tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320269312957801390.post9070242742531911509..comments2024-03-29T03:45:01.236-07:00Comments on TalkToYoUniverse: Twists on conversational endingsJuliette Wadehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02879627074920760712noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320269312957801390.post-44368534748281924352010-06-02T07:02:21.173-07:002010-06-02T07:02:21.173-07:00But it reminds me of this story I read once about ...<i>But it reminds me of this story I read once about going to this place where this sage could carry up to ten conversations at a time through thought with his visitors.</i><br /><br />I must not be so enlightened; I found it very difficult to keep up with four different kids (ages 22 months to eight years old, the youngest of them mine) all vying for my attention tonight at the same time, most of them wanting to tell me "knock knock" jokes. ;)JDsghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04735390644321868222noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320269312957801390.post-7500572179602407142010-06-02T06:11:41.435-07:002010-06-02T06:11:41.435-07:00My sister and I are terrible about ending conversa...My sister and I are terrible about ending conversations with each other, whether on the phone or with instant messaging. Once I had a three hour phone call with her, where we started the goodbye sequence several times after the first hour. But one of us would remember something we absolutely-must-tell-sister and we'd chat about the new topics plus a couple more, then try again. But then again, we had plenty of time to talk that day. When one of us actually has somewhere to be, something to do, we wrap up much quicker. <br /><br />I have noticed the simultaneous conversations that can happen with IMing. It's funny sometimes and occasionally confusing. But it reminds me of this story I read once about going to this place where this sage could carry up to ten conversations at a time through thought with his visitors. Those more enlightened could carry on multiple ones with him. So one person might be holding three with the sage, another be holding four, one holding two, and the last person just one. It was one of those inspirational stories, but that's all I remember about it. But it was before instant messaging came out. Funny how we've made it possible through technology. Just open several windows with various friends, and you too can have that many conversations going at once.Jaleh Dhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04942272578488986874noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320269312957801390.post-33555780098721098562010-06-01T21:26:41.173-07:002010-06-01T21:26:41.173-07:00One of the (IMO) worst endings for a scene I ever ...One of the (IMO) worst endings for a scene I ever read was by, of all people, Isaac Asimov in <i>Foundation</i>. The last paragraph of Chapter 3 in <i>The Merchant Princes</i> section (p. 216) reads:<br /><br />"Mallow grasped and shook the other's hand. 'Good! All fired good! And now I've got to round up the boys. You know where the <i>Far Star</i> docks, don't you? Then show up tomorrow. Good-by.'"<br /><br />It is that abrupt "Good-by" that really grates on me. (The previous sentence isn't that good, either.) A more natural sounding ending would have been something like, "I'll see you tomorrow (then)." But that "Good-by" makes the Mallow character sound completely dismissive of the people whom he had just talked to.<br /><br />I realize this was one of Asimov's earliest works, and his latter works never struck me as being so unrefined in his writing, but I stopped re-reading the Foundation series a few years ago because passages like the above made me question, "Was all of the writing in these three books as bad as this?"JDsghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04735390644321868222noreply@blogger.com