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Dr. Coffelt -
This is Lawrence Vanderpool. I was in your ENGL2210 class this semester, Ancient World Literature. I met with you during office hours this semester to discuss my grades in the class and to see where things would stand when the final was done. I have a few things to talk about.
Firstly is that my TA couldn't open my Othello composition and I deleted the file before I found about this. I asked him to email me the file back and I'd change the file format. I absolutely have to have this grade, as you may remember, several of my compositions were late or not turned in and I was severely worried about that destroying my grade. Please, see if he still has this file, I can't not have that grade.
Then the next part of this email. This may be a bit long-winded so bear with me.
Your course was wonderfully informative. Having already taken it once, and failed it due to attendance, I made an extra effort to come to all the classes. My attendance therefore was fine. I love the literature - as I wrote on the test today, Dante's Divine Comedy is a work that has always captivated me since first exploring it in my high school course. Gilgamesh has been something that I've written about extensively both for classes and in my personal writings which I publish on a blog. (I know, every amateur has a blog these days!) I don't think that the Renaissance period should be included in Ancient World Literature but I like to think of this class as Ancient World Literature, with a focus on comparison to Renaissance writings. I once heard my music theory teacher say that Haydn is the ears through which we listen to all music - meaning that he was the inventor of modern music, the standardizer of our classical ideas, the father of instrumental music, truly. Mozart and Beethoven may be the most well-known composers but neither would have existed without Haydn's teachings and influence. The same I think, goes for Ancient World Literature; the Greek and Roman epics, the Chinese poetry, the Middle Eastern tales, these are the eyes through which we read all literature since. I am fascinated by the evolution of literature.
The point of this email is not to give my opinion on your excellent course. It is instead to ask you to exercise discretion when you submit final grades. I know - the numbers tell the story. Or, rather, we assume they do. Do they really? My TA's didn't agree with my style of writing... it is very stream-of-thought, conversational, and poetic, rather than academic. That's because I'm a musician, and I'm very very used to exercising that part of my brain. I think my papers are written beautifully, with an emphasis on the idea behind the idea. I feel that, in group classes, people become so focused on getting the answer correct that they forget that we aren't hear to learn the correct answers. We are instead there to learn the concepts behind them. We're there to think critically and not learn the literature, but learn how to learn literature. I'll draw another parallel with music here, in that my private lesson teacher is not teaching me repertoire, he's teaching me to learn repertoire. If it weren't for this difference, we'd graduate this university and be completely lost with no idea how to continue.
What I'm trying to say with this is that I learned how better to think critically about literature. I tried, during group discussion, to provide ideas that nobody had thought of yet; the whirlwind in Dante as symbolic for the power of literature rather than to be taken so literally; the Apple as the fruit on the Tree of Knowledge being influenced by Newton (I did a little research later and embarassingly realized that Milton was actually dead before Newton published his ideas on the theory of gravity.. oops!) I didn't answer your question, I answered the question behind the question.
Is this not what this course was designed to do? Have I not then, succeeded at this course? My test grades are fine, my only failure is that I would realize a day late that a paper would be due, I'd forget to turn them in after writing them. I'm easily distracted and very forgetful. This sin, I think, shouldn't outweigh my participation in the classes and my success in learning both the material and in learning how to learn.
I appreciate your time reading this email, it reads much like my papers, stream-of-consciousness and straight from the heart, unedited, unproofed. I'm asking you to exercise your discretion. I know - the numbers tell the story. But your discretion and your understanding of me and my performance tell the ideals behind the story, they tell the moral and the meaning. I have to pass this class, if even with a D, to remain in school. My GPA would suffer horribly with an F and improve moderately with a D. I'm not asking for a miracle, and I don't believe I'm asking for a grade I didn't earn. I'm asking for a D, a barely-passing grade, my successes with content and understanding balanced with my failures with responsibility and memory. Please, exercise discretion when you submit the grades.
Thank you for your time. If you'd like to meet me at any time to discuss this, please let me know.
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Well, what do you think?
  
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Professors get like 100 emails a day. Be more to the point and don't waste his time.
I appreciate your time reading this email, it reads much like my papers, stream-of-consciousness and straight from the heart, unedited, unproofed.
Your professor is going to see thru this and know that you're just a really lazy individual. It doesn't help that you have a history of being lazy in the class either.
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Sounds good, but don't forget to slip in $200.
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On December 16 2009 11:28 Chef wrote:Professors get like 100 emails a day. Be more to the point and don't waste his time. Show nested quote +I appreciate your time reading this email, it reads much like my papers, stream-of-consciousness and straight from the heart, unedited, unproofed. Your professor is going to see thru this and know that you're just a really lazy individual. It doesn't help that you have a history of being lazy in the class either.
I'm not a lazy individual. They might -think- that I'm a lazy individual, but they won't -know- it, there's a distinction please.
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I think you sound incredibly lazy trying to bullshit your way into a better grade
not to mention how ridiculously pretentious the entire thing was
next time put some effort into the class and maybe you won't have to beg the professor for a better grade
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I think you should have spent this time getting a better grade.
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It took me 5 minutes to write, that 5 minutes wouldn't have done me any good getting a better grade; it was one of those bullshit blended half-online classes where they post the essay assignments late, and the blackboard system of online classes is fucking retarded, doesn't live up to any web standards, is incredibly difficult to navigate and operate, and half the time I just wouldn't realize there was a paper due because we haven't had class in a classroom for two weeks. Fucking stupid class designed for failures.
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expect a "i'll look into it" and then a failing grade
just wondering, why do you not plan, edit, proof or hand in your papers in an english class >_>?
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On December 16 2009 11:35 JeeJee wrote:
expect a "i'll look into it" and then a failing grade
just wondering, why do you not plan, edit, proof or hand in your papers in an english class >_>?
Cause they're more REAL that way, bro. u gotta skate.
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On December 16 2009 11:35 JeeJee wrote:
expect a "i'll look into it" and then a failing grade
just wondering, why do you not plan, edit, proof or hand in your papers in an english class >_>?
cause I'm a fucking music major and don't have time for that shit. And we're not allowed to 'hand-in' papers, it HAS to be submitted online in EXACTLY this format and it's fucking stupid.
my papers are excellent, they address excellent ideas and are laid out well. I've always been a great writer. The TA's don't like it because it doesn't conform to their silly little 5th grade rubrick.
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On second thought, saying that you deleted your file after you submitted it doesn't sound very believable. No one does that. I think you need to come up with a better excuse. What does your TA know about this?
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I thought it was ok, might be abit over the top since you're arguing for a D. I mean honestly, if D is what you're shooting for, all those things you said about how you appreciate the class just doesn't seem as believable. And I'm not sure if you should tell your prof that all your compositions were unedited and unproofed, not sure if that leaves a good impression...
Oh, I hate blackboard too, piece of crap can't do anything and loads 40x slower than ccnet.
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You sound like a douche. I could not make myself read the entire thing, and that is uncommon to say the least. I guess you have a special talent.
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honestly i thought the pretentiousness in the letter was just your way of sucking up and trying to bullshit some good grades
but damn you actually believe that stuff
im amazed
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haha i did something similar, but my e-mail wasn't as long
my prof. sent me back an e-mail saying "we'll take it into consideration" and i passed the class
gl~
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On December 16 2009 11:37 Mekhami wrote:Show nested quote +On December 16 2009 11:35 JeeJee wrote:
expect a "i'll look into it" and then a failing grade
just wondering, why do you not plan, edit, proof or hand in your papers in an english class >_>? cause I'm a fucking music major and don't have time for that shit. And we're not allowed to 'hand-in' papers, it HAS to be submitted online in EXACTLY this format and it's fucking stupid. my papers are excellent, they address excellent ideas and are laid out well. I've always been a great writer. The TA's don't like it because it doesn't conform to their silly little 5th grade rubrick.
sorry
did you say you're lacking time because you're a MUSIC major?
there's nothing wrong with submitting papers online (it's uhh way more convenient), and how hard is it to save it in a specific format (which i'm pretty sure is either pdf or doc, a la the most common ones)?
just for the record, you would have a hard time convincing anyone that an unplanned, unedited and unproofed paper is "excellent". and even if it is, what good is it if you don't hand it in?
sorry, just trying to show you the prof's point of view here..
but good luck either way in your endeavour 
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My dad's a prof and when he gets such a long freaking mail from guys like you he just goes /delete.
Gl
What i'm trying to say is, if you don't want to piss him off more with your bullshit, just keep it short and to the point.
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turn your papers in on time ffs. maybe the professor would agree if you had any sort of justification for being lazy and thoughtless and "easily distracted," but you kind of just throw it out there and hope that he'll be okay with you not turning in shit on time.
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When I read it, I got this "plz don't fail me I'm better than the TAs think I am" vibe. I don't know, I think the prof may read it and think "Oh, another arrogant little punk that doesn't know his place."
I personally don't think you should send it
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Go buy a style guide. You have no idea how to write. This is the sort of e-mail college professors forward to the whole department to laugh about.
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On December 16 2009 11:22 Mekhami wrote:
I feel that, in group classes, people become so focused on getting the answer correct that they forget that we aren't hear to learn the correct answers.
Might want to brush up on your spelling before you send it. Unless that's part of the stream-of-thought way that you like your writing to be.
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You're what's wrong with the college system today.
Grade inflation, etc.
If you truly are an artist and you're more concerned with the creative side of things then you shouldn't be so fucking worried about your grades, and it seems that you're not, as you're slacking off THIS BADLY.
I still can't fathom that you're close to failing a course that has online work. Those are complete bullshit courses. Also, it's a lit class. You can sleep through a lit class and get A's. I know, I do it regularly.
Suck it up and grow up.
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Wow , ok so you failed the class the first time around, and now the 2nd time around you are going to fail the class again, yet you have the nerve to say how great your papers are, and that this is a total injustice.
Failing something twice kinda shows you don't care enough.
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Actually, I thought the OP's letter was sincere and well-written. A little melodramatic and long-winded when you consider that professors don't have too much time to read, but other than that, decently written.
Given the situation, it would've been better to cut it to two paragraphs and skip out a bit on describing the beauty of your papers~
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On December 16 2009 11:46 AwarE-- wrote:
You're what's wrong with the college system today.
Grade inflation, etc.
If you truly are an artist and you're more concerned with the creative side of things then you shouldn't be so fucking worried about your grades, and it seems that you're not, as you're slacking off THIS BADLY.
I still can't fathom that you're close to failing a course that has online work. Those are complete bullshit courses. Also, it's a lit class. You can sleep through a lit class and get A's. I know, I do it regularly.
Suck it up and grow up.
LOL? It has nothing to do with people like me, it's a broken system designed to teach tests and advance university standing at the cost of education. Please, you talk out your ass. This was not a complete bullshit course, it was a very difficult course made more difficult by inept TA's and a rather inept professor. I knew more about Dante than she did, and she's got a fucking doctorate.
Everyone in this thread jumps to these amazing assumptions about how I'm such a slacker, I'm 'that guy'. I'm especially amused by the guy that said 'go buy a style guide' LAWL. I'd love to read your 'style guide' influenced writings...
And re: the one typo, I noticed it and fixed it before I sent it.
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Maybe you should post some of your "balls to the wall" papers here in the blog and we could read through it.
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On December 16 2009 11:51 Sadistx wrote:
Maybe you should post some of your "balls to the wall" papers here in the blog and we could read through it.
I would but I delete them cause I'm a) ocd about my documents folder and b) a moron
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Fighting the power isn't the way to go. if you want to pass the class you have to conform to whatever writing style your professor expects of you.
You really just sound like an arrogant lazy douche and whether or not that is the case isn't relevant. If everyone here perceives it that way, chances are your professor will too. Remember that time you made a thread in a strategy forum and came off as an egotistical jackass and then got super mad when people called you out on it?
This is a pretty similar situation right now.
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writing all of your thoughts without any planning/structure and then throwing them away immediately afterward doesn't strike me as a very academically successful method
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On December 16 2009 11:48 Mekhami wrote:Show nested quote +On December 16 2009 11:46 AwarE-- wrote:
You're what's wrong with the college system today.
Grade inflation, etc.
If you truly are an artist and you're more concerned with the creative side of things then you shouldn't be so fucking worried about your grades, and it seems that you're not, as you're slacking off THIS BADLY.
I still can't fathom that you're close to failing a course that has online work. Those are complete bullshit courses. Also, it's a lit class. You can sleep through a lit class and get A's. I know, I do it regularly.
Suck it up and grow up. LOL? It has nothing to do with people like me, it's a broken system designed to teach tests and advance university standing at the cost of education. Please, you talk out your ass. This was not a complete bullshit course, it was a very difficult course made more difficult by inept TA's and a rather inept professor. I knew more about Dante than she did, and she's got a fucking doctorate. Everyone in this thread jumps to these amazing assumptions about how I'm such a slacker, I'm 'that guy'. I'm especially amused by the guy that said 'go buy a style guide' LAWL. I'd love to read your 'style guide' influenced writings... And re: the one typo, I noticed it and fixed it before I sent it.
She probably knew Milton wasn't influenced by Newton. "HEY! Apples... This story has apples... You know there's a story about apples and gravity! Maybe that has something to do with this" "Yeah, and grocery stores have apples too!" Random association isn't exactly the mark of a genius 
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Holy shit I hope you didn't actually send that.
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OP sucks. If you got to college you should be able to write an essay in the correct format and style.
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On December 16 2009 11:55 Chef wrote:She probably knew Milton wasn't influenced by Newton. "HEY! Apples... This story has apples... You know there's a story about apples and gravity! Maybe that has something to do with this" "Yeah, and grocery stores have apples too!" Random association isn't exactly the mark of a genius
+ Show Spoiler [off topic] +
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On December 16 2009 11:55 Chef wrote:Show nested quote +On December 16 2009 11:48 Mekhami wrote:On December 16 2009 11:46 AwarE-- wrote:
You're what's wrong with the college system today.
Grade inflation, etc.
If you truly are an artist and you're more concerned with the creative side of things then you shouldn't be so fucking worried about your grades, and it seems that you're not, as you're slacking off THIS BADLY.
I still can't fathom that you're close to failing a course that has online work. Those are complete bullshit courses. Also, it's a lit class. You can sleep through a lit class and get A's. I know, I do it regularly.
Suck it up and grow up. LOL? It has nothing to do with people like me, it's a broken system designed to teach tests and advance university standing at the cost of education. Please, you talk out your ass. This was not a complete bullshit course, it was a very difficult course made more difficult by inept TA's and a rather inept professor. I knew more about Dante than she did, and she's got a fucking doctorate. Everyone in this thread jumps to these amazing assumptions about how I'm such a slacker, I'm 'that guy'. I'm especially amused by the guy that said 'go buy a style guide' LAWL. I'd love to read your 'style guide' influenced writings... And re: the one typo, I noticed it and fixed it before I sent it. She probably knew Milton wasn't influenced by Newton. "HEY! Apples... This story has apples... You know there's a story about apples and gravity! Maybe that has something to do with this" "Yeah, and grocery stores have apples too!" Random association isn't exactly the mark of a genius
... Actually she, being half-retarded, said, 'While that's certainly an idea, I think the Newton thing was a myth!' well NO SHIT SHERLOCK. She had no idea that Newton published post-death of Milton. She's unbelievably stupid. And the apple story is actually quite clever if it worked... the theory of gravity and newton's influence in that day paralleled with the fruit of the tree of knowledge? THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE? It's completely applicable, if inaccurate. If the dates were different, I think I could make a strong case for it.
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lol. ur a fine writer. good luck i suppose. there was 1 grammatical mistake tho, the part where u said "we are hear to..not there to.." mispelled "here" lol so he might smell a sense of quickly-typed-bs.
but buddy...dont slack in classes that are not of your interest. i know its easier said than done, but declaring that you're a music major is not an excuse, nor a reason to do poorly in other areas. especially when ur not bad at classes like this one for example. just try harder and dont take classes that ur not interested in unless u have to, and if u do dont fail them twice =X let know what he says!
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Damn, Jerebread beat me to the typo lol.
Hahahahaha, oh you artists. Not a SECOND YEAR ENGLISH CLASS OMG - I have to be able to write in a concise and constructed logical manner instead of just spewing out whatever comes to mind stream-of-consciousness style?
I hope you pass the class, if only because universities need your tuition to afford expensive lab equipment.
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On December 16 2009 11:54 DoctorHelvetica wrote:
Fighting the power isn't the way to go. if you want to pass the class you have to conform to whatever writing style your professor expects of you.
You really just sound like an arrogant lazy douche and whether or not that is the case isn't relevant. If everyone here perceives it that way, chances are your professor will too. Remember that time you made a thread in a strategy forum and came off as an egotistical jackass and then got super mad when people called you out on it?
This is a pretty similar situation right now.
Lol you're a huge douche and anything you say is immediately filtered by me. Thanks anyway.
And really, your opinions of me aren't ... valid? ... I'm not really concerned with how a bunch of nerds feel about me... you can tell me the email was too thick and I'll believe it, or that it won't work and I'll think you're probably right, but your opinion of me is rather useless because you're looking through your own eyes which are most likely filled with stupid.
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Hahaha this guy has to be a troll.
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On December 16 2009 11:57 Mekhami wrote:
... Actually she, being half-retarded, said, 'While that's certainly an idea, I think the Newton thing was a myth!' well NO SHIT SHERLOCK. She had no idea that Newton published post-death of Milton. She's unbelievably stupid. And the apple story is actually quite clever if it worked... the theory of gravity and newton's influence in that day paralleled with the fruit of the tree of knowledge? THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE? It's completely applicable, if inaccurate. If the dates were different, I think I could make a strong case for it.
You're defending an argument that is literally objectively wrong, and you're calling your professor retarded for calling you out on it?
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On December 16 2009 11:48 Mekhami wrote:Show nested quote +On December 16 2009 11:46 AwarE-- wrote:
You're what's wrong with the college system today.
Grade inflation, etc.
If you truly are an artist and you're more concerned with the creative side of things then you shouldn't be so fucking worried about your grades, and it seems that you're not, as you're slacking off THIS BADLY.
I still can't fathom that you're close to failing a course that has online work. Those are complete bullshit courses. Also, it's a lit class. You can sleep through a lit class and get A's. I know, I do it regularly.
Suck it up and grow up. LOL? It has nothing to do with people like me, it's a broken system designed to teach tests and advance university standing at the cost of education. Please, you talk out your ass. This was not a complete bullshit course, it was a very difficult course made more difficult by inept TA's and a rather inept professor. I knew more about Dante than she did, and she's got a fucking doctorate. Everyone in this thread jumps to these amazing assumptions about how I'm such a slacker, I'm 'that guy'. I'm especially amused by the guy that said 'go buy a style guide' LAWL. I'd love to read your 'style guide' influenced writings... And re: the one typo, I noticed it and fixed it before I sent it.
the course was hard, prof was bullshit, TAs bullshit and so stupid, course material was too hard omg, my prof is dumb, i'm smarter than him even though he has a doctorate, omg this whole assignment was bullshit, deadlines are bullshit i had everything done already before time it's just that I didn't hand it in and omg i emailed my paper and then deleted it off my own computer and then went into my email and deleted it from my 'sent emails' folder and then cleared my recycle bin god know why but jeeez please send it back to me now so i can change formatting please
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On December 16 2009 11:48 Mekhami wrote:Show nested quote +On December 16 2009 11:46 AwarE-- wrote:
You're what's wrong with the college system today.
Grade inflation, etc.
If you truly are an artist and you're more concerned with the creative side of things then you shouldn't be so fucking worried about your grades, and it seems that you're not, as you're slacking off THIS BADLY.
I still can't fathom that you're close to failing a course that has online work. Those are complete bullshit courses. Also, it's a lit class. You can sleep through a lit class and get A's. I know, I do it regularly.
Suck it up and grow up. LOL? It has nothing to do with people like me, it's a broken system designed to teach tests and advance university standing at the cost of education. Please, you talk out your ass. This was not a complete bullshit course, it was a very difficult course made more difficult by inept TA's and a rather inept professor. I knew more about Dante than she did, and she's got a fucking doctorate. Everyone in this thread jumps to these amazing assumptions about how I'm such a slacker, I'm 'that guy'. I'm especially amused by the guy that said 'go buy a style guide' LAWL. I'd love to read your 'style guide' influenced writings... And re: the one typo, I noticed it and fixed it before I sent it.
Rofl, it wont fucking matter what kind of writing he has because YOU will fail out of college and he will continue. The "broken" system is gonna kick you in the ass with failing a class not ONCE, but TWICE!
We are not jumping to conclusions; you failed it twice and haven't learned. It could only mean two things, you are a complete retard who can't seem to realize the standards of the course, or you are a lazy fuck who doesn't bother to turn in papers online. And frankly, it looks like both. To make yourself seem like the triangle that doesn't fit into the square is so cliche that if your professor really went through school to get a doctorate, she would vomit at the thought of having to read crap like your email. Have you even calculated your grade to see how far off you are from a D? Or how many papers you missed causing you to have an F? Instead of trying to sway her with your majestic prose, why not as for an extention on one of your late essays. But i guess it's the end of the quarter now and too late. Either way, if you manage to pull a D from this consider yourself very very lucky that she's a nice woman.
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On December 16 2009 12:00 b0lt wrote:Show nested quote +On December 16 2009 11:57 Mekhami wrote:
... Actually she, being half-retarded, said, 'While that's certainly an idea, I think the Newton thing was a myth!' well NO SHIT SHERLOCK. She had no idea that Newton published post-death of Milton. She's unbelievably stupid. And the apple story is actually quite clever if it worked... the theory of gravity and newton's influence in that day paralleled with the fruit of the tree of knowledge? THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE? It's completely applicable, if inaccurate. If the dates were different, I think I could make a strong case for it.
You're defending an argument that is literally objectively wrong, and you're calling your professor retarded for calling you out on it?
I'm saying she DIDN'T call me out on it, she disagreed with it based on a non-related idea which is stupidly obvious. My argument is wrong but not for any reason she could come up with. In fact I think she even said 'That idea is once that's been discussed at some length..' which is obviously not true based on the dates.
She's an imbecile, but the power is the power...
You're all reading this very very wrong lol, you're reading this as a desperation attempt to get a grade I didn't earn, but I wrote it as a persuasive essay to get a grade I think I did earn. I'm not asking for a B, haha, just a little D...
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On December 16 2009 12:00 Straylight wrote:
Hahaha this guy has to be a troll.
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If I can't read it in one sitting when I am bored, I doubt your professor would too. I'd condense it and get straight to the point.
Also, if you sent the file to your TA, it should be in your sent-box.
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8748 Posts
Papers aren't as flexible as you think. Effectiveness at communicating your ideas, grammar, conciseness and coherence can all be evaluated objectively. While style can vary, some styles, probably including yours, are more difficult to competently use. Competence here refers to academic standards.
The way you describe your papers leads me to believe that your writing is too idiosyncratic. While the line of thought presented by your paper may flow beautifully in your mind, that flow is likely dependent on connections that you have made but not expressed in your paper. For every paper you dismiss TA feedback, you miss a chance to develop a skill that you'll likely never learn on your own.
Things like attendance, meeting deadlines, doing every assignment and keeping a backup copy are responsibilities that make up a minimum standard for conduct. The world would suck if people could not rely on other people to do these kinds of things. The only way the world can get rid of the annoyance and inefficiency caused by people failing this standard is to take a hard line with them. Yeah, people can compensate for failures here and there, and that often happens in informal situations, but for real business civilized people have standards. Make the world a better place by meeting them from now on, all the time.
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This totally isn't going to work. I actually wrote a note like this for a high school english teacher, pleading him to show mercy on my pitiful paper. It really wasn't that bad a paper, but I was lazy and didn't have enough sources and citations.
I think that by begging for mercy I actually got a worse grade on that paper. By begging for mercy/forgiveness, you are just showing your teacher, I failed, here and here...and here. Don't do this. EVER. Of course, this was the 3rd semester or my senior year of high school, so the grade didn't really mean that much anyways. However, my point still stands: Hide your weaknesses, capitalize your strengths, and never beg for mercy.
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On December 16 2009 12:02 Creationism wrote:Show nested quote +On December 16 2009 11:48 Mekhami wrote:On December 16 2009 11:46 AwarE-- wrote:
You're what's wrong with the college system today.
Grade inflation, etc.
If you truly are an artist and you're more concerned with the creative side of things then you shouldn't be so fucking worried about your grades, and it seems that you're not, as you're slacking off THIS BADLY.
I still can't fathom that you're close to failing a course that has online work. Those are complete bullshit courses. Also, it's a lit class. You can sleep through a lit class and get A's. I know, I do it regularly.
Suck it up and grow up. LOL? It has nothing to do with people like me, it's a broken system designed to teach tests and advance university standing at the cost of education. Please, you talk out your ass. This was not a complete bullshit course, it was a very difficult course made more difficult by inept TA's and a rather inept professor. I knew more about Dante than she did, and she's got a fucking doctorate. Everyone in this thread jumps to these amazing assumptions about how I'm such a slacker, I'm 'that guy'. I'm especially amused by the guy that said 'go buy a style guide' LAWL. I'd love to read your 'style guide' influenced writings... And re: the one typo, I noticed it and fixed it before I sent it. Rofl, it wont fucking matter what kind of writing he has because YOU will fail out of college and he will continue. The "broken" system is gonna kick you in the ass with failing a class not ONCE, but TWICE! We are not jumping to conclusions; you failed it twice and haven't learned. It could only mean two things, you are a complete retard who can't seem to realize the standards of the course, or you are a lazy fuck who doesn't bother to turn in papers online. And frankly, it looks like both. To make yourself seem like the triangle that doesn't fit into the square is so cliche that if your professor really went through school to get a doctorate, she would vomit at the thought of having to read crap like your email. Have you even calculated your grade to see how far off you are from a D? Or how many papers you missed causing you to have an F? Instead of trying to sway her with your majestic prose, why not as for an extention on one of your late essays. But i guess it's the end of the quarter now and too late. Either way, if you manage to pull a D from this consider yourself very very lucky that she's a nice woman.
Despite the fact that your assumptions are very off base, which I lol at because nerds like you think you know EVERYTHING, lol, I am not far off from a D at all, I'm very close, and depending on my grade on the final today which I think I did alright on, I could very well be in D territory, but if it's really close I'm just hoping for discretion.
lol@you will fail out of college... no, I highly highly doubt it. I am one of the best cellists at my school which is a very well-known music school, and I'm a great asset to the university. That's all they need to know. If it comes to it, I can talk to the next level and stay in school. Don't assume things, it makes you look like an ass.
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On December 16 2009 11:59 Mekhami wrote:Show nested quote +On December 16 2009 11:54 DoctorHelvetica wrote:
Fighting the power isn't the way to go. if you want to pass the class you have to conform to whatever writing style your professor expects of you.
You really just sound like an arrogant lazy douche and whether or not that is the case isn't relevant. If everyone here perceives it that way, chances are your professor will too. Remember that time you made a thread in a strategy forum and came off as an egotistical jackass and then got super mad when people called you out on it?
This is a pretty similar situation right now. Lol you're a huge douche and anything you say is immediately filtered by me. Thanks anyway. And really, your opinions of me aren't ... valid? ... I'm not really concerned with how a bunch of nerds feel about me... you can tell me the email was too thick and I'll believe it, or that it won't work and I'll think you're probably right, but your opinion of me is rather useless because you're looking through your own eyes which are most likely filled with stupid.
calm down
u gotta skate
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I recently got an A in a class that I didn't do any work for the entire semester. However, I did this by busting my ass and actually DOING all the work, doing MORE than the work required and organizing it in such a way that it easy as possible for the professor to navigate. I wrote a letter explaining what I did, signed it, and put it on the front of the neatly organized binder full of assignments. I'm pretty sure he liked that because I was dead honest, and students usually aren't--what you're trying to do. I know I've heard other professors talking and one of them was telling a story about how a student raised their hand in the middle of class and said, "I have no idea what you're talking about. Could you
What I did bring up was how he said his goal for the class was for the students to understand the subject matter. I made the binder to show him that I did in fact understand the subject matter and was waiting outside his office early in the morning to hand it to him personally a week before everybody else would typically turn all their late assignments in.
What I DIDN'T bring up was almost just important:
-I didn't do any work the entire semester
-Personal situations. Even ones he knew I had from earlier in the semester
-Other excuses
I gave the professor a favorable frame to view my work from and didn't bring give excuses.
That's what worked for me. That in consideration, I don't suggest sending them an longass e-mail saying "I think my papers are written beautifully." Especially not a long one around finals time. Furthermore, the way you're going about this means that HE has to do work. You've provided one example of how you deserve whatever grade you get. Put some work into it to show him you care. Don't send him an e-mail that says "let me know if you want to talk to me," YOU need to set up the meeting with him. It's not his job to make sure you get a good grade, he doesn't care.
What you should do:
For every assignment you possibly can, make make an outline explaining
-goal of the assignment
-why your assignment meets these criteria
-what you got out of class that you wouldn't have before it
if the assignment sucked and you know it, redo it. make it good.
Make your assignments neat, easy to read, easy to grade. If you can, do it as soon as possible. Be honest, earnest and don't kiss ass. Be willing, accepting, and leave the judging to whoever gets paid to do it. Walk in and demonstrate you deserve what you want.
Set up a meeting. Explain your situation by saying "The TA's didn't agree with my writing style. I looked over everything and I think I achieved the goal of the class. I was hoping you could take a look at this." Then hand him the pristine binder with every single little detail in order explaining WHY you deserve what you want.
Most students don't make the right gestures. You can be one of the students that does. They don't show professors they care. Show him that you do with your presence and your effort. You know how many office hours professors spend alone? Even just dropping by to ask "hows it going" will make them really happy.
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oh since its a she change all those "he's" in your brain.
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Osaka27140 Posts
On December 16 2009 11:45 Scooge wrote:
Go buy a style guide. You have no idea how to write. This is the sort of e-mail college professors forward to the whole department to laugh about.
haha, harsh but true.
Being a music major does not exempt you from learning standard academic practices. Considering you already failed the class for attendance + Show Spoiler + I can imagine the professor would think you would have made a better effort than "I didn't turn in my work on time, and I deleted the assignments I did complete immediately after submitting them".
Blaming TA's for your own failings is pretty weak, and unlikely to win you any help. Sometimes I am glad my kids don't speak English.
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On December 16 2009 12:05 Liquid`NonY wrote:
Papers aren't as flexible as you think. Effectiveness at communicating your ideas, grammar, conciseness and coherence can all be evaluated objectively. While style can vary, some styles, probably including yours, are more difficult to competently use. Competence here refers to academic standards.
The way you describe your papers leads me to believe that your writing is too idiosyncratic. While the line of thought presented by your paper may flow beautifully in your mind, that flow is likely dependent on connections that you have made but not expressed in your paper. For every paper you dismiss TA feedback, you miss a chance to develop a skill that you'll likely never learn on your own.
Things like attendance, meeting deadlines, doing every assignment and keeping a backup copy are responsibilities that make up a minimum standard for conduct. The world would suck if people could not rely on other people to do these kinds of things. The only way the world can get rid of the annoyance and inefficiency caused by people failing this standard is to take a hard line with them. Yeah, people can compensate for failures here and there, and that often happens in informal situations, but for real business civilized people have standards. Make the world a better place by meeting them from now on, all the time.
I mean I'm in a far-off profession from English... thank you for this feedback, truly, but I don't need these academic standards, they don't help me at all. They provide nothing to my education, truly. I made mistakes re: deadlines, assignments, backups... this is because I don't have a background where this has every been an issue, I'm a musician, all of my courses in my university have been music-centric and my mindset fits perfectly there; in fact my music-only GPA is 3.6. I'm very good at what I do, it just doesn't translate into this other required course.
I'm not saying I earned an A+ here, though. I plan on using this experience to improve, and I implemented strategies half-way through the semester (upon realizing the severity of the situation and my own failures) that helped me improve my grade through the last half of the course. I have learned a lot from the situation, but don't you think that the educator's discretion is important? Do you think my failure in this course is worth me losing the rest of my education and my career? the other 2 classes I failed in that first semester I passed this semester; my GPA will, in all likelihood, be completely fine, I just wanted to cover my bases here. But I think discretion is important for an educator and if she chooses to exercise it, I'll be much better off. Discretion will pass me the course, or, if I'm lucky and did exceptionally on the final today, maybe I actually earned my passing grade.
This is a tough situation for me, because I learned a bit late how to get done what had to get done. I just wholeheartedly believe that those small failures are heavily outweighed by my great successes in the rest of my academic and musical life.
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Keep it short and honest. I would fail you after reading that, you come off as lazy, unwilling to follow guidelines and arrogant (thinking the professor will buy all the bullshit about his wonderful course). The way you describe your writing style also sounds like it deserves what the tutor's are giving it.
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I'm reading through this thread and I feel I have to emphasize something: Whatever you do, you're gonna have to do the work. Even if its late, even if its bullshit, don't shirk it. Conform to their writing style or whatever
you gotta do it. you gotta skate
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Osaka27140 Posts
Despite the fact that your assumptions are very off base, which I lol at because nerds like you think you know EVERYTHING, lol, I am not far off from a D at all, I'm very close, and depending on my grade on the final today which I think I did alright on, I could very well be in D territory, but if it's really close I'm just hoping for discretion.
lol@you will fail out of college... no, I highly highly doubt it. I am one of the best cellists at my school which is a very well-known music school, and I'm a great asset to the university. That's all they need to know. If it comes to it, I can talk to the next level and stay in school. Don't assume things, it makes you look like an ass.
This one was a bit too much. A music nerd complaining on a StarCraft forum about not being able to save computer files. See you later.
+ Show Spoiler +
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You're honestly gonna use the sentence 'now bear with me' in an email to your prof? loool
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haah no way when I read your original letter I thought "this guy sounds like one of those guys on classical music radio"
rofl
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Awww shit . . . this thread was so entertaining.
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Like others have said, this is an email to a professor, he doesn't want to spend time reading through bullshit, just get to the point. I also disagree with what you're arguing and I am sure your professor will too.
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and the troll is now slain, GJ TL admins.
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This guy is so full of himself it hurts.
On December 16 2009 12:11 Mekhami wrote:I plan on using this experience to improve
LOL
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omg did he just get banned
This is a fantastic, fantastic thread. Man stupid people are hilarious <3
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CA10826 Posts
this was a MAJOR lol hahahaha
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Osaka27140 Posts
On December 16 2009 12:18 Eiii wrote:
omg did he just get banned
You can be stupid, you just can't be stupid and insulting.
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Lawrence Vanderpool
you are a massive tool
later fool
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lol i had this blog open and went to do something. when i came back and refreshed he was banned haha.
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[...]because nerds like you think you know EVERYTHING[...]
I am not far off from a D at all, I'm very close[...]
depending on my grade on the final today[...]
which I think I did alright on[...]
no, I highly highly doubt it[...]
I am one of the best cellists at my school[...]
which is a very well-known music school[...]
I'm a great asset to the university.[...]
That's all they need to know.[...]
If it comes to it, I can talk to the next level and stay in school.[...]
Don't assume things, it makes you look like an ass.
Edit: Listing assumptions is a fun thing to do for a math student.
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Ironically your artistic nature is really the cause of your failure. Your very strength destroys any hope you have to succeed in this course.
Lets say you were right, and that English classes have changed where they are more geared towards searching for the most probable interpretation, rather than opening the text to further discussion. If we take your style of thinking, then the rampage of potential ideas, some of which could be so "out there" that the work itself would be destroyed.
For example, a majority of the class with strong evidence supports on interpretation, then you follow up with more interpretations, both good and bad..........eventually you will arrive at the point.....all literature can just be "BS'ed" and any interpretation and thought works.
Even in English, there are certain restrictions based on heavy support from the text, not just based on small details. You're most likely so caught up in small things to even understand the main focus of a work anyways.
Also, as for style.............if everyone write like you...........then it would be like anarchy. No control, no strong focus, and ultimately no memorable moment because the entire paper would be too long anyways. Thats why we have fundamental guidelines for writing beneath the elaborate nature of an analytical essay. Your professor, having a Ph.D and having written many papers in order to get there, have seen in all, so he probably understands interpretation and style better than you can right now. I wouldn't exactly criticize his decision when hes more experienced than you (unless you truly have a justification............you're fighting for a ....enough said)
I don't think your lazy but I think your artistic nature has blinded you to the actual focus of your class in general..........
To all other readers..........I hope you appreciate my ironic use of his style into my writing.......
Some of you might be annoyed with this post.......but I'm juxtaposing his style to prove a point that long stuff is a pain to read.
Hopefully my humour is to your liking XD
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On December 16 2009 12:23 The Burn wrote:Show nested quote +On December 16 2009 12:20 Manifesto7 wrote:On December 16 2009 12:18 Eiii wrote:
omg did he just get banned
You can be stupid, you just can't be stupid and insulting. Correction: You can be insulting, just have to insult people that the mods disagree with, then you can ban said person, and everyone gets to laugh and be happy nerds together. Don't pretend like your moderation policies are in any way legitimate... not that I expect them to be, I just want to be sure you aren't operating under false pretenses.. Bye again!
tdot is that you?
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On December 16 2009 12:23 The Burn wrote:Show nested quote +On December 16 2009 12:20 Manifesto7 wrote:On December 16 2009 12:18 Eiii wrote:
omg did he just get banned
You can be stupid, you just can't be stupid and insulting. Correction: You can be insulting, just have to insult people that the mods disagree with, then you can ban said person, and everyone gets to laugh and be happy nerds together. Don't pretend like your moderation policies are in any way legitimate... not that I expect them to be, I just want to be sure you aren't operating under false pretenses.. Bye again!
I can't believe he so strongly felt the need to get in this last word that he made another account (aptly named "The Burn" LOL). Way to go, jackass.
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CA10826 Posts
and wtf at this:
On December 16 2009 12:11 Mekhami wrote:
I mean I'm in a far-off profession from English... thank you for this feedback, truly, but I don't need these academic standards, they don't help me at all. They provide nothing to my education, truly. I made mistakes re: deadlines, assignments, backups... this is because I don't have a background where this has every been an issue, I'm a musician, all of my courses in my university have been music-centric and my mindset fits perfectly there; in fact my music-only GPA is 3.6. I'm very good at what I do, it just doesn't translate into this other required course.
did you not attend high school? also, assuming you aren't a 1st year university student, you had at least a couple terms to figure this out in your other non-music courses. i don't buy that crap of an excuse and i doubt you'll find anyone else who will agree with you.
I'm not saying I earned an A+ here, though. I plan on using this experience to improve, and I implemented strategies half-way through the semester (upon realizing the severity of the situation and my own failures) that helped me improve my grade through the last half of the course. I have learned a lot from the situation, but don't you think that the educator's discretion is important?
my guess is that you probably said this last semester, when you failed this class the first time.
Do you think my failure in this course is worth me losing the rest of my education and my career?
isn't it your responsibility to not put your own education in jeopardy, not your TAs or professors?
the other 2 classes I failed in that first semester I passed this semester; my GPA will, in all likelihood, be completely fine, I just wanted to cover my bases here. But I think discretion is important for an educator and if she chooses to exercise it, I'll be much better off. Discretion will pass me the course, or, if I'm lucky and did exceptionally on the final today, maybe I actually earned my passing grade.
OK WTF? you failed this class AND 2 other courses last semester? how is your GPA going to be "completely fine"?
This is a tough situation for me, because I learned a bit late how to get done what had to get done. I just wholeheartedly believe that those small failures are heavily outweighed by my great successes in the rest of my academic and musical life.
yeah, you did learn a bit late. all the other college students figured this stuff out in high school. ps: failing 3 courses in one semester, and failing one of those courses on a 2nd attempt is not a SMALL failure, especially when it's due to things like lack of attendance and not doing something as simple as submitting a paper on time.
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"Firstly is that my TA couldn't open my Othello composition and I deleted the file before I found about this."
what if he mailed him othello.scx
that was my first thought anyway
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I am truly ashamed now to be a music major.
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Osaka27140 Posts
But he isn't stupid, just insulting. You have failed to cure one of your two maladies. Anyway, you were banned on your other ID for being a dick, then apologized, promised to be better, and came back on this one. Then you couldn't even get to 100 posts without melting down. I don't think this is the right place for you.
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This is like zulu's post but real.
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On December 16 2009 12:11 Mekhami wrote:Show nested quote +On December 16 2009 12:05 Liquid`NonY wrote:
Papers aren't as flexible as you think. Effectiveness at communicating your ideas, grammar, conciseness and coherence can all be evaluated objectively. While style can vary, some styles, probably including yours, are more difficult to competently use. Competence here refers to academic standards.
The way you describe your papers leads me to believe that your writing is too idiosyncratic. While the line of thought presented by your paper may flow beautifully in your mind, that flow is likely dependent on connections that you have made but not expressed in your paper. For every paper you dismiss TA feedback, you miss a chance to develop a skill that you'll likely never learn on your own.
Things like attendance, meeting deadlines, doing every assignment and keeping a backup copy are responsibilities that make up a minimum standard for conduct. The world would suck if people could not rely on other people to do these kinds of things. The only way the world can get rid of the annoyance and inefficiency caused by people failing this standard is to take a hard line with them. Yeah, people can compensate for failures here and there, and that often happens in informal situations, but for real business civilized people have standards. Make the world a better place by meeting them from now on, all the time. I mean I'm in a far-off profession from English... thank you for this feedback, truly, but I don't need these academic standards, they don't help me at all. They provide nothing to my education,
Obviously you don't get Nony's argument. You cannot simply write off the top of your head as if it were a conversation and hand that in. Like Nony said, things in your head will make sense to you because you have access to all your knowledge on the topic. The poor person reading anything you write however doesn't have access to all your knowledge on the topic, they can only mark what is on the paper. The point isn't that academic writing is critical for you understanding your own information, but that it helps others know just what the fuck you're even trying to communicate.
People that absolutely refuse to write academically hand in awful, awful papers. I doubt very highly that a paper of yours would be marked down severely because it doesn't meet academic standards regardless of excellent points and evidence. If a paper was handed in and it was written poorly, the point is that even if you actually had good evidence and had good points, no one can understand it except yourself, thus how can any marker ascertain whether you know the information or not? If you have to consistently point out your evidence and points in a paper because your writing was so terrible, you should just write properly the first time and save the fucking hassle. Try to understand this because this problem you're having now will continue to persist.
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United States12607 Posts
LOL
0/5 blog
5/5 thread
thanks TLers
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EPT
