[continued from previous message]   
      
   > meanings of words through the context with which they were used when he   
   > heard them.  He figures out the probable meanings of words from   
   > conversations, songs, comic books, tv shows, etc.  Sometimes he guesses   
   > correctly.  More often then not, he has picked up a meaning that's   
   > slightly off -- a vague conception that is correct only when used in the   
   > absolute broadest sense.  (The result is similar to thinking that the 70   
   > synonyms for a given word in a Thesaurus are all interchangeable.)   
   > Other times, his guess is entirely wrong.   
   >   
   > The result is that the foundations of his vocabulary are built upon   
   > half-correct guesses; and the more he tries to use the words to present   
   > a specific meaning, the greater his misuse of them becomes.  Will had   
   > gone through life associating with other functional illiterates (Brother   
   > Dave, Stinky George, Vinyl Cat, etc.), whose vocabularies were pieced   
   > together in a similar manner.  Since none of them have any idea as to   
   > the specific meanings of words, they use them in the broader, general   
   > sense -- which usually suffices, since the topics of their conversations   
   > are never really very specific anyway ("Interesting." "Excellent poem."   
   > "Nice old school poem," "Loves me some Bukowski," etc.).   
   >   
   >   
   >>>>>>>>>>  with your seconds piled   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>> Whose seconds, Donkey?  In the opening line they were "the seconds"   
   >>>>> connoting universal measurements of time.  Now the seconds belong to   
   >>>>> someone else   
   >>>>   
   >>>> Maybe he was dueling or boxing?   
   >>>   
   >>> I like the idea of a dueling Donkey -- with his hapless seconds piling   
   >>> up on the floor at his feet.   
   >> Probably at the sawmill, disguised as workplace accidents.  Will   
   >> certainly would have gotten his ears cut off had he been near any   
   >> machinery.  He said he just pushed buttons.   
   >   
   > LMAO over that one!   
   >   
   >>>>>>>>>>  there went by a life   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>> You should be imprisoned for torturing language like that.   
   >>>> Good call!   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>> "a life passed by" is the correct way of expressing this.  However, the   
   >>>>> tense would be incorrect.  "Lying there" is present tense, meaning that   
   >>>>> your speaker is in the present moment.  If he's thinking about someone   
   >>>>> else's life that touched his in the past, he needs to specify this   
   >>>>> before switching tenses.   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>> "remembering a life that passed by"   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>>>>>>>  untold   
   >>>>>>>>>>  unasked   
   >>>>>>>>>>  going by   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>> You've already said that it "went by."  "Going by" is just a needless   
   >>>>> repetition.   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>> It also changes the tense back from past "went" to "present".  Random   
   >>>>> switches between tenses are an earmark of a Will Donkey poem.  You need   
   >>>>> to learn how to use tenses correctly.   
   >>>>   
   >>>> He didn't learn then and can't learn now (then, there, here).   
   >>>   
   >>> The Donkey is capable of learning.  I'm certain of it.  His problem   
   >>> isn't so much an inability to learn as it is an inability to admit that   
   >>> he's made a mistake.   
   >> He shares that flaw with North George Dance.   
   >   
   > Yes, but for different reasons.  The Donkey refuses to admit that he's   
   > wrong, because deep down he knows that he is functionally illiterate.   
   > Admitting that he's functionally illiterate would destroy the persona of   
   > Will Donkey the poet that he has spent his entire lifetime convincing   
   > himself of.  To realize that his creative work of 50 years has amounted   
   > to nothing more than a literary joke, would be unbearable to him.  He   
   > probably would spill his marbles on the floor as a last defense against   
   > seeing the truth for what it is.   
   >   
   > George Dance, otoh, cannot admit that he's wrong because he has   
   > convinced himself that he is MENSA George, super genius.  George isn't   
   > trying to protect this delusion, because unlike his Donkey he fully   
   > believes it.  George's ego inflated early on as an emotional protection   
   > against his unloving parents.  They thought that Boy George was   
   > worthless and should be seen doing chores and not heard.  As a result,   
   > George's self-esteem should have been almost nonexistent.  But Boy   
   > George subconsciously compensated for these feelings of worthlessness by   
   > allowing his ego to inflate to such gargantuan proportions that nothing   
   > could ever harm it (or him).   
   >   
   >>>   
   >>> What he needs is for someone he trusts to point out his errors to him.   
   >>> Since George Dance has promised to edit his poem, one can hope that he   
   >>> just might take the time to explain to him the importance of consistency   
   >>> in tense.   
   >> George Dance only edits spelling and spankings.   
   >>   
   >>>   
   >>> I know that George never has bothered to explain his grammatical   
   >>> shortcomings to the Donkey in the past... but one has to hold onto the   
   >>> hope that he might.   
   >> George Dance is afraid that he might lose one of the last friends he   
   >> has, so he doesn't dare correct Dockery.   
   >   
   > I don't think so.  George has said to Cujo that he has little interest   
   > in anything at AAPC except for his own poetry.  George couldn't care   
   > less about his Donkey or his Donkey's poetry.  He's only here to talk   
   > about himself.   
   >   
   >   
   >>>>>>>>>>  never caused and never traced   
   >>>>>>>>>>  the future never ever appears here.   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>> What are you trying to say here?  That this unidentified person's life   
   >>>>> was never caused?  One should think their parents had been the source.   
   >>>>> And how is a life traced?  Generally this would mean   
   >>>>> recalled/recollected/remembered, but you wouldn't just use "traced" to   
   >>>>> signify that.  Your sentence appears to be bemoaning the fact that no   
   >>>>> one ever traced their image on a piece of transparent paper.   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>> And what's with the "never ever"?  People stop saying "never ever" at   
   >>>>> the age of 5 or 6.   
   >>>>   
   >>>> That was Mr. Dockery's mental age at 22 in the 11th grade.  He was doing   
   >>>> the best he could with what he had.   
   >>>   
   >>> Well, Will is to be congratulated.  He's since progressed to the mental   
   >>> age of a 10-year old.   
   >> What is a 10-year-old capable of learning?  Supposedly logic, but we   
   >> don't see that.  Coming into puberty at the age of five hindered Will   
   >> Dockery.  (They do things differently in the deep South).   
   >   
   > That varies from 10-year old to 10-year old.  Will is the 10-year old   
   > who took the short bus to school.   
   >   
   >   
   >>>>>>>>>>  If some morning I wake   
   >>>>>>>>>>  here for you   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>> Again, this is torturous prose.  It should be "If I awake some morning."   
   >>>>>  In your line, the speaker is pondering the consequences of his waking   
   >>>>> up a morning.   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>> "Here," again, is superfluous -- where else would you be expected to   
   >>>>> wake?  "There"?   
   >>>>   
   >>>> Maybe "on" or "at?"   
   >>>   
   >>>   
   >>> I've got it!  Will woke up lying here at the floor over there!   
   >> All things for all people.   
   >>>   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>>>>>>>  trying to find some reason to return   
   >>>>>   
   >>>>> At this point, your speaker is babbling incoherently.  One doesn't wake   
   >>>>> up in the middle of attempting to find a reason for doing something.   
   >>>>> One wakes up from sleeping.   
   >>>>   
   >>>> Maybe he was trying to return something at Walmart without a receipt?   
   >>>   
   >>> You know, if he had a credit card, he wouldn't have any difficulty   
   >>> making returns.  Walmart's always been very good about that sort of   
   >>> thing.   
   >>>   
   >>> Of course to get a credit card, he'd have to get a job...   
   >> He could probably get a job at Walmart, checking receipts.   
   >   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-DOS v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)