Sean, a similar thing happened to my mother who had MS. I went to New York City to bring her here to St.John's. Things were going well but then all of a sudden she got very sick and died in her sleep a few weeks later. So, hang in there, my friend. Paix.
__________________
Dr.G.
14" G4 iBook
15" MacBook Pro (July, 2009)
13" MacBooK Pro with Retina Display
Paix
"The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read these books." Mark Twain
Here's a little exercise I ran across that might interest some of you:
Why English Teachers Are Important: The Words are the same. Only the punctuation changes.
Dear Thomas,
I want a man who knows what love is all about. You are generous, kind, thoughtful. People who are not like you admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me for other men. I yearn for you. I have no feelings whatsoever when we're apart. I can be forever happy--will you let me be yours?
Maria
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><
Dear Thomas,
I want a man who knows what love is. All about you are generous, kind, thoughtful people, who are not like you. Admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me. For other men, I yearn. For you, I have no feelings whatsoever. When we're apart, I can be forever happy. Will you let me be? Yours,
Maria
Don, that explains it! I've been using the wrong punctuation!
Actually, it is a change in punctuation and capitalization that is needed to change the context. This is called "a modified contextual dependence".
__________________
Dr.G.
14" G4 iBook
15" MacBook Pro (July, 2009)
13" MacBooK Pro with Retina Display
Paix
"The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read these books." Mark Twain
Actually, it is a change in punctuation and capitalization that is needed to change the context. This is called "a modified contextual dependence".
I listen to audio books while I'm beading and often the narrator will ignore punctuation while reading and change the meaning of a passage in a book - makes for some very strange happenings! Also, voice-overs in advertisements often get the punctuation wrong too and end up selling something that they didn't intend.
Sadly, these miscues are probably only noticable to those among us who make a sport of "nitpicking"
Margaret, you may have heard this ad I'm about to mention:
Our local news-talk radio station was running an advertisement for a yearly music festival that takes place in a park downtown. The ad was trying to generate excitement about all of the great performers it was going to have, and make it sound like there were too many too list. Unfortunately the narrator mis-emphasised the word good in one sentence and completely changed the meaning. The sentence: (I don't remember the exact artists so I will substitute some names)
"Come down and see Joe, Bob, John, and many other good artists."
Margaret, when listening to something being read, that is a whole new ballgame. Thus, the meaning in a simple sentence such as "I did not steal your red apple" is changed around depending upon which word you emphasize (e.g., steal.........I only borrowed your red apple, or red.........I stole your green apple, etc).
__________________
Dr.G.
14" G4 iBook
15" MacBook Pro (July, 2009)
13" MacBooK Pro with Retina Display
Paix
"The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read these books." Mark Twain
I've been in the doldrums myself a bit over my dad and have been keeping busy with work. He seems to be much better now and I'm picking up a bit - the weather's been cooperative as well and the weekend is in sight.
Have a good holiday weekend folks. Marc, let the doxies out for a good romp.
__________________ We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology. ~Carl Sagan
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