ATTN JMS: BEST ways to say thanks? (longish)

[B5JMS Poster]

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
From: "Kristin A. Ruhle" <kristin at rahul.net>
Date: 26 May 1998 20:36:27 -0600
Lines: 66

Joe:

First off I'm doing my best not to make this a "me too" thank you post.
There IS no easy way to give you the gratitude you deserve. Heinlein was
supposed to have said, "Pay *forward*," to people he did favors for.
Perhaps B5 fans could do worse.

I vaguely understood B5 before, but only really got into it when (a) It
was shoved in my face I'd never be able to follow the conversations at
parties if I didn't watch this show, (b) I gradually learned what you had
created with it and was utterly awestruck that *anyone* could pull this
off within the television medium - just SHATTERING the envelope, and (c)
the reruns came on so I didn't have to spend days doing nothing but watch
borrowed tapes. Each night I'd kneel in front of the TV and watch closely.
Each night I'd be just blown away, and I'd go to bed contemplating really
big things, issues you brought up in episodes like "Believers," or the
depth of the philosophy (Vorlons...Shadows....*humans*...and what they all
mean to me being human right now.) I have Jane Killicks's Season by Season
guides, where it noted that you said asking the Shadow question first
leads to destruction, while asking the Vorlon question first tends to be
constructive (but then the Vorlons turn out not to be "good guys" so
much...*Both* races do have their points though.) I asked myself the
questions. And I thought of something my mother told me: when I was three
or four, I asked, not the typical question of "Why is the sky blue?" etc.
that children ask, but, "Mommy, why do we live?" Actually not too
different from Lorien's! So as a kind of "born philosopher," I find myself
appreciating the show on many levels.

There were also individual episodes I felt were speaking to me...I tend to
have a lot of fears, like germs (I don't like being around people with the
common cold, even...Not as bad as Howard Hughes, but contagious symptoms
make me uncomfortable.) When I saw "Confessions and Lamentations," I was
touched, not to say shamed, by Delenn's bravery. "Walkabout" and that
story line made me think HARD about self-discovery...I often think more
about what I'm not than what I am. "Into the Fire" taught me many lessons
about growing up. (And I'm 33 years old! But sometimes I wonder if Lorien
is telling me to change careers; as an English major I'm not quite
achieving as much as I wanted to.)

We owe you so much not only for things like this, but for the way you've
treated the fans over the years, things that should put Fox and Paramount
and all to shame (like not SQUASHING every fan Web site); things one can't
really expect from a celebrity, like actually communicating directly with
fans on the Net (gonna miss you very much.) - So - can we or I pay you
back, directly? We can't.

I submit  that fans should all say thanks by doing things in the real
world that please you (the way there are still Heinlein Memorial Blood
Drives to this day?) and by learning from our journey with you and the
show and carrying that into our so-called "real" lives. Not just
dressing up like a character, but following positive role models in
meaningful ways. Not just quoting endless trivia, but working to build the
future and make the universe a better place. All good fiction touches us,
changes us inside in some ways, maybe not drastically, but hopefully for
the better. We should let that touch enlighten us and then pass that light
along to the universe. 

Keep on driving back the dark and working for the true "light"....

Kristin 
A relative newbie
  
-- 
"Who are you?" - Sebastian          Kristin A. Ruhle
"What do you want? - Morden         kristin at rahul.net 
"Why are you here?" - Lorien        kristin_ruhle at iacnet.com

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
From: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
Date: 27 May 1998 08:53:35 -0600
Lines: 11

Thank you for those wonderful words.  If fans of this show can carry some of
what they find here out into the real world -- building communities, asking
questions, building the future *consciously* rather than letting others do it
for you -- then that is the best testament, and the only thanks, that could
ever be required.

 jms

(jmsatb5 at aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com
-***
-*** B5JMS SUBSCRIBERS: Replies to messages go to the list maintainer,
-*** <b5jms-owner at cs.columbia.edu>.  If you want to reply elsewhere, adjust
-*** the "To" field.  See http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~ezk/b5jms/ for all
-*** other information about this list.