Shadow Footprints

Wanderings in Virtu and Verity

Category: Words

  • The Cooperative Principle, and Neurodivergent Communication

    The Cooperative Principle, and Neurodivergent Communication

    Communication is more than just exchanging words; it’s about effectively conveying meaning so that both the speaker and listener understand each other. Linguist Paul Grice introduced the Cooperative Principle to explain how people engage in meaningful conversations. This principle is guided by four fundamental maxims: Quantity, Quality, Relation, and Manner.

  • Ozymandias

    Ozymandias

    Some poems linger in the mind long after the last line is read, and Ozymandias is one such piece. At first glance, it is a simple tale: a traveller recounts the ruins of a once-mighty statue, its inscription boasting of eternal power, now surrounded by nothing but boundless sand.

  • Quote – Be a reluctant enthusiast

    Quote – Be a reluctant enthusiast

    I like this quote by Edward Abbey about being a part-time crusader, a half-hearted fanatic.

  • Maybe-No People

    Maybe-No People

    Does maybe mean no? To some people, it does. To others, it doesn’t. Like the scientists turning on the Large Hadron Collider, the chance that something could happen makes me uncomfortable stating things in absolute terms. When I say yes, I will do my best to achieve the outcome. If I don’t succeed, I feel bad…

  • Quote – Formula for success

    Quote – Formula for success

    I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure – which is: Try to please everybody. —Herbert B. Swope

  • Quote – Boys

    Boys will be boys, and so will a lot of middle-aged men.— Kin Hubbard

  • Quote – Reality

    Reality TV lets us keep our minds off of reality. — Anne Kreamer

  • Quote – Simple things

    Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not one bit simpler. — Albert Einstein

  • Prequel to an excellent series

    I have just finished reading The Dawn of Amber by John Betancourt. It’s the start of a prequel trilogy to the Amber chronicles by Roger Zelazny. Roger wrote the two chronicles of Amber books; the first was narrated by Corwin, and the second by his son. The First Chronicles of Amber The Second Chronicles of…

  • Quote – Growing Old

    You don’t stop laughing because you grow old. You grow old because you stop laughing.— Michael Pritchard