Apropos of Nothing

Palomar · 2003-08-13 05:30:30

*Mmmmmm. French is such a sexy language. ::sigh::
Now if I could only master a few sentences!!
--Cindy
hmmmm, I think I have translated the most important, because it is relevant for us: the lack of communication in an area of communication.
The rest is a description of everyday life in an antarctica base. It's too long to translate, sorry Cindy, but most of it, you can figure out,

*If I want to, I can use Babelfish...copy, paste and translate paragraph by paragraph. I'm not sure I will, but it's an option. Babelfish (http://www.world.altavista.com/tr) does a fairly good job of translating stuff.

By the way, here's a "map" of Antarctica from the worldtimezone.com web site; the continent is divided into its time zones, like a pie, and shows the various stations and which nation they belong to:

http://www.worldtimezone.com/time-antarctica24.html

Not a place I'd ever care to go to.

--Cindy

Palomar · 2003-08-13 05:37:37

*I'm glad Arnold Schwarzenegger is running for the California governorship. He seems like a rather nice guy who didn't let such astounding success spoil him or go too much to his head. I loved him in "Twins" (especially the scene in the airplane, when he's listening to music on a Walkman and singing along to "Yakkity Yak") and "Kindergarten Cop" especially. He can do the serious, intense stuff...but he can also be humorous and let his hair down a bit, like dressing up in too-small overalls and a straw hat, singing "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" with the kids in "Kindergarten Cop." You'd never get Sylvester Stallone to do something like that; he's got his head wedged so high up his ass it'd take a team of profession spelunkers to retrieve it.

Go Arnold go!

--Cindy

clark · 2003-08-13 10:31:25

See Spot run. Run Spot, run.

Palomar · 2003-08-13 12:04:09

The trend of the scientists in the base to isolate themself, through internet chat, like we do here in this Mars forum, is much more important in my opinion. I wonder if the US base scientists 'suffers' the same tendancy. Scientists can be very introvert people, so if you confine them in an enclosed base and give them internet chat, they will developp even more their introvertion tendancy.

*Hmmmm. Well, you undoubtedly know more scientists than I do.

I think face-to-face social interaction is overrated. I think I have a rather good balance between internet and personal interaction (the only reason I'm here as frequently as I am is because I work all day on the computer; otherwise, my interaction would be less). But let's face it, there ARE some advantages to internet communication: There are no interruptions by jealous spouses/significant others, no interruptions from children, no one can really be "The Center Of Attention", no supervisor is going to butt in because he/she feels "left out"...etc...and if someone gets boring, tedious or abusive you can just shut the computer off or go to some other area on the web.

Long story short: My husband and I attended a birthday party for a friend last week; 7 people at the dinner party, one of whom was a lady in her early 70s named Marti. My god, Marti just HAD to be THE CENTER OF ATTENTION the entire time. Yap yap this...yap yap that...on and on. The only way to get a word in edgewise was to politely interrupt her; and then, of course, she looked put off and offended, i.e. how dare you be so rude as to interrupt her?!. At one point in the conversation the birthday gal (Margaret) got the conversation away from Marti for a few minutes; after Margaret finished speaking, I interjected something for a total of maybe 30 seconds (bad, bad me -- slap my own wrist). Marti was glowering at me, with a look like "Are you quite finished yet?" and the second I stopped speaking she jumped in again and didn't stop for 15 minutes.

It's stuff like that which gets tedious in "real life" conversations. Many people really DON'T converse, much less listen. Many people are very poor socializers. People who interact frequently on the net are sometimes accused of being "anti-social," but being physically in a group of people isn't necessarily a "social" interaction either.

But it is a good idea to maintain and exercise personal, face-to-face contact with people; I'm always trying to improve my personability skills "in real life."

--Cindy

dickbill · 2003-08-13 12:28:52

But let's face it, there ARE some advantages to internet communication:

Oh sure I don't deny that. It actually gives the oportunity to shy people to express themself. As you describe in your story, very often there are those who talk and those who listen in a real conversation. The dominants have louder voice, speak more often, all that kind of social behavior which would certainly inhibate more introvert people.

It's not an attack against internet, but the excessive use of it which is describe negatively by the doctor of the Dumont-D'Urville base.

Palomar · 2003-08-13 12:53:06

Is this still an "Apropos of Nothing" thread?
If so, i would just like to say that this day of Wednesday, 13, has been the worse day in my life yet.

*Yes it is. I hope your day goes better (want to tell us a little about it)?

My day has been weird, to say the least; I'm beginning to wonder if there is "something to" the number 13.

Well, again: I hope your day improves!

--Cindy

prometheusunbound · 2003-08-13 13:41:21

It's stuff like that which gets tedious in "real life" conversations. Many people really DON'T converse, much less listen. Many people are very poor socializers. People who interact frequently on the net are sometimes accused of being "anti-social," but being physically in a group of people isn't necessarily a "social" interaction either.

Amen. I like to use these boards simply because I cannot speak very well, as I am deaf. I have diffuculty in conversation and most people have some problems understanding my speech, and I do have problems understanding theirs. Most social groups simply move too quickly for me to keep up, and I give up.

Further, most people assume I am pretty unintelligent because I have difficulty with my speech. That can kill conversation pretty quickly.

Quote (BGD @ Aug. 13 2003, 14:40)
Is this still an "Apropos of Nothing" thread?
If so, i would just like to say that this day of Wednesday, 13, has been the worse day in my life yet.

*Yes it is. I hope your day goes better (want to tell us a little about it)?
My day has been weird, to say the least; I'm beginning to wonder if there is "something to" the number 13.

Tell me about it. I went to the dentist and he found two cavitys (yipee!)

Palomar · 2003-08-13 14:01:36

Amen. I like to use these boards simply because I cannot speak very well, as I am deaf. I have diffuculty in conversation and most people have some problems understanding my speech, and I do have problems understanding theirs. Most social groups simply move too quickly for me to keep up, and I give up.
Further, most people assume I am pretty unintelligent because I have difficulty with my speech. That can kill conversation pretty quickly.

*I can certainly see your point, even if I cannot relate. Around 1996, when I was working at a hospital, a man was admitted for depression. He was deaf from birth, and extremely depressed about his lack of social options. Most people don't know sign language, of course, and he (understandably) felt so isolated and excluded. Apparently he had trouble as a child learning to read and was still struggling to learn to read. I don't understand the dynamics involved, but it seemed to involve his having difficulty recognizing words because he couldn't sound them out or pronounce them.

Your post brought that man back to mind. Wouldn't it be wonderful if he now has internet access, his reading skills have improved, he's able to socially interact, etc.? I hope so.

--Cindy

clark · 2003-08-13 16:31:07

The land of plenty.

Palomar · 2003-08-13 19:28:39

I wish the retail stores would hurry up and bring on the Halloween stuff!

--Cindy

clark · 2003-08-14 09:57:52

Who are you today?

Josh Cryer · 2003-08-14 12:30:58

Yesterday was my mothers birthday. She was born on Friday the 13th.

clark · 2003-08-14 12:49:46

I forgot my underwear.

Josh Cryer · 2003-08-14 12:56:49

I never wear underwear.

clark · 2003-08-14 13:01:15

A women eating a banana is not erotic.

Josh Cryer · 2003-08-14 13:03:26

If she's wearing lipstick.

clark · 2003-08-14 13:04:38

monkey semen.

Palomar · 2003-08-14 13:06:33

*If men can have sympathetic labor pains...and if men can have "male menopause"...then can men also have P.M.S.?

--Cindy

clark · 2003-08-14 13:09:13

how much wood could a wood-chuck chuck, if a wood-chuck could chuck wood?

Josh Cryer · 2003-08-14 13:11:25

Scintillate, Scintillate, Globule Vivific

Scintillate, scintillate, globule vivific!
In vain do I ponder thy nature specific--
Precariously poised in the ether capacious,
Closely resembling a gem carbonaceous;
Scintillate, scintillate, globule vivific,
In vain do I ponder thy nature specific!

Josh Cryer · 2003-08-14 13:12:36

I'm going out to look for myself, if I get back, before I return, keep me until I arrive.

clark · 2003-08-14 13:15:23

a round of applause or apple sauce to any who can say "toy boat" five times in rapid succession.

It simply cannot be done!

clark · 2003-08-14 13:16:35

why is 911, 9-1-1?

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