On Ack .. Punctuating the Positive - Part 1
So I've been sending scads of emails lately. Literally scads. And not one of them was spam. Though plenty of them were worthless. A pattern I've seen developing in these emails is abundant use of semi-colons; I hadn't really focused on this particular punctuation tool in the past but I'm discovering that I really like it; the interesting thing about it is that you can string together a fairly long sentence with judicious (and probably grammatically incorrect) application of the semi-colon.
I'm just using those babies (semi-colons) all over the place.
All this reminds me that if you want to read a book with some extremely long parentheticals in it, read Something Happened by Joseph Heller. I'm remembering a part of the story now and am horrified about it. But I'd nevertheless recommend it. Especially if you like the exploration of daily minutiae (sp?). Which fans of Seinfeld claim to. Of course Seinfeld presents its analysis in morsels. The book is damn long. In fact I think I can almost safely say that some of the parentheticals in the book required longer to read than a single episode of Seinfeld required to view (from the DVDs, because with the commercials the episodes are longer).
posted by garrett @ 7:52 PM
3 Comments:
Whoa; whoa; Whoa; you've been posting your butt off.
I can picture you in high school; all shy and shit; I probably would have flirted with you in high school; possibly in the library; if we went to the same high school; and I can picture you all shy; turning a million shades of red; and shit.
I probably would have enjoyed that.
I probably would have embarrassed myself. Pitching a tent at the high school dance.
I was far from cucumber cool in the late 1980s (which is not to suggest that a lot has changed, some things never do). Mental control of primary sexual organs during the puberty years was not something I was provided in anything resembling abundance, that is for sure. Again, which is not to say a lot has changed during the intervening decades...
I remember at the public library they had a flight of stairs at the back of the library. It led to a very infrequently used room up on the top floor (the third floor).
I spent a lot of time and energy trying to talk my eighth grade girlfriend into going up those stairs with me. And trying to make out with her.
Unsuccessfully.
Ah, good times...
Garrett, I distinctly remember feeling the "tents" when dancing with boys at junior school school dances. And I loved that feeling. I never attended the high school dances. I attended all the junior high school dances and so therefore was tired of them by the time high school hit. No, I was never a snob. Just severely ahead of the rest...
I am both surprised and impressed with you trying to talk your eighth grade girlfriend into going up those stairs to make out. I picture you being too shy to even attempt such a thing when you were that age.
While I can picture you being shy back then, I can also see that you speaking up with conviction when you felt it was necessary.
I can picture it; you quiet for the most part but not afraid to voice your opinions, espcially when you knew you were right.
I like that in people. I know one guy. He's quiet, but is completely and genuinely confident in himself. And when discussions take place, he doesn't necessarily feel as though he needs to add his 2 cents, unless of course he feels it is absolutely necessary, whether to end the conversation so as not to waste further time with wrong answers, ideas and methods, or if someone is specifically asking for his advice/opinions.
I like him. He is a cool and smart dude.
Something about him reminds me of you.
Not that I know you at all of course, but, naturally, I do have an impression.
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