NOT The Farewell Thread

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I’ve been thinking quite a bit of late about the SDMB. How can I write OPs that get as many responses as Eve? Will I ever see my contributions here as my vocation like Polycarp? (I don’t mean he thinks my contributions are vocational. I mean will I ever come to see mine as vocational in the same sort of way that Polycarp sees his as vocational?) Do I really hate America? I mean, deep down, below the bluff anti-pro-gun-lobby exterior?

Will I ever convert mine enemies, or will they always wince when they see the name roger thornhill on the New Posts page? If they see it at all any more.

I’m not looking for approbation, affirmation, praise, recognition, approval, (yes, I just got my thesaurus out), appreciation, esteem, encomia (OK, enough of that), but if I’m not looking for that lot, what am I looking for?

Will I ever be taken seriously as an intellect, or did I wreck my chances with my introductory evolution thread? Do I care? Yes.

So, I’ve decided to take some time away from the boards while I drive home this evening to think about how I can get a bit more respect from some people I’m not going to name.

I didn’t want people to wonder where I’ve gone, or to get worried. That’s why I’m writing this. I will reconsider my position when we’re past the discount membership renewal period, say around Monday. In the meantime, please feel free to pop by and say your bit. Look at this thread as a bit like the book they have at Hiroshima, where people are expected to write ‘Never again’. But I want you guys to be honest. If you want to write the equivalent of ‘You had it coming to you, you sorry bastards!’ or ‘Remember Nanking!’, then please don’t hold back.

I’m unlikely to read what you write about me anyway.

Ciao, or as the Chinese say “Bye-bye”.

2

Rog, you’re a great chap to have around here: affable, humorous and charming. If I’m one of the unnamed ones who you feel do not respect you enough, I sincerely apologise.

Your intellect and bravery would be taken entirely seriously if you made it clear that you understood what people told you in that thread and others since, that you had changed your mind about some of the, I’m afraid the only word is ignorant, positions you held and seemingly continue to hold. Yes, it takes intelligence and guts to admit you were wrong - I’ve had to do it myself here and it is anything but easy. And you’ll note that there are all kinds of people like Poly who share a whole raft of positions with you, only not those few ignorant ones.

Stick around, rog. This place is the better for having you here.

3

I think what you experience is called “ambition”. It is generally considered a good thing, I believe. :slight_smile:

FWIW, you are a familiar SDMB name to me, with a general positive ring to it.

OTOH, why not combine your ambition with allowing yourself to enjoy the quality of the posts that are offered here, without feeling you have to equal or top them? For every great violin-player, the world needs at least a concert-hall full of music-lovers. In a good concert, it is hard to say who is enjoying themselves more; the violinplayer or the audience. The more one enjoys himself, the more the other does, too. Like in good sex, there are only winners. And that is also a *very * good thing.

4

I’m one of the lightweights around here, so I know you mostly from the Movie Game. You’re a fine Movie Game player!

5

:dubious:

6

I wasn’t being disingenuous – but since I hang out here and Cafe Society, go into the Pit less than once a week, and never go into Great Debates at all – I’m a lightweight. A highly visible one, but a lightweight nonetheless.

7

Senters, I’m not quite sure if I could name one position I share with Polycarp.

By the by, thanks for calling me “affable”. Made my day. Never been called that before. I think it’s partly down to the pseudonym I chose. Some people, consciously or subconsciously, ascribe me qualities of Cary Grant, and at the same time I start to comport myself like him, or his characters! Thesis there, I’m sure.

Maastricht (do any other Brit dopes pronounce her name a la Jeremy Paxman with a massive ‘cccht’?), seldom have wiser words been spoken. However, the good sex analogy left me more blue and introspective than ever. ‘There are only winners’, you say. Easy for you to say, I say back. For some of us, ‘good sex’ remains a …no, I’m sorry - I can’t fight back the tears any longer.

Right, that’s better. Twickster, did you know I cheat occasionally?

8

We all do. I think Shibb is the only one who worries about it, though.

9

Must be how he lost all his hair!

10

I like reading your entries just the way they are. If you sugar coat and PC your comments just to avoid criticism from the thin-skinned, it still won’t put you on the supposed “elite” level. Polycarp and Eve have longevity, and they each have built a certain class and style to their posting over the years that makes them distinct.

But you and paulbeserker are the drunken English blokes who have funny bar rants with a good amount of spite. It turns some people off, but believe me some of us are laughing our asses off.

Don’t change. Keep your personality.

11

Stick around. I recognize your name. Familiar things bring me stability when the psychosis acts up. Change is bad for me. Besides, I need to know there’s someone out there who gets less respect than I do.

12

Well, you could be like me and simply resolve to kill more threads than any other poster in the universe.

13

Love it. This one had me laughing my ass off!

Inigo, I wish I had a nice quote from your favourite movie for you. As it is, I only rmember one, so here goes.

“Hello”

14

Stay, roger. We need the British Humour quotient on these boards to be maintained or increased.

15

You’ve gone onto my Buddy list.

16

:slight_smile: Aww! I’ll bet you read Flashman books as well, don’t you?

17

You’ve decided to stay away from the Straight Dope…while driving home? :eek:

Having said that, while I think you one of the Dope’s most intelligent and erudite posters, it is as an enigma that you truly shine. You are far and away the most enigmatic of all the Dope’s posters.

Regarding Maastricht: yes, I pronounce her name as you describe. I’ve often thought about asking her about the correct pronunciation, but I never have. (In my opinion, she is one of the coolest, most “together” of the Dope’s posters.)

18

Roger I like your iconoclastic style. You have passion without always allowing it to rule you. You’re not in it for the blood and pain as some others seem to be.
Don’t forsake us for long.
Something to remind yourself when the board isn’t giving back what you need. This is a plastic box. We who reside in the plastic box are only as real as we allow ourselves to be, and as much as you want us to be. If we hurt you, you have the power to disappear us with the turn of a switch.
You have more power over us, with that switch, than we do over you.
:smiley: Have a nice drive, be careful and back soon. 'K?

19

I have too few kind words for anyone and I like your posts. Dishonesty is not to be found there.

And who drives home in Hong Kong anyway?

20

Music to my ears, SA. But can you imagine how hard it is to stay at the top of the enigma tree?!

No, Sarah, I’ve never read a Flashman book in my life. Was I quoting from one unwittingly or were you trying to find things we have in common?

That sounds horrible. Not meant to be. Nothing like a good flirt, by the way. But just not in a designated “let’s-flirt” thread. Where’s the fun in that? (That’s in case people I’ve upset about this topic look in on this thread.)

Sevastopol, I’m lucky (in one sense) in that I live and work in the unfashionable hinterland of Hong Kong, not on cramped and overpriced HK Island itself (though it does have some good eating places). And with the Government’s rail-first policy looking more and more of a sorry joke, my 8-mile 30-minute journey to work looks set to become a 20-minute one when the latest road tunnel opens soon.

Nurse, thank you for your kind comments. You rather hit the nail on the head for me. I like the scrapping that goes on here (I actually think I use it to keep my ageing brain sharpened), but the little coteries who defend each other (sometimes against the indefensible) and set out to influence others (by means of their connections, or their “seniority”), while enjoying their status as board icons of wisdom and passion for knowledge, do piss me off.

Thanks for giving me a place to vent where it will do least harm, and hopefully a little good. Mind you, those who are most vocal and explicit in their wish that others whould be willing to change their minds are in general those who find such change hardest to effect where it matters most.