[Noisebridge-discuss] Wingnuts, Muppets, & Trolls

[Tony Longshanks LeTigre]

You know, years ago in Portland, my Cousin worked at a nuthouse. It was
either a nuthouse or an Assisted Living Facility for Mentally Disabled
Adults, I can't remember which. Regardless, one of his charges was a man
who liked to kiss cockroaches because, as he averred, "cockroaches have
nice lips!" That man was, to borrow Jake's charming sobriquet, a wingnut.
Now, wingnuts are a class of people I know a thing or two about. (Hush.) I
like wingnuts, generally speaking. They amuse me. They say the damnedest
things. Their imaginations are out of this world, and at the risk of
sounding a bit "loose in the Wingnuts" myself, I find that inspiring --
providing the person in question doesn't cross a certain line where they
cease to be a Wingnut and become something more like a genuine threat, or a
problem that requires attention. Since we're talking openly about these
things, I can see why one might deem it appropriate to include our very own
Cynthia in the "Wingnut" category. (Although this report of her availing
herself of one of the Noisebridge sofas for a "long winter's nap," if true
and upheld in Noisecourt, would seem to indicate dangerous proximity to the
"Muppet" category -- which is only one half-step above straight-up
Noisetroll.)

I was introduced to Cynthia by a Noisebridger of respectable experience and
reliable judgment as "The Queen of the Noisebridge Kitchen" - partly for
her expertise and omnipresence, and partly (as I have come to learn over
time) for her fearsomely territorial attitude toward the Noisebridge
"Recology" (garbage, recycling, compost) bins, as well as a host of unusual
and somewhat persnickety habits, such as the unexplained tendency to seize
and remove any number of food products, condiments, dishwares, tupperware
containers, oversized rolls of plastic wrap, and assorted and sundry other
items at any given time, from the space to an undisclosed other location,
apparently when some threshold is reached in the curious and unguessable
system of inventory with which she appears to regulate - did I hear
"dominate?" - the Noisebridge kitchen. Her conversation with me has often
revolved around a certain Dr. Dimsberg (I think I'm spelling that wrong)
who, if I understand correctly (and I rarely do) doesn't believe in AIDS,
or doesn't believe that AIDS is caused by HIV, and also doesn't
particularly care for gay people. Well, I could say that I don't
particularly care for barmy micromanaging busybodies, but what's the point?
We are what we are and we're all locked up in this same space, so we might
as well accept that and try to get along. In a word: Cynthia is a jolly old
wingnut all right, nutty as the day is long! She may not be a
cockroach-kissin' crackhead by a long measure, but she's nothing to take
home to mother.

Now it would seem, judging by Pearl's letter as appended to Jake's original
post, that Cynthia's recent behavior has been such as to cross the line
from wingnut to Serious Problem Requiring Attention. It's always
uncomfortable when this line is crossed, because dealing with problems
requires energy and effort and will most likely involve conflict and
disruption and hurt feelings and anger and all those sort of things that
tend to make it difficult to kick back with a cold brew and your fishing
rod in the water and peacefully catnap until you feel something tug at the
line. And having followed me so far through this mass of high-falutin
jibberjabber (if anyone has), you might expect me to finish with a
genuinely helpful or insightful suggestion for how to deal with this
matter. Well.......the juvenile, jokey side of me (currently ascendant)
wants to suggest that we inaugurate a new tradition called "Wingnut
Wednesdays!" The one night of the week when the wingnuts rule the roost!
(The other six days of the week, they have to bow to the will of the
non-wingnuts.) The serious, genuinely helpful and insightful side of me, on
the other hand.......well, shit, I really don't know what to do about it,
but I suppose a large group of people should sit at a large table somewhere
and talk it over or something. Maybe we could get Charlie Rose in to
mediate. In any case, the *sincere* side of me (rarely ascendant, but so
delightful) wants to thank Jake for the Excellentest and most socially
responsible and grownup-like post I've seen on Noisebridge Discuss in a
month of Mondays.

And you know what they say about Mondays.

Also, I think I'm starting to understand the importance of discussing
interpersonal relations - not to say "drama" - on the Discuss List, and I
hereby retract my previous objection to the airing of social grievances on
here. What a neophyte I was!

Lastly, in case any wonders where I've disappeared to (and so far no one
has), I wanted to say that I have *not *been away from Noisebridge, in fact
I've been there every day for the past two weeks, in fact I'm there *right
now* - it's just that I'm going through this invisible phase. So you can't
see me. I guess I should've disclosed that invisibility is my mutant
superpower when I first started hanging out at Noisebridge.

That was unexcellent of me, and I apologize.


xo



Tony


PS for Jake: As for the other person you mentioned - Roger was it? Robert?
- I can't comment. I don't believe I know that person.
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