From: owner-eda-thoughts-digest@smoe.org (eda-thoughts-digest) To: eda-thoughts-digest@smoe.org Subject: eda-thoughts-digest V2 #65 Reply-To: eda-thoughts@smoe.org Sender: owner-eda-thoughts-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-eda-thoughts-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk eda-thoughts-digest Friday, March 12 1999 Volume 02 : Number 065 * If you ever wish to unsubscribe, send an email to * eda-thoughts-digest-request@smoe.org with ONLY * the word unsubscribe in the body of the email * . * PLEASE :) when you reply to this digest to send a post TO the list, * change the subject to reflect what your post is about. A subject * of Re: eda-thoughts-digest V2 #xxx or the like gives readers no clue * as to what your message is about. Today's Subjects: ----------------- ET: MrBB-HGH Workshop-High School EDAs in San Diego Needed! [ABershaw@aol] ET: Re: The Future of The EDAs- PLEASE read this [Tlcathome@aol.com] ET: :end of week: [Miles and Prystowsky ] ET: The Future of The EDAs- PLEASE read this [ABershaw@aol.com] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 12 Mar 1999 12:48:56 EST From: ABershaw@aol.com Subject: ET: MrBB-HGH Workshop-High School EDAs in San Diego Needed! Hello to any EDAs that attend High School in the San Diego area, Jewel & Nedra's humanitarian foundation Higher Ground For Humanity will soon begin the first in a series of workshops geared toward focusing the concepts & projects that they will pursue. We would like to create a "High School Advisary Board" & we'd very much appreciate having YOU participate in this! What we're looking for over the next few days is 8 to 10 EDAs who attend High School in San Diego, that would enjoy particpating in this first workshop. The workshop will take place most likely on Friday March 19th (after school hours at 4:00PM) in the Mira Mesa area & costs you nothing other than time & serious thought about: "Being The Difference That Makes A Difference". We'd like to invite 4 to 5 male EDAs & 4 to 5 female EDAs (who attend High School in San Diego) & are available to attend & participate in this workshop. If you would like to be considered for an invitation to this first HGH workshop, please send me the following information as soon as possible: Name: Sex: Email Adress: home phone number: home address: High School you attend: Briefly tell us why you'd enjoy being included. PLEASE put "HGH Workshop" in the subject line of your reply so I can see it easily amongst all my email. All the above information will not be shared with anyone other than the HGH team running the workshop. I'll collect all eligible replies until Monday night & the HGH team will choose the EDAs to invite. Those EDAs will be contacted directly with directions & more information. I sincerely hope you will join in on this 1st HGH/EDA project. There will be many more to come. If you would like more information about Higher Ground For Humanity, please visit us at the HGH pages of Jewel's website at www.jeweljk.com All the best, MrBB ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Mar 1999 16:38:16 EST From: Tlcathome@aol.com Subject: ET: Re: The Future of The EDAs- PLEASE read this Well, glad to hear I'm not the only EDA who feels the way Alan does. I have to admit, I always said if the list got too moderated, I'd leave it, yet I never did - although I rarely read it anymore, and that's just as bad. The main reason I think I never at least went to news-only is more for sentimental reasons than anything else - I'd hate to lose all connection with this list - It has meant much to me (us). I don't get the same feeling when I do actually read list mail, unless maybe there is actually something from a list vet that seems to be in the spirit of the old list, and that saddens me. While I too appreciate and respect Mike and all the work he puts into this list, I have to agree that some of the changes seem to have done more to hurt the list spirit. I always felt that those who didn't want to get the NJC mail and that mail which has now been relegated to other lists had the option to switch to news-only - Isn't that what it was set up for? Anyway, just thought I'd put my nose in and let anyone who cares know how I feel about the issue - even if I'm not as eloquent as Alan :-) Hoping to see many of you at Bearsville or sooner :-) Love and Huggles, Tammy :-) (The Edamommy :-) ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Mar 1999 10:51:09 -0800 From: Miles and Prystowsky Subject: ET: :end of week: i was trying to think of...a subject for this letter. something short, because this stupid email program is really slow and so i type too quickly for it. i thought about "flowers" because ya know what, i really like flowers. then i thought about today, and how it's friday, and how nice that is, and how, *yawn, stretch, sigh* it's the end of the week. yeah... :::the end of this week.::: man, what a crazy one. but then aren't they always. how many times do i write you guys and say, "my god, everytime i turn around it seems i'm always at such a changing point in my life"? well not in those exact words but you get my meaning. childhood behind, but things like the SATs still ahead. i can drive now, but only partially. i can go to college, but i can't vote. i can be out in the world, but i can't "be out in the world," you know? siiigh. schoolwork. on top of that, sea world on wednesday, which sounds really fun, but -- naww, leave out the "really". plus i was an idiot, got soaked at noon and was drenched till 5pm. tuesday before that was swing class. wed. i missed ballet, thankfully. (which, by the way, i think i am quitting - partly because i hurt my ankle.) yesterday - hip hop. i love hip hop. but...i'm tired. how about some poem things before i continue? they probably aren't very good, so you know. yeah, i know, shut up, but i just have to warn you. what do you expect from a tired mind? (more? :) In the most incredible moments of life, we do not even know they have passed. until, perhaps, long afterward. a soldier falls, a baby cries. A rainforest is chopped its last acre. we do not see them go by, yet we know they are happening. we know we're making bombs. we know people are murdered because they are gay. we know we use too much, of everything. Yet, still, we do not know when they have passed. 3.9.99 - sm I went to the place where they read beatnik poetry- The skirts were patchwork, and breath stale from coffee pulsed the rhythm of words. The air was busy, a dreadlocked man drummed. Colors flew rapidly from voices transformed from under horn rimmed glasses as the poet's face intensified. over by the window, a girl, 21, and her casual t-shirted husband drank coffee while watching their blonde 3 year old play in the folds of her mother's wine red rayon dress. And a woman in braids softly plays guitar, she sings her poetry The door bell tinkles. Twine sandals move in and out. The lights seem to hold the updrifting words. In a little hole, unseen by most, where the moment and movement of language remains. 3.9.99 - sm SAT, it reads. oh, my, the headache. All this time, years, my life, summed up & judged by a test? & somehow this is supposed to determine my future. Now there's something to roll your eyes at. How does this reflect laughter? How can it give me or take away the things that make up my life? But, SAT. It looms ahead, while others, it yet behind, are unchanged. Crazily in charge of so little, and too much. I don't know why the value & power is given to this. when so many other things are more important, Should be, this has power. Ah, when it is over. 3.12.99 - sm Ojai In morning in Ojai town the air is cool, the sky hangs down on a street between mountain and hill and roosters call to greet the dawn in the town ice cream store the door jingles, the rain pours a girl serves hot fudge and coffee in flannels, cotton, a floral skirt & beads market comes with the sun the stands open, and everyone is out on damp dark parking lot buying flowers, pumpkin bread, & lettuce tops they pass each other, stop to chat about their small street daily stops at shops with colored glass and scarves and fuzzy cats behind the counter top pavement glistens as a single car goes down the road, not very far to the corner market, buy milk & cheese and walk the dog to compare other breeds there is no reason for mad rush, just walk and talk and laugh and such a girl with sandy hair & her young guy take pickup truck to the ice cream store and two kids in overalls & sandals with some effort, pull open the handle they all smile as they walk inside as mellow comes with yellow cones & happy sighs in morning in Ojai town, cheerleaders in local blue gather around as a light turns green to no cars and paisly curtains open to the distant stars 3.12.99 - sm and there you have that, for the present. so...here's part of a letter i wrote to a friend. i just realized that you might find it...interesting. (this doesn't apply to the list, by the way.) I've been nearly desperate for good poetry lately. I discovered a relatively large selection of poetry books at my library, and I was instantly delighted. It was like lying in a field of flowers or drinking something wonderful. All those titles, I knew there had to be so much wonderful stuff in them. It was like what I imagine it to be like to discover a forgotten attic. Surely there must be so many unknown blossoming and talented authors lurking hidden on the shelves of the wall. I checked out some books one week, wasn't too impressed, but still the next week I regained all the enthusiasm and faith of the week before, and spent a while browsing through book after book. I finally checked out some that looked promising. Well, I decided that there's probably a reason these authors are unknown. Sadly enough, not everyone can be a poet. And true, a person can be a poet without being able to appeal to everyone, because that would be very difficult. Still, I was thinking about it earlier, and I came to some conclusions, or guidelines. I, being just a beginner (and really unwilling to be vain enough, in my eyes, to call myself a "poet"), am nowhere near these standards, but there are many accomplished poets I know of who are. To be a really good poet, I think you should to be able to write about something that someone might not care about at all in their daily lives; but when they pick up your poem, they should be drawn in. You might write a poem with a theme that has nothing to do with that person or their life, but your words should be strong or gentle or dazzling or clenching or catching enough that, even not knowing or caring about the subject, the reader will be instantly taken up by what you've written. They won't even have to read much before they fall in love with the words. In many of those books I talked about, people wrote about bears and wolves and Alaska and things that sound very nice, but they aren't things I'm necessarily interested in, and their poems were just as uninteresting. However, a really good poet can write about a deer and hold me captivated simply by the way they put the words, the essence of their spirit poured onto the page. The type of font, the size, the paper—all shouldn't have to matter in a really good poem. The simple words should be enough to draw you in. And, a good poet should be able to write about a variety of things, and not be stuck on one particular idea. Those are pretty high standards; still, many amazing poets seem to have accomplished them with ease. Poe, William Carlos Williams, Emily Dickinson, and yes, Jewel Kilcher, all have captured the rawness and beauty of words, and they have spoken their tales purely and perfectly. So you see, even those unknown authors had some good things, but nearly all their poems were more or less the same. It made for some dull reading. So I've been longing for good, deep, grasping poems. Maybe by chance I came across a card from my godfather. I was searching through (and getting rid of) saved letters, and in his card he mentioned a poetry book he'd given me. That's right, I thought—I remember. So this morning I got it out. It's by Bill Moyers, called The Language Of Life. It's mostly interviews with poets, and then some of their poems. It's very good. That was refreshing. Still, I'm looking for more. yep... and...that's it...for now. love & other indoor sports, sam your ? angel ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Mar 1999 12:32:32 EST From: ABershaw@aol.com Subject: ET: The Future of The EDAs- PLEASE read this Hi all, Please take the time to read this carefully. I'm about to address an issue I've spent a lot of time thinking about over the past year. From the email I've received, I know these thoughts have crossed the minds of many of you. This may be the most important post I've ever written. Here goes..... Once upon a time people made a soulful connection to each other beyond the day to day discussion about Jewel on this list. For two years, great things were always going on & it really was an exciting time on this list. Many longterm friendships were made, people were turning each other on to great music (both Jewel & not), helping each other through hard times & taking Jewel's message to heart by focusing the list energy on helping others, getting together at Living Room Concerts & trading & sharing music FREELY. As time went on & numbers grew over the last few years, decisions were made to divide the Jewel list into facets at times & enforce certain restrictions on list content. Like everyone else here, I went along with these decisions & hoped for the best. These decisions were based on a determination by your list manager (NOT me or Jewel Management) that EDAs would function better this way & volume could be reduced on the ever-growing Jewel list. I know the intentions behind this were to reduce volume & to help make this list more enjoyable for everyone. These are unquestionably good intentions, but I'm confused about some of the results now that these restrictions & procedures have been in place for quite awhile. For instance, it was decided that all talk of any EDA project should be taken "off list" to a separate EDA-Project list. It was also determined that any personal issues or creative writing would be eliminated here & relegated to another EDA-Thoughts list. Likewise, posts from The EDAFoundation & messages of a humanitarian nature were not embraced & had restrictions imposed. Some non-specific-Jewel content, such as sharing other interesting artists with each other or posts containing strictly humorous content are now heavily restricted or edited without consultation & often not allowed. These are all decisions that trouble me. I'm seriously wondering which ones are having a helpful effect & which ones a detrimental effect overall? Your list moderator has informed me that when I stray from the subject of Jewel, many of you complain about me to him. But I've never received a single complaint. In fact, I usually receive thankful messages for informative posts about other artists & peripheral topics. (Why complaints never were sent to me, I don't know. I sincerely hope I'm not THAT intimidating! I welcome feedback about my posts. Please feel free to express your concerns to me directly.) Although I agree that moderation is essential in huge forums like this, I never agreed with such strict content regulation of the above & have had great difficulty with it for a long time. I write this post with a sadness for what possibly is lost in the process of moderation & separation that must conform to such strict guidelines. Has it slowly eliminated most humor, many of the personal connections & a lot of the sharing that once made this list exciting & fun to be involved with? I think that might be the case, but I'm not sure. There are facets of moderation I totally believe in for groups as large as this. For those curious, I'll tell you exactly what they are. It's the following things where moderation can be very helpful, if not essential, in my opinion: 1) Stopping illegal activity, personal profiteering & SPAM 2) Stopping totally inane flame bait posts & posts from non-subscribers. 3) Stopping content that has no purpose other than to be blatantly insulting to The EDAs, Jewel or Nedra or that would hurt their good relationship with The EDAs. That's really about it, as far as I'm concerned, & without question, your moderator does a wonderful job regarding these issues. As with many here, I have a vision for this community & I think that vision still exists here amongst many others. Its a simple vision that The EDAs would continue to intelligently discuss Jewel's work, but in the process, offer each other words of friendship, lots of laughs & hopefully continue to be a force for positive change. That simple really. Where did all that go? I know its still here but I rarely see it ON THE LIST anymore. I see it all the time when people write to me privately, so I know it still exists. Is the pulse of this list being helped or hindered by the current state of moderation? Let me say with all sincerity that I appreciate the time & effort your moderator Mike has put in to run the logistics of these lists & projects. It's certainly not an easy job & often thankless. I've been through a lot with Mike over the past 4 years. I like him a lot & admire his dedication. However, I've never agreed with these "divisive procedures & strict regulation of list content" policies. I simply don't agree with them and I have listened carefully to all the reasons & explanations justifying them many times. With that said, I'd also like to say that I still believe with all my heart that although we disagree on these issues, Mike still is the absolute best man for the job, in my opinion. Maybe he needs some help on making some of these difficult decisions that effect everyone? I know for a fact, I could not make such decisions alone & would never want to. I simply think that although most of us are here for the "Jewel content" initially (other than me maybe ;-), that these other facets of "EDA list content" are extremely important to consider. What do you think? Although I have little time to reply, feel free to write me privately but I personally think nothing could be more appropriate "EDA list content" than the future of the EDA list itself. I highly suggest this as a major topic of list discussion! I'd really like to know: How can we get some of that fading spirit & humor back without starting over somewhere else? How can we support & help your moderator accomplish positive changes here & do you think changes are even warranted? These are extremely important issues, in my opinion. I think the future direction of the EDAs, as well as the heart & soul of this list can be determined by your thoughtful & respectful discussion of these issues. Alan ------------------------------ End of eda-thoughts-digest V2 #65 *********************************