To the magic of Callahans
And to those who bring and sustain it!
*** Smash! ***
- Lou ROSE8364 May 15, 2004
Manager's Corner
Hi all..
I had an eye-opening discussion with a trusted advisor at
Callahans this month. Someone who knows me pretty well.
Someone who knows that I've been thinking a great deal
these past two years or more about the next owner
of Callahans, That is, of my successor.
Truth be known I started thinking about that person almost
immediately after becoming the owner here. There was so
much to learn, so much to do, and the magic of Callahans
pervaded in, to me, mysterious ways - all that needed to
be done. I quickly understood that I didn't know the
how and why of the magic of the place, and that
the next owner could face the same problem.
It concerned me enough that I quickly attempted to codify
the magic. Hee! Foolish owner! To make a record of the
responsibilities of managers and 'tenders (and the owner!)
To clarify and condense our posting and conference
guidelines - and to stimulate discussion and share my
thinking about the magic of Callahans.
But in this more recent discussion I replied to a question
that, as a response to this or that scenario unfolding, I
would turn the forum over to a new owner. What I heard
in response stunned me.
Great relief was expressed that I wouldn't consider closing
Callahans under this or that circumstance or under any
circumstance! I had no idea that anyone would think such
a thing possible.
So I'm writing here now to assure (if that's the right word!)
the community that I plan to remain the owner until July,
2005 at least. And that I will close Callahans under
NO circumstances.
This community of friends has meant and continues to mean far
too much for me to ever do so.
Speaking of which.. in reviewing the Calliversaries for this
month's Bar Rag, Walt has reminded us of the May 10th
Calliversary of our St. Louis Gathering hostess, Mimi. Mimi
(aka Bright) was a delightful hostess and person who charmed
us all. Her passing some years later brought us much sadness.
We remember her with love.
We've been trying hard to nail down a Gathering 2004 site
and thus far - we think we're going to meet in Toronto,
Canada on the weekend of August 28th. We'll alter this
page, and make an announcement on the board just as soon as
a final decision is made..:)
Lou
Conference News
A Conference/Chat report from Jennie:
One of your semi-regularly scheduled report:
To my great surprise Bits was the first
one to meet me in the chat room tonight! [May 6]
Hi, Bits ~~ (waves). She was getting ready for a statewide
hurricane exercise. None too early if you can judge by the
weather I was in the midst of--BIG HUNDERSTORM. Forcing me
off of the computer fairly early. When Bits left she used
a phrase I love (since I get up at 5:00 am also): 0-dark
hundred..:)
Fuzzy was very unhappy with the peeled
grape that Bits tossed his way. Silly, Fuzzy, when a lady
peels a grape for you, ALWAYS be happy. But she
did relent and toss him a chocolate-covered strawberry. He
also informed us that windows are for throwing phones through.
I thought they were for throwing alarm clocks through but
phones work for me too.
Amber was in for a little bit. She needs as
many get well thoughts as we can send her. Her cold is hanging
on strongly. There is a sauna erected near the hot tub. They
are supposed to be soothing for the sore throat, I think.
JayJ had a big announcement: she got rid of
her mini-van. This announcement produced many remarks from others
about experiences in that mini-van. Oh Boy! JayJ sounds like
a NASCAR driver! And she drove Lou's Audi ::GULP:: Her new
vehicle is a navy blue Grand Caravan. We should all spray-paint
it for her since she doesn't want it to be navy blue. (I'll be
handing out spray paint cans later!)
Shane was in charge last night. What stories he
had to tell! From hotel duplicate keys to I-90 running from
Boston-Seattle. (I didn't know that.) I asked Fuzzy to give me a
ride from start to finish on his bike but he didn't seem to really
mean it when he said "yeah right".
BigFurryGuy2 brought some absolutely wonderful
food again! Stuffed shells and stuffed mushrooms lead to some very
stuffed people!! And that was just to start!! We all got to wave
to Lori, too.
NibsAgain joined us for awhile. He was fairly
quiet but thoroughly enjoyable company. Discussions drifted through
the Montreal Jazz Festival, to scary hotels/motels and fire trucks.
The thunder and lightning forced me to get off the computer but I
was sad to go... it was a great chat. I felt like we were all on a
brief vacation from the everyday stresses we all accumulate.
9:00 pm every night, take a mini-vacation here!
And Bits' "Speculations" Chat report:
Speculations Chat in the Outpost on Sunday evening, May 16th, used
the topic "Limits of Tolerance." We had a crowd up in
the Outpost that night, including Aelith, Fuzzy, Amber,
Andrea, Jennielyn, Professor, BigFurryGuy, Laurie, and me.
The ladies all agreed that high heels were intolerable,
and this some how led to Jennielyn painting Fuzzy’s bare feet. Andrea
and Jennielyn began a game of tag which led to Aelith teaching
everyone how to play "Ender’s Game." Apparently, the
Outpost can tolerate hard play! Checkout
Jennielyn’s report.
Message Board News
From Bits:
We continued our year-long exploration of Body, Mind, & Spirit by
considering something near and dear to the denizens of Callahans;
Tolerance. We've discussed it from time to time and tried to
practice it continuously over the years here - but there's always
another angle to consider.
dwarvenkind blessed (cursed?) us with two theme
related puns this month... prepare to flee!
His first
theme pun and an 'improved' second
Theme Pun!
There were several theme related discussions on the message boards
this month, here are a few of the comments from a thread,
Tolerance v. Love, started by Lou:
How does tolerance differ from love for your fellow man?
~Lou (ROSE8364)
I believe that tolerance implies condescension--
I know you are wrong but I tolerate you anyway
~Jennie (jennielyn811)
Tolerance is the ability to grant others their points of view.
How does that equate to condescension?
~Mouser (greymaus1)
I tolerate people places and things for a variety of reasons
including love; enlightened self-interest, fear, pain,
curiosity, to name a few. Loving my fellow human doesn't
necessarily involve tolerance of them.
~Mandy (INIONDIA)
Tolerance might have limits,
love has the potential to be boundless.
~Bits (lbt1)
I think practicing tolerance is a very loving thing... toward
one's self!! One benefits very much from that type of self-growth!
~Tigerlily (TIGERLIL)
I think that love for one's fellow humans is a more abstract
concept, that is, a general philosophy or attitude; tolerance is
the abstract put into practice on a daily basis.
~LunaNik
There are plenty of people I do not love, that I consider are owed
the duty and consideration of tolerance.
~Chris (Emettman)
Birthdays Last Month
Birthday Greetings were heartily extended to:
| Maj |
|
XMAJXX |
|
May 1 |
| David |
|
DA51D |
|
May 3 |
| Katie |
|
CATKATIE1 |
|
May 5 |
| JW |
|
JW_CADLE |
|
May 7 |
| Bill |
|
BIGFURRYGUY |
|
May 9 |
| Carol |
|
LADYLAUGHING |
|
May 9 |
| Karisma |
|
KARISMA43 |
|
May 10 |
| Rob |
|
ROBMADUS |
|
May 10 |
| Joe |
|
JOSEPH5548 |
|
May 11 |
| Hue |
|
HUEHUETENANG |
|
May 13 |
| Parrish |
|
PARRISH |
|
May 14 |
| Joe |
|
JADOFT |
|
May 15 |
| Sky |
|
SKYPILOT58 |
|
May 16 |
| Linda |
|
LINDANY11 |
|
May 24 |
| Pye |
|
PYEWACKET |
|
May 24 |
| Dawg |
|
WIREDAWG |
|
May 24 |
| Alouzon |
|
ALOUZON |
|
May 28 |
| Burrose |
|
BURROSE |
|
May 28 |
| Drummer |
|
METDRUMMER |
|
May 28 |
| Brigitte |
|
SPROCKIES |
|
May 29 |
| Ostinato |
|
OSTINATO |
|
May 31 |
| Tig |
|
TIGOZ |
|
May 31 |
Calliversaries Last Month
| Silky |
|
SILKY_43701 |
|
May 01, 2000 |
| Northener |
|
NORTHENER41 |
|
May 08, 2003 |
| Tessa |
|
TESSA |
|
May 10, 1998 |
| Ace |
|
WILKING |
|
May 15, 1994 |
| Tim |
|
BRUNOTIM |
|
May 18, 2001 |
| Dave |
|
DAVEHAUSE |
|
May 18, 2002 |
| Sureal |
|
SUREAL1 |
|
May 19, 1999 |
| Mouse |
|
EKSMOUSE |
|
May 20, 1999 |
| Tim |
|
THICKS15 |
|
May 20, 2002 |
| Twentier |
|
TWENTIER |
|
May 20, 2002 |
| Rich |
|
RICHNYC |
|
May 23, 2002 |
| Fuggly |
|
FUGGLY |
|
May 25, 2002 |
| Hellen |
|
BPANCHUK00 |
|
May 27, 2002 |
| Arnie |
|
WIZOPARNIE |
|
May 27, 2002 |
Joke of The Month
An 18th-century vagabond in England, exhausted and famished
came to a roadside Inn with a sign reading: "George
and the Dragon." He knocked.
The innkeeper's wife stuck her head out a window. "Could
ye spare some victuals?" he asked. The woman glanced at
his shabby, dirty clothes. "No!" she shouted.
"Could I have a pint of ale?" "No!" she shouted.
"Could I at least sleep in your stable?" "No!"
she shouted again.
The vagabond said, "Might I please...?" "What now?"
the woman screeched, not allowing him to finish.
"D'ye suppose," he asked, "I might have a word
with George?"
- Jennie (JENNIELYN811) May 5, 2004
Pun of the Month
Things were going on in the ant colony, unusual things and
not all the ants were happy.
The new queen, Queen Frieda, was different. To put it bluntly,
she was short. Short for an ant, let alone a queen, which is
very short indeed.
Frieda would look askance at any ant that had the temerity to
be taller than she. She spoke of this with her inner-circle,
comprised of very tiny ants; ants that always looked up to
the queen.
The inner circle began spreading rumors that all the big ants
did not really love the queen. Some big ants were even singled
out, blamed with plotting against Queen Frieda.
One-by-one the largest ants in the colony were driven out,
eventually leaving only a diminutive colony of diminutive ants.
As summer passed to fall, it was time to harvest grass seed for
the winter. The small ants could not reach the best seeds, and
it was difficult for the small ants to carry the big seeds down
to the storage areas.
Turns out the colony had a tough winter,
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
"all because of a lack of taller ants!"
- DK (DWARVENKIND) May 12, 2004
Poem of the Month -
"Paint The Pain"
Sometimes when you paint your pain
with bright colours
on larger than life canvas
someone takes notice
Sometimes when you reveal the sculpture
throwing away the cloth
the tormented face with its etched lines
stares back intensely
Sometimes as you sing your life
to those who open up their eyes
to see as well as hear
How tough it's been to walk your path
Sometimes the art is your release
but now and then
YOU are the clay
from which an iron resolve
is molded by the Master's hand.
-- Kate (KAPTNKATE) May 9, 2004
Closing Quote
"Respect for ourselves guides our morals;
respect for others guides our manners."
– Laurence Sterne
- courtesy Sue SUEMO May 5, 2004
Editor's Note
We hope you find the Bar Rag entertaining and informative.
We can always use good pieces and writers here. If you
have something you would like to submit, or have a comment,
good or bad, about the newsletter, simply send us a note.
And a reminder: we urge everyone to use
our website as a gateway into Callahans on Delphi
Forums. You will find prominent links to our Message
Board and Conference rooms there but also if we ever
have technical trouble at Delphi, we can easily let
you know and redirect you to a backup site if
the trouble is truly serious. And besides - our website
itself is special..:)
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