Re: For those who have sufficient education to understand

1

The ponies: did they go on for miles?


Posted by: essear | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 11:03 AM
horizontal rule
2

Liberals are fucking pansies and they love France. Thanks for bringing us the real thing, W-lfs-n.

I think you should write a book, but you should put a plot or some kind of narrative thread in it too along with the language.


Posted by: PGD | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 11:04 AM
horizontal rule
3

You are a naughty boy, young Ben W-lfs-n. Also:

advention

Adventure. Although it would have made a certain sort of (wrong?) sence if it had been advection.

max
['Cute.']


Posted by: max | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 11:06 AM
horizontal rule
4

but you should put a plot or some kind of narrative thread in it too along with the language.

Pish posh. You don't expect Ben to sully himself with that low-brow Oprah stuff do you?


Posted by: rob helpy-chalk | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 11:07 AM
horizontal rule
5

Pontus de Tyard is a rather low taste. Among the second-string members of the Pléiade, the cognoscenti prefer Etienne Jodelle, who was a complete nut, a manic social climber who (anticipating a favorite trope of the current day) died bankrupt despite receiving a huge bailout from King Charles IX.


Posted by: JWP | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 11:08 AM
horizontal rule
6

Thanks, max. I have corrected my mistake.


Posted by: ben w-lfs-n | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 11:08 AM
horizontal rule
7

You don't expect Ben to sully himself with that low-brow Oprah stuff do you?

Of course not, which is why he needed explicit instructions on the matter.

Alternatively, he could do a series of brief, impressionistic portraits of particular character types, along the lines of "Brief Interviews with Hideous Men", each one conveying the essence of a certain Weltanschauung, just as this one summed up the essential perspective of the typical coastal academic in the humanities.


Posted by: PGD | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 11:12 AM
horizontal rule
8

Maybe you can lobby for inclusion in the heard-in-new-york/heard-in-the-office/etc. pages.


Posted by: soup biscuit | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 11:14 AM
horizontal rule
9

Éist le glór na h-óinsighe agus gheobhair pretty much everybody.


Posted by: Jesus McQueen | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 11:26 AM
horizontal rule
10

I love the Intertubes:

Born with Bissy-on-Fley in 1521, of a noble house of Burgundy, Pontus de Tyard will have known, during its long life to illustrate itself like authentic humanistic in one of the periods the darkest of Burgundy: that of the wars of religion. Bishop of Trawl-net, it had rare courage to preach with the ones and the others moderation. Threatened for offense of oecumenism, tormented for the unwavering support which it carried to its sovereign, Tyard showed in all circumstances of a courage and an obstinacy to any test. This man true encyclopedist, was also an emblematic figure of the cultural life and political French at the 16th century, while being first of all one of the founders of the Pléiade (first literary movement of our history), or in addition exerting his perfect diplomatic provisions by ensuring near the king Henri III the role of advising State.

Pontus de Tyard will have taken part with an unquestionable enthusiasm in this great dash of knowledge which ignited the 16th century, while being essential like one of the Masters of the modernistic thought. Here remains then the image of a man, enthusiast of culture, erudite astronomer, mathematician of talent, poet and philosopher, to which most famous and beautiful spirits turned, in search of councils and spiritual help.

Posted by: John Emerson | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 11:27 AM
horizontal rule
11

"Bishop of Trawl-net" = "évêque de Chalon-sur-Saône".


Posted by: John Emerson | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 11:43 AM
horizontal rule
12

Wow. That's way worse than the likes you hear 'round my parts. I thought Berkeley was bad, but apparently we're philistines.

Of course, this is an entirely different category of "inadvertently hilarious" than what I used to hear when I was living in a converted house on sorority row at UCLA during law school--"Mom, I know it's my civic duty, but I don't have time to vote! I'm busy!" And then apparently more fighting over her busy schedule of classes and pilates or whatever.


Posted by: belle lettre | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 11:46 AM
horizontal rule
13

1: It was an overflowing lawn, in truth.


Posted by: ben w-lfs-n | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 11:48 AM
horizontal rule
14

Who'd you say that to, then?


Posted by: TJ | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 11:56 AM
horizontal rule
15

TJ, you do me an injustice. I don't even know how to spell most of those names.


Posted by: ben w-lfs-n | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 12:00 PM
horizontal rule
16

You can re-quote ! Vive al Père Ubu!" at the Ohio GOTV rally.


Posted by: Econolicious | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 12:00 PM
horizontal rule
17

Wow. That's way worse than the likes you hear 'round my parts. I thought Berkeley was bad, but apparently we're philistines.

I guess Berkeley is a public university. Academics in Stanford and other elite private colleges really do talk this way -- I've heard many monologues similar to this one on the academic cocktail party circuit. I'm actually surprised you haven't, but I suppose you've spent less time in these kinds of elite circles. If you expect to get an academic job, though, Belle, I'd encourage to study this style closely and learn to integrate it into small talk with your interviewers. It's especially important to be able to draw parallels between more abstract literary / philosophical references and rapturous personal epiphanies during your European travels (the European "grand tour" is de rigeur for future academics).

Since you're in social theory, I'd avoid drawing the daring, playful progression from Renaissance humanism through post-enlightenment modernism and back to medieval architecture that W-lfs-n overheard here. Instead, I'd think in terms of early German idealism, such as Schelling and Holderlin (avoid intro philosophy commonalities about Kant and Hegel at all costs!), and the connections backwards to Greek classicism and then forward through orchestral music up to Schoenberg, and phenomenological philosophers such as Husserl who transformed idealism for 20th century thought. You might make reference to any visits you've had to Bayreuth.

I hope this helps.


Posted by: PGD | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 12:30 PM
horizontal rule
18

very nice
the other day my niece picked her nose for the first time, had a nosebleed, said there's is jam coming out (of her nose)!
i recalled i was very grateful to someone when i read his listing of the literature he appreciated and i was like crashed by all the different names seen like for the first time and then he wrote that Fathers and sons were the best of all, i felt kinda like relieved coz never liked the woman in there who preferred the very sympathetic father to Bazarov, in my 7th grade though
so, yeah, very intimidating, i will admire people talking like this from some safe distance


Posted by: read | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 12:34 PM
horizontal rule
19

HA! jam

I cannot believe people put parentheses like that inside sentences. I do get the impulse to, sometimes, but never feel like the mood surrounding me would allow it.


Posted by: CN | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 12:36 PM
horizontal rule
20

the other day my niece picked her nose for the first time, had a nosebleed, said there's is jam coming out (of her nose)!

this would be an alternative conversational line.


Posted by: PGD | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 12:36 PM
horizontal rule
21

Remember how I was complaining yesterday about how all my ideas have been stolen before I had them?

God damn if it hasn't happened again, with my very experiences!


Posted by: ben w-lfs-n | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 12:39 PM
horizontal rule
22

W-lfs-n is banned.


Posted by: CN | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 12:41 PM
horizontal rule
23

9 to 21.


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 12:44 PM
horizontal rule
24

Flann O'Brien would occasionally write a column in Latin, and routinely in Erse, with considerable chunks of French and German here and there.

In a daily newspaper.


Posted by: John Emerson | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 12:45 PM
horizontal rule
25

I was incredibly impressed by how well written this was, and my suggestion in 2 and 7 that W-lfs-n should write a book was actually quite serious.

I withdraw my suggestion.


Posted by: PGD | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 12:46 PM
horizontal rule
26

-'s


Posted by: read | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 12:46 PM
horizontal rule
27

21: I considered linking to that, ben, but I didn't want to spoil your joke. I confess that it wasn't until the mention of the nonexistent quintet that I knew the post to be fraudulent.


Posted by: Jesus McQueen | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 12:48 PM
horizontal rule
28

||
I love me some Obama, but we should consider abolishing the word "literally" from the language. BHO:

let's talk about the $700,000 tax cut he wants to give Fortune 500 CEOs, who've been making out like bandits -- some of them literally

What, like in the back of the getaway car with their masks on? How do they kiss through the bandanas?
|>


Posted by: foolishmortal | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 12:51 PM
horizontal rule
29

i will refrain from telling my niece's other sayings i suppose


Posted by: read | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 12:53 PM
horizontal rule
30

I knew Ben was making some very obscure reference, rather than talking about real life. (I knew this, because Ben was typing.) I didn't feel the need to google out the original, though.


Posted by: rob helpy-chalk | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 12:55 PM
horizontal rule
31

I'm voting for Obama too, but am uneasy with the prospect of the first spam President.


Posted by: John Emerson | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 1:01 PM
horizontal rule
32

I'm disappointed Ben didn't leave in the part about telling his "butty".

I did google part of it, but I guess I wasn't committed enough to find it.


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 1:03 PM
horizontal rule
33

You must tell all of your niece's saying.

My grandnephew has become extremely vain. My sister had told him that I had missed him when he didn't come up here, so on the phone he said "I'm sorry you didn't get to see me, Unka John".


Posted by: John Emerson | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 1:03 PM
horizontal rule
34

28 doesn't bother me, but you should know I've heard Obama say "the reason is because".


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 1:05 PM
horizontal rule
35

28 clearly shows the pernicious influence of Joe Biden. He does that all the time.


Posted by: Jesus McQueen | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 1:09 PM
horizontal rule
36

33 not on this thread i suppose, UJ
coz like i was trying to boycott it? maybe
though it's i who should be more like suspicious, never learn


Posted by: read | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 1:16 PM
horizontal rule
37

I knew Ben was making some very obscure reference, rather than talking about real life.

well, I mean OBVIOUSLY he wasn't talking about real life (which is why I jumped on Belle's delightful credulity in 12). I just thought he was revealing himself to be an original comic genius, drunk with the delights of language.


Posted by: PGD | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 1:25 PM
horizontal rule
38

Dammit, Ben, why do you ruin your own joke? I wanted to see how long PGD would keep pontificating about how this is so characteristic of teh coastal elites.


Posted by: essear | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 1:26 PM
horizontal rule
39

17: Damn, that's good, PGD. I have noticed that you have a bit of that conversational style well in hand yourself, and one attempts not to respond in kind, in a sort of testing/filtering procedure.


Posted by: parsimon | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 1:27 PM
horizontal rule
40

Of course, the main point was to illustrate the extraordinary staying power of the "beards and corduroys" synecdoche.


Posted by: CN | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 1:28 PM
horizontal rule
41



Posted by: | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 1:28 PM
horizontal rule
42

PGD, I am already known to be an original comic genius, drunk with the delights of language.


Posted by: ben w-lfs-n | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 1:29 PM
horizontal rule
43

me


Posted by: read | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 1:30 PM
horizontal rule
44

40: I was thinking exactly that.


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 1:31 PM
horizontal rule
45

"Belle's delightful credulity":

Sigh. I am too trusting. I forget, never trust W-lfs-n. With one hand he holds the door, with the other he gives you a smack on the buttocks.


Posted by: belle lettre | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 1:32 PM
horizontal rule
46

In the spirit of love, though.


Posted by: ben w-lfs-n | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 1:33 PM
horizontal rule
47

The spirit, but not the letter.


Posted by: CN | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 1:35 PM
horizontal rule
48

Much like Mr. Yee.


Posted by: belle lettre | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 1:36 PM
horizontal rule
49

Next time I see BL I'm totally giving her a smack on the ass.


Posted by: ben w-lfs-n | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 1:39 PM
horizontal rule
50

This was an odd choice for a viral promotional website.


Posted by: CN | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 1:39 PM
horizontal rule
51

50: I was referring the Mr. Yee of Lust, Caution, which I saw with W-lfs-n, but there you go.

49: Oh, W-lfs-n.


Posted by: belle lettre | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 1:42 PM
horizontal rule
52

Actually I won't. Probably. I've committed myself, now, sort of.


Posted by: ben w-lfs-n | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 1:47 PM
horizontal rule
53

Lust, Caution's scene before ravine is so great, just the ravine itself, not the execution and people kneeled before it of course
it just looked like cosmos
but the love scenes were too elaborate imho


Posted by: read | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 1:49 PM
horizontal rule
54

Wait, is this some spiel from a homeless person?

You are saying some who did not have schizophrenia said this?

Are you sure they weren't on LSD?

Please explain.


Posted by: ozma | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 1:49 PM
horizontal rule
55

Ben and Belle sitting in a tree.


Posted by: John Emerson | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 1:51 PM
horizontal rule
56

Perhaps I meant: Oh, W-lfs-n!


Posted by: belle lettre | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 1:51 PM
horizontal rule
57

I suspect 54 was actually posted by the Plain People of Ireland.


Posted by: ben w-lfs-n | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 1:52 PM
horizontal rule
58

53: I agree with you, Read.


Posted by: belle lettre | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 1:52 PM
horizontal rule
59

If only you had kept your mouth shut a bit longer W-lfs-n, I could have seen whether I'd gotten Belle to bite on 17.

Next time I see you, I'm smacking you on the ass. Hard.


Posted by: PGD | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 1:53 PM
horizontal rule
60

I could have seen whether I'd gotten Belle to bite on 17.

a) don't flatter yourself.
b) belle is a lady, you know.


Posted by: ben w-lfs-n | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 1:53 PM
horizontal rule
61

not that, ravine
the open mines it was maybe i recollect


Posted by: read | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 1:54 PM
horizontal rule
62

but the love scenes were too elaborate imho

I think you mean hott. (Or is that spelled hawt?)


Posted by: essear | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 1:57 PM
horizontal rule
63

hott. (Or is that spelled hawt?)

Both are incorrect.


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 2:03 PM
horizontal rule
64

I was thinking Lust, Caution was to some extent modeled after Notorious, but then I read that it was based on a novella. I wonder if the similarities are accidental rather than a conscious choice.


Posted by: essear | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 2:06 PM
horizontal rule
65

The novella was an adaptation of Notorious. 100% true.


Posted by: ben w-lfs-n | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 2:07 PM
horizontal rule
66

63: Clearly I was describing Tony Leung and Tang Wei as "horizontal-axis wind turbines", IYKWIMAITYD.


Posted by: essear | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 2:10 PM
horizontal rule
67

I've committed myself

Probably a sound policy.


Posted by: foolishmortal | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 2:10 PM
horizontal rule
68

elaborate
less believable i meant
that mr. yee could so spare her and her comrades
but his life is like ended with her anyway


Posted by: read | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 2:11 PM
horizontal rule
69

68: Sorry, read, I wasn't really questioning whether "elaborate" was what you meant. I was mostly just joking, although I do disagree: I thought the sex scenes worked well in the context of the film, and contributed something to its psychological depth. Most of the people I've discussed this with don't agree with me, though.


Posted by: essear | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 2:39 PM
horizontal rule
70

that's ok, sometimes i use some words instead of others, meaning some other completely different thing and not knowing that myself
and i was joking too but you couldn't tell
that's pity, miscommunication


Posted by: read | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 3:22 PM
horizontal rule
71

OT: Have MRH's children been announced here yet? Babies! A boy and a girl! Adorable, too!


Posted by: A White Bear | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 3:26 PM
horizontal rule
72

Oh yay!


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 3:29 PM
horizontal rule
73

5:27am this morning. Boy is 4lbs. 15oz., girl is 5lbs. 1oz. They're ridiculously beautiful, and Mrs. H looks very well.


Posted by: A White Bear | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 3:32 PM
horizontal rule
74

Are there photos anywhere? I guess that would be awfully fast.


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 3:33 PM
horizontal rule
75

Just via email, so I don't think it's my right to share, but MRH promises they will update their flickr and sparvey blog soon.


Posted by: A White Bear | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 3:34 PM
horizontal rule
76

I was going to say that the pretentious jerks in Seattle coffeeshops were as funny but less . . . something, but we all know I'm gullible, and anyway, I read about four lines before my eyes glazed over. On re-reading, of *course* it was Ben. Sigh.


Posted by: bitchphd | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 3:37 PM
horizontal rule
77

How about a cement fishing rod?


Posted by: Gonerill | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 4:01 PM
horizontal rule
78

Jesus, pwned by Jesus as early as 9. Do people expect me to read the threads?


Posted by: Gonerill | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 4:02 PM
horizontal rule
79

You may want to look at 1 again, gonerill.


Posted by: ben w-lfs-n | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 4:03 PM
horizontal rule
80

And 3. And 11.

And I do believe, Comrade W-lfs-n, that while the first coupla fish were small, that last pre-reveal fishie was some kind of record... and now look! Another fish just jumped in the boat.

max
['Outstanding angling, sir.']


Posted by: max | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 4:07 PM
horizontal rule
81

80: Do people also expect me to read the threads in some comprehensive manner? Especially if I've just bothered to look at the bookshelf to check the reference? (Never mind that the thread itself subsequently provided it anyway.)


Posted by: Gonerill | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 4:12 PM
horizontal rule
82

Hanging around Stanford over the last few weeks, I feel the overall impression it conveys is about 1/3 Princeton, 1/3 MIT, and 1/3 Upscale Mall.


Posted by: Gonerill | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 4:14 PM
horizontal rule
83

1/3 Upscale Mall

Seriously, Palo Alto is pathetic. I had a very good omelet in one of their fine city-wide strip malls, but it was wicked-expensive.


Posted by: A White Bear | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 4:18 PM
horizontal rule
84

I'm not seeing the 1/3 MIT.


Posted by: essear | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 4:19 PM
horizontal rule
85

I'm not seeing the 1/3 MIT.

Not so much in the architecture (that's the Mall part), more in the current of tech/eng/bio nerdery.


Posted by: Gonerill | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 4:26 PM
horizontal rule
86

Gonerill, you owe me an email.


Posted by: belle lettre | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 4:41 PM
horizontal rule
87

There is no Rue des Grues Nues in Paris, and certainly not on Ile Saint-Louis. What is this, some kind of a joke?


Posted by: Jackmormon | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 5:19 PM
horizontal rule
88

I think with 87, we can safely retire this entire website.


Posted by: Walt Someguy | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 5:55 PM
horizontal rule
89

λ λ


Posted by: pdf23ds | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 5:57 PM
horizontal rule
90

If this was something said in conversation, it's truly majestic. I've had some pretentious conversations but that's above and beyond.

If this was something delivered as a lecture, it's still impressive but I've heard and seen things to more than rival it. Are lectures admissible?


Posted by: DS | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 6:06 PM
horizontal rule
91

I predict DS will read the thread soon.


Posted by: Stanley | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 6:17 PM
horizontal rule
92

There's no Bishop of Trawl-net either, and I have no idea where that one came from.


Posted by: John Emerson | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 6:21 PM
horizontal rule
93

91: Oh. Nevermind.


Posted by: DS | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 6:37 PM
horizontal rule
94

OT:Remember Alameida posted a recipe for homemade Twix bars years ago? I finally got around to trying it. Not bad, although Newt registered an objection to the coffee flavor. But very tasty generally.


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 6:39 PM
horizontal rule
95

94: I thought Newt was the (occasional) coffee preparer in the family. Get that boy's head on straight.


Posted by: Stanley | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 6:44 PM
horizontal rule
96

He'll make it (although sadly that was a shortlived stage; he hasn't been for a while) but doesn't drink it. Sally likes a cup now and then, and Buck and I swill it by the pot,.


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 6:49 PM
horizontal rule
97

i feel now the same kind of gratitude to BW as i felt to the Fathers and sons' guy
thanks, and one more fave to know and look for


Posted by: read | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 7:12 PM
horizontal rule
98

I just had some sweet cardamomy Turkish coffee and I predict I'll be up all night.


Posted by: ben w-lfs-n | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 8:34 PM
horizontal rule
99

Hey, right there with you. Drinking coffee as we speak.


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 8:37 PM
horizontal rule
100

Hey, right there with you. Drinking coffee as we speak.

To keep from crying?


Posted by: Styptic Cred | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 8:46 PM
horizontal rule
101

Now that I just realized that the thing I've been trying to do for the past day and a half is the wrong thing?

Maybe.


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 9:12 PM
horizontal rule
102

101: Next time watch this before you start working, to remind you what to do. (psst. the answer is THE RIGHT THING! DO THE RIGHT THING!!!!!)


Posted by: Cecily | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 9:34 PM
horizontal rule
103

Well that's it.


Posted by: | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 9:36 PM
horizontal rule
104

103 was me. Hope the Phillies crush the Rays.


Posted by: CharleyCarp | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 9:37 PM
horizontal rule
105

Bye bye Red Sox!


Posted by: PGD | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 9:37 PM
horizontal rule
106

It's up to the Celtics to maintain the evil empire of Boston sports.


Posted by: PGD | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 9:38 PM
horizontal rule
107

Rays were damn good. That was a good series.


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 9:40 PM
horizontal rule
108

107 -- Yeah, and if the boys couldn't bring any of those guys in during the 7th or 8th, they didn't deserve to keep going.


Posted by: CharleyCarp | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 9:42 PM
horizontal rule
109

Yeah they just stopped hitting. For all the business with Manny at mid-season, plus Tek, plus the pitching injuries, though, they did pretty goddamned well. Hopefully they can fill some holes this off-season.


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 9:45 PM
horizontal rule
110

What does building 260 encapsulate?


Posted by: Michael | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 10:23 PM
horizontal rule
111

Not much, what with all the open windows.


Posted by: ben w-lfs-n | Link to this comment | 10-19-08 10:32 PM
horizontal rule
112

"Bé-mol" should of course be "B-moll". It's German, not French.


Posted by: ajay | Link to this comment | 10-20-08 1:41 AM
horizontal rule
113

94: Wow, that was years ago? Time really does fly when I'm wasting it on the internet.


Posted by: jms | Link to this comment | 10-20-08 2:09 AM
horizontal rule
114

Thanks, AWB!

Pictures in the Flickr pool and at the blog. We're all doing very well, although I'm too tired to be able to be certain about that. Please send good vibes for young J who has an (adorably) asymmetrical little mouth that's making feeding a challenge.

More updates as time permits! Also, hospital cafeteria eggs are making me sad.


Posted by: mrh | Link to this comment | 10-20-08 6:35 AM
horizontal rule
115

Congratulations, mrh! Baby so nice, you had one twice.


Posted by: Armsmasher | Link to this comment | 10-20-08 6:47 AM
horizontal rule
116

Have I mentioned, mrh, that your wife is totally a babe? And congratulations! Soooo small.


Posted by: Jackmormon | Link to this comment | 10-20-08 7:07 AM
horizontal rule
117

ESH is so much redder than JSH! Did she stay mad longer?

P.S. I sort of love them.


Posted by: A White Bear | Link to this comment | 10-20-08 7:12 AM
horizontal rule
118

Congratulations, Matt. There's no way to tell anybody before new arrivals arrive just how overpoweringly in love they're about to be. It's really like a punch to the gut. Or in your case, maybe two. Everybody will tell you to sleep whenever they're asleep, which is good but mostly useless advice. You can't help but to sit and stare at them in amazement. The part of me that isn't still ass-out exhausted is jealous of you. These first few months are magical.


Posted by: apostropher | Link to this comment | 10-20-08 7:22 AM
horizontal rule
119

Congratulations, mrh!!!


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 10-20-08 7:35 AM
horizontal rule
120

Congratulations, Mrs. and Mr. Mrh!
so beautiful babies!
do you consider the first born baby as the younger brother as we do? i don't know why, that's just our strange custom or superstition i guess


Posted by: read | Link to this comment | 10-20-08 7:43 AM
horizontal rule
121

Babies! Yay, babies!


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 10-20-08 7:50 AM
horizontal rule
122

116: Mrs. MRH knows that it's important to look pretty even when the going gets tough.


Posted by: John Emerson | Link to this comment | 10-20-08 7:52 AM
horizontal rule
123

Awwww, babies. Congrats, new family! Too precious.


Posted by: Witt | Link to this comment | 10-20-08 8:06 AM
horizontal rule
124

121 gets it exactly right.


Posted by: rob helpy-chalk | Link to this comment | 10-20-08 8:10 AM
horizontal rule
125

I thought it was Mr. H and Mrs. H.

Anyway, congratulations.


Posted by: CN | Link to this comment | 10-20-08 8:25 AM
horizontal rule
126

Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. H.! Speaking to a mother of (now teen-aged) twins last week, I'm told that the unbearable exhaustion should let up at around 14 months. (Speaking to a mother of much newer twins, it still pretty much sucks at 5 months.) Best of luck and best wishes to all.


Posted by: Di Kotimy | Link to this comment | 10-20-08 8:28 AM
horizontal rule
127

125 so?
okay, as you can't spoil porridge by butter
double congrats, Mr.and Mrs. H!


Posted by: read | Link to this comment | 10-20-08 8:40 AM
horizontal rule
128

yay and congrats!


Posted by: alameida | Link to this comment | 10-20-08 8:58 AM
horizontal rule
129

I don't know any better so I'm gonna ask "is this an example of the use of specialized 'jargon' instead of pretentiousness? I'm trying to be charitable here. Because I know I have heard this kind of conversation around here, but with acronyms instead of multi-sylabic words.

For example: The problem with the 5501 is that it is dropping DSR intermittently. We got RI, so raised DTR. Switched, you know. So RI, then DTR, then DSR, got CD, raised RTS, got CTS. We started sending but DSR dropped, but just briefly. They claim DSR should be ignored if CD is constant. RS232C is no real help. We claim we need DSR constant but they want us to tie DSR to CD for switched. The problem with that is what about when we get an ENQ, send ACK, and are waiting for incoming data. We can't wait forever, we need DSR to know when the line is down. They say no one else has a problem, just us. What can we do?


Posted by: Tripp | Link to this comment | 10-20-08 9:06 AM
horizontal rule
130

To repeat advice I've given to new parents in the past, the most important thing for saving your sanity is triage. The babies don't need anything other than food, warmth, cuddling, and enough cleanliness so they don't get painful rashes. Absolutely anything else can be put off indefinitely.


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 10-20-08 9:08 AM
horizontal rule
131

Beautiful babies, congrats! Rachel looks great -- in that autumn leaves photo she achieves that true "I'm a fashion model who happened to swallow a basketball" film-star pregnancy look. MRH also looks very suave in scrubs.


Posted by: PGD | Link to this comment | 10-20-08 9:30 AM
horizontal rule
132

129: that's just conveying info tersely. What's funny about this is the attitudinizing.


Posted by: PGD | Link to this comment | 10-20-08 9:30 AM
horizontal rule
133

Everybody will tell you to sleep whenever they're asleep, which is good but mostly useless advice. You can't help but to sit and stare at them in amazement.

Really? You must be a much better father than I am. I collapse in exhaustion every time my baby lets me. And also plus, napping with a baby is the best thing ever (and not only in a "there's no food like hunger" sense); baby-on-chest sleep is magical.


Posted by: Brock Landers | Link to this comment | 10-20-08 9:33 AM
horizontal rule
134

True. I fondly remember being sacked out on the couch with a boneless lump-o-baby flopped on my chest -- they have no bones, and their body temperature feels so high, it's like a warm, breathing, cushion or something.

My parents claim that as an infant, I was a useful heating pad for my father's hockey injuries -- he'd come home from the rink and slap a warm baby on sore spots. This was probably more a clever idea than something they actually did, but I don't remember first hand.


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 10-20-08 9:43 AM
horizontal rule
135

Actually they have more bones than adults.


Posted by: ben w-lfs-n | Link to this comment | 10-20-08 9:45 AM
horizontal rule
136

This post reminds me that I really only liked Dennis Miller because I caught all the references. He has gone way downhill.


Posted by: Tassled Loafered Leech | Link to this comment | 10-20-08 9:51 AM
horizontal rule
137

135: Only when awake. When they sleep, the bones go away.


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 10-20-08 9:57 AM
horizontal rule
138

One of my relationships that didn't work out was with a woman with a condition that made her feel cold (maybe thyroid). The first night I slept under half a blanket in her hot room whil she slept under five blankets. Talk about incompatibility.


Posted by: John Emerson | Link to this comment | 10-20-08 10:16 AM
horizontal rule
139

Congrats, M&R. Yay, new twins! Don't be alarmed when they lose weight over the next few days (I had a mild freakout about that, before learning that it's normal).


Posted by: Jesus McQueen | Link to this comment | 10-20-08 10:28 AM
horizontal rule
140

You must be a much better father than I am.

I'm pretty sure sitting and staring doesn't really equate to good parenting. Perhaps I'm just more accustomed to sleeplessness.


Posted by: apostropher | Link to this comment | 10-20-08 10:42 AM
horizontal rule
141

I'm pretty sure sitting and staring doesn't really equate to good parenting.

Jesus Christ--I guess I'm an even worse parent than I thought.


Posted by: Brock Landers | Link to this comment | 10-20-08 10:51 AM
horizontal rule
142

When they sleep, the bones go away.

Much easier to fillet a sleeping baby.


Posted by: apostropher | Link to this comment | 10-20-08 10:58 AM
horizontal rule
143

Congratulations!!!


Posted by: soup biscuit | Link to this comment | 10-20-08 11:05 AM
horizontal rule
144

Squeeee!!! Baby! Another baby!!!! Congratulations!


Posted by: Cala | Link to this comment | 10-20-08 11:57 AM
horizontal rule
145

Huzzah for more babies!


Posted by: Wrongshore | Link to this comment | 10-20-08 3:26 PM
horizontal rule
146

Your blog's name is obsolete.


Posted by: Wrongshore | Link to this comment | 10-20-08 3:27 PM
horizontal rule
147

Last time I had to use the laundromat (on Roanoke and Westport, in Kansas City, MO), I was reading until the words of a conversation broke into my thoughts.

It was the laundromat attendant and a customer.

Because they were discussing the theology of St. Thomas Aquinas.


Posted by: dragonet2 | Link to this comment | 10-20-08 4:10 PM
horizontal rule
148

Last time I had to use the laundromat (on Roanoke and Westport, in Kansas City, MO), I was reading until the words of a conversation broke into my thoughts.

It was the laundromat attendant and a customer.

Because they were discussing the theology of St. Thomas Aquinas.


Posted by: dragonet2 | Link to this comment | 10-20-08 4:10 PM
horizontal rule
149

Thanks, everybody! Short version: Jackmormon and Apostropher get it exactly right.


Posted by: mrh | Link to this comment | 10-20-08 5:29 PM
horizontal rule
150

114: My writing partner's newborn had latching problems that were fixed by a visit to the baby chiropractor. Seriously. You could ask about it.


Posted by: Wrongshore | Link to this comment | 10-20-08 5:57 PM
horizontal rule
151

Oh, congratulations! Babies and all are beautiful. Breathe deep.


Posted by: parsimon | Link to this comment | 10-20-08 6:23 PM
horizontal rule
152

Or deeply, as you will.


Posted by: parsimon | Link to this comment | 10-20-08 6:24 PM
horizontal rule