2014.12.15 12:00 - Bad poetry and sweet nothings.

Aphrodite Macbain.

ShinjuJin Resident: Hello wintery Aph
Aphrodite Macbain: Hiya summery ShinjuJin
ShinjuJin Resident: :) still Fall here, basically
Aphrodite Macbain: here?
ShinjuJin Resident: where I live
ShinjuJin Resident: oh did someone skate through?
Aphrodite Macbain: yes
Aphrodite Macbain: Hello Elan
ShinjuJin Resident: Hi Elan
Aphrodite Macbain: nice skating!
ShinjuJin Resident: very!
ElanVitalo Resident: TY!
ElanVitalo Resident: Why can't I see you, Aph?
Aphrodite Macbain: not bad for a robot
Aphrodite Macbain: Your back is to me for starters
Aphrodite Macbain: have a cushion
Aphrodite Macbain: all will rez in good time
ElanVitalo Resident: Are you sitting to the right of Shin?
ShinjuJin Resident: may I ask a technical question?
Aphrodite Macbain: yes I am
ElanVitalo Resident: sure, fire away.
Aphrodite Macbain: listens
ShinjuJin Resident: how do you make a shorter name above your full one?
ElanVitalo Resident: I see neither you nor a cushion in that spot (which is why I asked).
Aphrodite Macbain: go into Profile
ShinjuJin Resident: okay...going...
Aphrodite Macbain: Edit profile
ShinjuJin Resident: oooh! there it is, thank you!
Aphrodite Macbain: Display Name
Aphrodite Macbain: yw :-)
Aphrodite Macbain: ah- that's a bit easier to pronounce!
Aphrodite Macbain: Shinju, welcome
ElanVitalo Resident: Thanks, Aph. I was wondering how to do that too.
ShinjuJin Resident: yes, the earlier default for people seemed to be just Shin. So I prefer this way
Aphrodite Macbain: I have changed that a few times when I need a stage name...
ShinjuJin Resident: they made it surprisingly easy
Aphrodite Macbain: lol yes- easy is often surprising in SL:-)
ElanVitalo Resident: ooops, mine didn't work. will try again.
Aphrodite Macbain: good luck
ElanVitalo Resident: no wait!
ShinjuJin Resident: so what is happening here lately?
ElanVitalo Resident: It appears to have worked - in the chat box, but not over my head.
ShinjuJin Resident: hm, delayed effect
Aphrodite Macbain: maybe u need to change stuff in your Preferences
ElanVitalo Resident: hmmm.
Aphrodite Macbain: What is happening here? Not too much But I'm trying to get volunteers for the poetry bash in April
ShinjuJin Resident: when I changed it, there was a little notice about it possibly taking a while to show up (the name change)
ShinjuJin Resident: Hi Bruce
Aphrodite Macbain: Hiya Bruce
ShinjuJin Resident: is there a theme?
ShinjuJin Resident: Hi Negafook
Negafook Resident: good evening, everyone
Aphrodite Macbain: Hiya Negafook
Bruce Mowbray: Hello, everyone.
Aphrodite Macbain: I saw Paradise yesterday and she said she'd contribute some poems
ShinjuJin Resident: great!
Aphrodite Macbain: Thanks for your Christmas card Bruce. I finally sent all my snail mail cards out on Sunday!
Aphrodite Macbain: I was wondering whether we could do 2 things here today:
Aphrodite Macbain: 1. compose a seasonal group poem
ElanVitalo Resident: You are most welcome.
Aphrodite Macbain: 2. Share a fave seasonal recipe.
ElanVitalo Resident: I still can't see you, Aph.
Aphrodite Macbain: I can see you Elan
Aphrodite Macbain: can u see any of the others?
ShinjuJin Resident: "do you see what I see..." sometimes the answer is no
Aphrodite Macbain smiles at Shinju
ShinjuJin Resident smiles back
Aphrodite Macbain tries to think of a line to start off a poem
 

Bad Poem 1

Aphrodite Macbain: There once was a big elf named Santa....
ShinjuJin Resident: limerick? ha ha
Aphrodite Macbain: go for it...
ElanVitalo Resident: Bruce can see everyone, but Elan cannot see Aph.
Aphrodite Macbain: Is that part of the poem Elan?
ShinjuJin Resident: who traveled the world with his camera
ElanVitalo Resident: didn't mean for it to be...
Aphrodite Macbain: :-)
ElanVitalo Resident: I was busy with tech issues. Skip me and move on while I read back.
Aphrodite Macbain: He took pictures galore,
Negafook Resident: and (what is more)
Aphrodite Macbain: and they asked him for more,
Aphrodite Macbain: snap :-)
ShinjuJin Resident: each time he would shout abracadabra
ShinjuJin Resident: :P
Aphrodite Macbain: :0
Aphrodite Macbain: :)
ShinjuJin Resident laughs... not so holiday-y
Aphrodite Macbain: grins-

Meditation day
ShinjuJin Resident: will you all, or any of you, be participating in the meditation day?
Bruce Mowbray: I will.
ElanVitalo Resident: I won't.
Negafook Resident goes off to check email to see what that is
ShinjuJin Resident: I should read more closely to see what the guidelines are
Aphrodite Macbain: I will participate for a period of time
Aphrodite Macbain: There are many opportunities for people all over the globe!
ShinjuJin Resident: a good idea, generous
Aphrodite Macbain: It will be nice to just stop for a while...
Aphrodite Macbain: yes- very generous of Darren/Liza
Bruce Mowbray: A schedule has been sent around. I could try to find a copy of it and give it to anyone who wants it.
Aphrodite Macbain: It was sent by email to all Pabbers I believe
Bruce Mowbray: (I am making a nc now.)
Negafook Resident: good idea, some version of me will attend at least one of the sessions
Negafook Resident: but perhaps only one, as I'm flying home early on the 23rd
ShinjuJin Resident: oh, can join in spirit from flight
Aphrodite Macbain: ah- one attendance is better than none.
Aphrodite Macbain: Maybe u can meditate on the plane Negafook.
ShinjuJin Resident: Hi Druth
druth Vlodovic: hey
Aphrodite Macbain: Hey druthie
Negafook Resident: hello druth
Bruce Mowbray: OK. Shall I just give a copy of the nc to everyone?
ShinjuJin Resident: thanks Bruce
Aphrodite Macbain: no need for me thanks Bruce
Bruce Mowbray: kk, here we go.
Negafook Resident: ty
Bruce Mowbray: There you are. If you did not receive the nc, just let me know, please.

Bad Poem 2
Aphrodite Macbain: Shall we try one more round of bad poetry?
Aphrodite Macbain: One day while the Pabbers were sitting...
Bruce Mowbray: and minding their minding and knitting,
Aphrodite Macbain: :-)
Aphrodite Macbain: mind squared!
Bruce Mowbray: :)
Bruce Mowbray: (mindful).
Negafook Resident: dropping everything except stitches
ShinjuJin Resident: :)
Bruce Mowbray: (Knitting is a GREAT vehicle for developing mindfulness, of course.))
Aphrodite Macbain:  hemming the hole in their britches
Bruce Mowbray: also for developing it.
Aphrodite Macbain: druth let out a shout
Bruce Mowbray: and let the cat out, or
ShinjuJin Resident: was afk and found out...
ShinjuJin Resident giggles
Aphrodite Macbain: lol
Bruce Mowbray: T.S. Eliots were not.
Negafook Resident: heheheh
Aphrodite Macbain: (what rhymes with britches?)
Bruce Mowbray: ditches.
Bruce Mowbray: itches
Aphrodite Macbain: glitches
Bruce Mowbray: witches
Aphrodite Macbain: and found the wool really itches...
Bruce Mowbray: ha ha!
Aphrodite Macbain: hmmm
Aphrodite Macbain: TS we are not, I agree.
Bruce Mowbray: not even e.e.

Telemarketers and reclusion

Aphrodite Macbain: phone. brb

Negafook Resident: but then, we do it for free
Bruce Mowbray: we could call it "For Free Verse"
ShinjuJin Resident: we'll cut you some slack
Negafook Resident: ((even the interruptions rhyme))
Aphrodite Macbain: more requests for money-- sigh
ShinjuJin Resident: oh, can I call too?
Aphrodite Macbain: sure
ShinjuJin Resident: I don't need much...
Aphrodite Macbain: but I'll give you the same answer :-)
ShinjuJin Resident: lol
Bruce Mowbray: My typist refuses to answer any phone call without a caller ID that he recognizes.
Aphrodite Macbain: I should leave a message on my answering machine: "No"
Bruce Mowbray: he figures that if the call is important they will leave a voice message - - - and most the time they do not.
ShinjuJin Resident: caller ID is a treasure, although not helpful for those of us with reclusive tendencies
Aphrodite Macbain: :-)
ShinjuJin Resident: (if we wish to overcome those that is)
Bruce Mowbray: gotcha,
Bruce Mowbray: and my typist has won prizes for his reclusive tendencies.
Aphrodite Macbain: nods- reclusive tendencies pay off
Negafook Resident: heheheh
Bruce Mowbray: sometimes going for as long as two weeks without hearing another human voice.
ShinjuJin Resident: I cultivate mine like a garden
Negafook Resident: o.O
Bruce Mowbray: me too, Shin.
Aphrodite Macbain: raises an eyebrow
 

Not talking

Aphrodite Macbain: does talking here count?
ShinjuJin Resident: we don't talk here.... I am not sure what we do but is it exactly talking?
Bruce Mowbray: No, talking here does not count... neither does listening to humans on the TV or in movies.
Aphrodite Macbain: no sound accompanies our utterances, but we are still talking, no?
Aphrodite Macbain: what is the difference Bruce?
Negafook Resident: talking without speech perhaps
Bruce Mowbray: we are communicating, for sure, but I feel it's a different thing than having a real live human person-to-person interaction. . . . and actually I prefer this most of the time.
Bruce Mowbray: I did not mean to say that this was not real. This is real, for sure. But it is also different from two physical bodies in proximity trying to communicate with each other.
Negafook Resident: I understand what Bruce means by the difference (I think)
Bruce Mowbray: listens.
Aphrodite Macbain: I suppose the main difference is that we can slow down the communicating if we choose to or not say anything much at all
ElanVitalo Resident: (you noticed!)
ElanVitalo Resident: :)
Aphrodite Macbain: smiles at druth and Elan
ShinjuJin Resident: we can do that in other contexts too.. each seems to have its own habitualness
Aphrodite Macbain: but we can still be "present"
Aphrodite Macbain: yes, true Shinju
Negafook Resident: it's easier to tell when people are AFK when meeting face to face
Aphrodite Macbain: lol
ShinjuJin Resident: :) sometimes
Negafook Resident: hehehe
Aphrodite Macbain: they get a blank look in their eyes!
Aphrodite Macbain: I do that a lot...
ShinjuJin Resident: wander away without noticing?
Aphrodite Macbain: nods- our thoughts do that too
ElanVitalo Resident: Robotic behavior in humans sometimes indicates that they have repressed some normal emotional response.
Aphrodite Macbain: I find it an extraordinary discipline to be present and stay focused all the time
ShinjuJin Resident: nods, both observations
Aphrodite Macbain: my brain needs to take a rest from reality....
ShinjuJin Resident: reality lines don't need to be sharply demarcated perhaps
ElanVitalo Resident: Have you tried taking in multiple foci, Aph -- I mean taking several points of focus at the same time?
Aphrodite Macbain: No that would be even harder!
ElanVitalo Resident: Well, whatever the boundaries of your focus are a sort of a choice, right?
Aphrodite Macbain: I suppose I do it a bit when I am facilitating a group discussion
ShinjuJin Resident: I think we have different floors of communication going on all the time
ElanVitalo Resident: yes that's an excellent example.
Aphrodite Macbain: maybe- depends
Aphrodite Macbain: My brain can't take a rest in a group discussion like this
ShinjuJin Resident: what others hear, but also what is drawn out, what is said finding or sensing a place
ElanVitalo Resident: I think that may be a different "issue" than focus, Aph.
Aphrodite Macbain: yes Shinju
Bruce Mowbray: moderating a discussion is no easy task.
Aphrodite Macbain: Those philosophical discussions where everyone is speaking and not listening are the worst
Bruce Mowbray: nods.
Aphrodite Macbain: and it is very hard for the moderator to acknowledge each idea
ShinjuJin Resident: they are the only ones that I don't feel compelled to contribute to
Aphrodite Macbain: nods
ShinjuJin Resident: so can enjoy them in their own context
Aphrodite Macbain: do you "listen"?
Bruce Mowbray: recently I've really enjoyed Neil Degrasse Tyson's moderation of the Isaac Asimov debates.... one of which Eliza encouraged us to watch.
ShinjuJin Resident: yes, like watching sports
Aphrodite Macbain: can u give me the LM Bruce?
 

Nothing

Bruce Mowbray: "The Theory of Nothing"
Bruce Mowbray: I will find it; just a sec, please.
ShinjuJin Resident: can admire the swings and aim, the way people's minds work and play... that's how I experience most debates
Aphrodite Macbain: At least when watching sports, there is usually only one ball...
ShinjuJin Resident: I like the way the debate Bruce will post was managed
ShinjuJin Resident: if not quiddich ;-)
Aphrodite Macbain: :-)
Aphrodite Macbain: say more Shinju?
Bruce Mowbray: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OLz6uUuMp8
Bruce Mowbray: I got the title wrong.
Bruce Mowbray: It is "The Existence of Nothing"
Aphrodite Macbain: ah a Youtube. Thanks!
Bruce Mowbray: yw.
Bruce Mowbray: There is a whole series of these,
Bruce Mowbray: one every year for 14 years.
Aphrodite Macbain: wow
Bruce Mowbray: they all last for about two hours.
Bruce Mowbray: I have watched four or five of them so far.
ShinjuJin Resident: ND Tyson has such a gift for translating lofty concepts into several levels of understanding at once
Aphrodite Macbain: requires focus?
Bruce Mowbray: is he is a genius at that.
Aphrodite Macbain looks forward to watching
Bruce Mowbray: well worth your time, Aph.
Aphrodite Macbain: Will I learn about "nothing"?
ShinjuJin Resident: different kinds of nothing
Aphrodite Macbain: space, time...
Bruce Mowbray: whether " nothing" actually exists anywhere in the cosmos is what they are debating.
Aphrodite Macbain: nothing , as opposed to space?
Bruce Mowbray: space is not nothing...
Aphrodite Macbain: I know
Bruce Mowbray: space is gravitational fields, all sorts of particles flying by, etc. etc..
Aphrodite Macbain: Space and matter.... and now there is also nothing?
Bruce Mowbray: well that's the subject of debate.
Aphrodite Macbain: k
Aphrodite Macbain: now I understand
Aphrodite Macbain: sort of..
Aphrodite Macbain /me says nothing
Bruce Mowbray: the previous year's debate was on " The Theory of Everything"

Bruce Mowbray: :)
ShinjuJin Resident: what is called nothing has a bit of something that can't really be called something, like, is a void, some thing? it is
ElanVitalo Resident: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYeN66CSQhg
Aphrodite Macbain: huh?
Aphrodite Macbain feels her head is filled with nothing
ShinjuJin Resident: Last night I was listening to a talk by Katagiri, and he said "deep into time, it becomes something else." I have no idea what he meant, but I liked the way that thought felt
Aphrodite Macbain: tx Elan
ElanVitalo Resident: It might be good to remember that these are world-class physicists -- some with Nobel laureates - - so what they mean by "nothing" is probably quite different from what we mean by the same term.
Negafook Resident nods.
Aphrodite Macbain: nods. Do you mean that if it's further back in time, nothing becomes something?
ElanVitalo Resident: sort of like, what a world-class architect means by "design" or "dwelling" is quite different from what my typist might think it was.
Negafook Resident: is nothing time-based?
Negafook Resident: and if so, how or why?
Aphrodite Macbain holds her head
ElanVitalo Resident: you know of anything outside of space-time?
ElanVitalo Resident: if not,
ElanVitalo Resident: then everything seems to be time-based . . . and or space-based.
Aphrodite Macbain: maybe that's nothing
Aphrodite Macbain: that which is not time or space based
Negafook Resident: we can use the dimension of time to measure space, and space to measure time; can either of those measure nothing?
Negafook Resident: snap-ish
ElanVitalo Resident: it works in mathematics....
Aphrodite Macbain snaps "good question"
Aphrodite Macbain: say more Elan?
 

Zero

ElanVitalo Resident: well, the concept of zero....
Aphrodite Macbain: ah
ElanVitalo Resident: or that if you subtract a certain amount from that same amount... you end up with nothing.
Aphrodite Macbain: Is nothing meaningless?
ElanVitalo Resident: interestingly, the Romans had no character for zero.
ShinjuJin Resident: or what we've deemed nothing... a choice
Negafook Resident: that is only a relative kind of nothing, though
ShinjuJin Resident: we've set the basis because that's our limit of understanding and imagination
Aphrodite Macbain: the Arabs came up with zero
Negafook Resident: because the space above the plate where the apple used to be is not a void
ElanVitalo Resident: post-Freud, "nothing" might simply mean not being aware of stuff.
ElanVitalo Resident: right, we credit the Arabic numerals for inventing the zero.
Aphrodite Macbain: ponders "a relative kind of nothing"
ShinjuJin Resident: me too :)
Aphrodite Macbain: :-)
ElanVitalo Resident: are you back to time space relativity now?
Aphrodite Macbain: Not sure where I am...
Bruce Mowbray: pokes Elan.
Negafook Resident: no, I'm being really pragmatic
Aphrodite Macbain: can u give an example?
Negafook Resident: apple on a plate
Bruce Mowbray: excellent! pragmatics is an excellent route to take in such matters.
Negafook Resident: take it away, there are no more apples
Aphrodite Macbain: It's the only way I can understand things
Aphrodite Macbain: but there is space in the place of the apple
Negafook Resident: but there is not "nothing" because the would-otherwise-be void is full of air
ShinjuJin Resident: deciding the base point is a practical move to take something in hand to work with
Bruce Mowbray: if your mother told you to eat everything on your plate when you were a child, I really doubt that that's possible --- except, of course, in a pragmatic sense: eating enough to make your mother happy.
Negafook Resident: because a beam of sunlight falls on the plate where the apple was
Aphrodite Macbain: nothing is a vacuum?
Negafook Resident: if not, then nothing is relative :)
Aphrodite Macbain: light goes through air which is something
Negafook Resident: the kind of "nothing" which answers the question "what can you hear", for example, is relative
Bruce Mowbray: nothing is for sure an expression of relativity.
Aphrodite Macbain: nods
ShinjuJin Resident: nods
Aphrodite Macbain: agreed
Negafook Resident: what you mean when you say "nothing" is that you near nothing which you consider significant
Bruce Mowbray: silence is not really the absence of all sound, of course
Negafook Resident: even if it were, practically speaking, none of us will ever experience true silence
Negafook Resident: there's always the wind, and dust shifting
Aphrodite Macbain: But the idea of nothing is hard to imagine. Can you point to nothing?
Bruce Mowbray: that is true -- and our blood in circulation, and our nerves in operation.
Negafook Resident sits on his hands
ShinjuJin Resident: that some ideas weren't meant to be immovable/indisputable gets forgotten
Bruce Mowbray: again, that was the topic of the debate, so for two hours four or five geniuses tried to answer Aph's question.
Bruce Mowbray: do you have any instruments that might point to nothing?
Aphrodite Macbain: did they come to a conclusion or conclusions?
Bruce Mowbray: not really, but it was really fascinating listening to them.
Negafook Resident smiles.
Bruce Mowbray: :)
Aphrodite Macbain: :-) and you were able to focus your attention at all times :-)?
ShinjuJin Resident: it is called a debate but I think it was really a discussion
ElanVitalo Resident loves listening to people smarter than myself . . . and that's just about everyone.
Bruce Mowbray: Neil Degrasse Tyson presents it as a discussion among peers in a bar.
Aphrodite Macbain: Who is he?
Bruce Mowbray: a discussion that could take place in a tavern or a pub.
Aphrodite Macbain: helped by good wine and beer
Bruce Mowbray: Neil Degrasse Tyson is the moderator of the Isaac Asimov debates.
ShinjuJin Resident: nods... Sometimes I imagine what it might have been like to grow up in a household where that was a dinner conversation :)
Aphrodite Macbain: nods and smiles
Aphrodite Macbain: Those are the best dinner conversations
Bruce Mowbray: nods.
Aphrodite Macbain: provided it is not angry
Aphrodite Macbain: If it becomes nasty it's hard to digest one's food.
ElanVitalo Resident ponders the human expression "sweet nothings."
ShinjuJin Resident: :)
Aphrodite Macbain: I've had a few of those..
Bruce Mowbray: "Pillow talk"?
Bruce Mowbray: bye!
Aphrodite Macbain: :-)
Bruce Mowbray: At my typist's dinner table, it was often what was not said ("nothing") that left the deepest impressions.
Bruce Mowbray: (when he was a child, I mean.)
 

ShinjuJin Resident: That's a nice note to set out on.... thanks Aph and everyone
Aphrodite Macbain: That was fun - some bad poetry, some new ideas,
Aphrodite Macbain: Bye Shinju
ShinjuJin Resident waves
Negafook Resident: bye shinju, take care
ElanVitalo Resident: I still cannot see Aph. so, as far as my viewer is concerned, there is nothing sitting there.
Aphrodite Macbain: Time for me to wander as well
Bruce Mowbray: Aph just stood up, Elan.
ElanVitalo Resident: Oh, sry.
Aphrodite Macbain: To Elan, I am "nothing"!!
Bruce Mowbray: bye for now, Aph.
Negafook Resident smiles.
Negafook Resident: goodnight all, take care
Negafook Resident: thanks for the chat
ElanVitalo Resident: Hope to SEE you next time, Aph.
Negafook Resident: "oh, it was nothing"
Aphrodite Macbain: me too Elan
ElanVitalo Resident: I SEE you now, Aph!
ElanVitalo Resident: alas. Time for me to be a-scraping.
ElanVitalo Resident: bye for now.
Aphrodite Macbain: byee
Bruce Mowbray: me too.
Bruce Mowbray: Bye for now, good people.
Aphrodite Macbain: Bye Brucie