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#62659 03/29/02 11:08 PM
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the one about the village smithy: http://www.bartleby.com/102/59.html

The first two lines were particularly well-liked by we college lads who enjoyed visiting the ladies at Smith college, an all-female institution. ["Under the standing chestnut tree ... ] Ah, Longfellow!


#62660 03/30/02 12:42 AM
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Yes, i almost agree-- Rubrick, about compulsory reading list..i think they are OK if 1) they are short (one book a grade perhaps) 2) if it is okay to open dislike the book.

"Little women" was compulsory in 6th grade for me. (age 11/12) i hated it. I mean, i didn't think myself too poor, and here were these girls, living in a big house, (we lived in an apartment), with servants, (they had a cook!) and piano lessons, and art lessons, and going to fancy dress dances, and worried about their kid gloves!.. and giving away lobsters, and all the while complaining about how hard their life was, how poor they were, sob, sob.

i know now, that many of the things alcott wrote about and how she described the lives, described one of upper class standards, with low income, now that is! then i was still one of the poor irish

when i was older i liked the book.. but what really upset me at the time, was i got in trouble for not liking. i not only had to read it, i had to like it! i don't think compulsory reading lists are the problem, i think the problem is as much the idea that this BOOK the one they has finally made the list, must be enjoyed! I can understand you might have hated "wuthering heights" (i loved it!) and i bet any negitive comments about the book were not appreciated.

I generaly hate Hardy-- my daughter thinks he is a wonderful writer, i love george eliot, she thinks eliot is drivle. Who's right? who cares!

i like the idea of a list of 20 books, and you must read 4 or 5 from the list. this was (and is) still a common ploy. i read a lot of books i might have not otherwise picked up, except they were on a reading list. and since i could exersize some choice, i never felt duty bound to read something i disliked.. i could just switch to an other book.


#62661 03/30/02 01:37 AM
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When my children were little, we had no TV! They loved me to read to them and were such voracious listeners that I opted to tape their favorite stories so they could listen to them whenever they wanted to, thus allowing them the repetition, and me the freedom to read new stories. My daughter's favorite story was "The Cat Who Walked Alone", by Kipling. I also purchased a few books on tape. "Huck Finn" was my son's favorite. The phrase "Tragedy, mostly."(from the abridged, spoken by the "Duke") is still one of our catch phrases.
Here is a link to the original text with the original illustrations, if anyone would like to read the book.
http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/Twa2Huc.html


#62662 03/30/02 01:56 PM
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I've found that a lot of 'New worlders' will use various slang words specific to their ancestors even if only within their immediate family. A lot of Scots-Americans will say 'aye' without even knowing it

One such term I've heard in use in only two families is (and I've no idea of the correct spelling, so) hanyak, which is, as nearly as I can tell, a Scandanvian term about the equivalent yahoo (in the Jonathan Swift sense). Has anybody else ever heard of hanyak?


#62663 03/30/02 02:22 PM
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From a phrase site, no clue as to authenticity:

hanyak: Refers to people who do not use common sense, are insensitive to others and their environment, and are generally just stupid about what they're doing and their impact on others
Example: Did you see that hanyak cut across three lanes to make the light? Or That hanyak just butt way in front of the line we're in!



#62664 03/30/02 10:27 PM
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...often they tend to focus on emotional interactions, just as in conversations*? I think you guys, in general, tend to want to focus on the deed getting accomplished, and have less interest in the why.

Although stereotypes are *made for a reason, does this mean the why is generally an emotional interaction?


#62665 03/30/02 11:15 PM
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Although stereotypes are *made for a reason, does this mean the why is generally an emotional interaction?
Oh, shoot, I was afraid I was going to have to get more specific--thanks a LOT! Well, in a word...yes, that is what I meant in that post, though certainly not all 'whys' involve that! Here's an ex. of what I meant: let's say a leaky sink has been repaired: a woman is likely to say something like, "Oh, thank heavens that's fixed, because it was SO darned inconvenient to have to be mopping up all the time, and I was constantly having to make sure I had a good supply of paper towels on hand, and there were so many of them that I had to take out a whole extra bag of garbage this week..." Whereas a man is likely to say, "The sink got fixed because it was leaking"--if he even says anything at all.


#62666 03/31/02 12:23 AM
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...a woman is likely to say something like, "Oh, thank heavens that's fixed, because it was SO darned inconvenient to have to be mopping up all the time, and I was constantly having to make sure I had a good supply of paper towels on hand, and there were so many of them that I had to take out a whole extra bag of garbage this week..." Whereas a man is likely to say, "The sink got fixed because it was leaking"--if he even says anything at all.

After all that chatter I think a *man will be saying something completely different ! But those words just loose [Hi, Juan] the *affect when typed!


#62667 03/31/02 12:42 AM
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But those words just loose [Hi, Juan] the *affect when typed!
Well, gee, if you like, Sweetie, I can call you up and fill your ear with senseless garbage from here till tomorrow...






#62668 03/31/02 03:54 PM
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Sounds like a forgery to me!

TEd wanders away looking for farrier weather



TEd
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