Wally, and now Kenny. I'm very sad. I didn't correspond with Kenny much, but I knew he was around -- when Wally was dealing with the nightmares of chemo, Kenny sent many encouraging email messages that cheered Wally considerably, as well as kind, empathic messages of support to both of us as the end drew near. I'm sure they're enjoying each other's company now. I think back every day to Wally's death in February, and very often remember the great outpouring of sorrow and support from many of you just before BSN was released; I think of Kenny now as I work with everyone on Joni's birthday card. This is different, though. Although I'm sure Kenny knew he was loved, we all knew Wally would be leaving us, and were able to say our goodbyes. This happened so fast... I think we're very fortunate to have something in common that brings us together with such great joy, and glad that as with Wally, we'll be able to create fond memories of Kenny in the context of the many wonderful things we share. My thoughts are with Steve, and with everyone who is still in shock from this sudden loss of a goodhearted friend. Big sigh. Then a quiet moment. So I do now as I did then, working to hopefully bring a little smile to Joni and her Internet friends in my suddenly insignificant way, under such sorrowful circumstances... the project right now, of course, is the birthday card, and I hope you're all enjoying the pics I've put up. I wanted to reply to questions I've received that run along the lines of these two: >>Do we have to pick only one? Can't we pick them all, with a multi-page format? I hate to choose amongst friends and amongst all worthy concepts. >>Is someone who's good at computer collages able to meld all the entries, somehow? I loved the earlier pallette-shaped birthday card. The images (all potent icons for Joni; an "American Spirit" pack, Billie Holiday, and many others I can't recall - I couldn't find the card on either JMDL website or JoniMitchell.com) were assembled and their edges blurred -very nice - We're going to have to stick with one image this time -- the logistics of collecting all the images and reproducing them in a high-resolution collage format for print could get unruly in the extreme, especially given the time constraints. I designed the pallette card, and it was a BIG project. It took time to collect all those pieces of artwork, scan/resize them, and then do the design and production so everything would work together as one effective image at print resolution (it takes a lot more dots per inch to print a good picture than it does to display it on a computer screen, as I'm sure many of you know). Sorry for the techie blubbering, but while I'm at it, this might be a good time to remind everyone that I need to have the image I end up using sent to me at least at 150 dpi. It's the thought that counts, of course, but I'd still like it to look good! Don't forget to drop me a quick line at [EMAIL PROTECTED] by Sunday to let me know which image you like. And thanks to all of you for being who you are. jj
