Path: mit-eddie!snorkelwacker!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!FSDCUPT.CSD.MOT.COM!jane From: jane@FSDCUPT.CSD.MOT.COM (Jane Beckman x4030) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: Windows Open? Message-ID: <9003131421.AA06628@fsdcupt.csd.mot.COM> Date: 13 Mar 90 22:21:10 GMT Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU Lines: 25 There is a fresh spring breeze that seems tobe blowing through the Place, and things are looking bright and cheerful in the sunlight that is streaming through the windows... Windows? Wait a minute, this place has windows??!! All winter, it seemed kinda dark in there, cozy, but dark. Dark enough to furnish some major shadows for corner-lurkers. There are still dark corners where unknown folks lurk, but sunlight is streaming in the windows in a couple places, and a spring breeze comes through a couple windows that stand open. There seem to be some fat and rather overgrown roses nodding at the windows, and the breeze brings a faint scent of perfume into The Place. Mike nods. "Of course this Place has windows!" he growls. "You think I like it to get stuffy in here? It's a nice day, and spring is coming, so I opened them to get some air in the place. It isn't good ta' lurk in the dark too much. I need ta' remind folks to smell the roses, now and then. Funny thing about those roses, tho; they seem to bloom when most the other ones shrivel up. Folks also seem to see 'em any color they want 'em to be. Some old fella who was here long ago gave me some slips, and they've been growin' ever since. Can't keep 'em down." He starts polishing the bar and whistling. A long bar of sunlight hits a huge vase of roses of every color set on one corner of the bar. The vase looks remarkably like a larger version of one of the glasses the regulars use for toasting. A few shamrocks are also in the bouquet. One suspects it has something to do with the season and Mike's ancestry. Path: mit-eddie!mintaka!think!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!CCB.UCSF.EDU!robin From: robin@CCB.UCSF.EDU (Robin Colgrove) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: get-together stuff and a poem about email empathy Message-ID: <9003140503.AA10465@ccb.ucsf.EDU> Date: 14 Mar 90 05:03:43 GMT Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU Lines: 73 Muttering to himself, several wads of discarded yellow legal paper decorating the immediate vicinity, robin stares into his beer. "This 'West Side Story' parody is just not coming together." he broods. "Urea! I just made a salt called urea... "Urea! I just got some gout from urea... "...and suddenly the fates, of purines and their mates, are clear!" "Urea! When it's low, do some Vitamin C-ing, when it's high then it's time to start peeing..." He wads up the remaining attempts and pelts the back of the fireplace wall with the lot of them. Reaching into his pack, he takes out some some printouts of old alt.callahans posts. "Where's that address...ahh, here we go. Alt.callahans.get-together, march 17, 5pm, in the computer room, steve savitzsky's house, 343 leigh ave, san jose, ca. I better put this somewhere i won't lose it..." Still talking to himself, he begins to stuff stuff back into the bottomless pack until he comes across a forgotten sheet of verse. "Oh, hey. This might be of interest. Since several folks stopped by to say how much they liked my last little poem, maybe the one other thing i've ever written that deals with callahanian themes might be well received." He scribbles an explanatory prefix at the top and with a nod to the regulars, pins the sheet to the bulletin board on the way out. Not much notice is paid in the ongoing hub-bub but every now and then someone wanders by and pauses for a moment to take in the new addition, which reads: this is a little poem i wrote for a friend in need of support but accessible to me only via e-mail. The frustrating feeling of wanting to help but feeling helpless to do so finally burbled up from my subconscious in the form of a poem. all the usual poem.tricks aside, the dual themes of e-mail and empathy seemed to fit in well here. hope you like it... ***************************************************************************** E-Mail as a Medium of Emotional Support Like the snowflakes beyond her office window, electrons patter noiselessly -in their anonymous multitudes- against a luminescent screen. The glow ensuing from this small, sub-atomic blizzard falls in turn through the portals in a pair of sky-blue eyes; and stirs complex currents on the surface of her troubled mind. (What silly, sophist supposition I must hold to think that simple Kath-oid rays could help to calm the the storm within her soul could help her see she's lovable, lovely, loved.) Like far-off shadows deep in the winter storm, relation-ships are known but dimly -and in barest charicature- by all who view them from without. My fingertips send only the crudest, simplest help in toward her there, to the spirit behind those ice-blue eyes: a bit of extra warmth that she might press on unbowed. (A love as sweet as mine has been for me she more deserves - my hope's tis what she gets. This one who's like her likes her more than well. This one who seeks naught from her wants her well.) Snowflakes. ASCII. A complicated female. -the perfect stuff of sentimental e-mail! robin Path: mit-eddie!bu.edu!lll-winken!brutus.cs.uiuc.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!att!dptg!pegasus!psrc From: psrc@pegasus.ATT.COM (Paul S. R. Chisholm) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: Re: Things are getting a bit chaotic, lately Summary: yeah; it's great, isn't it? Message-ID: <4522@pegasus.ATT.COM> Date: 14 Mar 90 04:13:35 GMT References: <8443@lindy.Stanford.EDU> Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories Lines: 33 In article <8443@lindy.Stanford.EDU>, GE.LJB@forsythe.stanford.edu (Louis J Bookbinder) writes: > Nick turns to one of the more entrepreneurial members of the crowd. "How > about a dollar bill, upper left, a filled shotglass, lower right, and > the two divided diagonally by a chalk line?" No answer. He shrugs, "Oh > well, it was an idea!" No, it's a good idea! ("Mike, could I have half an ale, please? And a glass of Nick's favorite lubricant for when he comes back?") What else can we throw in there? The ax, an odd-looking hole in the floor, a tiger tale hanging from the ceiling . . . actually, if we're going to appear in there ourselves, it'll have to be *some* group portrait! A toast? To all of you folks who got involved in the ax saga. How half a dozen people, separated by thousands of miles and a *very* non-real-time network, managed this bit of improvisational theater, I'll never know. My compliments! (Whereupon I drink my ale, and walk out the door with the glass, to save Nick a trip. No, this isn't going to be a habit; we gotta do something about Nick and the Place's fireplace. Anybody got a net?) > Nick sweeps some more, dodges another toast, puts the broom back and > shovels up the pile of glass with a large dust pan, which he has even > more difficulty holding. He clanks out of the room, dodging a tiger tail > hanging down from a rafter, and slams the door with his heel. > > Nick Chopper - my opinion? dont ax! LB>- GE.LJB@Forsythe.stanford.edu Paul S. R. Chisholm, AT&T Bell Laboratories att!pegasus!psrc, psrc@pegasus.att.com, AT&T Mail !psrchisholm I'm not speaking for the company, I'm just speaking from my heart. Path: mit-eddie!snorkelwacker!think!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!pt.cs.cmu.edu!andrew.cmu.edu!jt1o+ From: jt1o+@andrew.cmu.edu (Joseph L. Traub) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: RE:Shared Joy, Alt The World's A... Message-ID: Date: 14 Mar 90 06:03:46 GMT Organization: Class of '91, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA Lines: 74 Taldin seems to be hopping accounts rather rapidly, as he can't access his own news server. But he makes it to the Place as aways, an arm around his Lady Joelle. "I'm going home tomorrow, and here goes the start of the infamous long wait until next we meet. But the wonderful technology of this reality allows us to keep in touch, even if it isn't physically. Ugh, this is gonna hurt. But soulmates we are, and we;'ll meet again soon., I hope." Tal gives Joelle yet another hug, and then turns back to the room in general. "Thank you all for the well wishes and the congratulations, and may you find the same too, if you truly wish it." "Also, thanks to you for all the story stuff everyone has sent me. And , *ahem*, I mentioned at the end of the list that those on it were people I would like to hear from, NOT that they were the only ones that would appear., AND these were the ones that I could thnk of offhand (I have the back articles printed out and will re-read them all again (groan) to get sufficient material. " (turning to the Unbeliever) "I keep trying to contact you, and every time my mail bounces. You are an official member of the Empath's mailing list-- I did NOT forget you. I am hurt to think that you would think I would. If you noticed, Magyk and the Polymath aren't on that list either, but I do remember them and they WILL show up in the story., along with everyone who has sent me private e-mail. There are a couple of people who replied that I don't recognize-- but even lurkers have their place in Callahan's. I hope you don'r expect me to list EVERYONE I'm including in right yet, because operating from a remote account isn't too good for organizational stuff. That's why I';m starting NOW, instead of late April/May. " "Mind you, friend Thomas, this is not a flame, don't take it as such. DO send me the imformation I asked for-- it makes my job of writing this a bit easier. And have an eggnog on me, friend." Taldin yawns. "Again, if you think I'm forgetting you, DO drop me a line, this going for everyone and anyone. And don't complain, please. I'm doing this for fun, and for all of us. I am also trying to come up with a suitable topic for the first story." "Perhaps it might be a good idea to add h) something I might better remember you by.. Joelle takes this point to poke Tal in the arm again. "Aye, beloved?" "Time to go home.", she says. "Ah. Pardon, folks, and I'll see you in a bit. " -Taldin wq _______________________________________________________________________________ ** | * * |Joseph Traub -- Carnegie Mellon * * |Internet: jt1o@andrew.cmu.edu ****************************************** |UUCP: harvard!andrew.cmu.edu!jt1o * Blessed * * Blessed * | * Be! * An it * Be! * |__________________________________ * * harm none, * * | * * do as thou * * |"If pro is the opposite of con, * * wilt. * * |then what is congress?" * IO * * IO * | * EVOHE ** EVOHE * |___________________________________ * IO * * IO * | * KORE * * KORE * |This space intentionally left blank * * * * |This one too! * * * * |And ditto once again! ** ** | ___________________________________________|___________________________________ Path: mit-eddie!snorkelwacker!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucsd!ucsdhub!hp-sdd!hplabs!hpfcso!daq From: daq@hpfcso.HP.COM (Doug Quarnstrom) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: Re: a familiar entrance Message-ID: <9060038@hpfcso.HP.COM> Date: 13 Mar 90 05:58:16 GMT References: <90068.191939EMD101@psuvm.psu.edu> Organization: Hewlett-Packard, Fort Collins, CO, USA Lines: 35 >Captain James T. Kirk gazes calmly about the place as Science Officer Spock >and Doctor McCoy take some tricorder readings. A red-shirted security officer >looks nervously about for possible sources of danger. The men stand there a >moment, absorbing a Callahanian monologue or two. >"You people," Kirk says expansively in inexplicably unaccented twentieth- >century English, "do take life very seriously." >Dramatic pause. >"Life," he intones, "is like Fizzbin. The rules are arbitrary, even >ludicrous -- but sometimes, you just have to try to play." He pauses again and gives you a boyish grin. "And sometimes, it can be fun!" >McCoy chuckles, as a happy little oboe tune expresses lighthearted agreement. >Spock raises an eyebrow. "Indeed, Captain?" >Kirk flips open his communicator. "Four to beam up, gentlemen." Another >brief shimmer, and the away team is gone. Another strange new world has >been explored and healed. Just as the shimmer begins, the cynic enter the bar and tosses a grenade into the shimmer. The grenade disappears with the group beaming up. The cynic smiles to himself. "Just another another group of self-satirical geriatrics eliminated," he thinks to himself. If it prevents a repeat of Star Trek V, it will all have been worth it. Don't forget, I am... ...The Cynic ---------- Path: mit-eddie!snorkelwacker!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucsd!ucsdhub!hp-sdd!hplabs!hpfcso!daq From: daq@hpfcso.HP.COM (Doug Quarnstrom) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: Re: Hell Message-ID: <9060037@hpfcso.HP.COM> Date: 13 Mar 90 04:44:39 GMT References: <9060035@hpfcso.HP.COM> Organization: Hewlett-Packard, Fort Collins, CO, USA Lines: 73 >(really interesting material deleted) You flatter me Mrs. Wolf. And I will have you know that I appreciate it. >(more deleted) Not interesting this time I see. Oh well, you cannot win all of them... >>still the cynic >A female voice responds from the vicinity of the ceiling. What have you been drinking? >"It depends on whaqt you mean by "hate". There is no-one whom I wish >to injure. My current manager sometimes comes close, but not really. Me either, although in the fit of passion I have almost come to blows. This is very childish, but that does not seem to stop me. To my credit, I always apologize afterwards, but that would be little consolation if actual damage was done. >When I was a child I was violent. I had a reputation in school that >terrified a lot of people (including some teachers). When I >graduated high school I decided I did not want people to be frightened >of me anymore. I made a decision that anger should be expressed >quickly and verbally. I now have a tongue that can cut like a knife, >and I might even have a reputation of not being a nice person, but at >least no-one is frightened of me, and I have not really hurt anyone >because I have never let the anger build to a point where I wanted >to. That is much easier than finding somewhere to put it once it >has built up. I am almost the opposite. I can control myself a bit better verbally than when I was in high school, but the general level of anger seems to be higher, and competetive situations tend to bring this out. Now, again, perhaps I am being a bit hard on myself. Professional athletes fight all the time, so perhaps there is something about competition that brings out hostility. >In the sexist way of looking at things, just as men are not supposed >to feel pain, women are not supposed to be angry, so I badly violate >a social norm by my decision. Well-meaning people at work frequently >tell me how my "people skills" need improvement. I guess it's relative. >Funny how long it has been since I thought about that decision." Men are not supposed to show pain. As for those well meaning people, I would probably just poing out to them that their survival skills need improvement. Ok, so that joke is a bit obscure, but my friends around here would get a good laugh. I guess it is a sublte (or not) jest about hostility. >Mary-Anne Thanks for the reply. I felt the need to darken the atmosphere at Callahan's again. >"I'm nobody. Who are you? Are you a nobody too?" Definitely not. I just look like a nobody. It is an easy mistake to make. Cynic. P.S. The road to hell is paved with cobblestones. Forget that good intention stuff. -- ---------- Path: mit-eddie!snorkelwacker!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!microsoft!ellene From: ellene@microsoft.UUCP (Ellen EADES) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: Re: soulmates Message-ID: <53531@microsoft.UUCP> Date: 13 Mar 90 18:31:02 GMT References: <12570@csli.Stanford.EDU> Organization: Microsoft Corp., Redmond WA Lines: 20 Reply-To:ellene@microsof.uucp (Ellen Eades) Ellen bursts out laughing, a loud and carrying sound. "No way to tell someone you wanted to see her more often! That's the most self-defeating statement I've heard in a while (and I've heard some real humdingers recently). I guess there are two ways to look at it. "Either you're too afraid of freaking her out, or she's too susceptible to being freaked. Only one of these is under your control, but I do strongly recommend working on it. "On the other hand, it sounds like in your case, you decided you wanted to get-to-know-with-overtones-of-romance a complete stranger you'd met only once or twice. That's premature, and I wouldn't be surprised if you were met with resistance. Why not take some time to get to know her WITHOUT the overtones first? How do you know she hasn't got personality acne, or something? Don't go jumping the gun. "Another latte, Mike ... I'm getting too mellow for this place." Ellen Eades (ellene@microsof.uucp) Path: mit-eddie!snorkelwacker!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!rpi!brutus.cs.uiuc.edu!psuvax1!psuvm!emd101 From: EMD101@psuvm.psu.edu Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: a Gather? Message-ID: <90072.225247EMD101@psuvm.psu.edu> Date: 14 Mar 90 03:52:47 GMT Organization: Penn State University Lines: 17 A new note has appeared on the bulletin board... ----------------------------------- | Callahanians at CMU? I'll be in | | town Friday and Saturday. Taldin | | is there too, apparently. How | | about a Pittsburgh Gather? I'm | | meeting with profs in physics dept| | at 2pm Friday. Presumably I'm | | free otherwhen. Anyone over there| | willing to make plans? | | | | --Oktave | | | | ps. I will not wear dollar bills. | | | ----------------------------------- Path: mit-eddie!bloom-beacon!shelby!csli!cphoenix From: cphoenix@csli.Stanford.EDU (Chris Phoenix) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: Re: soulmates Message-ID: <12665@csli.Stanford.EDU> Date: 14 Mar 90 08:17:24 GMT References: <12570@csli.Stanford.EDU> <53531@microsoft.UUCP> Sender: cphoenix@csli.Stanford.EDU (Chris Phoenix) Reply-To: cphoenix@csli.stanford.edu (Chris Phoenix) Organization: Center for the Study of Language and Information, Stanford U. Lines: 36 In article <53531@microsoft.UUCP> ellene@microsof.uucp (Ellen Eades) writes: >"No way to tell someone you wanted to see her more often! That's the >most self-defeating statement I've heard in a while (and I've heard >some real humdingers recently). I guess there are two ways to look at it. > >"Either you're too afraid of freaking her out, or she's too susceptible >to being freaked. Only one of these is under your control, but I do >strongly recommend working on it. Well, she's the one who said that no one could tell her that without freaking her out. I knew that it *might*, based on past experience, so I asked in a roundabout way (I'll skip the boring details). I've pretty much decided that since people around here are so easy to freak, I just won't worry about it in general. But it would sort of defeat the purpose to freak out someone I wanted to talk to by telling them so, which is why I asked. And it turned out I was right. >"On the other hand, it sounds like in your case, you decided you wanted >to get-to-know-with-overtones-of-romance a complete stranger you'd met >only once or twice. That's premature, and I wouldn't be surprised if >you were met with resistance. I can see how you could have read it that way, but there were no overtones of romance. And when I asked her about the hypothetical situation, I made it clear that there were none there either. And she still said she'd be freaked. I had talked to her a couple of times, for a total of probably half an hour. I knew that she was fun to talk to and seemed nice, and I strongly suspected that she enjoyed talking to me. No, I don't usually try to "connect" in any sense with people I don't know, but I did know her at least a little. -- Chris Phoenix | "I've spent the last nine years structuring my cphoenix@csli.Stanford.EDU | life so that this couldn't happen." ...And I only kiss your shadow, I cannot see your hand, you're a stranger now unto me, lost in the dangling conversation, and the superficial sighs... Path: mit-eddie!snorkelwacker!usc!bbn!granite!mandel From: mandel@granite.cr.bull.com (Mark Mandel) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: Re: Unbeliever's Update Summary: The Good Doctor Message-ID: <1990Mar13.034651.819@granite.cr.bull.com> Date: 13 Mar 90 03:46:51 GMT References: <5798.25fba99a@jane.uh.edu> Reply-To: mandel@granite.cr.bull.com (Mark Mandel) Organization: Bull HN Information Systems Inc. Lines: 10 Well, actually, Dr. A. didn't invent the Three Laws. I read somewhere, by him or quoting him, that (who was it, his editor, who midwived the Foundation concept?!) -- anyway, Someone Else was responsible for the wording of the original Three Laws. -- -- Mark Mandel (InterNet for a while: mandel@granite.cr.bull.com) /* Bull disclaims all responsibility for me, and I for them. */