Path: mit-eddie!bu.edu!bu-pub.bu.edu!ckd From: ckd@bu-pub.bu.edu (Christopher Davis) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: Off on another tangent Message-ID: Date: 28 Mar 90 18:35:39 GMT References: <14536@reed.UUCP> <78539@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu> Sender: news@bu.edu.bu.edu Reply-To: ckd@bu-pub.bu.edu (Christopher Davis) Organization: Boston University School of Management Lines: 27 In-reply-to: james_e_gaynor@armadillo.cis.ohio-state.edu's message of 28 Mar 90 15:19:47 GMT > As Mike makes drinks, the Taoist says to the bar in general, > "Has anyone here ever heard of Basia Trzetrzelewska? Jazz singer? > She's got two CDs out: 'Time and Tide', and 'London Warsaw New York'. > I just recently 'found' her, thanks to the bewitching picture on the > front of 'London Warsaw New York', and haven't found anyone else who > has heard her music. " > "It's rather frustrating." "I've heard it," Chris says as he rises from his table. "Which is whence the tangent-- one of my fond memories is hearing the song 'Time and Tide' on the radio (as well as an interview with Basia) on my way to a gaming session with some good friends, almost two years back. "The tangent, of course, is how songs can bring on such vivid memories of past pain and past joy... sigh. "Mike, how about... tea. Earl Grey. Hot." "To music, and musicians... and memories!" ** CRASH ** -- Christopher Davis, BU SMG '90 <...!bu.edu!bu-pub!ckd> "Dammit, we're all going to die, let's die doing something *useful*!" --Hal Clement on comments that space exploration is dangerous Path: mit-eddie!mintaka!think!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!PICA.ARMY.MIL!skitchen From: skitchen@PICA.ARMY.MIL ("D. Scott Kitchen", CCH-V) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: Trip Announcement -- CANCELED Message-ID: <9003281424.aa04568@CC1.PICA.ARMY.MIL> Date: 28 Mar 90 19:24:57 GMT Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU Lines: 21 A very frustrated Skitch walks into the bar. He looks not at all pleased. In fact, he doesn't even bother to change his clothes. White shirt, gray slacks, and power tie do not a happy Skitch make. "Well," he begins, "in a fit of bureaucratic logic, the people down where I have to go have moved their test up to the time when I have to be in a class I didn't realize I absolutely had to be in. It's making me rather frustrated, and if you hear me mention the words `core curriculum' in less than savory tones, you'll know what it's about. "Mike, give me some ice water. I've got a short toast to make... To the Army: may it lose certain logic, should we ever have to go to war. I love this job!" And there goes the glass...it's going...it's going...CRASH...it's gone! ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Scott Kitchen Send mail to: skitchen@cc1.pica.army.mil Mechanical Engineer ICBM: 40.88 N 74.56 W ----------------------------------------------------------------------- I have an announcement to make; I'm bored! -- Bart Simpson Path: mit-eddie!mintaka!think!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!brutus.cs.uiuc.edu!psuvax1!xavier!naomi From: naomi@cs.swarthmore.edu (Nao) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: Breezes Message-ID: Date: 28 Mar 90 20:17:21 GMT Sender: news@xavier.swarthmore.edu (USENET News System) Organization: SWIL Lines: 43 From: SWAT::HRR91 "Lynx" 28-MAR-1990 15:01:29.12 To: NAP92 CC: Subj: Breezes A slight breeze rustles the bar; moves past Mike, who wordlessly tosses a margarita; kisses Nao's cheek, and moves on to a corner to sit by itself. It takes an effort to reach for the tangible this time, though the margarita drains itself. It is an effort to become visible when thoughts are so much harder to put into words. Feelings are gray today, laced together with the spring sun. Ambiguities are purple and red, swirled with the silver gray of confusion. There is a scent of cherry blossoms, the happiness of a remembered wandering within the blossom bedecked gardens of paradise, the black of night, or darkness within a soul. The breeze wafts blossom-air up to the green tiger in the rafters. The voice is not aloud, but spoken into the blood. A song, low, open. /It helps me, it may help you, too. God is not iron, green tiger. God is steel. Formed in the industrial society; changed to fit the needs of the people. Hardened until now. It is our job to soften the world a little bit in helping ourselves and helping others/ /Regards, Chris, for understanding the power of memories and music. May they keep you happy, but allow you to still live in the present/ /See, Nao, I told you I'd come some day/ Music. Calm, soft, rising in the stillness come over the bar. /It helps me appear./ Apololgetic, as if uncertain of the company, of the appearance . Is Callahans so friendly a place as expected? The lute appears first. Archaic, old cherry wood with an inset of oak, for this breeze is as constant as that tree. The hood appears next; blue as the night sky and sparkling in starlight. There are the hands, long fingered, delicate, an artist, a lover. They strum the lute softly, bring themselves out. And finally the eyes, inset between with a blue light that shines out from under the cloak. The hood is thrown back. Hair streams down, just a shade lighter than the cloak. Her eyes are veiled for the time, dark, deep. They remind one of oceans. Eretria has stopped playing. /I seem to be all here now./ Amusement, rippling laughter is yellow, like a daffodil. /Hello all/ Path: mit-eddie!mintaka!think!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!brutus.cs.uiuc.edu!psuvax1!rutgers!njin!skitchen From: skitchen@pilot.njin.net (Skitch) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: Re: Off on another tangent Message-ID: Date: 28 Mar 90 19:56:09 GMT References: <14536@reed.UUCP> <78539@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu> Organization: NJ InterCampus Network, New Brunswick, N.J. Lines: 37 Scott, upon hearing music being mentioned as a topic again, perks his ears up when Chris starts to speak of music and memories. When Chris' done, Scott adds, "Know what you mean, friend." "Back when I was still at MIT," he begins, "I met Sharon. MOst of you know the story about her and about how she got married and stuff and how I felt about the whole thing (she and Jason are doing well, BTW). Well, before we had our fight in September of '87, she had come to visit me at my home on the Jersey Shore for a couple of days, and I had to take her back to the airport, so she could fly back to Boston. After I had dropped her off and was driving back home on the Parkway, a song came on the radio and I cried uncontrollably for about 10 minutes. I had this very severe feeling of loss, and that song (which I had considered "ours") magnified it by several orders of magnitude. Not a very fun time. "And when my ex and I were going out later that same year, we listened to the album that same song was on, and when she dumped me, in a fit of rage, I took the tape I'd made of the album and destroyed it. "Later still, I bought the tape. Now, it's one of my favored possessions because of the memories I get from listening to the music recorded thereon. "For those who wish to know, the album is Chicago 18. Scott, who's carrying a briefcase today, reaches into it and pulls out a Walkthing and presses the "PLAY" button... -- Scott Kitchen Send mail to: skitchen@cc1.pica.army.mil Rebel Without a Clue ICBM: 40.88 N 74.56 W -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The year is 2989. New York City has become a melting pot for humans and various alien races. Blind dates are a real crap shoot now. --from Roachmill Path: mit-eddie!snorkelwacker!think!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!fsdcupt.csd.mot.COM!jane From: jane@fsdcupt.csd.mot.COM (Jane Beckman x4030) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: Life Gambling Message-ID: <9003281449.AA22147@fsdcupt.csd.mot.COM> Date: 28 Mar 90 22:49:24 GMT Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU Lines: 42 Jilara takes out a deck of cards, shuffles it, deals out some cards onto the table in front of her, and frowns at them. She looks over at Cynic. "Ever hear the joke about the guys who played poker with a tarot deck? Somebody got a full house and three people died?" She flips a card to his table from the spread she's dealt. It's the base card: a pagoda with falling people. The Tower, with a Japanese twist, tarot interpreted with a Buddhist/Shinto skewing, from her standard deck. "Mediated by this one..." She flips him another card. It has two katana, surrounded by maple leaves. "The upsetting of the old order by violence, a renewal of sorts, but with some major nastiness in the clearing away. Mediated a bit by two swords in balance, who find strength in that balance and the strong values they support." She sweeps up the cards, collects back the cards from Cynic, and shuffles the deck again. "Let's talk about games, and wagers, for a minute. I used to always say that I resigned the game to the serious players. The problem wasn't that I wasn't serious: it was that my coin wasn't worth much in this realm. So when the stakes went high, I'd be wagering my lifesavings, but bottom out, nonetheless, because the exchange rate was unfavorable. You see, brass coin is worth a LOT more in the game of life, sometimes. They guffaw at gold, and sweep it up in the winnings, coin of a realm they don't understand. A lot of life's like that. "Thus, you have to be careful not only of how the game is played, but how the house is rigging the value of the stakes, too. Oh, and if someone advises you to cheat, just remember that everyone else is cheating, too, so it probably won't make much difference. How many fools did you say were in that deck? Are you sure?" She reaches into the billowing folds of her sleeve, pulls out a card decked with a sword and cherry blossoms. "Ace of Swords. Always keep a card or two for yourself, just in case." She tosses down another, from the other sleeve. A strangely benevolent looking monster, holding a sword, sits before a crowd of people. "Emma-Hoo, Lord of Death and Rebirth, who shows the way to Enlightenment. If you need a trump, he's not bad. He fills the role of both Death and the Devil in my Japanese deck---he teaches lessons, you see." She puts the cards on top of the rest. "But never use all the cards in your sleeves, and only use them for effect. It wouldn't do to show an entire hand." She smiles, and places the deck in a black laquerware box, and some swore they caught just a flash of another card in her hand.... ---Jilara the Exile jane%fsdcupt.csd@urbana.mcd.mot.com My email went to Urbana, but all I got was this stupid router! Path: mit-eddie!bu.edu!m2c!wpi!cmoir From: cmoir@wpi.wpi.edu (C-More) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: Re: Yet another newcomer... ;^) Message-ID: <10362@wpi.wpi.edu> Date: 29 Mar 90 00:09:23 GMT References: <1990Mar27.114657.21103@uokmax.uucp> Reply-To: cmoir@wpi.wpi.edu (C-More) Distribution: usa Organization: W.P.I. Office of Higher Insanity Lines: 91 In article <1990Mar27.114657.21103@uokmax.uucp> guest6@uokmax.uucp (Laura Holmbeck) writes: > She now smiles openly, and stands straighter. "But mostly, he >taught me in his own gentle way that I matter, that love is not to be >feared. That I could learn to love myself again, and perhaps in time >allow someone else to." A pause... "Once when I was feeling alone and >depressed..." She pulls a slip of paper out of her pocket. "... He >actually wrote ME a poem spontaneously. The most beautiful poem I've >read. He did it for *me*..." She trails off now... A dreamy look >in her eyes. SilverSinger looks to Tyg. "The poem still applies, love. Oh, I wish I could say 'Love' without horrible guilt." Tyg looks at Silver with gorgeous chocolate eyes wide open, honesty quite evident. "Take all the time you need, Love...I know in time, it will come." Silver looks at her with genuine love, almost bordering on the Love he is so afraid to show... > "I love him. He might even be the One." She smiles bittersweetly. >"He knows how I feel, and he loves me too, but there are complications. >I feel so irretrievably attracted to him - I cannot stop loving him. Nor >do I want to stop." > She sighs, "But I don't want to bring him pain - I only want him >to be happy. And only he can, in the end, choose the resolution. Silver smiles as bittersweetly as did Tyg. "The resolution may be upon me. Friends," here Silver addresses the public at large. "The 'resolution' I spoke of in my last speech was not that after all. This wonderful person you see sitting with me is the one who offered to step aside to let my love for the other grow unhindered. "A few nights ago, I realized that my relationship with the other, the woman I originally met six months ago, was mostly pain now. Pain I was causing. I started to offer to her my choice, that of letting her go, that of allowing her the freedom to find another, if that is possible. "It caused me great pain, and her as well. Indeed, she hung up the phone. Phones are not the sort of devices to carry this sort of thing through, but there was no substitute. I haven't spoken to her since, for I fear that if I do, nothing but pain will ensue. "I really don't know what to do regarding her. She has loved me, nay -- Loved me for nearing seven or eight months now. She has had more patience than I could ask of anyone. It was this that prompted me to release her from this pain. I just fear I may STILL be doing the wrong thing." Silver looks back to Tyg. "Don't get me wrong, love. I feel quite comfortable with you. I just fear that I may have broken a heart beyond repair in doing what I've done. Breaking hearts is something I never thought I'd do, and I don't WANT to do it. > She walks back to SilverSinger. "I wish you may someday find peace. >You've done so much for me, so perhaps I can do a little for you... with your >assistance of course!" She winks playfully at him. > She places the saucer down on the table. Taking both of his hands >in hers, she places his palms together. Still holding his hands, she >concentrates. Suddenly he gives a start and slowly opens his palms. >On his palms lies a sparkling silver, newborn fuzzy. "It's the least >I can do for such a friend who has shared his spirit with me!" She hugs >him close to her, careful not to disturb the fuzzy nestles in his hands. Silver smiles down at the fuzzy. "So that's how they come about!" He then looks deeply into Tyg's eyes. "You are special to me...I hope you realize just how much. And how much I wish I could Love you right now... I hope you can settle for my love, and the knowledge that it will *eventually* blossom into Love, given some time..." > She retrieves the saucer and returns to the chalk line. Lifting >the saucer she says, "As Browning once said, 'Sun-treader, life and light >be thine forever!'" With that she send the the saucer sailing, then it >watches it smash into a thousand glistening shards. She looks solemn for a >moment, and for a second her eyes glimmer, but it passes and she slowly >walks back to SilverSinger, the sheet of paper still firmly clutched in her >hand. Silver and Tyg retreat, arm in arm, to a private table, near the fireplace. Any interested parties looking in their direction will notice that Tyg is now in a feline shape...though quite a bit larger...perhaps the size of a tygress. A deep rumbling, perhaps a purr, can just barely be heard over the happy ruckus elsewhere if one listens carefully enough... Peace, friends. -SilverSinger === May you find peace, love, happiness, and whatever else you seek...within yourself. After that, finding it in others is much easier. Path: mit-eddie!bloom-beacon!shelby!apple!usc!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!shawnee.cis.ohio-state.edu!kent_a_jenkins From: kent_a_jenkins@shawnee.cis.ohio-state.edu Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: Black and White and Green and Orange and Red and Blue and... Keywords: On Callahan's? Guess. Message-ID: <78577@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu> Date: 29 Mar 90 01:02:49 GMT References: <14499@reed.UUCP> <12842@csli.Stanford.EDU> <14536@reed.UUCP> Sender: usenet_news@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu Reply-To: Thenomain Organization: Ohio State University Computer and Information Science Lines: 27 In article <14536@reed.UUCP> thalen@reed.UUCP (Dr. Paradox) writes: > Thalen next looks around the room. "Thenomain, (have I heard that name >before? Do you use compuserve?), I believe that you are right. This place Thenomain grumbles as he gets untangled from the barstool. "Compuserve? Nonono..." He stands, stretches to an amazing height, and sets the stool upright again. "Internet, a little TinyMUD named Icelandia, and I'm in and out of IRC as often as the Ono-Sendai 7 here can muster." He pats his Cyberdeck with confidence and places a Nuyen on the table for another Pepsi. >does have too much black in it. I guess that is an indication of something, >but I am, in my own small way, going to change it." Thalen makes some more >complicated finger gestures, and chants "Size 32 waist, size 32 waist, damn >it!" In front of him appears a small package, which he opens. It contains >a white pair of pants and an orange shirt. He waves his hands once more, and >he is abruptly clad in these clothes, with his black pants and his black and >green striped shirt sitting neatly folded in front of him. Thenomain looks at the outfit and smiles. "I like that," he says with a nod. "Really. Heh, I see that people here have a better tastes than alt.slack. I sware, that was the worst run I've ever done..." -=- -- Thenomain -- Kent Jenkins -- Card-carrying zealot -- -- jenkins@osu-20.ircc.ohio-state.edu -- in the Order of the -- -- kent-j@cis.ohio-state.edu -- Fweeble. -- Path: mit-eddie!mintaka!yale!think!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!usc!ucsd!network.ucsd.edu!hp-sdd!hplabs!hpfcso!daq From: daq@hpfcso.HP.COM (Doug Quarnstrom) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: Re: Honesty...why is it so difficult? Message-ID: <9060049@hpfcso.HP.COM> Date: 28 Mar 90 17:18:23 GMT References: Organization: Hewlett-Packard, Fort Collins, CO, USA Lines: 40 Cynic, who happened to be in the bar, which is a rarity, given that he comes and leaves so quickly, happens to overhear: > The blonde tech-mage reappears from one of the corners. "Damn. I >was hoping that I could forget that." He walks over to the bar and orders >something non-alcoholic. "To the pain of honesty, may it ever be with us." >He throws it with great force. "As some of you may have noticed, if you've >been around long enough, I'm not the same person that left. I am more >cynical in some views, and I'm lighter in others. I think that, overall, >I'm a better person than when I left a couple months ago, because I grew on >my own, not relying on Callahan's. But I also learned the hard way, that I >was leaning on something that did not really exist." Austin. I am honestly curious as to what you mean about leaning on something that does not exist. I have been interested in perhaps starting a more detailed discussion of what Callahan's is. I think that many people may have extreme expectations about what this forum is, but it is more than nothing. I have met some truly wonderful people via e-mail, and some of them do have the ability to affect my life, at least a little. In the end, the only person to lean on is yourself, but people can help. But you have to hope that they get in touch via e-mail, because I don't think that a public forum is the best place to make the kind of friends that can affect your heart. > He walks back to the corner, and grabs a table, and puts his head >down. Those nearby can tell he is not crying, but he is not in the best of >moods... I have been pretty low the last couple weeks too, and I may not get 'up' soon, but I am talking to people. It helps, a little bit. >austin Doug Path: mit-eddie!bbn!uwm.edu!uwvax!sabertooth.cs.wisc.edu!lewandow From: lewandow@sabertooth.cs.wisc.edu (Gary Lewandowski (TA of Doom)) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: Re: Life on Fast Forward Keywords: Lots of Stuff Message-ID: <10036@spool.cs.wisc.edu> Date: 29 Mar 90 05:07:19 GMT References: <14820@phoenix.Princeton.EDU> Sender: news@spool.cs.wisc.edu Organization: University of Wisconsin, Madison -- Computer Sciences Department Lines: 46 In article <14820@phoenix.Princeton.EDU> jwbirdsa@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (James Webster Birdsall) writes: > > {New topic. This is, I guess, directed a bit at Ellen. It's simply >this: if somebody is willing to give you something free, take it. >Admittedly, it is a good idea to take a good look at what they're >offering, but if it isn't harmful, why not take it? If it turns out that >you don't need it, you can always toss it and you've lost nothing.} > {I have an acquaintance who is blind. She went to an amusement park >some time ago and was told that she could ride one roller coaster free >because she was blind. She got flaming mad and insisted on paying. >Nobody really understands why. I have another acquaintance who is also >blind and she doesn't understand either. If somebody is willing to give >you a break, why not take it, even if you don't need it?} Well, let's have a drink and discuss this, ok? I understand your blind acquaintance. I believe I would feel belittled if someone did that to me. I remember when I was five and they wouldn't count me out in softball. I was so annoyed it was unbelievable. I wasn't asking for a favor; I just wanted to play. They wouldn't give me enough respect to say that I could be out. Sometimes people give you a "break" because it empowers them. That's why I wouldn't always take the break that's offered. By taking the free ride your acquaintance may feel that she is giving up her power to do things equally with sighted people. They have to pay, but 'nice people' take away her power to do that by insisting she ride free. The free ride marks sighted people as somehow superior when dealing with amusement parks. But why? She could probably scream as well as the rest of them. My father is very weak right now. He wishes he could do some things that he can't. However, he gets very annoyed when people hearing him saying he can't do X, go out and do it for him without asking if it's okay. They take away his power of choice as to how and when he would do it. He prefers to work with me because I wait for him to say he'd like me to do something, and I listen to how he thinks I should approach it. I let him keep the power of decision even if he doesn't have power of body. Does this make any sense to you? To anyone? -- gary lewandow@cs.wisc.edu "Knowledge is a fractal." -- Samuel Bates Path: mit-eddie!snorkelwacker!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!att!dptg!pegasus!psrc From: psrc@pegasus.ATT.COM (Paul S. R. Chisholm) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: Re: Life on Fast Forward Summary: if I knew then what I knew now . . . Message-ID: <4580@pegasus.ATT.COM> Date: 29 Mar 90 05:02:35 GMT References: <14820@phoenix.Princeton.EDU> Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories Lines: 55 In article <14820@phoenix.Princeton.EDU>, jwbirdsa@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (James Webster Birdsall) writes: > {Next topic: I wish I could remember which one of you was talking > about the Pre-Post-Baccalaurate-Oh-My-Gods. It's a wonderful name. I was talking about it, but someone else (maybe Ellen or Jilara) came up with the name. It's a nicely turned phrase. > The thing is that I want to do it over again, starting with what I > know now. Each year I have been here I have learned much -- I'm not > talking academically, I'm talking socially. I'm actually getting > close to being a functional human. So, I'm just getting up to speed > and now they're changing the rules on me again. Which figures. > It's happened before. By the time that I finally learn my way > around a given environment, feel comfortable in it, start to take > advantage of its full potential, it's time to leave.} It's called "growth". It's not supposed to be comfortable.-) Yeah, I often considered college to be a sort of real-life-with- training-wheels. Certainly my most important learning experiences (even the academic ones) all happened outside my classes. I had a dream, a couple of months ago, where I was suddenly a freshman again, with all the knowledge, wisdom, and experience of which fork to use on the salad that I've accumulated over the years. I woke up in bed with a start -- and suddenly realized that I could have made relationships work that never actually started, that I could have guided my academic and industrial career much better, that I very likely would have ended up at a different grad school . . . and that if I'd changed any of that, I never would have met my wife in such a way that we would have ended up together. I couldn't fall asleep for *hours*; I kept trying to imagine how I would have steered my life, so things would have been better, without changing the fact that I went from point A in 1975 to point B in 1982. *Weird* stuff. > {I'm going to lose my net access here in June when I graduate, but I > will be back, come hell or high water (actually, phone bills). So > much of my life goes through the net that I can't just forget it.} Good! There was a collection of public access systems, posted to *this* group a few weeks ago for that very purpose. (Thanks to Kathy!) > {Anybody who wants to talk to me, feel free to scoop up a kitten. > There's sure to be one wandering by...} I won't scoop one up, but I'll certainly stroke any that I see wandering by. They're welcome in my lap, unless their claws are too long. > James W. Birdsall jwbirdsa@phoenix.Princeton.EDU jwbirdsa@pucc.BITNET > ...allegra!princeton!phoenix!jwbirdsa Compu$erve: 71261,1731 Paul S. R. Chisholm, the guy with half an ale 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.