Cob: um, was my picture that bad? It's certainly not my latest but...

[Donna Strow]

Or lack thereof...

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Um, I can tell you're livid.  Just one thing.  Was my picture really that
bad?  Lots of people liked it.  Baltimore Coffee and Tea wanted me to put
the design on mugs or something, certain they would sell.  (I hadn't the
means to put them on mugs.)  One painting of mine fetched $350 from the
parents of the child I painted.  I demo'd at an art store, too!  And a
neighbor of mine said, "I'm just waiting for you to put [your artwork] on
Ebay."  (As in, quit my day job.)

I couldn't -- just couldn't send a reply to this to the list because I've
never encountered such truculence outside of a chat room.  I hadn't even had
a chance to give a considered reply, just a first-blush kinda reaction...

It's like, sometimes I can imagine people writing with a "tone," and I have
to discount that, because you really can't tell thru someone's writing.  But
your words alone are truculent. I NEVER EXPECTED THIS.

People who disagree with you about labs might not be silly; they might just
disagree or learn differently than you.  And there's no reason to suppose
that someone who explores tangential issues wouldn't understand "huge
nuances."

The swimming-on-my-carpet thing really wasn't nice; what actually happened
was, I practiced for years trying to get swimming down.  But finally, at age
12, I could suddenly do it as soon as summer got going and I plunged into
the water.  I'd been away for months but the learning happened during the
hiatus.  Or, maybe it was just physical growth.

I think what I'm gonna do is keep your flaming of me private between us, and
just reply to your last letter before that, a considered reply, and one that
considers many other letters as well.

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Correction:  I just found out you sent it to the list, so I'm sending this
too.  What else can I do???