h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

well, it's my turn to compliment you for how you've been able to operate in a thread

you've shown a calm persistance to keep to your particular area of enquiry - it's been a delight to see


from what i've observed of people's discussion so far, i believe that you're right in saying that it's not possible (at present, at least) to hold a serious and non-judgemental discussion in hootoo concerning some topics, in a setting of trust and absence of criticism (whether overt or implied) - and when the thread is open to all and there's no (benign) moderation available

i remember reading some guidelines about joining conversations, when i registered with h2g2 a couple of months ago: one of the main points was that it's usually ok to join in with a group discussion uninvited, but a visitor should be aware that a conversation between just two or three people might be 'private', ie. you would have to be invited to join that discussion in order to contribute


i'm going to suggest that you, personally, may be able to achieve what you're hoping for by approaching various individuals who you believe to have something worthwhile to offer in related discussions, and with whom you feel you can have a meaningful exchange of information and ideas - and ask such folk if they'd be prepared to discuss with you, one-to-one (a three-way conversation may also be possible, i don't know)

you could make it clear in the first post (and title?) that the conversation has been arranged by invitation - if you get other people trying to barge in, then they can be politely asked not to interfere in the discussion (they can observe, of course!)

if they persist in ignoring these reasonable requests (and therefore have also ignored the h2g2 guidelines for conversations) then i'm sure that the h2g2 moderators can be asked to get involved


i realise it's not ideal, but it appears to offer a way ahead - it would be a shame to allow a more vocal and insistent element to restrict the options to either just not talk about these matters at all, or have any attempts at discussion get effectively hi-jacked


apologies for this rather lengthy (& rambling) message - i really hope you can get to achieve the level and quality of enquiry you're searching for

all the best
a-l-s

oh a-l-s

that is such a lovely post I think I might blub, thank you so much for taking the time to come and post it

there has been so much horribleness recently that that thread has been one of the things that has kept me going, because I think by the very fact we are having that discussion there is hope that we can change.

I will get back to you your suggestions tomorrow if I may, I was just heading off to bed

thank you again

Peanut

good idea to sleep on it - the pillow, that is - but definitely bad news to blub on it!!


have a good night, and a rewarding day

I haven't forgotton this, just been distracted

and

no need to apologise


there was an old Byrds song: "...to everything there is a season..." - a 'right' time for everything

sometimes it's good just to stand back and watch the river flow awhile

als: >>> "no need to apologise"

oops ...sorry, "apologise" was the wrong word - rewind - "no explanations needed"

It just seemed a little rude to say that I would reply the next day and then not to do so

Your suggestion aboout journal threads is a good one. Probably I unsure about where to start, what boundaries I would want to set for discussion and lack the confidence that people would drop by to talk hmmm

I am very Ask orientated and always have been, it is big chunk of my h2g2 life, but I have been branching out, posting in other peoples journals, starting threads with individuals and even posting in peer review occasionally and that has been good. A journal thread like that is something that I could work up too

By dropping into Catcuscafe thread the other day not only did I get to meet some really interesting people, I have aquired a cabbage white butterfly as an animal totem and everytime I see one now it seems extra special. It is that sort of 'unexpected thing' that I love about h2g2, it was a joyful thing.

That last sentance isn't very well expressed, lack of linguistic skills to think of how to put it better

ah - no rudeness perceived! i read your original post to mean just that you would consider the suggestion(s) when you were free to do so, not that you would necessarily reply, but thank you for following up on it - it sounds like you have it pretty well considered!


>>> "...dropping into Catcuscafe thread the other day not only did I get to meet some really interesting people, I have aquired a cabbage white butterfly as an animal totem and everytime I see one now it seems extra special. It is that sort of 'unexpected thing' that I love about h2g2, it was a joyful thing."

...and you got to see Dmitri 'moth' -ering me, too? bonus!


don't be put off your very valid personal goals - hang in there!

Your poem was cool and I also loved your story about the band and that picture .

re my personal goals, thank you for the encouragement

thank you for your kind words! both accounts completely true - unusually for me


"Illegitimis non carborundum est"! ...as they used to say in the Roman laminate flooring business

have fun, be well

I won't, be ground down by any sort of flooring be it laminate, or lino,

oddly I have been thinking about the laminate floor I have down stairs, it has served extremely well, with the comings and goings of muddy feets and paints and spillages over years, if we shifted all our stuff off the floor it would really look quite good despite all we have thrown at it

I think i am eyeing the place up for moving

but I miss my clogs, and am for some reason am really missing them really badly, now you can't wear clogs on laminate, so noisy

and I will,remember to have fun and be well

random clog post, you started it by mentioning the flooring and

hi Peanut

having watched clogs get born (in the Netherlands), it seems to me that if you're wearing clogs then ANY kind of floor covering is superfluous - Roman or otherwise

this may be advantageous, in that if you DO decide to move, then it really opens up all sorts of possibilities about where you can setup home - for instance, those fashionable disused quarries with their stony & uneven surfaces, that only yesterday you were dismissing out of hand, suddenly are back in the game!

however, you could possibly cut down on the noise level (decilogs? clogibels?) by the smart application of thick rugs on top of the laminate flooring (and possibly on top of all your stuff, too)

could this be just the moment for resurrecting those mammoth-hair kaftans which have been languishing in the understairs cupboard for a decade or two?


the nearest i've ever got to wearing clogs was in Sweden, when i was 8 - i seem to remember it was fairly commonplace to wear small planks of wood underfoot, secured by a short leather belt over the top of the foot

...my mother used to swear by them... no wait, AT them...

i believe this footwear was a fairly early security measure designed by the eciloP to ensure that criminals could never run away faster than those with whom the Force was strong, Luke

the happiest feature - i can still remember it with tears of joy - was when the 'shoe' decided to walk ahead by half a step and the softest, most tenderest, part of the unsuspecting underbelly of your foot would impact on the unforgiving upper corner of the 'heel' with all your weight on it

oh, those were the days!

...actually, those were the days after which my toes were no longer connected to the rest of my foot


but i digress (whatever that means)


it's funny how insights like that ("I think i am eyeing the place up for moving") come to you - and then once they have, it seems like you can go ahead & make further plans, to which you wouldn't have given houseroom, a day previously


i have to say, this is the first random clog post to which i've been a participant - and i've found it a rather pleasant event - thank you for sharing!

never did I think random clog posts could be so entertaining

if there are any mammoth-hair kaftans in the cupboard under the stairs they are very recent additions. Kea sometimes takes refuge in that cupboard and when the first graced our scenery we had this very discussion.

It is lovely to see the magnificent roaming wild, a pet one would be impractical and while I am sure would be very tasty I just don't have the freezer space for a whole one, befriending a might be possible and in the summer it must be hot so perhaps it would quite like a little shearing. When I see her online I will ask if she has followed this up.

You haven't seen any bald around have you?

*wonders how much sunblock would be required to factor up baldy hmmm*

rugs, while a good idea, perhaps you do not know this yet but a member of the family is nick-named Spiller for good reason. A solution that came to mind this morning was to carpet the bottom of my clogs, or at least fuzzy felt them, how slippery this would be, I'm not sure and then they would have been indoor shoes only

oh, it is difficult, but for today, I will be gardening and I shall be doing it in my clogs and my new (to me) flares as I don't have a pair of boots to go with them, the clogs will do me nicely until then

heheh - who let the 'Moths out? ... ... ... ... ... ...

i think i need to do some catching up - re: kea, Spiller, and all...

i'll ferret around in your personal space - er, blim*y, i can't believe i've just typed that!

i really don't think that carpet or felt would be a good thing to have under clogs, when negotiating laminate flooring (or similar)

pretty sure i've seen some clogs with a kind of serrated rubber/plastic grip underneath

and if you want to wear clogs outdoors, then i would have thought that any fabric type material would be impractical from a cleaning point of view?

just my 2c worth - i tend to wear Doc Martens for all occasions, so what do i know?!?


i read recently that scientists were trying to clone Mammoths and have them born to heffalumps - in which case, i couldn't possibly consider them as food

if they were docile, it would be cool to be friends with a 'Moth, but i suspect it's more likely that they'd be a bit like Brian Blessed on speed

...*wishes he could unthink mental image of Brian B on speed*


mind you, the thought of a sheared 'Moth is pretty scary, too - i'm not sure that it gets warm enough in Siberia for them to remove their coats

sunblock for a baby 'Moth is probably to stand in Mum or Dad's shadow?


hope the gardening went well today, i think the weather was favourable along England's crinkly bits in the south?

hfbw


PS why are you gardening with flares? wouldn't it be easier just to garden in daylight instead?

a-l-s <-- easily confused!

you are a tonic, you really are, gardening by flares, Brian Blessed

I don't where ferreting around my PS is going to get you,into alsorts of trouble if you aren't careful, you have read the warnings about eating stuff in pickling jars and that, please don't play with the broadswords unless you know what you are doing and avoid the cellar if you are of a squeamish nature, I have an interest in parasites, just so you know

If you found my thread with Kea, I think we left off with banana hammocks and a suggestion for a smiley, those referances came from another thread in which were wearing inappropiate swimwear, or at least they were, until they put said items on their heads. Topic drift both a blessing and a curse, anyway that mental imagery pays you back for Brian B on speed

Spiller is my best mate, I sometimes wonder if that is an understatement, depends on how the other person defines a best mate. It is said that friends are family you chose for youself, this is true in this case, we are very bonded and Hiccup (daughter) considers him to be her Dad, so we are family

I came to this thread from one with hygienicdispenser, who puts agadoo in my head and now who let the 'Moths out as well

oooookay - warnings about PS taken on board...

...and greetings to Spiller and Hiccup, too!


ok, i'm going to go out on a limb here and say i don't think banana hammocks are a good idea

i reckon that once the little green & yellow bu**ers get the taste of the good life, swinging back & forth in their hammocks, sipping Malibus thro' corrugated straws and reading - no - sorry - looking at the pictures - in Hello! magazine, you'll never get a decent day's work out of them ever again

well, there it is - i've said it - and i stand by it!

actually, perhaps "stand by it" is a stretching the point a tadette, given that i'm currenly swinging back & forth in my hammock and sipping Malibus....

now the inappropriate swimwear caught my attention - no wait - not like that! - could it possibly be related to "inappropriate shorts"?

these are shorts worn by men in any month other than June or July, especially when they are more than 30 yards from the beach and earlier than 10am or later than 4pm

it goes without saying that mens legs are just not made to be seen - so - got to question the motives of men who wear inappropriate shorts

now then, now then - what about inappropriate swimwear, eh?


it's been a bizarre sort of day, i actually managed to complete a piece of writing without giving up halfway thro' cos i thought it was rubbish

it IS rubbish, but somehow i managed to miss the blindingly obvious until i'd finished

so that was most of the day down the drain and then - this evening i had to turn the TV on to try & remind myself how to operate the DVD recorder (which i see from my last DVD label was 4 years ago)

things did not go well! much swearage was made at inanimate objects

but the hoopy thing was... suddenly the screen filled with all these woolly mammoths - and then - and THEN... a bit later - you'll never guess - oh - you did? yes - Brian Blessed appeared on the screen several times! one of the times i could have sworn that he was blowing into a condom. luckily i had the sound on mute - and i could STILL hear him a bit!

talking, that is - not blowing into the... well, you know what i meant

so - how spooky was that?

now, where was i? ah yes - family - everybody needs somebody (as they said in some overly jolly, feelgood movie, that i like totally, totally hated - actually, i quite liked it, really) so its good that you guys have got each other, because everything else is just smoke & mirrors really

no, i haven't been drinking

much


and finally (quiet at the back!) - made mental note to avoid reference to certain songs - otherwise i just know i'm going to be in deep agadoodoo

have a great weekend, y'all

inappropriate shorts those I can live with, it is why do people insist on wearing beach wear to go shopping when they are miles away from a beach. Now I am not a prude and really, really I am unjudgemental about body shapes and sizes but it is just too much for me when I go round a corner of an aisle or turn in a queue, (whoops I forgot the bloody cat food again) to find myself in close contact with a strangers beer belly that should be really covered up on account of the lobster shade of sunburn alone and even walking across the car park is too much extra sun for that skin. Because I am small my eyeline is at moob level. It is a form nakiness I find out of place and discomforting.

Well there is rant of today

lounging in a hammock eh, we had one in the front room,oh Hiccups friends used to think we were so cool, with our hammock, a wall they could paint on, our Dick and Dom muck muck parties and our disregard for our floor coverings *looks wistful* oh those were days

now we are just cool because sometimes we let them drink malibu at weekends and the occasional item of clothing is 'so retro'

my tendancy has informed that you are have something for next week, I am looking forward to it

oh, yes - i agree, you shouldn't be subjected to sights like that!! feel free to rant away

oops, i hope you didn't take me seriously about me being in a hammock - it was meant as a spoof 'confession' after i'd just slagged off bananas for doing the same

...however, it does sound like the sort of thing i should be considering

i'll have a word with my boss, tomorrow, and see if we can get something organised in the office!

yeah, how cool for kids...

*imagines rewrite of Squeeze song*

"...
The kids were doing ninety
cause they got the day off school
hangin' in the hammock
with a jug of Malibu
they're tryin' on the kaftans
from the cupboard by the stairs
in and out the garden,
wearing daisies in their hair
...
and mum is in the kitchen
wearin' clogs, yes, in she skids
she ends up in the hammock
which is very cool for kids
they're cool for kids - cooooool for kids..."

etc. etc.

where were we?....

hey, your tendency is pretty amazing - i only found out myself last night that my submission had been accepted for next week!

you're obviously the "Go-To for Goss"!

thank you for kind words, but don't get your hopes up - it's a first attempt at this sort of thing, so a bit of a shot in the dark


good on yer, btw, for your recent research on behalf of Willem!

folks really seem to have rallied to help - it's brought the merest microtadge of moisture to the eye of this hard-hearted ol' researcher

hfbw

well, being honest I didn't take you seriously about being in a hammock but having enjoyed the comforts of a hammock for many years, until it started to unravel and then got horribly attacked by a hoover wand, I wasn't going to exclude the possibility altogether

much for cool for kids, and that will make me happy whenever I think about it, thank you

anyway I am off to bed, all that talk of volunteering inspired me and I have appointment to discuss being a 'Museum Custodian' tomorrow, sounds fancy but they have bigged it up and i am happy to go along with that,anyway, there are things I need to buff up and go through my wardrobe

really I just wanted to say thank you for the song and that I am sure my hopes will do just fine for next weeks post, so you might as well give up with your attempts to revise my expectations,

hah - i surrender - your double-bluffage is just out of my league!


soooo - now it's my turn to talk about 'revised expectations': it sounds like a very responsible job, with a low 'hammock rating'

if what they describe catches your imagination with possibilities for development of the work involved for the museum, then i'm sure they'll pick up on your enthusiasm - and then, as they often say in East Enders: "Robert is your paternal sibling"

in Dramatic circles i understand that, at this point, one says "break a leg!"

so, i guess in Museum circles, one would have to say "break a vase!"


and finally...

>>> " there are things I need to buff up and go through my wardrobe"

i only have one piece of advice - no inappropriate swimwear!