hehehe!

But it leads me to ponder: is there a gene for making those sorts of comments that Hollie and you share? Or is it environmental rather than genetic? Or, perhaps, both?

probably both. hollie just has a very dry, cynical wit but at the same time she's a total sweet daydreamer. lovely combination :)

So this one spoke English, then?

Try Ex Government Furniture in Fyshwick. They have decent 6' bookshelves in government grey for about $200. Not that that's affordable, but you know.

I want some too, so if you find good and cheap, tell me!

Yah, me too! we've only got short-ass ones. I want biguns. hehehe. biguns. I mean bookshelves, not... nevermind.

does anyone read the entries?

i do, i do!!!

try dealing with pokemon mothers who's "programmer husbands" couldn't get the piece of software to work for xxx xxx xx xxxx reason, and those folks who have just had their PCs upgraded from Windows 95 - 98 {!}, or, my personal favourite "We just got it upgraded to a 486 from a Pentium", followed with a proud "I don't know ANYTHING about these things, but you're wrong'. Really, they should make computer literacy an important element of the 21s century, especially for public servants, and wives of "computer programmers" {read: bureaucratic word processing robots}. I love my job.

was i on track or was i wandering again? oops.

weirdly enough, now that i think about it, i dont think when i was young i ever really got exposed to the sounds of a woman 'in the throes of ecstacy'. well, by young meaning under 12.

in any case, thats a great comment from hollie and another great entry. yay. i should come back here more often. and one day i'll finally catch you on icq as well. maybe.

its so true... how many of our parents actually know how to turn on a pc?? my father learnt how to send an email only a year ago and when he sent me one, he called me at work to see if i had received it... he was like a 5 year old kid excited that he could ride a bike without training wheels or something!

he was terribly upset when i told him our internet connection was down and therefore hadn't read it. *giggle*

I read the entries, really I do. I just have nothing of interest to say about them. Well, except that all of your siblings (including you) seem like such faboo people! Wish I could live amongst you, or something. If there were grad schools in Oz that would accept me and jobs in the computer science industry for my sweetie, I would be there in a second. Or seventeen hours, however long the flight is. Bah.

"Does anyone read the entries?"

The answer to this question, a notion constantly within a blogger's mind, involves considering several facets. First off, it's worth tallying that instant feedback to a personal piece of writing, discounting any feverish dissemination of a journal during the Victorian age and a quick rejoining epistle shot with dementia by a writer's potentially psychotic peers, is only a recently technological development. Also, as Marybeth has noted, more often than not, a reader is either intimidated or altogether perplexed by whether or not s/he should reply.

In some cases, a reader replies when s/he often shouldn't or, more often than not, to alleviate boredom. This is not necessarily an exclusive condition of a reader's mind.

In still other cases, a comment is fired off in an effort to contribute to an impromptu discussion or to cheer up the blogger or the idea expressed.

In the case of this particular comment herein, the purpose is to inform one Shauny that yes, indeed, her blog is being read and yes, indeed, in one sense or another, the reader is weighing words in his/her mind. So please do not fret. Participation within a comment thread often involves the flimsiest and ridiculous of pretexts.

my mum decided to get online and email us instead of lengthy international phone calls, as it would save money. great in theory, but now every time she emails us, she calls immediately and tells us that she's sent us an email, did we get it yet? and then proceeds to give us the edited highlights of the world news in general, adding up to more phone calls than she'd make if she didn't have the net.

i swear, i'm adopted.

"In some cases, a reader replies when s/he often shouldn't or, more often than not, to alleviate boredom."
I get the distinct feeling that Ed is talking about me, his adoring stalker. Hint not taken, Ed. HINT NOT TAKEN!
Ahem. About your post, S, kids are also good for listening to adults as they elder on endlessly. Otherwise, who would the adults bitch about/to? Other adults don't put up with this shit!

I am a new reader. I found you through Dooce.com. I am enjoying your writing just as much as hers.

Just in case you wanted encouragement, or some other such words :)

Ah, adoring stalkers.

The thing about hearing people shagging reminded me of something I heard of while at school.

Someone in the year above me had apparently informed his friends that his parents had a secret donkey in their bedroom, probably kept in a cupboard. When asked how he had reached this interesting conclusion, he said he could hear it 'ee-aw' at night.

All I can think is that the thought of his parents shagging was too much for him to cope with.

Which reminds me of something I heard of someone say in the year above me at primary school.

They'd just had the slide show to prepare them for puberty. The lad in question, always wanting to boast about his state of physical maturity, proudly announced that he'd already had his first period.

But don't get me started on parentals and their computer problems. (I got paid fifteen quid (Sterling) today to sort out a paper jam in a printer :-) )

But it is strange, 'cause truly aged OAPs (old aged pensioners) seem to get onto the internet no problem.

Oh and yes, that does sound like a nice combination in Hollie. Kind of like a double scooping of two, very different ice-creams that just really go well together?

(1) Not every old fart is computer illiterate, altho the ones who are can be amusing. Most of my regular e-mail correspondents are waaay over the hill, but none of them has any problems with the technology.
(2) DOM Alert: Shauny's a screamer. Yay!
(3) Of COURSE we read the entries. Send more.

Actually, SJ, to set the record straight, I was talking about myself in this particular case, particularly the former quality. :)

SJ - i thought he might have been talking about the occassional/always inane comments that i leave on his blog. hehe.

anyway, thanks for your comment, Ed :)

i guess once again i was freaking out about the suddenly high yet silent volume of visitors.

also a minor whine about the comments i get from people who obviously don't read the bloody entry. like the entry when Harry left? "NICE DOG!" someone wrote. yeah. thanks for reading.

anyway. i'll be quiet now :)

Do we read the entries? Shauna, you're at the top of my favorites list, which is indeed a long list. A word from you and I came up with my "100 Things". You rule.

Entries? Waht entries? We don't need no steenkin entries!

I'm just happy with the comments box, me.

Hey, just cause I wrote about bookshelves, doesn't mean I don't read and/or pay attention. Note the "this one speaks English" comment, which is definitely pertaining to the entry in question. :)

Hang on, I don't scream when I orgasm... what am I doing wrong?

i don't scream. bloody hell :p

damn.

note: i wish to apologize to everyone reading these comments revolted by the mental image of me having an orgasm. i am sexless. of course.

Yeah, you caught me a little off guard by breaking into your cynicism to tell us abruptly that you scream during sex.

It suddenly occurs to me that more people should scream when they orgasm, if only to offer an aural, easily solvable riddle to the neighbors of what's going down (in this case, the big enigma will be WHO'S going down).

There's your next aug, Ed.

Leave nothing to the imagination: The Weblogger's Way!

Ed, yer killing me... mwahhahaa

Orgasm screaming asside...

I'm also a member of the Nintendo Generation, called upon by average Baby Boomer to help fix/program/setup anything that required cables or electricity.

I think, to them, its almost magical... to me: a pain in the ass.

I dont charge any fees, but their coffee and scones are to die for. A girl could be seriously happy with a limitless supply of OLP's to fix for.

Okay, I have a proposal. How many webloggers would willingly record their own orgasm (albeit, faked) and post it online? Is this how the aug revolution goes down?

I second that emotion, Ed. Dirty Birds Unite and Take Over (DBUTO.)