Proposed book review group, plus the "Gospel of Dog"

[Pete at Home]

I'd like to offer myself to moderate and run a different group within Ornery that does a book review. I'd like to see a focused discussion on the book being reviewed, changing books every three weeks.  I'd like to focus on great books that aren't part of the literary canon but arguably should be:


Folk of the Fringe by Orson Scott Card   Feb 7-28
The Stand by Stephen King  March 1-21
Personal Recollections by Joan of Arc March 22-April 12

I'd like to try something different and experimental for this group.  Meritocratic voting.  The number of likes you have determines the weight of your vote when we make decisions such as what book to start next, and quarterly election for the next monitor.

Thoughts?


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In the beginning was the word and the word was dog and the word was from dog, because dog chose man before God breathed God's spirit into him. And the dust of the earth, an ape descendant not quite man, heard the dog say ruff, and the ape descendant, a homo-erectus spear-woman, made the sound in her own throat, for verily it was the mother tongue, and the first word of the homo- language was arf, and it signified dog to the homo-s, when one homo- said woof unto another, and when a dog said it to a homo- it meant "hey," which being interpreted means, I want some more of your doggone attention. And when a homo- said urf to a dog, it means, as it means still to this day: I hear you, dog, and know that I am Alpha. And Lo! man was like god unto the dog.

And woman loved dog and dog loved woman but usually not in that way, and man loved dog and dog loved man but usually not in that way, and man loved woman and woman loveth man, and hopefully there were happy endings, but Lo!  a happy ending to a story does not mean that they were happily ever after.

The Angels that God had sent to tend the earth before the God's spirit was breathed into man, reported that something unplanned had happened. The homo-s that were not man yet, had bonded with dog (though not in that way) and had taught them the power of speech. Although God had not expected to be upstaged, God decided that it was good.

Behold, the rest is all written in the book: God loves Homo-s, coming soon to a store near you!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFjmvfRvjTc

[D.W.]

It's been a long time since I've seen active moderation here.  Granted, our active participant number is lower than in the past as well. 

I've always been fairly outspoken as anti-moderation anyway, but I'd suggest we have no need (at present at least) for additional mods. 

Now if the privileges of being a moderator somehow facilitate a book club, more power to ya.  (But just enough power for that.) 

[Pete at Home]

It's been a long time since I've seen active moderation here.  Granted, our active participant number is lower than in the past as well. 

I've always been fairly outspoken as anti-moderation anyway, but I'd suggest we have no need (at present at least) for additional mods. 

Now if the privileges of being a moderator somehow facilitate a book club, more power to ya.  (But just enough power for that.) 

Thanks for making clear what I intercommunicated.
I have absolutely no desire to moderate this General forum. I speak only of directing a book club.  I believe that Ornery had such a thing, with its own moderator, at one time, when I was too busy to participate.  I enjoy all of the minds currently on Ornery, except for one, and the one doesn't particularly annoy me; I just don't enjoy it.  I enjoy discussing serious things with you, but as recent crises show, I need to limit my exposure to the US political sport, because I'm happier without it, and I think you'd be happier without me stopping in and discussing what seems to be your favorite "book" or movie.  Let's call it reality. I don't like reality entertainment, and the alleged election of a reality entertainer was the last straw for me.  I was coerced, mind-raped, into voting for a candidate that I feared in the 2016 election, and it damaged me. I've been physically raped a few times and it never hurt me as bad as the narcicistic abuse that I suffered to drive me to the poles. I've tried to discuss my reservations about this forum continuing to focus on the staged reality docudrama that purports to be the American state of being, but for the sake of my own well being, I need to retire from this cave entirely. 

The trouble is, I like you guys. You are funny guys. I miss you guys.  I'd love to talk to you about something more useful and interesting than Reality TV or any other kind of alleged reality.  I also love Scott Card, and if I'd ever met Kristine Card, I'm sure I'd love her too. I don't want to harm our hosts.

My leaving the General forum would help also to determine if, as several former members have claimed, that I personally am the cause of Ornery's demise.  I'm fairly certain that all but one of the persons who called me this were narcicists or psychopaths, but that one person is someone that I really love and respect. He accused me of Ornery's demise back in 2001, about six days after I first posted to Ornery, and before I entered my Pete at Home incarnation.

I'm asking Ornery for an honorable retirement.  Having a little corner of the Ornery universe to talk about nice safe fictions instead of this brutal unpredictable "reality show" that seems to push me off the edge and cause me to do things like read the news and other emotionally destabilizing activities, would ease this transition process, and help me go gently into that good night.

[Pete at Home]

I've always been fairly outspoken as anti-moderation anyway

I'm right with you.  I think that trait is probably why I get along better with you than anyone else left here here, aside from our current monitor and the actual Ornery member that claims to be him. I say claims not to put it into question, but in order to respect the Separation of Personalities required to do that job.

I respectfully propose that a vote for me to be "moderator" of the General Section would be as ridiculous as voting the fictional persona of Donald Trump for president of the fictional entity "The United States"  (that's another book we need to read: Letters of the Republic.

Calling me any sort of "moderator" is as ridiculous as calling Trump a President. I'd rather call myself Anarch. I am like unto the denizen of the mental ward who asks to be able to run the broom closet as if it was his personal mental ward, and invites other patients and staff to come join him when they feel like it, just for ____________

See, I just ran into one of the problems that makes me want less moderation. I don't know any way to say what I meant to say in that blank space without getting suspended for a reasonable amount of time.

[D.W.]

Oh, that's automatic.  I type that *censored* all the time and *censored* all happens in response! 

 

That type of moderation I don't mind so much.  It gets the point across and people understand the intent, even if they shake their head in a disapproving manner.

[Pete at Home]

Oh, that's automatic.  I type that *censored* all the time and *censored* all happens in response! 

 

That type of moderation I don't mind so much.  It gets the point across and people understand the intent, even if they shake their head in a disapproving manner.

That's not how it works with me. Our current moderator (bless his heart) as we say in the south, leans with the 92% of past Ornery moderators and holds me to a different standard. His justification seems, if I understand, to be Karma points.  I can't say anything that's just *censored* without getting suspended. And that feels like getting sent to solitary.  I'm still upset about one suspension that happened in 2001. I know that my response is not reasonable, but I've never been able to be reasonable about being blocked out.  I take it very very personally. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLoYFvbR0XY

[OrneryMod]

We tried a book club in the past and it had a moderate success for a while. I think it would be great to run one again. Feel free to run it here in General Comments, I don't think we need a separate forum for it. 

It's been a long time since I've seen active moderation here.

Please don't jinx it. 

[Seriati]

Pete, book club is a good idea, though I can't promise I have the time to participate in a super meaningful way.  Don't think you need a separate forum, just put the review period  in the thread title (it never really hurts if a thread goes long anyway).

I can't say that I've ever understood everything you've been through, and it's clear you've been through a lot, but isn't that exactly why your contributions have been beneficial?  We all have different perspectives.  If the voices that are anti-politics drop out it, it just leaves more polarization in their wake.  So while by all means, protect your mental sanity, I for one, hope you can keep contributing.

[Fenring]

I'd actually enjoy contributing to a book club discussion, although at the moment I'm too busy studying some particular subjects and don't have time to diverge. If such a group were to keep up I'd make efforts to join eventually, though.

[Pete at Home]

Thank you for the kind encouraging words.

I''ll post a couple of books for us to select from.