Path: mit-eddie!rutgers!shelby!csli!cphoenix From: cphoenix@csli.Stanford.EDU (Chris Phoenix) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: Re: Needlessness (was Re: The Unbeliever's Tale) Message-ID: <11529@csli.Stanford.EDU> Date: 23 Dec 89 21:34:59 GMT References: <5161.257f9900@elroy.uh.edu> <2700@unisoft.UUCP> <1989Dec13.201551.8648@athena.mit.edu> <4497@hplabsz.HPL.HP.COM> <5849@cps3xx.UUCP> <1989Dec21.191007.22789@athena.mit.edu> 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: 40 In article <1989Dec21.191007.22789@athena.mit.edu> erspert@athena.mit.edu (Ellen R. Spertus) writes: >It doesn't. I think there's a pun on the world "desperate". Being >desperate for a boy/girlfriend colloquially means that one would >accept anyone. Of course anyone with self-respect will stay away from >such a person. If desperation causes someone to hit on every MOTAS >they meet, of course this is going to lessen their chances of success. >No matter how attracted I was to someone who would accept just anyone, >I would not be his girlfriend. This makes me really curious... I've been in the state of being willing to accept almost anyone. I had *some* discretion still, and I wouldn't have gone for marriage on the second date, but if a random female had been interested and halfway nice, I would have given it a try. Now, I'm not in that state anymore, partially since I now have a SO, partially since I gave up on having one before I met her. But I don't feel any different, and I don't think I would behave much differently in a relationship started during that desperate time. I guess my question is, how does self-respect cause you to stay away from a person like I was/am? Is it because it would be "too easy"? Or because you're afraid that he's going out with you just because you're letting him? Or is it something else? Picture this scenario. Someone like you meets someone like me, and we're attracted to each other. (I'm not saying we automatically would be, but let's suppose...) If I realize you're attracted, I might be cool and friendly for a few days, and gradually warm up, or I might start showing my attraction to you right away. In the first case, we have a chance at a relationship. In the second, you see me immediately hitting on you, and so you run away. By being more honest, I've lost you. We're both attracted to each other, but since I didn't try to cover it up, I scare you away--even though you want me to (eventually) be attracted to you! This is how it looks from my point of view. Can you explain how it looks from yours? What would you think if you met me, we were mutually attracted, and I started showing it? Even if it was just by being friendly and trying to spend time with you? -- 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!rutgers!shelby!csli!cphoenix From: cphoenix@csli.Stanford.EDU (Chris Phoenix) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: Suicide (was Re: end of growing up) Message-ID: <11530@csli.Stanford.EDU> Date: 23 Dec 89 21:56:29 GMT References: <10291@pucc.Princeton.EDU> <20940017@hplred.HP.COM> <7396@pt.cs.cmu.edu> 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: 30 In article <7396@pt.cs.cmu.edu> mjc@nl.cs.cmu.edu (Monica Cellio) writes: >So go ahead and consider it. It's even more stressful to try *not* to think >about "evil, unthinkable thoughts" anyway. But try to step back from the >situation and consider the long term implications. No one knows if we get >another chance, so I'd hang on until I was *sure* it was going to get worse >rather than better. There may be cases where suicide is the best option. At the moment I can't think of any other than painful drawn-out terminal illness, or threat of extreme torture. I'd hang on a lot longer than you would, and encourage others to do the same--PLEASE! The thing to remember is that when you're really depressed, when you think things will never get better, is the time when you can be *sure* you're not thinking straight. Even if things never will get better, there is *NO WAY* to know this! Especially not when you are already convinced that life sucks. At a minimum, talk to friends. Try to convince them that killing yourself is the right thing to do. If you can't, DON'T DO IT! There's a good chance that they'll be able to see some way out that you've missed. We all, always, miss things. Think what a tragedy it would be to throw your life away when things actually could get better. It's too big a loss for one person to decide on their own. I can almost guarantee, if you decide to kill yourself because things will never get better, you've made the wrong decision. -- 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!mit-amt!snorkelwacker!usc!samsung!uunet!crdgw1!sixhub!davidsen From: davidsen@sixhub.UUCP (Wm E. Davidsen Jr) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: Re: Greetings fellow Sensitives Message-ID: <235@sixhub.UUCP> Date: 24 Dec 89 02:45:54 GMT References: <1989Dec19.192010.3800@sun.soe.clarkson.edu> <45006@bu-cs.BU.EDU> Reply-To: davidsen@sixhub.UUCP (bill davidsen) Organization: *IX Public Access UNIX, Schenectady NY Lines: 17 In article <45006@bu-cs.BU.EDU> corum@bucsf.bu.edu (Gilbert Loomis) writes: | > I don't know if anyone has thought of it, but someone should write to | > Spider and let him know about [the Place]... maybe he can come up with | > a way to join... | | "*yesyesyes* Any sysop types out there?? There are lot's of us out here... but where is Spider? Canada? Philadelphia? This is a public access system - any number can play. -- bill davidsen - sysop *IX BBS and Public Access UNIX davidsen@sixhub.uucp ...!uunet!crdgw1!sixhub!davidsen "Getting old is bad, but it beats the hell out of the alternative" -anon Path: mit-eddie!mit-amt!snorkelwacker!usc!samsung!uunet!littlei!percy!parsely!bucket!leonard From: leonard@bucket.UUCP (Leonard Erickson) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: Re: Interconnectedness Keywords: long-winded as usual Message-ID: <1834@bucket.UUCP> Date: 23 Dec 89 07:03:02 GMT References: <1802@bucket.UUCP> <*`'&2#@rpi.edu> Distribution: usa Organization: Rick's Home-Grown UNIX; Portland, OR. Lines: 60 jefyoung@pawl.rpi.edu (Jeffrey Young) writes: >"It would not be unfair to say," he says slowly, "that the armor I wear >upon my body symbolizes the armor that he who I represent here wears >upon his heart and soul. I think he would appreciate that poem greatly, >for he has lived it himself." He raises the glass. >"To all those who armor their hearts - may they all learn to live without >their armor... may they all find love that will allow them to live >without the need for armor." >--- > Phil Stracchino t-phils@microsoft.UUCP > Eternal Stranger and Digital Renaissance Man for Hire > ------------------------------------------------------------- >(posted for Alaric by Taldin) Thank you. I rarely write such works, as the only way I seem to be able to is to let the feelings pour out into the file... and then whern the storm passes, go back and polish it until it expresses what I was feeling properly. Pain, loneliness, uncertainty, fear, and exasperation have all figured in the few poems I've written. I do not enjoy writing them, though I'm glad that they may help others. Why then did I write them? When the feelings get too strong, and you have no one close enough to share them with, you have to do something. Or else something inside is liable to snap! My solution to the insoluble was to pour it out as if there was someone. Hopefully, I'll not need to resort to this again, as I have at least one person to share some of it with. And mayhap more in the persons of all those who gather here to uphold the LAW: Shared pain is lessened, shared joy is increased. ps. obviously she didn't give me the death blow.... :-) Here's one for those of us who wait.... -------------- Waiting I stand, my arms outstreched to you You stand, undecided, uncertain I wait, you ponder Seconds pass as if they were centuries Still I wait and hope.... Praying that you will come to me Dreading that you will turn away Is this love? I know not the answer, but my heart aches I stand, my arms outstreched to you ... -- Leonard Erickson ...!tektronix!reed!percival!bucket!leonard CIS: [70465,203] "I'm all in favor of keeping dangerous weapons out of the hands of fools. Let's start with typewriters." -- Solomon Short Path: mit-eddie!snorkelwacker!usc!samsung!uunet!littlei!percy!parsely!bucket!leonard From: leonard@bucket.UUCP (Leonard Erickson) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: Re: Logic? Keywords: logic suicide Message-ID: <1835@bucket.UUCP> Date: 23 Dec 89 07:17:58 GMT References: <12303@phoenix.Princeton.EDU> Organization: Rick's Home-Grown UNIX; Portland, OR. Lines: 26 I'll throw in my two cents about suicide. Back in junior high I was *seriously* considering it. The reasons aren't important. What I do remember is that at one point I had the thought "That'll show them!" Well, I sort of pulled myself up short at that. "If I'm right and they *really* don't give a damn, then they won't care if I kill myself. And if I'm wrong, I'll be hurting them terribly. And they won't deserve it...." I decided that while I still didn't really see any point in going on in such a lousy situation, killing myself wouldn't solve anything. I still (20 years later!) have periods where I wonder why I bother but I still can't convince myself that killing myself would do anything more than make it *stop*. I'd rather take the chance that things will get better down the road. True, they could get worse, but if they do, I can always change my mind... but so far my *logic* still says there's no percentage in suicide. Just don't try to call this attitude "hope". -- Leonard Erickson ...!tektronix!reed!percival!bucket!leonard CIS: [70465,203] "I'm all in favor of keeping dangerous weapons out of the hands of fools. Let's start with typewriters." -- Solomon Short Path: mit-eddie!bu-cs!lll-winken!uwm.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!usc!sdsu!ucsd!ucsdhub!hp-sdd!hplabs!hpfcso!hpcndaw!hpcndm!jason From: jason@hpcndm.CND.HP.COM (Jason Zions) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: Re: end of growing up Message-ID: <125990001@hpcndm.CND.HP.COM> Date: 22 Dec 89 23:55:49 GMT References: <6301@ucdavis.ucdavis.edu> Organization: HP Colorado Networks Division Lines: 51 >> "Whatever you do, discard suicide as an option, immediately. You can >> live without her. You won't have to, but if everything came crashing down >> around your ears, you could go on. You *could*. Use logic, if you wish, as >> there are a couple of beautiful arguments for living, but it's better to just >> feel it in your gut. > >I wish you'd tell me what those couple of beautiful arguments for living >are. Even when I'm not suicidal, I can't construct an argument that >convinces me that suicide is not an option. Guess you could say that I >never feel it in my gut... (From a dark corner a man walk towards the previous speaker. Intros later; talk now!) Ohboy. Hearing *that* does make me feel something in my gut; more than a bit scared. Talking with people feeling suicidal is supposed to do that to me, though; reminds me how important anything I say might be. Will you promise to read all of this before reacting to any of it? It may take two or three sentences to express a thought, and the first one or two sentences out of the context of the third might be easily misinterpreted... I *can't* tell you what those couple of beautiful arguments for living are. No other person can. But, I *can* tell you that those reasons almost certainly exist, and I can promise that there are more than a few people willing to help you in whatever way they can to find those reasons. People call 'em headshrinkers, or psychologists, or therapists; I prefer to think of them as partners in looking for ones' self. You say that you haven't been able to convince yourself that suicide is not an option. If it's any comfort, it's pretty rational to believe that. Most people are rational, even in the act of committing suicide; at the time the person acts, suicide looks like the best solution to the problem, the best visible, attainable way of ending the pain. It takes a little leap of faith to believe that the situation might not really be the way it appears; with a little more time, a little more distance, a little more support, a better solution will probably appear. I guess I'd beg you to think about that; consider talking to someone with some training, some knowledge, some understanding. That you'd consider giving that person some time, time to talk with you, time to help you explore some options you might not think you had. At the very least, drop me a brief one-line note to let me know you're still okay. It's trite for me to say "I care" at this point, as it's expected; it also happens to be true, but you can only know that by making a small leap of faith. I really do care; and I really would like to know you're still trying to make it. Jazz jason@hpcndr or Jason ZIONS / HPF100 Path: mit-eddie!rutgers!usc!wuarchive!uunet!crdgw1!sixhub!davidsen From: davidsen@sixhub.UUCP (Wm E. Davidsen Jr) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: Re: Logic? Keywords: logic suicide Message-ID: <236@sixhub.UUCP> Date: 24 Dec 89 05:50:32 GMT References: <12303@phoenix.Princeton.EDU> <1835@bucket.UUCP> Reply-To: davidsen@sixhub.UUCP (bill davidsen) Organization: *IX Public Access UNIX, Schenectady NY Lines: 69 Away from the fire two men sit at a table. One is in his 40's, sipping a Newcastle Ale, and the other is a young man who might *just* be old enough to vote. Since the legal age is a floating frame of reference here, he was sipping one of those watery brews that called itself some kind of light. The older man pulls at his ale and continues what he was saying. "It's not just that things will get better. If you mean that right now you're hurting because someone left you, she probably won't come back." "Thanks," says the young man, "that really cheers me up." "There will be other women in your life. Life getting better doesn't mean that you will get this one back, it means that you will stop wanting her back. Maybe you'll find another right away, and maybe later. Maybe you'll just get bored feeling sorry for yourself. "Listen, my life isn't getting any better. When I was thirty five I had paid off my house and cars, my children's education was paid and in the bank, and I told my wife that this was the best time of our lives. I was right. Now we're getting older, the kids are grown, when I get up in the morning the creaking isn't the floorboards, so what? Some time has got to be the best in your life, should you kill yourself on your your wedding day? Or the day your first kid is born? "You can't treat the days of your life like a football team, always looking for number one. You have a good life. You're not crippled, or in poor health, you're not so ugly that children cry. You've got enough education to get a decent job, even if you dropped out of school this minute. The only reason you feel so down is that you had it good for a while and built up a false idea of what life was going to be. Everybody helped you do it, too, didn't they? They told you things were gonna be fine and you believed them. They lied." "All I want is to have a girlfriend and get through school," the young man protested. "Is that such a high expectation? Is that unreasonable?" "And is it all over now? Did she tattoo 'loser' on your forehead? Did she take your brain so you can't study? Here you are with a whole bunch of friends who want you to feel better, who DO care about you, and all you can see is that one person didn't want the same committment you did. Maybe she did it to make *her* life better, not because she wanted to hurt you. "Y'ever think how easy it is to hurt somebody without meaning to? I mean, she might never have thought about what leaving would do to you, just like you don't seem to think much about what your bailing out now would do to your family and friends. "Anyway, if you keep on being so gloomy you'll bore yourself to death, and that's a hell of a way to go." "Well, I won't do anything until after the holidays. I don't want to spoil things for my family." He paused, "and my friends, too. Everybody here would be bummed out if I did anything... rash... I mean at this time of the year." The young man got up. "I gotta go," he said, "I promised to meet some people. Thanks for the beer, and Merry Christmas." "And a happy New Year," the tall bearded man said, "I gotta go, too." He drained the ale and walked briskly back toward the men's room. "Damn ale goes right throught me." -- bill davidsen - sysop *IX BBS and Public Access UNIX davidsen@sixhub.uucp ...!uunet!crdgw1!sixhub!davidsen "Getting old is bad, but it beats the hell out of the alternative" -anon Path: mit-eddie!snorkelwacker!think!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!uwm.edu!lakesys!davek From: davek@lakesys.lakesys.com (Dave Kraft) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: Christmas Wishes Message-ID: <1461@lakesys.lakesys.com> Date: 24 Dec 89 04:17:20 GMT Organization: Lake Systems - Milwaukee, Wisconsin Lines: 37 As the door opens and he walks in, a gust of cold air blasts through as well, and he quickly shuts the door behind him. He nods to those he recognizes, and steps up to the bar, and asks Mike for an egg nog. Then he finds an empty table (which isn't an easy task in the Place), and sets his belongings down. One of the more remarkable is his Yamaha PSS-170 keyboard. As he searches the corners for an electrical outlet, he bumps into people who are luring there and nods a greeting. Once he finds an outlet, he strings the cord to the chalk line, and drapes the keyboard (with guitar-like straps) around himself. "Hi all, just a 'short' toast on Christmas eve-eve. My toast is in the form of a song. I beleive all (or most) of you know this, but, I have songsheets at my table if any care to join in. Here goes: What Child is this, who laid to rest, on Mary's lab is sleeping? Whom angels greet with anthems sweet, while shepherds watch are keeping This, this is Christ, the King, whom shepherds guard and angels sing: This, this is Christ, the King, the Babe, the Son of Mary." (used without permission) "May each of you have a joyous holiday season. Be that either home or away from home, with friends and/or loved ones, or alone. Merry Christmas. Also, try not to lose the Babe of Bethlehem in the christmas wrappings. One more thing: If you drink during this holiday season, _please_ don't drive, and if you drive, _please_ don't drink. Thanks." He finds his egg nog, drinks it down in one gulp and throws the glass into the fireplace, but instead of crashing, it softly lands in the middle of the fire, and just sits there for a moment, and then turns into a solid gold goblet. He carefully picks it up from the fire, and hands it to Mike. "Merry Christmas, Mike". Then, he collects up his belongings, and drifts into the shadows. -- davek@lakesys.lakesys.com uunet!marque!lakesys!davek ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Empathy is sort of like telepathy's kid brother" -- taken from "Stardance" by Spider and Jeanne Robinson Path: mit-eddie!rutgers!njin!princeton!phoenix!mfterman From: mfterman@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Martin Frederick Terman) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: A Stranger Enters..... Message-ID: <12501@phoenix.Princeton.EDU> Date: 24 Dec 89 07:45:53 GMT Reply-To: mfterman@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Mutant for Hire) Distribution: alt Organization: Princeton Univ. Computing and Information Technology Lines: 91 Its a dark and stormy night. Actually, the presence or absence of a storm is irrelevant to the event, since it is taking place indoors. However, the fact that it is night is relevant, as it means that the lights are on inside. The lights will become important in a minute. Now, a small digression that really isn't one after all. Probability is a funny subject. Simple events can turn up in the oddest chain of circumstances to be positively bizarre. An assasin's gun misfires. A man slips in a tub and breaks his neck. A lamp goes out. Consider the last mentioned event. Lamps are taken for granted in our modern day culture. The simple electric light is one of the cornerstones of our life today. Without it, we could not lead our lives the same way ever again. The night would be the barrier that all our ancestors had to go through in the days when candles were expensive. Yet so few people appreciate its value to us. And so a lamp can be taken as a metaphor for our modern culture. It is a symbol of man's ability to light the darkness, to allow us to work in ways that nature never intended us to work. It is controllable, slave to our wills, to light where we will, leaving darkness only when we desire it. Yet the symbolism goes Yeeper. For the lamp is a mass of many parts, all of which must work together to bring light into existance. If one part fails to live up to its job, then the whole lot must sit in darkness. But enough of that. Needless to say, lamps, through no fault of their own, but being forced to live in an imperfect universe, go out. Sometimes a bulb goes out, and so the lamp must be fixed in order to bring light again. Other times, a wire goes flakey, and so the light will wink out, only to come back on again of its own accord. I've known people of both types. But that is for another day. The odds of a lamp burning out, while not astronomically small, are not large enough for them to be a common event. Now a final aside. In the right context, a normal commonplace event can appear to be totally strange and bizarre. He walks into the bar. At this point, only the physical can be said about him, with a few extrapolations into his mental state possible. He wears a denim jacket and jeans, both being faded from plenty of usage. His sneakers were once white in a past and probably happier existance (for the shoes, the wearer has no complaints about them) are now faded with holes, but radiate a well-worn comfort. His hair is of medium length, and slightly rumpled, as if physical appearance was not exaclty first on his list of priorities. His one-day growth of stubble gives a similar impression. He is tall, but not incredibly so. His eyes are bluish, their color slightly indeterminate. His features caucasian. His demeanor curious, his emotions calm. He walks up to the bar. In the process, he passes a series of lights, that give the bar a well lit interior. (this is why the fact that it being night was important, and the speculation on lighting) Lights winking out of existance is not a totally unknown event at Callahan's, but due to good equipment, is not common. It is due to this fact that the patrons notice the lights flickering out exactly as he passes by them, one by one. Finally, the last light before he reaches the bar fails to go out. Since the laws of probability state that in fact, the light should continue to work, and that the fact that all the other lights have gone out should not affect it in any way. Nevertheless, in the current context, it looked strange. He sighs, turns around, looks up at the strangely normal light, and it winks out. Without batting an eye or turning his glance, he says "Gimme a JD, Mike" Mike, being used to the improbable, calmly sets out a shot of JD, its insect repellent odor wafting its way through the room. The man reaches for the drink without looking at it, says "To chaos", swallows, and throws the glass in a graceful arc into the firepit. At the very moment the glass hits, the room lightens up. This is due to two events. (1) The trace elements of alcohol left in the glass igniting, and (2) all of the previously mentioned dead lamps flickering back to life. A curious patron examines the lamps. Nothing is wrong with them, nor is there any sign of tampering. Merely an improbable event that probability says could happen. The patron looks at the stranger, with a questioning look. The stranger smiles knowingly and states in a simple tone: "There is no such thing as total chaos. In the heart of random events there is order, and the most logical and well defined events show unpredictability. Probability states that which is not impossible might happen, and eventually will. I am the epitome of that concept." "I am Martin Terman, the Mutant for Hire, and I've decided to stay." At that moment, thunder rumbles in the background, giving the impression of mighty forces that have just expended tremendous energy. While he in fact had nothing to do with it, it did lend an atmosphere of importance to the even that was otherwise lacking. So maybe the storm was important after all. -- Martin Terman "Being a graduate student is never having to Mutant for Hire say `I have dignity and self respect'" mfterman@phoenix.princeton.edu --M.F. Terman MFTERMAN@PUCC.BITNET Disclaimer? I don't even know her! Path: mit-eddie!rutgers!njin!princeton!phoenix!mfterman From: mfterman@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Martin Frederick Terman) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: Pain Message-ID: <12503@phoenix.Princeton.EDU> Date: 24 Dec 89 08:20:41 GMT Reply-To: mfterman@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Mutant for Hire) Distribution: alt Organization: Princeton Univ. Computing and Information Technology Lines: 60 The Mutant for Hire enters the bar. He looks around at the faces he knows, the faces he wishes he knew, and everyone else, the faces that he'll be glad to know once he's known them. Mike pours a shot of JD without asking. Its explainable either by telepathy or the fact that the Mutant always has a shot of JD when he enters the bar. Considering the place, either one is a decent possibility. No lights go out as he enters the room, but then even statistics needs a break now and then. The Mutant looks around, grabs the shot, states "To laughter" and zings his glass with the an arc that would have brought a glow to Issac Newton's heart, had he been there to see it. (in fact, he eventually turned up there one night, but that's another story) He turns around, and speaks. "All people are faced with difficult problems and tragic events. It is how we deal with them that we are judged. I'd like to tell you about my path. I choose to laugh. I see terrible events, and I look at them with something of a dark humor. I hear jokes about AIDS, often by people with the affliction, and I see the humor in them. Other people look at me in horror, saying that there is something wrong with me if I try to joke about a terrible situation such as AIDS. When I have family or relationship problems, I go on a streak of humor, sometimes with a vein of sarcasm. To me, a joke brings laughter to a situation. It does not deny the situation, nor does it make it seem less of a problem. Indeed, many jokes give a grimmer look at the situation than most people would think. It brings the problem to light, rather than being kept in a dark closet where most people would prefer to keep them. When facing a terrible problem, I can either laugh or cry. Since there are enough tears in the world, and the fact that I usually don't carry a kleenix on me, its a lot simpler to laugh. When I joke, I can find the joy in the situation, and often bring it to others. Nothing is totally in darkness, the key is to find the light in the subject. When I feel like I'm at the bottom of the garbage heap, when all of the troubles of the world are pressing down on me and all of my friends seem to be using me as an open target. I usually think, "cheer up, things could probably get worse, and they probably will" While this does not appear to be terribly cheerful to the uninitiated, it makes me feel a lot better. For one thing, it brings in the absurdity of the fact that I believe that I'm at the bottom of the universe. There are lots of people far worse off than me. And if things do get worse, well, I have the knowledge that I can always go into the National Enquirer "Predictions for the 1990's" section. And so I joke about the problems that assail us today, the absurdity of mankind and my own position in it. And I say to you all, if you find pain and problems you cannot avoid, look at the humor in the situation. It may not always be easy, or simple, but there is always light in the darkness. Just remember, in ten billion years, we'll all be dust anyways. So in the long term, whatever it is that's facing you will no longer be a problem. Thank you for listening to me, you're a great bunch of people." -- Martin Terman "Being a graduate student is never having to Mutant for Hire say `I have dignity and self respect'" mfterman@phoenix.princeton.edu --M.F. Terman MFTERMAN@PUCC.BITNET Disclaimer? I don't even know her!