[Tango-L] Please remember ...

[Shahrukh Merchant]

... two simple rules. You won't get "kicked off the list" for violating 
them (only flaming and personal attacks do that), but it will avoid a 
lot of annoyance all around and avoid your post being held and your 
being asked to resubmit it properly.

1. "Don't quote original unnecessarily on followups" other than quoting 
the MINIMAL number of lines necessary to set context (usually even this 
isn't necessary). It makes the digest virtually unuseable. See 
http://tango-l.com/tango-L-rules.htm#FORMATTING-DontQuote

2. "No 1-liners and other banalities." If you have a 1-line opinion 
worth mentioning, it's worth mentioning why (this isn't Facebook, let 
alone Twitter). See 
http://tango-l.com/tango-L-rules.htm#FORMATTING-No1Liners (only the 
Dalai Lama and award-winning haiku poets are exempt from this rule :-)).

Examples on point 2 (not to chastise, just to guide ...):

> That’s the spirit. Keep the kettle boiling. (Not so wild about G&G myself.)

Nothing wrong with opinions about teachers, even negative opinions about 
popular ones; they don't even count as personal attacks -- see 
http://tango-l.com/tango-L-rules.htm#RELEVANCE-NegativeReviews on 
"Negative Reviews Permitted" -- as long as you don't resort to 
name-calling for its own sake and other common-sense things. But it 
would have been a more interesting post if you would explain why you're 
"not so wild about them," with some examples from classes you've taken 
from them. Or if you haven't taken classes with them, what about their 
dancing you don't like. Or what else makes you say that.

> The water isn't boiling, just simmering.

Can't think of how to improve this one ... (with no Tango content, there 
little to elaborate on). So here maybe better to wait until you have 
meaningful Tango content to add to this 1-line observation before posting.

(And yes, both these posts were followed by dozens of lines of quoted 
text, though that's easier to overlook for more in-depth and insightful 
posting.)

Thanks.

Shahrukh