> I have to say that I object to *having* to delete these messages:
they
> take up room in an already over-crowded mailbox, waste my time in checking
> them, and most importantly THEY JUST AREN'T FUNNY!!
> I think it would be a great waste to a really interesting and productive
> list to give over even one day a year to this sort of pursuit: there are
> humour-lists specifically for this purpose and they are better suited to
> this sort of thing than an academic discussion list.
> I am aware that some people have really enjoyed these limericks, but is
> that the purpose we all initially joined this list for?
> Rebecca Stephens
OK, a serious point of view which deserves a serious response:
Rebecca,
I appreciate your concerns, and believe it or not, I don't want to
see the list degenerate into nothing but frivolity. There are a lot
of interesting people who contribute interesting ideas to this list,
and I hope that it continues for a long time.
As I stated in my previous post, the summer is always a bit of a
"dead" time on lists, so if one funny post shows up out of four
postings, it appears as if they are "taking over" the list, whereas
in termtime, there might be 20 or more postings a day, to which one
humorous post seems like a very minor issue indeed.
After my initial storm of limericks, I have no intention of posting
one every day, or even every week, just occasioanlly if something
strikes me as funny. The novelty has worn off, and there is no need
to keep sending a lot of them to the list. However, I DO NOT want to
see humor forcibly banned from this list because a few people don't
approve. The majority of readers I have "spoken" with have found my
and the others' postings humorous and a nice diversion from the usual
subject matters. If there is anything I can't stand, it's "academics"
(or any other group of people) who take themselves so seriously that
they cannot loosen up even a little. There is room enough for
everything and everyone here.
I'm sorry if you have not found these postings to be funny, but we
can't please all the people all of the time! I realize that some
readers are on their own private accounts, rather than a university
one, and that it is their phone bill which is being charged to read e-
mail. As such, they are entitled to have junk postings kept to a
minimum. But no one will ever convince me that the occasional five-
line limerick with a bit of text above (often not even a full screen)
is adding a huge amount to the phone bill!
The process of deleting is painless and takes less than a second,
and I always mark such postings as "such and such limerick", so there
is no confusion. If someone doesn't like limericks, they can see the
header, and simply hit the delete button and never be bothered.
Further, it has never been my intention to mock religion or people's
beliefs. I have no malice toward the Catholic Church or any other
religion, and if I poke fun at the odd silly story surrounding a
saint, that is all it is, fun. And I doubt that very many modern
Catholics would be devoted to St. Superius, the name given to a
corpse found on top of the dead body of another saint!
I am finishing a PhD on the development of French monastic crusading
theology in the 12th century, and am a professional performer and
recording artist of medieval music. In short, I take medieval studies
as seriously as anyone, but not so seriously that I can't laugh about
it once in a while.
This list is meant to be informative, but also I think, enjoyable,
even fun. I believe it was Shakespeare who said "we trick into
learning with a laugh"; truer words on the subject were never spoken.
In the process of writing limericks and silly stories, and having
others write in with their own silly accounts from the Middle Ages, I
have learned a lot not only about saints' lives, but also the medieval
concept of sainthood and holiness, and I suspect others have too.
Thus, the list has been serving its purpose here as well.
Thank you all for letting me express my point of view. Responses,
comments, etc., are invited.
Tim Rayborn
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