Hmmm... How to begin,

As I've read the message thread that's grown around Nicholas
Leifker's reaction to Gary Kleppe's mention of Soun taking
on the duties of Tendo Cook in Residence, I'm uncomfortably
reminded of a few things.  One is that Nickolas' arguments
are getting a tad close to the ad hominum as the exchanges
continue.  It's beginning to sound just a little like the
noise a creationist makes while shrilly claiming that
evolution is religion, not science.  I suggest relaxation
and possibly taking a pill.

As for the things Gary says to people... well I have a
rather embarrassing memory about that.  Once, long ago, I
had more or less completed what would have been my first fan
fiction story.  I had noticed that Gary often gave C&C on
the stories that appeared on the list and pretty much on a
whim sent him my story via private e-mail.  He replied the
same way and pointed out a glaring flaw in the story.

Without going into detail, I had reinvented a few of the
wooliest and most overused cliches in fan fiction.
Naturally I was distressed to hear this.  After a while,
though, I was glad that story had never seen the public
light of day and it quietly went to that place unpublished
fan fictions go.  I thanked him at the time, but I think I'd
like to repeat myself.  It wasn't a whole lot of fun to
learn about my story's irreparable flaws, but I'm damned
glad Gary was willing to point them out for me.  So, thank
you Gary, again, and please don't take all this too much to
heart.  Keep up the good work, if you please. I, for one
appreciate your efforts, and I'm sure I'm not alone.

Oh yeah, Gary, that part of the story about Akane's early
days learning martial arts that includes this:

	Day after day, Akane did what was required of her. Day after
day, a star would be added to the piece of paper, and her parents would
tell her how wonderfully she was doing. She loved the attention she got.

	Until one day. No more praise. No more stars.

	No more mother.

Keep it in there... it's shear poetry.

Best,

Bob Barnes 
rbarnes@moscow.com 
Moscow, Idaho 

When opportunity comes, the trick is to CATCH the red hat.