[Vision2020] Gossip/rumor (was: My marvelous expertise)

[heirdoug at netscape.net]

Just when you think the storm has passed and the sun starts to shine from behind the clouds of 
anger and venom.....  So Joan, how was merry old England, you obviously got recharged and 
are ready to spread you cheer all over the streets of Moscow.... Still getting off Jet Lag I see.
 
I find it simply amazing how you can tie every thing back to Christ Church so quickly in your 
diatribe. How do you do it?
 
Although this is fascinating to see how skillful you are with shrill words of wisdom, I would like 
to address the more subtle asides in you comments to Wayne.
 
So, you are not Rose Huskey's boarder but you do live there under the heading of 
'something'-in-law, just what that something is you plan to reveal later, the day is still young! 
I some how have got the mixed message wrong and I am some sort of 'automatron' and your 
in the book under Huskey. And from someone's previous post your name is not Mary!
 
Did I get all that straight (how insensitive of me) did I get all that correct? I'm glad to see that you didn't forget me while on holiday.
 
Yours truly,
Pinky Ferret 
 
-----Original Message-----
From: Joan Opyr <joanopyr at earthlink.net>
To: Vision2020 Moscow <vision2020 at moscow.com>
Sent: Mon, 31 Oct 2005 08:34:29 -0800
Subject: [Vision2020] Gossip/rumor (was: My marvelous expertise)


On 31 Oct 2005, at 07:44, Art Deco wrote: 
 
> Joan, et al, 
>   
> Of practical significance is the question of Donovan's effect on > the Mayor's race in the oncoming Moscow election? 
>   
> How many votes will it cost front-runner Peg Hamlett to have Donovan's > support? 
>   
> How many votes will Nancy Chaney gain because of Donovan's > bad-mouthing of her and his viciously persistent, argumentative style > in support of Ms. Hamlett? 
>   
> We all learned a lesson about Donovan's political effect on those he > supports from Linda Pike's last campaign. 
> 
> Art Deco (Wayne A. Fox) 
> deco at moscow.com 
 
Interesting questions, Wayne, and ones I've been wondering about myself. Thanks for asking them. Thanks also for giving me the opportunity to say something that's been on my mind ever since the ridiculous hoo-hah over "mudslinging" in the mayoral race began on Vision 2020. The question has been asked, "Who is gossiping about Peg Hamlett's past?" The answer is simple: EVERYONE. For heaven's sake, this is a town of 23,000, counting UI's students. Everyone knows (or think they know) everyone else's business. Doug Farris has referred to me as "Rose Huskey's boarder." Am I Rose Huskey's boarder? No. Does Mr. Ferret know thing one about my living arrangements with the Huskey family? No, again. He's merely speculating and, in the process, he's revealing exactly what his masters at Christ Church speculate. Fascinating. You'd think they'd have something better to do. 
 
I first heard stories about Peg Hamlett and her UPS route when I moved here 12 years ago. Did I give a rat's ass then? No. Do I give a rat's ass now? No. Peg's past is Peg's past; she might be interested in what she did or didn't do, but I'm not. You show me a self-proclaimed saint, and I'll show you a lying sack of shit. I have spoken with Peg a number of times, we've emailed one another on occasion, and she is, in my opinion, a sharp, friendly, personable woman. I don't care what she did or didn't do in her youth; I only care what she plans to do with Moscow in the future. That's it. Unless she's a fugitive from justice -- or she knows what really happened to Jimmy Hoffa -- I don't see the relevance to the current gossip. 
 
But I think it's disingenuous to speculate about who all is spreading the stories. We are ALL spreading them, each and every time we bring up the subject. This, alas, is how small towns work. We talk about one another in the way that people in larger cities talk about the plot twists in "Desperate Housewives." Everytime I meet someone new, I come home and we try to figure out if he or she went to high school with one of my in-laws, or if his or her cousin's mother is related to Family X.  We are forever putting our fellow citizens into context, establishing where and how they fit into this small, tightly-woven, nosy little community. It's what makes life in Moscow charming; it's also what makes life in Moscow annoying. But I wouldn't trade our busy-body town for the whole of New York City -- and that's after eating the best bagels and lox in the history of humankind. 
 
Give me Moscow. I love this place. 
 
Joan Opyr/Auntie Establishment 
www.joanopyr.com 
 
PS: Peg, if you're reading this, I hope I haven't offended you. My theory is that gossip is best dealt with out in the open. Nothing kills a rumor quicker than exposure to the bright light of day -- or, in view of this morning's weather, exposure to a good, clean rain. I wish you well in the mayoral race; I wish Nancy Chaney well. I can't vote in city elections (as Donovan has pointed out, ad infinitum), but I care about the future of this town, and I believe I can say with confidence that so do you and Nancy. 
 
Oh, and Randy Blanton, too. Randy -- are you out there? Give me a call! I'm in the book -- under Huskey. (Wonder why that is, eh, Doug Farris?) 

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