"How can a computer know who I am?
It doesn´t. But with a good amount of text it can make a pretty good guess. In addition, we all have different roles in different situations. By studying how people write, we can get an glimpse of what is on the mind of the person and what is characteristic of the person - or, as in the case of a blog - what is typical of the role/persona used when writing that blog. A person can have several blogs - and often have different roles for the various blogs - perhaps as a way to live out more sides of themselves.
What does a text say about the writer?
A lot more than most people might think. But it does NOT tell you who you are! A text is more to be likened with the clothes you´re wearing. The words and expressions we use, especially when we write for our own pleasure, tell about if we are more inclined to logical reasoning, personal values, fantasies or the reality for instance."
ISTP - The Mechanics
The independent and problem-solving type. They are especially attuned to the demands of the moment are masters of responding to challenges that arise spontaneously. They generally prefer to think things out for themselves and often avoid inter-personal conflicts.
The Mechanics enjoy working together with other independent and highly skilled people and often like seek fun and action both in their work and personal life. They enjoy adventure and risk such as in driving race cars or working as policemen and firefighters.
Amata Means Beloved by Sister Mary Catherine Perry O.P.“The longer I'm in the monastery the more I marvel at the mystery of a vocation. Over and over I see women come, enthused to give everything to God, to become saints and to save souls. Nothing will stand in their way. Then they enter the monastery and bang-0!- They are faced with their own weaknesses, frailties and sins. And they don't like it! They want to deny it, make it go away but they must face their frailty- they must face that they are part of the human race. Not only that, they have to realize and accept that only by God's grace is any of this life possible.”
“In striving to live with one mind and heart in God, they seek to know and love God in the living of the traditional monastic observances of daily Holy Mass, chanted divine Office, lecto divina, private prayer, study and work.”For those that might read another, longer work about the monastic life I would sincerely recommend two of my favorite books of all time, In This House of Brede
by Rumer Godden and The Seven Storey Mountain
by Thomas Merton.“What use is it? Charities in the world, missionaries, church movements, “active” religious orders who work with the poor, the disadvantaged, and so forth, their work is supported by the quiet prayers of the Monastics. When they rise at night - the time when so many are lonely, or lost, or deeply enthralled in their harmful behaviors - monastics are praying for exactly those people, and for all of us. It is prayer that is concentrated, not limited; prayer whose reach is far.”
Literature adds to reality, it does not simply describe it. It enriches the necessary competencies that daily life requires and provides; and in this respect, it irrigates the deserts that our lives have already become. -C.S.Lewis
Rocket Man by William Elliott Hazelgrove“You are a smart man. You are smarter than me. You read more books. You are your mom used to laugh at me and how dumb I was, I know that.” he nod, examining his cigar. “But I had to go make a living and bring up my family and as smart as you are Dale, you haven't figured out how to do that. You sitting here in your big house with neighbors you can't stand, in your fucked-up financial situation, and your wife about to kick your ass right out the door. So who's the smart on, Kingfisher?”
”You always had to rebel, but you are forty-six now Dale. You are not the truculent artist anymore; you are just the middle aged fuck-up!”
”You know, I heard a weird rumor about you. I heard you had moved to the suburbs. Someone said you had bought some big fucking house way in the middle of nowhere....but you know what I said, I said, 'Nah. He'd never fucking do that. Turn tail and run I mean. He's not that kind of guy.”
“I can justify just about anything really, crime, embezzlement, knocking down old ladies, but I just can't find the neat rationalization for hurting my children. Every great liar meets his match eventually, and I cannot save myself on that score.”
“Mickey Mouse is arguably the most famous of the Disney cartoon characters. Making his debut in "Steamboat Willie" at the Colony Theatre in New York City on November 18, 1928, Mickey went on to star in over 120 different cartoons. He also starred in "The Mickey Mouse Club" television show of the 1950s.
Mickey Mouse's original drawings used circles for his head, body and ears. 1939's "The Pointer" saw a bold, new design for Mickey as his body became more pear-shaped and pupils were added to his eyes to increase his range of expression. Later on, animators of the 1940s would add a perspective aspect to his ears, giving them a three-dimensional effect. This change, however, was short-lived. The Mickey Mouse of today appears much as he did in the early days with the exception of a costume change here and there.”
When Wanderers Cease to Roam: A Traveler's Journey of Staying Put by Vivian Swift "I bummed around the world for twenty years before I suddenly decided to unpack my duffle bags once for all. On a whim I chose a small village on the Long Island Sound to be my happily-ever- after address. Little did I know that home would be the most extraordinary place I'd ever visit."Well, in her hands and through her eyes it is.
"Everyone gets an acre of Earth when they're born... If you ever feel crowded into a corner by your life, you need to take a better look at your acre of Earth. It's bigger than you think."Her 'acre' has extended from Zen Buddhist boyfriends in Paris, to rainy days in Dublin and mornings in the Sahara. The book ends when we have come full circle, back to the short, cold winter days of December. Along the way, we have brief visits with Thoreau, Dickinson, Willa Cather and Scooter, the ugly kitten. Every step is beautifully illustrated and it those illustrations that make this book so special.
You Are Scooter |
 Brainy and knowledgeable, you are the perfect sidekick. You're always willing to lend a helping hand. In any big event or party, you're the one who keeps things going. "15 seconds to showtime!" |
“But Hyatt got greedy and honed his quid pro quo. Last week, Hyatt announced on his blog that he would tweak his "experiment." Not only would any blogger requesting a free book be required to post a 200-word review on his blog, they would also have to submit the review to "a consumer detail page" along the lines of Amazon.
In addition, to get their copy a blogger now also needed to enroll in the Book Reviewer Blogger programme, submitting his or her name, address, phone number, and categories of interest.”
“Will Thomas Nelson stop sending books to those who write negative reviews? Will the publisher demand 400-word reviews a few months from now? Will other publishers begin setting more extraordinary terms for hotter titles? And, most importantly, will the blogosphere ever understand that surrendering to marketing forces simply isn't a substitute for journalistic integrity?”
“My journalism professor, who loathed exclamation points, is rolling in his grave, and if he's not there yet, I'm sure an e-mail from me could send him there. His rule: Never use an exclamation point unless the sentence is about the end of the world, and the end of the world is tomorrow. Example: The end is near!
F. Scott Fitzgerald understood the exclamation point. He said, "An exclamation mark is like laughing at your own jokes."
“Fifty-four pointers are presented along with a list of common mistakes concerning individual words: Eleven rules of punctuation and grammar; eleven principles of writing; eleven matters of form; and twenty-one reminders for a better style in Chapter V, which White wrote with no input from William Strunk, who had died previously. The last reminder, "Prefer the standard to the offbeat", reads like a separate essay and contains advice on the proper mindset of a writer, such as urging the writer to try to please only himself and aim for "one moment of felicity", as Robert Louis Stevenson found, so that the writer's words would live on.”
”A writer has to mirror the concerns of ordinary people” he told her. “Force humanity to look itself in the face, so that maybe, on day, one glorious day, it may decide to tidy itself up, make itself right.”It would be these two things, her love of writing and poetry and her need to champion the cause of others, especially women and children under the regime of Saddam Hussein, that would bracket her life.
“ Long before her adolescence was over, she came to perceive the subtle irony of draping a black cloth over a sentient being whose very identity was associated with self-expression. After all, it was not simply to hold a mirror to humanity that she wrote, but to change it, if only by degrees. Thus, having accepted the veil, she soon resolved to renounce it, at least in spirit, and reinvigorated her efforts to observe and engage the Others...She could hardly reconcile her soaring imagination with the physical confines of a black cloth.”
I am very thankful to Mr. Murphy for sending me a copy of his excellent book to read and review and therefore I will fulfill his wishes to pass the book on, as he requested, to someone else who will read and review it as well. I must say that I do rather hate to give it away...well, I guess I will have to just buy another copy perhaps....but a promise is a promise. ;-)
