Raf

Dooj gets it. The quotes are all from Les Miserables, the last from the dedication/prologue.

As long as there shall exist, as a consequence of laws and customs, a social damnation artificially creating hells in the midst of civilization, and complicating the destiny which is divine with a fatality which is human; as long as the three problems of the age - the degredation of man by the proletariat, the ruin of woman by hunger, the atrophy of the child by the night - are not solved; as long as in cetain regions social asphyxia shall be possible; in other terms, and from a still more extended point of view, as long as there shall be on the earth ignorance and wretchedness, books of the nature of this one cannot be useless. And just to head it off, it is not Marx or Engels.

Neither Kafka nor Dickens.

Not an American. "The two highest functionaries of the state are the wet nurse and the school teacher." *** "Before him he saw two roads, both equally straight; but he did see two; and that terrified him--he who had never in his life known anything but one straight line. And, bitter anguish, these two roads were contradictory."

Nope.

Here we go... One of my favorite passages of any book ever... "The glance of a woman resembles certain wheels which are apparently gentle but are formidable: you daily pass by their side with impunity, and without suspecting anything, and the moment arrives when you even forget that the thing is there. You come, you go, you dream, you speak, you laugh, and all in a minute you feel yourself caught, and it is all over with you. The wheel holds you, the glance has caught you; it has caugtht, no matter where or how, by some part of your thought which dragged after you, or by some inattention on your part. You are lost, and your whole body will be drawn in; a series of mysterious forces seizes you, and you struggle in vain, for human aid is no longer possible. You pass from cog-wheel to cog-wheel, from agony to agony, from torture to torture -- you and your mind, your fortune, your future and your soul; and according to whether you are in the power of a malevolent soul or of a benevolent heart, you will issue from this frightful machinery either disfigured by shame or transfigured by passion."

I'll get one in a minute

Krakhauser?

Ok by me

Sounds like "Into Thin Air," but I can't remember the author's name. John K something.

Plagiarism is fundamentally dishonest. It's not wrong because it's copyright infringement. It's not wrong because it's stealing. It's not wrong because it takes money away from other people. It's wrong because it's LYING. Why do we have to make this so complicated? Oh, I forgot, God told him it was okay. Some people would rather call God a liar than admit VPW was less a man of God than a duplicitous wolf in sheep's clothing who abused God's Word and God's people to satisfy his personal lust for power sex and money. Rise and shine, campers... it's COLD out there. That's right, it's GROUNDHOG DAY!

Plagiarism and copyright infringement are not the same thing. You can plagiarize like a madman and not infringe on anyone's copyright. Read all about it in my new book: "Romeo and Juliet," by Raf.

We did it! Between the generosity of a few more greasespotters and a couple of friends from work, we closed the final $200 gap in less than 24 hours. I am exceedingly grateful to and for everyone. And yes, we'll all be doing this again next year. (I'll post pics here soon, hopefully video too, if I can figure out how). To one donor: I meant to send a personalized message, but I think the form letter went out instead. I apologize for that. Hate when that happens. :)

A donation JUST came in. I have to assume it was in response to this post, but the person did not put a name or anything, and I don't see the name on my e-mail reply list. Whoever you are... thank you.

Many of you know or recall that my sister, Diane, was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease last year. Tomorrow (Saturday, April 12), I am participating in a walkathon to raise money to fight this (thus far) incurable disease. Many Greasespotters have already chipped in, and for that I am grateful. I kept increasing my fundraising goal to keep pace with everyone's generosity. Right now, my personal goal stands at $2,500. I'm $200 short of that goal. Whether I reach it or not, I know that I am grateful for everyone's love and support in this difficult time. Diane is in town for the walk. Other family members are on their way too. My signature below contains a link to my fundraising page. If you haven't done so already and you are inclined to help, now's the time to act. Many thanks to Paw and so many others who've made this a success for my walk. God Bless You all. Raf

I'm pretty sure somewhere in that movie was something about a chicken.

Correct!

Hint: You can tell the title is untrue because the movie has closing credits.

Dooj, no. WordWolf: YES!!!!

It's not. "Give me a name!" *** "Fantasia has no boundaries."

Nope.

"A hole would be something. This was nothing."

Fair enough. Now answer this one and free me.

No, Rover, I said that's one mighty fine BUCK!

I think I actually did this one already. But so what. :)