We must carry on.

[KILLINFO@aol.com]

Dear fellow loopsters,

We have all received a painful awakening to reality this week.
Somehow all of our musicical/artistic/technical discussions, 
endeavors, concerns -- all of our rantings, ravings about this 
or that piece of software or hardware -- seem so irrelevant 
and rather "beside the point" in the wake of last Tuesday's 
terrible events as to be laughable. 

I don't know if any of the rest of you are having the same 
trouble that I am just getting out of bed in the morning. But as 
for me, it is taking an extreme act of will and determination 
just to get up and get moving. I want to stay wrapped in my 
blanket cocoon and hide -- for I know that all of the sensory 
input of the coming day will simply rub raw yet again the recently 
acquired wounds we've all received. No good can come from it. 
Awakened, I find my emotions swinging from pole to pole. 
Rational reflection in the aftermath of of this tragedy seems in 
critically short supply in most quarters -- even on this list.

However -- somehow -- we must in discipline "carry on." As corny
as it sounds it is the very thing that MUST be done. This forum
is not the place to vent and rant about current events -- real 
as they are and as powerfully as we ALL have been affected by 
them. We each have flesh and blood communities within which 
we all can move and act and actually DO some real good. Here
in cyberspace not really much of anything will truly happen.
Get OUT THERE and do whatever your conscience is calling you
to do -- but please, please, PLEASE do so in peace! 

As for this list -- it's purpose and intent -- we must try to recall it
and reclaim it. Even though our art seems the most unimportant 
of fripperies (pun intended) at the moment, it is still one of the 
many things that makes us human and gives meaning, value and
direction to our existence. It is our work. This list is meant to be
(or so I perceive) an aide and a tool for helping us with this work.
Let's get back to it.

Let the emotions you are feeling during these bleak times
inspire your musical creations. I'm sure they will be powerful ones.
And, let the list return to "normal" so it can do it's own job.
I'm sure we've all heard in recent days the thought that at least 
some of what the terrorists intended was the effect of having
our entire civilization grind to a halt at every level. Let's not let
that happen. Get back to work!

Best regards to all.

Ted Killian