listmoan

[Mike Weaver]

Two things I'm finding a drag on this list, in order of excess are:
1. people posting huge hunks of previous messages as if the rest of us are
not blest with memories for points of interest.  I mean,  I'm possibly one
of the listers who has smoked the most dope over the longest periods of time
and even my short term memory is up to keeping up with the what's going on
given a line or two of the previous pertinent posting. 
 How about we add a  Repeater>r>>r>>>r of the Month award to the FAQ
posting,  get someone of acknowledged succinctness and sufficient free time
to bundle all that person's postings and 'copy as quote' them onto one
message, as many times as will be calculated by some simple formula
involving as the variable the extent of their iniquity.  This is their
prize,  ceremoniously sent to them with instructions that they print it out
as many times as is necessary to paper the walls of their toilet.
Alternatively  they could print it out and use it as toilet paper for 30 days.  

2.  People declaring stuff out of place on the list for reasons of subject
matter rather than its flame war nature or idiotic offensiveness...
This  is more of a personal disagreement with the FAQ's suggested limits of
the list.   The vast majority of threads here start in some
appreciation/criticism of TP's writing.  If left to run their course they
fade out or return to TP's writing sooner or later.  One day maybe the list
server will be sophisticated enough to allow for the easy creation and
subsequent dissolution  of sub lists so those of us interested in continuing
to follow particular threads can do so in a more inclusive way than the one
to one discussions that occur, I would imagine, when most stuff goes off list. 
 Til then,  use of the delete, close or next buttons by the complainees will
keep the list interesting for those of us who are as/more interested in
discussing matters of the world with other Pynchon lovers as/than constant
referral to the Texts.  I've always  thought that what made TP different
from most other writers was the breadth of his concern and of his political
perception. Being on the list for me is a chance to be in correspondence
with a goodly number of people on the same spectrum of world views.

Yours curmudgeonly
Mike

PS has anyone been in snailmail touch with Craig Clark in S. Africa.  I'm
writing a letter to him art present and was thinking of chucking in a couple
of discsworth of p-listery but if someone else has done so, all well and good.

   
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    Humour is the oil of the soul - Lord Buckley         
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^