# I am world famous thanks to Derleth and the Dope. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 3, 2007, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-world-famous-thanks-to-derleth-and-the-dope/414344 "2007-08-03T21:58:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2007, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-world-famous-thanks-to-derleth-and-the-dope/414344/41 "2007-08-04T05:19:56Z")
Congratulations! Wow. I’m impressed. And [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=382556&page=2&pp=50) is the sentence, from the thread, which was published in newspapers worldwide. The Dope has not received this much literary fame since [If LotR Had Been Written By Someone Else!?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=138905) ---
**Author:** ![bbs2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e495f1/32.png) [@bbs2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bbs2k)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2007, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-world-famous-thanks-to-derleth-and-the-dope/414344/42 "2007-08-04T05:48:43Z")
I’ve already wished congrats, but why not post pad? Seriously though, it just occurred to me that this reminds me of one of my favorite Steve Martin essays, [Times Roman Font Announces Shortage of Periods](http://www.compleatsteve.com/essays/periods.htm). I know _technically_ it’s not one sentence, but I felt like sharing because I thought it was hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2007, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-world-famous-thanks-to-derleth-and-the-dope/414344/43 "2007-08-04T11:24:22Z")
Your sentence hurt my brain, but since that’s what you were going for I guess it’s okay. 😃 How many did you submit? How long did you work on it? Was it your first attempt, or were there other sentences you tried and rejected? I’m humbled to be posting in the vicinity of such greatness. It takes an imaginative mind to come up with such a godawful line. Kudos, sir. ---
**Author:** ![gardentraveler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gardentraveler/32/3576_2.png) [@gardentraveler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gardentraveler)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2007, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-world-famous-thanks-to-derleth-and-the-dope/414344/44 "2007-08-04T15:28:53Z")
Congrats again! I’ve got Whad’ Ya Know on right now… GT ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2007, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-world-famous-thanks-to-derleth-and-the-dope/414344/45 "2007-08-04T15:35:48Z")
[QUOTE=Boyo Jim] Nor is there a secret penis or clitoris tattoo. [/QUOTE] Now, this could be a head start on next year’s contest… Congrats **Boyo Jim** on your awfulousness. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2007, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-world-famous-thanks-to-derleth-and-the-dope/414344/46 "2007-08-04T15:36:05Z")
[Leonard Pinth-Garnell]That was quite splendidly awful, wasn’t it?[/Leonard Pinth-Garnell] Congrats! ---
**Author:** ![hawthorne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@hawthorne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawthorne)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2007, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-world-famous-thanks-to-derleth-and-the-dope/414344/47 "2007-08-04T16:02:37Z")
We should get someone up for an Ig Nobel next. ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2007, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-world-famous-thanks-to-derleth-and-the-dope/414344/48 "2007-08-04T16:41:41Z")
am I the only one that wants to read the rest of the story? ---
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2007, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-world-famous-thanks-to-derleth-and-the-dope/414344/49 "2007-08-04T16:51:26Z")
Much congratulations, **Boyo Jim**! Anybody else who entered, let’s hear your entries. Meanwhile, I’m going to start working on mine for next year. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2007, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-world-famous-thanks-to-derleth-and-the-dope/414344/50 "2007-08-04T19:44:11Z")
[QUOTE=Scuba\_Ben] Much congratulations, **Boyo Jim**! Anybody else who entered, let’s hear your entries. Meanwhile, I’m going to start working on mine for next year. [/QUOTE] OK- gulp- here it is… (Well- it’s pretty weak, in my opinion, but it was fun to try and think of something. I’m going try to be a bit more creative for next time!) My Entry: It was a dark and stormy night, well, it was neither dark, (it was daytime), nor stormy, (partly cloudy and mild, and would stay that way through the weekend, according to Jim on Channel 12) but it should have been dark and stormy, beacuse that was how I felt: dark and stormy. Be kind. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2007, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-world-famous-thanks-to-derleth-and-the-dope/414344/51 "2007-08-04T20:13:07Z")
I didn’t enter, but if I had it probably would have been > [@](#): > > Big Mee-Mama couldn’t do things that other people could like read or write or come in the house and bathing her took more rope and Lysol than you’d think a single-wide could store but she was always good to me in her own way and I still put the day she shot the Jehovah’s Witness up there with getting my GED and the results of my first paternity set as one of the watershed moments of my life. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2007, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-world-famous-thanks-to-derleth-and-the-dope/414344/52 "2007-08-04T20:57:03Z")
And thanks to all the advice **Boyo** has been handing out in his numerous public interviers, I now know that “commas are your friends.” ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2007, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-world-famous-thanks-to-derleth-and-the-dope/414344/53 "2007-08-04T23:21:02Z")
[QUOTE=ivylass] Your sentence hurt my brain, but since that’s what you were going for I guess it’s okay. 😃 How many did you submit? How long did you work on it? Was it your first attempt, or were there other sentences you tried and rejected? I’m humbled to be posting in the vicinity of such greatness. It takes an imaginative mind to come up with such a godawful line. Kudos, sir. [/QUOTE] I took an evening and put together a couple of dozen entries last August. I didn’t even keep a record of what I submitted, and never gave it another thought until I got an email last week that I was a finalist. I had to ask them what I entered, and the answer only had the finalist entry. So I don’t know what else I wrote. I had known of the contest for years, but never entered before. Except I do remember one other entry – for its brevity: “Ron was already blind so he could take all the boner pills he wanted.” I rather liked it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2007, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-world-famous-thanks-to-derleth-and-the-dope/414344/54 "2007-08-04T23:29:16Z")
[QUOTE=tomndebb] And thanks to all the advice **Boyo** has been handing out in his numerous public interviers, I now know that “commas are your friends.” [/QUOTE] Ooh, you listened today. BTW, they announced todays show would be available as a free podcast, available Monday. I thought it went pretty well, unfortunately I didn’t see an opportunity to mention the Dope. But I did get to mention my favorite breakfast place and have already got a free meal. That is the first (and likely only) thing I’ve got out of this that can be said to have an actual cash value. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2007, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-world-famous-thanks-to-derleth-and-the-dope/414344/55 "2007-08-04T23:43:39Z")
I got a kind of clue today, in the form of an email from one of this year’s judges, regarding entries for next year. Apparently one thing that they like about my sentence was that is WASN’T like the most common form of entry. So unless you have something really exceptional, you might want to avaid sentences like this: > [@](#): > > “ **A** was like **B** and **C** , and especially like **D** , but not at all like **E** , **F** and **G**.” And I learned I will likely be called on as a judge for contests in future years, which sounds like a really fun perk. I’ve received really nice emails from several of the past winners – there seems to be a kind of secret society of BLFC winners that I’ve now been admitted to. ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2007, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-world-famous-thanks-to-derleth-and-the-dope/414344/56 "2007-08-05T01:09:44Z")
[QUOTE=Boyo Jim] Ooh, you listened today. [/QUOTE] I listened today, too, and when he stumbled across you in the audience before your segment, I gasped, and my husband looked at me funny when I said, “That’s\*\* Boyo Jim\*\*!” I was deeply disappointed that you didn’t mention the Dope, especially since you comported yourself in a manner to which all Dopers should aspire, when given the chance to be on a hugely popular national radio show. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2007, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-world-famous-thanks-to-derleth-and-the-dope/414344/57 "2007-08-05T01:30:43Z")
**Boyo Jim** PM’d me on the day he found out so I’ve known of his win for a while now. He swore me to secrecy and now he’s blown it wide open! I’m happy he’s getting the kudos he deserves, but it was a surprise to see this on the first page of MPSIMS after his original thread got vanished. Speaking of kudos, I honestly had no idea the Bulwer-Lytton contest was such a big deal. Getting on NPR is usually reserved for Presidential candidates and mentally retarded death row inmates, and I’m happy to see **Boyo Jim** in such august company. It’s great being part of the news cycle every time it isn’t crippling or illegal. What a lot of stuff to come from one mostly-forgotten thread. ---
**Author:** ![elelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@elelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elelle)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2007, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-world-famous-thanks-to-derleth-and-the-dope/414344/58 "2007-08-05T01:47:04Z")
Yay, and good for you, Jim! To start it all off with Peein’ is just shy of the most awful transgression of opening a story with an Alarm clock ringing. You did it with style! Bask well, good favored son! ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2007, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-world-famous-thanks-to-derleth-and-the-dope/414344/59 "2007-08-05T02:00:56Z")
[QUOTE=hawthorne] We should get someone up for an Ig Nobel next. [/QUOTE] Don’t you have to be some sort of scientist for that? Or at least within spitting range of a university? [sub]Where’s **Mouse\_Maven** and her Legions of Murine Doom?[/sub] . ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2007, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-world-famous-thanks-to-derleth-and-the-dope/414344/60 "2007-08-05T02:01:57Z")
[QUOTE=freckafree] I listened today, too, and when he stumbled across you in the audience before your segment, I gasped, and my husband looked at me funny when I said, “That’s\*\* Boyo Jim\*\*!” I was deeply disappointed that you didn’t mention the Dope, especially since you comported yourself in a manner to which all Dopers should aspire, when given the chance to be on a hugely popular national radio show. [/QUOTE] Thank you. I was looking for a chance to mention the Dope, and hoping he would ask me something about how or why I entered, but it didn’t happen. All too soon he was saying thanks and I was being ushered offstage. Michael stumbled across me in the audience beforehand because we weren’t introduced and didn’t speak before the show. I just sat in the audience like everybody else until they waved me onto the stage a couple of minutes before the segment started. Earlier, one of my guests, Dan (they let me bring four friends), the guy who had the “game face”, caught his eye, so they had a little exchange. We all had a great time. I just wish I’d been there last week, when David Steinberg was his guest – I’m a huge fan of his. It just blows my mind that I would be in the same seat as him a week later. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-world-famous-thanks-to-derleth-and-the-dope/414344.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-am-world-famous-thanks-to-derleth-and-the-dope/414344.md?page=4)