A bit of silliness for a good purpose—
Hello Watsonians!
For those of you regularly following these pages, you know our Beth, JHWS “Selena Buttons”, has been busy tidying up the society membership roster, contacting everyone whose membership has expired or is about to lapse, and processing new memberships. In the same time period, I have been collecting the interview material for the Friend & Biographer Series—a new feature I hope you are enjoying. As we have worked together, we have discussed the difficulties of focusing on these small labors of love at a time of chaotic global events and uncertainty. A few days ago, however, Beth came across something that helped us in our thinking.
Trudy Holtz, JHWS “Cookie”, shared a tweet from Emily Yahr, who had transcribed something NPR Pop Culture Happy Hour host Linda Holmes said about how pop culture fits into the world, using the potato farming sequences in The Martian as a metaphor.
I really liked @nprmonkeysee's metaphor (at a @conniebritton Q&A yesterday) about how pop culture fits into the world, so I transcribed it: pic.twitter.com/A59Q3mCkve
— Emily Yahr (@EmilyYahr) February 1, 2017
We realized the work of The John H Watson Society is good potatoes. And, as it turns out, we are both very competitive people (see the Treasure Hunt results page!) and avid potato eaters. As you have probably already guessed: a competition is at hand, with the loser landing in the sad position of giving up eating potatoes for the month of March.
Beth is tasked with processing no fewer than eight renewed memberships during February, and I am tasked with obtaining interview information for no fewer than eight society members. Obviously, the first to reach eight wins. Simple enough, but we need your help. Please help me more!
[Just kidding about that last bit. Mostly.]
If your membership is expired, or will lapse during 2017, please consider renewing now in the shop. If you are unsure about your expiration date, it can be easily found on the membership tab. If you have questions about renewing, please email “Selena Buttons”. She can also be reached through the Society Twitter, @jhwatsonsoc, or her personal Twitter, @plexippa.
To participate in the Friends & Biographer series, please answer these questions, and email them to me. If you prefer, I am happy to put the questions into an email to you so you can simply reply, or I can send the questions to you as a Word doc or a .pdf. I can also be reached on Twitter, @pawkypuzzler.
Many thanks in advance for your help!
This odd little game is now afoot,
Margie / JHWS ‘Mopsy’
Mopsy, lovely puppy,
This is just wonderful. I didn’t see the movie, but the growing of potatoes is such a good metaphor for our times. Here are some of my potatoes: reading good books, especially of the Sherlockian type, doing “real” jigsaw puzzles (as Poirot says, order and method, very calming), being in the moment as much as possible, looking for ways to serve (as you and Beth and so many others do for the JHWS), being active in the Sound of the Baskervilles, being with family, listening to others with their points to view (see Obama’s final speech in Chicago)–gosh, there are many more when you think about it.
Cheers on a beautiful day wherever you are, Daisy
Hi Daisy:
Thank you for your kind words! We are having a bit of fun.
(I hope I win. ????)
Just my luck, Daisy renewed before the contest started! 😀
I feel your pain: Molly Carr/JHWS ‘Brenda’ kindly submitted an interview just hours before contest began, so doesn’t count in my eight.
How wonderful to see this! Emily Yahr is one of my dear friends – I’ll make sure she knows that folks appreciated her tweet. 🙂 What a lovely idea (and one that reminds me to go check my membership expiration date)…
What a small internet world we live in! The member list at https://www.johnhwatsonsociety.com/member-list includes membership expiration dates now, to make it easier for everyone to check.