Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Cool.

I don't see it as a rule, Sheena...more a faux platitude, and a not too accurate one at that.

Well, i'd say let's agree to disagree. Everybody have their own opinion based on their own experience. (Moreover, it was all supposed to be fun - that kind of "speech" about words and meanings from somebody who speaks too much, with 99,(9) % of my own posts being 100 % meaningless )

How about - We were given two ears, but only one mouth. We should listen twice as much as we speak.

That's much much better than what i've quoted, Kris. Good for those who are able to listen while they're speaking and to hear what they're listening to.

"...I hope you're hearing me as I'm speaking to you now..." (Joe Beets, The Midwest's First Radio Reporter, in The Tale Of The Giant Rat Of Sumatra, F. Theater, 1973)

Meaningless posts aren't a problem, Sheena...even 100% meaningless ones. It's those nonsensical ones you have to avoid.

This post, for example, is nothing if not 100% sensical...

Makes sense to me!

Well, now the word's out about you, Bob...

(They'll be watching your house...)

Half of what I say is meaningless, but the other half means more.

...so I guess you don't say it just to reach Julia, then, eh Mark?

JimK

Sooooo, Dane... would you be so kind as to explain what's the difference between "meaningless" and "nonsensical"? (The dictionary didn't help, unfortunately...)

Wellll, Sheena...at first glance, the two seem practically interchangeable, but I think the distinction lies in subtle differences in connotation made more clear by examples of usage...as in: Pat Tillman's death was meaningless; John Denver's death was nonsensical.

Wonder why, when the discussion concerns sense and meanings, people are so often talking about death?..

I reread the posting instructions for this forum the other day and saw that nonsensical posts would be removed by our moderator. It kind of struck me with fear, since making sense has never been my strongest suit.

I guess if using poetry and rock lyrics as an example, I'd say that meaning and sense:

1. are mostly in the perception of the beholder
2. may be coincident or exclusive (thinking of some of my favorite Dylan, Peter Gabriel, Robyn Hitchcock or David Byrne tunes: some of them don't make any sense to me, but seem to have a strong meaning.) eg: "This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)" by Talking Heads is an example of a song that contains a lot of meaning for me, but doesn't seem to make a lot of sense.
3. may both be outside the confines of my fragile little grasp

I'm getting a sense of what you mean, Sharkboy...

As for your point Lavagirl, I mean Sheena, death is the focal point of many of what the Hindus call 'the relevant questions', so it's bound to come up in conversations involving sense and meaning. For instance, Fireglo, by initiating this thread, has reminded us of an anniversarial event, which cannot help but stir up thoughts of mortality, even if only on a deeply subconcious level.

Thanks a lot, Fireglo...and congratulations!

Errr... how did you call me?!
Yep, i see. But why death, not birth, for instance?

Well, now you really are darin' me to go all Hindu on ya', sistah...what if death and birth are two names for the same thing?

(Ooooh, did I say that or was I just thinking it? Let's just chalk that one up as one of what I like to call 'the rhetorical questions'...)