[gui-talk] [Bulk] Am I paranoid, or what?gettibng

[Joel Deutsch]

qubie,

The second line is funny, made me laugh. Whose turn is it, etc.

The first line, the friend's old joke, doesn't amuse me too readily. That's 
because something about its construction messes with the literal meaning of 
paranoia in a way that doesn't really work. Not being snooty when I say 
this, but I don't personally, even in jest, use the terms "paranoid" or 
"paranoia" in the casual contemporary sense that only means overly worried 
or anxious, and about a lot of things, not anything that paranoia really can 
be applied to, even jokingly.

the word really used to be employed more meaningfully, even when I was in my 
twenties. think Cheech and chong-type humor. it never was used to mean 
anything but possibly delusional apprehension of being watched or of being 
under attack . So, like, in the Soviet Union during times when the NKVNKVD 
or KGB secret police were really feared, a person might say to a friend "I 
told this innocent little joke about Stalin's nose at that party when I was 
drunk, and now I'm afraid that that tall guy, Dmitri, was KGB or at least a 
KGB snitch, and I'm gonna wind up in big trouble with the government." And 
the friend says, "Relax, pal. You're just getting paranoid because of all 
this KGB activity that's going on, and all the people who are disappearing. 
dmitri isn't KGB, not so far as I know, and I think he was just drunk like 
everybody else, and laughing for real, not just pretending to laugh. Don't 
worry about it."

Or some longhair surrender monkey is tooling down Interstate 5 from San 
Francisco to Los Angeles, and he and his passenger are passing a joint back 
and forth. Not that I know about any of that stuff, mind you. But I've heard 
about it.

it's night, and when he looks into his rear view mirror he thinks he sees a 
Highway Patrol pursuit car trailing him half a mile back, but then the 
Highway Patrol car isn't there next time he checks the mirror. But meantime, 
he's made his passenger not only dump the VW's ashtray out the window into 
the wind, but has tossed out every vestige they were carrying of illegal 
substances and smoking materials.

he tells the friend later that maybe the cop wasn't really back there. "See, 
man," says the friend. "All that good stuff lost, and for nothing. you're 
getting so paranoid, man, I think you've got a problem there.."

they don't say another word to each other all the way to Bakersfield and 
then up and over the hill called the Grape vine and halfway down into the 
San Fernando Valley, when the radio starts pulling in a good L.A. rock 
station, and the two loosen up a little bit, finally.

got a little carried away, I'm afraid. But that was fun.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "qubit" <lauraeaves at yahoo.com>
To: "NFBnet GUI Talk Mailing List" <gui-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, October 14, 2009 7:37 PM
Subject: Re: [gui-talk] [Bulk] Am I paranoid, or what?gettibng


Well, as a friend (I think) once told me, "if they're all out to get you,
paranoia is the appropriate response..."
(Meanwhile, whose turn is it to unsubscribe joel???)
Cheers!
--le



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Joel Deutsch" <jdeutsch at dslextreme.com>
To: "NFBnet GUI Talk Mailing List" <gui-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, October 14, 2009 8:04 PM
Subject: Re: [gui-talk] [Bulk] Am I paranoid, or what?gettibng


Good advice, pal. Even paranoids have real enemies, right? :-)

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "tunecollector" <tunecollector at sbcglobal.net>
To: "'NFBnet GUI Talk Mailing List'" <gui-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, October 14, 2009 5:29 PM
Subject: Re: [gui-talk] [Bulk] Am I paranoid, or what?gettibng


Naw, you're not paranoid.  But, don't look behind you.

-----Original Message-----
From: gui-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:gui-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Joel Deutsch
Sent: Wednesday, October 14, 2009 5:06 PM
To: GUI-Talk
Subject: [Bulk] [gui-talk] Am I paranoid, or what?gettibng

Hi GUI-Talk listers,
I just got a notice saying quote someone unquote had requested that I be
unsubscribed from this mailing list. To confirm, I'd send a reply. To ignore

it, I'd do nothing.

I sure ain't about to send the Reply. I'd prefer to stay right here in this
nice little community I've been part of for years. Is someone trying to boot

me off the list, for some reason? This is kinda weird.

Joel


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