Letters!

Below are some of the letters I've sent to Elfquest since I started using e-mail (or at least typing up my letters on a computer). Marty Kuhn has posted at his site ALL the letters (and editorials) that ever apppeared in most of Elfquest - an amazing feat which he named The Elfquest Archive of Letters and Editorials. And he was even nuts enough to hand code a lupomorphic perl script to search through it. So if you do a Sendscenter search on my maiden name, you may find a few letters of mine that were lucky enough to be published in the comic. (The only thing wrong with Sendscenter, IMHO, is that it's hard to find Marty's own letters - you have to search on Marty Kuhn and then scan the results for 3 or more matches, instead of 2!! ;-)

Date: Tue, 30 Jan 2001 10:07:49 -0800
To: Richard Pini <rpini@elfquest.com>
From: Rex and Linda Tam <Sweetwind@compuserve.com>
Subject: Another Dumb Suggestion for the Elfquest Website (Postcards)

Hi Richard,

I'm sure someone has suggested this before, but it only just
occurred to me this week, so I thought I'd mention it: If Elfquest.com
had postcards, I would use them all the time!

I'm sure you've seen elaborate postcard sites like BlueMountain.com.
Me, I prefer to use the nifty Koko the sign language gorilla postcards
("Gorilla-Grams"<g>) at
http://www.koko.org/kokocards/index.php
(and these have the useful feature that you get an e-mail notification
when the person picks up the card). If you want to be utterly in control of
what the postcards say, you could set them up like the Teletubbies
postcards at
http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/teletubbies/goodies/postcards/
where you can't type anything in, you just select from precanned
greeting phrases.

Hmmm, I should have sent this suggestion via postcard rather than
via email...

        shade & etc.
                Linda :-)


Date: Tue, 30 Jan 2001 11:22:49 -0500
To: Rex and Linda Tam <Sweetwind@compuserve.com>
From: Richard Pini <rpini@elfquest.com>
Subject: Re: Another Dumb Suggestion for the Elfquest Website (Postcards)

Good idea! I'll put it in the cooker and see how it tastes! <g>


--
Richard Pini *** Elfquest *** Warp Graphics
rpini@elfquest.com *** www.elfquest.com

Date: 10/28/2000 4:02 PM
To:	rpini@elfquest.com
cc:	 

Subject:	you asked for ideas for Elfquest.com

Hi Richard,

Here's an idea I sent to Whip a year back or so,
and since you asked a while back for ideas for
the site I figgered I'd send it again. Just so I
know, if you don't use it, that it's because it
stinks and not because Whip lost it :-)
I can't find the email I sent Whip but it was quite
amusing with this whole long story about how I ended
up buying the album "In My Life" by Judy Collins.
Anyway, some time after getting the album, I was
re-reading the Elric book and noticed the bit about
Wendy's "Pirate Jenny" project at college. The first
time reading the book I didn't pay much mind since I
didn't know the song. But this time -- Wow! I really
want to see Wendy's interpretation of the song! And
it's so tantalizing that she states she still has
the original art (if somewhat damaged).
So, I was thinking a nice feature on Elfquest.com
would be to present Wendy's art for "Pirate Jenny".
It would be juvenalia of great interest. I would
sure love to see it.

OK, one more topic and I'll shut up. On the calendar-
how bout reprinting all 12 pieces from the 1990
calendar as the 2001 calendar? (or 2002 as the schedule
may be) Some of those pieces are not to be found
anywhere else, and 1990 calendars are hard to come by.

	shade & diet coke,
		Linda :-)


Date: 11/07/2000 6:58 PM
To:	sweetwind@compuserve.com
cc:	 

Subject:	Re: you asked for ideas for Elfquest.com

Nah, the idea doesn't stink. <g> I've got to put it on a back burner,
though, as I've got a lot of updating yet for the site (the pages already
there) and then new pages that are EQ-specific... and then maybe we can all
have some fun! I'd like putting that older Wendy art up for people to see.
Sort of broaden the horizons some, neh?

Diet Pepsi, rather... ;)
Richard

--
Richard Pini *** Elfquest *** Warp Graphics
rpini@elfquest.com *** www.elfquest.com

From:	Linda Tam, 71670,1416
To:	Richard Pini, rpini@elfquest.com
Date:	Fri, Dec 6, 1996, 10:53 AM

RE:	EQ#6 loc

Hello All!
	Submitted for your approval, a random thought: the current and
last issues of _Elfquest_ make me think of _Weirdo_. Edited by one
spouse, cover art which does not illustrate any of the stories inside by the
other spouse, a legion of fans who would probably buy it for the cover art
alone, even if there's nothing by the cover artist inside. Disclaimer, in _no_
way are Wendy and Richard Pini like Aline and Robert Crumb!!!
	Re: NK the wolf. I'm confused on several points -- what's a bunny
hunt? Is being "tied" mating? And how can you anticipate NK's pups, Richard,
if the vascectomy went as scheduled last Autumn?
	Determined to make this the short-windedest LOC you recieve this issue,
							Linda Tam


From:   Richard Pini, INTERNET:rpini@elfquest.com
To:     Linda Tam, 71670,1416
Date:   Sun, Dec 8, 1996, 7:05 PM

RE:     Re: EQ #6 loc

> [quotes the whole thing - removed for your convenience- LAT]


LOL! We shall see if you make the record. So far, you're on track. <g>

Oh, could I get a groundmail address for the LOC as well?

Richard Pini ** Elfquest ** Warp Graphics
email = rpini@elfquest.com ** alternate = rpini@aol.com
Elfquest WWW page = http://www.elfquest.com

"Critics are like eunuchs in a harem. They're there every night,
they see it done every night, they see how it should be done every night,
but they can't do it themselves." -- Brendan Behan

From: harrison@ecn.purdue.edu
Date: Thu, 30 Jan 1997 19:24:48 -0500 (EST)

Oh, I've been meaning to write you and let you know that
a) yes, NK did have a successful vascetomy so Richard was,
uh, drinking or staying up too late when he wrote that, and
b) a "bunny lesson" is when  one of the Wolf Park staff has
a wolf sit a their feet, then leans the wolf back against their
legs and rubs its belly.  They look like little bunnies with
their paws up like that and their bellies showing, hence the name.
The wolves enjoy the belly rub and that way they don't
notice/mind when every so often the bunny
lesson is accompanied by a shot from the vet.  =-)
I live about 8 miles from Wolf Park and have been going there
for over three years now.  I know several of the staff, including
the wonderful photographer, Monty Sloan.
Who, BTW, took those pictures of NK you saw in EQ.
I've asked him to take a bunny lesson picture or find one for me
in his hordes of old pictures.  I'll email you a .gif of it when I
get one.  Right now, I'm a volunteer observor for the
breeding season 24hr watch.  It's interesting, fun, a learning
experience, cold, and boring when the wolves are sleeping. <g>
I even got to see an old tape of some of the wolves that Wendy
Pini drew in her Wolf Park portfolio.

From: harrison@ecn.purdue.edu
Subject: LOC -- one last reply
Date: Sun, 23 Mar 1997 01:33:59 -0500 (EST)

I saw you put up my reply to the NK stuff. =-)  I forgot to mention that
you are correct -- "tied" refers to mating.  When wolves (and dogs)
have intercourse, they remain tied together for anywhere from a few
seconds to 45 minutes or longer.  Wolves who have been a pair for several
breeding seasons can become very adept at moving around while in this
uncomfortable (I would think so anyway) position.  They can even walk
*almost* parallel (side by side) and move a lot faster than you'd guess.
One Wolf Park staff member got bitten (more of a pinch) when he under-
estimated how fast the alpha pair could move towards him while tied. heh!
Some ties are quite comical with the male falling on his back and being
dragged behind (funny to the humans watching anyway, not to the male wolf
I'm sure!).

Date: Mon, 9 Dec 1996 13:02:55 -0400
To: Linda Tam <71670.1416@compuserve.com> 
From: rpini@elfquest.com (Richard Pini) 
Subject: Re: EQ #6 loc
     
>>Oh, could I get a groundmail address for the LOC as well? 
>
>Soi-tanly! I'll try to remember to include all that info in the future. 
>Linda Tam
>Seal Beach, CA
>
>Oh, oh, oh!!! I just got a letter from Compu$erve on Saturday saying that 
>my "Personal Address"  would be in force after the end of December. So 
>instead of the "71670,1416" (which fit me so well, I hate to give it up :-)
> the e-mail address will be sweetwind@compuserve.com.
>Are you getting a personalized address on Compu$erve  too? 
>                        Best,
>                                Linda / "Sweetwind"
     
     
Actually, I'm no longer on CServe, as I had to make some choices - being on 
7-8 online services was getting to be a bit much!!
     
Richard Pini ** Elfquest ** Warp Graphics
email = rpini@elfquest.com ** alternate = rpini@aol.com 
Elfquest WWW page = http://www.elfquest.com
     
"Critics are like eunuchs in a harem. They're there every night, they see 
it done every night, they see how it should be done every night, but they 
can't do it themselves." -- Brendan Behan

From:	Linda Tam, 71670,1416
To:	Richard Pini, 72077,12
Date:	Sat, Jul 22, 1995, 11:54 AM

RE:	Question from the Nitpicker

Dear Richard, I am writing about an inconsistency I noticed in
Hidden Years #20. Now this is in a panel which is part of Pike's
howl-story, so it's obviously not a problem with the writer, illustrator,
or editor -- poor Pike just had half a dreamberry too many to be able
to tell the story coherently, I suppose. The problem is on the next-to-
last page of the story (are we ever going to have page numbers again?),
the "family portrait" of Buckthorn, Hummer, Sprout and Sharpsight.
	Now, in the scene where Buckthorn and Hummer Recognize,
Buckthorn has no face-fur. In the "family portrait", which must be less
than 20 years later since both the sons are still cubs, he has a gererous
dollop. I have been under the impression that the male Wolfriders take
several hundred turns to show face-fur, and that it grows in gradually.
Please tell me what is wrong with the family portrait:
	a) The "family portrait" was correct, and the Recogntion and trap-
setting scenes should have shown the face-fur.
	b) The Recognition scene was correct, and the "family portrait"
should have shown no face-fur.
	c) Buckthorn was an oddball elf who grew in face-fur much faster
than average.
	d) You're wasting your time, Linda, Pike had half a bag too many
dreamberries and didn't even get the cubs' names right.
	e) Other (please explain _______________________________ )
Thanks so much for your continuing accessibility, Richard, and your
patience with even the stupidest of us fans' questions.
					Linda :-)


From:	Richard Pini, 72077,12
To:	Linda Tam, 71670,1416
Date:	Mon, Jul 24, 1995, 11:29 PM

RE:	Question from the Nitpicker

I think the correct answer is "some of the above, with artistic license
tossed in to bollix up even the sharpest-eyed reader." But face fur can
come in sooner than centuries...

From:	Linda Tam, 71670,1416
To:	Richard Pini, 72077,12
Date:	Sat, Jun 10, 1995, 5:38 PM

RE:	_Never Cry Wolf_ musings

Dear Richard, I just read Farley Mowat's _Never Cry Wolf_ and after
wiping the tears from my eyes (what a sad ending!!) there's a couple
of things I wanted to share with you.
First, re: Hidden Years. For anyone who's read this book (or seen the
movie, as I had before reading it), the "revelation" that the wolves will
fill up on hors-d'ouvres when the main course isn't around comes as no
surprise. The surprise is that the Wolfriders had never done the same in
living memory! I somehow find it hard to imagine that they were never
that close to famine. Anyway, the story got me to thinking about the
issue and that's what got my butt to the library to actually read
_Never Cry Wolf_ (which has been on my reading list for quite a while)
so that was good.
The second thing is re: Jink. A while back you mentioned how you "coined"
the name then later discovered (or re-discovered) its very appropriate
meaning. While reading _Never Cry Wolf_ I noted that the word "jink"
was used twice, both times when describing the wolves' antics in their
games of "tag". It would seem to me very fitting if you read this book
sometime in the hazy past, and the word planted its seed in you there.
A nice thought indeed!
				Best,	Linda :-)


From:	Richard Pini, 72077,12
To:	Linda Tam, 71670,1416
Date:	Sun, Jun 11, 1995, 6:30 PM

RE:	_Never Cry Wolf_ musings

Thanks for writing. To be honest, I can't recall ever reading the Mowat
book before, although I had seen the film. I'll have to go through it one
of these days when I get caught up...
By the way, I get email (and reply to it) much faster if you send it to:

rpini@elfquest.com

Just something to keep in mind...