Sinister: Stuart and ME

[honey at xxx.org]

Some idiot said:
> Please don't be put off posting!  List membership number is a very
> very mysterious thing, worthy of investigation by Institutes of
> Parapsychology: it has remained constantly at near 1500 for about 5
> years, much to my astonishment, and that's with me weaning out the
> old addresses constantly.  So pipe up.
>
> Honey x

- which turned out to be the words of a mad cow.  In fact, as my
fiendish scheme to thwart the idiocy of the hosting company showed,
there were oodles of dead addresses subscribed to the list that I
hadn't seen, which I'm weaning out now, and should remove the problem.
We're a more select, secretive cabal now - a mere 1000 of us.  I will
probably still move the list at some point though, so there may be
a little bump but no changes in addresses etc.  I'll let you know if
I do.

It's taking me hours and hours and hours to remove all the old
addresses, even with frightening space-age technology from the future
helping me.  So please, can I ask that you give some thought to
your poor list mum slaving in the kitchen if you leave a college,
place of work or webmail host for dead: remember to unsubscribe.
The worst offenders are universities: I know it's hard to remember
to do anything when you've finished your last exam, and are off to
the city to become an accountant, but please try.  Second worst are
hotmail and AOL accounts, and places of work: similarly, please try
and remember.  It would make me happy and my life a little less bumpy
(and stop the list jamming).

I had a call from the hosting company this morning - two very formal
sounding american gentlemen on a conference call, because I'd annoyed
them by re-opening the fault call so many times.  They were very
polite, but I can only imagine what they thought of the annoying brit.
If what they're now finally telling me is correct, the list problems
should be cleared now or in a day or two, and won't recur if I clean
out the dead addresses.  Only a few more hundred to go.

I'm afraid I won't be taking any prisoners with bad addresses in
the near future because of the risk to the list, so if you run out
of quota, expect to be removed from the list fairly quickly.  But I
made the list software kind in that it'll send you a few warnings
after it's ejected you for a bit, and tell you what to do.  And it'll
remember if you were out of the nursery, and not put you back in.
If you get bounce messages without going over quota, it'll probably
be because your mail provider is using some broken software that's
interpreting Sinister mails as spam (or *obscene*) and I can't handle
the error messages.  Sign up with someone else, get a Gmail account,
or something: I can give you one if you like, just ask.

Anyway, I'm sorry to bog down the list with admin, but sometimes the
dishes need washing before you can settle down to watch Mork and Mindy.
But it's not what you come here to read.  Below I'm going to repost a
mail from Michael and Lisa which didn't get through to the main list
(Poor Michael tried twice on my suggestion!).  Sorry to them and two
others who had to resend!  And to digesters who will have seen these
before.  But they're *so good* you'll want to see them again I'm sure.

I should have listened to the scholarly Pinefox of course who told
me in July that something was up.  Lesson: always listen ye to the
Pinefox, yay, though he may whisper humbly and tentatively.

Honey x

P.S. Know what?  It's Sinister's 8th birthday on Saturday.  What will
*you* be doing?

------------------------------

Date: Thu, 18 Aug 2005 03:50:38 +0100
From: michael grant <michael.digby.grant at xxx.com>
Subject: Sinister: oh yeah, let's hit some fun summer storytime.

oh yeah, let's hit some fun summer storytime. i haven't posted here
for YEARS. (well, a while. i can't be bothered to check the archives
and find out, but it's definitely over a year. probably many). i have
however, always been keeping one eye on this old girl, just to see
how's she's getting on.

it had never really crossed my mind to post something here again (even
when i - and the list - was more active, i'd never have described
myself as a regular poster or anything) but stacey's post about summer
bike rides, picnics and the like, just got me thinking. wouldn't it be
great if everyone posted little fun summer stories? (sorry southern
hemisphere people. you can have winter stories too). y'know, little
anecdotes about wasting away summer days in the park, or a general
'this is what i've done / am doing with my summer' post. and when this
thought crossed my mind, i realised how much of a sinister-esque idea
it was. i don't think there's many places where posts about sitting in
the park would be par for the course. and that got me all
sinister-nostalgic.

and that got me to here. sitting typing out a sinister post, listening
to old skool b&s. it's been such a long time since i sat and listened
to them. i do listen to the new stuff a fair bit, (i'm a huge fan of
'stay loose' and 'your cover's blown'), but i never really reach back
and have a listen to tigermilk or iyfs. i don't know why. maybe i just
over-listened to them in the past. but it's fun. as much for the
memories of when i did listen to them every day (or thereabouts) as
for the music itself.

well, before i get all super-nostalgia crazy. (which inevitably leads
to mind-fuckery-interal-conversations about what happened to my life
in the intervening years. this is a BAD THING!!) i'd better get on
with my summer post. which you are all welcome, nay obliged!! to join
in with.


- ------------------
my summer
- ------------------

my summer so far has been kind of odd. i have moved to the big bad
london town, from cosy glasgow. why, i hear you all screaming. well,
numerous reasons that are either too boring for you to care about, or
too exciting for you to cope with. but the short answer is boredom.
and claustrophobia. not literally. i didn't find myself trapped in a
lift or anything. but just the feeling that there was no space in
glasgow anymore. too many people and situations i was avoiding, i
guess. some perfectly reasonable, others the fantasies of a paranoid
mind.

anyway, i did the sensible, grown-up thing and ran away from my
problems. and ended up in big shiny london town. it's been good. it's
kind of like being on holiday. the hot weather (we don't get real
summers in glasgow), new people to meet, new places to go. when i
first came down, i'd ride the train into the centre of town every day,
and end up just wandering around. getting irritated by tourists,
stifled by the heat, amazed by the random little places i would find,
and amused by the absurdity of it all. the crazy bustle. the bizarre
mixture of toursits and locals and whoever else might be wandering the
streets. the super-familiar landmarks, that lose their landmark status
so quickly after you've walked past them for the sixth time that day.
(it's easy to keep getting turned in circles when you're wandering
aimlessly).

i've been here six weeks, and things are slightly different now. it's
kind of like the end of a holiday. certain places and people have
become more familiar to you now, but you still don't really know where
you are. you know where the shops are, and the pub, and so on. but
only because of the routine you've been following. you're aware you've
only scratched the surface. and i think this is going to be the big
jump. from holiday-tourist mode, into proper livng-in-the-city mode.
i'm guessing this will be helped by the fact i start working on
monday. and hopefully, i'll be finding somewhere to live soon too.
(i've just been crashing with a friend so far).

i guess this is why i've avoided making any quick judgements about
living here. i know this is just the first transition phase. so every
time i catch myself thinking 'this city's great', i'll stop and remind
myself that this doesn't really count. i'm still just a visitor. i'll
need to wait a little longer to make my mind up. but so far it has
been fun. (with the obvious exception. which i'm deliberately leaving
out. another train of thought for another time)

anyway, there's a couple of specific anecdotes from my summer in
london that i was thinking of posting. but i;m sure i've rambled on
about the New Place enough for now. besides, neither of them are that
funny. i'll wait til i've got some comedy gold to hit you with, and
then post again.

so come on kids. get your SUPER SUMMER POSTING FUN on. i want stories
of day trips to the country, or day trips to the city. or another
city. or your musings from your summer days of wasting. bring it on. i
dare you.

mg.

------------------------------

Date: Fri, 19 Aug 2005 21:09:12 +0000
From: "Lisa Claire Lakaparampil" <lisaclaire780 at xxx.com>
Subject: RE: Sinister: Posting is the new lurking

I've been a bit of a wallflower in here, the last few years, leaving and 
returning unnoticed, but I thought I'd drop a short line and maybe make my 
presence known, if a little awkwardly.

I tend to be a bit shy...

I blinked, and summer seems to have passed me by, here on the Canadian 
prairies... It's just mid-August, and I've already caught my first autumn 
cold, and have pulled out the scarf (muffler?) I use for inbetween seasons. 
The elms on my street are slowly hinting at a yellowy-green and as I ride 
the train accross the North Sasketchewan river to get to the south side of 
town, I can see bunches of bright yellow in the upper limbs of the aspens 
and poplars slipping by below me. Sad sad sad...

I've actually missed the bi-weekly hour-and-a-half Greyhound rides to my 
hometown since I haven't had the chance to see the snowy fields turn to 
muddy fields turn to misty green to green and gold canola (rapeseed?) and 
wheat and whatever else might turn a profit for the farmers, these days.
I've been living in the city for about three years now, and my trips "home" 
are getting fewer and further between, and somehow I'm missing the way the 
seasons change. From my Mom's kitchen window, you can see the seasons change 
in her garden and in the low hills that ring the town.

Sorry, I'm getting sappy sentimental, but this 'far' north (I'm on the 52nd 
parallel, but my geography is crap, so I don't know where that is in 
relation to anyone else on here - you all seem so far away...) seasons 
changing is, well, how one marks time, and if I don't notice the seasons, 
maybe I'm getting old, or maybe I'm getting too wrapped up in silly 
unimportant things... who knows...

anyway, I've rambled long enough... it's been lovely reading from all of you 
posting, lately... perhaps somebody in the Southern Hemisphere can write and 
tell me how spring is getting on? I heard it snowed somewhere in Australia 
not too long ago...

well, yes, there's me, nothing better to talk about than the weather...

love.

lisaclaire

------------------------------
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