> I love Joni's artistry deeply, always have, but in spite of trying to give
> her every benefit of the doubt over the years, I've come to view her
> attitude toward her audience (and "peons" in general) as one of veiled
> contempt. I always felt that the MOA comments were a manifestation of what
I
> believe is this flaw in her character, and I elected, however stupidly in
> the context of the JMDL, to express this opinion. I would expect nothing
> less than the most positive spin from her most ardent fans, and am still
> puzzled as to why I went ahead and wrote what I did, under those
> circumstances. I can only defend my post as an honest admission of my
> feelings about Joni as a person. I want the people I admire to be kind, as
> well as talented.
Jim, thanks for responding to my post and I apologize if I sounded a bit
harsh. I find myself getting a bit gnarly in my old age (but I kind of like
it after always being deemed "too nice" for most of my life ;-)
All I can say to your perception of Joni's actions over the years, and which
I mean with all sincerity (and not to "deify" her in any way) is that
<shock> as much as I've always loved her, I also always had a perception
that she would be aloof, and somewhat snobbish and cold in person. Which
was O.K. with me because I felt the art she has given to us gave her a bit
of a free pass in my opinion. Well guess what - when I first got to speak
with her after the Warner Bros. taping in May '98, I was completely
surprised at how warm, down to earth and sweet she was. No, I didn't think
that because I wanted to think that. I really expected her to be different
and she threw me for a loop with her warmth and vulnerability. She was not
at all how I'd imagined. I think the numbers of JMDL'ers who have met and
spent some time with her number upwards of 60 people at this point and their
accounts all corraborate what I felt when meeting her. The *only* maybe
less than positive thing I've heard from a few people is that she talks too
much. And those comments were all from men, and we know how men sometimes
feel when us women yammer on and on. ;-D
Kakki
