1190: "Time"

[BlitzGirl]

<snip>
Firstly, and most importantly, WELCOME BLITZGIRL!! Did I miss the party?
<snip>

Nope! The party lives on! And thank you!!

<snip>

I hope I got everything I was supposed to!

You've brought the most important thing -- yourself!

:scoops BlitzGirl up into a giant bearhug and twirls about: So good to meet you! :carefully puts her down and wobbles away:

Whee! Nice to meet you, too!

<snip>
What an honor! So, uh...what is the official title? I just want to be clear before I muss up my sigpile again.

I think "Saint of the Timewaiters" should be ok.

Excellent! I think I might be able to fit that in my character limit!

[silent_death]

Well, of course time (as good as) ends when I´m not around - I will have to Blitzgirl the last 50 pages (and I think Blitzgirl has arrived somwhere in them)...see you in a bit.

I have reached my signpost, I already respected Blitzgirl for her quest, but my respect has grown a hundredfold while traversing these last pages. Seeing the pages progress with every click on the next page, seeing that I will be stuck in the past for a while longer, frankly, I do not know how Blitzgirl does it.
I also have this constant need to respond to posts I come across, but not being able to, because I dwell in the past.

I witnessed the great fading, because I was also watching time unfold in the present I know that it does not last, which is a great joy to me, but from the place I write this from, the of Time still is nigh.
There was a long period of time where there was no new signpost of Blitzgirl, which made me worry, but a few pages ago, she posted again and I was glad. But, contrary to what I hoped, she did not yet reached my current present (your past), but I do hope that she will do so within my future (your past/present or eventually your future)

Also a very interesting phenomena I witnessed during the great fading was the hugely increasing number of lurkers starting to post, seeing that their time to participate was limited.

Hopefully I will reach you in the present soon, and not be stuck in the past.

[TheMinim]

Yes - and if I don't live life, I miss out on Maths and Physics which help my understanding of certain xkcd comics. I'm using life to get a better deal on non-life.

I admire Time in all its glories, but I don't have time to look at all of everything about it. I still believe in it, though, just from afar.

[ucim]

Welcome BlitzGirl! I have been Waiting For It since the Beginning Of Time, and have done so in humble and quiet contemplation. But the glorious culmination of your quest has made me realize that, just as without black there is no white, and without the sea¹ there is no shore, thus also without sound there is no silence.

You have Waited For It in a way that no other has, and that few others ever will. That is of course a personal blessing for you (which I envy, since I have not always been fully in the moment myself, even as I was experiencing Time in real time). But what is far greater than that is that by not being silent you have left behind a truly Holy Book - the Gospel of BlitzGirl - which shall be an inspiration for generations to come as they seek to experience Time after time has moved on.

In witness thereof, as Pope of the Order of the Holy Contradiction, do I hereby consecrate the Gospel of BlitzGirl, to be counted among the Most Holy Records, along side the Book of Aubron, the Book of Geekwagon, the The Wiki Of Time, and the uncollected charts that have yet to be assembled into a proper Book.

And I consecrate you, bestowing upon thee the title of BlitzGirl. Note that in this usage BlitzGirl is a title, not a name. Even as we speak there are others who are pursuing the same quest as the one you so brilliantly consummated. You are BlitzGirl the First, and they shall acquire the title "BlitzGirl the Next" when they complete their pilgrimage.

And now, O Exalted One, I have a query, a place in my soul where I hope for enlightenment, should it perchance come. Having gone through the unique experience of your Most Holy Quest, an experience which most of us have not been blessed with, what words of wisdom do you, from your unique perspective, have to offer us mortal souls as we Wait For It?

Contemplate the question if you wish - there is no need to rush (and no expectation that you have words at the ready for such a deep question). We'll wait for it.

May you be blessed with much time, and much Time, for which to wait.

Jose
¹ or the river

edit to add: Acts of the Clerics (to which this is a prologue) (on xkcd wiki) / BlitzGirl's wisdom / next(NP 539)-->

[descor]

<snip>
Firstly, and most importantly, WELCOME BLITZGIRL!! Did I miss the party?
<snip>

Nope! The party lives on! And thank you!!

Oooh, in that case: where's the food? (and is it a free bar?)

I brought the sausages:

Spoiler:

[Caswallon]

Because I am so very bored at work, and only have paint.net at my disposal here is my interpretation of the current quest:

I apologize for the incredible awesomeness of my 2 minute Paint skills!

[TheMinim]

And you even included the babies!

[Earthling on Mars]

But if they're walking around the sea, why did they start by walking left?

[StratPlayer]

Yes - and if I don't live life, I miss out on Maths and Physics which help my understanding of certain xkcd comics. I'm using life to get a better deal on non-life.

I admire Time in all its glories, but I don't have time to look at all of everything about it. I still believe in it, though, just from afar.

OK, at the risk of heresy, I think your priorities are rational, sane, and correct¹ and that I might have taken just a wee bit of artistic license to add emphasis² to this:

I really am too lazy to read all of this thread. I haven't got the attention span. Good luck!

How sad... That's like saying, "I really am too lazy to live all of my life. Maybe someone else can just tell me what I've missed..."

Time (like life¹) can only be experienced first-hand, moment-by-moment. You've been granted a wondrous gift in this needle-pulling-thingy -- the ability to re-live, Newpix-by-Newpix, each glorious instance of Time in all It's grandeur and beauty, and you can't be bothered because you're too lazy.

My heart weeps for you...

¹ An Outsider term for the span of a human's existence when it is spent not involved in the One True Thread of the One True Comic.

So, it's totally cool. You and ALL lurkers, part-Timers, and passer-by-ers are always welcome here³!!


¹ Although sanity, rationality, and correctness have absolutely no place in this thread^4
2 and comedic effect -- that supersedes everything else, of course...
³ Provided you're not a jerk or a flame-baiter. We play nice here in Time. 450+ pages without a flame war, and we WON'T start now, agreed?
⁴ Note that THIS note #1 is different than the note #1 in the quoted text. If you accidentally get lost in footnote recursion, please refer to footnote 5⁵.
⁵ Please see footnote 1.

[TheMinim]

Why would I want to start a flame war?

[Tass]

*gasp* *gasp*

OH ... MY .... LORD .... RANDALL ....

*deep breaths*

Firstly, and most importantly, WELCOME BLITZGIRL!! Did I miss the party?

I've been at work Outside stuff for about 10 TimeFrames I come back and Time is still alive. I am so happy.

My thoughts on a couple of things:

<snip>
I think we need a correction - The Post Cueball and Megan Era was not quite an Era...

Yup, that's why I think maybe eras (and periods, and aeons/eons) should be named only a fair amount of newpix after they are over. Or at least stay very open about renaming them afterwards, which I don't doubt for one second here in the OTT¹, but this might cause much more historical confusion than just settling for a name only once the period is unanimously viewed as over.

¹ EDIT: and patzer just confirmed that.

(I'm so slow, everytime I post, I have to hit submit and read the ninjas at least three times )

EDIT2: I like the term "Scenes"!

I'm not a fan of 'Scenes'. We've been following conventions within geological time when choosing names so far, so Eons or Epochs would fit precedent. I agree about being open to change the names of, and the start and end points of, periods, eras and eons after the history of Time becomes clearer.

Here is my suggestion, subject to change, obviously:

Geological Time(witheras).png

I agree. Though you have "era" instead of "eon" in the picture. I assume that's a mistake.

We should consider shifting it all down to include epoch, age or both, we do not know how long the OTC will continue. We might need a higher taxonomy.

[Caswallon]

But if they're walking around the sea, why did they start by walking left?

Well, you have to leave the beach somehow! Walking directly to the right is into the Sea¹, and walking directly towards our point of view would just be silly.

Updated Image:

¹Which is big and does what it wants!

[Montov]

M&C are leaving! Is this the end?

[TheMinim]

Could be, But I hope not! Too much of a wonderful comic to end.

[keshat]

THERE IS MORE TIME!

[TheMinim]

And there always will be, until the end.

[NoMouse]

I was checking the OTC today and have read all the new pages but now I have finally time to write something. The first thing I want to say is:
Welcome to the present, Blitzgirl!
And the second thing - my heart almost stopped when I saw the first frame of the new era. So it wasn't The End of Time! The Doctor has saved us again... wait. Wrong show, sorry.
Anyway, my Time-Me is so glad that this comic will probably continue for several outside-months. I remember at the beginning, when most people thought it will end on April Fools' Day, I was saying that it will not be a problem for Randall to keep it going for months or years. Some didn't believe me. Now we all see that it's not going to end any time soon. That is scaring my Outside-Me because my Time-Me not only wants to watch the OTC until the end of Time but also read this needle-pulled thing. I'm really curious if we will be debating the OTC with the same enthusiasm as now after a year, if the OTC will be still running - now I have really no problem to believe it.

So are they going to explore strange new worlds? Will they meet new life and civilizations? And do you thing it would be cool if they were exploring the #1110-world or would it be boring?

Edit: Also, good time for changing my signature.

[StratPlayer]

Why would I want to start a flame war?

Sorry -- not "you" specifically... I meant "you" in the indefinite pronoun sense.

Of course, you certainly don't seem to be the flame war type, but the other you might be. You never know, so it's good for you to say that just to be safe, you know?

[TheMinim]

Ah, okay. I'm very prone to misinterpretation. Bad habit.

[BlitzGirl]

Welcome BlitzGirl! I have been Waiting For It since the Beginning Of Time, and have done so in humble and quiet contemplation. But the glorious culmination of your quest has made me realize that, just as without black there is no white, and without the sea¹ there is no shore, thus also without sound there is no silence.

You have Waited For It in a way that no other has, and that few others ever will. That is of course a personal blessing for you (which I envy, since I have not always been fully in the moment myself, even as I was experiencing Time in real time). But what is far greater than that is that by not being silent you have left behind a truly Holy Book - the Gospel of BlitzGirl - which shall be an inspiration for generations to come as they seek to experience Time after time has moved on.

In witness thereof, as Pope of the Order of the Holy Contradiction, do I hereby consecrate the Gospel of BlitzGirl, to be counted among the Most Holy Records, along side the Book of Aubron, the Book of Geekwagon, the The Wiki Of Time, and the uncollected charts that have yet to be assembled into a proper Book.

And I consecrate you, bestowing upon thee the title of BlitzGirl. Note that in this usage BlitzGirl is a title, not a name. Even as we speak there are others who are pursuing the same quest as the one you so brilliantly consummated. You are BlitzGirl the First, and they shall acquire the title "BlitzGirl the Next" when they complete their pilgrimage.

And now, O Exalted One, I have a query, a place in my soul where I hope for enlightenment, should it perchance come. Having gone through the unique experience of your Most Holy Quest, an experience which most of us have not been blessed with, what words of wisdom do you, from your unique perspective, have to offer us mortal souls as we Wait For It?

Contemplate the question if you wish - there is no need to rush (and no expectation that you have words at the ready for such a deep question). We'll wait for it.

May you be blessed with much time, and much Time, for which to wait.

Jose
¹ or the river

Greetings, ucim, he who emerges from quiet contemplation! I am honored that you have consecrated a Gospel, and flattered that you grant me such a title.

I have seen many wonders on my Quest, and this I have learned: Time is not absolute. Though dedicated forum-dwellers may debate names to a Period fresh to their eyes, a weary wanderer may come to the same TimeFrame many longpix later seeing it as but a flash in the long, long thread of Time. While some among us hold fast to the heels of the Now, posting with immediacy and brevity, there are still others at the same moment following 10 newpages back, or 50, or 300. Those of us who experienced the great Fading in real-Time have shared an experience those that follow will never quite match, just as we ourselves cannot comprehend the madness that struck in the early quickpix, or during the Madness itself.

Yet these divisions do not separate us, but make us more powerful. As grains of Sand(semencancercoffeebabies) in a Sandcastle, this needle-pulled thing works best when we are not all of the same shape. Our quirks clasp us together all the more strongly, so that when we Wait for it together - whatever Time we may travel, whatever sect we may splinter, whatever graph or song or hat we share - we are not alone. For though Time may scatter us among the pastposts and the Present, in the end, it is also what brought us to this mad, mad, glorious home in the first place.

[udscbt]

It's been a long time since the last time I posted this: DONG!

[fhorn]

It's the lazy person's click and drag, Lord Randall is doing it for us.
edited for sexism

[Swein]

Jeez! Timewaiters are writing quicker than I can read!
Anyway I want more party to celebrate the post whitening wait, the arrival of Blitzgirl and that everything is great in general!
Cakes and cockies are nice but I want Champagne!

champagne_81480312.jpg (13.47 KiB) Viewed 17444 times

And lets Party!

party.jpg (8.68 KiB) Viewed 17444 times

[SBN]

Ah, okay. I'm very prone to misinterpretation. Bad habit.

Might be useful if you'd quote a snippet from what you are replying to. It could be that some Firstposts are about to be dropped in just before your post, which could confuse things. In any case, you (and others) are welcome to partake of the thread as much or as little as suits you.

[Swein]

They are going uphill. Some mountaineering ahead?

Spoiler:

It's been a long time since the last time I posted this: DONG!

[BlitzGirl]

Jeez! Timewaiters are writing quicker than I can read!
Anyway I want more party to celebrate the post whitening wait, the arrival of Blitzgirl and thats everything is great in general!
Cakes and cockies are nice but I want Champagne!
<snip>

Ooh, I just got a bottle of that! *pops the cork* Yay! Party!

[StratPlayer]

Spoiler:

Welcome BlitzGirl! I have been Waiting For It since the Beginning Of Time, and have done so in humble and quiet contemplation. But the glorious culmination of your quest has made me realize that, just as without black there is no white, and without the sea¹ there is no shore, thus also without sound there is no silence.

You have Waited For It in a way that no other has, and that few others ever will. That is of course a personal blessing for you (which I envy, since I have not always been fully in the moment myself, even as I was experiencing Time in real time). But what is far greater than that is that by not being silent you have left behind a truly Holy Book - the Gospel of BlitzGirl - which shall be an inspiration for generations to come as they seek to experience Time after time has moved on.

In witness thereof, as Pope of the Order of the Holy Contradiction, do I hereby consecrate the Gospel of BlitzGirl, to be counted among the Most Holy Records, along side the Book of Aubron, the Book of Geekwagon, the The Wiki Of Time, and the uncollected charts that have yet to be assembled into a proper Book.

And I consecrate you, bestowing upon thee the title of BlitzGirl. Note that in this usage BlitzGirl is a title, not a name. Even as we speak there are others who are pursuing the same quest as the one you so brilliantly consummated. You are BlitzGirl the First, and they shall acquire the title "BlitzGirl the Next" when they complete their pilgrimage.

And now, O Exalted One, I have a query, a place in my soul where I hope for enlightenment, should it perchance come. Having gone through the unique experience of your Most Holy Quest, an experience which most of us have not been blessed with, what words of wisdom do you, from your unique perspective, have to offer us mortal souls as we Wait For It?

Contemplate the question if you wish - there is no need to rush (and no expectation that you have words at the ready for such a deep question). We'll wait for it.

May you be blessed with much time, and much Time, for which to wait.

Jose
¹ or the river

Greetings, ucim, he who emerges from quiet contemplation! I am honored that you have consecrated a Gospel, and flattered that you grant me such a title.

I have seen many wonders on my Quest, and this I have learned: Time is not absolute. Though dedicated forum-dwellers may debate names to a Period fresh to their eyes, a weary wanderer may come to the same TimeFrame many longpix later seeing it as but a flash in the long, long thread of Time. While some among us hold fast to the heels of the Now, posting with immediacy and brevity, there are still others at the same moment following 10 newpages back, or 50, or 300. Those of us who experienced the great Fading in real-Time have shared an experience those that follow will never quite match, just as we ourselves cannot comprehend the madness that struck in the early quickpix, or during the Madness itself.

Yet these divisions do not separate us, but make us more powerful. As grains of Sand(semencancercoffeebabies) in a Sandcastle, this needle-pulled thing works best when we are not all of the same shape. Our quirks clasp us together all the more strongly, so that when we Wait for it together - whatever Time we may travel, whatever sect we may splinter, whatever graph or song or hat we share - we are not alone. For though Time may scatter us among the pastposts and the Present, in the end, it is also what brought us to this mad, mad, glorious home in the first place.

As always, well-said BlitzGirl! And Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)!!!!

[descor]

<snip>

I agree. Though you have "era" instead of "eon" in the picture. I assume that's a mistake.

We should consider shifting it all down to include epoch, age or both, we do not know how long the OTC will continue. We might need a higher taxonomy.

Indeed, a mistake.

The problem with having 'Ages' is that we already have named some periods as the 'Age of the Slow Pixel' and we may confuse future Time historians if we mess with the names of Periods from as long ago as the Pre-expansion Era.

I'm on the fence about shifting everything down to Epochs, I may prefer to re-define Epochs to being longer than Eons (although I'm not convinced).

[foilman]

So perhaps they're going up into the hills to find where the river comes from?

[TheMinim]

They are going right (from our view). The frame is moving as well, but at a different pace.

Ah, okay. I'm very prone to misinterpretation. Bad habit.

Might be useful if you'd quote a snippet from what you are replying to. It could be that some Firstposts are about to be dropped in just before your post, which could confuse things. In any case, you (and others) are welcome to partake of the thread as much or as little as suits you.

Will do. I forget sometimes.

[udscbt]

Jeez! Timewaiters are writing quicker than I can read!
Anyway I want more party to celebrate the post whitening wait, the arrival of Blitzgirl and thats everything is great in general!
Cakes and cockies are nice but I want Champagne!

champagne_81480312.jpg

And lets Party!

party.jpg

I offer bacon!

No wait... wrong forum. Nevermind, everybody like bacon.

Secondly... ptff, french wine. Can I give you a glass of Asti spumante?

[TheMinim]

*gets all excited over bacon*

[BlitzGirl]

I offer bacon!

All right, now we have both coffee and bacon! Now for the...uh...um. Let's stick with the coffee and bacon. And maybe some ice would also be okay.

[StratPlayer]

I offer bacon!

All right, now we have both coffee and bacon! Now for the...uh...um. Let's stick with the coffee and bacon. And maybe some ice would also be okay.

Well, I won't provide that... um, other thing.. but how about some Ice-Babby?*


*And I deeeeeeply apologize for this...

[AluisioASG]

I say woe to you who have been lured away from your faith by the promise of haberdashery! Does none of you find it suspicious that their pope, Helper, has disappeared and some Cardinal has quietly seized power, bringing you all under the spell of a finely turned hat??

Wait, do you mean…?
But in that case I'd have to pkill -9 buffygirl… and I don't want to.
She even made me a nice sleeper hat...

WAIT!
…one hat to rule them all?…


EDIT: BlitzGirl: please ignore all my two previously proposed titles. I'd feel honored if you accepted to be the “Archetypal Time Waiter”.

[udscbt]

I say woe to you who have been lured away from your faith by the promise of haberdashery! Does none of you find it suspicious that their pope, Helper, has disappeared and some Cardinal has quietly seized power, bringing you all under the spell of a finely turned hat??

Wait, do you mean…?
But in that case I'd have to pkill -9 buffygirl… and I don't want to.
She even made me a nice sleeper hat...

WAIT!
…one hat to rule them all?…


EDIT: BlitzGirl: please ignore all my two previously proposed titles. I'd feel honored if you accepted to be the “Archetypal Time Waiter”.

Hasn't the Arch-Cardinal already been exorcised?

[descor]

I offer bacon!

All right, now we have both coffee and bacon! Now for the...uh...um. Let's stick with the coffee and bacon. And maybe some ice would also be okay.

Well, I won't provide that... um, other thing.. but how about some Ice-Babby?*


*And I deeeeeeply apologize for this...

At least it wasn't this version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8Cq6rVAWt8
For all UK (& Eire, I guess) readers, all I need to say so you do not click that link is: Jedward.
For anyone else, click if you dare ...

[StratPlayer]

I say woe to you who have been lured away from your faith by the promise of haberdashery! Does none of you find it suspicious that their pope, Helper, has disappeared and some Cardinal has quietly seized power, bringing you all under the spell of a finely turned hat??

Wait, do you mean…?
But in that case I'd have to pkill -9 buffygirl… and I don't want to.
She even made me a nice sleeper hat...

WAIT!
…one hat to rule them all?…


EDIT: BlitzGirl: please ignore all my two previously proposed titles. I'd feel honored if you accepted to be the “Archetypal Time Waiter”.

Hasn't the Arch-Cardinal already been exorcised?

I think I saw her running the treadmill in her hat-sweat-shop -- that's gotta be considered exorcise...

[hwhitney]

Lurking from the beginning of Time, I have silently waited for IT along side the rest of you, eagerly anticipating each Newpix, following the travels of the esteemed BlitzGirl from the past to the present. I felt a great sadness come over me when all faded to white, leaving everyone wondering if the OTC had truly come to an end. I rejoice to find it not be the case as Time marches on. Time is big (like the sea) and flowing (like the river). I decided to finally make my presence known and give unto you my prophecy - Time will end and the waiting for IT will be reached at Newpix 1190, at which Time the great Randall will reveal all and the waiting will cease.

Appropriately coming to you from the past. I apologize for disrupting the flow of Time due to my past post being approved in the future.

[TheMinim]

For all UK (& Eire, I guess) readers, all I need to say so you do not click that link is: Jedward.

I am duly warned and will avoid the link. Thanks for the warning.