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Helen
Registered User
(6/8/01 4:49:12 am)
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The Wordwood
Dear Everyone:
I am a graduate; I am, apparently, a Javits Fellow (I've only had
a telephone confirmation of this fact, so I'm being cautious as
yet ... but ... wheee!); I am back from the dead and ready to party,
as the words from the song go. I should apologize for having been
such a lurker this past month ... this has been the first morning
in quite a while that I've really allowed myself to wallow in the
luxory of reading all of the posts, in all of the threads. As I
was doing so, I remembered a story by Charles de Lint, in _Moonlight
and Vine_ .... "Saskia"? In it, he creates a Wordwood,
a database created by literary-minded people the wolrd over, who
contribute bits and pieces, rags and patches, of all of the worthwhile
knowledge in the world ... until finally, the database is roused
to consciousness, to curiousity, and decides to explore this world
for herself ... in the form of a human. I'm pretty sure that I just
wasted several lines of synopsis, as many on the board will know
the story far better than I do ... but if you don't I reccomend
it highly. Anyway, back to my point (what little of it there is).
This board seems rather like a Wordwood to me; I can easily, whimsically,
imagine that some anonymous, knowledgable poster is the personification
of all of the accumulated information that has been fed into this
thing over the months and years. What I was was wondering, should
anyone (Heidi, Terri?) know, is this: was the board inspired by
the story, or the story by this board, or one similiar to it?
Gods and goddesses, but it feels good to stretch my mind again for something other than a requirement, and simply for the sheer pleasure of idle curiousity ... have a great weekend, all!
Respectfully,
Helen
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Heidi
Unregistered User
(6/8/01 8:31:12 am)
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Congrats, Helen
Congrats on Javitz, Helen. It is always nice to have hard work recognized.
I don't think the board was inspired by anything but a need to share and a habit of doing what everyone else on the internet is doing, but I prefer your (and deLint's)version much better.
I certainly feel like an insatiable gatherer of information much of the time with my high curiosity factor.
Heidi
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Terri
Unregistered User
(6/13/01 5:12:40 am)
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graduation day
Congratulations, Helen!
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Helen
Registered User
(6/13/01 1:35:26 pm)
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thanks!
Thank you both very much! Not only does this free me from my financial worries for the next couple of years, but (grin) it also gives me more time to devote to pressing philosophical matters such as these. I'm ecstatic!
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CoryEllen
Registered User
(6/15/01 7:01:24 am)
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!
Helen,
Super-congratulations! Showers of Confetti! I applied for it too, but the post office lost my tax returns, so I didn't get everything in on deadline.
It's a wonderful honor, and you deserve it! Congrats!
C-E
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Midori
Unregistered User
(6/15/01 9:54:06 am)
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belated congrats
Helen,
Belated congratulations on my part as well!! I am always encouraged when someone succeeds in being recognized and paid for being bright and intelligent and creative in academia! Good for you and I hope the next two years are full and wonderful.
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Helen
Registered User
(6/15/01 4:33:21 pm)
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Thank you all!
Thank you all very much for your kind words. I'm in the midst of packing (as of tomorrow, 7:00 AM, I am in transit to Hanover ... moving is hell) but I really appreciate the sentiments. Have a great weekend!
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