October 19, 2011, I was tagged in a facebook post, so I dutifully went to read what it said, and was flattered. The one response at the time was interesting, and made me curious.
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David Peters
Since I find myself with more time than usual I have been exercising that mass of grey between my ears. As luck would have it while trudging along the web I stumbled upon a great resource. If you have not yet read it do so and if you live near enough to Sandra Dodd I am officially jealous.Humility and Formality
www.sandradodd.com
Rob Hotch-rI mean the best way possible, but you need to hit yourself with something heavy until you forget everything yoil read. Once people read that book they are never the same. I've seen it ruin people, primarily because it does make a lot of sense. Do what you want but you've been warned.
David PetersRob ~ Are there specifics you have in mind? Feel free to reply privately if you wish.
Sandra DoddPerhaps he means that people who have high ideals and principles can become disappointed with the realities of the SCA. I've seen that some with my students and associates. They thought they wanted to know lots, but the more they knew, the more they saw reality fall short of ideals. (If it's not that, Rob, reply privately because I probably don't want to know. :-) )
Rob Hotch-rI mean that every person I've known who's read that book was one person before they read it and then different after (usually feeling that they need to tell people that they've read it-almost an instinctual "hey I've been baptized" response). I don't know if there are spores ala' Invasion of the Body Snatchers somehow hidden in the physical pages or if there's a hypnotique trance induced by repeating words, phrases, etc. (I don't really think any of these things) but it literally changes people and, I personally feel, not usually in a good way. Maybe, which has been a suspicion, there is no fault with the actual tome necessarily, but the content is interpreted by the reader as to give some sort of permission (not necessarily intended) to those who've got a latent arrogant streak or secret egotistical urges, to let those respective flags fly proudly. I've only glimpsed pages and veiwed small sections (as I've intentionally avoided an actual full reading-specifically because of this.) and though there is a lot of what I know about it that I agree with, it's just not going to happen and I will never advise anyone to read it. Write me off as a cook, or as jaded former society, whatever flavor you please. I realize that you're proud of your work Sandra and have every right to be. There's just bad ju-ju in there.
Sandra Dodd#1, it's not "a book." It's ten e-mails. So if you don't even know what it is, and you haven't read it, it seems odd that you would appoint yourself a guardian or even reviewer. "Bad ju-ju"? "Tome"?
#2, What do you mean,"Write me off as a cook"...? A kook, did you mean? There's nothing in there that should bother cooks.
Rob Hotch-r#1 Bleh #2 Bleh Bleh I'm doing this little email geek dance with you. You created poison and that's it.
Oh. Then I guess he deleted that one (which I had cut and pasted) and put this:#1 Bleh #2 Bleh Bleh I'm not doing this little email geek dance with you. You created poison and that's it.
Doing this, not doing this. It didn't seem like a "geek dance" to me. It seemed like someone attempting to seem knowledgable and important in the absence of any real knowledge or weight. It seemed like someone flinging poo on someone else's happiness. Monkey poo.
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4 comments:
This is really amusing. I shared the post here with some of those who were involved originally, and some who read it later. A couple of the responses from people who HAVE read it, more than once (names not attached):
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If I hadn't read H&F before and I had read his "review", I would pretty well drop everything to read it. I mean, really, why bother reading ANYTHING if it won't change you in some way? He could have learned a lot by reading it. It would have definitely changed him for the better.
He's a wanker.
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and
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Maybe he just has his own recipes for better behavior and being nice to people, and that is why he considers himself a cook. ;)
Seriously, I think his comments are 100% on par with what is going on in this country. He has only heard, not honestly experienced, researched, even read, or otherwise found any factual or real information on the topic. However, he wants to and is attempting to enforce his ignorant opinion as factual evidence. Wow...
Back when [the original] was happening, I had no idea we were creating a sacred tome of bad juju. Had I known that, I might have kept treating folks like garbage and being mean. Wow.
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Because the original poster is away for the weekend, I left this note to him on the side: "Sorry about the craziness on your wall. I wanted to reassure you, in case you would worry, that I'm not at all hurt or offended by the monkey-hooting insanity of whoever that guy is. I'm really amused. My teenaged daughter was sitting here and when his comment about me having created poison came, she said he was poisoned by his own negativity. I wasn't thinking anything nearly so poetic or direct. I see it as someone wanting to seem knowledgeable and important without any knowledge or importance of his own. "
I came across this blog by accident while looking for more information about the Outlands. I'm so glad I did! I read his negative comments about your treatise on formality and humility. It absolutely made me want to read it and see where he was coming from. I don't understand how he could think this would change someone for the worse. I think it is wonderful. I know it's written for squires and apprentices, but as a newcomer, it helped me realize that I'm not the only one who experiences trepidation in fully immersing myself in the game. Even kings and queens might feel a little sheepish when a friend bows to them and calls them by their title instead of by their nickname. I'm constantly afraid I'll make a mistake and fail to recognize someone's rank or that they'll think me silly in my attempts at deference. I blush when someone calls me m'lady the same way I do when someone introduces me to their 5 year old as Mrs. instead of by my first name. I know it's a matter of respect and I need to get used to it. Reading this helped me to think of it as helping my fellow player stay present in their persona instead of making it about me. It's part of maintaining the ambiance and changing my mindset will help immensely in not feeling like I'm doing everything wrong. Thank you for writing it and making it available to the public. I loved it.
Jenna, I'm glad you found "Humility and Formality" and it sparked some good ideas in you. You're brave to ingest (visually and cognitively) something someone had called poison. :-)
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