[Newspoetry] Missing Hat!

Anne Bargar babs@prairienet.org
Thu, 24 Aug 2000 22:05:03 -0500 (CDT) 

Although I am normally an Urbana resident, I am spending this week in the
great wasteland that is Central Ohio, and without Bill's posting, would
have missed out on The Great Hat-capade altogether.  thusly,I am prevented
from arriving in Urbana saturday night and not being "in the know", which
as we all know can be dreadfully embarrasing.

-Anne


On Thu, 24 Aug 2000, Dirk Stratton wrote:

> 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