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Post by Ten on Jan 9, 2011 13:03:10 GMT -5
Dead palm trees and lettuce ranching make me laugh.
o.o Cactus minions. That would be bad.
Unless they couldn't walk.
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Post by hal on Jan 9, 2011 14:44:55 GMT -5
I think people think it makes the situation more interesting.
I find just "unusual" families (as in, something that deviates from the usual mom+dad+kid(s)) to be more interesting. Like an aunt and an uncle and both parents and a lot of kids (more than two, that is) and maybe a couple of cousins, too.
I would like to bring to light the trend of having every male have a younger sister, or having every female have an older brother. Is it mandatory or something?
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Post by Ten on Jan 9, 2011 21:27:18 GMT -5
Welcome to Starless, Hal.  "I think people think it makes the situation more interesting. I find just "unusual" families (as in, something that deviates from the usual mom+dad+kid(s)) to be more interesting. Like an aunt and an uncle and both parents and a lot of kids (more than two, that is) and maybe a couple of cousins, too." -- Seems like they're common in fiction, though. I want to see more writers' insight into how to deal with my own family. /egocentric. Although I'm more accustomed there being missing members (1+ parent gone) than additional members. "I would like to bring to light the trend of having every male have a younger sister, or having every female have an older brother. Is it mandatory or something?" -- Yes. It's the law. Sec. 42.02. (a) A person commits an offense if the person intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly constructs a family of fictional characters in which the siblings do not represent both genders of the human race, unless: (1) the other same-gender sibling is to be used as a hostage or will otherwise be off-screen for most of the plot;
(2) the same-gender siblings are twins;
(3) the amount of siblings numbers three or more; or
(4) the same-gender siblings are very close siblings whose relationship is central to the plot or serves as a core component. Last week I checked out a book from the library called What They Know About You by Bernard Asbell. It puts a bunch of psychological studies into accessible terms and has lots of interesting information, but I decided to share this bit in particular:
Almost all of us speak in a variety of languages and dialects, each reserved for special settings and special company.
To illustrate, Georgia Dullea of The New York Times recalled not long ago a special moment in the movie Tootsie, when Dustin Hoffman, batting "her" eyelashes in a bar, tells a waiter: "I'll have a Dubonnet on the rocks with a twist, please?"
"Women have been trained by the culture to talk like that," says Dr. Lillian Glass, who teaches speech pathology at the University of Southern California. "Like that" in this case means adding a "tag ending," a demure uptwisting of the sentence into a question mark, where the statement requires none. "Many casualties in the war between the sexes result from a failure to realize that men and women actually speak different languages," says Dr. Glass, who was hired to coach Hoffman to play Tootsie. That got her started unexpectedly in her interest in sex differences in speech -- or, more precisely, how subtle differences in speech help women express their sex roles....
If you are a woman, you are expected by women and men alike to make requests in polite form, most clearly typified by use of the word "please" or softening phrase like "if you don't mind."
If you're a man, the acceptable form of the request depends on what you're requesting. You are not only permitted but expected to use a blunt, "nonpolite" form if you're asking for something that is typically "masculine" (like "Get me a hammer," or "Buy me a pair of tickets to the game"), especially if you're addressing another man. But if you're asking for a cup of tea or a recipe for casserole, an act or item that is associated with femininity, you're expected to append a polite "please" -- or "to speak like women" (in the phrase of the female researcher).
Of course, these "rules" are not always obeyed. When you violate them, however, whether you're a man or woman, you run a high risk of disapproval by both men and women. A woman who "speaks like a man" is likely to be sensed as rude, aggresssive, or domineering. A man who "speaks like a lady" may be viewed as weak or effeminate. [Kemper]
Sometimes I get to thinking that, if I were a guy, my mom wouldn't bug me about being too serious and pragmatic and less-than-friendly in conversations. This study strengthens that belief. |
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Post by Ten on Jan 15, 2011 18:24:50 GMT -5
/just now rediscovered these pictures. o.o Guys. The other day, Mom and I went into Austin, and -- as is to be expected in Austin -- we saw something weird. This guy was riding a freakish crazy-tall bike. It was taller than the cars. i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk224/ihavetenfingers/photo2.jpgi281.photobucket.com/albums/kk224/ihavetenfingers/crazy.jpgOh, and on neo today, a chick jumped into a warrior cats role play with a humanoid alien cat who could change colors and turn invisible. I kept trying to ask her if she knew what genre this was, but all she did was keep saying that she was confused. Then she posted this: "I am leaving since you guys are throwing fits over my profile. I think that you guys don't appreciate creativity and individuality." Folks are prone to exaggeration when they're feeling defensive. Nothing new there, but this might be the first time I've seen someone try a chameleon alien cat on a warriors board. Anyway, it took her a while to get to leaving after that. She thought it was like a Thunder Cats role play. |
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Post by Cloud on Jan 15, 2011 23:44:30 GMT -5
I am amused by that girl's silliness.
How is a humanoid alien chameleon invisible-turning cat creative? By whose standards, and why? Who gives a fig if it is? It's laughable in a normal warriors rp.
"don't appreciate creativity and individuality" There's a big difference between those two things, girl. Learn it.
Oo, bike. Reminds me a little of the smartcars here. I love smartcars.
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Post by Ten on Jan 16, 2011 14:54:35 GMT -5
Crazy bike is crazyyy.
Mom was all, "What's he gonna do when he has to stop at a red light?" Sane bikers on sane bikes can just get off and stand, but that wouldn't be as easy with his bike. Then we came to a red light after she said that. He circled around on the white line until it turned green.
"How is a humanoid alien chameleon invisible-turning cat creative?"
--
My guess is that folks such as her see realism and creativity as polar opposites, and as such they think that the further something is from reality, the more creative it is. /shrug. Maybe that line of thinking is true in some cases. Not so much with this one.
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