4 ms·

I am in roughly 80 percent agreement. The phrase played out for me: We are flying home and ideally we end up on the ground, having arrived at the intended exp

I am in roughly 80 percent agreement. The phrase played out for me: We are flying home and ideally we end up on the ground, having arrived at the intended expression, undeniable. But, we could come in too fast, skip orbit and burn up. Or, we could sling around, launching ourselves off into space on some tangent. Or, we orbit. Never quite bringing it home. And we could miss the planet entirely! Not sure it is as broken as your take on it would suggest. I am going to leave it and flag it for entertainment only. Same place I keep a large set of turd analogies. Those are often fun and one can express a crazy amount of ideas using turds.

eszed 3y ago
Huh! An accidental orbit is an interpretation which - almost - makes it work. It wasn't one I'd thought of, and I don't think it would be the first thing most people think of, so... I'd still cut the line. It's really cool, though, to see how readers interpret things differently than a writer expects. That's happened a few times with creative work I've presented to the public: once was an occasion for horrified revision, and another was a tremendous moment of "Wow! Maybe this is better than I'd thought". That's fun, and those experiences killed for me critical theories which rely on authorial intent: more always exists than was (consciously) intended. Your comment, and the other complimentary one to which you replied, have kept this idea rolling around in my head for the last couple of days. I keep trying out different phrases to myself. "Circling sense, but never setting down" is the best I've got right now. I like the alliteration. I dig the aviation image, although it's a bit abstruse. "Sense" isn't as strong as "meaning", but "meaning" ruins both the alliteration and the rhythm. I'll take it - it's better than the other one - but I'm not completely satisfied. I adore good writing, and have written some things which I think are good. We see lots of posts on this board explaining the process of writing good code, and the level of detailed thought that requires. I've seized your comment(s) as an opportunity to demonstrate the process behind crafting good prose, which I think is mysterious to most. Thank you for that, even if you and I are the only people who will read this far down the thread. I'm glad you enjoyed the original expression, and honored that you'll remember it - but please don't forget that it's a turd!
- ddingus 3y ago
  I really just wanted to comment on what a nice bit of fun our chat was! Unfortunately, I was not able to improve on this idea myself and I found that intriguing given it's surprising interest. Take care.
  - eszed 3y ago
    Reciprocal thanks to you! Fun - and occasionally enlightening - chats with strangers were what originally drew me to the 'net, and still seem to me to be its highest, best, and unimproveable use today. See you 'round.
- ddingus 3y ago
  How fun! I read this, will respond once more.

eszed 3y ago

Huh! An accidental orbit is an interpretation which - almost - makes it work. It wasn't one I'd thought of, and I don't think it would be the first thing most people think of, so... I'd still cut the line. It's really cool, though, to see how readers interpret things differently than a writer expects. That's happened a few times with creative work I've presented to the public: once was an occasion for horrified revision, and another was a tremendous moment of "Wow! Maybe this is better than I'd thought". That's fun, and those experiences killed for me critical theories which rely on authorial intent: more always exists than was (consciously) intended. Your comment, and the other complimentary one to which you replied, have kept this idea rolling around in my head for the last couple of days. I keep trying out different phrases to myself. "Circling sense, but never setting down" is the best I've got right now. I like the alliteration. I dig the aviation image, although it's a bit abstruse. "Sense" isn't as strong as "meaning", but "meaning" ruins both the alliteration and the rhythm. I'll take it - it's better than the other one - but I'm not completely satisfied. I adore good writing, and have written some things which I think are good. We see lots of posts on this board explaining the process of writing good code, and the level of detailed thought that requires. I've seized your comment(s) as an opportunity to demonstrate the process behind crafting good prose, which I think is mysterious to most. Thank you for that, even if you and I are the only people who will read this far down the thread. I'm glad you enjoyed the original expression, and honored that you'll remember it - but please don't forget that it's a turd!

ddingus 3y ago
I really just wanted to comment on what a nice bit of fun our chat was! Unfortunately, I was not able to improve on this idea myself and I found that intriguing given it's surprising interest. Take care.
- eszed 3y ago
  Reciprocal thanks to you! Fun - and occasionally enlightening - chats with strangers were what originally drew me to the 'net, and still seem to me to be its highest, best, and unimproveable use today. See you 'round.
ddingus 3y ago
How fun! I read this, will respond once more.