2/3/01 First Meeting ∼ The Dream ∼ from Despina's I Green Journal (2/146; WC: 332 )
Table of Contents (SOTFW: SC summercircles)
Table of Contents (Despina's IGJ summercircles)
Table of Contents (travelsfar)
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Despina's Infamous Green Journal
First Meeting ∼ The Dream
Saturday
••••••In the dawn of the computer age, a British computer sends an old adage to its Russian counterpart as part of the calibration process. "Out of sight; out of mind." The Russian computer dutifully translates the message into Russian, then returns the Russian language version to the British computer. The British computer runs it through its translating program and prints out, "Invisible and insane."
∼ Anonymous joke circulated heavily in the early days of computers.
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She was driving Baby Blue Ram, her old beater of a pickup, east on Highway 2. The windshield wipers intermittently batted at the spittings of snow decorating the glass.
"A hitchhiker? Mid-November is no time to be out seeing the country on foot!" she thought.
Never pick up a hitchhiker. They might turn out to be a serial killer, and you might turn into their next victim, her conscious niggled her.
"That jacket sure looks short. And a bit worn. It probably isn't much protection from that wind."
You're just an old softy. See a stray dog, and nothing would do but you had to bring it home, even though you KNEW how your father hated animals in the house!
"But, this is a human being, not a dog. He can't curl up in a snowbank with his tail protecting his nose." (Assuming the smattering builds up to a bank... It is too hard and cold a snow to create a comfortable drift.)
"He's not even trying to hitch. He's just walking along."
Phew! Finally out of sight.
"Out of sight; out of mind."
Translated into Russian and back into English as "Invisible and insane."
"Rats! It is INSANE to be out walking along, not dressed for the weather, on a day like today," her voice ended her internal debate as she pounded the steering wheel for emphasis.
You have to live with yourself.
She slammed on the brakes and did a U'ee right in the middle of a deserted flat stretch.
Next
Last updated 2/14/16 Added to Summercircles from Travelsfar; 11/27/15 chained into novel and added to TOC; 11/6/2015 removed -- before quote, added ~ ; added second space after end punctuation; 9/14/08 changed first sentence into a clause; changed sends to returns; added her voice ended her internal debate as she pounded the steering wheel for emphasis; added capitals on Assuming and It. (8/18/06; 7/11/04 ...hated animals in the house!).
Word Count: 332
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http://summercircles.livejournal.com/42262.html
http://travelsfar.livejournal.com/42277.html
Current Music explanation: Inside the New York Times Book Review: Love and Death, reviewer Andrew Solomon discusses five books with Pamela Paul [podcast posted 2/14/16] Love and life and loss and death
The books:
Death's Summer Coat: What the History of Death and Dying Can Tell Us About Life and Living by Brandy Schillace
The Good Death: An Explanation of Dying in America by Ann Neumann
In the Slender Margin: The Intimate Strangeness of Death and Dying by Eve Joseph
The Iceberg by Marion Coutts
When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
Table of Contents (Despina's IGJ summercircles)
Table of Contents (travelsfar)
Back
•
Despina's Infamous Green Journal
First Meeting ∼ The Dream
Saturday
••••••In the dawn of the computer age, a British computer sends an old adage to its Russian counterpart as part of the calibration process. "Out of sight; out of mind." The Russian computer dutifully translates the message into Russian, then returns the Russian language version to the British computer. The British computer runs it through its translating program and prints out, "Invisible and insane."
∼ Anonymous joke circulated heavily in the early days of computers.
•
She was driving Baby Blue Ram, her old beater of a pickup, east on Highway 2. The windshield wipers intermittently batted at the spittings of snow decorating the glass.
"A hitchhiker? Mid-November is no time to be out seeing the country on foot!" she thought.
Never pick up a hitchhiker. They might turn out to be a serial killer, and you might turn into their next victim, her conscious niggled her.
"That jacket sure looks short. And a bit worn. It probably isn't much protection from that wind."
You're just an old softy. See a stray dog, and nothing would do but you had to bring it home, even though you KNEW how your father hated animals in the house!
"But, this is a human being, not a dog. He can't curl up in a snowbank with his tail protecting his nose." (Assuming the smattering builds up to a bank... It is too hard and cold a snow to create a comfortable drift.)
"He's not even trying to hitch. He's just walking along."
Phew! Finally out of sight.
"Out of sight; out of mind."
Translated into Russian and back into English as "Invisible and insane."
"Rats! It is INSANE to be out walking along, not dressed for the weather, on a day like today," her voice ended her internal debate as she pounded the steering wheel for emphasis.
You have to live with yourself.
She slammed on the brakes and did a U'ee right in the middle of a deserted flat stretch.
Next
Last updated 2/14/16 Added to Summercircles from Travelsfar; 11/27/15 chained into novel and added to TOC; 11/6/2015 removed -- before quote, added ~ ; added second space after end punctuation; 9/14/08 changed first sentence into a clause; changed sends to returns; added her voice ended her internal debate as she pounded the steering wheel for emphasis; added capitals on Assuming and It. (8/18/06; 7/11/04 ...hated animals in the house!).
Word Count: 332
•
http://summercircles.livejournal.com/42262.html
http://travelsfar.livejournal.com/42277.html
Current Music explanation: Inside the New York Times Book Review: Love and Death, reviewer Andrew Solomon discusses five books with Pamela Paul [podcast posted 2/14/16] Love and life and loss and death
The books:
Death's Summer Coat: What the History of Death and Dying Can Tell Us About Life and Living by Brandy Schillace
The Good Death: An Explanation of Dying in America by Ann Neumann
In the Slender Margin: The Intimate Strangeness of Death and Dying by Eve Joseph
The Iceberg by Marion Coutts
When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi