The Overlook Hotel

BESW

1:28 AM

Monica Cellio

1:55 AM

@Hemant is the person new to the field, or to the company, or to project management, or...?

BESW

2:27 AM

@UrsulaV @keetfeet I have this theory that kids' fiction has to be better because kids won't read some crap just because they're supposed to

Tweeted by ksej on September 1, 2014 at 11:24 PM in reply to UrsulaV

Stack Exchange

1:35 PM

0

Q: What's a good LaTeX template for self-publishing a short children's book?

The trick is that the book is in three languages... layout becomes tricky fast. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Neil Fein

2:52 PM

@MattЭллен @KitFox - Hello! Would either of you want to write a piece on the Nose for Banned Book Week later this month?

Matt Эллен

How many words-ish?

@NeilFein Hello!

Neil Fein

3:09 PM

@MattЭллен - Normal blog post length, 500-1000 words or so?

Matt Эллен

So the piece would be about the Nose?

KitFox

Hi. I didn't get your ping.

Neil Fein

@MattЭллен - No, I'd like to write about banned books for a week. I'm thinking, pick a book that's been challenged a lot and write about it. Maybe pick a book that's affected you personally?

@KitFox - Hi! How's it been?

KitFox

[insert inarticulate mumbles here]

Matt Эллен

@NeilFein I see!

@NeilFein fiction, specifically?

KitFox

3:24 PM

Books we'd like to ban? Great idea!

I'll start with Fifty Shades of Grey. Because it blows.

Then I'll work my way through dozens of popular pieces of crap.

And end by concluding that most people don't deserve to be literate.

@KitFox - Ah, no.

Oh.

:D

Well. That's awkward.

Neil Fein

LOL

KitFox

3:27 PM

And hi.

Neil Fein

Maybe something off this list? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/…

I think I might do A Wrinkle in Time.

KitFox

I liked that book.

Neil Fein

Just realized that Banned Books Week is also the week of Rosh Hashana.

I'll have to make sure to have mine ready early.

KitFox

Are you there God? It's me, Margaret because we shan't have young ladies knowing about menstruation. And what if the young men should chance to read it!? Scandalous.

I'm surprised how many of these I've read.

Where Did I Come From? was my book about the birds and the bees.

Neil Fein

Ooh, The Dead Zone is on there.

Flowers for Algernon was amazing. I can't imagine why anyone would want that book banned. Although... weren't there sex scenes in the novel version?

KitFox

3:37 PM

I don't recall that, but I am pretty sure I read an excerpted version in a textbook in school.

And not the actual novel.

And sex scenes, well, there are plenty of novels with those.

Neil Fein

@KitFox I do believe it was originally a short story, later expanded into a novel?

KitFox

Maybe.

Or you're thinking of Lawnmower Man.

Neil Fein

LOL

KitFox

That definitely had at least one sex scene in it. In the movie. Which I might have rewound and watched, just to make sure. A few times.

Like how I went through The Mists of Avalon and counted the sex scenes, then I had to do it again just to make sure. Then once more, because I was sure I had forgot one.

Hi @Jasper.

So. Should we do Writers Chat today?

Matt Эллен

sure. I'm about to head home

KitFox

3:50 PM

I've got meetings in an hour for two hours.

Matt Эллен

so we'll have time in three hours?

Jasper Loy

@KitFox Hi! I noticed you were missing in the Eng room so I came here.

KitFox

@MattЭллен Well, how long does it take you to get home?

Matt Эллен

@KitFox 45 minutes to an hour

Jasper Loy

@MattЭллен Do you still cycle back?

Matt Эллен

3:53 PM

yes

KitFox

OK. Then we'll have to go asynchronous. I'll have to leave after my meetings to go home.

Matt Эллен

OK. I'll catch up when I get back :)

CU

KitFox

Bai!

@Jasper, @Neil, @waxeagle are any of you participating today?

Jasper Loy

@KitFox No, of course not!

KitFox

Then would you kindly provide a topic for today's ten-minute freewrite?

Jasper Loy

4:00 PM

OK, let me think of one now.

Neil Fein

@KitFox If the baby lets me type, yes. 1pm or are you thinking later?

Jasper Loy

Today's topic: My high school crush.

KitFox

@NeilFein Right now.

@JasperLoy kthx. brb.

Neil Fein

Okay, go ahead. Baby's napping ATM.

FOR NOW!

KitFox

sssh

KitFox

4:13 PM

And time.

High school crush.

2

grumbles

Neil Fein

Oh, we'd started?

KitFox

I can't write anymore.

Jasper Loy

@KitFox Wow, that was quick. You people are very good at writing.

KitFox

It's ten minutes. That's all we get.

@NeilFein You hadn't?

Jasper Loy

Good practice. I often had problems thinking of what to write in an exam essay.

Neil Fein

4:14 PM

No, I was waiting for you to say "go".

KitFox

I've switched over to narrative, and I really suck at writing that way off the cuff.

@NeilFein Go.

I should probably go back to third-person or something, but I figure I could use the practice.

Neil Fein

I think I'm done.

158 words.

KitFox

You had another 12 seconds.

But that's cool.

Baby still sleeping?

Neil Fein

So far, yes.

KitFox

Oh, this is her (his?) first Rosh Hashana, innit?

Sorry I can't remember your baby's gender.

Or name, although I knew it at one point.

Neil Fein

4:26 PM

Yes, it'll be her first.

No worries.

KitFox

Well, maybe I did remember after all.

Is there something special you do for the first one?

Jasper Loy

What's Rosh Hashana? A Jewish thing?

KitFox

New Year.

Neil Fein

Jewish new year, one of the two biggest holidays of the year

KitFox

I seem to recall something about being written into the Book of Atonement?

I don't know Jewish holidays very well though.

Neil Fein

4:27 PM

This one we celebrate. The week following is Yom Kippur, when we fast and atone and so on.

KitFox

Oh right. That's Yom Kippur.

Jasper Loy

I know of 0 Jewish people in my country, lol.

Where are you?

Singapore

nods

4:29 PM

But I have met 3 Jewish people on SE, excluding you.

KitFox

I grew up with a lot of Jewish kids, so I was surprised to learn that there are a considerable number of anti-Semites in the world.

Neil Fein

Yeah, I haven't encountered it all that much.

KitFox

And when I moved down South, no one had any idea about Jewish holidays.

Neil Fein

Not personally.

KitFox

Like, they had no awareness of them at all. I found it very weird until I learned that there were approximately 50 Jewish families within 500 miles of where I was living.

I decided it must be a strange for me as it would be for a Southerner to move to my hometown and suddenly realize that there were no black families within 150 miles of where they were living.

And vanishingly few Spanish-speakers.

Jasper Loy

4:32 PM

Look at the star wall. All have links!

KitFox

So. @Neil. Are you sharing or not?

Jasper Loy

I like to marvel over such trivial observations.

Neil Fein

Yeah, hold on

How can I publish a text file on the web somewhere?

KitFox

Um. Pastebin?

Jasper Loy

Haha, I don't know.

Neil Fein

4:38 PM

A more descriptive link for Neil's high school crush story

Can y'all see this?

Jasper Loy

Yes.

KitFox

Aww.

shakes mental fist at Sharon

Neil Fein

Fictionalized a bit, but it sorta happened.

Jasper Loy

I just read both your stories, lol.

Neil Fein

Where are the others?

Jasper Loy

4:42 PM

They knew I was coming, so they escaped.

KitFox

I don't know. Maybe everybody just stopped coming.

Jasper Loy

wax is very quiet.

KitFox

This is the first chat I've been to since the last one I was at.

Which was months ago.

Neil Fein

This is the first sentence I've typed since the last one I typed.

KitFox

Glad you got the joke.

Jasper Loy

4:43 PM

I kind of hate writing so I will never join you.

KitFox

I guess it was a little over a month ago, and a little over a month before that.

Jasper Loy

When will this site finally graduate? It's been a long time in beta.

Neil Fein

►

Jasper Loy

@NeilFein I know what that is without clicking, lol.

Neil Fein

@JasperLoy That's unclear, but we are trying to clean things up a bit for now.

Speaking of which, we would really appreciate some feedback on this meta thread about critiques:

4

Q: Critiques considered harmful?

For pretty much all of the time I've been active here (more than three years now), we've allowed critique questions and I've wondered if they're a good idea. Let me recap: The on-topic summary says this about critique questions: Critiques: You can ask a Q&A question concerning your own...

discussion featured on-topic-definition critique

KitFox

4:50 PM

I'm not sure what else to say except to vote on it.

Sounds like critiques are your equivalent of EL&U's single-word-requests.

Jasper Loy

Each answer has positive votes.

And the answers say the same thing.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

Both answers basically say the same thing

Jasper Loy

So we have the answer.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

jinx

so Jasper, you're here now

Jasper Loy

QED

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

4:52 PM

are you everywhere?

Jasper Loy

Yeah, I was spying on Kit.

KitFox

Hola, @Mr.Shiny.

Are you here to do the writing exercise?

I did mine early on account of I have a meeting at 1.

Neil Fein

We really need more people in the community to comment and vote on this.

Jasper Loy

I have suggested the topic today. It is "My high school crush" @Mr.ShinyandNew安宇

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@KitFox Yes, I'm here

@JasperLoy Are you writing something?

Jasper Loy

4:54 PM

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 No, but the rest have done theirs.

KitFox

He's not, but he offered the topic.

Jasper Loy

It's lunch time, you all should go eat something.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@JasperLoy You should write something! Just change the names and call it fiction.

Jasper Loy

I just realised you are a room owner here.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

Yeah I'm special here.

Jasper Loy

4:56 PM

You get to see deleted messages too.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

really? I don't think so

Either that or nobody deletes them here

Jasper Loy

Can you see ^?

Neil Fein

Well, I can see the deleted message, since I'm a mod.

Jasper Loy

I am pretty sure a room owner can see, since one just told me in another room.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

No, I see (removed)

oh! there is a history link

yes I can see it from there

here is my "High School Crush" story

Jasper Loy

5:08 PM

Aha, that's how it works.

Neil Fein

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Nice one!

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

Thanks

Jasper Loy

I am sorry I can't write, I am bad at writing stories.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@JasperLoy practice makes perfect!

That's why we're here

In fact, you could try writing something, and then if you don't like it, just don't share it.

Neil Fein

You don't have to write a good story, just write something.

Mine was pretty bad.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

5:16 PM

Or share it anyway, and then say what you don't like about it

@NeilFein For a 10 min write, it was good. I liked it.

Neil Fein

Thanks.

Jasper Loy

I looked at her from a distance. Her smile was sweet. She was talking to a friend. I tried to find an excuse to approach her but couldn't think of any. All I did was to sit there and stare at her. Then she turned in my direction and I looked away, pretending to be looking at something else. Finally, she took her bag and left the canteen, and I followed suit. @Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 DONE!

Neil Fein

:)

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

It's a good way to sum up a relationship: "In college, it became glaringly obvious that Sharon didn't want to have anything to do with us. But that day in the cafeteria I grinned at her and opened my sketchbook"... I could totally see that in a novel where the protagonist is providing background on his old crush who just walked into his private detective office

@JasperLoy That's good! Also: been there, done that.

Now add some descriptive words, spice it up a bit, and you've nailed it.

Incidentally I am listening to Superunknown right now and it brings back memories of high school. Hard to believe that album is 20 years old now.

Jasper Loy

Well, most of my life has been painful. However, I still have good memories of the time before I went mad.

I think I went mad at around 18, around the time I was enlisted in the army.

Neil Fein

5:22 PM

Storytime?

Jasper Loy

That really screwed things up because I did not have time to sort out my thoughts in the army.

I had to wake up early without sufficient sleep, and had to do stupid things all day long.

An incident then caused me to think over and over about something, and slowly I lost concentration.

Since I could not focus, I was not sure if I switched things off or not.

Neil Fein

nods

Jasper Loy

Slowly I developed the OCD of checking that things were off indeed.

Neil Fein

BRB, I have to answer the baby.

Jasper Loy

The OCD themes changed over the years. But they were mostly of the checking type and not the cleaning type. There was once it was of the sinning type, where I always felt guilty about doing this or that, but I have gotten over that now.

In fact, the first theme I had was of the sinning type, but I am too shy to share the details here.

Then last year, I finally decided to try some meds.

I am not sure how much they help, but I will continue taking them.

Anyway, I have not been working the past 7 years or so. This period of time, I dropped about half the hair on my head due to stress from worrying about things.

Oh wait, why am I telling my story here? lol

I had a lot of problems with my dad since young. Anyway he moved out a few years ago and I am staying with my mum who is caring for me.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

5:30 PM

@JasperLoy People often write about what they know. You've got enough to work with, that's for sure.

Jasper Loy

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Is it lunch time now?

Neil Fein

@JasperLoy I thought you said you can't write. But here you are, telling a story.

Jasper Loy

Yeah, this room is the doctor's room, lol.

Neil Fein

Just finished my lunch. The baby's having hers now.

Jasper Loy

Gonna eat something now.

Neil Fein

5:34 PM

k, l8r

user116848

6:08 PM

hi

Neil Fein

Hello

user116848

I am usually at ELU chat :)

user116848

I thought I should drop by here

Neil Fein

We had our writing exercise chat, but you can still do it if you like.

user116848

Yes I was reading it above. Looks like a good work

user116848

6:10 PM

So what do we have to write here? Anything?

Neil Fein

10 minutes to write whatever you can on high school crushes. Wanna do it? I'll time you.

user116848

Can I get time to think?

Neil Fein

The point is that you just get thrown into it. It doesn't have to be good.

But let me know, whatever you like. :)

user116848

Okay so you tell when to start :)

Neil Fein

Go!

user116848

6:12 PM

Thinking....ok

Neil Fein

@Arrowfar Aaaand stop.

user116848

Crushes suck basically. But truth be told I have a story of myself to tell. So there was this girl in my school whom I liked very much but such was like one of those mean chicks that we try to stay away from when we get older, or at least who are gold diggers.
So on one occasion she even tried to talk to me, but only that I realized later that she was playing me to get the ideas of my assignment that I had completed. Pretty bad right? Anyways time passed and I was madly in love with her until I completed my studies at school and left that part of my life forever. However, still when I think…

2

user116848

But don't at it though.

Neil Fein

Awesome.

High school crushes are usually pretty sad. At least here, in this room, today.

I liked the note of happy in yours.

user116848

hah :)

user116848

6:25 PM

@NeilFein But I got the message that the writing is too long therefore I couldn't press the send button when you told me to stop. You know why is that?

user116848

I had to break it in half.

Neil Fein

These chat fields have a size limit.

No worries.

user116848

I see

user116848

thanks :)

user116848

So have you written your crush story today?

user116848

6:26 PM

I haven't seen it

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

Check the star wall

user116848

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Oh, hi :)

Neil Fein

Not sure if I starred it, let me look.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

I starred it

But it's not that descriptive a msg

Neil Fein

I see it now.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

6:27 PM

You could use your super-mod powers to edit it into a more descriptive link :)

user116848

Ok I see it now.

user116848

Let me read,,,,,

Neil Fein

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Done.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

lol

user116848

I notice that in every crush story there is a lot of staring :)

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

6:39 PM

That's what people do when they don't know what else to do

user116848

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 You crush story was about a guy? (If you don't mind me asking)

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

Well, it was from the perspective of a guy

It's not written in first-person

user116848

About a guy? :)

user116848

I see

user116848

@MattЭллен hi Matty

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

6:44 PM

@Arrowfar No, the last word in it is "her"

Matt Эллен

hi

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

The guy in the story is all angry and sad and frustrated because his plans for "her" have gone wrong.

user116848

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Yes I noticed that at the end of the story.

user116848

@MattЭллен Matt you wrote anything here today? Apart from some Limericks :)

KitFox

7:14 PM

Hello. Mine had no staring. And see you later.

Matt Эллен

High school crush

user116848

@KitFox hi Ms Fox

user116848

What happened to your profile pic?

user116848

how did you upload a blank avatar? I can't seem to figure it out

user116848

@MattЭллен Nice!

Matt Эллен

7:27 PM

thanks

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

7:38 PM

@MattЭллен ah, the downfall of obsession.

Matt Эллен

:D

KitFox

9:17 PM

@Arrowfar It's not blank. It just looks that way.

Stack Exchange

10:04 PM

0

Q: Cheapest way to self-bind a large book

I'm finishing up a 350 page book that I will self publish. I plan on printing my book at a local printing store but they charge $6 to bind each book. I'm paying my tuition with the profit of this book and would like keep my expenses to a minimum. What is cheapest way to bind a large book?

self-publishing

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