co-worker of your ex represents the black population? I'd be willing to bet that a boorish white co-worker could have found the food's odor unpleasant and also could have offensively told your ex that, rather than showing respect by keeping her mouth shut. A boorish Latina, too. I wonder if you'd relay that story this way, "Daaeem, chica. Daht food steeenk". "Girl, it's all Chinese food to me!" But it is all Chinese foo

Spot on. When I walked into Adult School tonight, I overheard the resource officer saying to a teacher "She just disgusts me". I immediately knew that they were talking about the debate. She disgusts you but he doesn't? Earlier today, in day school, the NJROTC commander was telling me how Trump won the debate "big time". Whether Trump wins or loses, the divide between the thinkers living in the reality of facts and the reactors living in the fantasy of information is so stark, that, as Charlie Brown so eloquently stated, "We're doomed".

I missed another gem in that blog post. "Her failed policies, deals, plans, scams, lies, cheating, allowing our soldiers and citizens to die in Benghazi, her hateful, distasteful rhetoric calling someone a racist, homophobic, Zenophobic and much, much more;" I'd bet that Trump is Zenophobic. I'd wager from his reaction to being questioned last night that he'd be no fan of the dialectic, but on the other hand, the Lying Hillary hate/Lying Donald love is a paradox. edit: It's possible that the blogger wasn't referring to Zeno of Elea, but Zeno of Citium. If so, Zenophobic still applies, as

Oh hell yes, I agree. As I said a few posts previous, it's a sad comment on the state of the nation.

Re the above: "She has lied since the Watergate incident". Damn. First she was fighting ISIS 40 years or more before it existed and now she was one of the Plumbers. She is amazing!

I agree with John Smith. Trump was clearly and utterly out of his depth, but that is meaningless to his supporters. In truth, the fact that he has the backing of maybe 40% or more of the citizenry is a sad comment on the state of the nation. I'm hoping that the debate will cause other prominent Republicans to follow George H. W. Bush's lead and say that they are voting for Hillary Clinton.

Indeed, unless she's the aforementioned Minority Report style pre-cog bad ass! Also, Trump has to be out of his head. Nothing else explains this: http://www.npr.org/2016/09/27/495611105/in-post-debate-interview-trump-again-criticizes-pageant-winners-weight

If he'd have been more animated, I'd have thought he was coked up.

Having both Politifact and NPR live fact checking open while watching is an added bonus. Highly recommended.

Hillary has been fighting Isis her entire adult life. Wow! She's some kind of precog bad ass!

I teach high school and have this same thought most everyday. I could tell you about some truly bizarre names.

Kevin, I have nothing better to do at the moment and I am embarrassed to say that doing this will bring me a small amount of pleasure, so allow me. Doctor B, Kevin G said, "Of course this will do nothing to sway any voter and will more than likely piss off the other side even more". He said absolutely nothing that should have caused Doctor B to reply "Kevin G you are nuts if you think a video made by Hollywood progressives is going to make undecideds go "Gee, I think I will vote for Hillary". If I may paraphrase This Old House, "read twice, reply once".

Touche', sir.

Wow! Thanks for that. It had to have taken all of Trump's concentration to stay composed and not laugh his ass off during that nonsense. About the only positive thing I can say about the guy is that he's most likely an atheist.

No shit. But if you are eligible to vote and truly don't want to live in a world where Trump is president, then the only things you can do to have an effect on avoiding that reality, is kill Trump, kill yourself, as Don (?) pointed out, or vote for Clinton

The next president of the USA will either be Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump, therefore it comes down to a single question that all eligible voters must ask themselves. "Do I want to live in a world where Donald Trump is the President of the United States?". If the answer is, "yes", then vote for Trump. But if the answer is "no", then there is no alternative. You must vote for Clinton.

Few, if any, are overpaid. Whoever is paying them believes that gaining that individual's employ will increase the payer's profit. The "huge" salary or wage is simply a necessary production cost of having that employee as a resource.

In the past, the NFL has fined players for training ground behavior and dress. I don't feel attacked by Kaepernick or any protests regarding institutional racism in law enforcement, I want it to end. I just disagree with calling law enforcement officers "pigs". Police officers are brutal racists is equal to blacks are violent criminals in it's bias and ignorance. That Kaepernick doesn't see the irony is laughable.