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| Author |
Message |
md
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Aesop Redux
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May 21 18:51 UTC 1993 |
It was a warm afternoon in early autumn. The air was redolent with
the fragrance of ripeness. Under a trellis on some abandoned farm
land, partly hidden in an unkempt and overgrown clump of asters,
sat a young fox. His eyes half closed with pleasure, he sniffed
the air around him, taking in the rich spicy scents. He lifted his
head, the better to follow one particularly enticing odor to its
source - and suddenly his eyes opened wide.
Suspended right above him in the mass of yellowing leaves in the
trellis overhead was a bunch of grapes, a huge purple cluster in
the absolute perfection of ripeness. Each grape was dusted with a
light film of powdery bloom and the entire cluster was glowing in
the animated sunlight as the leaves above it shifted back and forth
in the breeze. The fox had never seen anything so beautiful in his
life. It was as if some kindly and powerful Being had put the
grapes in just that spot, so that the fox might smell them, and see
them, and luxuriate in them.
He sat there looking up at the grapes for a long time. When
evening came, he sighed and made his way back to his den, a
distance of some three miles over meadows and through woods.
It had never occurred to him to eat them.
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| 21 responses total. |
davel
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response 1 of 21:
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May 22 00:28 UTC 1993 |
Hm. For some strange, imponderable reason I was expecting a slightly
different ending. I wonder what it might have been.
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rcurl
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response 2 of 21:
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May 22 06:03 UTC 1993 |
One explanation is that md had a call from his publisher, who said to
quit stalling, and get the next installment in or he wouldn't get his
next retainer. The alternative explanation is more disturbing. Foxes
do eat berries (at least, the Red, Gray and Arctic, do). Therefore
for it to not even occur to the fox, is very strange, and has deep and
unsettling implications.
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davel
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response 3 of 21:
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May 22 11:57 UTC 1993 |
Rane, that's just sour grapes.
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rcurl
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response 4 of 21:
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May 22 21:27 UTC 1993 |
But, how did the fox know?
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keats
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response 5 of 21:
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May 24 19:54 UTC 1993 |
the yellowing leaves are a clue to many of nature's denizens.
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cally
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response 6 of 21:
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Apr 18 08:35 UTC 1994 |
Instead of a sigh, shouldn't the fox have let out a little whine before he went
home?
.exit
Uh oh, now I'm trapped in cyberspace, someone call V.P. Gore with a rescue
team.
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rcurl
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response 7 of 21:
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Apr 18 14:49 UTC 1994 |
I've never thought that just a . is a readily obvious finish command. It
seems to trap a lot of people in cyberspace. But would this be too sacred
to change (or at least alias) for newusers? Why not let quit be used too
(of course, experienced users would object to not being able to write quit
a the beginning of a line - maybe make it a finish onl{ if alone? - or
have the command expire for a ne{user{_ok after they hav~re been
o{{w3for{a monthw3{{t~r {A{{ghhhh{ ttyq).h2! help! quit!
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gerund
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response 8 of 21:
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Apr 18 15:24 UTC 1994 |
This is too comical to believe.
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anne
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response 9 of 21:
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Apr 18 15:50 UTC 1994 |
Actually, I find it very easy to beleive!
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gerund
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response 10 of 21:
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Apr 18 15:59 UTC 1994 |
Beleive maybe, but believe never.
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anne
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response 11 of 21:
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Apr 18 18:11 UTC 1994 |
Ha ha, very funny!
Actually, I find it very easy to believe.
(better, gerund?)
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davel
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response 12 of 21:
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Apr 18 19:12 UTC 1994 |
Rane, it's not by any means original with Picospan. I would **definitely**
object, myself, to having "quit" at the beginning of a line suddenly
terminate my entry, BTW.
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gerund
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response 13 of 21:
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Apr 19 03:43 UTC 1994 |
Getting there anne, getting there. :-)
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anne
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response 14 of 21:
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Apr 19 03:57 UTC 1994 |
gerund, good, I'm glad you're getting there (wherever there may be)
<grin>
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gerund
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response 15 of 21:
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Apr 19 04:05 UTC 1994 |
you.....
oh never mind
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remmers
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response 16 of 21:
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Apr 21 12:07 UTC 1994 |
People going through newuser get experience typing "." to end their
entries when they enter the information that goes in their .plan
file. Also, they get the message 'type "." to exit' EVERY time
they enter a response.
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davel
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response 17 of 21:
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Apr 21 14:13 UTC 1994 |
Agreed. And I don't think there is *any* possible terminator which is
going to be intuitive for everyone. I've been on systems where an empty
line terminates input. I'm always getting booted out when I try to start
a new paragraph. (Have to remember to put a blank on that empty line.)
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rcurl
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response 18 of 21:
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Apr 22 05:34 UTC 1994 |
MTS does that. I hate it. I can't copy and paste to its editor or
mail programs, if there are paragraphs.
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kami
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response 19 of 21:
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Apr 22 05:42 UTC 1994 |
why is this in "writing"? All the people in this discussion also read info
and agora. Sorry to cvetch.
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rcurl
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response 20 of 21:
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Apr 22 05:58 UTC 1994 |
I don't know. I wasn't drifting - I just followed the thread. What else
is there to talk about? Aesop?
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davel
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response 21 of 21:
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Apr 22 09:42 UTC 1994 |
I just answered Rane. But anyway, this is extremely appropriate in Writing
(though not necessarily in this item), given the existence of aesthetic
theories such as surrealism and stream-of-consciousness literature.
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