# The Diogenes Teleplay **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 13, 2007, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-diogenes-teleplay/426241 "2007-11-13T14:55:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![Clark\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c77e96/32.png) [@Clark\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clark_K)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2007, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-diogenes-teleplay/426241/201 "2007-12-05T00:06:28Z")
Sorry to hear about your daughter. I hope all goes well. ---
**Author:** ![Tenebras](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@Tenebras](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tenebras)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2007, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-diogenes-teleplay/426241/202 "2007-12-05T00:25:14Z")
Well, I guess we know where **Waverly** ’s anonymous doper stashed the script. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2007, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-diogenes-teleplay/426241/203 "2007-12-05T00:44:28Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] I don’t know when I’ll be able to get back to work on this. [/QUOTE] There are writers, and there are people with a project they’ve started and they aren’t sure when they’ll be able to get back to it. Which one are you? ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2007, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-diogenes-teleplay/426241/204 "2007-12-05T00:52:27Z")
[QUOTE=Clark K] Sorry to hear about your daughter. I hope all goes well. [/QUOTE] Ditto to this. ---
**Author:** ![Tenebras](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@Tenebras](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tenebras)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2007, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-diogenes-teleplay/426241/205 "2007-12-05T01:15:21Z")
[QUOTE=cricetus] There are writers, and there are people with a project they’ve started and they aren’t sure when they’ll be able to get back to it. Which one are you? [/QUOTE] Dude, he’s paying surgeons to open his daughter’s body with sharp knives to recover the script that was put there by a fellow doper (who I’m starting to think was actually **Waverly** ) and you want to give him shit about people who are real writers and people who aren’t? That’s pretty fucking classy. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2007, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-diogenes-teleplay/426241/206 "2007-12-05T01:41:31Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] I’m still working on it. I’ve just had a series of events which have kept me from being able to sit at the computer. One of my daughters is having surgery tomorrow morning. I don’t know when I’ll be able to get back to work on this. [/QUOTE] Sorry to hear about your daughter. I hope it’s something minor and you can pump the docs for neat plot twists. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2007, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-diogenes-teleplay/426241/207 "2007-12-05T02:09:12Z")
[QUOTE=Tenebras] Dude, he’s paying surgeons to open his daughter’s body with sharp knives to recover the script that was put there by a fellow doper (who I’m starting to think was actually **Waverly** ) and you want to give him shit about people who are real writers and people who aren’t? That’s pretty fucking classy. [/QUOTE] Goddamned right. My wife had a miscarriage last year. I didn’t use that as a reason I didn’t know when I could possibly get back to my writing. Writers write. Period. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2007, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-diogenes-teleplay/426241/208 "2007-12-05T02:11:13Z")
P.S. I know that his daughter is getting minor surgery. The first thing I did was call and find out what the situation is. It’s minor. Certainly scary when she’s under, but there’s no reason Dio can’t be writing now or tomorrow when they get home. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2007, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-diogenes-teleplay/426241/209 "2007-12-05T02:48:57Z")
[QUOTE=cricetus] P.S. I know that his daughter is getting minor surgery. The first thing I did was call and find out what the situation is. It’s minor. Certainly scary when she’s under, but there’s no reason Dio can’t be writing now or tomorrow when they get home. [/QUOTE] Creepy, dude. You seem to behave as if this whole thing would have proven one way or the other whether television is rife with hack writers. Weren’t you confident beforehand? ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2007, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-diogenes-teleplay/426241/210 "2007-12-05T03:09:21Z")
Well, since Dio’s daughters are my nieces, I think it’s perfectly un-creepy for me to call and find out what the story is when I learn – on the Internet, just as I learned of the second one’s inception – that one of them was going in for surgery. Tragically, Dio passes on such confidences to his fellow Dopers before he tells family. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2007, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-diogenes-teleplay/426241/211 "2007-12-05T03:17:54Z")
[QUOTE=Hentor the Barbarian] Weren’t you confident beforehand? [/QUOTE] What I had hoped it would prove is that Dio, who has sworn for years that he’d love to be a writer, would find the wherewithal to take that dream seriously and commit to a project. I tried to be encouraging and confident in his success, since people are rarely inspired by people who expect them to fail. I’m disappointed by his admission that he doesn’t know when (read: if) he’ll ever finish. It sounds like a concession to me that he really doesn’t intend to finish. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2007, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-diogenes-teleplay/426241/212 "2007-12-05T05:08:37Z")
[QUOTE=cricetus] What I had hoped it would prove is that Dio, who has sworn for years that he’d love to be a writer, would find the wherewithal to take that dream seriously and commit to a project. I tried to be encouraging and confident in his success, since people are rarely inspired by people who expect them to fail. I’m disappointed by his admission that he doesn’t know when (read: if) he’ll ever finish. It sounds like a concession to me that he really doesn’t intend to finish. [/QUOTE] I actually have worked on it tonight and you’re reading way too much into what I said. I didn’t say “if” anything. I said I didn’t know when I would be able to get BACK TO WORK on it. I’ll be at the hospital all day tomorrow and then I have to work tomorrow night. I’m off on thursday and then I have to work friday, saturday and sunday. Don’t worry, I’ll finish it. I guarantee I’ll finish it. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2007, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-diogenes-teleplay/426241/213 "2007-12-05T05:11:29Z")
Incidentally, thanks for the well wishes. The surgery is minor, nothing life threatening. It’s just scary to know that my two year old is going under anasthesia. ---
**Author:** ![Leviosaurus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Leviosaurus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leviosaurus)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2007, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-diogenes-teleplay/426241/214 "2007-12-05T07:34:53Z")
[QUOTE=cricetus] Well, since Dio’s daughters are my nieces, I think it’s perfectly un-creepy for me to call and find out what the story is when I learn – on the Internet, just as I learned of the second one’s inception – that one of them was going in for surgery. Tragically, Dio passes on such confidences to his fellow Dopers before he tells family. [/QUOTE] You know, if my daughters were your neices I would tell you to fuck the hell off. You might have big confidence in your abilities as a writer, but a brief review of my bookshelf reveals nothing whatsoever that you have written, so you’re all talk from where I’m standing, tough guy. On the other hand, your complete lack of empathy for a guy attempting his first serious writing project (under public scrutiny, no less) demonstrates a serious lack of self esteem. Your complete lack of empathy for a father concerned for his daughter undergoing surgery showns a serious lack of humanity. And your prioritization of an INTERNET DARE over YOUR OWN FUCKING FAMILY shows an overblown self centered personality so extreme it threatens to collapse into a black hole and suck the entire planet in after it. You actually _want_ him to fail, so you can assert your superiority. You’re so transparent, it’s obvious even through a messageboard! Here’s a dare for you - I dare you to drop out of writing and go find a career that will provide you some self respect, since you obviously don’t have any. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2007, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-diogenes-teleplay/426241/215 "2007-12-05T09:42:10Z")
[QUOTE=Leviosaurus] And your prioritization of an INTERNET DARE over YOUR OWN FUCKING FAMILY shows an overblown self centered personality so extreme it threatens to collapse into a black hole and suck the entire planet in after it. [/QUOTE] As **cricetus** said in the post you quoted, s/he only found out about the surgery in this thread, so why not. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2007, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-diogenes-teleplay/426241/216 "2007-12-05T11:37:00Z")
[QUOTE=Leviosaurus] You know, if my daughters were your neices I would tell you to fuck the hell off. You might have big confidence in your abilities as a writer, but a brief review of my bookshelf reveals nothing whatsoever that you have written, so you’re all talk from where I’m standing, tough guy. [/quote] Do you really think I write under the name “Cricetus”? Ha ha ha. > [@](#): > > On the other hand, your complete lack of empathy for a guy attempting his first serious writing project (under public scrutiny, no less) demonstrates a serious lack of self esteem. Your complete lack of empathy for a father concerned for his daughter undergoing surgery showns a serious lack of humanity. And your prioritization of an INTERNET DARE over YOUR OWN FUCKING FAMILY shows an overblown self centered personality so extreme it threatens to collapse into a black hole and suck the entire planet in after it. Your premises are faulty and your conclusions don’t follow from them. > [@](#): > > You actually _want_ him to fail, so you can assert your superiority. You’re so transparent, it’s obvious even through a messageboard! Here’s a dare for you - I dare you to drop out of writing and go find a career that will provide you some self respect, since you obviously don’t have any. Shit. You are full of it. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2007, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-diogenes-teleplay/426241/217 "2007-12-05T11:40:18Z")
[QUOTE=cricetus] I see this as fun challenge for Dio and not a vindictive, cruel hoax. **I’d like to see him do it, and I’m not likely to be a very harsh critic if/when he does.** [/quote] [QUOTE=cricetus] P.S. I know that his daughter is getting minor surgery. **The first thing I did was call and find out what the situation is**. It’s minor. Certainly scary when she’s under, but there’s no reason Dio can’t be writing now or tomorrow when they get home. [/QUOTE] Quoted for Leviosaurus. ---
**Author:** ![brazil84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@brazil84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brazil84)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2007, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-diogenes-teleplay/426241/218 "2007-12-05T14:25:52Z")
[QUOTE=Tenebras] That’s pretty fucking classy. [/QUOTE] Maybe not, but I just wanted to say I think it’s pretty un-classy of **Diogenes** to mention his daughter’s surgery in this thread without mentioning that it’s minor at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![Nutty\_Bunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d07c76/32.png) [@Nutty\_Bunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nutty_Bunny)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2007, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-diogenes-teleplay/426241/219 "2007-12-05T14:34:53Z")
[QUOTE=brazil84] Maybe not, but I just wanted to say I think it’s pretty un-classy of **Diogenes** to mention his daughter’s surgery in this thread without mentioning that it’s minor at the same time. [/QUOTE] Seriously? Because any surgery is risky. Any time you’re under general anethesia, there are risks. It’s especially scary when it’s your child. If my (almost) 2 year old daughter had to have any surgery, I would be a mess and I’d find it difficult to do my regular full-time job, much less try to concentrate on a job I’ve just started to do. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2007, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-diogenes-teleplay/426241/220 "2007-12-05T14:36:34Z")
[QUOTE=brazil84] Maybe not, but I just wanted to say I think it’s pretty un-classy of **Diogenes** to mention his daughter’s surgery in this thread without mentioning that it’s minor at the same time. [/QUOTE] If it weren’t in such extremely poor taste, I might say something like “not as un-classy as a 2-year-old getting a labiaplasty.” But even I have standards. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-diogenes-teleplay/426241.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-diogenes-teleplay/426241.md?page=12)