Hi Dave,
You were very kind in putting up with my efforts at squeezing more letters out of you or just plain speeding the communication process up by using fax as a means of transmission (well that wasn't the initial intention but it certainly was the result). As you asked so politely, I'll go back to using the postal service, it'll mean having to find the time to get to the post office, but that's only a few minutes every few weeks so it's not a problem.
Your comments on my interpretation of what you had said about Paul's letters has confused me again on what your thoughts on those writings really are. I mean, the conversation on that subject began with you saying that you do not view them as Scripture, so I stated my theory regarding why you might hold that view and your reply kind of turns the whole thing round, giving me the impression that you do view Paul's writings as Scriptural, or at least as Scriptural as the Mosaic law. But am I wrong in assuming that you do hold the Mosaic law to be Scripture even though you believe it to be the voice of YHWH? Does the same view apply to Paul's letters?
Thanks for your answers to my Cerebus related questions, I've been looking over 289/290 again and it's good to know exactly what you intended by drawing Cerebus at different ages, it confirms my own thought, that this is really the high-point of the Cerebus storyline, seeing that you have said several times something along the lines of Cerebus reflecting your own search for Truth. I have done so before but I take this opportunity to congratulate you again on your magnificent work on that double issue. I doubt many of the readers appreciate how fundamental that passage is to the whole, as you have said each reader probably sees as their high point of the story the part which most closely resembles their own situation. Explaining what I view as Truth is a priority in my life so from that angle I can really appreciate your own efforts to that end as shown in 289/290. Now that you have said that it was you who told Cerebus to hide the manuscript can you explain why you used that typescript so like the one you used for Ham? It is now obvious that it was also you as the narrator's voice during Cerebus' visionary dream. I suppose that thought brings up further questions, like; why would you want to give this kind of information to Cerebus when he apparently was too old to actually do anything about it, apart from put it into writing, hide it and later seemingly forget about it completely and then die? To the ends of the actual story it basically just leaves us in doubt as to how this Truth will be found and subsequently used in Cerebus' distant future (2000 years wasn't it?). So was it your intention (perhaps reflecting your own thoughts as to how your work is viewed) to leave that doubt because you don't know if or when your Truth will ever be appreciated as you intended it?
I know that you will be writing (or more probably already have written) an explanation of "something fell" to be included in Following Cerebus. If I was to say that I do not intend to subscribe to Following Cerebus and perhaps ask you to explain that recurring theme, would you agree to do so, considering that I'm seemingly unwilling to pay for that information in printed form? Actually it has nothing to do with money as subscribing to Following Cerebus would not be a large expense, but I had already decided that when the storyline had been completed I would have avoided any further stimuli on the subject, I can imagine myself reading each issue of Following Cerebus when it arrives and then re-reading all 300 issues of Cerebus so as to see where the explanations offered in Following Cerebus fit in. Whereas I think I will re-read Cerebus every now and again, when I choose to and have the free time to do so, I cannot go along with the idea of tempting myself into re-reading the whole thing around 4 times a year with each new issue of Following Cerebus. I'm sure you would agree that that time is better invested in reading God's word more regularly and for longer periods of time and carrying out other activities that I see as strictly related to God's will. I could just wait for someone on the Yahoo group to get their copy of Following Cerebus and ask them to kindly explain the "something fell" article to me but I would prefer (if you are willing) to hear that explanation from you.
Regarding the Yahoo group as I have already mentioned to you before I do have a look at their "conversations" and participate myself sometimes, though not very regularly. A couple of months ago after mentioning your intention to visit at my place on the group a few group members (L nny, David Preiser, Jeff Seiler and another of whom I forget the name) sent me direct emails (as opposed to posting messages available to all on the group site) with their views and questions about your visit, I replied to all and actually am still in correspondence with Jeff there in Dallas. Jeff said in an email he sent a couple of days ago:
Dave mentioned the question you posed about his qualities as a houseguest in his latest letter to me. "I would certainly be a lousy judge of what sort of a houseguest I would be (having last been one four years ago) so I'm glad that the Cerebus Newsgroup is hard at work analyzing the non-existent data and entrails for auguries on Billy Beach's behalf." Funny!?! I haven't been to the Yahoo group for some time--are they "analyzing" it? Did you get any other responses to your question?
Just to put you in the picture I don't think anyone (apart from perhaps my own imagination) is analysing the non-existent data on that subject. I brought the matter up on the group basically just out of curiosity to see what kind of impression the guys on the group who've actually met you briefly at comic conventions had, as the group is there for Cerebus and Dave Sim related discussion I assumed that someone would have some personal opinion on the subject to discuss even if it was just a personal opinion, but as it went no one carried that thread on. I have to say that over the last month the group has slowed down quite a lot and they are also tending to discuss many topics that are completely unrelated to Cerebus, so like Jeff I haven't been looking into the group as regularly as previously either.
Your letter mentioned the fact that John's gospel doesn't name Jesus mother and your reasoning therefore that she cannot be called Mary because her sister is called Mary. Well the Bible itself doesn't explain their relationship any further, the traditional view is that they were sisters-in-law due to Joseph probably being Clopas' (the other Mary's husband's) brother. As a matter of fact the Jewish view of family relations those days always considered as most important, the ties through male family members, like the example we have of Jesus' genealogy in Luke's gospel where Joseph is named as the son of Heli, but Heli is actually the father of Mary, as females were excluded from such genealogies, where the descent was through a daughter, her husband was the one named. So it's not such a strange thing that the 2 Mary's would be called sisters due to their husbands being brothers.
That reference to the improbability of siblings having the same first name, reminded me of a joke I once heard about what is in England the stereotypical Essex-girl, in short; an Essex-girl has 5 male children all called Wayne and when asked why she called them all the same, she plainly answered that it's easier that way because when she has to call them all for dinner or whatever else she just shouts "Wayne" and they all come running. When asked how she calls for a specific boy she says "that's easy I just use their last name".
Your comment on the saying "meglio un morto in casa che un marchegiano dietro la porta" was quite funny (as if being viewed as worse than a death in the family would be an item of regional pride). Also there aren't any regional football teams or even other sports teams, they tend to be based in cities rather than the larger area of a region.
Thanks for having conveyed my greetings to Gerhard. It is likely that this will be the last letter you will receive from me before you get here on the 28th, though it is most probable that I will receive your reply to this letter before you arrive. I don't have anything to say specifically about your visit at this time, as we've said I'll be there at Pescara airport when you arrive and then we can go over what places you would like to visit while here and so perhaps set up some kind of schedule for the week. If there is anything you would like to communicate about your visit either include it in your next letter or give me a call closer to the date. I'm looking forward to meeting you.
