[Newspoetry] Missing Hat!

[Dirk Stratton]

As one of the people Wm is trying to protect from "Urbana-exclusive" 
(inclusive?) messages on the Newspoetry list, let me add my 2 cents 
[sidenote: whatever happened to the 'cents' symbol on keyboards? what 
insidious plot forces us to use the $-sign (as in $0.02) if we wish 
to not spell out the word cents? does it make sense to eliminate the 
cents-symbol? perhaps there should be a Newspoetry investigation into 
this not-so-vital issue . . .].

Frankly, I don't mind Urbana-only messages. I don't know who's been 
complaining, but it sure hasn't been me. Perhaps because I've 
actually been to Urbana a few times and met and partied with many of 
the individuals who have left such messages makes me an exception to 
the rule, but actually, I think it's kind of charming. Maybe the 
complainants receive far more e-mail than I and are irritated at 
having to deal with non-germane posts, but if it is an annoyance (and 
I certainly don't find it so) it is decidedly a minor one. But maybe 
that's just me. For me such messages reinforce the essentially 
personal and interpersonal nature of the Newspoetry enterprise and 
reminds us that Urbana currently supports the largest contingent of 
Newspoets in the world. Such a critical mass, I believe, deserves a 
little leeway. Besides that, while before I was totally ignorant of 
the fact that Bill even owned a hat, now I am considerably intrigued 
by the mystery. And how do we know, at this early stage, whether or 
not the disappearing hat will remain a local issue? Could it be the 
signal event in something with a much broader scope than we can now 
imagine?

And Wm, now addressing you in particular, weren't you the one who 
told me that the greatest accomplishment of Newspoetry was the 
creation of the Newspoetry list which inspired so many people who 
previously had not self-identified themselves as writers to actually 
begin writing? Don't you imagine that in part this occurred because 
of the friendly, down-home, intimate feel of the list-postings in 
general? In other words, doesn't this aspect of the list promote 
community, even if some of the members, like myself, aren't within 
spitting distance of the actual community in Urbana?

I don't know. Again, maybe it's just me.

--Dirk (in Cincinnati, but still wondering about Bill's hat--but in a 
good way!)

>The purpose of this message is to address complaints I have received about
>this list being used for Urbana-only announcements regarding neither news
>nor poetry. It is unlikely, for example, that correspondents living in
>Chicago, Cincinnati, Boston, San Diego, or England have Bill's hat. Hell, I
>live in Urbana, and I don't even have Bill's hat. "What hat," they are
>wondering, "and who's Bill?" Such people would doubtlessly approach such an
>email message the way one might approach a meeting of the WEFT Associates,
>or the Bulletin Board at the Food Co-op, if you know what I mean. Let's try
>to keep the cardinals off the purple coneflowers, if possible. I mean, how
>would you feel if you were smoking hand-rolled cigarettes made with Cherry
>tobacco from Jon's Pipe Shop, reading the Octopus with Dave King in the
>bowling alley at the Illini Union, and Chief Illiniwek walked up to you and
>said "While I agree with the aims of the PRC, I think it is rife with
>internal political maneuvering and suffers from the machismo of some of the
>older activists." Pretty weird, I bet, and that's exactly my point. But
>this isn't just about the missing hat of a guy who is so relentlessly
>extroverted that he's been in 46 Newspoets' houses all over the world in
>the past week alone. (That's the power of Birkenstocks!) Try to look at it
>their way: I mean, there they are trying to cross Vine street on Elm to get
>to the Elite Diner, but they can't get any farther than the brick median
>strip because the students are back in town. It's like arriving at the
>Courier Cafe' when they're out of croissants and the salad bar has already
>been taken down. They probably feel like taking a walk down by the
>abandoned water tower near the train station, or just enjoying a Bob at the
>Paradiso, but they can't, because they have to cook a vegan dinner of
>organic eggplant from the Blue Moon farm for the School for Designing
>Society. See what I mean? Don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to start a
>controversy about Democracy Now or write an angry riposte to Carl
>Estabrook's latest "News from Neptune," believe me, I'm just trying to find
>a parking space so I can return some Lyn Hejinian books to the stacks and
>maybe take in some Thai food at the Y Eatery. Please don't think that I'm
>State Representative Johnson voting against an amendment to protect people
>from discrimination based on sexual orientation. So, when posting to the
>Newspoetry list, please try to be respectful of those who are least likely
>to have your hat.
>
>Our Founder
>
>Bill Wendling wrote:
>
>  > You've seen it.
>  > You've loved it.
>  > You've laughed at it behind my back.
>  >
>  > My hat is gone.
>  > I know not where.
>  > If you have an idea, I'm all ears.
>  >
>  > Many questions may be asked,
>  > but the reunion is the most important part.
>  >
>  > Thanks to one and all!
>  >
>  > --
>  > || Bill Wendling                        wendling at ganymede.isdn.uiuc.edu
>  >
>  > _______________________________________________
>  > Newspoetry maillist  -  Newspoetry at ganymede.isdn.uiuc.edu
>  > http://ganymede.isdn.uiuc.edu/mailman/listinfo/newspoetry
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>Newspoetry maillist  -  Newspoetry at ganymede.isdn.uiuc.edu
>http://ganymede.isdn.uiuc.edu/mailman/listinfo/newspoetry