MERCEDES-LACKEY Digest 998 Topics covered in this issue include: 1) DragonCon by "Hth." 2) Re: music by Lady Becky of the Hills 3) Answers for all the questions by Rozanna McNeer 4) RE: ST. Nickolas, list and all by Phil Cartier 5) ReHi and Braid by Ken Hyde 6) Not exactly an *introduction* by "Hth." 7) Christmas Greetings by Lady Windsong 8) SB spoiler by "Romylee A. Ejercito" 9) re: after death/ bards/ santa/ Star's page/ singing idiots/ Cennydd's stuff by "Romylee A. Ejercito" 10) Re: after death/ bards/ santa/ Star's page/ singing idiots/ Cennydd's stuff by DawnRain 11) Re: ReHi and Braid/HTH/ by Eleonora ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 02 Dec 1996 22:58:21 CST From: "Hth." To: Subject: DragonCon Message-ID: <02DEC96.24810385.0054.MUSIC-+AT+-ACADEMIC.TRUMAN.EDU> Hi, I'm back from vacation for a couple of weeks. No, less, come to think of it. But for the moment, here am I, Lord, as the song goes. Well, it's been a while since my Myers-Briggs survey, and I'm ready for more responsibility. So I'll volunteer to be the official DragonCon Shepherd. I'll arrange for facilities and time and whathaveyou at the con, so we can really have this party. I'll keep the running list of attendees. Hell, I'll even write the Family Lackey ahead of time and see what we can do about getting her/them to come play with us. So drop me a note if you're going. Tell me if you're going to be there all weekend, or if not, how long you will be there. Tell me if you've made hotel reservations, if you need a roommate(s), if you're willing to acquire a roommate, and anything else you need that we might be able to help you out with. The webpage, for those of you going "whaaaat? damn oldies and their inside jokes" is http://www.dragoncon.org All will be explained. HTH Wand-Sworn Champion to the Ladies of the Pink Wand Grand Dame of the Order of Amber and Marigold DragonCon Shepherd r618-+AT+-academic.truman.edu (P.S. remember to include your real name if you don't go by it, as well as your listname. I dislike the idea of making arrangements and not really knowing for whom I'm making them. It's a quirk, I guess.) ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 2 Dec 1996 21:22:53 -0800 (PST) From: Lady Becky of the Hills To: Mercedes Lackey Mailing List Subject: Re: music Message-ID: DOH! Sorry about all those =E9 =20 goobly garbage, anyone know why that happense someitmes? Sorry for the two liner, although technically, inckuding my sig, it's know 13 lines. I'll just delete the sig. Becky ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 3 Dec 1996 00:55:54 -0500 From: Rozanna McNeer To: "mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk" Subject: Answers for all the questions Message-ID: <199612030056_MC1-CA2-FC39-+AT+-compuserve.com> Stephanie was wondering: >1.) What is this thing you people have with sheep? ( it is rather annoying >not knowing what it means when others give out sheep.) well, lessee. Sheep came from "Sheep? sheep? do I really want to hear this?" talia asked inquisitively , to using 'sheep' instead of 'duck' when avoiding hurled objects when one thinks one's opinion will result in aggravated assualt, to Hth's patented sheep with blue eyes that says "Have you lost weight?" and "ooo, i *like* that" when squeezed, and since HTH patented her sheep, the rest of us have been trying to make up for it by having new and interesting sheep to pass out on the list . So, we pass out sheep when we've goofed as a way of saying 'sorry' or 'hope i don't offend' or 'here have a sheep cause I'm feeling nice' etc. >2.) What is the statute of limitations for spoilers?, and What *are* >spoilers, come to think of it? kory explained it fairly well Spoilers deserve their own post, or very long spoiler space at the beginning and end - usually one screen long. Just mannerly. >Last of all >3.) What's the Mage Wars?( I have already looked at Lady Jaguar's site so >don't tell me to look there.) the magewars is an exercise in group writing on the net. and when you've got over thirty people writing a stroy, things do get interesting. BTW, this is not flameful or anything, but if you've been to the site and read it all, why are you asking? I thought it was all laid out rather succinctly there. . . >Sorry about this one thing I forgot to ask. >4.) Tell me what it is you people have with birthday presents. > Also there is one December b-day you forgot or mabey on one told you >the 29th is Mary's b-day (don't forget. She hates when people forget). who's mary? am I missing out on someone? maaaarrryyyyy? who are you? je suis confuzzled (an hourly thing, I assure you) Firemist ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 2 Dec 1996 21:56:43 -0800 (PST) From: Phil Cartier To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: RE: ST. Nickolas, list and all Message-ID: <199612030556.VAA25484-+AT+-hungary.it.earthlink.net> Hi, I'm Mary, Emily the invisible, and Stephanie (The Flute)'s Mom. I've been sort of lurking around lately trying to get _too_MUCH_ done and wondering what to say to you all. Earlier tonight Emily(invisible) said: >And his name was Nicholas. He had this habit of doing >proper, bishoply things, like anononymously giving money, food and >clothing to people in need (I guess most bishops were too busy doing >other stuff, or he did it especially well). And eventually he became >a saint, and his feast day is Dec. 6 Which is pretty much what I taught her when she was little. He Lived around 300 AD.,and was a rich young man who seems to have taken Christ's invitation to sell all you have and to come follow me(Jesus) very seriously. He gave, in secret, where the need was great and small. I have more information on him if you want it. The most important point of the stories about Saint Nickolas are his love for all of God's children (even _GIRLS_!!!!!) He became the patron saint of children, theives, sailors and pawn shops. The focus was on giving _NOT GETTING_, and I find the lists centering on St. Nickolas and giving to be very reasuring, personally. Misty's charactors(sp?) have always appealed to me because so many of them are very giving, loving people. I really can't remember the first ML book that I read, other than it was about Kethy, Tarma and Worl. I've read every thing I could get lay my hands on since then. And handed it on to Emily and now Stephanie. For fun, I _love_ to sing. To bad I'm not good at languages(or spelling!!!!!!) cause way back(before Emily, Stephie, and my other one, Alan,) I wanted to be a professional singer. That's probably why Emily thinks it is easy to sing well. I like to read alot of different kinds of stuff like the sf classics, Heinline(?), Assimof, Jack Chaukra(?) Spider Robinson, Lois B. McMasters, Elisabeth Moon, Ann McCaffrey, Katherine Kurtz(?) and MZB too. (Even some Piers Anthony.) Firemist wrote: >I dunno about you, but I *like* giving presents. I can barely restrain myself >from blurting out what I got, or giving them straight away (guess who has >done most of her shopping already?) so I can watch people's faces >as they unwrap the present. That's what we do for each other at our best, here on this list. To share thoughts and ideas, questions and ...sometimes even arguments, but always , to share our selves. Go in peace, Mary ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 3 Dec 1996 01:16:57 -0500 (EST) From: Ken Hyde To: Misty Lackey List Subject: ReHi and Braid Message-ID: Well, I suppose that it is about time to reintroduce myself. *le sigh* Anyway, my name is Cennydd, the Mage of Green Silences. I am the first of the Champions of the Ladies in Green and former Archivist for the Mage War (for those who are interested, Mage War III can still be found on my website). I have also had the honor of being selected as an Object of Unrequited Love/Lust by the Ladies of the Pink Wand, for whom I perform impromptu strip-teases and other feats of virtual discourse. In real life, my name is Ken Hyde and I am a Ph.D. candidate student in Linguistics. I am getting ready to write my dissertation propectus, which will probably be on the subject of French (and other Romance languages) morphosyntax (nothing that anyone is likely to be interested in, unless they are another theoretical linguist *grin*). If you want to know more about my bio or my professional life (why you would is beyond me, but I aim to please), you can check out my website at the URLs given in my .sig (way down at the bottom of this). As for my interests: I love music of almost any variety except gangsta rap, delta blues, and deep southern gospel. I am particularly fond of folk music, French jazz/blues (a la Patricia Kaas), House/Club, and late Rennaissance vocal music. For particular artists that I like: Melissa Etheridge, Alanis Morrissette, Sarah Mclachlan, Enya, Loreena, Dead Can Dance, Ofra Haza, 2Unlimited, Real McCoy, Mecano, and Joan Baez. I also (obviously) like to read. In fact, I have such a huge personal library that I couldn't even begin to say which authors I like. Let's just say that the authors that I will buy on the strength of their name alone include Misty, McCaffrey, Pratchett, Wrede, Brust, Hamilton, Logston, Hoffman, and (of course) Kay. I think that that is enough for now. If you are interested in more, please feel free to ask. (BTW, for anyone who cares, yes I was the one who first(?) started yelling vociferously for textevd--over a year ago, IIRC. My BA is in French Comparative Literature in a semiotic/textual discourse framework. I think that it did something bizarre and permanent to my brain. =) ) -----BOM On Wed, 27 Nov 1996, Emily wrote: > Cennydd said: > >Who is Sylvia and what is she, that all our swains commend her? > Sounds familiar (Mom thinks it's from a 17th C song?), but I can't place > it. Where _did_ it come from Cenny? Oops. Now that I said this, I cannot find the reference. The poetry book that has it is at home with my mom (it is her book). Anyway, I am almost positive that it is Shakespeare, one of his comedies, but I can't remember which. And I am sure that there is a character by the name of Sylvia that it is referring to. -----EOM/BOM On Wed, 27 Nov 1996, Esme (Weatherwax?) wrote: > Me? I love the stuff, love to cook, love to eat - thank the skies I > inherited a lanky body with a pretty rapid metabolism - mind you, I > push it! So, Esme, why haven't you contributed any recipes to the Misty List cookbook? Hmmmm? BTW, to everyone, this project is still open. If you would like to contribute a recipe to the list cookbook, send it to me in email and I will put it on the recipe page at my website. If you want to take a look at what is already there, check it out (the URL for my website is in my sig). -----EOM/BOM On Wed, 27 Nov 1996, The Fair Eleonora wrote: > My name is Eleonora Scoseria, Ele for short, Eleanor in Elendor MUSH > (yes, I know!!! I am mighty original with my personas's names Hmmmm. That reminds me. If anyone is on EFnet IRC, I go by the nickname of Rossinyol (it is Catalan for 'nightingale'), Ratri, or Karma. If I am on, I will almost always be on #valdemar or #greensilences. -----EOM/BOM On Thu, 28 Nov 1996, Jake wrote: > I have simmered down, and am sheepishly coming back onlist Welcome back, Jake. Tu m'as manque beaucoup. =) -----EOM/BOM On Thu, 28 Nov 1996, La Bella de los Cerros (aka Ele) wrote: > Cen, please accept a tray of chocolate eclairs from thy Priestess. I > have transgressed and sinned by misusing the approved speech patterns of > thy Temple Weeeeelllll, the technical term is "speech register," but for a tray of chocolate eclairs, I will overlook it. In the meantime, for those of you who may know Spanish and still be wondering about "thou/thee": "thou" = "tu'" and "thee" = "ti" or "te." > It is about Heyla. Is it used anywhere else or is it exclusively a > Mistyish Velgarth term?? I don't know for sure. I think that there are some Germanic languages which use something similar, but I can't remember for sure. And my friend Haida informs me that in Singlish, "hey-lah" sounds okay. In this case it is a normal hail plus a emphatic/focus particle (-lah). -----EOM/BOM On Thurs, Nov 28 1996, DebMats wrote: > (common dilemna of a person wearing a kimono - Do you want to look > pretty? or do you want to breathe?). Look pretty of course. After all, when it comes down to a choice between style and comfort, there really isn't a choice. The only possible option is style. =) Seriously, kimono aren't that bad (and yes, I have one *with* a reinforced obi--although it is admittedly not the formal obi). > I am currently making a dish for thanksgiving that requires getting as > much liquid out of tofu as possible (aka shirae or spinach tofu) Wrap the tofu in one or two thicknesses of cheesecloth and set it on a draining surface (you can create one by putting a sushi rolling mat on a cooling rack). Place a container of water on the wrapped tofu and leave to set overnight. -----EOM/BOM On Thu, 28 Nov 1996, Ailsa wrote: > Guess what. I've found another Lake Evendim! It's in the middle of Arnor > (more commonly known as Eriador) and the river Brandywine flows out of > it. [snip] (You only find the Tolkein lake if like me you end up > looking at maps a lot) Oh, yes. Lake Evendim was near Fornost Erain. It is mentioned in _Fellowship_ and _Return of the King_, as well as in the Silmarillion. If you are interested in the maps, have you got the 2nd edition of Karen Wynn Fonstad's _Atlas of Middle-Earth_? -----EOM/BOM On Thu, 28 Nov 1996, Firemist wrote: > other related topics - how do geisha eat without touching food to their > lips? and with such small morsels, too! The small morsel is how. =) It really isn't that difficult. The trick is to never take more than one piece and to make sure that it doesn't have an excess of sause on it. (Guess who learned how to eat properly with chopsticks as a child--from a very proper, traditional Japanese lady? Thanks to Taniyama-san, I can eat with chopsticks well enough to impress the fussiest Asian person. In fact, when I had a cut on my lip recently, I ate everything with chopsticks, because that was the only way I could be sure of not touching my lips and hurting myself. Of course, need I mention, that I had once planned on becoming the first occidental male geisha. *giggle*) -----EOM/BOM On Fri, 29 Nov 1996, Mel the Redcap wrote: > And yes, Treesa was a lapdog person. Cats usually have more dignity. Well, I am not sure that it is correct to imply that lapdogs do not have any dignity. My favorite animal characterization in fant-fic is the Pekinese dogs in Barbara Hambly's _Bride of the Rat God_. And I have known some very sweet and dignified lapdogs. I have also know a few cats that were anything but dignified. My mom's cat, Dusty, for example was completely squirrelly. When she finally went to join her Lady, she did so with a giggle and a smile on her face. -----EOM/BOM On Sun, 1 Dec 1996, Firemist wrote: > She's probably on the outstkirts what with all those rehabilitating > birds she has. That doesn't necessarily follow. My folks' next-door neighbor is the Bird Lady of Tulsa and we live in a housing development in the Union District. -----EOM/BOM On Sun, 1 Dec 1996, Kory wrote: > Ah..but, see, that's what started all of this (again--thanks to Cen > ) Hey, don't blame me. I didn't have anything to do with starting this topic. At least, not that I know of. > [oooo..that's WRONG! I looked when I war reread MPawn last time, and the > past tense is lifeBOUND!--Kory] Actually, either is okay, depending on the speaker. English speakers have very different solutions to these kind of compounds. For example, some people prefer "babysat" while others like "babysitted." (I am among the latter.) It depends on the degree to which the compound is lexicalized and the tolerance for inflection inside derivation. Ooops, sorry, my morphology is getting away from me again. =) > According to the bio blurb on Firebird, Our Goddess Misty lives in > Claremore, if that helps;> Oh, ick! Well, this would clear up a lot of things about JH. I never could figure out how someone from Southern Tulsa (I always thought she lived in Jenks) could be so completely wrong in her descriptions of Jenks and Union. On the other hand, I know a lot of Claremore people who have essentially the same stereotypes that she uses in the book. -----EOM/BOM On Mon, 2 Dec 1996, Emily wrote: [snippage about St-Nicolas] > And eventually he became a saint, and his feast day is Dec. 6. And it > became a tradition to give anonymous gifts on his feast day (possibly as > a remembrance of his generosity). Saint Nicholas (St-Nicolas in French) is the Patron Saint of Children. He got this title as a result of his most famous miracle: he brought three murdered students back to life. He was also noted for contributing anonymously to the dowries of the daughters of poor families in his diocese. However, the gift-giving during the Christmas season has a slightly different origin. In almost ever tradition, the gifts are given in emulation of the gifts of the Magi. This is why, in many countries, the traditional day for the exchange of gifts is actually the Feast of Epiphany (El Dia de los tres Reyes Magos) on the 6 january. I'm not saying that the tradition of St-Nicolas is not involved in this, because certainly one of the reasons that many Christian countries have a version of St-Nicolas as their gift-deliverer is that he was always associated with this function. > besides voice (any fool can learn to sing, it takes talented fingers > to learn the others). Hmmm. Are you sure you aren't my sister? This sounds exactly like the arguments that she and I always had (she was/is a concert-level bassoonist and could play any instrument she set her hand to). Of course, as a former vocal music specialist, my side was always: "any one can play an instrument, it is just a matter of hitting right buttons." (BTW, I know that this is not true.) However, I do want to point out that very few people can learn to REALLY sing, and of those, only a handful will have the voice to make all the effort worthwhile. I know. I had the tragic experience of devoting much of my life (from around 4yo to 17yo) to studying vocal music. I practiced at least an hour (2 or more during concert season) every day, took lessons, etc. Then I finally settled into my adult voice and my vocal coach had to break the news to me: my voice would never be good enough for a career in music. At best, I could hope for chorus parts. (BTW, for any of you have read _Crystal Singer_, I *WAS* Killashandra Ree!). It was about that time that I switched my focus to the other great love in my academic life: language. It all worked out (although it was almost 5 years before I would sing again and it took me a long time to get back into form), but it did give the perspective I need to say that the amount of training and talent that is necessary to become a top vocalist is staggering. May the seas be your solace and the forests a refuge for your spirit, Cennydd, Kenneth Allen Hyde | No matter how subtle the wizard, a knife Univ. of Delaware | between the shoulder blades will seriously Dept. of Linguistics | cramp his style -- Old Jhereg proverb kenny-+AT+-Udel.Edu | A mind is a terrible toy to waste! -- Me **http://www.udel.edu/kenny/ken.html or .../kenny/green.silences.html** ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 03 Dec 1996 01:17:26 CST From: "Hth." To: Subject: Not exactly an *introduction* Message-ID: <03DEC96.01394015.0074.MUSIC-+AT+-ACADEMIC.TRUMAN.EDU> Frankly, this post is going to be something between an introduction and a farewell. It'll be odd. We'll see how it unfolds. First of all, I've enjoyed all these "starting over" things. It was startling to realize how little I sometimes know about these people I've been talking to forever now. My name is Heather Watson, and I'm a senior at Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri, with a major in European history and a minor in women's studies, slated to graduate in August. While actually born in Des Moines, Iowa (nice state, Iowa), my real home is in Columbia, Missouri (nice town, second most active gay community in the midwest, following I think Iowa City -- nice state, Iowa). I share an apartment there with my she'enedra of five or so years, Barbara, and our albino hamster Vkandis (no relation) and our kitten Danu. While in Kirksville, I live in the dorms and have a very cool job washing dishes and watching tv in a pizzaria. I'm an obsessive fantasy reader, with favorite authors being Parke Godwin and Guy Gavriel Kay, along with Diana Paxson, Orson Scott Card, and Patricia Kenneally-Morrison, as well as other authors who don't write nearly enough to suit my tastes -- Ellen Kushner, Poppy Brite, Delia Sherman, Michael Swanwick, and Francesca Lia Block come immediately to mind. I'm also writing a five-book fantasy series, with another series of approximately twelve books (arranged in four trilogies) to follow. So you can see I have myself scheduled well into my mid-sixties. I'm the next thing to useless with poetry, but I do write short-stories, a couple of which are even now cruising the magazines, looking for a home. I have a few interests past reading and writing, really. I'm currently involved in about six or seven roleplaying campaigns, including one that's live-action, two that a friend of mine designed himself, and two interlocking campaigns that I GM. (The non-original systems are mostly White Wolf, and one AD&D). Musically, I enjoy filk and folk/Celtic-rock, and musical theater of the last twenty years or so, with a smattering of pop and country thrown in there. Religiously, I'm a Celtic pagan, which is not the same as Wicca or witchcraft, I promise, though the two religions do have some things in common. E-mail me privately for further discussion on the topic (someone always wants to know more when I tell them I'm pagan but not Wiccan; I have a standard spiel I can send you). Now. Over the week I was back home on vacation, I did a lot of thinking, both about the list and about Mercedes Lackey, and more thinking once I got back to school and spent some time browsing the archives of the last week. I think it's pretty obvious that I'm one of these infamous "strong personalities" on the list. I speak pretty freely, and I tend to put my ideas in boldface, as it were. I try to make it clear that I value and enjoy being exposed to multiple points of view, but the fact that I think and speak in passionate, often, what's the word I'm looking for? fierce terms can make gentler souls feel that I'm pouncing on them when I try to explain where our opinions differ. I feel badly about this. I wish everyone felt confident enough to respond to me in the same way, but I know that a lot of people get nervous in such situations, especially when disagreeing in a group setting with someone who has a, shall we say, established reputation in the group. So, I'm backing off into partial lurker-mode for a while. I'm not swearing I won't respond to anything, but I'm cutting down to a pack a day, as it were. I am really uncomfortable with the idea that I'm partially responsible for the feelings of alienation and trepidation that many people have admitted having lately. This is supposed to be a discussion group, and there is nothing I want to do less than "dominate" discussion or control its direction. I've said a lot over the past year. I've talked about sex and sexuality, about heroism, about justice and compassion, about the nature of evil, about gender. I think I've said as much as I need to for a while. Y'all know who I am and what I'm all about, and there are other voices out there with more original things to say. As my friend the day-care employee says, I've had my special time. Now I want to overbalance in the direction of listening. And anyway, it's not just the list. I'm disillusioned in general with Mercedes Lackey, and I don't want to get to the point where I have nothing but negativity to contribute. I look at what she wrote ten years ago and compare it to her most recent releases, and I see no real growth as a writer and no real growth in terms of her ideas and stories. I'm to the point of being very frustrated, because I think her talent has been all but wasted. I'm glad that lots of you still find so much enjoyment in her books and feel positive and excited after reading new Misty, but I really don't anymore. I also finally figured out this week, in talking about Misty with my she'enedra, why the system of Companions and Heralds makes me so uneasy and always has. I've made some (for me, at least) startling revalations about the underlying worldview of the Valdemar books, and realized that it really goes against the grain of my own worldview in a lot of ways. I've always had a bit of trouble accepting the Companion thing, and at this point I think I'm having more than a bit. I find it troubling, and I feel like I'd really be pushing my luck if I started doing analyses of Misty's work in this frame of mind. I know that many, possibly most, of you have a emotional/spiritual link with Companions that equals my well-known link with Vanyel, and I'm more than reluctant to hurt people by saying how I really feel about the whole issue at this point. I'm not leaving the list. I'm still here, and you'll hear from me often enough. I really enjoyed reading Kory's Thanksgiving post, and I have to say that it pretty well sums up my feelings, as well. I think of you all as family, no matter how much we fight and how annoyed we get with each other. I feel cared for here, and I wouldn't throw that away. In the last year, I've made connections here that have changed me in many ways, and that I value more than I can really express. Not too long ago, a listmember wrote me privately and said she thought of me as a kind of real-world Bard, whose words carried both influence and poetry. I have to say that it sort of awed me. I don't know when I've been told anything that meant more to me. I've always thought of this list as the kind of place where one could speak what was on the mind and in the heart, and other people of all kinds from all over the world would listen and try to understand. That's been both my experience with others and my goal for myself on this list. I'd like to encourage everyone who reads this to give it a try. I've been treated here, almost without exception, with warmth and generosity and fairness, and I really think that if you put away your fears and speak from your heart, you'll find yourself treated the same way. I think we all, by virtue of being human, have the capacity to inspire with thoughts and words. This has been a great forum for me to exercise that ability. Please, everybody, give it a try yourselves. Not everyone will agree with you, but I expect you'll be amazed at how many find a degree of wisdom and inspiration in your words, just as I've found in so many people's words here, just as some people say they've found in mine. It's an experience simultaneously empowering and humbling. I hate to think of people denying it to themselves because of a basically unfounded fear that they'll be struck at or ridiculed, or a completely unfounded belief that only certain people's thoughts are welcome on this list. It's so rare to find a group of people whose primary goal is the free exchange of ideas. You've found one. Please take advantage of us. (Oh, well, you know what I mean.) HTH Wand-Sworn Champion to the Ladies of the Pink Wand Grand Dame of the Order of Amber and Marigold DragonCon Shepherd r618-+AT+-academic.truman.edu ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 3 Dec 1996 17:30:09 +0800 (SST) From: Lady Windsong To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Christmas Greetings Message-ID: <2.2.16.19961203172928.2f57329a-+AT+-singnet.com.sg> Heyla, everybody! My she'enedra Wintersong sent this to me, she unsubbed 'fore she sent this, so I'm forwarding this to y'all. Lady Windsong in Green. =========================================================================== Heyla, everyone! I'm back, but only for today. I won't have much time and will be going on holiday soon so I've decided to unsubscribe after sending this message. Japan was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed myself. The go tournament was also very interesting and I learned a lot. Out of 5 games, my team won 2, which my teacher said was alright as the other competitors were very strong. Well, it's goodbye again and since I won't be back till next year, Merry Christmas and a happy New Year! If anyone wants to exchange Christmas cards, please mail me your address at ckwok-+AT+-rgs.edu.sg. Thanks! PS. I don't know if this is fluff or if it's already been said but I thought it might interest y'all. I read in a magazine that 2 guys, one a Caucasian and one a Taiwanese, in Taiwan got married. There was a lot of protesting but I think the ceremony went on. Don't you think it's great that at least some people are becoming less close-minded? %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Zhai'helleva & &"For it is all too fleeting Lady Wintersong, Lady In Green & and fragile a thing, peace" htpp://members.tripod.com/~Wintersong/index & --- Starwind & Magic's Price %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 3 Dec 1996 05:33:38 -0500 (EST) From: "Romylee A. Ejercito" To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: SB spoiler Message-ID: SB spoiler: >Summersong: I just got done with Storm Breaking. I think Misty could have cut down on the chapters about the Empire (bo-ring!) I agree! I'm rereading it right now and I'm skipping over the Empire bits. >Summersong: about what Melles did about the town, etc. The only important thing about him was that he plotted to kill Charliss, and he did it. That prevented the Storms from getting worse. The end was rushed miserably. It just seemed to much of a coincidence. While Karal and company activated the thingy and the other rulers/mages were shielding their realms, it just so happened that Charliss was gathering up the magic and sort of canceling the effect of the storms and it just so happened that before he used it for destruction, he got murdered. I don't really like endings based on coincidence/luck. The ending could have definitely been better. I think SW was the best of the three b/c you got a glimpse of what Karse is like. Mylee ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 3 Dec 1996 05:45:51 -0500 (EST) From: "Romylee A. Ejercito" To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: re: after death/ bards/ santa/ Star's page/ singing idiots/ Cennydd's stuff Message-ID: ObMistys: **Re: after death** >Star: does she ever clearly set out the spiritual beliefs of any of her cultures concerning what happens after death? Mylee: Well, I always thought the Valdemarens went to the Havens (hey, another Tolkien reference!) and the Karsites went to the Light (whatever that is) and the followers of the Star-eyed to the plane where the Moonpaths are. I don't have textevd to support this though, just my opinion. Also, I've only read the books twice or thrice, I only got intro'd to Misty last March. **END** **Re: Bards** >someone: And about "ordinary people", I didn't say that my hypothetical bard does nothing interesting, just that they don't save Valdemar. Mylee: I'd like to see how ordinary people live too. Yeah, I _did_ say earlier that I couldn't think of a way a Bard could be a hero then ended up speculating on what sort of thing the story could be about. (Contradictory? Yep, that's what happens when I go online at 4 AM and think and type at the same time.) >someone: somewhere along the lines of _Dragonsinger_ and the other Harper Hall books. Mylee: Pern! Menolly isn't my favorite character, (I read the books in the wrong order and read Ddrums, then Dsinger, then Dsong) but the HH trilogy was a good one. Yeah, I think a Valdemar version of that would be really interesting. I'm not really much for music. I like listening to it, but I don't have a shred of musical ability. Oh, someone else said something about a Bard whose voice got ruined, but has the Bardic Gift. Would that person still be able to exercise his Gift even if he sounds like a frog? **END** FLUFF (I find myself writing more fluff than ObMistys!) **Re: Santa** >Emily: All you hear is _things_ and no one ever gets coal on their hearthstone cause they were bad (or in their stocking either). Mylee: I have to say that during my "bad" years, I never did get any presents from "Santa." /me looks woeful and says pathetically, "I wasn't _that_ bad." *sniff* **END** **Re: Star's homepage** + **MY homepage** >Star: where might I link to on my page for some real good Misty-related stuff? Mylee: Speaking of homepages, I need Misty links for mine too! I thought I finally finished doing my pages, I'd been working at in on and off since September, then I joined this list and now I _have_ to have a section on this in my page! A friend told me that once I started a page, I'd never be done with it and I'd keep fiddling with it, and fool that I am, I didn't believe her. Those who have homepages, can you please e-mail me privately and tell me your Misty-related page address? Some shameless plugging: My page is at http://www.dragonfire.net/~kaiserina. It's not a wonderful page, but if you're bored, can you check it out and give me your comments on it? Don't click on the Companion pic though, it's not linked to anything yet, but I _will_ do some html-ing soon. /me fights html's pull on her by repeatedly saying that it's already 4:31 AM and any sane person would be asleep by now. Oh Star, I'm trying to check out your page, but geocities seems to be down. **END** **Re: Singing idiots** Mylee: As to "any idiot can sing"... /me smiles idiotically. I'm in choir, but I have no idea how I got in. My parents weren't musical, and neither was I. My voice is so bad that, well, I always assumed I was an alto, then the prof said "you don't sing much, do you?" and I said "no" and he said "you'd be a soprano if you sang more." I don't quite know what that means, anyone want to explain it to me? I'm also a very mediocre and outof-practice organist. Guess artistic abilities just don't run in my family. *grin* I feel that I'm not enjoying Misty's work so much though, because I know nothing about music, horses, and raptors. **END** **Re: Cennydd's stuff** >Cennydd: authors that I will buy on the strength of their name alone include Misty, McCaffrey, Pratchett, Wrede Mylee: I'm a big AM fan (and I don't understand why a lot of people think it's spelled McCaffery) as well. Wrede! I've finally found people who know Wrede!!! No else I know knows Wrede! >Cennydd: I will almost always be on #valdemar or #greensilences Mylee: Is this an official list channel? I mean, do a lot of people come in here? I'm almost always on IRC, but I'm usually in Austnet, since that's where the channel of a Pern club I'm in is. (ugh, horrible grammar, my English becomes awful when I'm up late) I'd love to "meet" the people on the list. What time are people usually on? >Cennydd: In the meantime, for those of you who may know Spanish Mylee: *groan* I'm doing beginning Spanish, and I'm suffering the usual problems a beginner has. >Cennydd: Haida informs me that in Singlish, "hey-lah" sounds okay. In this case it is a normal hail plus a emphatic/focus particle (-lah). Mylee: I think the "lah" came from Malaysia, where almost every sentence they say ends with "lah" (slight exaggeration here *grin*) >Cennydd:(Guess who learned how to eat properly with chopsticks as a child--from a very proper, traditional Japanese lady? Thanks to Taniyama-san, I can eat with chopsticks well enough to impress the fussiest Asian person. Mylee: *sigh* Okay, before I say anything else, this is NOT a flame. This just happens to be one of those topics that's guaranteed to make me stand up on a soapbox. /mode +lecture Not all Asians use chopsticks. East Asians (and I admit that they do constitute a sizable portion of Asia) and other countries in the Southeast that have been influenced by it do use them, but not everyone. Asia is not made up of only one or two cultures. Southeast Asian countries differ very much from East Asian and South Asian countries. Unfortunately, a lot of people seem to think that Asians either use chopsticks, or eat curry. Even my university here (yeah, I'm studying in the US) only has courses in East Asia in the Asian Studies department. And it sucks. I have nothing against East or South Asians. I'm just saying that not all Asians are Chinese, Japanese, Korean, or Indian. /mode -lecture I know Cen probably didn't mean to generalize. This is just a sore point with me. I've had people assume I'm Chinese (my great grandfather was Chinese so I have some Chinese features) or people who assume that the my culture is the same as China's. At first, it's okay, even a little amusing. After hearing it day after day after day after day for two years now, it gets tiring. I'm sorry if I offended anyone with this mini-lecture. If anyone has questions (So where are you from anyway?), comments (here are some tips on how not to get so riled up), or violent objections (who do you think you are, trying to foist off your beliefs to us?), I'm willing to listen to them. Cennydd, how about some sheep-shaped marshmallows in hot chocolate? **END** ***************** Mylee/Myles/Rommy/Romylee/Roms/My (take your pick!) rejercito-+AT+-wesleyan.edu http://www.dragonfire.net/~kaiserina ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 03 Dec 1996 04:18:35 -0700 From: DawnRain To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: after death/ bards/ santa/ Star's page/ singing idiots/ Cennydd's stuff Message-ID: <32A40C8A.2E27-+AT+-geocities.com> Romylee A. Ejercito wrote: > >Star: does she ever clearly set out > the spiritual beliefs of any of her cultures > concerning what happens after death? I di'n say that... is there another Star running around? > Oh, someone else said something about a Bard > whose voice got ruined, but has the Bardic Gift. Would > that person still be able to exercise his Gift even if he > sounds like a frog? Well, I think Jadus had the gift, right? But he had no voice. However, the other refs to Bardic Gift I can remember always used singing... Van heard Medren's VOICE with the Gift, not his playing, and Stef sang first. However, I remember something else, Medren trying to manipulate Van by playing as he spoke. Perhaps it was the speaking? But wait, didn't Stef play mostly instrumental music for Randale's court but still have the gift behind it? In the unrelated book "The Lark and the Wren," Rune used instrumental music with the magic behind it for what that's worth... > Oh Star, I'm trying to check out your page, but > geocities seems to be down. I've noticed, and it's only the pages, it seems. My mail is working fine... At least, it is if you are reading this! > Mylee: As to "any idiot can sing"... /me smiles > idiotically. I'm in choir, but I have no idea how > I got in. My parents weren't musical, and neither > was I. My voice is so bad that, well, I always > assumed I was an alto, then the prof said "you > don't sing much, do you?" and I said "no" and he > said "you'd be a soprano if you sang more." I > don't quite know what that means, anyone want to > explain it to me? Perhaps he meant if you stretched your range? That's what it would seem to this "singing idiot..." I'd check out your page tonight, but I'm dead tired, and I have a class in 3:45 which means I have to catch the bus in 3 hours. No sleep... No sleep... Star needs no sleep... -- Kris Bailey--Aka MorningStar, NightFire, DawnRain, and names too darn numerous to include in this list. E-mail-- morningstar-+AT+-poetic.com dawnrain-+AT+-geocities.com bv165-+AT+-freenet.uchsc.edu kris.bailey-+AT+-sdoct.com dawnrain00-+AT+-aol.com http://www.geocities.com/Athens/9763 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 03 Dec 1996 10:15:11 -0300 From: Eleonora To: mercedes-lackey-+AT+-herald.co.uk Subject: Re: ReHi and Braid/HTH/ Message-ID: <32A427DF.4095-+AT+-distrinet.com.uy> > On Thu, 28 Nov 1996, Jake wrote: > > > I have simmered down, and am sheepishly coming back onlist > > Welcome back, Jake. Tu m'as manque beaucoup. =) > And I wonder. When will we be able to use accents and "enies" in email without a major system breakdown or hieroglyphics (sp?) appearing on screen. I can't get used to seeing words without their accents properly placed, and if this goes on I will start making mistakes in my writing in RL. Sorry! This is not really list-related. (have a tray of chocolate covered sheep-shaped "turrones" - BTW, how do you say turron in English? Cen?? Jag?? other Spanish speakers out there?). But I have that problem when writing in Spanish, and receiving replies in Spanish and also with French (not that I do much of the latter except an occasional French note to Kory or Cennydd). I asked Cen: > > It is about Heyla. Is it used anywhere else or is it exclusively a > > Mistyish Velgarth term?? > and when I was almost, but not quite, beginning to wonder if my boss paid no heed to his Priestess's questions , I was rewarded for my continuing faith by the following: > I don't know for sure. I think that there are some Germanic languages > which use something similar, but I can't remember for sure. And my friend > Haida informs me that in Singlish, "hey-lah" sounds okay. In this case it > is a normal hail plus a emphatic/focus particle (-lah). And I cannot help adding another question (my curiosity is insatiable and my knowledge limited, so you'd better get used to my Why? Where? What? How?, in case you haven't already :) What is Singlish? Cen continued: > It depends on the degree to which the compound is lexicalized > and the tolerance for inflection inside derivation. Ooops, sorry, my > morphology is getting away from me again. =) > ?????? Thank G*d your morphology doesn't get away form you that often, or we (or at least I) would be unable to understand a thing in your posts ;). "tolerance for inflection inside derivation" "degree to which the compound is lexicalized" Cennydd (yep, boss, it's still you) wrote in reply to the Santa thread: > However, the gift-giving during the Christmas season has a slightly > different origin. In almost ever tradition, the gifts are given in > emulation of the gifts of the Magi. Well, I don't know about the origins, but in Uruguay (and also in Argentina AFAIK) we give gifts on Christmas Eve and these gifts are placed under the Christmas tree and handed out at midnight or sometime in the celebration depending on each family's tradition. Many people (the more conservative and orthodox Catholics) start their dinner after going to Mass at midnight, and in many cases hand out gifts after that. These gifts are handed out as coming from real people (family and friends) and there is no 'magic' involved here. In that sense it is different from what happens on Jan 6 (explanations later). I mean, members of the family give each other gifts and admit to it. >This is why, in many countries, the > traditional day for the exchange of gifts is actually the Feast of > Epiphany (El Dia de los tres Reyes Magos) on the 6 january. We also have that one, but for children at least it is different from gift giving on Xmas eve. The tradition is that sometime during the night from the 5th to the 6th teh Magi (los 3 Reyes Magos, Melchor, Gaspar y Baltasar) will come to each kid's home and leave presents on the shoes the kid has left waiting. It is also customary for kids to leave water and grass or some other food for the camels that bear the Magi. When they wake up on the 6th, those kids who have been good will find the presents they asked for on their shoes. (And yes, kids write to the Magi and place their letters in different stores or even thru the post office :)) And yes, in case you are wondering, we have 2 festivities where gifts are involved only 10 days apart (which is terrible for my almost non-existent bank account ;)). Also, I don't know what it's like in the States but here, we have a lot of other specific gift giving dates around the year (el dia del ni#o, del padre, de la madre, del abuelo, del amigo, that is kid, father, mother, grandparents, friends, etc, etc.). All of those craftily devised by shopowners to make us spend money ;). Any similar customs up there? HTH wrote: > I think it's pretty obvious that I'm one of these infamous "strong > personalities" on the list. I speak pretty freely, and I tend to put my > ideas in boldface, as it were. I try to make it clear that I value and > enjoy being exposed to multiple points of view, but the fact that I > think and speak in passionate, often, what's the word I'm looking for? > fierce terms can make gentler souls feel that I'm pouncing on them when > I try to explain where our opinions differ. I feel badly about this. IMO, yes, you could be considered a strong personality on the list, but infamous?? What's wrong with speaking freely and passionately? I thought this was what it was all about. There is a huge difference (IMO) between fierceness and disrespect. And I have never found you or felt you to be disrespectful. So why should you feel badly about it? > I wish everyone felt confident enough to respond to me in the same way, > but I know that a lot of people get nervous in such situations, > especially when disagreeing in a group setting with someone who has a, > shall we say, established reputation in the group. I believe that this kind of group experience is an excellent opportunity for those of us who are sort of shy (yes, for those of you who have not yet seen through me, I am shy, and used to be *very* shy before doing a year or so of acting classes). But I don't think eliminating the competition or lessening it will help us in any possible way. I mean, you cannot learn how to swim if the water is only ankle high. So, what best opportunity for finding your own voice than in a group setting and in front of established reputations. Besides, we all know we can take things privately, if we feel really shy. Honestly, every time I have communicated with any of the so-called strong personalities of the list either on-list or privately (and here I respectfully include Kory, Deniz, Cennydd, and Mat among others) I have felt welcome and have been listened to. > So, I'm backing off into partial lurker-mode for a while. I'm not > swearing I won't respond to anything, but I'm cutting down to a pack a > day, as it were. I am really uncomfortable with the idea that I'm > partially responsible for the feelings of alienation and trepidation > that many people have admitted having lately. This is supposed to be a > discussion group, and there is nothing I want to do less than "dominate" > discussion or control its direction. Once more, I believe the discussion group will/would not be the same without your frequent posts, and I am not referring to being able to say "what she said", because that would probably make you feel you really had to stop posting. I don't feel you are responsible for those so-called feelings of alienation and trepidation, and I really would like to point out that there has been a positive effort made by both oldies and newbies to prevent that happening. So, HTH, I do not know if I have made any sense, but I know you will try to understand what I meant. Love, Ele Priestess of Karma (who is wondering if Wintershard has accidentally become a radish due to a stray thought of hers and that is why he is not posting ;)) LotPW Dame of the OAM ------------------------------ End of MERCEDES-LACKEY Digest 998 *********************************