The dream is back

"James S. Prine" wrote in message
...

Edward Dolan wrote:

I have always liked the word [dilettante] and it
is my standard definition of myself in response to all the "experts"
currently residing in the world. For the same reason, I have a special
love
for the 4 year liberal arts college which prepares you for nothing other
than living a richer life of the mind and of the spirit.

Damn...I like your way better.


Since there is not much happening on the newsgroup at the moment I will take
this opportunity to expand on my philosophy of life.

As a kid I avidly read two newspapers everyday. I mean I really scoured them
and found all kinds of human interest type of articles. I recall an obituary
article about some guy who had lived a very quiet life. It mentioned that
this guy mostly just listened to classical music on the phonograph, went to
lots of concerts and read a lot of books. He had never married. The guy who
was writing the obit was commenting on how lucky this guy had been to lead
such a quiet life of the mind and of the sprit and how the rest of us should
envy him his good life. That all struck a chord with me and I determined to
go forth and do likewise.

The secret to leading my kind of life is not to even think about getting
married with all that that entails. Also, it is necessary to forgo buying
and selling and in general being as busy as a bee. You have to cultivate the
virtue of aloneness and the contemplative values reign supreme over
everything else in life. But a man of action I never was. I have enjoyed my
quiet life, but I recognized that such a life is only for the select few.
Most people are well advised to learn a trade or take up a profession since
they are going to be in the swim of things whether they like it or not.

There was another article in a newspaper I read much later in life. It was
about a guy who decided he wanted to live alone up in the North Woods. He
went to the northern most point in the United States, the Northwest Angle of
Minnesota, which is more in Canada than it is in the U.S. Apparently he
lived there happy as lark for a few years, but then there followed another
report in the newspaper about how this guy had gathered some dynamite, sat
on it and blew himself to kingdom come. They could hardly find any body
parts when they went looking for him.

So, as you can plainly see, this living alone business is not for everyone.
It may be that it is not for anyone - except for eccentric types like
myself. But in order for a person to live his life alone, he MUST cultivate
the mind. Otherwise, you can easily go insane and end up sitting on some
dynamite and blowing yourself to kingdom come.

All of my life I have known that it is better to know like the fox, who
knows many things but none of them well, than to know like the hedgehog, who
only knows one thing but knows it very well. The world has gone the way of
the hedgehog and not the way of the fox. It may be that I am the last of the
foxes, kind of like the last of the Mohicans. Apres moi, le deluge!

Enuf philosophy for one day.

--
Regards,

Ed Dolan - Minnesota

On Fri, 8 Oct 2004 23:04:13 -0500 "Edward Dolan"
used 68 lines of text to write in newsgroup:
alt.rec.bicycles.recumbent

Since there is not much happening on the newsgroup at the moment I will take
this opportunity to expand on my philosophy of life.


Ed,

I have to admit, I don't have an interest in recumbent bikes. I
popped in this group due to a cross-posting in another one. Because I
enjoy your musings so much, I think I'll stick around. I would like
to pose a question to you. Where do you find a turtle with no legs?


-Graham

Remove the 'snails' from my email

"G. Morgan" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 8 Oct 2004 23:04:13 -0500 "Edward Dolan"
used 68 lines of text to write in newsgroup:
alt.rec.bicycles.recumbent

Since there is not much happening on the newsgroup at the moment I will
take
this opportunity to expand on my philosophy of life.


Ed,

I have to admit, I don't have an interest in recumbent bikes. I
popped in this group due to a cross-posting in another one. Because I
enjoy your musings so much, I think I'll stick around. I would like
to pose a question to you. Where do you find a turtle with no legs?


-Graham

Careful there Graham. Don't encourage me. That will only have the effect of
****ing everyone else off here on ARBR if I wax eloquent on off-topic
subjects. But have a look at what is presently going on on this newsgroup -
NOTHING! We are all just a bunch of old fogies and we are essentially doing
nothing but doddering on the brink of the grave. We will all of us soon
enough be at eternal rest out in our local cemeteries.

All this hullabaloo about going fast on our recumbents is a bunch of hooey.
The only place most of us are going fast is to the grave. I am convinced
there is never a fool like an old fool. That is why I enjoy this group so
much. I understand them totally and I think they understand me too. It is
really quite absurd to see old folks acting like teenagers. It is the human
comedy writ large. The best opera on this subject (old folks thinking they
are still young) is Der Rosenkavalier by R. Strauss. Both the Baron and the
Marschallin are absurd figures.

I have never spent one moment of my life puzzling over puzzles, so the
turtle thing is going right over my head. I also take pride in the fact that
I have never done a crossword puzzle in my life either. Some otherwise
intelligent folks do this sort of craziness, but it has never made any sense
to me. I like to think straight about things and not get sidetrack into
foolishness. Real everyday life is more than foolish enough for me.

---
Regards,

Ed Dolan - Minnesota

On Sat, 9 Oct 2004 01:01:28 -0500 "Edward Dolan"
used 54 lines of text to write in newsgroup:
alt.rec.bicycles.recumbent

I have never spent one moment of my life puzzling over puzzles, so the
turtle thing is going right over my head.


Well Ed, it's not really so much of a puzzle as it is a joke. The
answer of course is, 'wherever you left it'. :-)


-Graham

Remove the 'snails' from my email

Ed

Your diarrhea continues!

This diversion started off with your statement....

"Edward Dolan" wrote in message
...

But he is dealing with a former university
librarian who has resolved never to look up anything again in his life no
matter what.

You use "university librarian" like we are supposed to be impressed. Look
at what follows after "university librarian" above and your statements
below.



Perry Butler's comments are as off base as he is himself. He is from
cuckoo-land, otherwise known as the Great White North, and he basically
doesn't know anything about anything. Imagine taking computer classes from
this nut case! He is a total ignoramus and ought not to be teaching
anything. Instead he ought to embark on learning something himself, but
old
farts like him are incapable of that because they think they already know
everything.

Perry is mired in Alexandria, a resort on the cheap for the impoverished
who
ought not be taking vacations in the first place. All they how to do in
the
kind of places that Perry likes is to kill animals, otherwise known as
hunting and fishing. The rest of you on this group can thank God that you
are not stuck in a miserable place like Alexandria, Minnesota. Maryland is
a
paradise compared to Minnesota, but this idiot Perry doesn't have a clue.

Actually, Ed, you still don't have a clue!


You apparently missed my point..

The library at a two year junior college in Minnesota does not come
close
to
the quality of a library at a four year state college in Minnesota, much
less to the University of Minnesota. There is literally no quality
research
done at the two year level. And yes, I know there are a few higher
level
courses taught at Worthington, but when compared to the whole, very,
very
few.

We are not talking about RESEARCH, you nut case! Furthermore, freshmen and
sophomores do not take higher level courses. Most students will not do any
research until they get to the Ph.D. level, in other words, not until they
get to Graduate School. The quality of the library is immaterial for
undergraduate students. Only scholars embarked on research need research
libraries. Hells Bells, with computers, college students don't need
libraries at all anymore.

DUH! Ed, I think you may have finally understood this part!


Ed has said numerous times that he has spent his life in Worthington.
What
great research library is within working distance of Worthington? None
that
I know of! He has also said a number of times how lazy he is.

I take pride in being lazy and I do not traipse all over the country for
no
reason. Work is for working slobs like you.

I don't "work" Ed. I quit "working" in 1993.

But anyone who would go to
Europe for a vacation and waste his time there doing a bike tour does not
even live on the same planet as I do. Perry is slightly crazy. Since that
is
the case, I shall treat him from now on with the contempt he so richly
deserves. He can now join that other crazy *******, Robert L. Bass, in the
asylum as far as I am concerned.

There are great research libraries at the University of Minnesota and
other
similar institutions in New York City, where I misspent my youth. I never
worked as a librarian a day in my life here in Worthington.

You have said numerous times you have spent your life in Worthington. You
have also said you have spent your life as a librarian. What are we
supposed to believe? I wonder if you have ever been a librarian! After all
you can't even perform a simple search. You can be anyone you want on the
Internet!

Ed, liars have trouble keeping their stories straight!

I was just a
student at the local college for a couple of years and then I was off to
Minneapolis and later New York City. I mention this only to set this idiot
Perry straight about what he thinks he knows about me. The only thing I
know
about him is that he lives near Alexandria, teaches computer lessons to
the
benighted and takes bicycle vacations in Europe. That is all I know about
him and all I want to know about him.

I have never been a scholar. I disdain that occupation. It requires too
much
sitting on your ass and reading.

Again, Ed, you need to keep your stories straight!

However, I have known many scholars in my
occupation as a university librarian.

You insult all "university" librarians.


I respect scholarship, but I don't
much like scholars as persons.

I have always taken pride in being a dilettante. I know a little about a
lot. Most scholars and other professionally educated people (doctors for
instance) know a lot about a little. I belong to a vanishing minority.
Very
few occupations afford us dilettantes a job. Librarianship was one of the
few that I knew of and it was an ideal occupation for me the few years
that
I was engaged in it.

So, were you a librarian all your life or not!


Again, if the shoe were on the other foot, Ed would be eating the writer
to
pieces for comparing Worthington Junior College to a university. That
is
my
point.


I am comparing community colleges to any other institutions in the land
for
the first two years of a college education.

Some will agree with you here and many will not!


That is all that many young
people will ever want or need. College education, the four year kind,
should
be reserved for the few who can benefit from it. Perry strikes me as
having
only a high school education, and not a very good one at that.

Again, Ed, you are incapable of performing a simple search on the Internet.
I can't imagine a "librarian" worth his salt who can't perform a simple
search. Of course, you will have some excuse for your inability!

Enjoy,

Perry B

"Perry Butler" wrote in message
...
Ed

Your diarrhea continues!

This diversion started off with your statement....

"Edward Dolan" wrote in message
...

But he is dealing with a former university
librarian who has resolved never to look up anything again in his life no
matter what.

You use "university librarian" like we are supposed to be impressed. Look
at what follows after "university librarian" above and your statements
below.

Universities are as common as mud and there is nothing to be impressed
about. I much prefer the word college to describe what goes on in these
institutions. It is more honest and accurate. Only institutions providing
graduate degrees to the level of the Ph.D should be given the designation of
university.

I have resolved to never look up anything again because I am fed up with it.
I am as wise and as knowledgeable as I am ever going to get on this plane.
If there is life after death, I may take up learning once again but, by and
large, learning is a terrific bore suited only for the young who have some
hope of getting along in life. Those of us with one foot in the grave can
forget about learning and improving ourselves. We are as good as we are ever
going to get.

Perry Butler's comments are as off base as he is himself. He is from
cuckoo-land, otherwise known as the Great White North, and he basically
doesn't know anything about anything. Imagine taking computer classes
from
this nut case! He is a total ignoramus and ought not to be teaching
anything. Instead he ought to embark on learning something himself, but
old
farts like him are incapable of that because they think they already know
everything.

Perry is mired in Alexandria, a resort on the cheap for the impoverished
who
ought not be taking vacations in the first place. All they how to do in
the
kind of places that Perry likes is to kill animals, otherwise known as
hunting and fishing. The rest of you on this group can thank God that you
are not stuck in a miserable place like Alexandria, Minnesota. Maryland
is
a
paradise compared to Minnesota, but this idiot Perry doesn't have a clue.

Actually, Ed, you still don't have a clue!

Forever clueless in Minnesota!

You apparently missed my point..

The library at a two year junior college in Minnesota does not come
close
to
the quality of a library at a four year state college in Minnesota,
much
less to the University of Minnesota. There is literally no quality
research
done at the two year level. And yes, I know there are a few higher
level
courses taught at Worthington, but when compared to the whole, very,
very
few.

We are not talking about RESEARCH, you nut case! Furthermore, freshmen
and
sophomores do not take higher level courses. Most students will not do
any
research until they get to the Ph.D. level, in other words, not until
they
get to Graduate School. The quality of the library is immaterial for
undergraduate students. Only scholars embarked on research need research
libraries. Hells Bells, with computers, college students don't need
libraries at all anymore.

DUH! Ed, I think you may have finally understood this part!

So then you agree with me that it doesn't matter a tinker's damn where an
undergraduate takes his first two years of college. A local community
college is as good as Yale or Harvard where the only teachers you will
encounter are graduate assistants.

Ed has said numerous times that he has spent his life in Worthington.
What
great research library is within working distance of Worthington? None
that
I know of! He has also said a number of times how lazy he is.

I take pride in being lazy and I do not traipse all over the country for
no
reason. Work is for working slobs like you.

I don't "work" Ed. I quit "working" in 1993.

Are you not teaching computer classes for pay? If you are, then you are
working.

But anyone who would go to
Europe for a vacation and waste his time there doing a bike tour does not
even live on the same planet as I do. Perry is slightly crazy. Since that
is
the case, I shall treat him from now on with the contempt he so richly
deserves. He can now join that other crazy *******, Robert L. Bass, in
the
asylum as far as I am concerned.

There are great research libraries at the University of Minnesota and
other
similar institutions in New York City, where I misspent my youth. I never
worked as a librarian a day in my life here in Worthington.

You have said numerous times you have spent your life in Worthington. You
have also said you have spent your life as a librarian. What are we
supposed to believe? I wonder if you have ever been a librarian! After
all
you can't even perform a simple search. You can be anyone you want on the
Internet!

Ed, liars have trouble keeping their stories straight!

It is ever the hallmark of liberal scoundrels like you to call others liars
when they have exhausted the meager resources of their minds. I don't
believe I ever said I spent my life as a librarian. The fact is that I only
spent a few years in that occupation as I detest all work, no matter how
pleasant.

I was just a
student at the local college for a couple of years and then I was off to
Minneapolis and later New York City. I mention this only to set this
idiot
Perry straight about what he thinks he knows about me. The only thing I
know
about him is that he lives near Alexandria, teaches computer lessons to
the
benighted and takes bicycle vacations in Europe. That is all I know about
him and all I want to know about him.

I have never been a scholar. I disdain that occupation. It requires too
much
sitting on your ass and reading.

Again, Ed, you need to keep your stories straight!

???

However, I have known many scholars in my
occupation as a university librarian.

You insult all "university" librarians.

I don't give a damn about librarians, or scholars either for that matter.
But I reserve a special contempt for so-called teachers like you who don't
know their ass from a hole in the ground.

I respect scholarship, but I don't
much like scholars as persons.

I have always taken pride in being a dilettante. I know a little about a
lot. Most scholars and other professionally educated people (doctors for
instance) know a lot about a little. I belong to a vanishing minority.
Very
few occupations afford us dilettantes a job. Librarianship was one of the
few that I knew of and it was an ideal occupation for me the few years
that
I was engaged in it.

So, were you a librarian all your life or not!

"All" is subejct to interpretation, of course.

Again, if the shoe were on the other foot, Ed would be eating the
writer
to
pieces for comparing Worthington Junior College to a university. That
is
my
point.


I am comparing community colleges to any other institutions in the land
for
the first two years of a college education.

Some will agree with you here and many will not!

Those who disagree with me are crazy as loons of course. That goes without
saying, but I say it anyway for your benefit.

That is all that many young
people will ever want or need. College education, the four year kind,
should
be reserved for the few who can benefit from it. Perry strikes me as
having
only a high school education, and not a very good one at that.

Again, Ed, you are incapable of performing a simple search on the
Internet.
I can't imagine a "librarian" worth his salt who can't perform a simple
search. Of course, you will have some excuse for your inability!

I can search the Internet probably a hundred times better than you because
of my library training but I CHOOSE not to because I have better things to
do - like contemplating my navel for instance.

--
Regards,

Ed Dolan - Minnesota

On Fri, 08 Oct 2004 23:18:59 -0500, G. Morgan
wrote:

I would like
to pose a question to you. Where do you find a turtle with no legs?

Saturday at the UNiversity of Maryland - Georgia Tech game. The
Maryland Terrapins managed 7 yards on the ground. No legs, no
offensive line. Better to have stayed at the tailgate partyt and drank
more Old Peculier.

Curtis L. Russell
Odenton, MD (USA)
Just someone on two wheels...

"Edward Dolan" wrote in message
...

"Perry Butler" wrote in message
...

You use "university librarian" like we are supposed to be impressed.
Look
at what follows after "university librarian" above and your statements
below.

Universities are as common as mud and there is nothing to be impressed
about. I much prefer the word college to describe what goes on in these
institutions. It is more honest and accurate. Only institutions providing
graduate degrees to the level of the Ph.D should be given the designation
of
university.

I have resolved to never look up anything again because I am fed up with
it.
I am as wise and as knowledgeable as I am ever going to get on this plane.

If there is life after death, I may take up learning once again but, by
and
large, learning is a terrific bore suited only for the young who have some
hope of getting along in life. Those of us with one foot in the grave can
forget about learning and improving ourselves. We are as good as we are
ever
going to get.


Yes Ed, we all know learning stopped with you a long time ago. That's why
you can't understand Usenet and computers.



We are not talking about RESEARCH, you nut case! Furthermore, freshmen
and
sophomores do not take higher level courses. Most students will not do
any
research until they get to the Ph.D. level, in other words, not until
they
get to Graduate School. The quality of the library is immaterial for
undergraduate students. Only scholars embarked on research need
research
libraries. Hells Bells, with computers, college students don't need
libraries at all anymore.

DUH! Ed, I think you may have finally understood this part!

So then you agree with me that it doesn't matter a tinker's damn where an
undergraduate takes his first two years of college. A local community
college is as good as Yale or Harvard where the only teachers you will
encounter are graduate assistants.

No I don't agree with the above paragraph.



I don't "work" Ed. I quit "working" in 1993.

Are you not teaching computer classes for pay? If you are, then you are
working.

You should learn how to read, Ed. I had the word "work" in quotes. "Work"
is for those who show up to perform a task they don't enjoy doing. I will
cease "teaching" when I no longer enjoy and look forward to going to
"teach."



It is ever the hallmark of liberal scoundrels like you to call others
liars
when they have exhausted the meager resources of their minds. I don't
believe I ever said I spent my life as a librarian.

So Bush is a liberal scoundrel because he implies that Kerry is lying?



The fact is that I only
spent a few years in that occupation as I detest all work, no matter how
pleasant.

So you are only the bare minimum of a "university librarian." It seems you
"may" only be trained as a librarian. Reasearch and libraries are based on
fact. Your life seems to be based on fiction!

You can be anyone you want on the Internet!


I was just a
student at the local college for a couple of years and then I was off
to
Minneapolis and later New York City. I mention this only to set this
idiot
Perry straight about what he thinks he knows about me. The only thing I
know
about him is that he lives near Alexandria, teaches computer lessons to
the
benighted and takes bicycle vacations in Europe. That is all I know
about
him and all I want to know about him.

I have never been a scholar. I disdain that occupation. It requires too
much
sitting on your ass and reading.

Again, Ed, you need to keep your stories straight!

???

However, I have known many scholars in my
occupation as a university librarian.

You insult all "university" librarians.

I don't give a damn about librarians, or scholars either for that matter.
But I reserve a special contempt for so-called teachers like you who don't
know their ass from a hole in the ground.

I respect scholarship, but I don't
much like scholars as persons.

I have always taken pride in being a dilettante. I know a little about
a
lot. Most scholars and other professionally educated people (doctors
for
instance) know a lot about a little. I belong to a vanishing minority.
Very
few occupations afford us dilettantes a job. Librarianship was one of
the
few that I knew of and it was an ideal occupation for me the few years
that
I was engaged in it.

So, were you a librarian all your life or not!

"All" is subejct to interpretation, of course.

Ed, do you know the meaning of "all." At a minimum, "all" would be over
half your working life.




Again, Ed, you are incapable of performing a simple search on the
Internet.
I can't imagine a "librarian" worth his salt who can't perform a simple
search. Of course, you will have some excuse for your inability!

I can search the Internet probably a hundred times better than you because
of my library training but I CHOOSE not to because I have better things to
do - like contemplating my navel for instance.

.....or writing poorly researched lies!

Enjoy,

Perry B

"Perry Butler" wrote in message
...
[...]
Yes Ed, we all know learning stopped with you a long time ago. That's why
you can't understand Usenet and computers.

It was never my intention to devote my life to constant learning. It is
necessary to have a proper respect for learning, but it is also necessary to
have a proper contempt for it too. It is not the salvation that school marms
like you think it is. The human predicament goes much deeper than just
learning to think the correct thoughts about every subject under the sun.
That is a liberal nostrum, not a conservative one.
[...]

So then you agree with me that it doesn't matter a tinker's damn where an
undergraduate takes his first two years of college. A local community
college is as good as Yale or Harvard where the only teachers you will
encounter are graduate assistants.

No I don't agree with the above paragraph.

When I was in college I was taught by world famous professors and I was also
taught by graduate assistants. The graduate assistants were all worthless as
teachers and some few of the world famous professors weren't half bad. That
is the difference, you nut case!

I don't "work" Ed. I quit "working" in 1993.

Are you not teaching computer classes for pay? If you are, then you are
working.

You should learn how to read, Ed. I had the word "work" in quotes.
"Work"
is for those who show up to perform a task they don't enjoy doing. I will
cease "teaching" when I no longer enjoy and look forward to going to
"teach."

Are you not teaching computer classes for pay? If you are, then you are
working.
[...]

So, were you a librarian all your life or not!

"All" is subejct to interpretation, of course.

Ed, do you know the meaning of "all." At a minimum, "all" would be over
half your working life.

No, "all" can mean anything I want it to mean since I am never literal about
anything. That is the difference between you and me. You think small because
you are small (an intellectual midget) and I think big because I am big (an
intellectual giant).

But, in the main, your interest in me passes all understanding. You are
nothing but a liberal scoundrel (Minnesota variety) and a most pathetic
figure. I do not have any more time to waste on you. Since all you know how
to do is call me a liar, I shall henceforth do nothing but call you names
also. l think I am a better name caller than you, so you will not win this
contest. I come from a long line of name calling gentry and I am to the
manor born.

--
Regards,

Ed Dolan - Minnesota

"Edward Dolan" wrote

I come from a long line of name calling gentry and I am to the manor born.

Was that the manor on 4th Ave, just south of Park Lane?

Sort of in the middle of this view (old pic)...?
http://terraserver-usa.com/image.asp...24164&z=15&w=1