[Sca-cooks] From the fabled List Administrator

[Ratt]

Ya know I had been wondering where you were. WELCOME BACK Papa!!!!



Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note® II

<div>-------- Original message --------</div><div>From: Michael Gunter <dookgunthar at hotmail.com> </div><div>Date:02/18/2014  10:23 PM  (GMT-05:00) </div><div>To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org> </div><div>Subject: [Sca-cooks] From the fabled List Administrator </div><div>
</div>Hi,
Many of you know me and some have never heard of me.  I'm the founder of this little list that was created...um...hell....more than a couple of years ago.  I've been absent and that is totally my fault. I guess Facebook is too easy now and I rarely read emails anymore, which is totally stupid.
This list is one of the things I've created which has made me the most proud.  It was started as a way for me to tell everyone how they screwed up their feasts and how to make them better. Y'see, I thought I was a pretty shit-hot cook and feastocrat.  I didn't go for "Medieval" food much, but I presented feasts that stretched peoples' tastes and they seemed odd enough that you could squint your eyes and pretend they were "Medieval" and stuff. So I got on here, expecting a few of my friends from around the kingdom and we would all dish about that Stargate Yule feast and how it could be made better or what it did right.  So imagine my near shock when people subscribed from EVERYWHERE!  There were members of this list from every kingdom, some other countries and many who weren't even in the SCA but had heard this was the place to be to find out about period cooking. 
Something else happened...I found out that I was a blathering idiot.  I thought I knew about cooking and feasts and period food.  Well, I knew period food sucked at least.  Then these amazing people came on and told me about what food culture, history, cooking and period food was really like.  I learned many things and the most important thing I learned was to shut up when someone had something to say about a subject they were a master of.  I learned to share opinions, even when they differed with these experts in order to broaden the knowledge of our little passion.  I learned from the Masters.  I also learned there were people who were just like me.  Who knew everything and expected to show their greatness to the world.  Some got quite angry when they came on and bestowed their wisdom to the list only to have it slapped down.  Many pushed back against the "arrogant attitudes" of this list when their declarations were met with "where's the source of this attitude?" commentar
y. 
Some of these experts left in a huff to find places where people would listen to their wisdom without question.   Others stayed here and learned that their knowledge was valuable when presented correctly and they were willing to listen to others.  Many of the "experts" who came here learned, like me, they didn't know everything but knew something and they continued to learn and to add to the discussion.
I've been gone far too long from this list and I need to get back in touch with everyone.  A rule that was created in the first years of this list continues (even though I'm not home much now), "This is my living room at a gigantic dinner party. There are no strict rules about the topics of conversation because we are all historians and food crazies so the conversation will pretty much stay on topic. But, though debate is encouraged, you will behave as an honored and respected guest in my house."
Everyone needs to behave as they would in a public gathering. Politeness is a must.  Heated arguments are fine, but with this crowd, you had damned better make sure you have substance to back up your philosophies.  If you get your feelings hurt because someone wants to know just where you got the information that the Mongols drank coffee then you need to either present your sources, grow an academic backbone, or find a place where scholars don't gather. 
This is an amazing room filled with some of the people I respect most in the world.  Each and every one of you are special to me and are rare gems.  Appreciate that.
Or go sit in the corner.
Yers,
GuntharEvil List Administrator/Creator    		  
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