Sean
Pettibone - Letters
Subject: Here's what I need to say,
my friend...
Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2001 17:25:31 +0800
From: "Sean Pettibone" <sean529@>
To: lasermouse@worldnet.att.net
Michael:
We are friends--good friends, as a
matter of fact. And because I believe honesty, even perceivably
"harsh" honesty, is both integral to friendship and subsequently
allowed because of friendship, I will proceed with my honest feelings
being experienced at this moment. I
want to let you know that finally, today, I appear to have gotten my
computer lined up with operational Internet access. This e-mail address
will probably only be temporary and there are certainly numerous bugs on
this end that need to be worked out, but basically, for the moment, I am
able to go online. So, of course, I immediately went and checked out The-Laser.com.
Congratulations--the site looks great, Mike, and I'm truly proud to be a
part of it. I have so many more things to do today and Kaitlyn needs to
use my computer right now, so I was only able to go on for a moment (I'll
surely check it out more in-depth and far more regularly later and from
here on).
However, with the "Journey From
Thought to Realization" introduction being the first piece I read in
full and seeing as how you requested reader feedback (I would provide it
anyway as we ARE friends and you know you're always going to get an
opinion, wanted or not, from me!), let me comment on this specific article
for now: This piece is good Michael, with the diction dramatic and the
writing both evocative and clearly representational of a writer who is
above and beyond your typical video game hack. Permit me to say, however,
that in all in honesty, I was unnerved by the copious amount of spelling
errors. In particular, I was appalled at the continual misspelling of
"it's" in place of the correct "its"--you misspelled
this word no less than EIGHT times in this single article, and I can only
imagine that it sees further butchering throughout the rest of the
site.
This "it's/its" issue is
something I have ranted about in regard to other writers, and it is a
matter you said you both agreed with me on, as well as understood
perfectly in regard to the correct usage of the two words. This is why I
am surprised to find it so flagrantly misspelled here in the article, but
please understand, I am only trying to help you and I do hope you take the
criticism well. As a friend to you and as a contributor to the Laser site,
here are all of the errors I could find through a cursory examination of
"The Journey From Thought to Realization." You should replace
the incorrect "IT'S" with the correct "ITS" in all of
the following instances: "it's period," "it's
horizons," "in it's unique," "it's integrity,"
"it's first prototype," "of it's past," "it's
initially" and "it's shackles." Always remember Mike,
"it's" is in fact an abbreviation for "IT IS," while
"its" without the apostrophe is forever and only to be used for
the possessive connotation. If you extrapolate "it's
horizons...," as you have written it, into its full phrasing, you get
"it is horizons," which is hardly what you meant to say in this
instance or any of the remaining and similar ones. You want to connote the
possessive, as in "the Laser's horizons," and so you must use
"its" without the apostrophe, as you must for every example I
previously noted. In the same piece, you mistakenly wrote "now find
myself," when in fact you should write either "I now find
myself" or "now I find myself;" either way, it requires the
addition of the pronoun.
The phrase "not generic or
condescending" should read "neither generic nor
condescending," and the sentence that you wrote as
"...frustrating agitation of mindless regurgitation" is both
needlessly wordy and, thus, nonsensical. Compress it and forego the
verbosity. Early in the article you wrote (approximately) "further
and further away," which is incorrect and should read "farther
and farther" as you are describing a distance, for which
"farther" instead of "further" is always used.
"Further" is used to convey degrees or depth, as in "she's
going to look into the issue further." The phrase you wrote as
"forward looking" should be hyphenated as
"forward-looking," and when you wrote "Perhaps,
these," what you should correctly do is omit the comma so it reads
"Perhaps these." At the end of "The Journey," you
wrote "A warning," with a comma, when in fact it should read
"A warning:" with a colon following it. Finally, at some point
in the piece you wrote "unexpected turns, try..." when you
should write "turns; try..." with the semicolon following
"turns." There doubtlessly are a few other mistakes to be
corrected, particularly in regard to syntax and usage, but this covers the
most obvious errors in "The Journey From Thought to
Realization."
Again Mike, I indeed do like the
site--you went all out in its design and construction and the effort shows
in the final presentation; you are to be congratulated. Great site.
Regarding the indescribably delayed Alien: Resurrection review: I
suggested it before but am insisting on it now--the only way I'll feel
comfortable is if, when I can write it (hopefully soon), I give it to you
for free.
Of course neither you nor I could have
foreseen all of the debacles to befall me in the past months, thus
rendering my assignment severely overdue, but that doesn't mean that as a
friend or editor you're still obligated to pay me for what I couldn't get
in on time. The fault is mine and not yours, so I'll write it for free.
Okay Mike, I feel better getting these things off of my chest. I hope you
understand why I'm mad regarding your phone-calling habits, and I
additionally hope you take my critique of the site's "intro"
piece in both an understanding and constructive fashion. I love ya, my
friend, as I hope you know. Take care and call me soon...
-SEAN-
From: Sean Pettibone <seanpettibone@>
To: lasermouse@att.net
Subject: Hey Michael, sorry, I was out of town and I'm leaving again!
Date: Wed, 9 Jul 2003 20:21:32 -0400
Michael,
As I'm sure you've realized, yet AGAIN I
was unable to keep my intention and word to get something to you on
time-in this case, the long-promised CD I made for you!-but I wanted to
let you know why: my dad invited me up north for last week/weekend right
at the last minute (my parents had totally neglected to tell me that
anyone, much less them and a bunch of friends, were going to our cottage
for the Fourth), so I gladly accepted and had no time to finish and ship
your CD before I had to abruptly leave. sorry about that, my friend. and
now that I'm leaving again today, to go back up north to Harbor Springs,
unfortunately i won't have time to get it off to you this week, either.
when I return, though, barring cataclysmic events, I WILL get it out to
you, captain!
Yeah, so I just got back in town from
Harbor Springs two days ago, but I'm heading back up north again today. I
applied for yet ANOTHER job last week (probably just another rejection!)
and yet still haven't heard a damn thing from them (it was another U of M
job, i can't remember if i told you since there's been so many), so, since
I've got nothing employment-wise going on here (Jesus, it's getting
bleak), since i won't have to pay for food or utilities while I'm up
there, and since i absolutely love it up there (I'm at some of my happiest
up north at Mayzee Bluff-whadya think of the fact that we have a name for
our house, haha?), i'm heading back up today and will be back in Ann Arbor
on Sunday. oh yeah, due to a convoluted situation and problem with my cell
phone i'll tell you about later, i can't use my phone until i get a new
one (same phone number as usual) on Monday (problem with my phone: what a
surprise, eh?). so, we can talk again no problem next week, but i can't
call you right now, so that's why i'm e-mailing.
Ready for this? I have a summertime
fucking COLD. isn't that
Ridiculous? It's July and it's 137
degrees out, and i have a goddamned cold. it's a total mystery how i
caught it up north since neither my mom, dad, our friends Don or Shelly,
their son Nick or his friend Tommy has/had a cold (all staying at our
place this past weekend), and i wasn't even in town/around other people
the day of the night i ended up coming down with it, so it's rather
confounding. it sucks, but I'm taking copious quantities of Zycam
(suspended zinc gel), and as that shit really does work, I think I'm on
the mend.
This past Saturday morning up north was
real sweet, though: I woke up not only with this accursed cold, but also
completely, painfully, stupidly burned and actually blistered on my
face-with numbed skin and attractive "leaking" blister-juice and
everything-from this beey-atch of a sun burn I asininely caused myself to
get on Friday. Really, I didn't think i was outside in the sun that long
that afternoon, but being the ass I
am, I yet again (this same damned thing has happened in the past, so my
parents just looked at me Friday night and said, "jesus, you did it
to yourself again, wow, that's gonna hurt") didn't put on any
sunblock-ironically, I didn't want to "cause any skin blemishes on my
face" by putting lotion on!-and I fell asleep laying down by the
water. two hours later, after sleeping in the glaring sun, especially
strong reflecting off of the water, with no sunblock on whatsoever, I,
thus, ended up FUCKED. you should see me now, looking really, really
handsome: enough blaring color to paint a Monet canvas, gobs of lotion
covering my face (every 30 minutes) in a vain attempt to impede the
cracking and bleeding, hideous blisters on my chin and on my cheeks, raw
red skin under all the continuous sloughing, and with ever-attractive
Neosporin dabbed on the critical parts to prevent infection (a
catch-fucking-22 that's certain to cause forsaken breakouts, dammitol)!
all girls will fall in love with me on first sight, I'm sure of it.
Okay sheet-shaker, baby-maker, booty-raker
and money-taker, I'm off. hope things are going well for you and that you
had a nice time on the Fourth, and I'll talk to you soon. I hope your
family's doing well, Michael, and take care.
-Sean-
From: Sean Pettibone <seanpettibone@>
To: Lasermouse@att.net
Subject: Re: The Return of The Gameroom Blitz
Date: Sat, 30 Aug 2003 20:09:44 -0400
Hey Michael,
Only have a second to type cos I'm
getting ready to go out for the night (driving to the other side of town
to meet up with friends, attend Pontiac's city eat/meet/drink festival
tonight and then hit the bars), but wanted to say again (in case your cell
phone didn't work when i left a message there, since i have no faith in
those fuckers) that I did get your card-so thanks for that-and I'm glad my
package arrived safely at your door. when you get more of an opportunity
after the wedding and all, let me know what you think of those CDs I sent
you: two totally different ends of the spectrum, I know (one death metal
and the other folk music!), but both excellent records.
Again, I don't know why you're so
worried that i would be "offended" by the card you sent or that
I would possibly find it "in bad taste" ... it was humorous, and
I'm not at all offended; really, it's not a big deal, it was a funny card
to send and I laughed. I've said this to you before, Michael, but you
apologize way too much to people and worry too much about the things you
do and how they'll be perceived-honestly, I can think of very few times
when your concerns, at least in regard to me, have been founded. in fact,
i can't even think of one time at the moment that you've said
"sorry" and worried about me perceiving something you've
done/said in an unfavorable light, and having that concern actually be
proven true. i mean, it's really awesome that you're concerned for other
people and their feelings (there are far too few people out there like
that who actually give a shit about others), but the things that you worry
about are, truly, insignificant and don't warrant your concern. my friend,
don't worry so much about how small things you do or say will be
perceived! and this is coming from someone like me who worries a lot
himself, too, haha!
Well, best of luck with your brother's
wedding, and give him my best wishes for a happy marriage. Hey, thanks for
letting me know of the Gameroom Blitz thing. Actually, I had never in my
life checked out that website of his (i don't even know how long Ragan has
been doing the Blitz?), but I took a look at it when you linked me to it.
I dunno, it's okay, nothing excellent or special to write home about. The
layout is clean and nice, and it appears (at least at quick glance) easy
to navigate. Oh well.
Well, take care, and have a good time in
California. Talk to you later, Michael.
-Sean-
