Path: mit-eddie!snorkelwacker!apple!brutus.cs.uiuc.edu!ux1.cso.uiuc.edu!tank!cps3xx!usenet From: usenet@cps3xx.UUCP (Usenet file owner) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: Want to get in touch with Alaric Message-ID: <6217@cps3xx.UUCP> Date: 31 Jan 90 18:25:37 GMT Reply-To: frey@frith.UUCP (Zachary T. Frey) Organization: Michigan State University, College of Engineering Lines: 12 Could anyone who saved Phil Stracchino's (Alaric's) address and phone number please email them to me? I was sure I'd saved them after he posted his goodbye, but I seem to have lost them. Thanks Zach Papernet: Zachary Frey | frey@frith.egr.msu.edu | Usenet: the 514 Virginia St. | frey@msuegr.BITNET | Bellman's E. Lansing, MI 48823 | ...uunet!frith!frey | Paradise. Path: mit-eddie!snorkelwacker!usc!samsung!uunet!convex!convex.com From: schumach@convex.com (Richard A. Schumacher) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: Evidence that god is an iron Keywords: irony, robinson, spider Message-ID: <4888@convex.convex.com> Date: 25 Jan 90 18:12:44 GMT Sender: usenet@convex.com Distribution: alt Lines: 14 The Shoeless One, having quietly left earlier, now returns through the front door. "Hello, Mike. A beer, please. Ahhh... Leinenkugel's. Keep the change." He pads to the fireplace and pauses, watching the flames lick the stones. "If there is a god, it must be an iron, to paraphase Spider. 'Know ye them by their fruits', and so on. Coming out of my ophthalmologist today, I get into the car, turn on the radio and hear Jackson Browne's 'Doctor My Eyes'. This ends and goes to an ad, so I flip stations. There's Elton John singing 'your eyes are blind, but you see more than I...'". He sips the beer. "What else was there to do but turn off the radio and drive straight here?" Path: mit-eddie!snorkelwacker!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!pt.cs.cmu.edu!andrew.cmu.edu!haste+ From: haste+@andrew.cmu.edu (Dani Zweig) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: The Soul Mate Trap Message-ID: Date: 1 Feb 90 02:27:45 GMT Organization: Graduate School of Industrial Administration, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA Lines: 23 Waiting for your soul mate feels romantic, but it's not. What this attitude really does is cause you to abdicate responsibility for making a relationship work: The fact that it's starting to go sour is evidence that this isn't The One, after all. This was a perennial source of contention between me and my first girlfriend, back when I considered myself a Romantic. She felt that any relationship between two people could work to the extent that a reasonable level of compatability existed *and* that they worked at *making* it work. Me? I spent a lot of time feeling cheated, because the way things were going between us made it obvious that she wasn't the soul mate of my dreams. She wasn't completely right. There are classes of relationships that can be made to work but shouldn't be -- relationships which are unhealthy because they bring together complementary weaknesses. But she was about 75% right. --Dani haste@andrew.cmu.edu The reason this place has so many corners isn't so that people can hide in them. Or lurk in the shadows they cast. It's to give those people who need it the illusion that they aren't noticed. But it's not necessary: Sit down by the fire if you like. We'll respect your silence. Path: mit-eddie!snorkelwacker!usc!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!swrinde!ucsd!ucsdhub!hp-sdd!hplabsy!hpfcso!daq From: daq@hpfcso.HP.COM (Doug Quarnstrom) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: Re: Fragility, Beauty, Resignation Message-ID: <9060015@hpfcso.HP.COM> Date: 30 Jan 90 03:27:53 GMT References: <9001241640.AA06606@fsdcupt.csd.mot.COM> Organization: Hewlett-Packard, Fort Collins, CO, USA Lines: 59 >Jilara shakes her head at Cynic and Chris Phoenix. Why do you shake your head? Is it out of pity, or amusement, or out of recognition? >"And yet---stability is stagnation. In the codes of zen, wind and water >are to be aspired to, for they are mutable, unchanging yet ever new, >restlessly adapting. And we cannot truly appreciate things that never >change, but stay in stasis. I agree to a certain extent, but appreciating that change is necessary and a fact of existence does not diminish my frustration at the mutability of beauty. >Nick Chopper, our tinware friend, and I had >a discussion of Oz, and how Oz is really hell. Imagine a place where >the forces of birth and death, building and decay, are eternally >stalled! To me, the implication that death and catastrophic change are necessary to happiness is, at best, nonsense. I realize that they are, and that they must be dealt with, but I do not believe that a world without death would be a world without happiness. >was younger---it's not the years, it's the mileage.) Beauty has an >extra dimension made of poignance, being so transitory. Yet one must >let it go, pass on. In Zen contemplation, one first appreciates >flowers, which are bright and transitory, then evergreens, which are >longer-lived but not as bright and exciting, then stones---which >symbolize eternity. Find the interest in the stone, the patterns of >raked sand, and your mind has explored all levels. Certainly there is wisdom in this, but like all philosophies developed external to my mind, it has very little influence on my sub-conscious. Even if I accept the tenets intellectually, it would not change the way my heart reacts to the world. Besides, a flower and a plain stone are two different things, and while the plain stone may have a kind of beauty, this beauty requires an elaborate philosophy to reveal the beauty. I weary of elaborate philosophies. They are composed of a vast number of words hurled into a void in an effort to fill the void with words. Does Zen really comfort you in your existence? I've tried Buddhism and Christianity, and they leave me empty. The idea that you can appreciate the world more if you appreciate all elements to the maximum does make sense, but there still seems to be a big difference between a flower and a stone... Good poem. > ---Jilara the Exile (I hope.) ---------- Cynic Path: mit-eddie!snorkelwacker!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!ucsd!ucsdhub!hp-sdd!hplabsy!hplred!egly From: egly@hplred.HP.COM (Diana Egly) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: Re: WAR Message-ID: <20940034@hplred.HP.COM> Date: 31 Jan 90 01:04:22 GMT References: <9060012@hpfcso.HP.COM> Organization: Hewlett Packard Labs, Palo Alto CA Lines: 22 / hplred:alt.callahans / daq@hpfcso.HP.COM (Doug Quarnstrom) / 9:21 pm Jan 19, 1990 / > Why do I say this? Well, first, war is a part of human > nature, and I do not believe that human nature really > changes over time. Why is it that soldiers come back from war with mind and spirit broken? We can call it "shell shock" or "post-traumatic stress syndrome" or whatever, but the soldiers are broken. Ever notice that the percentage of men whose mind and spirit are destroyed by war is about the same as the percentage of men who are combat soldiers? Ever notice that the best predictor of who will break whether they have been in combat? Did you know that in a fire-fight 80% of the combat troops will not fight? They either freeze or hide or run away. Even though they can be court marshalled for this. Did anyone ever explain to you why officers carry side arms - or at least in officer training what they taught about the use of their side arm during combat? It may be human nature to declare war, but if it were human nature to fight them there wouldn't be so many broken soldiers. The military wouldn't need to threaten and intimate soldiers in order to get them to fight. Path: mit-eddie!snorkelwacker!apple!arc!steve From: steve@arc.UUCP (Steve Savitzky) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: Bear tracks Message-ID: <799@arc.UUCP> Date: 1 Feb 90 05:36:05 GMT Sender: news@arc.UUCP Organization: Advansoft Research Corp, Santa Clara, CA Lines: 21 The medium-sized teddybear materializes, surrounded by several assorted creatures whose forms can just be made out through the fog that also comes through. There is a sticker on its chest that says "Be nice to me, I gave blood today." One wonders how such a small creature manages to part with a pint of blood. In its squeaky voice, it says "Hi. Just popped in with a message from Jilara--her system has been having news and mail problems. (You may have noticed a fractured posting a while back...) If you've tried to communicate with her recently, she's not ignoring you, she's just behind a wall trying to get out. And it's lonely back there!" Wednesday nights at Colleen's get pretty weird sometimes, but this is the first time they've intersected with Callahan's... The bear and its entourage vanish with a quiet "pop!" -- \ Steve Savitzky \ ADVANsoft Research Corp \ REAL hackers use an AXE! \ steve@arc.UUCP \ 4301 Great America Pkwy \ #include \ arc!steve@apple.COM \ Santa Clara, CA 95954 \ 408-727-3357 \__________________________________________________________________________ Path: mit-eddie!snorkelwacker!usc!brutus.cs.uiuc.edu!psuvax1!psuvm!emd101 From: EMD101@psuvm.psu.edu Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: A Little Dream Message-ID: <90031.214955EMD101@PSUVM.BITNET> Date: 1 Feb 90 02:49:55 GMT Organization: Penn State University Lines: 55 A short girl with purple socks on is walking up to the bar. "Sir," deferentially to Mike, "a ginger ale?" She hands over the dollar (why isn't this place billed as a singles bar?) and steps back to look around the room. Not surprisingly she addresses this amicable collection of strangers. "I've seen a lot of musicians in here, but they all play guitar. Does anyone play other things? Here's why I ask." She sips her drink. "I like to write music -- scalene little pieces for collections of woodwinds. Trouble is, after a certain point I need to hear the piece with my ears instead of my brain. I can only hold so many different voices in my head at once, I can only play so many lines on a piano. I have MacIntosh (tm?) software that will play four lines for me, but, bluntly, it sounds pathetic. "Using actual instruments and players has a certain appeal. On occasion some groups here have been willing to read for me -- even the faculty woodwind quintet at here at psu! happiness! -- but this has a drawback too." (She sips her drink again but it isn't very intriguing and you don't notice.) "These groups are doing me a favor, and I hate to ask them to play everything eighteen times with eighteen subtle changes; but that is exactly what I need to do if I want to ever get things right." She begins to pace a little now. "The ideal solution is to have my Own ensemble, of course. "Ideally this would be like a Team Banzai of music. About six members besides me, who play various permutations of flute/recorder, oboe, Horns, clarinets, bassoon, marimba, cello, piano, and other stuff. They can whistle and sing in a full set of ranges. Obviously not all at once. Maybe they write too, sheesh, it's not a dictatorship. "Naturally the Team members are witty and fun to be around, and like to discuss physics in their spare time, and eat pizza and play Canasta. How about it? Would anyone like to be a part of a Virtual n-tet? We could hang out in Callahan's and talk about the music we would play if we were a Real n-tet. It's a great idea!" Now she strides confidently to the chalk line. "To the little dreams," she toasts; "they keep us from getting too wrapped up in the big ones." ...krishh!... The girl nods solemnly to Taldin, mostly her eyes smiling. She then heads back to her table to await the enthusiastic flood of replies to her offer. An uneventful minute passes. The girl indicates her optimism by sighing and picking up a textbook. She puts it down again. She looks around. "Actually, I'd settle for just a game of Canasta." -- oktave ^ emd101@psuvm.psu.edu Path: mit-eddie!snorkelwacker!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!rutgers!cbmvax!vu-vlsi!swatsun!hildebrd From: hildebrd@cs.swarthmore.edu (Jeff Hildebrand) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: Sometimes it comes out right... Message-ID: Date: 31 Jan 90 01:11:09 GMT Sender: jdh92@campus.swarthmore.edu (Hildebaby) Organization: Swarthmore College CS Dept., PA Lines: 74 Hildebaby comes bounding into Callahan's with a big smile on his face. He slaps a wad of one dollar bills down on the bar (you know Mike, sometimes your policy of singletons only can literally be a pain in the rear :) and declares "Another round for everyone!" The room is busy for the next few minutes as glasses are handed about. Finally Hildebaby finishes his drink and steps to the line. "I'm a little hesitant to talk about this since it is very much a story of happiness and I'm a little worried that some may find it insensitive. I hope not, and it is not meant that way. The details of what has happened to me are so appropriate for Callahan's though. "To begin at the beginning. I first met Deb shortly after I got here in the fall of '88. I don't remember how or when, but we became friends over the course of the year. We had some interesting talks and found out some odd things such as the fact that we had some mutual aquaintances. However, all in all there was nothing special about our relationship. "Last summer that really began to change though. She was taking a semester off this past fall, but thanks to Internet was able to keep in contact with people by logging into her account here. Since I was one of the few who was around over the summer, we talked a lot and grew closer. At one point she even suggested that something more could come of it, but at the time we really both had our interests focused elsewhere, so we didn't take it seriously." He stops and sighs for a moment, then with a wan smile continues. "Yeah, we both had our other interests, and we both got hurt. We were both going out with these other people, and ironically enough broke up right around the same time. She came to visit one weekend a couple months ago, and something happened. It was late on a Sunday evening, and she came by to talk, looking very upset. We talked for a long time; she poured out her sorrows to me, and I told her my frustrations. And then the conversation went further, it went beyond our hurt into other areas. "That night really brought us together. We had never opened ourselves up to each other the way we did then, but once we had, it allowed us to really see each other, and we liked what we saw. At least in my case it took me a few days to realize it, but I found I really deeply cared for her. "The next couple of months were crazy. She wasn't here, only on the computer, so we could talk a lot, but not face-to-face, and something gets lost somehow. We lurched along saying that we would deal with it in January, there were no commitments until then, but we both backed off from that as we went along. It was rough for me; I spent last summer using the computer to keep in touch with someone I was hoping to go out with, and it didn't work when we got back. I was really afraid to get hurt again. "However, we've been back for a couple weeks now." At this point he breaks into a big grin. "And I'm quite happy to say that things are working out quite well. We're now offically 'going out' and both quite happy with it. I'm feeling a stability I was never able to feel last fall. To those who have sent me mail which I have not answered, well this is sort of my excuse, but I really hope to be answering stuff soon. "I'm looking forward to spring; once again I've started feeling the same magic in this campus that I felt my freshman year. A wonderful giddy sensation that tells me things are going to go right for me. "To the lonely out there, hang in there. It can happen when you least expect it. I certainly did not expect this to happen. "Well, I must be going now. With the start of the semester come the onslaught of work again. Once again, thank you to all who have listened to me and helped me in the past, and thanks for listening to this. "To listening! May we all happiness and understanding from it!" -- Jeff Hildebrand Swarthmore College, Swarthmore PA 19081 JDH92@campus.swarthmore.edu (prefered) or hildebrd@cs.swarthmore.edu Would you trust a man who | "First things first, but not answers to Hildebaby? | necessarily in that order" - The Doctor Path: mit-eddie!snorkelwacker!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!rutgers!cbmvax!vu-vlsi!swatsun!hildebrd From: hildebrd@cs.swarthmore.edu (Jeff Hildebrand) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: Re: Sometimes it comes out right... Message-ID: Date: 31 Jan 90 01:22:29 GMT References: Reply-To: hildebrd@cs.swarthmore.edu (Jeff Hildebrand) Organization: Swarthmore College CS Dept., PA Lines: 17 How embarrassing! I just discovered that I left a word out of my toast at the end of last message. hildebrd@cs.swarthmore.edu (Jeff Hildebrand) writes: > "To listening! May we all happiness and understanding from it!" ^ should be the word 'find' here. My apologies. I really can speak English, honestly I can! :) -- Jeff Hildebrand Swarthmore College, Swarthmore PA 19081 JDH92@campus.swarthmore.edu (prefered) or hildebrd@cs.swarthmore.edu Would you trust a man who | "First things first, but not answers to Hildebaby? | necessarily in that order" - The Doctor Path: mit-eddie!wuarchive!uunet!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!ULKYVX.BITNET!wlbrad01 From: wlbrad01@ULKYVX.BITNET (Last O' The Cupids) Newsgroups: alt.callahans Subject: Re: A Little Dream (anyone for an (n+1)-et?) Message-ID: <8wlbrad01@ULKYVX.bitnet> Date: 1 Feb 90 13:33:00 GMT Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU Organization: University of Louisville Lines: 68 In article <90031.214955EMD101@PSUVM.BITNET>, EMD101@psuvm.psu.edu writes: > > A short girl with purple socks on is walking up to the bar... > > Not surprisingly she addresses this amicable collection of strangers. > "I've seen a lot of musicians in here, but they all play guitar. Does > anyone play other things? Here's why I ask." She sips her drink... A semi-lurking Cupid sitting nearby sits up and listens to all this. He soon begins searching his pockets and extracts a small box. > "The ideal solution is to have my Own ensemble, of course. > > "Ideally this would be like a Team Banzai of music. About six members > besides me, who play various permutations of flute/recorder, oboe, Horns, > clarinets, bassoon, marimba, cello, piano, and other stuff. They can whistle > and sing in a full set of ranges. Obviously not all at once. Maybe they > write too, sheesh, it's not a dictatorship. The Cupid takes a small metal object from the box, and works it around with his hands for a moment, warming it up. Eventually he places it to his lips. Every bar has to have some "rebel" who plays the harmonica in the back corner to while away the time. This bar is no exception. The Cupid plays a few blues cycles in the key of E, switches to "B minor-ish" for a set, and returns to a final cycle in E. It's not the low, throaty blues you'd expect from a 'harpist, but this instead is a more melodic form that is heard from jazz band's horn section. It's not...well, it's not the best you've heard; this guy is no Stevie Wonder. And, to be honest, it shows that he hasn't practiced lately. But it has a few embellishments that show that the player has been playing for a few years. The Cupid stands now, still playing, as the whispers in the bar fade to silence. He switches from a style of blues to a straight melody in the key of A. It's a common song, you've heard it before, but you can't place it. He takes a flower from the centerpiece on his table and begins to stroll around the room. You recognize the song...The Rose. How fitting. He finishes the last verse and chorus in front of the short nameless girl with purple socks, takes the textbook from her lap and lays it on the table, places the rose over her left ear, strokes her cheek, takes her hand, and kisses it. A small round of applause from the crowd follows. He looks her in the eyes and whispers "I know it's not much. And I don't know how to play Canasta. But may I join the n-tet?" She nods and bites her lower lip, unsure whether to smile or to cry. He sits next to her and starts a chorus of "Amazing Grace"... --Cupid p.s. Sorry, guys. No toast. Yet. I trust in time. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- You can't have everything . . . Where would you put it? -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Cupid Internet : wlbrad01%ulkyvx.bitnet@cunyvm.cuny.edu William L. Bradley Bitnet/JNet: WLBRAD01 @ ULKYVX.BITNET UUCP : ...!psuvax1!ulkyvx.bitnet!wlbrad01 Student Consultant, University of Louisville, Kentucky, USA, Earth, Sol, etc...