Welcome to Jo Anne Bird's Pseudo Home Page

About me

This is me with science fiction author David Brin at ConDor 98.

I was born in 1948 in Tacoma Washington.

I grew up in the suburbs of Seattle, you know, where Boeing is located, where the B-52's were built?

We used to have  drills in elementary school -- we'd all climb under our pitiful little desks, hump up in a ball, hide our faces in the crook of one arm, and cover the back of our necks with our other hand.  Seems like we'd wait there for hours until the teacher told us it was OK to get up.  When we got to Jr. High and the Cuban Missile Crisis was in full swing, we were at least sophisticated enough to know that if war broke out, hiding under our desks was worth diddlysquat.  It was at the beginning of some film in some class that I first heard the phrase "making the world safe by being so strong, no other nation would dare to attack".   Wow -- the big scary men with big scary toys in positions of power really believed that, I think.

I don't remember being unable to sleep at night, but I do remember having a fatalistic attitude about it all.  I knew that if war started, Seattle would be one of the first places to go, and my family with it.  I just hoped I was with my dog at the end.  My family did make a plan to meet in a remote town my parents grew up in should we survive and become separated.

Now add that to the war in S.E.  Asia, shake it up, and ...  Voila -- Hippies!!!!  "Tune in, turn on, and drop out" (Timothy Leary).  "Sex, drugs, and rock and roll" (I don't know who to attribute this one to).

What's *wrong* with macramé?  In the seventies, I turned out a number of fine plant hangers and wall hangings, along with several necklaces.  You just wait!  Soon, all us old hippies will be gathering around the piano in the old folks planned communities, singing "House of the Rising Sun" and making wall hangings for Christmas presents for our children/grandchildren.   ý-P
 
Now being female, I've sewn for years.  I do a great 8th Century Anglo-Saxon tunic. I also have a confession to make.  I've never been to an SF convention!  I like SF on film and TV, but have never hazarded going to a convention.  As such, I've never had the opportunity to see an SF costume up close and pick it apart for technique.
 

About the Engineer

The BRIN-L Guide to Ettiket

IMHO, we on the BRIN-L mailing list behave ourselves remarkably well, and these guidelines are posted only as information.

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The Brin -L Mailing List exists for the discussion of matters pertaining to the writings of Drs. Brin and Benford and topics of interest to list members.

As members of a civilization, these are the guidelines we agree to live under:

• We post as if every message we write as if we were going to read it aloud in front of the whole group.
• We sign our messages with our name and e-mail address.
• We are tolerant of subject threads that bore us to death.
• We keep subject lines appropriate to the contents of the message.
• We do NOT include the entire message to which we are replying.
• We DO include a few lines if our reply can't stand on its own.
• We DO keep attributions correctly assigned to the original poster.
• We do NOT send terse, one line replies.
• We use emphasis to make our comments clear. (Stars, smilies, etc.)
• We use white space and keep our paragraphs short.
• We keep our line length below 80 characters.
• If our reply is more appropriately directed only at the original poster, we don't send it to the entire list.
• If our message is funny, frivolous, humorous, or is generally silly in nature, we add a "Silly/Humor" flag to the subject line so others can identify it easily.
• We flag long messages with "ELL" or "L3" in the subject line. (In deference to our Grand Past Alpha Mail this stands for "Eythain like length" or "Lazh like length").

We agree that:

• Questions are welcome.
• Extensive discussions that get into the nitty-gritty of the subject are welcome.
• Funny, silly, frivolous, amusing, playful, joking, cheerful postings are welcome. Original humor, especially if it pertains to an existing thread, is quite welcome. Forwarding blanket humor from other sources is discouraged, but not forbidden.
• We are a multilingual group, and as such we tolerate mistakes and idiosyncrasies when they show up on the list in English (American English).
• We remember that some folks may not be the best typists around, and tolerate those mistakes as well.
• We all will kindly answer any questions others have about our native language in a friendly manner.
• Brin and Benford ROCK. =+))

We will further endeavor to remember, as David Brin says, to "Remind yourself, now and then, to say the following phrase: 'I am a member of a civilization.' (IAAMOAC) Our society has its flaws, but if you ponder history, and cantankerous human nature, it's astonishing how far we've come. We just don't say IAAMOAC often enough. ... "
 

We further agree that:

• Personal attacks, whether direct or indirect are not welcome. These should be handled off list, and if you disagree with some controversial point, direct the attack at the argument, not the person.
• Abusive or inflammatory language is not welcome.
• Profanity is not welcome.
• Chain letters are not welcome.
• Mail bombs to each other are not welcome.
• The Listowners have the right to remove someone who does not wish to comport themselves in a manner concordant with our civilization.

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Thank you,

Jo Anne
Lady of the List, Bearer of the High Standards, Owner of the 7th Chalice of Betazed etc.  (I still like these titles! ;+))

Note: This list was written using another set of guidelines originally composed by Donna Hrynkiw of Vancouver, British Columbia -- and is used with her permission.

Here's a little quote I got from a lawyer friend, as a tidbit for those of you who managed to read all the way down here:

For any queries or comments please email Jo Anne Bird