This story is marked "incomplete" as are most of this author's stories, but it is well worth reading. I probably ought to review it, but I want to finish reading it first. I just read a line I wanted to mention to everyone.
"I felt like a million dollars and I don't mean green and wrinkled."
Now that is one worth remembering. Are there other authors who throw in comments that good?
There is a story which was started and then abandoned after 16 chapters when the author felt he had lost his way, all the way back in 2006. Laramie by Dilettante.
The first chapter is a thing of beauty and I occasionally go back and just re-read that one chapter again.
https://storiesonline.net/s/48749:47552/laramie-chapter-1
There is a story which was started and then abandoned after 16 chapters when the author felt he had lost his way, all the way back in 2006. Laramie by Dilettante.
The first chapter is a thing of beauty and I occasionally go back and just re-read that one chapter again.
https://storiesonline.net/s/48749:47552/laramie-chapter-1
Hear, hear. I like his The Best of Both Worlds and was looking forward to more of Laramie. Alas...
I probably ought to review it
Well, I tried. The author doesn't want it reviewed, at least the site won't let me. I voted it most amazing story the first time I read it, so it is a ten. Even incomplete it is well worth your time to read it, at least in my opinion.
The author doesn't want it reviewed, at least the site won't let me.
That's a shame - do you know why the site won't let you? Did cmsix set something to say 'no reviews'?
AJ
Did cmsix set something to say 'no reviews'?
Looks like it - none of his stories have reviews attached to them.
Did cmsix set something to say 'no reviews'?
Feedback is not enabled by default when posting? So unless an author opts-in, there are no comments nor mail link nor ability to be reviewed. At least, that is my recollection of posting my first stories.
At least, that is my recollection of posting my first stories.
Public comments are opt-in. Feedback, reviews and scores are opt-out.
Public comments are opt-in
Of course they did not exist when cmsix was active.
Of course they did not exist when cmsix was active.
and they aren't likely to change since he's deceased.
He died 14 days after I made that comment.
True, but it wasn't likely at the time of your comment, and hadn't been for at least the 3 years prior to that due to the circumstances surrounding cmsix' situation in the nursing home he was in during that time.
Lately I have been re-reading CMSIX stories from first to last including the incomplete ones. It has been interesting to see the growth of his writing. I'm sorry he has passed on. A real talent. Gone but not forgotten.
I remember the effort everyone went to to get him a new mechanical keyboard, back before they became 'the thing' again.
I just read a line I wanted to mention to everyone.
Rereading Depression again. Here is another line from it. "Why, we could spend hours and hours talking about our benevolent government, but I'd rather talk about honest poker players and virginal hookers if you don't mind."
Are there other authors who throw in comments that good?
As a physicist, I knew how a microwave oven worked. What percentage of microwave oven users had a clue? Had a clue as to the mechanics of heating using microwaves, let alone the operating theory of a cavity magnetron? A far cry from Fleming's valve, that! But lack of understanding didn't stop my six-year-old niece from using one to make popcorn!
Why would I want a one hundred eight inch plasma display? 'Dog food commercials are going to look fucking gorgeous!'
Nothing ahead of me but blue skies and open pastures, right? Watch how you walk through those pastures, son...I have many others, but a lot of the quotes files are on now-defunct computers, and I tend to start again from scratch with a new one. One author who appears in most/all these files is Wes Boyd; a coulpe I like are:
If women really use perfume to attract men, why use fragrances that would gag a bumblebee, when something that really did the job worked better -- say, something like essence of new car? Or, maybe Hoppe's #9 gun oil, for hunters and shooters, or even polyester resin for surfers and sea kayakers -- sure, it stank, but that new fiberglass smell was exciting... [Dawnwalker]
You have to figure that if you get the first brick in crooked and don't correct it, you wind up with a stupid looking building. [Magic Carpet]
Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'"
-- Isaac Asimov, 1980
"My marriage was in the toilet, and my wife kept pulling the chain."
Read this recently on SOL, but can't remember the story/author.
"My marriage was in the toilet, and my wife kept pulling the chain."
Found another comment worth mentioning. From Dual Writer's Recluse and Ghost.
"I found out that the chicken shit was to be mixed into the soil around each of the grapevine bases. That was a tough job, as you had to dig up the ground, put some chicken manure on the top, then mix it into the soil. You don't want to put too much, or it will burn the plant. After 20 years in the Army, I was used to chicken shit, so this wasn't that big an adjustment."
Maybe you have to have been in the Army...
Maybe you have to have been in the Army...
It's pretty much a true quote. Hell, I wasn't in NEARLY that long and I learned everything needed to know about chicken shit. Also bullshit, and the ever popular crock of shit.
http://web.mnstate.edu/alm/humor/ThePlan.htm
The Plan
In the beginning, there was a plan,
And then came the assumptions,
And the assumptions were without form,
And the plan without substance,
And the darkness was upon the face of the workers,
And they spoke among themselves saying,
"It is a crock of shit and it stinks."
And the workers went unto their Supervisors and said,
"It is a pile of dung, and we cannot live with the smell."
And the Supervisors went unto their Managers saying,
"It is a container of excrement, and it is very strong,
Such that none may abide by it."
And the Managers went unto their Directors saying,
"It is a vessel of fertilizer, and none may abide by its strength."
And the Directors spoke among themselves saying to one another,
"It contains that which aids plants growth, and it is very strong."
And the Directors went to the Vice Presidents saying unto them,
"It promotes growth, and it is very powerful."
And the Vice Presidents went to the President, saying unto him,
"This new plan will actively promote the growth and vigor
Of the company With very powerful effects."
And the President looked upon the Plan
And saw that it was good,
And the Plan became Policy.
And this, my friend, is how shit happens.
Look at those lines, and ask yourself the question: Do things really work like that? I have worked in a number of large organisations and have seen a number of very expensive policy mistakes, but none of them looked even remotely like that.
Do things really work like that?
That's exactly the way most large government bureaucracies work. Just replace President with permanent public service head of the department.
Sorry, that is garbage.
The primary forces driving policy are:
- personal preferences, sometimes aided by kickbacks.
- cover my ass, can take multiple forms including going for the perceived "safe" option.
- personal preferences, sometimes aided by kickbacks.
What you say is true of the elected officials, but the permanent public servants are like mentioned in the poem, especially the higher levels in the larger agencies / departments. That's especially true of those pushing for high rank within the agency / department. Ass covering is true in just about every work area.
Not in Porn.
It actually happens a lot more in porn, just it's done in the way that a bull covers a cow when breeding.
It actually happens a lot more in porn, just it's done in the way that a bull covers a cow when breeding.
I think the canine equivalent is more popular.
:)
Look at those lines, and ask yourself the question: Do things really work like that?
Always in every organization? Of course not.
I have worked in a number of large organisations and have seen a number of very expensive policy mistakes, but none of them looked even remotely like that.
2. When it does happen, the top levels of management never admits it was a mistake. They will fudge the numbers as much as necessary to make it look like a success, then maybe, when everyone is paying attention to something else they will quietly change the policy.
... and announce it about 4 pm Friday.