Nov 17, 2007
Thanksgiving? Christmas?
I'm not exactly thinking about Thanksgiving. It isn't celebrated here. Even less than Halloween. A non-event. But everybody has been pushing Christmas here since about six weeks ago. However, it's hard to think about Christmas in the middle of summer. It just doesn't seem natural to be looking at Christmas decorations and beach towels at the same time. The university is preparing for graduation next week, about the time y'all are gonna' be carving turkeys. Today we went to the Frensham Iris Festival. Frensham is a private girl's school and this is their spring/summer event. Hotter than blazes.
No votes
Comments? | More Actions 
Digg
Delicious
Netscape
Technorati THE "FUN WITH USENET" MANIFESTO
Very little happens on Usenet without some sort of response from some other
reader. Fun With Usenet postings are no exception. Since there are some who
might question the rationale of some of the excerpts included therein, I have
written up a list of guidelines that sum up the philosophy behind these
postings.
One. I never cut out words in the middle of a quote without a VERY
good reason, and I never cut them out without including ellipses. For
instance, "I am not a goob" might become "I am ... a goob", but that's too
mundane to bother with. "I'm flame proof" might (and has) become
"I'm ...a... p...oof" but that's REALLY stretching it.
Two. If I cut words off the beginning or end of a quote, I don't
put ellipses, but neither do I capitalize something that wasn't capitalized
before the cut. "I don't think that the Church of Ubizmo is a wonderful
place" would turn into "the Church of Ubizmo is a wonderful place". Imagine
the posting as a tape-recording of the poster's thoughts. If I can set
up the quote via fast-forwarding and stopping the tape, and without splicing,
I don't put ellipses in. And by the way, I love using this mechanism for
turning things around. If you think something stinks, say so - don't say you
don't think it's wonderful. ...
-- D. J. McCarthy (dmccart@cadape.UUCP)
Very little happens on Usenet without some sort of response from some other
reader. Fun With Usenet postings are no exception. Since there are some who
might question the rationale of some of the excerpts included therein, I have
written up a list of guidelines that sum up the philosophy behind these
postings.
One. I never cut out words in the middle of a quote without a VERY
good reason, and I never cut them out without including ellipses. For
instance, "I am not a goob" might become "I am ... a goob", but that's too
mundane to bother with. "I'm flame proof" might (and has) become
"I'm ...a... p...oof" but that's REALLY stretching it.
Two. If I cut words off the beginning or end of a quote, I don't
put ellipses, but neither do I capitalize something that wasn't capitalized
before the cut. "I don't think that the Church of Ubizmo is a wonderful
place" would turn into "the Church of Ubizmo is a wonderful place". Imagine
the posting as a tape-recording of the poster's thoughts. If I can set
up the quote via fast-forwarding and stopping the tape, and without splicing,
I don't put ellipses in. And by the way, I love using this mechanism for
turning things around. If you think something stinks, say so - don't say you
don't think it's wonderful. ...
-- D. J. McCarthy (dmccart@cadape.UUCP)
Atom feed
Mike, you're just NEVER happy....first you were complaining about perennial winter, having left at the end of winter in the US and arrived at the beginning of winter in Australia, now you are complaining that it's summer! What did you think summer would be......20 every day? (that IS 20 C, BTW)
Ain't technology grand....the wireless network at SFO has given me the chance to make this comment....I work too much to have made this at home, but now I'm enroute to finalize my Thai divorce and have time in the EVA lounge to dash off a few words. Wish me luck, I wouldn't care to bet on whether I actually GET a divorce on this trip, or not....
So where does it look like I'm complaining? Not at all. The weather is wonderful. 'Hotter than blazes' is the perfect temperature. The message was that you won't find pictures of Santa bundled up against the snow in layers of red here. As often as not he's in his swimmers or tossing back a cold beer against a backdrop of a blazing sun (and almost always wearing sunglasses).
OK, Alice Springs hit about 48 today. (About 118F). That's a bit warm even for my tastes - but moderate for the outback. We were at a very pleasant 30 (86F).