Journal Entries
annoyed
Posted Sep 26, 2003
in all my eleven or so months at h2g2, i have met hordes of interesting people, had enlightening conversations and have a had a generally wonderful time. however... i must confess that i have also been very annoyed by One Particular Episode.
i'm a regular at pr, and even though i'm not a scout, i generally like to pop in to help out the newbie who does not yet know the writing guidelines. that is to say, of course, that i sometimes post a little message to say that it's an interesting article, and perhaps go on a little bit about how they can polish up on the article, or, if it's not quite eg material, how they can turn it into one or what other places they can send it to.
now, there's this one time when i went into one of the review sites (i won't say which) and found an article that was all opinion-based. i went in and politely said that the article was intriguing and interesting, but that because it was an opinion piece it didn't conform to writing guidelines, and that the author would perhaps like to send it to the post instead, because it was more flexible where creativity was concerned. and guess what? i got insulted! (of course, that was before i figured out how to yikes people) every attempt to clarify my statements was met with even more awful assaults, until i unsubscribed to the conversation in utter disgust. i would've forgotten about it, but only today i went into the review site again - and found the article still there. and read *what* the author had written in reply to my final posting.
i'm going to try and keep my temper and stay calm about this. i just find it... gaargh, there's just no word for it... i just don't see why people send their articles into review forums if they don't want to have their articles commented on! (ignoring comments is one thing; repeatedly insulting the person who wrote the comments is another) the whole point of review is for other people to have a look at your article and spot flaws in it, and suggest ways for you to improve on it, is it not? if so, then might not comments like 'you're telling me how to write this article???' and accusing me of not so much as being genuinely interested in commenting as in spitefully sniping the author juuuust a little... rude?
off to get a sedative 
,
far.
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Latest reply: Sep 26, 2003
gaargh!
Posted Sep 23, 2003
gaargh! the front page is now ORANGE! 
Discuss this Journal entry [23]
Latest reply: Sep 23, 2003
Early retirement
Posted Sep 8, 2003
The choir competition is *finally* over! Which means that from this week onwards I have Wimpy and Thing off and to myself! 
Well... was fun. I got to play a real concert grand for the first time in my life (never mind that it was brand-new and thus still very stiff, and still had plastic wrapping on the pedals!!!). AND Dennis and I got *sunflowers* from the returning seniors
Got mistaken for *16* by a shop attendant the other day. Remind me to tell you about the time my friend and I almost got tossed out of a shop because they thought we were underaged..... 
Then again, maybe not... I don't particularly want to relive the embarrassment!
Purchased two excellent books on Doobry: 'Brass instruments: Their history and development' and 'The letters of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart' (both from Dover Books) - has anyone read either? 
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Latest reply: Sep 8, 2003
robin and the phantom
Posted Aug 26, 2003
we got to play highlights from 'phantom of the opera' at orchestra practice last night! despite the fact that this marked the debut of the french horns (we've only had three practice sessions), i thought it went rather well. except that i've practically chewed a hole through my upper lip in the process
our band's 'robin hood' isn't going as well. it's pretty much killing everybody (the poor euphonium players!), and the french horns are still going dah-dahdahdahdah!-dahdahdah-blat-blat-blat-blat-blat' (it doesn't look like much in text form, but it's terribly funny if you're there listening to it). i should feel sorry for dennis - at least i get to play trombone for the band 
and we have a concert in november!!!
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Latest reply: Aug 26, 2003
hallucinogens
Posted Aug 18, 2003
i've been nursing a cold and severe cough since wednesday, when i foolishly decided to walk back home in the rain. i've been on sedilix for the last couple of days, and i've one thing to say about it - it is *potent*. it's helped clear my throat and alleviate my nasal congestion and all, but (combined with my daily dose of beconase) it also seems to have a *major* hallucinatory effect, with the result that i've been woozy and floaty and half-removed from reality for the last few days. if this is what doing drugs does to you, i'm glad i never *started*.
interestingly, i made the discovery that while i do absolutely *miserably* playing yahoo! text twist while lucid, it is in this state that i do tremendously well (and i have the scores to prove it). however, i am also currently a hazard to everybody, especially myself, in the lab because i keep on losing track of what i'm doing. it would be a *bad* thing to get ethidium bromide on myself...
amazingly, however, i managed to play for *three* convocation sessions in this state 
(oh, didn't i say? last week was convocation week) our conductor, casey, graduated on friday. we played 'yorktown' from james hosay's 'tales of the bay' (it's a nice little march) when his faculty went up, and eugene got us to crescendo when *casey* went onstage. only we overdid it and *blasted* the stuff at full volume, so that nobody in the audience could hear anything else but *us*. dead 
. i'm looking forward to wearing my own neon pink sash next year...
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Latest reply: Aug 18, 2003
Farlander
Researcher U206300
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