Language & Grammar discussion

This is where I shall make my thread/blog/stream of consciousness thing. I'm not quite sure what is this going to be right now, and thus is a work in progress.

By the way, feel free to post!

How nice you all set your threads up early. I didn't do one until recently.. It is very nice to see you here and joining in.

Catchy phrase Buff's Stuff. Congratulations, I shall come back and peruse what you've got going later.

I just finished re-reading one of my favorite short stories, Hemingway's A Clean Well-Lighted Place. I don't know what it is, but there is something that I just love about the story.

Hmm ... in keeping with the stream of consciousness thing, I think I will post a humorous imitation of Faulkner's writing--lately I have been re-reading The Sound and the Fury. It should be something that is rarely punctuated, contains lots of run-on sentences, and is spoken by someone who has gone off the deep end. By the way, it's not like I have anything against Faulkner--in fact, I find his prose quite interesting. Hmm, I think I'm going to do something similar like this in the style of Jack Kerouac--another one of my favorite authors.

On the road, perhaps?

Perhaps. I'm not quite sure yet--the same for the Faulkner parody.

I tried reading it, it should have been the book Dorothy Parker threw against the wall.

Hi, Buff. Like your place here. And calling you "Buff" reminds me of "Biff," the eldest son in Arthur Miller's famous play Death of a Salesman (got anything for sale?).

Anyway, I loathe Wee Willie Faulkner, so parody away. And I heart Hemingway, so I know why you like "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place." It's because it speaks so well, in dramatic form, to Thoreau's famous line "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation."

Sad, but true. But let's not get all glum, shall we? It's party time in L&G parts.

Gabi wrote: "You and NE should put your heads together. He was so derogatory about Faulkner, I read one of his books, just to see what he was like. I mean how bad could he be? I didn't mind the way he wrote, b..."

I wouldn't say that I loathe Faulkner's style--although I much prefer Hemingway (he is my favorite writer).

NE, what is your favorite Hemingway novel?

A lot of people either like one or the other. I, like you Buff, like them both. A little of some and a little of the other.

Fave Hem novel = The Sun Also Rises

Close Runner-Up = A Farewell to Arms

As you can see, I prefer young Hemingway to old, as a writer.

Both are great novels. I will never forget how I began each of those books. I started each one on a Friday night, thinking I would just read each at a leisurely pace. throughout the week. I ended up doing nothing except reading each the whole weekend! After that, he became one of my all-time favorite writers and I have loved Papa's work since.

What are your favorite short stories by Hemingway?

"Indian Camp," "Big Two-Hearted River," "The Battler," "An Alpine Idyll," "Soldier's Home," "Summer People," "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place," "The Last Good Country," and "The Three-Day Blow."

Again, a preference for younger stories (mostly In Our Time) as well as Nick Adams stories.

The Moveable Feast is quite good, also.

Buff, have you read anything you liked by Jack London?

I read The Call of the Wild when I was around ten or eleven. I have to say that I'm not a big fan of London.

Neither am I.

I'm not, either. I find that there are many authors who have written something I like, but few authors whose work I like in general.

Those parodies will be up soon, although I am quite busy with my other writing.

Tech question: does anyone know how to set page numbers on Microsoft Word 2007 that will start at two? (And I mean page number 2 on the second page of the document.)

I'm sure I remember doing it. But I don't have W 2007 any more.

It's just very strange, because I could do it in Lotus Word (a much older program), but I can't seem to find it in Word--which is a much newer program.

Does this help?

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/wor...

Thank you, NE! That's exactly what I am looking for.

Hmm, I've just been informed by my sister that I have an "odd" taste in music. I'm not sure how she arrived at this, other than by the various genres that I like. Classical, classic rock (mainly from the 60's and 70's), early jazz, ska, and a few other genres are my favorites. Perhaps my sister thinks my tastes are "odd" because they quite different from what she likes--country music and some other things I don't know.

I like a few country western not the real twangy stuff though. 60's and 70's yea.

The only thing close to country I like is probably Neil Young.

Historybuff93 wrote: "Hmm, I've just been informed by my sister that I have an "odd" taste in music. I'm not sure how she arrived at this, other than by the various genres that I like. Classical, classic rock (mainly fr..."
Were you born in different decades?

Country caterwauling does not deserve to be called music!

At least it's not rap. That's a lower level of Hell. Ask Dante.

Rap should be wrapped up and tossed far far away to another galaxy.

Jan wrote: "Historybuff93 wrote: "Hmm, I've just been informed by my sister that I have an "odd" taste in music. I'm not sure how she arrived at this, other than by the various genres that I like. Classical, c..."

No, that's the funny thing. We're just a few years apart.

Some people are old souls. My child is a fan of all the 50's ,60's ,70's music. She even likes that old timey music from the 30's

Newengland wrote: "At least it's not rap. That's a lower level of Hell. Ask Dante."

You've got that right, NE!

Kitty wrote: "Some people are old souls. My child is a fan of all the 50's ,60's ,70's music. She even likes that old timey music from the 30's"

One of my sons is really into swing dancing and has even been to some events over in the USA.

It hasn't happened in the States yet (unless Taiwan considers us a "far, far away galaxy").

I must say that Nietzche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra is quite an interesting and thought-provoking read. Although there is little, if anything, that I agree with him on, it still an interesting work. I also haven't read a philosophical work that is written in this way. In my philosophical readings, I have read some texts that differ quite a bit in their writing style; the straight forward treatises of Locke and Descartes, Plato's unique dialogues, the almost outline-like quality of Wittgensteins Tractatus, and the complex sentences of Hegel.

Hmm, I wonder what philosophical work I should read once I finish Zarathustra. Either Hume's Treatise of Human Nature or Kant's Critique of Pure Reason?

Let's see flip a coin heads it's Treatise of Human Nature , tails Critique of Pure Reason. Both are too esoteric for me. Although Pure Reason sounds promising.

Philosophers give me a headache, as a rule. I think I read a "cheat sheet" book about the important ones once upon a time, but I forget both the title and the author AND the philosophies.

I think Shakespeare had them in mind when he wrote Much Ado About Nothing (which explains my attraction to Existentialism -- I know, I know: NOT a philosophy).

HB, when you've read and understood it, perhaps you can explain it to the rest of us. Hint:we have a very short attention span.:)

I'd be happy to, Jan.:)

Are you much of a short story reader, Jan? With a short attention span, that might be an interesting area of literature to look into.

Ah, NOW I recall the book I read, a "Readers' Digest Cheat Sheet for Philosophobic Sorts":

I manage to read books, usually a chapter at a time. I think that might be why I like Dickens so much as books like David Copperfield were intended to be read in epistolary fashion.

Short chapters. Sometimes the bookmark stops in the middle of longer chapters.

No!! How can you forget? You take it out to read and put it back to mark......why don't you paint yourself a special little one.....

I use to be a page bender, then I started borrowing books from others and finally broke the habit.

My kids shun bookmarks. It's insane. Half of them are flopping about the book when silent reading starts, looking for where they left off. I give them free bookmarks which they promptly lose.

I love pretty ribbon bookmarks with beads on the end, souvenir bookmarks of places I've visited, handmade laminated bookmarks that my daughter made in school, or bookmarks with quotes. But I'll also use things that come to hand, invitations, library receipts, advertising flyers, envelopes, business cards, appointment cards. My current bookmark is a wooden Japanese comb, a gift from a homestay student. It is still in its cellophane wrapper and slim cardboard backing. It has a Japanese girl in kimono painted on the surface. The Japlish wording on the back of the packet reads:
Our combs and fine toothed combs are made of boxwood, namnu,or bamboo with excellent crafts. It has been proved by modern medicine that often combing one's hair with this kind of combs can ease one's headache and sleeplessness and can refresh one's mind, combing one's hair with this kind of combs can also make one hear and see well.

Makes a good bookmark, anyway, as it's easy to find!

Not to offend anybody, but page-bending is a huge pet-peeve of mine!

Personally, I've always used bookmarks.

I long ago decided that I don't have to obey my mother any more. They're my books, dammit. I will fold, spindle and mutilate them if I so desire.