[Newspoetry] delurk & 3 URLs on communication

[Julianne]

Long delurk w/ annotated URLs; feel free to skip.

[Still with me? OK...]

I've got a bunch of newspoetrylist digests waiting for
me, and I decided to start with the most recent one,
and lo and behold I discover that I've missed the war
(or: argument).

<python>
"An argument is not just contradiction!" "It can be!"
</python>

It will take me a long time to go back and follow
the threads in the argument (or: war) and see what
I think. So I may not do it; anyway,

<proverb="26.17" mod=yes>
she who meddles in a quarrel not her own is like
one who takes a passing dog by the ears.
</proverb>

That is to say, someone really annoying.

However I did notice the word _feminist_ shot
into the air several times, once sarcastically,
which reminded me to delurk myself. (Yes it's
painful but it only has to be done once per list
and I have all the facilities here with a choice
of an acid bath or a flame thrower...) I wonder
if some of the writers here have been pounded
on in such a way that they now believe that
feminists Take All The Fun Out Of Language.
If so, I wish to challenge that belief, on or off
list, out of my own need for places where I
can be myself and my belief that this is one
of them.

<question>
Is it possible for one person's need to "be
him or her self" to impinge on another person's
rights, freedom, etc? In theory this ought not to
be possible but in practice this is one of the
fascinating questions that circles around the
First Amendment, of which I am very fond...
</question>

Where was I? Oh, yes, I challenge the assumption
that feminists take the fun out of language. It's the
Goddess' truth that we have no sense of humor
whatsoever, but fun with language is a critical part
of what feminism is all about. And a warm thank
you to everyone here who has joined in the fun...

Who am I? Well, I don't know most of you; I'm a
huge (350 lb) fan of William's however. In addition
to my attending several of his readings, he and I
discussed the best way to discover the underground
scene in Bergen, Norway. But I didn't get a chance
to join his quest on account of I was sucking up
(British: playing up) to a bunch of Scandinavian
(and one Uruguayan) game theorists. I am not a
poet, but a fan of newspoetry, and also a pro-
1stAmendment pornography-producing feminist
who is furious about huge swaths of U.S. foreign
and domestic policy. Because of some knee
problems (Norwegian: Jeg har trett i knarne) I
just had to bow out of a political/humanitarian
mission to Iraq on the 10th anniversary of you
know what (this month) and I'm bummed about
that, and glad you all are here and writing so
vividly with such a multiplicity of voices so I have
something to read while my affinity group, or
whatever you would like to call them, are all in
Baghdad. Thank you all.

Don't worry about the knee problems, I am
taking care of them by constant swimming plus
other measures, it's just that I can't do that in
Baghdad because we bombed a bunch of the
water purification and pumping stations there...

I wouldn't have written except some of the joky
letters talked about communications techniques
and whether there was anything beyond arguments
as war, and I have some URL's to offer in that
area. (1) I have been experimenting with a technique
with the dorky name "nonviolent communication"
(developed originally in Chicago I believe); it's
been used in lots of trouble spots and is super
good for communicating with really angry people.
[Like people who are suffering from an undeclared
war funded by one's own tax dollars - oops I digress - ]

New England definition:
   http://www.nvcboston.org/index.htm#what_is_1
National organization:
   http://www.cnvc.org/main.htm

I have used some NVC (modified) in this message
and although it's not good for advancing ideas,
I have found it useful in a surprising variety of
situations.

(2) In regard to advancing ideas...here's a URL for
David Kolb's essay on hypertext and the rhetoric
of argument...

http://www.bates.edu/~dkolb/ou-dk.html

and lastly, (3) I know people here get Phil Agre's RRE,
but I can't remember whether anyone posted a link to
The New Jargon. Just in case no one did, or in case
some of you missed it, this is a dissection of a
specific kind of communication that Phil thinks is
really dangerous to our (political/social) health.

http://commons.somewhere.com/rre/2000/RRE.the.new.jargon.html

Here's an excerpt:

I do not want this jargon to succeed, and it can only succeed by taking 
over people's minds. Everyone's mind has its breaking point, and there is 
no shame in succumbing to the waves of vitriolic nonsense. And there is 
hope for those who have succumbed, if any humanity remains in them. But 
hope grows dim with time, and as the madness takes over more and more of 
our public discourse. When I read the newspaper today, I see dead people. I 
see vampires feeding on my country. I have no power to make them stop. What 
I can do, however, is to shine a light on them, and that's what I'm trying 
to do here. - Phil Agre "The New Jargon"

So those are the tools that I know about, and
thank you for the bandwidth. If any of you visit the
Boston area and want to be put in touch with anything
underground (such as it is) get in touch. Ditto if you
want me to listen empathetically about what "the
feminists" have in your opinion taken the fun out
of. But then again...

<pyth>
I might be arguing in my spare time,
</pyth>

Julianne

If your New Year's Resolution is to ask for a raise,
you can read my related rant:
    http://world.std.com/~jchat/asking.htm
Usability techniques for writers of digital literature
    http://world.std.com/~jchat/u/index.htm

jchat at world.std.com / http://world.std.com/~jchat/

"...no one will take your dreams seriously unless you do. Second, spending
money on things you really don't need helps trap you in the job you now
have trying to pay for it all."
http://www.salon.com/health/feature/2000/10/17/drag_queen/index.html