Matt's clear lack of interest in bothering to respect his readers enough to minimally proofread irritates me to the same beyond-all-reason degree that sort of thing generally does. We all make typos, and that's okay, and there's no need for blogs to be held to an unreasonable standard, but a reasonable standard at least attempts to hold them down.
Of course, perhaps Matt is dyslexic, or has some other cause I should be more understanding of, beyond feeling like it's just not worth his time to spend an extra thirty seconds on each post.
Dunno about competitive swimming. I should time a few laps, now that I'm at a decent, standard-sized pool. I couldn't beat a cat in the crawl, but maybe breaststroke. Maybe in a few months.
Thanks, Bala, that seems like a good answer. I think I've been giving a version of that, saying that I started swimming regularly a few months ago.
I don't think of swimming as drudgery, but maybe you're on to something, Ben. People also do ask, "are you a runner?" I don't know. What else do people ask about in this way?
Say yes. Everyone knows that swimmers have great bodies. You might as well get some use out of it. Something more important than that silly cardiovascular workout.
Sorry to be pedantic again, but dude, you are suffering from Ressentiment.
If you have the requisite Will To Power (i.e., your sights are firmly set on blogging superstardom), you will stop worrying about punctuation now, and start playing exclusively with the Popular Kids.
"At 5:51 p.m., Mountain Time, Gary Farber passed completely, though, we hope, not irretrievably, into the world of curmudgeons."
Cripes, this is news? I kinda figured it happened after at least my encounter via elevator with Robert Heinlein at MidAmericaCon in 1976, if not earlier.
Well...I'm just glad this discussion moved away from the subject of why my proofreading is so bad. But just think of it this way: I don't just blog, I write for a magazine, and there's a guy who has to copyedit all this gibberish I turn in. He, I feel sorry for. Blog readers can just stop reading.
As far as Yglesias, that was a really egregious example when his first sentence transformed the Decembrist into a looter. He's right, we should pity his copy editor.
As for swimming, I think that competitive swimmers are obsessively intense. It's one of those cultish sports with multiple workouts a day, swimming to absolute exhaustion, doing fast repeats. There are also usually some wierd duffers at the pool doing strange hybrid strokes up and down for hours at a snail's pace. So people are just trying to place you.
You should definitely look into "Master's" swimming. Personally I score a few medals a year at "Master's" track and field events. Okay, just the field events. Specifically, shotput, discus, and javelin.
I've repeatedly placed first in my State. Hey, maybe I did get the Gold because I was the only man in my age group that threw a discus, but as far as I'm concerned every other 45-50 year old male in Minnesota had his chance and was too chicken to come out and face me!
I've repeatedly qualified for Nationals, but I'm too chicken to go. There might be real talent there.
Well, the nationals are held every two years. I'm talking about the State Games of America, www.stategames.org.
I see that this year they are at Colorado Springs, which sounds like a nice town.
My big complaint is that 50 year olds must still use Oylmpic-sized implements, and 51 year olds still have bigger shots and discuses than high schoolers.
So the studly high school 18 year old can really blow away us 'masters,' distancewise. But the attitude among us masters is really more cooperative than competitive. I dunno.
I did see someone in his 90's pole vault. That was very inspiring.
Matt's clear lack of interest in bothering to respect his readers enough to minimally proofread irritates me to the same beyond-all-reason degree that sort of thing generally does. We all make typos, and that's okay, and there's no need for blogs to be held to an unreasonable standard, but a reasonable standard at least attempts to hold them down.
Of course, perhaps Matt is dyslexic, or has some other cause I should be more understanding of, beyond feeling like it's just not worth his time to spend an extra thirty seconds on each post.
Posted by Gary Farber | Link to this comment | 01-19-05 5:51 PM
At 5:51 p.m., Mountain Time, Gary Farber passed completely, though, we hope, not irretrievably, into the world of curmudgeons.
Posted by ogged | Link to this comment | 01-19-05 6:11 PM
Now that you've mentioned it, are you interested in swimming competitively? Do they have Masters groups for swimmers?
Oh, and hey... There's only one "ev" at that beginning of "everybody". Or did I miss the joke?
Posted by girl27 | Link to this comment | 01-19-05 6:17 PM
Thanks, fixed.
Dunno about competitive swimming. I should time a few laps, now that I'm at a decent, standard-sized pool. I couldn't beat a cat in the crawl, but maybe breaststroke. Maybe in a few months.
Posted by ogged | Link to this comment | 01-19-05 6:22 PM
I always say yes but issue a serious disclaimer (but I didn't swim in college or even high school).
It also depends on who is asking the question.
You are a swimmer. For sure. You filled up enough bandwith talking about it. You are into it. Live it. Love it. Embrace it.
Posted by Balasubramani | Link to this comment | 01-19-05 6:44 PM
Basketball and tennis are taken to be fun, and swimming drudgery: so if you swim regularly, people will be curious.
Posted by ben wolfson | Link to this comment | 01-19-05 6:50 PM
Thanks, Bala, that seems like a good answer. I think I've been giving a version of that, saying that I started swimming regularly a few months ago.
I don't think of swimming as drudgery, but maybe you're on to something, Ben. People also do ask, "are you a runner?" I don't know. What else do people ask about in this way?
Posted by ogged | Link to this comment | 01-19-05 7:01 PM
Say yes. Everyone knows that swimmers have great bodies. You might as well get some use out of it. Something more important than that silly cardiovascular workout.
Posted by bitchphd | Link to this comment | 01-19-05 7:09 PM
Usually, the people asking are real life people, who can see my body. Or you think there's some "bet he looks good naked" benefit here?
Posted by ogged | Link to this comment | 01-19-05 7:11 PM
Ogged,
Sorry to be pedantic again, but dude, you are suffering from Ressentiment.
If you have the requisite Will To Power (i.e., your sights are firmly set on blogging superstardom), you will stop worrying about punctuation now, and start playing exclusively with the Popular Kids.
Posted by Amardeep | Link to this comment | 01-19-05 7:26 PM
I was thinking the "looks good naked" thing, yeah.
Plus, the opportunity for breaststroke jokes. Which I'm surprised haven't come up already, come to think of it.
Posted by bitchphd | Link to this comment | 01-19-05 8:08 PM
"At 5:51 p.m., Mountain Time, Gary Farber passed completely, though, we hope, not irretrievably, into the world of curmudgeons."
Cripes, this is news? I kinda figured it happened after at least my encounter via elevator with Robert Heinlein at MidAmericaCon in 1976, if not earlier.
Posted by Gary Farber | Link to this comment | 01-19-05 8:29 PM
Maybe at another blog, b, but never here.
Posted by ben wolfson | Link to this comment | 01-19-05 8:31 PM
Ben, is your point "less slutty than thou" or is it "Unfogged is gay"?
Or were you doing that weird irony thing that people never get?
(And I think proofreading *is* for sissies, because I am lazy and self-justifying.)
Posted by bitchphd | Link to this comment | 01-19-05 8:37 PM
I think it was that irony thing that you never get.
Posted by ogged | Link to this comment | 01-19-05 8:41 PM
Back on West Wing, they're discussing Bingo Bob, and what it takes in a last term, and stuff most people aren't discussing these days.
But, of course, tv is shallow, and above and beyond all that stuff, as are those who disparage it.
Always impressive.
Posted by Gary Farber | Link to this comment | 01-19-05 8:42 PM
Well...I'm just glad this discussion moved away from the subject of why my proofreading is so bad. But just think of it this way: I don't just blog, I write for a magazine, and there's a guy who has to copyedit all this gibberish I turn in. He, I feel sorry for. Blog readers can just stop reading.
Posted by Matthew Yglesias | Link to this comment | 01-19-05 10:48 PM
Unfogged has in-house spell-checkers who work for free.
Posted by Michael | Link to this comment | 01-19-05 11:09 PM
As far as Yglesias, that was a really egregious example when his first sentence transformed the Decembrist into a looter. He's right, we should pity his copy editor.
As for swimming, I think that competitive swimmers are obsessively intense. It's one of those cultish sports with multiple workouts a day, swimming to absolute exhaustion, doing fast repeats. There are also usually some wierd duffers at the pool doing strange hybrid strokes up and down for hours at a snail's pace. So people are just trying to place you.
Posted by cw | Link to this comment | 01-20-05 4:51 AM
That's "him, I feel sorry for", Yglesias.
Posted by ben wolfson | Link to this comment | 01-20-05 7:58 AM
You should definitely look into "Master's" swimming. Personally I score a few medals a year at "Master's" track and field events. Okay, just the field events. Specifically, shotput, discus, and javelin.
I've repeatedly placed first in my State. Hey, maybe I did get the Gold because I was the only man in my age group that threw a discus, but as far as I'm concerned every other 45-50 year old male in Minnesota had his chance and was too chicken to come out and face me!
I've repeatedly qualified for Nationals, but I'm too chicken to go. There might be real talent there.
Posted by Tripp | Link to this comment | 01-20-05 9:53 AM
That's terrific, Tripp. Go to Nationals!
Posted by ogged | Link to this comment | 01-20-05 10:02 AM
Well, the nationals are held every two years. I'm talking about the State Games of America, www.stategames.org.
I see that this year they are at Colorado Springs, which sounds like a nice town.
My big complaint is that 50 year olds must still use Oylmpic-sized implements, and 51 year olds still have bigger shots and discuses than high schoolers.
So the studly high school 18 year old can really blow away us 'masters,' distancewise. But the attitude among us masters is really more cooperative than competitive. I dunno.
I did see someone in his 90's pole vault. That was very inspiring.
Posted by Tripp | Link to this comment | 01-20-05 12:58 PM
51 year olds still have bigger shots and discuses than high schoolers.
I love it when you geezers talk dirty, Tripp.
Posted by apostropher | Link to this comment | 01-20-05 1:00 PM