Friday, October 27, 2006

More listserv fun

Since I've already set the irresponsible precedent of poaching my classmates' emails, I thought I would share another exchange that amused me. Background: it was dealing with the fact that an MFA reading conflicted with the weekly English grad pub outing. For some reason no one understands, the MFA reading series is called "Castalia."

1. This came from the organizer of the pub event, with the subject heading "EGPG (English Grad Pub Group) supports Castalia!" I think it's very sweet:

"Tomorrow is once again a Thirsty Thursday...

But this week's is a Very Special Blossom Grad Pub...

English Grad Pub Group proudly joins the MFA Castalia for an evening of Drinking With the Stars...

Grad Pub will begin at Castalia at 5:30 PM, Parrington (Hall) Commons...

Then, after you have had your fill of Wit and Wonder, we will adjourn to the College Inn Pub around 7 PM..."


2. People here don't understand how to reply to a listserv email, so next we have, addressed to the organizer:

"I'm at work, so unfortunately I can't write a long note, but I still check my UW mail and this email "warms the cockles of my heart," as my grandmother would say. I'm so glad the English students and MFA students are starting to hang out more. And you and Jay deserve much of the credit.

How are things? I'll try to write more when I'm not bound to the clock!"


3. Someone overly literal ignores the fact that this was a missent private email, and contributes an utterly pointless comment to the dialogue we're not having:

"MFA and PhD students (be careful with that binary between "English students" and "MFA students"--we're all in the same department...) used to hang out a lot, when I first got here in Fall 2001. I've been trying to put my finger on when and why that changed. Speaking for myself...I know I got a little busier after my first couple of years here, and was simply too pressed for time to go to Castalia. I miss it."


And we wonder why the MFAs don't want to hang out with us.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Stove, that's hilarious. Castalia is the mythical island in Hermann Hesse's novel The Glass Bead Game where all the academics live. So it actually does make sense, in a Rocky Horror shout-out kind of way, to yell "I support Castalia!"

Anonymous said...

Castalia, who is responsible for poetic inspiration, was originally a nymph devoted to the muses.