[4281] in Central_America
New quotes for Fri May 29
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Initializer.SysDaemon)
Fri May 29 01:30:32 1992
Date: Fri, 29 May 92 01:29:47 -0400
From: root@charon.MIT.EDU (Initializer.SysDaemon)
To: ca-mtg@bloom-beacon.mit.edu
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aybee (Adam B Feder):
{From system: This user's .plan file is not world readable}
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cyrus (Cyrus Shaoul):
Spreading peanut butter reminds me of opera!! I wonder why?
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douzzer (Daniel Greil Pouzzner):
Work: AI Lab, 8th floor. So there.
Dans la vie, comme aux echeques, il y a ceux qui gagnent et ceux qui sont rien.
Mais le jeu se termine pour tous les deux.
Verite na predopredelenie, necmotrya na to chto eto yacno chto ono ne cushchectvuet.
eat meat... because it tastes good!
Religion is blasphemy.
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dschmidt (Dan Schmidt):
It all started on Thursday, August 25th, 1987. I remember the day
because my mother's birthday was the next day, and the year because it
was the last summer before I went off to college. I was in a
bookstore in Harvard Square called Wordsworth ("for the voracious
reader") looking frantically for a present for my mother. I was
looking at the New Hardcovers section when one book caught my eye. It
was dark blue, with only a large white division sign (a horizontal
line with a dot both above and below) on it. Upon closer inspection,
it turned out that the division sign was actually text, as follows:
Nero
Szweldinsce
D I V I D I N G T I M E S
A
Novel
Intrigued by the jacket, I opened the book and read the inside front
cover.
_Dividing Times_, Nero Szweldinsce's third novel, is a free-spirited
journey through the byways of lower education. William Frowse is a
mathematics professor at a renowned university who, by his early
middle age, has already achieved his life's work: he has proven the
famous Vuenwiecz Conjecture, one of the most imposing problems in
modern mathematics. His success catapults him into a sudden midlife
crisis; has he already fulfilled his duty to mathematics, is his
life effectively over? Feeling that to regain a sense of purpose,
he must return to his roots, Frowse resigns his professorship and
moves to the town of Bisno, Wyoming, to become a junior high algebra
teacher. As Frowse is reintroduced to the pleasures of problems of
real life again, after his years in the ivory tower of academia, he
begins to learn about the smalltown people whose lives intersect his
own, and, not coincidentally, about himself.
The inside back cover read
NERO SZWELDINSCE was born in Delanoile, Iowa in 1954. His first
book, _Freaks at the Crink_, was nominated for the Thomas H. Yandry
Prize for first novels. Both _Freaks at the Crink_ and his second
book, _Never You Mind and other Stories_, are published by Pristine
Press.
Above this short blurb was a black-and-white picture of Mr.
Szweldinsce. He appeared to be in his thirties, with short black hair
that had already done some serious receding. He had what seemed to be
a forced smile on his face, as if this were one in a series of
photographs taken at the same shoot, and the previous photo was a
Tortured Artist take, and he hadn't completely come out of that mode.
He wore a white dress shirt (I suppose it could have been yellow or
something, since the photo was black-and-white), unbuttoned at the
top, and a leather jacket.
My mother likes contemporary fiction, and for a short time she taught
algebra (although it was at a community college, not a junior high),
so I thought she might enjoy this book. I hadn't seen anything else
promising, so I bought it for her.
When I came home for Christmas vacation after my first semester at
college, I asked her what she thought of it, and she said that she
enjoyed it a great deal, and that I might like it too. Since she is
not one to reread books, she gave it to me. I left it in my room at
my parents' house when I went back to school, since I was in no great
rush to read it. As it happens, the book stayed in that room for a
long time.
Around two years later, probably the summer of 1989, I was in the
Harvard Bookstore. Unlike Wordsworth, the Harvard Bookstore does not
offer discounts, so I don't generally buy new books there, but they
have a large used book section, where all books are half the price
that is marked on the cover. Since many of the books there are old
editions (making the full prices lower already), it is often possible
to get very good bargains.
In any case, I was working my way through the fiction section when I
came across Szweldinsce's _Dividing Times_ again, this time in a trade
paperback edition. The text on the back of the book was the same as
that of the inside front cover of the hardcover (I didn't know this
for sure at the time, but later I was able to check), and additionally
there were some favorable blurbs:
"Often intriguing... Szweldinsce is obviously familiar with the
world he describes, and his sympathy for its populace is
contagious." - New York Times Book Review
"Unquestionably the highest point yet in a oeuvre that grows more
impressive with each addition... Nero Szweldinsce is a novelist of
the highest rank." - Wilson Murposs
[Wilson Murposs is a moderately famous novelist; I had read one of his
novels, _Like the Shoes_, and liked it very much.]
"It is the mark of a fine book when I laugh so uncontrollably I must
put it down for a time to collect myself, and then cannot wait to
pick it up again... Szweldinsce is very talented young writer, and
improves with every effort." - Cleveland Plain Dealer
"As we see the contrasting methods Frowse uses to deal with the
world of the university and that of the junior high school, we learn
not only how the world shapes him, but vice versa... A first-rate
character study." - San Diego Tribune
Seeing the book again and reading the blurbs reawakened my interest in
_Dividing Times_. The list price of the book was nine dollars, but
since it was used, I was able to get it for $4.50. Since it was much
easier to buy the book a second time than to visit my parents and pick
up the first copy from there, I decided to buy it then and read that
copy. However, reading the blurbs also reawakened my interest in
Wilson Murposs. While I was at the bookstore, I also picked up
Murposs' _Portrait of Wool_, supposedly his best novel. When it came
time to pick a new book to read, I passed over _Dividing Times_ in
favor of _Portrait of Wool_, and did not come back to it.
When I graduated from college and moved into a house in the summer of
1991, I cleaned out my room at my parents' house and brought its
contents over to my new home. As I was filling up my new bookshelves
(I am quite orderly about my book collection, and insist that
everything must be in alphabetical order by author, and secondarily in
chronological order by date of publication), I noticed that I had two
copies of _Dividing Times_: the hardcover and the used trade
paperback. It is odd for me to own two copies of a book, and odder
still to own two copies of a book that I have not read. I promised
myself I would read it in the near future.
Just a few months ago, in what was still the winter of 1991, another
novel by Nero Szweldinsce was published, entitled _Over the
Mistletoe_. Apparently it received much critical praise and provoked
an interest in his earlier works, for just a few weeks ago I found a
new edition of _Dividing Times_, this time at Barillari Books, another
discount bookstore in Harvard Square. This time, the front cover
proclaimed that _Dividing Times_ was written by Nero Szweldinsce,
"author of _Over the Mistletoe_." Well, I thought, perhaps this is
just the catalyst I need to finally read this novel. On a whim, I
bought this newest edition, determined that, with the fresh start that
the new purchase provided, this time there would be no obstacle to my
finally reading _Dividing Times_. When I got home, I put this third
copy of the book on the pile of "read soon" books that I keep next to
my futon.
Yesterday (Tuesday, May 26th, 1992), I read in the obituary pages of
the Boston Globe that Nero Szweldinsce had committed suicide. His
manner of death was not specified. "Szweldinsce," the obituary read,
"was best known for his most recent novel, _Over the Mistletoe_,
although many hold that his previous book, _Dividing Times_, was his
finest achievement."
Last night, although it was a fair spring evening, I built a fire in
my fireplace. Once the logs had caught and the fire was going well, I
took my three copies of _Dividing Times_ and tossed them one by one
into the fire. I sat in front of the fire, letting the burning books
warm me, watching them finally serve a purpose after being neglected
for so long.
May Nero Szweldinsce rest in peace.
Dan Schmidt
dschmidt@athena.mit.edu Blue Sky Productions
117 Rindge Ave. 59 Stiles Road, Suite 106
Cambridge, MA 02140 Salem, NH 03079
(617) 547-3723 (603) 894-5336
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jefft (Jeff Tang):
Is that dubbed? That sounds like it might be dubbed.
--- Crow
Pretty much.
--- Tom
It's dubbed.
--- Crow, "Star Force: Fugitive Alien II"
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panda (Chris Reed):
Strat-O-Matic MLB 1991 (72 games)
Div GIH Team W L PCT GB LAST 3 SERIES
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NlW - Atlanta 49 23 .681 --- 5-1 vLA, 2-1 vDet
NLW - Los Angeles 41 31 .569 8.0 4-2 Tor, 2-1 Det, 2-4 Bos
AlW - Texas 37 35 .514 12.0 0-3 Tor, 0-3 LA, 2-1 Det
NlW - Houston 33 39 .458 16.0 1-2 @Tor, 0-3 @Tor, 2-1 vTor
AlE 6 Toronto 29 37 .439 17.0 2-1 vHou, 1-2 @Hou, 1-2 Det
AlE 3 Boston 29 40 .420 18.5 1-2 @Det, 4-2 Det, 2-1 LA
AlE 3 Detroit 28 41 .406 19.5 1-2 vTor, 2-1 Bos, 2-4 @Bos
LAST 3 UPDATES:
MCZ 5/28 01:33 Tor 2-1 Det, Tor 2-1 Hou
CDR 5/26 23:49 Det 2-1 Bos
CDR 5/20 03:00 Bos 1-1 Det (end of series)
NOTES.....
Zode's magic numbers with the ALLeast teams:
(opp's losses to clinch him 4th place outright)
Toronto: 3 Left: 6
Games remaining:
Tor-Det (3), Bos-Tor (3)
AWAY (15-18) (12-21) (17-19) (8-10) (22-12) (15-6) (16-11)
HOME Det Hou Bos Tor LA Atl Tex
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(12-21)Det xxxxxxxx|6-4 5-4|9-2 4-5|3-5 |9-4 4-1|3-4 5-2|10-2 5-4
xxxxxxxx|4-6 6-5|4-5 11-2|2-11 |11-5 3-5|5-4 10-8|11-6 7-8
xxxxxxxx|2-3 12-5|8-4 7-5|4-1 |3-2 10-7|6-0 7-8|7-9 11-4
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(20-16)Hou 2-3 3-6|xxxxxxxx|3-4 5-9|0-3 2-1|3-4 14-1|3-8 7-2|2-3 8-3
3-4 2-1|xxxxxxxx|3-4 2-3|4-7 2-3|3-1 3-0|1-2 1-2|3-4 1-4
6-1 8-2|xxxxxxxx|4-5 5-4|3-0 1-2|4-2 3-11|6-3 7-6|6-3 6-5
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(13-20)Bos 2-3 4-7|2-3 0-15|xxxxxxxx|0-3 |0-2 1-5|16-4 8-6|11-6 5-3
3-6 6-2|6-8 9-2|xxxxxxxx|3-5 |15-1 6-5|14-5 6-3|9-1 16-2
6-3 6-7|9-2 1-8|xxxxxxxx|8-3 |3-2 2-3|7-4 5-3|3-0 7-2
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(9-12) Tor 3-1 |1-8 4-7|2-3 3-2|xxxxxxxx|8-3 3-2| |2-6
4-5 |4-7 1-6|7-2 0-3|xxxxxxxx|5-3 4-1| |7-3
4-3 |2-5 4-3|2-9 8-5|xxxxxxxx|4-3 2-1| |4-5
------------------------------------------------------------------
(18-18)LA 4-3 3-4|0-2 5-7|9-0 7-6|0-3 2-4|xxxxxxxx|8-6 4-3|3-5 3-2
1-0 2-14|1-3 1-4|6-3 12-2|1-0 4-3|xxxxxxxx|13-8 7-1|3-8 0-4
1-3 9-14|9-8 3-7|1-2 3-4|2-3 5-4|xxxxxxxx|5-4 15-3|4-5 5-2
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(14-7) Atl 6-4 8-9|4-2 6-2|4-8 7-8| |0-11 1-8|xxxxxxxx|
6-5 2-11|0-3 1-9|5-3 1-6| |4-8 8-7|xxxxxxxx|
4-8 8-4|4-7 1-2|9-11 3-2| |1-3 1-15|xxxxxxxx|
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(12-9) Tex 6-4 16-6|1-6 8-3|4-3 8-9| |7-6 4-2| |xxxxxxxx
9-10 1-4|2-3 9-2|7-8 5-4| |4-5 7-6| |xxxxxxxx
6-7 10-5|9-3 4-7|5-7 7-6| |4-5 6-2| |xxxxxxxx
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Det Hou Bos Tor LA Atl Tex
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starflt (Derrick Kong):
MANUAL INSERTION...
In TSR's Vampyre, one of the weapons provided to fight off Dracula's
legions is a silver bullet, used for killing werewolves. But on page 16
of the rule book, it is stated that "a gun is not needed to use this
item."
from Murphy's Rules
--- End of Central America ---
