The most recent 20 comments posted to Making Light by Tristan:

I also went with Deutschland (having completely failed to remember the existence of Denmark) but that still yielded an elephant. And, as further testimony to the power of the elephant (or perhaps just the frequency of the letter e), my friend went with a grey elephant as well, although his was reached via the so-called country Delaware. (My sister managed to get through all the math to Denmark, but forgot how to spell and was then stuck trying to think of an animal whose name started with the letter n.

In retrospect, I really wish I'd picked Djelibeybi.

Sadly, this is the most fun I've had all week.

Vian, thank you for the reassurance. Although I may start gathering my band of merry sock-puppets, just in case.

I am a dedicated lurker, and have only recently developed the courage to post, but this time I actually have a related question. I think everyone agrees that taking a whole chapter from another author is wrong. Even if you change the names. Even if you change a few of the words. But what about a sentence?

I write only for my own amusement, but was still horrified a few months ago, when I was re-reading a favorite book and discovered that I’d inadvertently borrowed a sentence for one of my stories. Seven little words, but they were clearly the work of another author. I could claim that it was coincidence, but it’s much more likely that the words had stuck in my memory. (I’ve re-read some of my favorites so many times that I can quote whole passages, and even though I’m not sure I could have quoted that one, I still fear I somehow subconsciously remembered that particular word string.)

By my own definition, plagiarism applies to the result, not the intent, so that even though I didn’t mean to do it, it’s still wrong. I've since removed that sentence, obviously.

But what if I’ve done it elsewhere in my work, and what if someday I finish something, and manage to convince an agent and a publisher that it’s worthy of being shared with the rest of the world? I may think that every page is my own creation, but what if there’s some little phrase that isn’t?

It's a hypothetical worry at this point, but I'm still thinking about it.

The story-most amusing. The poetry-lovely, especially the quacking bread. But it’s Bruce Cohen (SpeakerToManagers) that made me fall off my chair laughing. Thank you for brightening my day.

Exeunt scheming, indeed.

I'm in shock. I grew up in Minneapolis. I have friends who went to the U of M. I've driven over that stretch of highway. My thoughts are with everyone who's still waiting to hear.

I suppose we'll have an explanation for this eventually, but right now it just seems so random. I think I need to stop looking at the pictures.

I got through to my family (651 area code), and they're ok. Haven't tried anyone in 612 though. Supposedly there's a baseball game tonight, so lots of people may be downtown for that.

Although I usually lurk silently, I feel strongly enough about the issue of names to comment. I myself have, for many years, used a name that does not appear on my birth certificate. I did eventually change it legally, so that I now have official proof should anyone dispute my claim. However, there was a period of time where everyone except the DMV managed to use the name I preferred.

There is a difference between names (of persons) and other characteristics (such as age). I'm not trying to claim that names aren't facts, simply that I am the only person who can tell you what my true name is.

Names have a power of their own. (No doubt someone will make the same claim about age, and that one is only as old as one thinks one is, but the year of one's birth is unchangable, unlike the name to which one responds.)

That being said, we live in a world where "last name, first name, middle initial" is a universal staple of bureaucracy. So while I can (and do, and deserve to) mandate how my friends, colleagues, and historians, should I ever be the subject of one, address me, I also accept that the government, banks, and other computer-driven institutions are not going to cooperate with non-standard variations of my name.

I do not, however, get to choose my birthday, age, astrological sign, et cetera. I guess the distinction is obvious to me, but then I felt strongly enough about the issue in the first place to change my name, so I may see this differently than most people.

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