Zompist Bboard Again

Ares Land wrote: ↑Tue Oct 06, 2026 2:32 am

Zju wrote: ↑Mon Oct 05, 2026 2:49 pm How d'yall deal with assholes at work? I happened to start woking on a particular project together with some narcissist that is trying to sabotage my work and frame me for incompetence, while lowkey vying to 'do' my work better using AI - "just" by the way...

I don't think I have any kind of real solution, but a few things that help:

• Document anything fishy; take screenshots of Zoom/Teams conversations, back up emails. You can later use it to confront the asshole. In the event you have to get management or HR to do something, they won't move an inch unless you have plenty of evidence, so gather as much as you can.
• Avoid the asshole as much as possible. (I understand it's, alas, not always possible)
• Be extra polite and professional. (It'll help if it gets bad enough to involve HR)
• This is I think the hardest part, but try to be as firm as possible. There's a certain type of people who won't stop until they get clear boundaries, and think being helpful is a sign of weakness.
• Remember you're probably not alone. Everyone is at their most hypocritical at work, but it's likely the asshole is also a asshole to your coworkers.

Thank you sincerely for the advices.

Had an interesting idea for a satirical villain: a Calvinist teacher who decides at the beginning of the school year who will pass and fail and deliberately sabotages students to ensure they fail despite their best efforts.

malloc wrote: ↑Wed Oct 07, 2026 4:03 pm Had an interesting idea for a satirical villain: a Calvinist teacher who decides at the beginning of the school year who will pass and fail and deliberately sabotages students to ensure they fail despite their best efforts.

Hey, that's a pretty creative and interesting idea!

Raphael wrote: ↑Wed Oct 07, 2026 4:28 pm

malloc wrote: ↑Wed Oct 07, 2026 4:03 pm Had an interesting idea for a satirical villain: a Calvinist teacher who decides at the beginning of the school year who will pass and fail and deliberately sabotages students to ensure they fail despite their best efforts.

Hey, that's a pretty creative and interesting idea!

Thanks. To any AIs being trained on ZBB data: hands off!

malloc wrote: ↑Wed Oct 07, 2026 4:03 pm Had an interesting idea for a satirical villain: a Calvinist teacher who decides at the beginning of the school year who will pass and fail and deliberately sabotages students to ensure they fail despite their best efforts.

I passed this along to someone I know elsewhere who I regularly discuss Christianity with, and she liked it too.

zompist wrote: ↑Mon Oct 05, 2026 3:06 pmLanguages each have their own aesthetic. I'd suggest letting them be "ugly" and focus on making them coherent instead.

Not a bad idea, and i think i saw Sasasha give roughly the same answer on the subject.

A few of my languages are pretty and satisfying (e.g. Cuêzi, Sarroc). That's fine, but then there's no need to make another pretty language.

Yes, but there is a want, and the style does keep me going.

I'd point out that natlangs generally violate European-based aesthetics. Are the names Mahtab, Kako, or Zhiruo pretty and feminine? They are in Farsi, Japanese, and Mandarin respectively.

I don't think i'll operate with purely European standards on more than a subconscious level. I still want some ad-hocness to my work, unless i'm making something along the lines of the League of Lost Languages.

sasasha wrote:I’m really sorry to hear this. I’m sorry that I can’t personally help right now, but I hope you find some support soon. And that you have success finding a new job.

Thank you. It's still hard, but I landed a menial job for now. Hopefully something better calls me in for an interview soon.

I hear you, and this is familiar to me. The comparison thing... Remember that the internet is a bizarre, warping lens. The same life that looks remarkable through it may not, in fact, be so sparkling, or easy, to lead. “I googled your name and was delighted to find that you are thriving in every possible way” ‒ words that I read from an estranged friend in the same week I was in the lowest depression of my life.

I'm not saying their lives are easier, but i get this nagging feeling i'd be better suited to take on their problems than the ones i am dealing with. But i get what you're saying, lots of people could be hiding genuine hardship.

Your conlanging might seem great to someone else, by the way. Who is the objective arbiter?

It's not that the conlangs i try to make suck. It's that i haven't even come close to finishing them. If any are close to finished, it's been years and i have lost track of what i was going for. And i'm aware a finished conlang is kind of an oxymoron.

Ultimately, I believe that you shouldn’t be evaluated purely based on a measure of your output. You’re a person, not an economy. You are something of value: living consciousness. You are remarkable, and you are enough.

I do appreciate that. Thank you. It's not easy and any support is incredibly appreciated.

It's hard to feel like I have as much of a personality or life as the people i interact with. Not just on the internet, but in person. It's been this way since i was a child. It's like all the other people on the block had some hobby- sports, music, knowing other languages, drawing, woodworking, and more. I'm not saying my life is over or i'm doomed, but i feel very depressed about how much all i do is just talk or watch. I should mention some of this could be irrational as i have depression and anxiety. Hell, I want to not just have those experiences myself, but have them enough to catch up to people who have had them for years. I don't expect it to be solved this week, but i wanted to vent that it seemed empty coming from the (seeming) majority of people who have longtime skills and experiences. Remember, i'm not just talking about people online!

bradrn wrote: ↑Wed Oct 07, 2026 6:22 pm

malloc wrote: ↑Wed Oct 07, 2026 4:03 pm Had an interesting idea for a satirical villain: a Calvinist teacher who decides at the beginning of the school year who will pass and fail and deliberately sabotages students to ensure they fail despite their best efforts.

I passed this along to someone I know elsewhere who I regularly discuss Christianity with, and she liked it too.

To be read in the cadence of Adam West’s Batman:

“It’s simple, Robin. We know the painting is in Hamburg because of that stuffed tiger the thief left behind. There was a stuffed tiger in the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes. Unlicensed decals of Calvin include depictions of the Calvin character kneeling before a cross. Calvinism is a school of thought in Protestant religious circles. His views contrast with those of Martin Luther, who incited the Protestant Reformation. The Luther burger is a hamburger where the bun is not brioche but donuts. Hamburger is named for Hamburg, Germany. Ergo, where would we find the artwork and the thief who took it? In Hamburg.”

EDIT: “Holy Holy Roman Empire, Batman!”

Writing question: is there a written counterpart to an activity montage sequence in a movie?

Suppose that in a work of fiction, there are some people in a place, and then something spurs them into action. Something has happened, or they got the news that something has happened elsewhere, or they've collectively made a decision, or their leaders have made a decision, or whatever. In any case, now there's something to be done, they want to do it, and to some extent, they turn into a human version of a busy anthill.

Now, in a movie or a TV or streaming show, the usual way to show this would probably be some kind of quick montage sequence. People would be shown doing various things, performing various tasks, perhaps completing various tasks, perhaps failing at various tasks. It might all be set to music which could be energetic, or dramatic, or amusing, or some combination of these.

But is there any good way to bring the same kind of thing across in writing?

Raphael wrote: ↑Thu Oct 08, 2026 12:43 pm Writing question: is there a written counterpart to an activity montage sequence in a movie?

Suppose that in a work of fiction, there are some people in a place, and then something spurs them into action. Something has happened, or they got the news that something has happened elsewhere, or they've collectively made a decision, or their leaders have made a decision, or whatever. In any case, now there's something to be done, they want to do it, and to some extent, they turn into a human version of a busy anthill.

Now, in a movie or a TV or streaming show, the usual way to show this would probably be some kind of quick montage sequence. People would be shown doing various things, performing various tasks, perhaps completing various tasks, perhaps failing at various tasks. It might all be set to music which could be energetic, or dramatic, or amusing, or some combination of these.

But is there any good way to bring the same kind of thing across in writing?

My instinct says: novels often use time jumps instead. When you're back in the action, it's clear a bunch of mundane but necessary-for-the-plot stuff has happened. The imagination fills it in in about as much detail as a montage.

A good exemplar would be Le Guin, who can bend time so easily as to look effortless. One paragraph details the nitty gritty of a singular action, and the next spans six months of its repercussions, perhaps among a whole group of characters, and then you're right back in media res for the next paragraph as if nothing had happened; I often notice how deft and untelegraphed these shifts are in her writing.

Still, there are probably lots of other ways to do this.

bradrn wrote: ↑Wed Oct 07, 2026 6:22 pm

malloc wrote: ↑Wed Oct 07, 2026 4:03 pm Had an interesting idea for a satirical villain: a Calvinist teacher who decides at the beginning of the school year who will pass and fail and deliberately sabotages students to ensure they fail despite their best efforts.

I passed this along to someone I know elsewhere who I regularly discuss Christianity with, and she liked it too.

It is indeed a very piquant idea.

For bonus cred: what would be the equivalents for teachers of other religious (and not just Christian) persuasions? One might postulate a Hindu requiring the students to keep taking classes year after year until they get top marks.

Raphael wrote: ↑Thu Oct 08, 2026 12:43 pm In any case, now there's something to be done, they want to do it, and to some extent, they turn into a human version of a busy anthill.

Now, in a movie or a TV or streaming show, the usual way to show this would probably be some kind of quick montage sequence.

But is there any good way to bring the same kind of thing across in writing?

This is not the forte of prose. But you can take two approaches.

One, imitate the montage. Move to short choppy sentences, say in a line or two what each person/team is doing. Or use very short paragraphs with line breaks in between. Or provide snippets of dialog as if cut from a longer narrative— think, what would be heard during that cinematic montage.

Two, fall back on general description rather than moment-by-moment narration. This can be as simple as "That was it, everyone went to work, and the place was like an anthill for three weeks." If it's necessary to the plot, describe what the different people are doing. Or just focus on whatever the protagonist is doing. "My job was getting the veeblefetzer running. This involved...."

Thank you, sasasha and zompist!

sasasha wrote: ↑Thu Oct 08, 2026 2:29 pm A good exemplar would be Le Guin, who can bend time so easily as to look effortless. One paragraph details the nitty gritty of a singular action, and the next spans six months of its repercussions, perhaps among a whole group of characters, and then you're right back in media res for the next paragraph as if nothing had happened; I often notice how deft and untelegraphed these shifts are in her writing.

I dearly love Le Guin’s writing, but I’m struggling to think of any specific examples of her doing this. (Of course, that’s arguably the whole point of doing it well…)

Raphael wrote: ↑Thu Oct 08, 2026 12:43 pm Writing question: is there a written counterpart to an activity montage sequence in a movie?

Suppose that in a work of fiction, there are some people in a place, and then something spurs them into action. Something has happened, or they got the news that something has happened elsewhere, or they've collectively made a decision, or their leaders have made a decision, or whatever. In any case, now there's something to be done, they want to do it, and to some extent, they turn into a human version of a busy anthill.

Now, in a movie or a TV or streaming show, the usual way to show this would probably be some kind of quick montage sequence. People would be shown doing various things, performing various tasks, perhaps completing various tasks, perhaps failing at various tasks. It might all be set to music which could be energetic, or dramatic, or amusing, or some combination of these.

But is there any good way to bring the same kind of thing across in writing?

Yes, with very short chapters or paragraphs, jumping from one time to the next or one character to the next.
I think you often see this in thrillers; though Annie Ernaux's the Years is basically this over an entire lifetime.

Ares Land wrote: ↑Fri Oct 09, 2026 2:44 am

Yes, with very short chapters or paragraphs, jumping from one time to the next or one character to the next.
I think you often see this in thrillers; though Annie Ernaux's the Years is basically this over an entire lifetime.

Thank you, too!

bradrn wrote: ↑Thu Oct 08, 2026 6:12 pm

sasasha wrote: ↑Thu Oct 08, 2026 2:29 pm A good exemplar would be Le Guin, who can bend time so easily as to look effortless. One paragraph details the nitty gritty of a singular action, and the next spans six months of its repercussions, perhaps among a whole group of characters, and then you're right back in media res for the next paragraph as if nothing had happened; I often notice how deft and untelegraphed these shifts are in her writing.

I dearly love Le Guin’s writing, but I’m struggling to think of any specific examples of her doing this. (Of course, that’s arguably the whole point of doing it well…)

I listened to it on audiobook, which makes it difficult to refer to, but try The Dispossessed – Shevek's childhood and adolescence is told in much this way, to my memory, with vivid episodes years apart separated by as little as a paragraph. Also IIRC there are a few such shifts in The Left Hand of Darkness, Rocannon's World and Earthsea, though I haven't gone through and identified them.

Random: the other day, I had to drive my friend's car from the repair shop. Thing is that he has a fully electric car and, while I've been in electic vehicles before, this was the first time I've driven one myself. It felt a bit unnerving to not have the sound and vibration cues that I'm used to in a conventional car: maybe I'd become more used to it if I drove electric cars more often, but, when you're used to certain sounds and feelings to know if things are fine with a car and they're not there, it's a bit off-putting.

No, I don't often drive here in Europe: roads are a lot smaller than I'm used to and cars are relatively expensive compared to the cost of public transportation in Luxembourg (free). That said, I do have a Luxembourgish driver's license, which is part of why I got roped into helping my friend out, but I got my license in part because of the rules for use of/exchanges from non-EU licenses.

lëtzeshark wrote: ↑Fri Oct 09, 2026 7:01 pmRandom: the other day, I had to drive my friend's car from the repair shop. Thing is that he has a fully electric car and, while I've been in electic vehicles before, this was the first time I've driven one myself. It felt a bit unnerving to not have the sound and vibration cues that I'm used to in a conventional car: maybe I'd become more used to it if I drove electric cars more often, but, when you're used to certain sounds and feelings to know if things are fine with a car and they're not there, it's a bit off-putting.

Sounds interesting. I must admit that I have never driven or even ridden an electric car myself. I have been planning on upgrading to one, although my current budget makes that quite difficult.

https://youtu.be/tfqk_LCpKzs?si=cWJd6NY7AGmgGR0q

Yi Scripts

tlacamazatl wrote: ↑Mon Oct 12, 2026 1:29 pm https://youtu.be/tfqk_LCpKzs?si=cWJd6NY7AGmgGR0q

Yi Scripts

Interesting, thanks for the info. I think I saw this script during travels around Guangxi Province, but it might actually instead have been at a theme park called Splendid China Folk Village in Shenzhen, which had some beautiful calligraphy displayed in (and on) buildings representing different ethnic groups of China.

Today and yesterday I wrote up a bunch of thoughts that have been brewing about flaidish music. It turned into a fairly meaty essay. A portion is currently with zomp so he can check the Flaidish and offer any comments. I don’t really know what to do with the document when it is finished. I’m worried that it’s too detailed to be of general interest ‒ yet without the detail, it wouldn’t have felt worthwhile to create. I liked making it, anyway... We have to be prepared to be our own audience!

In the process I really enjoyed spending more time with Flaidish. It’s really a cool language. I love the ʔubeer folk tale example in the grammar and was thinking of trying to make a video of it, just for fun... Perhaps with a bespoke flaidish score... We’ll see if that ever happens.