--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Denise Evans <dmevans365@...> wrote: > > <snip> > > > "When I encounter someone on the Internet who combines an > > over-weaning sense of their own self importance with an > > almost pathological need to use as many words as humanly > > possible to convince others of that importance, all while > > coming up with a near-absolute dearth of creative ideas > > (or even original ideas), I tend to react to them the way > > Dogbert does in the cartoon I posted recently, by waving > > my paw at them and saying "Bah." > > Whew...lotta words in this there sentence :)
LOL. True. There are several possible explanations for this. It's possible that while ranting about those who tend to become a tad...uh...long-winded, I was possessed by one of their spirits and channeled them, unable to help myself. Or it could be that I was using an example of long-windedness to make my point. Another possibility, one that I fully admit to stooping to from time to time, is that it could be a "planted error," intended to draw fire from our resident compulsive editor, thus causing her to post out more quickly. Or (and this is probably closest to the truth), I was trying to type fast because one of my housemates wanted me to go to the market with them, and thus I skimped on my usual running self-edit process. Whatever the reason, mea culpa :-) I stand by the gist of my assessment, although not its form -- self importance, lack of creative and original thought, and the wisdom of the Dogbert approach to such people, and their writing. :-) > ________________________________ > From: turquoiseb <no_re...@yahoogroups.com> > To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com > Sent: Wednesday, October 19, 2011 1:06 AM > Subject: [FairfieldLife] Re: Conversation between Curtis & Robin > > > Â > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "curtisdeltablues" <curtisdeltablues@> > wrote: > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Sal Sunshine <salsunshine@> wrote: > > > > > > On Oct 18, 2011, at 4:37 PM, Rick Archer wrote: > > > > > > > Robin is having trouble posting this, so I'm doing it for him: > > > > > > Maybe his email program is bored out of its > > > mind by his mind-numbingly > > > long-winded posts, and has decided to rebel. > > > > Hey Sal, > > > > I have to take part of the credit or blame for the length > > since I produced my half of it. And I can certainly see > > how from the outside this beast is just too much to bear! > > Seriously. But I defend the charge that Robin is just > > sending out monologues to strangers here. > > > > This is one of the most interesting discussions I have > > engaged in here. And unfortunately it took a lot of words > > to suss out some key points of interest to both Robin and > > me. The driving force behind this exchange is a genuine > > interest in understanding each other's process for > > approaching reality. Because it engages our complete > > philosophies, it requires a lot of words. What we are > > attempting is not simple. And of course any conversation > > with me is going to be lengthened by whatever improv comedy > > strikes me as I write, so there we tack on even more. > > > > I am not making a case that this should be of interest to > > anyone else. I am just owning my part in it. > > I, too, thank Curtis for his explanation. I do not > share his fascination with either the people he gets > into long-winded discussions with, or with any of > their ideas, but it's probably good that someone does. > > As much as I love Curtis, sometimes I see him as the > Patron Saint Of The Terminally Self Important. As such, > he is pretty much the polar opposite of myself. When I > encounter someone on the Internet who combines an over- > weaning sense of their own self importance with an > almost pathological need to use as many words as humanly > possible to convince others of that importance, all > while coming up with a near-absolute dearth of creative > ideas (or even original ideas), I tend to react to them > the way Dogbert does in the cartoon I posted recently, > by waving my paw at them and saying "Bah." > > Curtis *engages* them. Like the saint he is, he reacts > to the nothing they say by either pretending it's some- > thing or (more likely) as if he's actually able to find > something interesting in it. As such, he has become in > a way the "therapist to the stars," or at least those > who are legends in their own minds and convinced that > they *are* stars. > > Whereas few others consider Robin or Judy or Ravi or > Jim interesting enough to even *read*, Curtis not only > reads their stuff but replies to it as if it actually > deserved a reply. He meets nitpick with nitpick, self- > obsession with "I can understand why you're obsessed > with that," tirade with humor. I admire his compassion > and his patience in doing this; it is a skill that I > lack. Since I honestly don't think that I've ever seen > an original or creative idea emanate from ANY of the > people I mentioned, it is very difficult for me to > pretend that I have. It's much easier -- and a far > better use of my time -- to wave my paw at them and > say "Bah" than it is to get into their obsessions with > them. Curtis feels otherwise, and thus provides these > oh-so-needy people with the attention that they so > desperately seek. > > It's like he's the Mother Teresa of the Internet. > Whereas some encounter a leper trying to show off his > sores and turn away, Curtis says, "Wow...that's really > a good one. Just LOOK at the pus oozing from that one," > and allows them to feel good about themselves, as if > there were at least one person out there in cyberspace > who feels that they're interesting enough to deal with. > > It is thus IMO a form of selfless service, and I commend > him for it. I may not read it, even though I know that > this may deprive me of glimpses of his awesome humor, > but I think it's neat that he does it. > > > > The average post here is > > > maybe 5-10 Kbs, this one alone is 125. While > > > this might be his longest to date, it's hardly > > > an aberration. I don't get it. Too bad > > > MDG is no longer here to explain how and why > > > someone would take the trouble, day after day, > > > to write these endless monologues to a bunch of almost > > > complete strangers. > > > > > > Sal > > > > > >
