THE
BLUE BOX (Recycled Ideas)
by Don Cox
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For years now there has been a lot of useful software around
that can help you write better, say things more clearly,
and find words you never knew existed. There are also programs
that help you find all the possible words that can be made
from a given phrase. For instance did you know that by using
and rearranging all the letters in "Canadian Space Agency"
you can come up with, amongst others, "Can a gay dance in
Space." Strange but true.
My favourites amongst these programs are the rant generators.
A rant, according to my dictionary, is "a bombastic extravagant
speech", and all you have to do with these wonderful programs
is put in a few key words and they will produce endless
verbiage on the topic of your choice. They are never grammatically
correct and rarely make sense, which makes them ideal for
political speeches and legal briefs. With a little tarting
up they could generate sermons as well, I'm sure. I have
to confess that on occasion I have taken one or more of
these productions, inserted a bit of regulatory grammar
and logic, and used them to confound professional people
of all stripes.
It's February now, the groundhog didn't see his shadow
and is back in bed, the sun is warming our lives, and Valentine's
Day is just around the corner. I was thinking along these
lines as I sat here in my hermit's cell, surrounded by the
squalid detritus of a former social existence, chewing the
bitter cud of remorse, and thanking my stars for the blessed
solitude. "What could I do", I wondered to myself, "to commemorate
the sweet recollections of earlier days." Then it came to
me in a flash of inspiration, I will write a Valentine's
rant.
Let's see now.....how should this go......Dear Heart,
whatever becomes of us, wherever we go, there is one constant
in my life, one firm central fact of my universe, one hub
of my galaxy that no vastness of space can ever diminish.
And that, dear heart, is the warm memory of those wonderful
days when we filled each other's lives, when we enriched
one another's dreams. Those days when the sun was warmer
and the grass was forever green, when the sweetness of nature
was magnified by our oneness. Those days when the exigencies
of daily responsibilities never called, or failed to reach
us, and the wonderful balm that filled our lives was forever
within our reach..........
Sheesh!! I think I'm going to be ill!! Send flowers!!
Bluebox ©2001 Don Cox
Website ©2001 OttawaWEB
