Punctuation was one of the many topics discussed during the Tencat seminar this past Friday night. Both Uncle Ken and I are in agreement regarding the Oxford Comma, but UK is not so sure about my extravagant usage of the ellipsis and semi-colon. I like them because I when I write, I develop ideas verbally and there are slight pauses introduced by the punctuation which more closely reflect the spoken word.
Then UK told me that I remind him of Bender Rodriguez, the robot from Futurama. Not the sound of the voice, but the speech patterns. That's a notion I have not yet entertained; it's worth a viewing of some old DVDs, if I can find them. There are many cartoon aspects of my reality....
-----
See those hyphens above? Same thing; to break up ideas. Uncle Ken says that he triple-spaces for a change in topic, but they are visually too subtle for my browser (Firefox). A harmless affectation...
And see the ellipsis? I use them when an idea or thought just peters out. It is sure to give future grammarians fits of displeasure.
-----
For a final thought on punctuation, Mr. Beagles' conversation with his grandfather made me smile. As I re-read it, I unconsciously inserted a comma which made it read "I'm good, for nothing!" Maybe that was the intent of Little Boy Beagles, but it wrecks the warmth of the story and would have made it forgettable, I think.
-----
Ah, theology! Philisophy! Quite a frequent topic in the Friday seminars. Uncle Ken was raised Methodist, as I recall, and I've had plenty of years in Lutheran schools. We can certainly flap out gums, at length, on many aspects of Protestantism.
I like and dislike all religions in equal measure. All traditional faiths provide sound moral frameworks, which is good for a stable society. But it pisses me off when religious tenets are forced upon the "non-believers." The proselytizing religious fundamentalists of all stripes are assholes, in my opinon.
A while back I told Uncle Ken about a philosophy of mine, in three short sentences.
1. We don't pick out parents.
2. We don't choose where we were born.
3. We don't have a choice on how we were raised.
As we grow up and mature we begin to challenge and question many things which often causes conflict within family and community. But there comes a time when we have to assume the responsibility of our lives and proceed accordingly. Hopefully we can become decent people, although it doesn't always work out that way. Some folks buy into everything they've been told and perpetuate a lot of stupidity.
Suppose a baby, born blind, was adopted by a family, of a different race and religion, in another country. How would their sense of self-identity develop?
A friend of mine (not blind) was born in Mexico, with a Mexican birth certificate. His parents were German citizens and they moved to Chicago when he was a baby; he doesn't speak a lick of Spanish, but knows a bit of German. As far as the law is concerned he is still an undocumented alien. I'm not sure of all the details, but it's a can of worms. I think he considers himself German, but I see him rarely and the topic seldom comes up.
-----
One of the beefs I have with organized religion is that they all developed and grew but then stopped evolving, getting stuck at a certain point in time with all tenets locked in place. Which is dumb, I think. Ideas that worked out well hundreds or thousands or years ago may not make a lot of sense today.
It's like there came a point in time where it was decided that there were to be no more prophets, no more growth or development of matters of faith. WTF?
People that justify their behavior because it's based on the Bible, "The word of God," have got it wrong. I was taught that the Bible was the divinely *inspired* word of God, written by the hand of man. And like all works of man. errors can occur.
Divine inspiration has been continuous throughout history and should be incorporated into modern belief systems, don'cha think?
And do you suppose that folks in 19th century America considered Mormons in the same way we consider Scientologists today? The Mormons have a much more violent and bloody history, though.
-----
Enough. The RNC circus in Cleveland starts tomorrow and I'm out of popcorn.
No comments:
Post a Comment