Path: mit-eddie!wuarchive!ukma!slg From: slg@ms.uky.edu (Sean Gilley) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: re: soulmates Message-ID: <13426@s.ms.uky.edu> Date: 5 Dec 89 21:56:09 GMT Distribution: alt Organization: U of Ky, Math. Sciences, Lexington KY Lines: 57 Up from the darkness in one corner of the room rises a hefty guy of about six feet. He walks to the bar, obviously nervous, lays down two dollars and orders a shot of tequila and a Pepsi. He downs the tequila with a grimace, immediately following it with a large swallow of Pepsi. He walks to the line, and the rest of the room slowly quiets. He slowly becomes red from embarrassment, but when there is no sound in the room (except for Mike mixing a drink behind the bar), he speaks: "Looking for soulmates. Yea, I understand. I went through so many years wondering if I had found my soulmate and then lost her. I went through a lot of years thinking that everyone I ever fell in love with was going to have a different soulmate than myself. "There have been three people in my life that might have been soulmates. The first time, I never really knew what happened. One day, she called me and told me we weren't going out together anymore. The second, well we care about each other as much as two people can, I think, but she's married. Her husband's a great guy, too, and we share much in common. The third.. ah the third.." He gets a sort of wispy, happy, look on his face, and then jumps, as if startled out of some memory or thought. "The third, well we're still together, and will be for many, many years. We got married, you see. Of course, we got married long after making a commitment to each other, long after we knew that if we're both still on this plane in a hundred years, we'd be together. Or a thousand, the time span really doesn't matter, we simply *fit* together. "Gilly, Jen, don't give up, don't force it. Things change and often become better. I don't know how many times that I wasn't sure I could stand the aloneness anymore. How many more times I could stand 'just being friends'. At twenty-seven, I found her, a year later, she found me. But oh, it would of been worth the wait if I had had to wait another hundred years! "So, to friends, to love, and to soulmates." The tequila glass leisurely flys to the fireplace and shatters therein. He downs the rest of the Pepsi, and walks back to the corner, to continue lurking there. As always. "A personal note to Unbeliever: I see we have the same name. This really shouldn't be a problem, as I tend to draw people to the side to talk to them. But if you find this a problem, perhaps I can transform myself while here. "To all: I wish you peace and happiness. As I don't tend to talk much, I wanted you to all know how happy making this group of people is." He sits, to dissapear into the shadows. Unbeliever. --- attunix!oac!slg; attmail!sgilley "Of all forms of caution, caution in love is the most fatal." Path: mit-eddie!husc6!bu-cs!austin From: austin@bucsf.bu.edu (Austin Ziegler) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: Soulmates and more Message-ID: <43967@bu-cs.BU.EDU> Date: 5 Dec 89 21:50:47 GMT References: <43561@bu-cs.BU.EDU> Sender: daemon@bu-cs.BU.EDU Organization: Boston University College of Engineering Lines: 191 In-reply-to: gilly@bucsf.bu.edu's message of 29 Nov 89 16:16:42 GMT The door opens, and a dollar bill blows in on a icy gust of winter wind. The bill lands on the bar. <> the voice seems to be coming from the dollar bill. A few people look startled, but Michael takes it in stride. <> Michael turns around for a minute, and someone comes up to the bar to look at the bill. On it, instead of George Washington, you see the face of a wizard! <> the bill says as this beam of light comes out of the oval in the center of the bill. It forms an arc to the floor and builds a wizard--Magyk. "Oh well, that was fun. It is amazing what fun you can have with magic. I've been very busy, and I have yet to complete the spell which will let Jilara say what she has to say on this subject. It will be completed in a few minutes. Meanwhile, I'll be saying my spiel because this subject touches me, too. Gilly, I understand where you are coming from. Let me begin with an apology for the 'creative editing' but this is a long article even without all the quotes that I'm making, so ..." >>>>> On 29 Nov 89 16:16:42 GMT, gilly@bucsf.bu.edu (Gilly Rosenthol) said: Gilly> "Do soulmates really exist? Gilly> *where the hell is mine*? Gilly> Alright, I'm only twenty, and I know that's young. Gilly> But dammit, there are times when I feel so damned alone. I don't Gilly> understand it. I'm a nice person, got a decent sense of humor, I'm Gilly> fairly attractive - you would think I could find someone. I have Gilly> friends I can talk to, but it's just not the same." Gilly> "To soulmates - and finding them soon." "Amen to that, Gilly. I hate the current situation I'm in, and there is not much I can do about it. Feel good that you have had that boyfriend...I've never had anyone that I could call a girlfriend. I've only had friends that were just good friends. The opposite sex and I never seem to work together (no pun or other inference intended)." >>>>> On 29 Nov 89 17:32:28 GMT, cerebus@bucsf.bu.edu (Tim Miller) said: Tim> "To Gilly; you are not alone!" Tim> "I find myself in a similar position; I have never been able to Tim> form relationships above the level of 'good friend' with anyone of the Tim> opposite sex. [...] I prefer to get to know Tim> someone I find attractive before I ask that person out; unfortunately, Tim> that puts me in the 'friend' position early on in the game." "Neither, Tim, are you. (Don't you love how many bucsf people agree with Gilly?) This is my current situation, and has always been this way. Heck. I've only been on two dates in my life. The first was to the Choir Banquet, and she asked me because I didn't have the guts to ask the person I really wanted to go with. (I enjoyed the Banquet and had a better time with this girl than I probably would have with the other girl, but that is another story.) The second one was just to meet someone from MIT in person, after I had met them over IRC. I am currently pursuing a relationship, but I don't think it will work. (I'll explain in a bit.)" >>>>> On 29 Nov 89 21:46:02 GMT, hammer@pawl.rpi.edu (James A. Damour) said: James> Gilly, I believe you have just hit upon the basic crux of male/female James> relations. Sure people look for others that are sexually compatable, but James> what I (and most people, I believe) *really* want is someone who they James> are willing to send eternity with. People want someone who is fun to be James> with... someone they can tell all their secret fears and desires to. James> But I James> am NOT alone. I have friends who are fun to be with (and that helps, James> but not enuf) and I have alt.callahans where I can find comfort from James> people who care about me, even if they have never heard of me before. "No, James, you are not. My future spouse must be a soulmate because if that person does not understand *everything* about me, the relationship will not work for long. I do look for people that I can spend an eternity with. I may be only 18, but I need to find someone that is to be my soulmate. Damn, I have a lot of love, but no one to give it to. Conversely, I must be the same to her. Currently, all I have are good friends (quasi-soulmates). I wish that I could have more than that, because I feel incomplete, and friends just aren't enough to satisfy that." >>>>> On 29 Nov 89 19:45:47 GMT, jmdoyle@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Jennifer >>>>> Mary Doyle) said: Jennifer> Oh God, *YES*! I *know* what you mean! I'm 20, also (21 in 4 days) Jennifer> and haven't had a real boyfriend, well, ever, I suppose, though 1 or Jennifer> 2 that have come close. [...] I feel like there's no one who Jennifer> understands me, sometimes, and no one I can learn from and teach to. Jennifer> I'm nice, too, and I listen, and I want to be there for someone. Jennifer> Everyone around me has a real soulmate, or at least a boy/girlfriend, Jennifer> or a possibility. I don't even have a possibility. "Happy belated birthday, Jennifer. I cannot believe we all missed that. How does it feel to be legal? (-8 I am in a situation similar to you, because everyone around me has someone back home that fit the description of soulmate or boy/girlfriend, or have a possibility up here. I have someone that I wish to be more than friends with, but for reasons I'll tell in a minute, it probably won't happen." >>>>> On 30 Nov 89 00:16:48 GMT, MICHAEL@MAINE said: Michael> "[...] I lacked enough of [self-confidence] to Michael> court rejection by asking out people who were NOT already my Michael> friends. Michael> "You'll get there. And if you don't expect every date to turn into Michael> a steady or every relationship to last until death do you part, Michael> you'll even have fun getting there." "I might lack that self-confidence, but this girl I like (I mean really, really like) I met in EK100--the engineering school's freshman seminar. I didn't know anything about her (I still don't know much about her) but some gut-level feeling said there was something special about her. Unfortunately, about three weeks into our friendship, I decided to tell her how I felt about her because it was tearing me up inside. It turns out that she feels the same way about someone she met over the summer. I really care for this girl, but it always seems that I find someone who is interested in someone else! Further, she does not think we should be more than friends." >>>>> On 30 Nov 89 08:19:10 GMT, greywolf@unisoft.UUCP (The Grey Wolf) said: greywolf> "To soulmates, indeed, for they do greywolf> exist for those who are ready to find them. It may take a while, greywolf> and you might find out that you just cannot be with them in the greywolf> end. "Aye, that is often the case, GreyWolf. I am ready to find one, and I believe I have found someone who could be a soulmate, but like I said above, I may have ruined it." greywolf> "I am but four and twenty years of age now... sometimes it may greywolf> seem like I'm just a kid, for in many ways I am, and in others, greywolf> I've been from one end of this universe to the other, and I greywolf> instinctively know what people feel and why. "I understand that completely. I am very much the same way, but I have not been able to fine-tune my 'gift' to figure out why." greywolf> "My mom used to kid me about being five going on forty, and even greywolf> my father tells me I was born eighty... "I was never told that, but people always think I'm older than I am! I look about 23, and am told I act even older most of the time. I've been told a couple of times that I don't know how to live, but that simply is not true. I don't know how to be an 18 year old because people expect so much more from me." "Shadow talks about the fact that FRIENDS are hard to come by without worrying about boy/girlfriends, and how we are like islands with walls. I must admit that I understand his analogy, and even practice it to a small degree, but I firmly believe that I let more people beyond the walls than others. I am a very open person, often to anyone who will listen. I am a person that tries to have nothing to hide because nothing is worth hiding. The Bible says (a book I firmly believe in, and this is paraphrased) that nothing is worth anything if you do not give it away. If you give something away, you will receive it in kind one-hundred fold. That is why I wish I could give my love away. I feel incomplete otherwise." Shadow> Serves me right for writing what I did. I Shadow> only hope I haven't screwed up our friendship too terribly. "I'm afraid what I wrote (emailed it because I did not feel comfortable talking to her face-to-face...too many butterflies) did ruin my possibilities for Stephanie. She's a pretty girl, no Venus, mind you, but I find her prettier than any Venus. I don't understand what that gut-feeling means, I don't even know why I get it, but I know that it means something and that the person I feel it for is special. "Diana and Pixel talk about soulmates not necessarily being lifemates. I agree. Soulmates are not necessarily Lifemates, but my Lifemate must also be a Soulmate, and that may be the difference. "I've just about run my spiel. I've been saving this post to a file as well, and it is already 10K...I hate to see what the number of lines will be. Maybe I should have started with 'Friends, Callahandians (is that right?), everyone, lend me your ears...' (-8 I've tugged for enough time, but I do have one last thing to say before my toast. I'm not giving up on this girl, but I'm going a lot slower in my revelations. I don't think it will work based on several conversations with her, but, I can still hope." Magyk finally picks up the glass next to him. "To Callahans! May it exist for a long, long time." He drinks the liquid inside, and just about chokes on it. "A Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster! Now that's a non-alcoholic killer for you! (-8" He throws the glass into the fire, where it shatters into a thousand shards. He moves off into the corner, and starts making arcane gestures. You begin to see the form of Jilara once again...and as he continues, she starts coming in stronger... -- Magyk (austin@bucsf.bu.edu,@bucsb.bu.edu,engc8vc@buacca.bu.edu) 700 Commonwealth Box 2094, Boston, MA 02215 "Yes, I'm the crazy person running an EMail AD&D adventure!" -- Me Path: mit-eddie!bu-cs!austin From: austin@bucsf.bu.edu (Austin Ziegler) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: Jilara Speaks (Relationships) Message-ID: <43969@bu-cs.BU.EDU> Date: 5 Dec 89 21:59:35 GMT Sender: daemon@bu-cs.BU.EDU Distribution: alt Organization: Boston University College of Engineering Lines: 56 As he completes the spell, Magyk look weary, and sits down in a chair to listen. "Some of this may be redundant because Jilara's mail has been going crazy lately, but...here go the posts..." Jilara sighs. "All you folks talking relationships puts me in mind of that problem about easy answers. I've told you I've got a LOT of really nasty stuff in my past. Never realized how nasty until the flashbacks and stuff started. I keep making my therapist flinch. Now, this does some strange stuff to your relationships, your friendships. Lot of folks would like to, but they just can't relate. Men that don't have ghosts and shadows in their own pasts generally can't really get into my world space. They're wonderful people, but their worlds are pastel, and mine is all sharp edges and primary colors. It's the empathy factor, that kind of understanding. And it's the greatest strength and weakness. "To explain, that empathy is based on a messed-up psyche. Me, I've worked through mine, face the fear. It's okay when you're drinking buddies, but intimate friendships hit that primal-scream level for people who've spent an extended visit in Hell. Well, last spring, I met a true kindred spirit, a wonderful FRIEND. He moved in with me, but there were elements that started to freak him---like us trying to protect each other. The protectee feels suffocated. Both of us. And I was starting to get a little weird and having flashbacks---nothing to do with him, but he saw it as an attempt to manipulate him. And we couldn't talk about problems, because we were both too afraid of violence. In our respective households, talking about problems meant a person would fly out of control and hurt you. You see, your mind and your emotions don't operate on the same frequency. You can know something intellectually, but your body knows it emotionally, knows its going to get abused. And then, one day, he left. Just left. Why? Because, he told me, he had spent all his life trying not to get too attached to anyone or anything, because they all got snatched away from you. And if you cared too much, it hurt more when you lost them. If I'd just been a lover, it would have been okay. But I was a friend, and he'd tried hard not to let any "friends" get close. Then he could walk away and it wouldn't hurt. I'd already gotten way too close, and he had to get out now, before he got closer, and losing me would hurt more than he could bear. Please understand, he said." She shook her head. "I do, but keep facing fear, though my heart pounds and I shake." She fishes in her worn leather jacket and pulls out a twenty. "A round on me," she says, tossing it on the bar. "To Cowardice, the strength of fools, and all those who eternally play Lord Jim, facing the fear of living. I guess, since we've had the tin woodman, we might as well throw in the cowardly lion. Anybody here got some brains? Or a toast to Kansas?" Jilara jane@fsdcupt.csd.mot.COM (should work, but...also try) motcsd!fsdcupt!jane@apple.com -- Magyk (austin@bucsf.bu.edu,@bucsb.bu.edu,engc8vc@buacca.bu.edu) 700 Commonwealth Box 2094, Boston, MA 02215 "The Lord bless you and keep you/and lift His countenace upon you/ and give you peace/and be gracious unto you./Amen." --The Lord Bless You and Keep You, a traditional benediction Path: mit-eddie!bu-cs!austin From: austin@bucsf.bu.edu (Austin Ziegler) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: Jilara Speaks (Relationships II) Message-ID: <43971@bu-cs.BU.EDU> Date: 5 Dec 89 22:03:56 GMT Sender: daemon@bu-cs.BU.EDU Distribution: alt Organization: Boston University College of Engineering Lines: 55 Jilara sighs. "Can I put in my two bits on relationships, love, friendship, all that? You see, I've got a couple problems. One of them is I want intimate FRIENDS, not this superficial stuff that passes for being "in love." The other is that my world is not the same as most. I've been through a LOT of really nasty stuff, stuff that makes even my therapist wince, sometimes. I need some degree of empathy, people who understand my world. Most folks live in pastel worlds, while mine is sharp edges and primary colors. And they like them soft-focus and pastel. I can't live like that. People think that if you're in that soft-focus world, you're safe, protected. That's supposed to make you happy. But I need the unmuted experience to feel alive. "Met a guy this spring...a real kindred spirit and a true friend. We lived together over the summer. Problem was, he was like me---a great strength and great weakness to our relationship. We couldn't talk about problems, because we're both so afraid of violence, both physical and emotional. Talking about problems means people fly into rages and vent it on those around them. I know, intellectually it's not like that, but the body is on a different frequency. Your emotions know different things from your mind, your heartbeat escalates, you get tense and dizzy, and the blood hums in your ears... And then one day, he just left. Half an hour notice. Why? Because I was a friend, he said. And he'd spent his entire life trying not to care about anything or anyone, because then it hurt too much when you lose them. If I'd been just a lover, he could have dealt with it---but he was caring too much about me. Which meant he had to leave, before it got to a point where he would be devastated to lose me. Please understand, he said. No, we couldn't talk. I could, but he wouldn't. Said it would only make things worse." She sighs. "Not like it hasn't happened to me a couple times before. Friends who get too close, then panic and run, afraid of loss. Somehow, it's easier when you're in control of it, right?" she laughs cynically. "And they justify it, saying it's for the best. Whose best? Mine, yours, anyone's? They're so afraid they can't even live. Maybe that's what's behind people being afraid of the loss in my eyes..." She fishes in the pocket of her leather jacket, pulls out a twenty, walks to the bar and tosses it down. "Hey, Callahan, I'm setting up a round. Whatever these good folks like! If you need more, call me. I'm not sure who's smashing glassware." Her scotch in hand, she wanders back to the fireplace. "Funny thing about this stuff," she murmurs. "I don't really like the alcohol in it because it takes away those sharp edges. But I love the taste of it, that tang of peatbogs and rain. Some people drink alcohol for the haze, others because that's the only time they allow themselves to feel anything. I should warn you that toasting is dangerous. All that glass flying around, you know. You might get cut, bleed a little. But anyway," she raises her glass to the room, and her voice raises to a force that echos, "To Cowardice, the courage of fools! And to all of us who dare to live, despite everything! Slante!" CRASH! A lot of glasses follow hers. ---Jilara, who may be at jane@fsdcupt.csd.mot.COM, or might be at motcsd!fsdcupt!jane@apple.com (our system is functioning oddly) Path: mit-eddie!bu-cs!austin From: austin@bucsf.bu.edu (Austin Ziegler) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: Jilara and Who she is... Message-ID: <43973@bu-cs.BU.EDU> Date: 5 Dec 89 22:06:47 GMT Sender: daemon@bu-cs.BU.EDU Distribution: alt Organization: Boston University College of Engineering Lines: 35 Okay, who are we REALLY? Gee, is this like when everyone saw Green Arrow (gasp!) without his mask, and he found out he'd been fooling no one? Name: Jane G. Beckman/Jilara the Exile and numerous aliases Hobbies: Time Travel (SCA, Civil War, Historic Reinactment, Rendezvous, etc.) Writing--letters, books, stories, articles, graffiti... (this is more than a hobby: this is my job. I also write about computers.) Textile arts. Costuming. Historic cooking. Martial arts. Ridiculous outdoorsy stuff. Step-dancing to bluegrass in saloons. Saving the World. Age: 35 Appearance: pretty much as you see me. Waist-length blond hair, grey eyes, large glasses, athletic body (5'7" and 150 lbs of solid muscle). I also look a lot younger than my physical age. And yes, I wear a black leather jacket and earcuffs. My style is swashbuckling. (I'm known to wear suits to work---with earcuffs!) Favorite music: C.W. McCall, anything Celtic, Chris de Burgh, Steeleye Span, anything by Lief Sorbye and/or Tempest (who's he/they? Ask me!) Favorite movies: Bladerunner, Flesh and Blood, LadyHawke, Clint Eastwood westerns, and most stuff with Harrison Ford. Philosophical base: Closet utopianist. Zen/shinto/pagan/christian mystic. No kidding. I promised Magyk a tale of my friend Mike. Mike is merchandising a new self-improvement course: "Change your future through phrenology!" You see, a phrenologist can tell your future through the bumps on your head. You shave your head, make a plaster cast, and he'll tell you how to change your future. You have your choice of two kits: the delux kit with clamps and vices, or the basic kit with a mallet. Pound on your head, and change your future! That simple. Watch for new products dealing with this exciting new concept! jane@fsdcupt.csd.cot.COM motcsd!fsdcupt!jane@apple.com Path: mit-eddie!bu-cs!austin From: austin@bucsf.bu.edu (Austin Ziegler) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: Fantasy <> Message-ID: <43975@bu-cs.BU.EDU> Date: 5 Dec 89 22:14:40 GMT Sender: daemon@bu-cs.BU.EDU Distribution: alt Organization: Boston University College of Engineering Lines: 13 Durin the writing of a paper talking about computers and socialization (another tale, that), I came up with the idea of Fantasy Puns. So many of us have Fafhrd quite well with fantasy personas, so I decided that I Shannara let this one go by, no matter how much it Kurtz. This one could be a Stormbringer, but I Deryni know... Brought to you from the fantastic mind of.... (-8 Magyk (austin@bucsf.bu.edu,@bucsb.bu.edu,engc8vc@buacca.bu.edu) 700 Commonwealth Box 2094, Boston, MA 02215 "Your mother was a hampster and your father smelt of elderberries!" --Monty Python and the Holy Grail Path: mit-eddie!bu-cs!austin From: austin@bucsf.bu.edu (Austin Ziegler) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: Magyk's Real Identity Message-ID: <43977@bu-cs.BU.EDU> Date: 5 Dec 89 22:33:06 GMT Sender: daemon@bu-cs.BU.EDU Distribution: alt Organization: Boston University College of Engineering Lines: 33 Name: Austin Herbert Ziegler, III (Magyk/Wyzard) Hobbies: Computers, Role-Playing Games, Reading (Fantasy/SF--I've bought and read 23 books since I've been at BU), Singing, Piano. Job: Work Study in the Enrollment Services Administration--I'm in the group that takes care of (what else...) the computers!!! Age: 18 Sex: Male Height: 5'9" Weight: 220-230 lbs (so? I'm overweight. I feel good about myself anyway) Hair: Blond, above the ears. Eyes: Blue. *Very near sighted* (For those of you who know what the prescriptions mean, I have about a -9.0 in *both* eyes...for those of you who don't, I am about 3x legally blind... (-8 ) Favorite Food: Pizza! Reeses Peanut Butter Cups! Diet Coke! (I like the flavor better (-8 ) Favorite Color: Blue Favorite TV Shows: What's TV? Is that the box that has pictures in it that I've not really been able to look at for several months? Favorite Movies: Princess Bride, BatMan, GhostBusters, GhostBusters II, The Story of Women, Star Wars (et al.), ET, ... College: Boston University College of Engineering Major: Computer Engineering Location: Boston, Massachusetts Home: San Antonio, Texas Other Information: My dad is military, and a Chaplain (Presbyterian). Magyk (austin@bucsf.bu.edu,@bucsb.bu.edu,engc8vc@buacca.bu.edu) 700 Commonwealth Box 2094, Boston, MA 02215 "The Lord bless you and keep you/and lift His countenace upon you/ and give you peace/and be gracious unto you./Amen." --The Lord Bless You and Keep You, a traditional benediction Path: mit-eddie!bu-cs!lll-winken!uunet!shelby!csli!cphoenix From: cphoenix@csli.Stanford.EDU (Chris Phoenix) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: Re: Another Toast (won't I ever get change?) Message-ID: <11290@csli.Stanford.EDU> Date: 6 Dec 89 00:18:03 GMT References: <0ZStmYa00V4C05h0o8@andrew.cmu.edu> Sender: news@csli.Stanford.EDU Reply-To: cphoenix@csli.stanford.edu (Chris Phoenix) Organization: Center for the Study of Language and Information, Stanford U. Lines: 20 In article <0ZStmYa00V4C05h0o8@andrew.cmu.edu> gh1g+@andrew.cmu.edu (Gregg Fielding Hinderstein) writes: >I have a problem I've never heard of anyone else having, and it's >affecting my whole life. The problem is that I intimidate people. ... Wow! It's great to know I'm not alone! Gregg, I intimidate people too. Mainly girls. (No, I'm not being sexist. Most females aren't girls, but the ones I'm talking about are...) Once, some frosh literally ran out of the room (not even my room) when I asked them "Could I have a really honest answer to a question?" I suppose asking someone for honesty is Not a Good Thing socially, but still... My solution was to hang out with women instead of girls. Many of my female friends are grad students, as is my girlfriend. Do you intimidate everyone you meet, or is it generally the younger or less mature ones who are more intimidated? -- Chris Phoenix | A harp is a nude piano. cphoenix@csli.Stanford.EDU | "More input! More input!" Life is the only game in which the object of the game is to learn the rules. Disclaimer: I want a kinder, gentler net with a thousand pints of lite. Path: mit-eddie!snorkelwacker!think!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!wuarchive!uunet!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!pt.cs.cmu.edu!abl From: abl@dart.ece.cmu.edu (Antonio Leal) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: Shaggy dog on punday night Message-ID: Date: 6 Dec 89 13:24:15 GMT Distribution: alt Organization: Carnegie Mellon University Lines: 19 Coming out of Callahan's, I paused a moment to turn up the collar of my leather jacket, and tuck my hat down firmly against the brisk wind. I saw a guy coming down the street, with a pooch on a leash; the man was pretty unsteady, weaving his way down the sidewalk like he were on a ship's deck. I considered going back in and asking for Pyotr's assistance, but by then he had come up to me, and noticed my inquisitive look. "I'm not drunk", he said. They all say that. But he didn't sound drunk. "You don't sound drunk", I said, penetratingly. "How ... ?" "It's Ralph Vaughan", he explained, waving at the animal. "He makes me liszt like szell, because it's the tail that wagners the dog. Haydn't you noticed ?" -- Antonio B. Leal Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering Bell: [412] 268-2937 Carnegie Mellon University Net: abl@maxwell.ece.cmu.edu Pittsburgh, PA. 15213 U.S.A. Path: mit-eddie!snorkelwacker!usc!samsung!uunet!philmtl!philabs!ttidca!hollombe From: hollombe@ttidca.TTI.COM (The Polymath) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: Re: Soulmates, exiles, life, the Universe, everything... Keywords: Life sucks Message-ID: <8233@ttidca.TTI.COM> Date: 6 Dec 89 02:15:45 GMT References: <9319@microsoft.UUCP> Reply-To: hollombe@ttidcb.tti.com (The Polymath) Organization: The Cat Factory Lines: 46 D*mn! There's something about this place that triggers all my old helping instincts. I thought I'd lost them long ago. Maybe it's the safety of the net. (Ouch! Keep your peanuts to yourselves! (-: (-: ). In article <9319@microsoft.UUCP> t-phils@microsoft.UUCP (the Eternal Stranger) writes: }... I've spent basically all my life alone. .... What a familiar line. Have you been reading my mind? I say that all the time, though less often of late. }... I'm sick and tired of being alone, but I can't do anything }about it ... I suspect you can, but you may not be comfortable with doing what needs to be done. It's scary, going out among strangers to seek friends. There's always that nagging fear of rejection. It's worth doing though, and you've picked a good place to start. I don't think anyone here's going to reject you. One technique I've used over the years is just to become a "regular" at some venue. It doesn't much matter where (pick a place you'd like to be anyway, of course). Just keep showing up. Pretty soon you get to know the other regulars. Familiarity kills fear. Eventually you look up and realize they're all your friends. It takes some time and patience, but it works. No toast this time. Hang in there. P.S.: I finally got through to Jilara using the following paths: ttidca!pyramid!apple!motcsd!fsdcupt!jane ttidca!csun!hplabs!rutgers!apple!motcsd!fsdcupt!jane The motcsd mailer doesn't seem to like the '@' and '%' notations, but hard-coded paths work ok. Check the header of your bounced messages to see the path they followed to motcsd and construct the address from that. -- The Polymath (aka: Jerry Hollombe, hollombe@ttidca.tti.com) Illegitimis non Citicorp(+)TTI Carborundum 3100 Ocean Park Blvd. (213) 452-9191, x2483 Santa Monica, CA 90405 {csun|philabs|psivax}!ttidca!hollombe