nw tht w'r n prt lvn, hv t sy t.

brllnt gy, 'm srry h's gn, vry tm my RSS pg flls p wth nthr grtst hts cllctn thnk lttl lss f hm.

Posted August 13, 2007 2:51 PM by rnymdn

ironymaiden: I don't think you really did have to say that. Not even a little.

Posted August 13, 2007 3:00 PM by Mark D

ironymaiden: Making Light posts are often long. That's why I use a feed that gives me only the first line or two, and then click over to read the rest.

That was a pretty hurtful thing to say. Many of the people here knew him personally.

Posted August 13, 2007 3:14 PM by Caroline

All-
Ironmaiden's comment at #1 is a troll. I'd ignore it and give no thought as to why a person'd say something like it*.

----------
* Trolls are a stunted boggart, countered with a 'Ignorthemallus.'

Posted August 13, 2007 3:51 PM by Kathryn from Sunnyvale

Kathryn @ 4... Not a troll, but a (censored) jerk. Jerks should not be fed anything any more than trolls should. Of course, my saying that constitutes food for jerks. It is a great paradox that I shall ponder at the expense of every other productive task.

Posted August 13, 2007 4:00 PM by Serge

In future, rnymdn, please bear in mind that Patrick, Jim, Avram, and I can see your IP address.

Posted August 13, 2007 4:35 PM by Teresa Nielsen Hayden

Thanks as always, Jim.

De vermis being a personal favorite...

(Sweet, Teresa!)

Posted August 13, 2007 5:29 PM by dan

"De Vermis" reminds me: does anyone know where any revenue from Mike's CafePress store (still in operation) now goes? Reading that poem again makes me want to buy something that it's on.

Posted August 13, 2007 6:29 PM by Julie L.

Mike writes on the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago:

This meant that every bored kid in the area (Hyde Park, while it had the University of Chicago, was also seriously economic depressed, at least in my pre-1974 era) would go there, or be dumped by their parents, and run around the halls mashing buttons (an early incidence of that supposedly modern phrase) or, in a few cases, deliberately trying to break things. You know the drill. Things got fixed, but it was impossible to keep even. There’s now an admission charge, and as I noted above, a new set of directors that’s trying to be less commercial and more creative.

A prominent local fan, Doug Drummond, has worked at MSI for some years maintaining the gigantic model railroad layout there.

I keep telling him, "You have the coolest job in Chicago!"

Posted August 13, 2007 8:24 PM by Bill Higgins-- Beam Jockey

Kathryn @ 4 -- I was taking abi's concerns to heart. From tone and content, it sounded like someone who just didn't quite get that we are remembering someone real, not just words on the Internet.

Posted August 13, 2007 10:03 PM by Caroline

Long ago on Usenet, I started using the term “cuckoo” for folks who (often, though not always, under pseuds) showed up out of nowhere to post rants, and then disappeared into the Void-O-Tron.

Ooh, I like that.

Posted August 14, 2007 1:08 AM by Paul A.

I only just noticed that De Vermis was a response to Patrick's request in the post above, as well as being, well, amazing.

(read it again. teared up again. dammit.)

--- Besides, even for those of us who never met him (so for us he *was* just words on the Internet), they were such good words, and now there will be no more. I know I've mourned people I've only met on Usenet. Probably most people here have.

Posted August 14, 2007 4:21 AM by Nix

Nix -- I never met him either; he was words on the Internet to me too. It's still hard to believe that he's gone.

Posted August 14, 2007 1:46 PM by Caroline

Yes, every time I think it's time for another poetry challege or something, I just kind of lose heart and don't suggest it because, dammit, there wouldn't be any Mike Ford entries to astonish and demoralize me beyond all hope of competing.

Posted August 14, 2007 4:04 PM by Janet Brennan Croft

—The Django Fett Concert Hall and Automatic Weapons Range

Mike was much given to mentioning Django Fett, the famed three-fingered Gypsy bounty hunter.

Bill @ 9: That really is the coolest job in Chicago.

Memo to self: hunt up copy of Rhythm of Life and watch it again.

Posted August 16, 2007 9:50 AM by elise

From my personal collection of pot-melted jackboots, this crept across my feedreader today:

You can't see what needs to happen
Take a step back. Are you spending your time on things that will make (the right) impact? What is required down the road? Don't drive while
contemplating the inside of the car.

Posted August 17, 2007 1:47 AM by Kevin Marks