User talk:Carbon Caryatid/Archive 3

Thanks
Thanks for the suggestion, BrainyBabe, very kind of you. Adambrowne666 (talk) 11:37, 10 January 2009 (UTC)

Articles about Eskimos, a reply left from the summer
Dear BrainyBabe,

Thank You very much for Your message to me (yet in summer). Sorry for that I have not replied at once, I was unsure about whether I disturb your jobs with that.

As for my answer: I can indeed understand the essence in Russian texts, but (without heavy vocabulary usage) only in familiar topics. Grasping the essence of a text, passive knowledge of Russian is surprisingly easy in topics like mathematics or linguistics (but reading poems is surprisingly difficult). I learnt Russian originally because it was an obligate part of the Hungarian education system in the 1980s, but I liked it too, I was even a fan of the idea of communism that time (of course, only in a sense as a child could understand it, I was 9--15 years old). Later, my interest in Eskimo and [other] native Siberian cultures made Russian language also practically important for me. Now I learn about hunter-gatherer cultures (Hadzabe, Eskimo), and nature science (mathematical logic).

Thank You also for Your humane words about "my" Masks among Eskimo peoples article (more exactly, it was not me who initiated it, but I once made a major inclusion). I read that this article has been challenged by experts. Thank You for Your humane words. Now I myself see many of my former articles with critics, there are some which I would not dare to initiate now, but in earlier times I was not aware of the limits of my knowledge.

Next months I am less present on Wikipedia, I am working on a mathematical problem.

Best wishes, and much success and pleasure to Wikipedia,

Physis (talk) 23:34, 12 January 2009 (UTC)


 * Good to hear from you. I'm glad you have found my comments useful.  I haven't worked on those articles lately, as you can see. As I said before, if you have any queries that I can help you with, please let me know. BrainyBabe (talk) 15:22, 13 January 2009 (UTC)

Thank you
I have never heard of the Samaritans until now. They seem to be just what I need. Thanks again. Phil_burnstein (talk) 09:12, 28 January 2009 (UTC)

Mary Ward
helpme I want to add the "otherpeople" link to all the articles about people named Mary Ward. I started with Mary Ward (nun) and for some reason the "otherpeople" shows up as a redlink. Why? BrainyBabe (talk) 07:41, 1 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Mary Ward is the disambiguation page, not Mary Ward (disambiguation). But I should point out that these hatnotes aren't necessary, as the article titles aren't ambiguous. See WP:NAMB. --Closedmouth (talk) 07:47, 1 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Thank you for your prompt attention, and for pointing me towards the WP guidance, which I was not previously aware of. But now I am more confused than ever!  I had entered "otherpeople|Mary Ward", not "otherpeople|MaryWard (disambiguation)", so I don't see how it produced a redlink.  And secondly, I would maintain that several of these Mary Wards are easily confused: they were women active in centuries when women were not allowed much scope in their lives, and not surprisingly were involved in (broadly) caring and social reform.  In fact, the history page of the nursing sister shows that she was confused with the nun.  So I think dab links would be a good idea. BrainyBabe (talk) 07:59, 1 February 2009 (UTC)
 * That's fair enough; I fixed it for you. Just copy that format for any other ambiguous ones. --Closedmouth (talk) 08:20, 1 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Thanks -- it works! But how weird to have the name writ twice. BrainyBabe (talk) 08:25, 1 February 2009 (UTC)

Re: Nuit Blanche/Notta Bianco merger.
Merge complete. Check it out and let me know if it's okay.  J o s h  12:47, 1 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Good stuff! Are you also going to merge Long Night of Museums, as indicated at the top of the Nuit Blanche article? BrainyBabe (talk) 12:51, 1 February 2009 (UTC)
 * I'm not sure about merging LNoM and Nuit Blanche, I think they should be kept separate, with "See Also" links. My reason for this is that Long Night of Museums was the influence for Nuit Blanche, and not an exact copy. Therefore I think they should be separate articles. However, if you're still intent on merging them, I'm not going to complain. :)  J o s h  09:24, 2 February 2009 (UTC)

Thanks!
...for going over the Huxley family. It's turned out to be a good article for attracting a range of interesting contributors. I wish I could find someone to extend the pathetic family tree. Macdonald-ross (talk) 11:14, 2 February 2009 (UTC)

For catching the typo in the Aubrey Herbert article.Fatidiot1234 (talk) 00:02, 4 February 2009 (UTC)


 * The typo was the easy bit. The difficulty was persuading myself to get off my comfy sofa to find the Sword of Honour to confirm which Italian gulf the villa was set in. Near Naples is good enough, I think. BrainyBabe (talk) 00:09, 4 February 2009 (UTC)


 * In reading Carton de Wiart's splendid memoirs, I ran into Herbert, of whom I had never heard. After our little correspondence here I backtracked the editing of his article, and see that it is mostly your work. Well done! Fatidiot1234 (talk) 03:24, 4 February 2009 (UTC)


 * You are too kind. How lovely to receive such an unlooked for compliment! All I really did was tidy it up a little (sez she modestly). BrainyBabe (talk) 08:56, 4 February 2009 (UTC)


 * Could I please beg a favor? Could you please look at Adrian Carton de Wiart and figure out why the doesn't take. Thankee mucho. Fatidiot1234 (talk) 17:40, 5 February 2009 (UTC)
 * I would love to help, but doubt my ability to do so. I am running Firefox 3.0.5, and the Wiart article and its reference section look fine. In addition, in your message above, the word between the angle brackets (and those brackets themselves) is invisible in normal reading mode. They only become visible in edit mode. So something weird is going on.  I suggest you ask at Help desk. Good luck!  BrainyBabe (talk) 21:48, 5 February 2009 (UTC)

Sources on Islam and women
The websites that you mentioned were the sort of thing I was looking for. Unfortunately, I decided that they might be difficult to permission, since the authors might not appreciate comparison in a U.S. textbook to Islamic feminists. (I am a textbook editor.) I found some print sources through my own research that I think will do the job. Your suggestion to compare conservative Islamic sources to conservative Christian sources is interesting but wouldn't work in the context of a chapter on the Arabian Peninsula and Iraq, a place where few Christian conservatives live. (Of course there are a few small communities in Iraq, but it would be difficult to find sources authored by members of that community and available in English translation.) Anyway, thanks for your suggestions. Marco polo (talk) 00:18, 9 February 2009 (UTC)
 * OK, well, I'm glad you found the material you need. ("Difficult to permission" is a new one to me, but makes perfect sense. I'll have to see if I can work it in to my idiolect!) BrainyBabe (talk) 08:08, 9 February 2009 (UTC)

Re the Haida page
Hi; just saw your latest edits....you should have a look at http://www.civilization.ca and search "Haida" unless I've already updated that link....a lot of what's still there, including that section, is direct copyvio. I'm just waking up, so don't want to do any major edits for a few hours but the pruning of this page has gotta get done; even that prhase "vikings of the North Pacific" or whatever it is is from that site....there's a lot pf puff'n'stuff and POV cntent in civlization.ca aklso, which to me makes it an "unreliable source" when it editorializes, as it does. Claiming hte Haida had rules of engagement is a stretch of imagination, and also contrary to the "lightning raids" claim....it's not like this was ritual warfare or that the Salish peoples farther south were given appointments for when they'd be raided and slaved; I'd imagine that might mean rules of engagmeent between Haida villages/houses/clans and also with other high-caste northenr societies (alliances were cross-tribal and enmities were infra-tribal), but even in those cases there are some nasty stories where "rules of engagement" is hard to believe as a claim (even a cited claim). It's not like the battles between European prince-generals in the 1700s where they'd meet for lunch beforehand ,schedule the battle, allow each other to set up, and then launch the fray. The carnage of Haida warfare is infamous (see Adam Grant Horne and read up on the Puget Sound War skirmishes). Anyway even that thesis, is, I'm sure, part of the copyvio.....Skookum1 (talk) 12:46, 18 February 2009 (UTC)
 * I'm sure you're right about the copyvio, and the resultant leaks of POV. The changes I've made today make that section of the article read better; that's all. I haven't done much to change the material, except for deleting things liek the reference to secret societies of intellectuals no one knows about, and adding topic sentences and linking or contextual phrases. I look forward to others, including you, making much-needed substantive alterations. I was hoping to hear from the new Haida editor, but s/he seems to have disappeared. BrainyBabe (talk) 12:52, 18 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Here is the page with the clear copyvio source; the civilization.ca site has access problems, I had to dig my way back in via the War Museum page, and then hunt around the Haida pages to find it again...I'm sure if we look at the other Haida pages we'll find similarly purloined copy....Skookum1 (talk) 13:40, 18 February 2009 (UTC)
 * About our Haida editor (if he/she was), my experience with indigenous editors is they're around for a while and some sooner or later come back; typically they're not in urban lifestyles where they're around computers a lot,unless they're urban residents....the one faithful contributor in BC is User:OldManRivers, who's Skwxwu7mesh and Kwakwaka'wakw, and who has had intentions of improving the Haida article for a while...but he's a young guy, involved in cultural activities (dancing, canoeing) and of course socializing (still has done an amazing amoutn of work). Guujaaw himself was on-site for a bit, but didn't heed WP:MOS or NPOV at all and must have thrown up his hands in disgust and not getting his way (grand chiefs can be like that....).  As for myself, if you could see my watchlist you'd realize the scope/diversity of my interests and I'm drawn literally all over the map, even just within the Pacific Northwest; have a look at my user contributions and you'll see some of it (just what I've been at lately, and these last few days I've been simplifyign my life with largely-mechanical creation of geogtraphic stubs...).  I'm quite frankly daunted by the scope of nearly any article's potential, especially any history article, indigenous or otherwise; even in the Haida case there could be a whole article just on the interactions with the marine fur trade and another on hte canneries and mines....and another on the wars with the Tlingit and Tsimshian, and the history of hte southern raids (a lot if documented), including thet 1862 expedition to Victoria, which was supposed to be part of a coordinated indigenous effort to wipe out the white man entirely; ironically that collapse when smallpox broke out in the Indian camp and it was the dispersal of the massed tribes back through the colony that wiped out the Indian population instead (it was a Haida-led effort...)....histories of the individual chieftaincies and the houses and the clans...there's so much; even just doing up a smaller group like the Heiltsuk or Haisla fully, or the history of non-indigenous places like Fort Simpson or Fort Rupert, is a huge task.....I spend a lot of time on Wikipedia, given I'm kinda disemployed/semi-retired and have nothing better to do...makes me wonder sometimes if I could organize a grant for myself LOL but then I'd be beholden to someone's agenda....even if it was just for geography.....I'm primarily a musician LOL....anyway gotta go rescue my porridge from burning, just some thoughts/responses....Skookum1 (talk) 13:58, 18 February 2009 (UTC)
 * BTW I've been thinking about making a list article for what's at Talk:Haida partly because of List of Indian Reserves in Canada....though int he latter case my opinion is only inhabited reserves should be included or the list will be too large; how this relates to Haida villages is that Kung 11 and Kung (Haida Village) are the same place, and this will be the case across the board in many cases....another round of a lot of work, basically, and I'm wary of just making too many reams of stubs, thoguh there's acase for all Indian Reserves to be article'd up at some point (each has a land history)....I'll explain this more later...but do you think the one genealogy.com cite for the List of Haida Villages is sufficient? it's the most exhaustive list I've seen.....most other sites only list the major ones, such as the civilization.ca site....variant spelligns are a problem, also, which is why I went (controversially, I'm sure) for Ninstints over th three or four "authentic" names....Skookum1 (talk) 14:05, 18 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Hm, it's a good point about urban-only access to computers, or at least internet. Not everyone has a satphone-enabled laptop (or whatever the appropriate device is); some rely on public libraries.  I know how busy you are -- I complemented you on your incredibly extensive and erudite userpage some time ago (and asked for the source of the striking image -- you tok the phot, but who painted it?).  I remember even then you had the wikibreak template at the top of your page. It's a bit misleading!  You seem incredibly active. It must be the oatmeal power food. Do you top yours with maple syrup, or is that an Eastern affectaton?  The Scots have ben known to use a wee dram of whisky, and John R. Jewitt would have used "train oil". Yum! I can't realy comment on your latest idea, except to say that one good cite is better than none, and enough if nothing else is available.BrainyBabe (talk) 14:14, 18 February 2009 (UTC)

Poodle clips
Hi BrainyBabe, on the subject of poodles, see this because I saw one just like it competing in Flyball at the Show against a strapping brown hound, like some mad mickey mouse with tiny black puffball "joints" and doing very well. A lesson in not letting the image get in the way of a good performance. The fantastic animation is burned into my brain forever. :)) Julia Rossi (talk) 01:36, 20 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Weird. The visual aspect of it reminds me of slogan Tshirts on babies. "If you think I'm cute, you should see my uncle!" "Born to shop!" "Lord of all I survey!" Urgh. BrainyBabe (talk) 06:42, 20 February 2009 (UTC)

An invitation
Kaldari (talk) 18:53, 24 February 2009 (UTC)

stuck on a public computer
My account is in good standing, but I have logged in from a college computer and I am blocked from editing mainspace. Can anyone help? BrainyBabe (talk) 18:59, 25 February 2009 (UTC)
 * You'll need an admin for that. I've changed the template. // roux   19:04, 25 February 2009 (UTC)
 * I checked your account for automatic blocks but there is no entry that you are blocked in any way. Are you getting this message when trying to edit: MediaWiki:Autoblockedtext? Regards  So Why  20:22, 25 February 2009 (UTC)
 * I see no way to edit MediaWiki:Autoblockedtext (there is no edit button) and anyway I wouldn't want to. My ability to edit is unimpaired on computers other than the shared ones.  I just wanted to know why the college IP wouldn't let me edit, even logged in as a Wikipedia editor. BrainyBabe (talk) 00:03, 26 February 2009 (UTC)

Disney strike
I deleted the sentence because Naomi Klein had nothing to do with the strike - she wasn't even born then! In her own article, the mention is relevant, but not here. Greetings, --Janke | Talk 10:21, 26 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Thanks for alerting me here. I have continued the discussion at Disney animators' strike. BrainyBabe (talk) 18:33, 26 February 2009 (UTC)

re ??!! wtf – miscellaneous refdesk
Thanks BB, appreciate your awareness. Apols for late reply, :))Julia Rossi (talk) 08:58, 3 March 2009 (UTC)

Kid falling down a well
That was a beautifully poetic answer. Thank you. Phil_burnstein (talk) 09:46, 9 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the unlooked-for compliment! I was mildly annoyed at what I felt was the previous two contributors' failure to read my lengthy sourced response, so instead of writing "Like I said" or taking it out on them (which would have been childish and unhelpful), I just tried to summarise. If that comes across as poetic, then hurrah!  Again, you have made my day. BrainyBabe (talk) 13:47, 9 March 2009 (UTC)

Good edit to the text I contributed to the opening paragraph of the Jessica McClure page. The text about those who worked as extras in the film DOES belong further down the page, in the discussion of media, etc. And as someone who lived and worked in Midland, Texas, covering the McClure rescue, I second Phil's praise for your discussion of the event, its impact, etc. Mcwebeditor (talk) 14:30, 9 March 2009 (UTC)


 * Thank you too, o previously unknown Mcwebeditor! (I have tweaked your brackets above.)  All I know of the case is that it was one family's emergency -- I won't use emotive words such as tragedy or miracle -- that got prominence because of the age that was just then dawning, of rolling "news".  Families have emergencies every day, kids die every day, in developed countries, and from preventable non-medical non-criminal causes. This one was significant because of how the media fed on it.  "Fifteen minutes of fame", "Anyone here been raped and speak English?", etc.  A few hours ago I gave the CNN article a new section in its history; we'll see how that stands.  (I am cynically assuming that their PR department keeps a close eye on their article, and if Baby Jessica wasn't there before, perhaps that is because they didn't want it there.)  BrainyBabe (talk) 15:13, 9 March 2009 (UTC)

Kokand, Uzbekistan: May 9, 1945
I thought you'd appreciate one of today's gleanings: these folks are Jewish refugees from Poland, Lithuania, and Russia "on the day the war ended." What started out as a vaguely identified "Kokanda in Central Asia" seemed reasonable to attribute to Kokand in Uzbekistan. I'm so pleased that my rather obscure though fascinating work, reflected occasionally in my Ref Desk queries, can spark others' interest. Your comments are heartening, and most welcome! -- Cheers, Deborahjay (talk) 21:42, 9 March 2009 (UTC)
 * I'm glad your detective work has borne fruit today! BTW, you may be interested in a book largely about Jewish refugees: Hitler's List by John Minnion. He did illustrations and potted bios of prominent people moved on by the Reich. Subtitle: "An illustrated guide to "degenerates": Jews, Bolsheviks, and other undesirable geniuses". I recommend it as an addition to your House library!  BrainyBabe (talk) 21:53, 9 March 2009 (UTC)

Fabian Society
I have just reverted a series of edits you made to the article Fabian Society, and left a brief note about it at Talk:Fabian Society. You may wish to discuss the matter there. --00:04, 12 March 2009 (UTC)

Hi gorgeous
Be my guest - unexpectedly hostage to RL for a few days straight. Mi casa su casa meanwhile, :) Julia Rossi (talk) 11:27, 12 March 2009 (UTC)

Troll
Hi, the paragraph now at the top of Troll (disambiguation) is likely to slow down navigation - do you know about WP:MOSDAB? (John User:Jwy talk) 17:18, 13 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the ping. I do know of it, but more by osmosis and as a nodding acquaintance, not intimately, so thanks for pointing me to it. I'll reply there. BrainyBabe (talk) 17:23, 13 March 2009 (UTC)
 * No prob. Suggested change on the talk page. . . (John User:Jwy talk) 17:57, 13 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Apologies for the un-announced pause. I have made the changes as suggested and will leave a note at the Disambiguation project page to see if anyone there has a better idea. (John User:Jwy talk) 01:43, 14 March 2009 (UTC)
 * Great, that's a good resolution. Thanks for your creative suggestions! BrainyBabe (talk) 07:08, 14 March 2009 (UTC)

POV ext link on 2010 Winter Olympics
Hi, though you might have something to add at Talk:2010_Winter_Olympics.Skookum1 (talk) 13:55, 11 April 2009 (UTC)

Haida again
I imagine we'll see a few more attempts in the last few days to restore this large body of mixed copyvio and rank twaddle; I already let User:Moonriddengirl know, figured I'd give you the heads-up as well though no doubt it's still on your watchlist; I'm probably just in the earliest time zone I guess....(ADT). The new, expanded version of peacock-history is rather entertainingly twisted....Skookum1 (talk) 11:29, 13 April 2009 (UTC)
 * Thanks. Not sure what I can do, really. I gave the article a few tweaks while I was there. HAve you pursued banning this editor or IP? Good luck!  BrainyBabe (talk) 21:09, 13 April 2009 (UTC)

Pointers needed
I intend to write an article from scratch about a church, with a 300 year old building, historically significant members of the congregation and ministers, and current activities that are documented in local and national press. Are there any guidelines for how to structure such an article? Thanks! BrainyBabe (talk) 18:11, 14 April 2009 (UTC)


 * Here are some examples of [[Image:Symbol support vote.svg|22px|GA]] good articles on churches. -- Carlaude (talk) 20:56, 14 April 2009 (UTC)
 * Brown Memorial Presbyterian Church
 * Old St Paul's Cathedral
 * St Mary's Church, Acton
 * St Mary's Church, Nantwich
 * St Mary's Church, Nether Alderley
 * St Thomas the Martyr's Church, Oxford
 * Stanford Memorial Church
 * Towson United Methodist Church

Re: condolences
Thanks. It's been a very strange time. At least this time the RCMP issued a statement within a few hours rather than have rumours floating around. Most people tend to rally around though at a time like this. Enter CambridgeBayWeather, waits for audience applause, not a sausage 09:24, 17 April 2009 (UTC)
 * That's the perverse effect of tragedy: the classic example is the Blitz spirit. The quote I saw from the company owner said they the people on the plane were "a bit shaken up"  -- and then that the pilot was too distraught to talk. British or Canadian understatement! BrainyBabe (talk) 09:28, 17 April 2009 (UTC)
 * I wasn't going to add it yet, was going to wait until I got home, but someone else did. I had to fix it due to the copyvio. Enter CambridgeBayWeather, waits for audience applause, not a sausage 11:09, 17 April 2009 (UTC)
 * Well, something needs to be added. There have been incidents before when a psychiatrically distressed passenger tried to gain access to the controls of a commerical plane. -- Just caught the implication of your statement "At least this time" -- how often does this happen?!?!BrainyBabe (talk) 12:25, 17 April 2009 (UTC)
 * Well this and the third one down had very little to no information given out. Of course that leads to all kinds of speculation. Though in the Rhoda Maksagak one they were searching for the culprit. It's just the usual small town thing. There's no way that the correct information can or is released so the rumour mill goes into overdrive. I'm at work right now, Cambridge Bay Airport, and I didn't really want to add it because of the slight possibility of adding something that is not in the news reports. Enter CambridgeBayWeather, waits for audience applause, not a sausage 12:44, 17 April 2009 (UTC)
 * Yes, good point, of course I don't want you to say anything you shouldn't. It has just struck me how like an island communities such as CB are: no roads to the outside world. A youngster went loco at a gas station on Haida Gwaii, and it played itself out online a little, but without too many details. One difference is when there are a lot of witnesses, not employees or bound by any code of silence. Some of them want to offload -- they have suffered a trauma, maybe been injured or threatened or terrified. Working out how to balance all this, and still protect those who deserve protection, is tricky.  BrainyBabe (talk) 14:04, 17 April 2009 (UTC)
 * That's true. It's just unfortunate that usually a lack of official news tends to ensure that the wrong and malicious information gets out. I haven't been to look but I understand that it is all over facebook and I did see that there were several silly comments at the CBC report. Enter CambridgeBayWeather, waits for audience applause, not a sausage 20:31, 17 April 2009 (UTC)

World Digital Library
The World Digital Library, which you nominated for ITN, has launched today. You are invited to update/expand the article. --BorgQueen (talk) 14:54, 21 April 2009 (UTC)
 * Thanks, repsonded on ITN talk page. BrainyBabe (talk) 16:02, 21 April 2009 (UTC)

Tying up loose [RD] threads
I don't know whether you follow the WP:RD discussion page, but this one's for you. Personally I don't mind tying up stray threads between crosspostings, and actually feel I do it pretty well. My concern is that (a) it's quite timeconsuming, time I can ill afford to spend but from which I'm too ob/comp to refrain, and (b) I doubt others would take the time, besides (c) I'm not always around to follow the RDs' action closely, much as I'd like to and have done in the past during less pressured periods. Kudos on your contributions; I hope you get satisfaction as good as you give! ''-- yrs. truly, Deborahjay (talk) 06:26, 28 April 2009 (UTC)''
 * Responded there, thanks for the ping. BrainyBabe (talk) 00:23, 3 May 2009 (UTC)

Cheers!
Oh, don't misunderstand me. I have been reading your posts for years, and you have always come across as very serious. I never expected such a brilliant remark at my own quite caustic humour. It was a great comeback, and it leaves me with the slapped-in-the face feeling and total respect for you. Seriously, well done. I am still reeling from the effects.--KageTora (영호 (影虎)) (talk) 17:37, 1 May 2009 (UTC)
 * Always very serious? Hmm. Perhaps my humour is shared by a select band. User:Julia Rossi is usually on my wavelength. Anyway, thanks for taking my posting in the spirit in which it was intended. Would you like to comment there? BrainyBabe (talk) 00:27, 3 May 2009 (UTC)

About my girlfriend
Thanks Brainybabe for your extended encouragement. Yes, I was still reading the thread. I am working on it and I try to talk to girls. Though, thus far the results are not very encouraging. Another problem is I don't have much money so I can't spend on girls. But this maybe my misconception that I need to spend money on girls. I am not sure. Anyway, I think you are also a girl, as your name suggests. So, it might be worthwhile to keep asking for some advice from you from time to time, if you don't mind. Thanks - 129.132.128.136 (talk) 16:07, 5 May 2009 (UTC)
 * Thank you for stopping by. I am happy to give you some encouragement and advice. The first thing I would suggest is, create a free pseudonymous account. That way I (and others) can know that you are the same person each time. You could choose a name specific to this aspect of your life (e.g. LookingForLove) or something unrelated (e.g. qwerty123). Money is an important subject to think about.   Spending money on someone is one way to show you care, but if you don't have (much) money, you have to find other ways: instead of a day at the amusement park, go hiking; or for a first ice-breaker getting-to-know-you, instead of Starbuck's, walk around your local park; instead of a fancy restaurant, offer to cook dinner for her.  Whatever is appropriate to your situation. Be creative! Investigate what sort of things are available for free in your area  -- maybe music gigs or concerts, or city events, festivals, museums and galleries, public talks. Go to your local library and ask a real librarian for ideas. Try your tourism office, too.  The third thing is learning how to introduce yourself to new people and make small talk. Have you looked at advice such as VideoJug? They have a whole section on "Love and Dating". Don't believe everything you see on the internet! But there are some good tips. I found this one more or less at random, and it is very sensible:
 * http://www.videojug.com/webvideo/dating-which-small-mistakes-scare-women-off-and-why
 * If it's not too personal, can you give me a general idea of the situations where you have tried this recently -- at work, at college, in church? BrainyBabe (talk) 16:41, 5 May 2009 (UTC)

CfD nomination of Category:Night-time arts festivals
I have nominated night-time arts festivals for renaming to nighttime festivals. Your opinions on the matter are welcome; please participate in the discussion by adding your comments at the discussion page. Thank you. Shawn in Montreal (talk) 16:48, 6 May 2009 (UTC)

Feminism Task Force
-- Grrrlriot (♠ ♣ ♦ ♥ †) 18:45, 12 May 2009 (UTC)

AfD nomination of Raptio
An editor has nominated one or more articles which you have created or worked on, for deletion. The nominated article is Raptio. We appreciate your contributions, but the nominator doesn't believe that the article satisfies Wikipedia's criteria for inclusion and has explained why in his/her nomination (see also "What Wikipedia is not").

Your opinions on whether the article meets inclusion criteria and what should be done with the article are welcome; please participate in the discussion(s) by adding your comments to Articles for deletion/Raptio. Please be sure to sign your comments with four tildes ( ~ ).

You may also edit the article during the discussion to improve it but should not remove the articles for deletion template from the top of the article; such removal will not end the deletion debate.

Please note: This is an automatic notification by a bot. I have nothing to do with this article or the deletion nomination, and can't do anything about it. --Erwin85Bot (talk) 01:19, 25 May 2009 (UTC)

A Vindication of the Rights of Woman and Mary Wollstonecraft
Thanks for the information you added to the above articles! It flows wonderfully and helps the reader understand Wollstonecraft's reception. However, you forgot to add the bibliographic reference for "Gordon" to the "Bibliography". If you could do that, we would really appreciate it - thanks! Awadewit (talk) 03:12, 28 May 2009 (UTC)
 * Thank you for pointing that out. I have added Gordon's biography, and a few other books & details, to both bibliographies. I know in the past you have reverted some of my attempts at improvements to the Wollstonecraft series. I have not fought to justify my inclusions, e.g. on talkpages, and no doubt you had good reasons for wiping them away. However, I found it rather dispiriting. I mention this only because it makes me appreciate your praise above all the more.  A friendly word and reaching out can do wonders! Thanks for that. -- On another note, I am curious as to who published that centenary edition; Gordon does not say.  Barbara Taylor says that the working class presses, scornful of middle class morality, kept Vindication in print during the early part of the C19; presumably it was one of their editions that George Eliot read? Perhaps it had really fallen out of print, hence the need for the centenary edition. On the other hand, there were no copyright restrictions observed, so small print runs could have kept it alive. BrainyBabe (talk) 09:30, 28 May 2009 (UTC)
 * Thanks (sorry about the dispiriting part - ack!). My knowledge of the publication history of VRW is very limited. If you could dig up some more information on the publishing history, that would be wonderful information to add to the articles. I'm wondering if the text was printed without Wollstonecraft's name attached to it, for example, to avoid the taint of her association! :) By the way, another editor and I are working on Frankenstein this summer and fall (see Talk:Frankenstein for planning notes). Would you like to help? Awadewit (talk) 13:18, 29 May 2009 (UTC)

Newington Green Unitarian Church
I created this article, Newington Green Unitarian Church, in my userspace, and moved it to mainspace about 90 minutes ago. None of the categories are showing up -- I can see the words at the bottom of the article page, but when I go to, e.g. Category:Grade II listed churches in London, my article doesn't show up. Any ideas? BrainyBabe (talk) 12:33, 29 May 2009 (UTC)
 * I fixed it, you had colons on the categories. correct format:  .  Antonio López  (desu) 12:39, 29 May 2009 (UTC)
 * Oh, duh, I put them there to not mess up the nascent article while it was stil in userspace. I should have remembered! Thanks! BrainyBabe (talk) 12:46, 29 May 2009 (UTC)

Newington Green Unitarian Church again -- infobox
This time I'm having difficulty with the infobox. I entered the address into the correct parameter, but it doesn't display. I tred removing the wikilinks but that makes no difference. BrainyBabe (talk) 14:39, 29 May 2009 (UTC)
 * Changed to "Location" - should be ok now, Regards,   Badgernet    ₪    14:46, 29 May 2009 (UTC)

DYK nomination of Newington Green Unitarian Church
Hello! there still are some issues that may need to be clarified. Please review the comment(s) underneath and respond there as soon as possible.

Error in placement of edit commands?
I am trying to edit my suggestion for the Do You Know page. I submitted Newington Green Unitarian Church on May 29, and various editors have suggested amendments here, which I wish to respond to. However, every time I press the "edit" next to my entry, I get taken to a different entry. I have tried the "edit" buton above and below, and next to "May 29" and "May 30", and various other combinations. If I pressed "edit" for the whole page, no doubt there woudl be a conflict, so that's not practical. What gives? BrainyBabe (talk) 08:23, 2 June 2009 (UTC)
 * This link doesn't take you to the right edit window? --Closedmouth (talk) 08:28, 2 June 2009 (UTC)

(edit conflicted)


 * I have had similar problems myself. I think it is because, all of the time, sections are being added to the article. The sections are numbered, and therefore between your viewing the page and clicking edit, the sections prior to the one that you are on have changed.


 * I cannot give a simple fix. I suggest this: edit the page, copy the section to either a notepad or to a user page such as user:BrainyBabe/temp. Add your comments, etc. Then, edit the whole page again and paste your comments in.


 * If you have any further trouble, please use another helpme and I'll see if I can assist more directly - or, even better, come and talk to us live with this. Good luck,  Chzz  ►  08:29, 2 June 2009 (UTC)


 * Thank you both for your help. I enjoyed learning about IRC too! BrainyBabe (talk) 16:12, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

re Lubna
I have your reverted your removal of the redlink Qays and Lubna from this dab per the guideline at MOS:DABRL. Qays and Lubna is also redlinked from Marwa and Al Majnoun Al Faransi.

Also, since I'm on your talk page, thanks for your work on Lubna al-Hussein. The only reason I'm on Lubna is because I looked up the article you had just updated and then wondered what "Lubna" meant and ended up adding the etymology and list of names to the dab. Best, BanyanTree 03:04, 19 August 2009 (UTC)


 * Thank you for your thanks! And also for pointing me towards MOS:DABRL. I'm afraid I don't find the guidelines scintillatingly clear. Perhaps you can help?
 * Red links should not be the only link in a given entry; link also to an existing article, so that a reader (as opposed to a contributing editor) will have somewhere to navigate to for additional information. The linked article should contain some meaningful information about the term.
 * So that means, if I am reading this correctly, that the line currently on the Lubna dab page, "Qays and Lubna, an Arabic Virgin Love story of the 7th century", should contain a working link. As there appears to be no Arabic Virgin Love story article (or would you like to create one?), what would it be best to link to? Perhaps one of the other examples?  E.g.
 * Qays and Lubna, an Arabic Virgin Love story with similarities to Marwa and Al Majnoun Al Faransi
 * What do you think? BrainyBabe (talk) 20:02, 25 August 2009 (UTC)
 * That seems a bit messy as one normally refers up rather than across in a dab, if you get my meaning. I ended up pulling some of the general information from Layla and Majnun and putting it into Arabic literature, adding a redlink for Virgin Love there, and then pipelinking to that section from the Lubna dab.  Surprisingly, there doesn't seem to be an article about the literary motif of virgin love on Wikipedia (though there's a decent stub on Japanese lover double-suicide).  In any case, hopefully that resolves concerns about the lack of a bluelink.  - BanyanTree 01:45, 26 August 2009 (UTC)
 * Yes, that looks good. Thanks! BrainyBabe (talk) 05:35, 26 August 2009 (UTC)

Foreign relations of Zanzibar
Hi there, firstly I'd like to complement you on the extensive and well-written expansion of a stub I started, History of Zanzibar. It is fantastic. I'd also like to point you to a new stub I've created on a similar though distinct topic, Foreign relations of Zanzibar. It surely could use some expansion if you are so inclined. Otherwise, keep up the good work!--TM 15:59, 19 August 2009 (UTC)
 * Thank you! I hadn't looked at the history article for almost a year and a half, so it is a nice surprise to find praise of it. I juggled the information that I found there and in related articles; I didn't focus on finding better material and references. The article certainly needs better and clearer sources. Every year that passes, the good articles in Wikpedia get stronger. This one needs to improve more, just to keep up with the changing goal posts. Anyway, good luck with foreign relations.  Not my area of expertise, sorry. BrainyBabe (talk) 20:17, 25 August 2009 (UTC)

Reversion in English as a Foreign or Second Language article
Moved to talkpage of that article. BrainyBabe (talk) 19:36, 25 August 2009 (UTC)

Stately Homo
I notice on your user page you list pages you have worked on with short descriptives of the person's note; I suggest you alter your tag for Quentin Crisp from "Stately homo" - not only can "homo" come across as a slur, but he is actually known for being a humorist, writer and memoirist who is homosexual and has written re his life as a homosexual in a predominantly straight/heterosexual society (Naked Civil Servant...) - please be more respectful. I note you also dig into the Herveys (who you tag as dissolute aristocrats) - yet Lord Nicholas Hervey has no notation or association of being dissolute - this is also disrespectful to a person, inaccurate and uncalled for - perhaps dysfunctional aristocrats would be a better term


 * Well, thank you for visiting my userpage. I don't think anyone has previously taking the trouble to critique its contents. I would prefer it if this were not an anonymous message; if you do not have an account, may I suggest that you start one?


 * Quentin Crisp was widely known as England's stateliest homo -- indeed, I believe he made up the name himself. This is a pun on the term stately home. Have you read The Stately Homo: a celebration of the life of Quentin Crisp? Edited by Paul Bailey, it is a collection of interviews and tributes from those who knew Crisp, published in 2000.


 * Thank you for drawing my attention to the Herveys. I have amended the list to make it clear that only some of them were dissolute, and have added another example of that trait.


 * Have you read User page? "Your userpage is for anything that is compatible with the Wikipedia project."  And "The Wikipedia community is generally tolerant and offers fairly wide latitude in applying these guidelines to regular participants."


 * Best wishes. BrainyBabe (talk) 07:28, 30 August 2009 (UTC)

History of Bukhara
Is being discussed on the DYK suggestions page. Victuallers (talk) 15:23, 23 September 2009 (UTC)

It was here. What happened ? Victuallers (talk) 16:57, 23 September 2009 (UTC)

The problem wasn't the quality, but the originality. DYK rules say that you have to have 1500 chars of new text of a x5 expansion. The article was hived off. If there was 1500 new chars or more likely the hive had expanded by x5 and it was explained then it would have gone through. The dyk rules are tricky, but try again! Victuallers (talk) 16:07, 28 September 2009 (UTC)

Nepotism edit?
Surely if the mentions of Max Gogarty and Lily Allen are to be removed under WP:BLP, pretty much all examples of the Political section should be removed as well as almost none of them is sourced and almost all of them are about living persons. It doesn't make any sense to treat Max Gogarty or Lily Allen differently than Kostas Karamanlis or Maumoon Abdul Gayyoom does it?

Masklinn (talk) 13:52, 1 December 2009 (UTC)


 * Thank you for drawing this to my attention. I take your point at face value, and agree with it. Much as I deplore the favouritising of family over others in public appointments, I deplore still more allowing Wikipedia to contain unsourced negative information about living people, rumours that could easily be interpreted as slander. I will remove such allegations, and defend my action on the Nepotism talkpage if challenged. BrainyBabe (talk) 23:35, 4 December 2009 (UTC)

Congratulations!
You have been awarded the seldom-coveted Thumbs Up Award for helping keep the record straight (or . ... whatever) on Richard Halliburton, who for several reasons, is very important to me. Einar aka Carptrash (talk) 01:12, 5 December 2009 (UTC)
 * Thank you! Will you be keeping RH on your watchlist? This is not the first time this paragraph has gone MIA. BrainyBabe (talk) 01:17, 5 December 2009 (UTC)
 * Yes, he is on my watchlist and I shall keep an eye open for this particular edit. Others too.  Carptrash (talk) 01:52, 5 December 2009 (UTC)