Hold on tight to your dreams!

[ninjabear]

I admit after 221 rejection letters I was a bit discouraged...then I saw the real problem. These literary agents read so much junk all day, every day, they've become snowblind---they can't see something good when it falls on their desks.

The experiment: to test this theory, I neatly typed ten pages of a classic novel. With a new title and author name, I sent it to 20 top literary agents in Los Angeles and New York, then waited to get caught.

One agent said it was "preachy"; I suppose that proves he read it.

Oh, you guessed it. No only did none of them like the sample, not one of them recognized Space Marines by Aaron Sheffield was actually a passage from Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein.
(Perhaps they only saw the movie.)

Whatever your aspiration if there is a honest, rational chance it can be made real, then don't be discouraged. Don't let anyone tell you your dream is foolish, or silly, or cannot happen---make it happen!
"You'll get your chance. Only thing is when it comes you've got to grab on both hands, and hold on tight!" Otis, from the film The Last Starfighter

[cooky37]

[deleted]

[ninjabear]

A while back I was enjoying my favorite Chinese buffet, when I chanced to glance around the room and saw one of the funniest things I've ever seen.
She was adorable, all of five years old, and determined to eat her Jell-O cubes with her chopsticks.
I found myself admiring her patience and resolve. The little girl resisted all attempts from her parents to render assistance, and steadfastly refused a more appropriate utensil. If it took all day, she was going to do it with the chopsticks; and I firmly believe she would've figured out the answer much sooner, if she had been left to experiment without interference.
Oh yes, you can eat Jell-O with chopsticks---well it's not as easy as nailing Jell-O to a tree but still...

[ninjabear]

Many years ago, I was tasked by my mother with the chore of replacing the family home's mailbox. I got a new box, new post, a fresh coat of paint and some stick on numbers. In one afternoon, a fine new box by the roadside waited for the mailman...but what to do with the old, battered but serviceable box and post?
(heh-heh-heh)
I looked up the street address, then set the old box up in front of a vacant lot, across town, then sent it some mail.
The Postal Service delivered not just my letters to a vacant lot, but before I removed the box I'd begun getting junk mail as well.

So long as there's a proper mailbox, and the street address and postal code number are correct, the Postal Service will deliver anywhere; now that's dedication!

[iswallowedabug (deleted)]

I am reminded of the poem "Listen to the mustn'ts" by Shel
Silverstein.

I also have a comment I didn't know where to post. How
amusing is it that there are posts in every section but the
section for "sports"? I would have posted there to say
that, but it would have spoiled the effect.

You realize, Ninjabear, that this thread reeks of bubble-speak,
don't you?

[lucifer666 (deleted)]

Funny you say that iswallowedabug I was going to put a post on Sports about Manchester United ..... an English Football team ...or as the American's call it A soccer team but I thought it wouldn't gather the interest

Bubblespeak??? I'm going to show my ignorance here...... Whats that?

[ninjabear]

Bubble-speak is iswallowedabug's term for optimistic speech.
Happy people living in a bubble---in their own little world "where life is beautiful all the time
and I'll be happy to see those nice young men
in their clean white coats
'cause they're coming to take me away, ha-ha!"

Trust me bugger, there's a reason Batman is my all time favorite member of the Justice League.

[lucifer666 (deleted)]

I don't think there is anything wrong with......

'Happy people living in a bubble---in their own little world "where life is beautiful all the time'


If you can get it I say don't ditch it .....I'd love to be happy in my own little love world bubble and I do try to be whenever possible.....its others who get jealous or don't understand it and try bursting it with their reality pins that annoys me

[iswallowedabug (deleted)]

ninjabear wrote: I admit after 221 rejection letters I was a bit discouraged...then I saw the real problem. These literary agents read so much junk all day, every day, they've become snowblind---they can't see something good when it falls on their desks.

AFTER 221 rejection letters you were a BIT discouraged? Furthermore,
rather than internalizing the rejection, you externalized it. And you
STILL deny being an optimist? This bubble is getting crowded!

In other topics -- drawing on issues posted in other threads and the
implied nature of things, we can write out the following assumptions:

100% empty cardboard box = good.

Glass with 50% water, 50% air/atmosphere = half full OR half empty.

Half full = optimistic outlook.

Half empty = pessimistic outlook.

100 % = full.

Is it the nature of fullness that is good? The empty cardboard box is
100% empty, meaning it is FULLY empty, and fullness is implied to
be good. On the other hand, if the carboard box were 50% full with
water, it would get soggy, and that would be no good.

I seem to be making no progress on these issues. I prefer to
see the empty cardboard box as happiness (obviously), and the
glass with any degree of water in it can still have its contents
emptied on the head of some nitwit who deserves it, which pretty
much qualifies it as happiness as well.

I will now return to my corner of the bubble if I can find it. I mean,
do bubbles have corners?

[lucifer666 (deleted)]

Iswallowedabug you have succeeded in one thing ....I'm 100% confused and 100% empty of understanding I am now going to pour that water on my own head as I feel the 100% the Nitwit now

[iswallowedabug (deleted)]

Sorry, Lucifer666. I'm afraid I am guilty of "poking the bear" because
(apparently) bear-baiting is one of the favorite past-times of us
Shiny Happy bubble-dwellers.

"Let me 'splain...No, is too much. Let me sum up." Inigo, The Princess
Bride

Ninjabear and I both agree that there is something amazing about
an empty cardboard box, but we differ a bit as to why.

We also disagree about whether or not people can be naturally
happy and whether or not that would be a good thing.

Also, we have a completely different take on the whole "is the
glass half full or half empty" question.

We could probably solve the energy crisis if we could harness
the friction created by the number of points on which we differ.

I find it fascinating to get at one's intuition as to what makes
something special or not, what makes us believe something or
not, etc., and I was stream-of-consciousness writing down equalities
about the empty cardboard box, glass half full, glass half empty,
etc. "Well, we don't have cable, so we have to make our own fun."
(Willow from Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

It is typically best not to infer that you are the nitwit, but to assume
that I am being "mentally deficient" (as Ninjabear implied in
another thread) and to ignore whatever didn't make sense. Because
a lot of what I say makes no sense to anyone but me. So you're not
alone.

Of course, if you don't understand how cool an empty cardboard
box is, well, then that's another story.

[lucifer666 (deleted)]

I must be in that 'Shiny Happy bubble-dwellers' club too as I also bear bait ...only when I do it Mr Ninja gets irritated and I'm told to get off his post if I don't stay directly on topic . I think he feels I annoy him on purpose when I am merely just poking the bear........ oh no! that just sounds so wrong on so many levels ..... I am merely just bear baiting ...ahhh thats better.

As for empty cardboard boxes being amazing my mind is torn ....as a child there was nothing better than jumping into a cardboard box ...it was a ship, a house, a fort or a car bringing me as a child to new places ....but then I have also two nephews and the last two xmas's I have bought very expensive large toys for both ........ I didn't mind I love the little guys and knew the toys would bring them joy....or so I thought .....yes you guessed it after five minutes of examing and looking at the actual toys they spend the rest of the day playing in the empty cardboard boxes . So me and the bro .in law played with the toys while the kids peek a-booed out of the boxes. Amazing alright ....amazingly expensive!!!

[ninjabear]

I love you guys---don't quit on me now, it's just getting good!
The old saying "It's not smart to poke a bear with a short stick" springs to mind, but a long stick just means when I take it from you, the whuppin' will be worse (I'm skilled in the bo, it's one of my favorites)---but seriously, you two are honest with me, and that is harder to come by than you might think.
Lucifer666: have you seen how long my 'threads' are? Try to stay on target, just to keep focus and avoid wasting space; that's not so much to ask but DELETE, NOTHING! It's all part of the running dialogue.
I'll argue anyone anywhere on any topic I have an informed opinion on, and will not tolerate wishy-washy chatter---both of you, let's have your best shot!

[ninjabear]

The Tao teaches us it is the emptiness of a vessel that sets it's value; glass, a vase, a cardboard box. Lucifer666 made my point for me when he told how much fun an empty box can be. The box itself is nothing, until it is filled with imagination.
Now, as to the 'half-glass' dren? Metaphorically speaking, I started out with a full glass and in the instant I let my guard down, some rat-frell S.O.B. stole half! It was mine, I worked hard for it, I deserve it, and no one should be permitted to just take someone else's water and when I catch the thief I'll drink his blood instead!
Everything I have in this world I either busted my butt for, groveled for, or walked off with when no one was looking. I have been pushed back, shoved into taking point, beat down, stood up, jerked around, laughed at, ignored, falsely accused, abandoned, betrayed and mocked when I demanded simple justice; "Welcome to real life!"
Doesn't matter if you're climbing a mountain, playing chess or trying to get a girl's knickers off; the more difficult the task, the harder the effort, the sweeter the victory!

[iswallowedabug (deleted)]

While I agree that imagination is a critical component, I also
put forth the idea that certain items, materials, etc. have more
intrisic coolness than others.

An empty cardboard box is far more magical than an empty
plastic box (at least to me).

Why?

Perhaps it is because of the bend-able nature of the carboard, it
can take on more forms. Perhaps it is the fleeting nature of cardboard,
that it can be drenched in water and then no longer as functional.
It could be any number of things. But something about the
empty CARDBOARD box gives it more intrinsic value than an empty
container made of something else.

If imagination were the only factor, one wouldn't even need the
cardboard box. One could just think about an empty cardboard
box. Having the empty cardboard box is SO much more fun.

As for the glass issue...

Let me see if I understand you, Ninjabear: it's okay for you to walk
away with things when no one is looking, but when it happens to
you, the thief is worthy of desanguination? Is that hypocrisy I smell?

As to what we have a right to, what we have earned, and what we
lose...

"Now, what do we say on the court? Repeat after me: 'I am a person. I have a right to the ball'." -- the basketball coach from the movie Buffy
the Vampire Slayer

Yes, we all have a right to things, but there are always going to be
people at odds with us, claiming THEIR right to the same things, or
just trying to take them away. If the things you've busted your butt
for, groveled for, etc. to possess in this world -- your metaphorical
glass of water -- get taken away from you (unfairly or not) and it leaves
you so beaten down, did you ever really have them, or DID THEY HAVE
YOU? Getting back to the empty cardboard box, does the loss of half a
glass of water hurt because you will now be thirsty, does it hurt because
someone got the better of you, or does it hurt because now you can't
go on thinking about what you will do with that half a glass and now you
only have half left?

To go uber-philosophical, nothing that you ever truly have can ever
be taken away. "Possessing" is such a bizarre concept. The items
surrounding you are landscaping, and the scenery will always change as
the journey continues. As for external forces beating you down, the
same priniciples apply. "No one can make you feel inferior without
your consent" -Eleanor Roosevelt

In this world, we give far too much power to our surroundings and other
people. Happiness, inner peace, and all that dren come from within. The trick is (amongst the "tricks" are such diverse elements as...") to get the
most out of every experience and every step of the journey -- not just
cherish the ultimate victory. Figuring out that trick is something some
people never manage, and for some it's a battle to be fought over and
over. Even heartache, angst, betrayal, and wallowing in misery all
have their exquisite moments to be savored.

Have you ever read "The Cheese Stands Alone" by Harlan Ellison?

Oh, crap. Now my keyboard is all sticky from this saccharine typing.
It happens a lot here in the bubble, you'd think we'd be used to it.

As a final note, you could always spend the next five years developing
a resistance to Iocane powder and then put it in all your water. It would
cut down on having to track down the thieves, except of course, for
those of us already immune to the effects of Iocane powder...