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

Now I know!

Jab

I got buggered with the keep winding the tape init was only a 20 tape

20 foot

But forever *is* a long time, provided that you add infinty to it.

LONG TIME + INFINITY = FOREVER

Not resally Paul.The point is that we can't measure infinity. It may be infinitely 'small' in human terms as well as 'big'. It's no size at all, really, because we can't do the measuring.

BUT I was bein' a little bit naughty. As a figure of human speech, as a part of our language-world, 'forever' is meaningful and means an endless period of time, science or no science. Thus it's, to say the least, a long time.

Jab

Emily Dickinson wrote a poem called "Eternity."

Did she 'ever' finish it?

There's another similar concept. We now have forever-eternity-infinite, and I guess we have 'ever' too.

She came from near you, didn't she? Not that she went very far.

And look at this by her, reminiscent of your model, Paul:

800
Two-were immortal twice -
The privilege of few -
Eternity - obtained - in Time -
etc.

Jab

"She came from near you, didn't she?"

This summer, I enjoyed reading a novel called "The Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England." The protagonist had accidentally burned down the Emily Dickinson house when he was a teenager, and became a magnet for letters from every nutcase in the country who had something against writers. The letters all begged him to burn down the homes of *other* famous writers. So, when writers' homes started burning down, the poor schlub was blamed .

If it were 'celebrities' or 'TV Personalities', I wouldn't mind asking around - I can think of a few whose luxury homes might be suitable.

I didn't know that about her house, though. Is the novel based on historical truth?

BTW, I love the way you, correctly of course, spell 'gray'. It looks exotic to me and more onomatopoeic than the 'grey' we have in this country, even though a dull day seems to suit 'grey' more than 'gray'. Gray looks more cheerful somehow, a more open sound, like a nice colour/color/shade - 'a 'gray' jacket or skirt or something. Two countries divided by a single language - [Wilde, probably.]

Jab

Her house did get burned down. Had to be rebuilt so tourists could keep visiting it.

P.S. 'Gray' is USAnian for 'grey'.

Greys are aliens...

Had to be rebuilt so tourists could keep visiting it



Jab

In answer too ur comment a few days ago Jab, um i basicly have months and months where i never get online, the reason this time was mock exams (blgugghh!) but i'm trying to get on more now!!

hows every1? christmas shopping finished? ive still got lots!

Hope your mocks went OK, BL. You still haven't done your Christmas shopping? Like me then - one year I did it all, every bit of it, on Christmas Eve.

Jab

Had to be rebuilt so tourists could keep visiting it

could do with that for this PC, had to wipe/reinstall windows 3 times over the weekend, all to do with "NET.framework" not loading due to corupted file or whateverstill ongoing

No, the Emily Dickinson House was never burned down in real life.
In the book, great satire is made of the academic community's trashing of former standards of writing, and of people who pretend that their marriages are dong fine, when in fact everybody is sleeping around. It's the little kids who get hurt by these lies.

Paul H, I've been to Amherst, amd I swear, there was a big fire at her house. If not all of it was destroyed, a considerable part of it was, and had to be rebuilt. I'm *almost* positive I didn't dream this...

I may have to do some resarch on this, as I had not heard about the fire you mention.

Let me know what you find out, in case I am losing my grip on reality.