BS: Ides of February: AKA Silly Season

Subject: BS: Ides of February: AKA Silly Season
From: wysiwyg
Date: 18 Feb 06 - 01:10 PM

Just a reminder (been here since Jan. 2000 myself). There is a cycle at Mudcat just as there is everywhere, that brings us back to Silly Season (an ugly and painful time) EVERY YEAR WITHOUT FAIL. It's usually in February, tho there are other brief episodes of it at other times, too.

It ends when enough of us decide to turn our own attention from it.

Nothing going on now in the threads is new. GOOD NEWS-- None of it is life-threatening, although it may seem terribly urgent and serious.

Believe it or not, there is actually the luxury of TIME to take a breath before responding to anything you may see going on here right about now. Time to get your BEST thoughts in order, before posting-- or deciding NOT to post.

You can choose to view Mudcat without the BS threads.

You can choose to vent your feelings in a PM to a good listener (or in person! to a live being!) instead of aiming them directly at the oject of your preoccupation in a thread or PM.

You can take your urgency to the Chat room, here (if it's working) or elsewhere (if you let people know where to meet you.

But just rest assured-- it's all been done before. The upset, the effort to raise the tone, the "votes" on administrative actions, the outing of people for wrongs committed, the outrage that the outing has occurred-- ALL of it!

:~) And NEXT year-- you'll see it all again!

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: Ides of February: AKA Silly Season
From: The Shambles
Date: 18 Feb 06 - 07:53 PM

It ends when enough of us decide to turn our own attention from it.

:~) And NEXT year-- you'll see it all again!

Do you think the two could possibly be linked in any way?

Rather than turning attention from it and considering this to be an end - would it be better to establish and finally address the reasons - so that it may be prevented from happening all over again?

No - I thought not..................It would seem to be much more fun to intentionally avoid and run away from pretty obvious solutions in order to keep on ******* up a really good thing.

Subject: RE: BS: Ides of February: AKA Silly Season
From: Bert
Date: 18 Feb 06 - 09:12 PM

But this silly season is a little different - today we can go to the Mangled Lyrics Thead and forget all the dissent.

Subject: RE: BS: Ides of February: AKA Silly Season
From: The Shambles
Date: 19 Feb 06 - 05:13 AM

Until Joe decides to delete or close it.

*Smiles*

Subject: RE: BS: Ides of February: AKA Silly Season
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Feb 06 - 11:27 AM

There is also such a thing as a self-fulfilling prophecy. You start this thread every year, like clockwork. It never works the way you want, but you start it anyway.

Subject: RE: BS: Ides of February: AKA Silly Season
From: wysiwyg
Date: 19 Feb 06 - 12:31 PM

For goodness sakes-- I don't care how it works! It's for the sake of newer folks who have the bad luck to visit here for the first time when Mudcat's at the height of it's periodic ugliness, or who have only been here a short time and may think the fighting is something new and unique.

SRS, you seem to have an ongoing problem with me that is getting tiresome. You manage to read all KINDS of motives into my posts that have nothing to do with my intent or my personality.

If a post of mine doesn't seem relevant or helpful to you, is there some reason you can't just ignore it? Is there some reason you feel you have to sit in judgement of me? Because it makes you look really nasty. Are you really that mean-spirited in person?

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: Ides of February: AKA Silly Season
From: The Shambles
Date: 19 Feb 06 - 02:51 PM

If a post of mine doesn't seem relevant or helpful to you, is there some reason you can't just ignore it? Is there some reason you feel you have to sit in judgement of me? Because it makes you look really nasty. Are you really that mean-spirited in person?

*Smiles*

Susan if I had a pound for every time you have posted here only to sit in judgement of me - I would be a very rich man.

SRS - Seems like a reglar guy to me. *Smiles*

Subject: RE: BS: Ides of February: AKA Silly Season
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 19 Feb 06 - 02:57 PM

Oh dear Roger, your martyrs mask slipped a bit there didn't it?
G

Subject: RE: BS: Ides of February: AKA Silly Season
From: autolycus
Date: 19 Feb 06 - 05:21 PM

WYSIWYG. Take a lttle pity on a raw recruit.

Mosy of this is brand-new to us babies.

For me , this is still an exciting new playground with swings and everything. I don't know what happens every year. So, I can't have your hindsight.And I confess I see other things than dissent here (so I have to disagree w..........a !) Lots of playfulness, fun, humour, original phrase-making.

I do see some pots being shot (from "taking a pot-shot", if that wasn't obv.). An misunderstandings abound. Bit like life. And lots of good stuff.


May I ask what you'd like to see being discussed, or is that far too weak an appeal? Or is there a quick place to discover the story so far....?

Putting it another way, heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelp !!!

Auto/Ivor (dying to go to the loo, but important things first)

Subject: RE: BS: Ides of February: AKA Silly Season
From: GUEST
Date: 19 Feb 06 - 05:34 PM

Sadly, today shall go down in Mudcat history as the day we discovered that after making February attempt after February attempt to stop the Silly Season, Susan isn't much of a faith healer after all.

Subject: RE: BS: Ides of February: AKA Silly Season
From: wysiwyg
Date: 19 Feb 06 - 06:18 PM

Roger, I try very hard to post to the topic you have begun or to points you have raised in your own posts. That's not quite the same thing as what I so foolishly questioned SRS about; but in any case, why are you replying for SRS???

Guest, LOL! I have never claimed to be a faith healer!


Ivor (is that eye-vore or ee-vore?),

Hello, and well met!

I have NO idea what else we could discuss-- I am as vulnerable to Silly Season as anyone else, unfortunately.

I just try to remember during Silly Season that life away from the puder may be healthier than posting at this time of year, and when I am here I try to work on some positive project. Normally, for me, that would be the African-American Spirituals Permathread or one of its related projects, but that's on hold till the tech issue involving posts out of date/time order is resolved. (Plus it requires a degree of brain function which I lack right now.)

So I have been working on music in "real life," by working up arrangements and song choices for the next season of church music, and working with our band to re-organize some band functions to spread the work around.

I have noticed you posting recently. You could tell me more about yourself, your music-- that's ALWAYS in order at Mudcat, don't you think? Whereabouts are you, how you found Mudcat, how you chose your Mudcat name, and so forth.... anything really.

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: Ides of February: AKA Silly Season
From: wysiwyg
Date: 19 Feb 06 - 06:54 PM

Auto/Ivor,

And DUH! I forgot the best strategy I have ever seen folks use in Silly Season-- MUSIC threads! Some people have enjoyed doing these things:

1. Peruse the music threadlist and add info where you can. (Resist the temptation to badinage; the music threads will last longer than the humor and are a research resource more than a series of chat rooms.)

2. Refresh lyric/tune/info requests that seem about to fall off the day's menu so they will get another day's viewing. Google up anything you can to answer the requests yourself. I believe Sorcha used to make it a game to see how fast she could answer these. You will grow your bookmarks as a result.

3. Look up the Unanswered Requests Permathread and see if you can find anything to help answer any of the requests.

4. Able to write notation in a music program? MMario runs the Great Tune Hunt for midi's to go with songs that are in the DT or posted in threads, that lack tunes.

5. Look up the Permathread Index and enjoy reading some of the permathreads you never heard of.

6. Explore the site features you might not have noticed.

7. Send a PM encouraging or complimenting someone. Live a little-- send two or three! :~)

8. Look through the Mudcat Profiles and write yours up.

9. Put something in the Mudcat Auction.

10. Pick a music topic and offer to index the threads that go with it. (Look in the FAQ or Site Index thread for a list of some that need an index.)

11. Pick a thread that looks boring (go back a year in the filter box) and then read all of it and follow the links in it to see all the strange places it goes.

12. Pick a couple of Mudcat regulars you respect and bring up their posting history. Enjoy their Mudcat infancy or gain wisdom from them. Rick Fielding (now departed) is one, and Lonesome EJ is another (still with us thank God).

I think the HOW of doing any of these is in the FAQ, somewhere. Good hunting!

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: Ides of February: AKA Silly Season
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Feb 06 - 07:18 PM

If a post of mine doesn't seem relevant or helpful to you, is there some reason you can't just ignore it? Is there some reason you feel you have to sit in judgement of me? Because it makes you look really nasty. Are you really that mean-spirited in person?


You say you want to stop the squabbling, but you send a post guaranteed to start this kind of discussion, and when someone points it out, you decide to take off the glvoes and impugn their character? This is part of your effort to stop the squabbling?

I responded to the hypocrisy in your post. I am one of probably many who has in the past received little sanctimonious PMs from Mother Susan, the Reverend's Wife, trying to keep the sheep in line and advising us to be more charitable or that we should apologize for something or other. You have to get over that. The rest of your stuff to do with music I don't have a problem with, but I don't care for the parental tone. Keep the tsk tsking to yourself, and if you don't get your way, I suggest that you turn the other cheek.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Ides of February: AKA Silly Season
From: GUEST,Sr. Silly
Date: 19 Feb 06 - 07:33 PM

psssssssssssssst

Subject: RE: BS: Ides of February: AKA Silly Season
From: GUEST
Date: 19 Feb 06 - 07:43 PM

"Keep the tsk tsking to yourself, and if you don't get your way, I suggest that you turn the other cheek."

Or at least follow your own advice and turn off your computer instead of nagging all of us to be good.

Subject: RE: BS: Ides of February: AKA Silly Season
From: wysiwyg
Date: 19 Feb 06 - 09:20 PM

SRS, even your deliberate use of my church affiliation in an effort to stir me up only makes me wonder how someone as smart as I know you are could be so lost in a stereotype that has nothing to do with me. I'm picturing you having somehow wandered into our Saturday Night Service (to use the church's loo or something) and your face when you hear how we relate to the people there and how they relate to us. It's a wee bit different from the scene I think you scribble me into.

But thanks for exempting my music stuff from your campaign! :~) I'll be sure to check with you next February before starting a thread like this one! :~)

All the best,

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: Ides of February: AKA Silly Season
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Feb 06 - 09:34 PM

Why are you bothering to try to imagine me at all? Why do you keep guessing at and suggesting behavior and personality that don't have anything to do with anything and are only calculated to keep an argument going? Who cares about your church services? It sounds like you harbor a little fantasy that all who argue with you will be instantly converted in the presence of your congregation. Rest assured, I won't be stopping by your church to pee. I'm not drawing on stereotypes to characterize you--you do it yourself all the time with the continual references to religion and church.

I wrote for one reason. I would like to see you to turn off the Pollyanna nonsense. We're adults here, and we squabble. It's not up to you to break it up or preach at us as to how we should behave. Your annual "Silly Season" threads just borrow trouble.

Capiche?

Subject: RE: BS: Ides of February: AKA Silly Season
From: wysiwyg
Date: 19 Feb 06 - 10:48 PM

Well, SRS, I don't think I did preach, and I don't expect to convert you or anyone else-- it's not my business. You seem to want to control me-- your posts in this thread instruct me on how I should behave, and I don't think I have taken that tone myself.

Examples:

... You have to get over that. The rest of your stuff to do with music I don't have a problem with, but I don't care for the parental tone. Keep the tsk tsking to yourself, and if you don't get your way, I suggest that you turn the other cheek.

I would like to see you to turn off the Pollyanna nonsense.

My image of your likely surprise came to me when I tried, for a moment, to see myself as you decribe me. I compared your description of me against my experience of reality with quite a large number of people who don't share your view at all.

You describe: Mother Susan, the Reverend's Wife, trying to keep the sheep in line and advising us to be more charitable or that we should apologize for something or other. I experience a community of considerable size and seasoned judgment affirming my open, direct, and relaxed style as a model of welcoming people they would consider difficult to welcome.

You describe me tsk tsking, and I experience phone calls and emails each week where people from many aspects of life, not just our church, seek encouragement and receive the experience of having someone believe in them and in their ability to act in powerful ways based on their own best thinking.

You characterize me into something to chastise. I do try to understand where that comes from, because I try to understand things that make no sense to me in case I might learn something in the process. So far, I'm not learning anything much from you. How is it working for you?

What I am telling you is that for whatever reason, you're off when it comes to me, and that I object to your attacks.

Now I'm going to try to reconcile the image of a tsk tsking Polyanna. It's a stretch-- I'll have to see the movie again and see if I can catch her being a Multiple Personality. :~)

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: Ides of February: AKA Silly Season
From: The Shambles
Date: 20 Feb 06 - 02:17 AM

That's not quite the same thing as what I so foolishly questioned SRS about; but in any case, why are you replying for SRS???

Not sure that I did but if I did - are such things not what you would expect and predict for your 'Silly Season'?

Subject: RE: BS: Ides of February: AKA Silly Season
From: Alba
Date: 20 Feb 06 - 07:56 AM

Silly Season. If only your crusade was seasonal Shambles.
I'm going for walk with MY dog now. So while I am out don't you go calling him OURS..I feed him, I walk him, I care for him...so he is MINE...well for as long as HE decides HE wants to stay here at MY house...LOL

This subject is so silly it is even, dare I say just too silly, to address.
The Fields beckons and MY dog is telling ME what HE wants.
Me out of this Thread.

Later (much later)

J

Subject: RE: BS: Ides of February: AKA Silly Season
From: wysiwyg
Date: 20 Feb 06 - 09:15 AM

Duh! Of course! The dog! The best alternative in Silly Season!

Alba, you are as usual the wisest in this thread. Now I know where you get it from-- your dog!

:~)

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Ides of February: AKA Silly Season
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Feb 06 - 09:59 AM

Butter wouldn't melt in your mouth.

Give it a rest, I'm tired of hearing how good you are. I bet your congregation is also. They probably laugh at you behind your back. I'm just telling you to your face.

Now go spend time cutting and pasting more examples of my churlish behavior for all to witness.

Subject: RE: BS: Ides of February: AKA Silly Season
From: wysiwyg
Date: 20 Feb 06 - 10:12 AM

OK, SRS, there's your distinctive pattern-- insult, and then in the same breath tell the person attacked to let it go.

People laugh WITH me, for the most part, because I don't take myself all that seriously, but thanks for having the guts at least to post under your own name.

I know you need to get the last word, so go ahead one more time-- I'll b eglad to let it pass so you can have it.

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: Ides of February: AKA Silly Season
From: wysiwyg
Date: 20 Feb 06 - 12:23 PM

Here's a lovely story a friend shared with me today. He no longer "Mudcats," but he gave me the OK to post it. I think it's a great example of life outside of Silly Season.

~S~


*********************************************************************

It's just an old guitar...

"Tell you what. If you're going to go ahead and buy the pugmill, I'll give you the guitar and banjo for an extra $100 if you want them," Dave said. "It's an old Harmony. I used to play coffeehouses with it in college."

Never being one to turn down a guitar for $100, even if the banjo had to come with it (how else you gonna get rid of a banjo?), I said, "Sure."

I've known Dave for nearly my entire professional life. He's another potter.

When I was just a kid starting out – half way through my college years, just married and building a pottery from scratch – I headed toward my very first art fair in central Indiana. I had my '66 Buick Skylark loaded beyond full. Just 30 miles from home, the poor old girl broke down on the highway that traces the Eel River ridge across Northern Indiana.

After road repairs, I finally got to the art fair a half a day late. Dave was the first person I met. I asked him if he thought the show worth the extra effort of trying to set up overnight to salvage the rest of the show. A simple roll of the eyes was the first of a thirty-year string of good advice Dave has given me.

Dave has taught me the ropes of doing art fairs for a living. He has taught me much about pottery. And he has taught me much about jumping into life with both feet.

Life has kinda forced Dave into being a maverick. It's not like life is particularly cruel to Dave. Neither has he found the skids to be often greased. But Dave generally has to figure out his own way of doing things. He doesn't always have the best tools to excel at the challenges that appeal to his intelligent, inquisitive mind.

For instance, Dave is not built like a potter. He is slight – more than a passing resemblance to Barney Fife. Dave learned early on that he wasn't going to be muscling his way through turning 20 lb. clay pots. Instead, he figured out how to finesse his way through 5 pounders.

Dave doesn't seem to measure the value of a challenge, or his willingness to attempt to tackle it, by how well equipped he might be to take it on. And time and again Dave shows character – humanity – not in excelling at those challenges, but in trying, in enjoying those challenges.

And I've seen Dave get knocked down. Flat. Wiley Coyote meets the oncoming train in the tunnel. I see him continue to get back up. He doesn't bother to look around to see if anyone saw him topple. Why would he? He isn't attempting the challenge to impress others. He knows the intrinsic worthiness of "try."

"Try."

A life is only empty when it's devoid of "try." Sure, I've learned the art fair ropes from Dave. But the value of "try" is what I'll most take away from the friendship.

And Dave's tenacity has not just earned him my respect, but a career that has spanned four decades, selling thousands of pots a year in nearly every hard-to-get-into fine art fair throughout the Midwest. And there is a group of Midwestern potters whose work will always reflect Dave's influence.

Sometimes "Try" pays off extrinsically as well intrinsically.


So now here I am, looking at this $100 Harmony 1260 Jumbo that I got with the pug mill. Not a terribly "gifted" guitar. It's got a bad neck angle, cracked peghead, poor-fitting replacement tuners, a pickguard that was poorly glued back on. And I'm wondering if it's worth the expense of trying to bring it up to real playability...

...And now there Dave is, looking at the last big challenge for which he's not been given quite adequate tools. There he sits in Florida. Pottery closed forever. One lung gone and the other almost completely ravaged by the cancer he can no longer fight.

I think I'll get the Harmony repaired.


(C) 2006 John Hardly

=============

What's a Pugmill?

Subject: RE: BS: Ides of February: AKA Silly Season
From: JennyO
Date: 20 Feb 06 - 09:42 PM

There's plenty of that "life outside of Silly Season" here now, if you look in the right places. I see a lot of good creative stuff happening, and a lot to entertain. I certainly have no complaints.

I've noticed that when the 'Cat has had a lot of ups and downs, technically speaking, and it comes back and works well, as it has in the last few days, we seem to get a bit carried away and there is always a flurry of posting - rather like an alcoholic being given the keys to the pub.

I think that phase is cooling off and the 'Cat's settling down rather nicely now. Or maybe it just seems that way to me because I prefer to put my energy into coming up with new mangled lyrics rather than arguing in the political threads which I mostly avoid.

Jenny