Beautiful & Terrible

clark · 2014-05-30 23:45:42

Toleration is a survival trait for those living in a thin little box surrounded by the promise of vacuum and death. Ironic that Void speaks reason as an example against the void.

ha.

All that aside, Tom is a little man using basic literacy and a poor command of reason, history and logic to demonstrate what gutter level ignorance looks like. Engagement with someone like that is a form of debasement best left to the likes of me. Why? Because I do it for sport. It is my form of the Midget Hunger Game.

That's right you smiled, imagining if but for a moment, little people, running about, ripping each other apart for spectacle. Admit it. Own it.

Tom, my beautiful terrible little man, it's not your fault that you can't connect with people. I'm here. Let me in.

Tom Kalbfus · 2014-05-30 23:58:34

You know Clark, ever since you joined, you haven't said a word about Mars or Space Travel or anything except poetry and belittling me. Why are you here on NewMars at all? You seem to be only here to get my goat or spout nonsense poetry. You remind me of that character on the A-Team, Murdock.

clark · 2014-05-31 00:19:35

Ever since I joined? Oh little man.

Shall i pick your words apart?

"You know Clark,"

no. I don't. Obviously. And it is a lower case, not an upper case. There is nothing "proper" about my name or me.

"ever since you joined, "

You mean 2001? Or prior to that (because I have been on this board before there was this board). When did you join little man?

"you haven't said a word about Mars or Space Travel or anything except poetry and belittling me."

I've talked about Mars. And Space Travel. And anything except. Maybe you missed it. Sometimes I use big words. I can use small words if that would help. Would that help Tom? Do you need help Tom? I can help you Tom. I can be the friend you need. I can be the someone that is missing. Tell me what you need Tom. Tell me how I can help Tom. Tom. I want to help you.

And for the record, as to belittling you, I cannot make you smaller than you already are. Really.

"Why are you here on NewMars at all? "

Any port in the storm. When you you understand that, then you will understand me.

"You seem to be only here to get my goat or spout nonsense poetry."

I was here prior to you, so my purpose must be something else, or I am entirely prescient enough to know of your eventual arrival and patiently await. As to your association with farm animals, I can only surmise that you keep a personal relationship with goats for entirely platonic reasons. For the record, I do not want or desire your "goat".

"You remind me of that character on the A-Team, Murdock."

I remind you of a TV character. How imaginative. You remind me of a three toed sloth that was mutated as apart of an adolescent alien science experiment to demonstrate the non-value in teaching reasoning skills to vertebrates. Yeah for you proving a hypothesis! Now prove you are smarter than you appear, and shut up.

Tom Kalbfus · 2014-05-31 07:15:02

You were not on this board for quite some time, and then you came on just to insult me and spout nonsense poetry. I have not seen a lot of clark posts until recently, and their were some interesting discussions before you came back on to insult me! You should take your personal agenda against me and shove it! I am not here to trade insults and barbs with you! I am here to talk about Mars and Space travel.

Void · 2014-05-31 14:35:55

I would not feel so all alone, everybody must get stoned

clark · 2014-05-31 16:45:24

Thomas, my dear friend. My brother, why must we fight? Don't you see how it hurts me? Can't you see what you are doing to us? How this anger is just ripping us apart? I so want to be like it used to be. Back when we would talk, and it wasn't weird, or there wasn't all this baggage with what you said and what I said, or what you may or may not have done with the goat. It was so much more simple then. When we could just laugh and laugh and laugh over your closeted misogynistic world view. Or how we could share that knowing wink when you espoused yet another religiously inspired ignorant and intolerant statement about blacks, gays, and the rainbow coalition. Sigh. I so miss delving into the barbed wired mine field that is your one sided lopsided misguided political view formulated on a total misunderstanding of history.

Please, don't leave me. Please don't talk about Mars. Or Space travel. Or all the other things you are here for that I interrupted with my nonsense poetry.

cheeri-o!

JoshNH4H · 2014-06-03 11:46:59

Clark, Please hold back on the personal attacks. You can disagree with Tom without being disagreeable.

clark · 2014-06-08 14:44:31

Sure thing Josh. I'll submit, show my belly. Be a good little contributor. Speak as I should, express as expected.

Your value system is misplaced, and red font is over rated.

Now I'm off to dance!

JoshNH4H · 2014-06-08 15:14:31

I've no doubt that you can make all sorts of criticisms of my moderation. Feel free to do so. It's the nature of those without power to criticize those with it. I can't help but suspect that your issue is more with me telling you what to do than with red letters, though . I'm sympathetic, but I'm here to maintain civility. What would you do?

I take solace in that moderating this forum usually involves doing nothing.

clark · 2014-06-09 08:34:51

It is the nature of those with power to feel compelled to demonstrate it on those without. I take solace in the fact that you do not find issue with my words, but merely in the manner in which I express them. I find it fascinating as well.

I'm here to maintain civility too, but I prefer to not use fancy fonts or the threat of "moderation" (a laughable aside, "moderation" is now an aggressive act of intimidation to dictate a communication norm, but I digress). My definition of civility is probably more skewed than yours though. Based on the evidence, your definition appears to allow for offensive and ignorant dialogue, as long as we are polite about it.

Keep up the good work.

JoshNH4H · 2014-06-09 09:26:11

I can't argue with your words, though this is not to say I agree. From a practical standpoint it's not possible to moderate anything but blatant flaming in an unbiased manner. My logic and justification for this is that when people devolve into name calling, meaningful conversation stops. We also don't want to make people unwelcome here; You can disagree, and of course you have every right to, but I think that the forum is strengthened by having more voices, especially if there is disagreement among them.

Red text is not entirely necessary, but it is my feeling that it is helpful to separate my words as a moderator from my words as a forum participant, at the least for my own sake.

I take your criticism, and raise you a "How would you have me do better?"

clark · 2014-06-09 11:57:02

Meaningful conversation? You are far too generous in applying that adjective. Just because a monkey strings some words together does not a sentence make.

I would have you apply your powers more judiciously; moderating in the Free Chat area is counter productive, after all, this is the cess-pool for all manner of pointless conversations that are completely irrelevant to the purpose of this board. I would have you also moderate in threads where the behavior is disruptive to the purpose of the thread. I started this thread which was hijacked- which is fine by me, I'm happy to play, but now I am taken to task because I engage? Apply the fist in other threads if you must, but you missed the mark here. Just my opinion.

As always, do as you must and I will do the same.

JoshNH4H · 2014-06-09 12:22:55

Meaningful conversation is perhaps a matter of perspective, but if there is any going on flames will usually stop it.

You make a good point regarding on/off topic. But my feeling is that just as a thread can be hijacked away from a topic, so it can be hijacked back on topic if it's one that people want to discuss. If the topic of the thread is not one that inspires conversation, perhaps it's not so bad for another topic to come up. Rather than engaging Tom, I usually find that it is more productive to ignore him. But on the whole I believe that if the OP feels their thread is being hijacked, they should report the relevant post or posts, and otherwise conversation will flow as it will.

Regarding your poems, I quite like them. I would be more than happy to get back to the topic at hand, if you feel you have more to post.

clark · 2014-06-10 08:32:57

You have your hobbies, I have mine. I find it far more productive to address something head on. I also don't require a moderator to play referee. This is just text. Everyone, repeat after me, this is just text.

i'm happy to return to the previous programming. My apologies for what will no doubt be my many, many future transgressions.

cheers.

clark · 2014-06-10 08:49:47

Here's a little ditty.

Sing what verse you might you may
Long and loud once more,
Croon to moon, the stars, the sun,
in song, sail ashore.

On Mars, to Mars let us sing
humming strumming loud,
To Mars, to Mars let us go,
thumping time in crowd,

Let not these notes pass away,
nor the music end,
Let our chorus sing anew,
In harmony, blend.

clark · 2014-06-11 22:36:10

comes my night
long, terrible cold.
howling,
mouth, full of ash
with words falling like ash,
and dreams like diamond.
diaphanous and white,
sulfur bright.
it is fire
beautiful and light,
and I a moth,
burning.
Alive!
Ash,
is the morning,
when my last star fades
and sky grays,
I am howling,
howling
until the lonely night
long, terrible
takes me
once more,
once more.

Void · 2014-06-12 15:35:30

As you know I have no real poetry.

But I am watching to learn a bit if possible.

I will be a retired man not too long from now.

I will be looking for things to dabble in.

So thanks for being here to show something different.

Tom Kalbfus · 2014-06-12 16:33:32

It doesn't rhyme! Basically all you are doing is structuring sentences.

JoshNH4H · 2014-06-12 16:46:50

Tom, to whom are you responding?

Tom Kalbfus · 2014-06-12 17:02:37

If I don't have a quote, assume I am responding to the post immediately above mine. Anyway I was just having a little fun, I don't pretend to be a poetry critic.

Terraformer · 2014-06-12 17:21:35

That? It was not a
Poem. This, however, could
Be. You like Haikus?

clark · 2014-06-12 18:41:30

Oh Tyranny! A poem.
Meter, structure, verse,
I count the syllable, words
must flow with purpose
or rhyme- as some will require,
a simple thing, that,
to use words that aspire,
making three-dee dreams, once flat;
Of space, stars. Oh Mars!
Beauty, I shall never see,
Just languid dreaming,
salmon pink, and drifting dust.

clark · 2014-06-12 18:49:13

I used to play a game. Pick a topic, an idea. Anything. I write a poem about it, involving it, incorporating it. It's a fun exercise if you are wanting to practice.

Added challenge is to add in a meter style or requirement. It constrains approach. If any care to, I'm happy to accept a challenge.

And don't worry, this isn't my day job.

JoshNH4H · 2014-06-12 21:57:59

How about a flyby of the ISS, seen from Earth?

JoshNH4H · 2014-06-12 21:58:48

Tom, wasn't sure. I have a couple of friends who have argued just that, in complete seriousness

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