positively final appearance

Scottie Bowman (rbowman@indigo.ie)
Mon, 07 Jun 1999 19:21:35 +0100 

    There are few more laughable sights than the listserv
    prima donna who is forever threatening to flounce
    off stage in the hope of hearing the entreaties being
    shouted from a suddenly guilt-stricken audience.

    I don't see how I can easily avoid this particular role -
    especially when the withered cheeks are still flushed
    with the sort of flattery offered by the likes of Tim,
    Paul, Mike ...

    I can only throw myself on the mercy of that same
    audience & ask them to believe that my protests were
    honest ones.  I really DO think we should discipline
    ourselves a bit more - or at least that  *I* should -
    & not go on indulging the kind of codology that
    I've always found just too easy to churn out.

    Never forget the words of that great perfumed nancy,
    E.M. Hemingway:
            'The great thing is to last & get your work done
            & see & hear & learn & understand; & write when
            there is something that you know; & not before;
            & not too damned much after. [….] The thing to do
            is work & learn to make it ...'

    It would be ridiculous - with those words in mind -
    to do any more unnecessary flouncing.  I shall, of course,
    stick around.  But I hope with the sluice gates swinging
    open a little less often.


    Scottie B.