User talk:Gerda Arendt

Did you know ...

... that Lili Marberg,
an actress at the Burgtheater
in Vienna from 1911 to 1950,
was painted performing
Wilde's Salome?

31 July 2021

... that Nele Hertling,
working for the Academy of Arts, Berlin,
brought innovative culture to the city
including the Tanz im August festival?

25 July 2021

Archive of 2009 · 2010 · 2011 · 2012 · 2013 · 2014 · 2015 · 2016 · 2017 · 2018 · 2019 · 2020 + end · 2021 · blushing

August songs

take courage · encourage
Die güldne Sonne

1 August · RMF

Friedrich Thiele and Ildikó Szabó, cello Chamber Orchestra of Europe Vivaldi: RV 531, RV 114, Le quattri stagioni

31 July

St. Martin, Idstein Singt dem Herrn ein neues Lied Nun saget Dank und lobt den Herren Nimm, o Gott, die Gaben, die wir bringen

in memoriam

Philipp Harnoncourt

2021 · take courage · encourage

take courage in 2021

calling heaven and earth to be glad

Welcome 2021! In the end, 2020 looked quite promising, and it's new year's resolutions can stay. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 07:22, 1 January 2021 (UTC)

My motto for 2021 is taken from a song: tell (announce) all in distress to take courage, as Isaiah wrote. Perhaps I should have just said "encourage!"

Today is my grandparents' wedding anniversary. They loved gardening and made a small summer paradise for us kids, with fruits, vegetables, potatoes, abundant flowers, especially dahlias, and a swing, - so garden will be a topic in 2021, as Beethoven was in 2020, today expanding Stonecrop Gardens. Ongoing: Bach, psalms, recent deaths, opera, Germany, and (my) places and songs.

I love collaboration, and can't mention all 2,500 whom I acknowledged so far, so thank just three of them for constant help: LouisAlain (prolific article translations), Grimes2 (language, sources and articles on request) and Yoninah (psalms and DYK). I make you (three) honorary members of WP:QAI, the project about article quality that I inherited, - more detailed plans are laid out (work in progress) on the project talk. The only reward for members is a monthly calendar image I took, such as the year's picture, - if you (all) want that, sign up ;)

I am proud that I could take recent images of music-making I enjoyed, and plan to do more of that. Off to Stonecrop Gardens. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 08:47, 2 January 2021 (UTC)

The image is taken from my second Christmas card, a double DYK of a Christmas carol and Psalm 148 that Yoninah and I made together. Today: Psalm 148 (Bernstein), in memory of her who was a blessing. · listen --Gerda Arendt (talk) 06:31, 18 March 2021 (UTC)

QAI

I sent the following note to members and friends of QAI = quality article improvement, so here to myself ;) - I tried to give a good start to 2021 by updating the QAI project topics. Please check and correct, - did you know that you belong to project's few members from the beginning who are still active? Yes, I know, I joined as No. 6 when it was founded in 2012, No. 1 is blocked, No. 2 is banned (therefore we call the project also the cabal of the outcast), No. 3 moved away and back under a higher number, Nos 4 and 5 edit but do little project work. Here I am to keep it going, in fond memory of the legacy the founders planted. Precious and Impact are the project's prizes, and I offer monthly thanks to those who are active, - you who read this could be one of them ;)

Ongoing projects, besides writing and reviewing quality articles:

• improve Psalms articles
• improve Bach cantatas articles
• expand and source translations
• polish articles about people who recently died
• offer infoboxes
• perform gnomish tasks: spelling mistakes, unclosed new-line html (<br>, replace by <br />), {{ill}} instead of direct links to foreign-language Wikipedias, {{lang}} for foreign-language text, WP:Colons and asterisks by RexxS, navboxes, especially for operas which so far had sidebars, {{sfn}} instead of {{harv}}.

For moar private "happy new year" see here. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 19:10, 6 January 2021 (UTC)

Happy New Year

see also Season's Greetings

A barnstar for you!

	The Special Barnstar
	Hello, Gerda Arendt! You are receiving this barnstar because, according to this database query and this database query, you were the #6 most thanked Wikipedian of 2020 as well as the #5 most thankful Wikipedian of 2020, with 1716 recipient entries and 3629 performer entries in Special:Log/thanks. Thank you again for your contributions! Mz7 (talk) 22:00, 13 January 2021 (UTC)

thank you, without (lazy) click ;) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 22:18, 13 January 2021 (UTC)

Oh thankful, too. Now I get it! El_C 22:58, 13 January 2021 (UTC)

• I agree with this wholeheartedly. Gerda is one of the most amazing Wikipedians I have met in my brief time here. Always kind and always helpful. Please keep being who you are, Gerda, which is as close to perfection as one could get. --ARoseWolf (Talk) 16:22, 20 January 2021 (UTC)

  blushing with thanks, RoseWolf! - please consider to color you talk blue in your signature, - "red link talk" signals "new user", someone to greet with a first welcome ever, and that seems a bit misleading - if not blue, any other colour better than red - Alternatively, you could link "Wolf" to the talk, - nobody would misread that, I guess. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 16:28, 20 January 2021 (UTC)

  I'm sorry. It's supposed to be a rose pink hue rather than red. I will most definitely alter the color. --ARoseWolf (Talk) 16:31, 20 January 2021 (UTC)

  Is this better or should I just drop the "Talk"? --ARoseWolf (Talk) 16:36, 20 January 2021 (UTC)

  Like this better. Sorry for hijacking your moment. Not my intention in the slightest. Thank you for the tip and congrats. It's well deserved. --ARoseWolf 16:41, 20 January 2021 (UTC)

  YES I like that better, much better! I wasn't even "on" here, - household stuff, no moment lost ;) - Among the gnomish tasks further up, there's an essay by a friend (RexxS) about indenting, - good stuff. (If you need any help with templates, formatting, and even admin tasks, ask him. He just survived COVID so can take a lot.) I did indenting for you above. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 17:01, 20 January 2021 (UTC)

DYK for Oscar Fritz Schuh

On 15 January 2021, Did you know was updated with a fact from the article Oscar Fritz Schuh, which you recently created, substantially expanded, or brought to good article status. The fact was ... that Oscar Fritz Schuh created a new style to direct Mozart operas at the Vienna State Opera, focused on the psychology of the characters? The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Oscar Fritz Schuh. You are welcome to check how many pageviews the nominated article or articles got while on the front page (here's how, Oscar Fritz Schuh), and if they received a combined total of at least 416.7 views per hour (ie, 5,000 views in 12 hours or 10,000 in 24), the hook may be added to the statistics page. Finally, if you know of an interesting fact from another recently created article, then please feel free to suggest it on the Did you know talk page.

Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 12:02, 15 January 2021 (UTC)

my little contrib to Wikipedia 20 --Gerda Arendt (talk) 15:52, 15 January 2021 (UTC)

Did you know ... that today, Wikipedia celebrates 20 years?

... that Oscar Fritz Schuh created a new style
to direct Mozart operas at the Vienna State Opera,
focused on the psychology of the characters?
(15 January 2021) ... that director Frank Stähle revived
the choir and orchestra of Dr. Hoch's Konservatorium
and conducted them in Mozart's Requiem
for the centenary of the Lutherkirche?
(15 January 2016)

... that it took more than half a century to complete
the Neue Bach-Ausgabe,
the second edition of the collected works of Johann Sebastian Bach?
(15 January 2011)

This is fab, well done Gerda! Nice article, never heard of the guy or half of the venues he worked at, so this was highly educational. Thanks! DBaK (talk) 21:49, 15 January 2021 (UTC)

While the first one was planned for the occasion, the second was a happy coincidence - I sang in that revival - and this last one just a coincidence, one of the articles LouisAlain began, as the one below. GRuban added the pic just yesterday, ot that one could also have been on the Main page, imagine. I love this team! GRuban, would you find a pic for Siegfried Palm as well? My second article, and Jerome Kohl (User talk:Jerome Kohl helped me understand that even if a reliable source says something, it can be wrong. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 08:51, 16 January 2021 (UTC)

DYK for Nun lasst uns gehn und treten

On 22 January 2021, Did you know was updated with a fact from the article Nun lasst uns gehn und treten, which you recently created, substantially expanded, or brought to good article status. The fact was ... that both Jochen Klepper and Hildegard Schaeder sought solace amidst the horror of the Nazi regime in Paul Gerhardt's 17th-century New Year's song "Nun lasst uns gehn und treten"? The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Nun lasst uns gehn und treten. You are welcome to check how many pageviews the nominated article or articles got while on the front page (here's how, Nun lasst uns gehn und treten), and if they received a combined total of at least 416.7 views per hour (ie, 5,000 views in 12 hours or 10,000 in 24), the hook may be added to the statistics page. Finally, if you know of an interesting fact from another recently created article, then please feel free to suggest it on the Did you know talk page.

Cwmhiraeth (talk) 12:02, 22 January 2021 (UTC)

The world needs more mensch

I see both sides, but you were right to bring it up. I only knew her through my watch list but I know she was a tireless and fair volunteer. Take care, Tiderolls 13:43, 22 January 2021 (UTC)

thank you, feel understood, and even where I sowed some fruit of response could be enjoyed (because, as I explained to one per email: the message of saying nothing may be correct but is too ambiguous) - I never worked with her on an article, but saw her go and come back several times, and saw her contributions that can hardly be overrated --Gerda Arendt (talk) 13:52, 22 January 2021 (UTC)

DYK for Jerome Kohl

On 28 January 2021, Did you know was updated with a fact from the article Jerome Kohl, which you recently created, substantially expanded, or brought to good article status. The fact was ... that Jerome Kohl, a music theorist of the University of Washington, was recognized internationally as an authority on the composer Karlheinz Stockhausen, publishing a book on his Zeitmaße in 2017? The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Jerome Kohl. You are welcome to check how many pageviews the nominated article or articles got while on the front page (here's how, Jerome Kohl), and if they received a combined total of at least 416.7 views per hour (ie, 5,000 views in 12 hours or 10,000 in 24), the hook may be added to the statistics page. Finally, if you know of an interesting fact from another recently created article, then please feel free to suggest it on the Did you know talk page.

 — Amakuru (talk) 00:02, 28 January 2021 (UTC)

Special congrats! El_C 00:15, 28 January 2021 (UTC)

This is wonderful. Well-deserved award. :)

Peace forever, Jerry. Antandrus (talk) 00:47, 28 January 2021 (UTC)

Friends, you made me cry.

Luigi Nono and Stockhausen at the Darmstädter Ferienkurse

In Freundschaft

Did you know ...

... that Jerome Kohl,
a music theorist of the University of Washington,
was recognized internationally
as an authority on the composer Karlheinz Stockhausen,
publishing a book on his
Zeitmaße in 2017?

(28 January 2021)

I looked up to Jerome from the day he came in my life (in 2009, telling me that was a eliable source said about Stockhausen was wrong, - it's still on the talk of Siegfried Palm, my second article), and I imagine our conversations - thoughtful, on a meadow - as pictured, in the spirit of Stockhausen's wonderful titles: In Freundschaft, Kontakte, Originale, Licht ... We never met. We edit-warred over Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik and Georg Katzer, but always with respect. (If you want a tedious task, change the now deprecated parenthetical references, in hundreds of articles.) We worked together on many other. He thanked me for links to performers of Stockhausen's music, and I tried to mention their relation to the composer on the Main page, see Wolfgang Marschner (intentionally in memory), and before.

Jerome remains an inspiration, for the world. I will remember what he wrote (about Karlheinz Stockhausen and William Waterhouse (bassoonist) who died within a few weeks in 2011, and Stockhausen had just acknowledged WW for a memorial book): "I hope that they have met again in the beyond and are making joyous music together." --Gerda Arendt (talk) 07:50, 28 January 2021 (UTC)

A beautiful bouquet of flowers to celebrate the memory of a special person. Well done Gerda. MarnetteD|Talk 17:16, 28 January 2021 (UTC)

DYK for Herr, mach uns stark

On 30 January 2021, Did you know was updated with a fact from the article Herr, mach uns stark, which you recently created, substantially expanded, or brought to good article status. The fact was ... that Anna Martina Gottschick wrote the hymn "Herr, mach uns stark" because a composer wanted to make Ralph Vaughan Williams's 1906 melody of "For All the Saints" available for German church singing? The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Herr, mach uns stark. You are welcome to check how many pageviews the nominated article or articles got while on the front page (here's how, Herr, mach uns stark), and if they received a combined total of at least 416.7 views per hour (ie, 5,000 views in 12 hours or 10,000 in 24), the hook may be added to the statistics page. Finally, if you know of an interesting fact from another recently created article, then please feel free to suggest it on the Did you know talk page.

— Maile (talk) 00:02, 30 January 2021 (UTC)

in the 2021 series courage --Gerda Arendt (talk) 11:21, 31 January 2021 (UTC)

pretiosus

Thankyou for my precious birthday card. It must keep you monstrously busy sending them out. However as I was one of the early ones I hold it as a high honour and hope to have many happy returns! The jewel reminds me of one of the faces on the Sutton Hoo whetstone, a subject with which I once had something to do before ever I was Eebahgum - but that was long ago, now my inspiration is a song... "O wüsst' ich doch den Weg zurück..."; but, "Vorbei sind die Kinderspiele, Und alles rollt vorbei - Das Geld und die Welt und die Zeiten..." - though, while you keep us all connected, there is still a bit of "Glauben und Lieb' und Treu" - ! Thanks for that. Eebahgum (talk) 01:37, 9 February 2021 (UTC)

Eebahgum, thank you, blushing. - The cards keep me busy but sending is my pleasant morning exercise, thinking of how much there is to be thankful for. It's almost a selfish thing, making my day better. I had to stop making the jewel larger, and possibly ten will be the end, perhaps asking people to give more reminders to themslves (as I did two days ago).

DYK that I just had different Kinderspiele exposed here? Today: an alto singer who is pictured in my 2021 infobox, great place, great music (Part VI of course but the article is not yet developed), I was in the choir. She sang St Matthew Passion for us, and I heard her three times recently at another great place, taking pictures twice, and one appeared on the Main page. Music will survive us ;) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 07:49, 9 February 2021 (UTC)

Just think - and today is riddle-day for Trumpelstiltskin, too! Eebahgum (talk) 08:35, 9 February 2021 (UTC)

lol ;) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 08:38, 9 February 2021 (UTC)

DYK for Arik Brauer

On 17 February 2021, Did you know was updated with a fact from the article Arik Brauer, which you recently created, substantially expanded, or brought to good article status. The fact was ... that Universalkünstler Arik Brauer (pictured) created paintings in Fantastic Realism, songs in Austropop, stage sets for the Paris Opera, and house facades in Austria and Israel? The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Arik Brauer. You are welcome to check how many pageviews the nominated article or articles got while on the front page (here's how, Arik Brauer), and if they received a combined total of at least 416.7 views per hour (ie, 5,000 views in 12 hours or 10,000 in 24), the hook may be added to the statistics page. Finally, if you know of an interesting fact from another recently created article, then please feel free to suggest it on the Did you know talk page.

Cwmhiraeth (talk) 00:01, 17 February 2021 (UTC)

Congratulations

Your DYK hook about Arik Brauer and his wide-ranging artistic accomplishments drew 12,337 page views (514 per hour) while on the Main Page. It is one of the most viewed hooks so far during the month of February and has earned a place on the Best of February list. Keep up the great work! Cbl62 (talk) 14:13, 18 February 2021 (UTC)

Precious!

		The Good Heart Barnstar
		Thank you for your extraordinary work on Wikipedia and especially for your recognitions and encouragement over the years. All of it is indeed precious. --LilHelpa (talk) 13:34, 19 February 2021 (UTC)

Thank you for coming over. I remember how you helped me through a rough start in a foreign language environment, and am always pleased when I see your recognizable name on my watchlist. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 07:18, 20 February 2021 (UTC)

You are amazing

	Amazing Concerto Award
	Thank you for your tireless contributions to classical music, and for your tireless contributions in keeping readers informed. Your efforts are like a concerto; a solo instrument accompanied by an orchestra. I believe my choice of images is the picture that speaks 1000 words. Atsme 💬 📧 12:11, 21 February 2021 (UTC)

Thank you, lovely, blushing moar - will go to blushing! --Gerda Arendt (talk) 12:13, 21 February 2021 (UTC)

Yes Gerda, you "really put the T into turtle"! (And yes, I've often seen my role as very much like those tiddlers. Only joking! Martinevans123 (talk) 14:53, 22 February 2021 (UTC)

Did you know ...

... that a church's 1510
spiral of justice declares:

"Justice suffered in great need.
Truth is slain dead.
Faith has lost the battle"?

I worded the above in 2015 as a comment to my arbcom case, 2013, remember? Now a friend of mine is taken there, and I seem to have language difficulties to even see a problem. ... Drmies, we have this premature arbcase request where the step of personal approach was left out, and going to AN would mean about the same, no? ...

Regarding my troubles with arbcom: I like a composer with an infobox declared GA. This would not have been possible in the days we better forget. The opera sideboxes - which should have been the only topic in the arbcase - are disappearing nicely. I often said that the ultimate wisdom on arbitration was given here, and the ultimate ten rules (including choosing your battles) here. Can't be repeated too much. I choose not to go to the current arb case request, feeling sorry for the waste of time of all involved: all respected Menschen. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 08:58, 24 February 2021 (UTC)

DYK for Wilhelm Knabe

On 26 February 2021, Did you know was updated with a fact from the article Wilhelm Knabe, which you recently created, substantially expanded, or brought to good article status. The fact was ... that Wilhelm Knabe (pictured), a co-founder of the Greens in Germany and a "green" mayor of Mülheim, participated in Fridays For Future with the slogan "Opa For Future"? The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Wilhelm Knabe. You are welcome to check how many pageviews the nominated article or articles got while on the front page (here's how, Wilhelm Knabe), and if they received a combined total of at least 416.7 views per hour (ie, 5,000 views in 12 hours or 10,000 in 24), the hook may be added to the statistics page. Finally, if you know of an interesting fact from another recently created article, then please feel free to suggest it on the Did you know talk page.

MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 00:06, 26 February 2021 (UTC)

for future - thank you for the update, Mandarax! --Gerda Arendt (talk) 07:01, 26 February 2021 (UTC)

RexxS

this user misses Flyer22 Frozen singing in defiance

this user misses RexxS (stolen from Bish 4 March)

Thank you for Wikipedia:Colons and asterisks, User:RexxS/Infobox factors, and the precious anniversary template that I use every day. I heard my song of defiance yesterday, and Ich lasse dich nicht, du segnest mich denn, BWV 157 (I will not let you go ...) - dance music for a funeral - but let go. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 07:01, 1 March 2021 (UTC)

listen on YouTube --Gerda Arendt (talk) 20:55, 12 April 2021 (UTC)

what we'll miss --Gerda Arendt (talk) 19:58, 5 March 2021 (UTC)

for context: User talk:Hammersoft#Precious anniversary, or: before going to arbcom, try person-to-person talk, and then you hopefully don't have to go to arbcom - caution, long, in a nutshell (Hammersoft, 24 Feb, bolding by me):

I have a much simpler guide to arbitration. After spending many months working on it, cutting a word here, finessing a phrase there, I finally arrived at the final version. Here it is, the Ultimate Guide to Arbitration: Don't.

Don't. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 07:15, 7 March 2021 (UTC)

Today's little tribute: Vertraut den neuen Wegen - trust the new ways. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 12:53, 13 March 2021 (UTC)

... last line: Das Land ist hell und weit. The land is bright and wide. (written in 1989 in Germany's East, when it was dark and narrow.) Trust the new ways. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 06:51, 14 March 2021 (UTC)

, me too!! Atsme 💬 📧 18:31, 11 April 2021 (UTC)

Motivation barnstar

		The Wikipedia Motivation Barnstar
		For your ceaseless efforts to recognize and support Wikipedians, not just through your unending dedication to seek out and recognize good Wikipedians with the Precious award, but going even beyond that to recognize Precious anniversaries. There's no reason you would want to be spending time going to people's pages and recognizing their Precious anniversaries, yet you do it anyway. I don't know why you do it, it's not like you get anything out of it, but you're literally one of the few, if not only, Wikipedians who dedicate themselves to complimenting others. I suspect it's a thankless task, but it's a valuable one. What you do motivates people, it energizes people, and it makes people feel like they're a worthy part of the project and the community. I think you're an unsung hero of this project. Best, ~Swarm~ {sting} 10:11, 1 March 2021 (UTC)

Thank you, Swarm, and how I need it right now, myself. - You are wrong though, twice: It's rather selfish because a round of checking what there is to be thankful for, at the beginning of the day, improves my mood, and I receive many thanks for the reminders, - almost undeserved because they are now so easy that RexxS made me the template where all I have to do is pick the right number. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 10:18, 1 March 2021 (UTC)

I'm sure we'd never want you to be "unsung", Gerda! Martinevans123 (talk) 10:27, 1 March 2021 (UTC)

slow Mozart is not bad for my mood - one of my missing friends was inheritance of loss --Gerda Arendt (talk) 17:45, 1 March 2021 (UTC)

Well-deserved accolades from Swarm, Gerda!! You put the class in classical music. It makes sadness a bit more tolerable. I just learned about Yoninah, and my heart sank. I never had the opportunity to collaborate with her, but even so, it always makes me sad to learn a Wikipedian has died. Life is so short. That's why it's so important to be enjoy life to the fullest, and be kind to one another. Always take time to stop and smell the roses. Atsme 💬 📧 02:05, 1 April 2021 (UTC)

I smell wild garlic now! Thank you so much, Atsme, blushing deeper. Did you check out inheritance of loss? 2012, and still on my mind. Flyer22, Yoninah, RexxS - we are loosing those who established high standards for this project. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 06:12, 1 April 2021 (UTC)

I just wanted to drop by to echo everything that Swarm said - it made a difference to me when you gave me a Precious award, and I've since noticed your support of many others. Thank you for everything you do. Ganesha811 (talk) 15:09, 4 April 2021 (UTC)

Carmen

Carmen, illustration in Journal Amusant

Carmen is an opera in four acts which Georges Bizet set to a libretto by the team of Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on Prosper Mérimée's novella. When it was first performed by the Opéra-Comique in Paris on 3 March 1875, its breaking of conventions shocked and scandalized its first audiences.

The opera was originally written with musical numbers and spoken dialogue. Set in southern Spain, it tells of the downfall of Don José, a naïve soldier who is seduced by the fiery gypsy Carmen, and finally kills her in a jealous rage. The depictions of proletarian life, immorality, and lawlessness broke new ground in French opera. Bizet died suddenly after the 33rd performance, unaware that the work would achieve international acclaim within the following ten years. Carmen has become one of the most frequently performed operas, with the "Habanera" and the "Toreador Song" among the best known of all operatic arias. The music has been acclaimed for its brilliance of melody, harmony, atmosphere and orchestration, and for Bizet's skill in expressing the emotions and suffering of his characters.

"... in expressing the emotions and suffering of his characters" - worded admirably by Brianboulton, and the apt image added by Voceditenore - great teamwork! --Gerda Arendt (talk) 07:57, 3 March 2021 (UTC)

DYK for Andréa Guiot

On 8 March 2021, Did you know was updated with a fact from the article Andréa Guiot, which you recently created, substantially expanded, or brought to good article status. The fact was ... that Andréa Guiot appeared internationally in French soprano roles such as Mireille, Marguerite, Manon, and Micaëla in Bizet's Carmen, which she recorded alongside Maria Callas in the title role? The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Andréa Guiot. You are welcome to check how many pageviews the nominated article or articles got while on the front page (here's how, Andréa Guiot), and if they received a combined total of at least 416.7 views per hour (ie, 5,000 views in 12 hours or 10,000 in 24), the hook may be added to the statistics page. Finally, if you know of an interesting fact from another recently created article, then please feel free to suggest it on the Did you know talk page.

Cwmhiraeth (talk) 12:02, 8 March 2021 (UTC)

IWD II --Gerda Arendt (talk) 12:08, 8 March 2021 (UTC)

Best Wishes for today, with respect (Women's Day ...)

... sorry I don't know how to put a flower icon now)

Liebe Gerda, Ich wünsche Dir alles Bestens für heute mit viele Respekt!(KIENGIR (talk) 14:01, 8 March 2021 (UTC))

Danke! Look around, two women the team (LouisAlain, Grimes2) worked for DYK, and a friend's article TFA - so far so good. Carmen mentioned again on the Main page also good. Missing a friend is not, - stealing the image from the TFA ;) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 14:42, 8 March 2021 (UTC)

I saw the recruitment advertisement tag at the top, how many women will join WP today? :) (KIENGIR (talk) 14:51, 8 March 2021 (UTC))

Good Job! Your hard work is very much appreciated. Panini^🥪 01:49, 9 March 2021 (UTC)

Thank you, now going to praise you for your first TFA, - enjoy! - My work is not hard, - hard are the things I don't get done. I'd love more arbitration (example pictured), not what we know here under that name. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 06:38, 9 March 2021 (UTC)

A barnstar for you!

	The Role Model Barnstar
	For your daily efforts to spread positivity, to remember, recognise and affirm other Wikipedians. For your empathy, humour, kindness and unflappability. Reading your thoughtful Precious award dedication to me was an uplifting and affirming moment for me. Thank you for all that you do. You are a role model, to me and many others! Kohlrabi Pickle (talk) 04:00, 17 March 2021 (UTC)

blushing deeply: Kohlrabi Pickle, I try. Kohlrabi today, in the fridge already ;) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 08:30, 17 March 2021 (UTC)

Hehe, make some pickle out of it! Kohlrabi Pickle (talk) 10:13, 17 March 2021 (UTC)

Gerda, I wanted to share with you that I have created a mini-award to recognise and affirm members of the small community that works on Singapore-related articles. I hope I'm able to bring some of your positivity to this little corner of Wikipedia! Kohlrabi Pickle (talk) 05:01, 27 March 2021 (UTC)

That's a lovely idea! The recipient will know what the prize name is, I didn't ;) - I had to understand that the foreign language IS a prize name, and therefore the "(Wikipedia)" made some sense. What do you think of having s translation or explanation instead of the neutral "An award for you", and/or an image that connects immediately to Singapore? ... as the sapphire connects immediately to its photographer who passed the "earlier" stars of "awesome Wikipedian" for several years, my model ... (now blocked), or as the cherry connects to the one who gave it to me ... (then desysopped, and dead, but remembered). --Gerda Arendt (talk) 06:44, 27 March 2021 (UTC)

That's a great suggestion! Certainly I can do a translation of the award: it is essentially the Wikipedian equivalent of the Meritorious Service Medal, perhaps the equivalent of the British MBE. Maybe I'll put that in the header instead. Do you know anywhere where there's a list or collection of these kinds of awards that I can look at for inspiration? The cherry is indeed a very meaningful symbol. Kohlrabi Pickle (talk) 12:40, 28 March 2021 (UTC)

Excellent! - see Category:Wikipedia awards, + navbox in it, and integrate yours when ready! --Gerda Arendt (talk) 12:46, 28 March 2021 (UTC)

Thanks so much for all your help! Kohlrabi Pickle (talk) 12:49, 28 March 2021 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of Sehet, wir gehn hinauf gen Jerusalem, BWV 159

The article Sehet, wir gehn hinauf gen Jerusalem, BWV 159 you nominated as a good article has passed ; see Talk:Sehet, wir gehn hinauf gen Jerusalem, BWV 159 for comments about the article. Well done! If the article has not already appeared on the main page as a "Did you know" item, or as a bold link under "In the News" or in the "On This Day" prose section, you can nominate it within the next seven days to appear in DYK. ... Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of Aza24 -- Aza24 (talk) 08:21, 18 March 2021 (UTC)

Thanks for the review, Aza! The article appeared on DYK, ... that Picander used one of the sayings of Jesus on the cross for an aria in Bach's cantata Sehet, wir gehn hinauf gen Jerusalem, BWV 159, for the last Sunday before Lent? --Gerda Arendt (talk) 08:27, 18 March 2021 (UTC)

No problem, and good to hear about the DYK. Your Bach DYKs always make the section more interesting...! Aza24 (talk) 08:35, 18 March 2021 (UTC)

This one was in 2011. I did it like Bach and wrote one every week then ;) - Most were approved by Rlevse who was then a pillar of DYK, as Yoninah was for the last years. I'll promised myself to bring Chichester Psalms to GA in memory of her, after today's little tribute, Psalm 148 (Bernstein). Psalm 148 was our last work together, and went to my Christmas card because she modestly declined to say something extra for the psalm, - she should have gotten that role model barnstar. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 08:43, 18 March 2021 (UTC)

Psalms (in memoriam)

Ps 82-85 (starting at 6m30, Ps 84 at 13m45, though really no reason to skip the introit by Tallis, which is top class as you'd expect). RandomCanadian (talk / contribs) 16:50, 25 March 2021 (UTC)

Beautiful, thanks for sharing! - On Psalms, there's a question (somewhere in the beginning), about linking psalm recordings in Salisbury style, by a woman, in English. I don't know. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 20:34, 25 March 2021 (UTC)

Heard this while driving back home today. Another not particularly well known composer... RandomCanadian (talk / contribs) 20:01, 28 March 2021 (UTC)

Lovely! I like Zelenka a lot. I heard - in a concert for Reformation Day 1917, the 500 year biggy - one of his masses, combined with BWV 80. Today Graupner: great, a mature 1741 work, see above. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 20:24, 28 March 2021 (UTC)

1917? :) I just did a quick lookup but found only record labels (1) (2). I'll have to look up in more scholarly sources when I get the time. Even if I do, no hope of getting this up and fast through DYK for thursday, right? RandomCanadian (talk / contribs) 20:28, 28 March 2021 (UTC)

sorry, typo, 2017 of course, when Reformation was celebrated 500 years, - life concert in Gütersloh, a relatives round birthday - was a nice idea to invite guests to that concert - Thursday is tough, but one can always try, - I nominated one for Friday yesterday, and another today --Gerda Arendt (talk) 20:38, 28 March 2021 (UTC)

I have I penitenti al sepolcro del redentore, ZWV 63 for the time being. Will see if I can find better sources. RandomCanadian (talk / contribs) 20:42, 28 March 2021 (UTC) - Now moved to mainspace cause I found a book which almost certainly (99.9%) does talk about this... RandomCanadian (talk / contribs) 21:23, 28 March 2021 (UTC)

Promotion of Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern, BWV 1

Congratulations, Gerda Arendt! The article you nominated, Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern, BWV 1, has been promoted to featured status, recognizing it as one of the best articles on Wikipedia. The nomination discussion has been archived.

This is a rare accomplishment and you should be proud. If you would like, you may nominate it to appear on the Main page as Today's featured article. Keep up the great work! Cheers, Gog the Mild (talk) via FACBot (talk) 12:08, 26 March 2021 (UTC)

Thank you, Gog, you were mild ;) - It's planned to appear on 25 March 2022. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 12:57, 26 March 2021 (UTC)

Proud I am not, it's the work of many, and I appreciate the help of former editors, reviewers and contributors, especially Francis Schonken, Mathsci and Thoughtfortheday. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 12:10, 27 March 2021 (UTC)

Thank you...

...for arranging such beautiful tributes on Main Page for Yoninah, as well as the Signpost remembrance. I wish I had something as lovely and comforting to offer as you always seem to, but I will have to make do with my thanks and my condolences. I know if I am shocked and griefstricken, it must only be that much more so for you who worked so closely with her for so many years. Truly, I hope those memories may be a blessing. Innisfree987 (talk) 21:27, 28 March 2021 (UTC)

Thank you, - and yes, she was a blessing to last. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 21:29, 28 March 2021 (UTC)

Hey there!

I may be semi-retired these days but was thinking of you earlier. So this is just a quick drive-by messaging, to tell you that you are awesome and thank you for all that you do here!! :) - Alison ^❤ 04:03, 2 April 2021 (UTC)

Alison, blushing. I take it as a praise of teamwork. On the Main page now (on Good Friday): the Honan Chapel by Ceoil and friends, who invited me to it last year, and the above cantata, which I just heard and photographed, and nominated late, so could get to there only with friends making exceptions. I am thankful for that. I miss too many people (who died or have just given up, - I wrote He was despised in 2012 thinking not only of Jesus but what we do here to each other, and it still happens), so am especially thankful for each sign of life, like you coming over ;) I'd normally sing in choir today, and miss it, so try to interest some others in the music. Look around! --Gerda Arendt (talk) 06:26, 2 April 2021 (UTC)

Alison, when I added your line to the section, I read some again, and found treasures I had forgotten, from people who can't add, - overwhelming. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 05:44, 3 April 2021 (UTC)

Christ lag in Todes Banden (Christ lay in death's bonds), BWV 4, is a chorale cantata for Easter by Johann Sebastian Bach, one of his earliest church cantatas. It is agreed to be an early work, partly for stylistic reasons and partly because there is evidence that it was probably written for a performance in 1707. Text and music are based on Luther's hymn of the same name, derived from medieval models. In each of seven vocal movements, Bach used the unchanged words of a stanza of the chorale and its tune as a cantus firmus. Although all movements are in E minor, Bach intensified the meaning of the text through a variety of musical forms and techniques. He performed the cantata again as Thomaskantor in Leipzig, beginning in 1724 for his first Easter there. Only this second version survived, scored for four vocal parts (soprano part pictured) and a Baroque instrumental ensemble with strings and a choir of cornetto and three trombones. John Eliot Gardiner described the cantata as Bach's "first-known attempt at painting narrative in music" and "a bold, innovative piece of musical drama".

Five years ago, when I improved this article, with the help of many, I thought of a dear person who had just died, Alison, and of the conductor who taught me the significance of the piece, and I knew sooner than Wikipedia that he had died. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 07:46, 4 April 2021 (UTC)

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter, Gerda! (I'm trusting it's Sunday when you read this.) I was wondering whether I should request an Image Review for the Mynors FAC. I've seen Buidhe do such a review for some candidates; I thought it might be useful to generate progress on the candidacy. Is it appropriate to ask them, or other editors who do these reviews (I've seen Nikkimaria do some), for a review? Or is is better etiquette to wait? All the best, Modussiccandi (talk) 22:27, 3 April 2021 (UTC)

Thank you and happy Easter to you! - I'd wait. More regarding Easter after sleep. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 22:37, 3 April 2021 (UTC)

• Hello and good morning to you Gerda. We may not always agree on everything we discuss, but I would still wish to greet you a Happy Easter this year and may the rest of the year be a good one for you. Greetings. Narutolovehinata5 ^tccsdnew 04:14, 4 April 2021 (UTC)

  Thank you, and also to you. Thank you for coming over! --Gerda Arendt (talk) 07:46, 4 April 2021 (UTC)

• Haec dies quam fecit Dominus. Exultemus et laetemur in ea. Alleluia! ([1]) Happy Easter! Appreciate your help with the DYK, amongst others. I should have more free time available in a few weeks so any suggestions of something useful to be done? Thanks, RandomCanadian (talk / contribs) 04:19, 4 April 2021 (UTC)

Christians, awake, salute the happy morn, thank you for that one, true every day, and I just did. Last year, we thought of Penderecki's Haec dies quam fecit Dominus., - true every day. This year, we think of Yoninah and RexxS. May she rest in peace. For him, I silently hope for a resurexxSion. "Don't believe in miracles. Rely on them". (Mascha Kaléko)

Thanks. Makes me thing: heard this while driving this morning (FA suggestion for next year?); improvised on this (I've heard German tunes sung in French churches with the German lyrics, but considering even Latin is beyond my singers..., I had to content myself with improvising); and then heard this while driving back. Cheers, RandomCanadian (talk / contribs) 21:49, 4 April 2021 (UTC)

I seriously thought about Erfreut euch, ihr Herzen, for the second day of Easter, for 2023 because next year we try the Morgenstern ;) - Christ ist erstanden: see above, The Song, no Easter without it, and Brahms connects both to Yoninah and Alison, - our conductor did it as his farewell piece. DBaK, we had a trumpet yesterday! --Gerda Arendt (talk) 21:57, 4 April 2021 (UTC)

RandomCanadian, we (Germans) have an Easter hymn, "Bleibe bei uns, du Wandrer durch die Zeit". Text by de:Peter Gerloff (who is User:Rabanus Flavus), music just says "William Henry Monk 1861". Of which hymn originally? Per the metre, "Christians, awake" would even match. Of course we could ask the author ;) - Imagine: I found it: "Abide with Me". Close enough. Perhaps it's even a translation. Next year. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 13:25, 5 April 2021 (UTC)

Es ist gar keine Übersetzung. Auch, es ist etwas seltsam, dass die Beziehung zwischen die zwei Lieder ist nicht bezeicht (z.B. [2] oder [3]). Though; the "Stay with us, for it is evening" theme is present in both songs (one as a direct quotation/paraphrase from the Emmaus story; the other as a more general prayer). The English hymn is also more commonly (but not exclusively) associated with funerals (somewhat anti-thematic for Easter?). Since you don't seem to have known it (I instantly recognised the melody), here's a good arrangement from Cambridge. Cheers, RandomCanadian (talk / contribs) 17:01, 5 April 2021 (UTC)

Hello to Gerda and all! As my name was mentioned here... The evening and decease hymn Abide with me has been turned into German by Theodor Werner, a Protestant pastor, in 1952: "Bleib bei mir, Herr! Der Abend bricht herein". This hymn is in the Evangelisches Gesangbuch (Nr. 488). I had known this version already before, and I always liked the melody, but my "Bleibe bei uns", indeed, is not nor wants to be a translation, but refers to the Emmaus gospel. The Gotteslob (2013) contains another version "Bleib bei uns, Herr" (Nr. 94) with the Monk melody, destinated for evening prayers, but this one is not a translation of Lytes text, either. - Dux vitae mortuus regnat vivus! Österliche Grüße, --Rabanus Flavus (talk) 17:47, 5 April 2021 (UTC)

Danke, und ebenfalls österliche Grüße! --Gerda Arendt (talk) 17:53, 5 April 2021 (UTC)

Happy Easter! --Gerda Arendt (talk) 07:46, 4 April 2021 (UTC)

A very happy Easter to you Gerda. As ever you include something for me to learn from and that is much appreciated. MarnetteD|Talk 18:45, 4 April 2021 (UTC)

Yes, it has been a happy Easter for me. Christ is Risen indeed!--Epiphyllumlover (talk) 02:03, 5 April 2021 (UTC)

Le Sacre du printemps

la consagració de la primavera
Pina Bausch's Tanztheater Wuppertal Barcelona, 2008

Le Sacre du printemps is a ballet and orchestral concert work by Igor Stravinsky. It was written for the 1913 Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes company, with choreography by Vaslav Nijinsky and stage designs and costumes by Nicholas Roerich. The ballet caused a near-riot in the audience when first performed, on 29 May 1913 at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, but rapidly achieved success, and later became recognised as one of the most influential musical works of the 20th century. The score has many novel features, including experiments in tonality, metre, rhythm, stress and dissonance. The scenario is the celebration of spring by primitive rituals; in the end a sacrificial victim dances herself to death. After its explosive premiere the ballet was not performed until the 1920s, when Léonide Massine's rechoreographed version was the first of many innovative productions by the world's leading choreographers. Providing "endless stimulation for performers and listeners" alike, Le Sacre is among the most recorded works in the classical repertoire.

Article about Stravinsky's ballet by Brian Boulton, 50 years after the composer's death, Aza's idea, thanks to all. It had a scandaloous 1913 premiere - Aza's idea, thanks to all! The scandalous 2013 infobox discussion can be read, now with some smiles, in Archive 3. Don't forget: Rhythm is it! --Gerda Arendt (talk) 07:02, 6 April 2021 (UTC)

DYK for Vertraut den neuen Wegen

On 7 April 2021, Did you know was updated with a fact from the article Vertraut den neuen Wegen, which you recently created, substantially expanded, or brought to good article status. The fact was ... that a German theologian wrote "Vertraut den neuen Wegen" to be sung at a wedding in Eisenach shortly before the fall of the Wall? The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Vertraut den neuen Wegen. You are welcome to check how many pageviews the nominated article or articles got while on the front page (here's how, Vertraut den neuen Wegen), and if they received a combined total of at least 416.7 views per hour (i.e., 5,000 views in 12 hours or 10,000 in 24), the hook may be added to the statistics page. Finally, if you know of an interesting fact from another recently created article, then please feel free to suggest it on the Did you know talk page.

— Maile (talk) 12:01, 7 April 2021 (UTC)

This - trust in new ways - was meant as a call to RexxS, hoping for a resurexxSion. Call to self, also. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 12:41, 7 April 2021 (UTC)

DYK for Psalm 115

On 26 April 2021, Did you know was updated with a fact from the article Psalm 115, which you recently created, substantially expanded, or brought to good article status. The fact was ... that verse 16 from Psalm 115 was quoted by John McConnell (pictured) as an inspiration to create Earth Day? The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Psalm 115. You are welcome to check how many pageviews the nominated article or articles got while on the front page (here's how, Psalm 115), and if they received a combined total of at least 416.7 views per hour (i.e., 5,000 views in 12 hours or 10,000 in 24), the hook may be added to the statistics page. Finally, if you know of an interesting fact from another recently created article, then please feel free to suggest it on the Did you know talk page.

Cwmhiraeth (talk) 12:01, 26 April 2021 (UTC)

"The only real nation is humanity"

This is so true. If we all just adopted this principle and treated each other with just a touch more kindness and understanding the world would be just a little more sunshine and a little less clouds. And even when the storms came to disrupt our flow through life, the kindness of the songs we interact with in human form and touch our hearts every day would be the colours in our rainbows after the storms pass. I commend you, Gerda, for being one of those songs. My words of encouragement and reflection: You are you. You are Gerda, so just be Gerda. The wonderful soul and colourful song that you are. Uniquely gifted to fit in the niche of life you were so aptly designed to fill. You don't have to do another thing to be the amazing citizen of humanity that others and I see you as. If you never edited again you would still be a beautiful (barn..lol) star. If you never gave another anniversary stone you would still be a precious jewel. Nothing could ever diminish the bright light that is you and everything you have done and continue to do from the moment the colours of life touched those eyes just adds to the brilliance that is Gerda. --ARoseWolf 15:18, 4 May 2021 (UTC)

blushing redder than ever, but before more answer: fresh air --Gerda Arendt (talk) 15:21, 4 May 2021 (UTC)

rosewolf, hike was good, food also, back to you: you touched a soft spot. "The only real nation is humanity" is a quote, - I quote Br'er Rabbit who quoted from The Lord of the Flies. He was No. 2 founding member of the cabal of the outcast. I miss him since October 2012, and every precious, and reminder, and flower greeting, is a little tribute. Much of what you praise is only a reflection of the light of others, see? --Gerda Arendt (talk) 19:45, 4 May 2021 (UTC)

We are influenced by other songs, there is no doubt of that. My song is directly impacted by my father's mother because she took the time to comfort and care for a scared and lost little girl that had given up on life. She taught me that I am a rainbow. That's the personification of humankind and really all life. You do carry parts of their song with you and it has become part of you but it is still you, distinct, individual colours and patterns that are yours. Influenced by others and life experiences but they belong to you. The fact you sharing them just means they are now part of us and we carry a little of your song and, by extension, their songs in us, and now we can pass them on. It's how the strings of our life bind us to each other, them to you, you to us, us to others and so on. --ARoseWolf 19:58, 4 May 2021 (UTC)

Thank you (Ched)

I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for weighing in on the "Warning and Welcome" thread. Normally I wouldn't have troubled you, but it is a topic I know you feel strongly about. I also will quickly "welcome" a user if I see they don't have many edits, (provided they haven't shown themselves to be problematic). I think welcoming new users should be a priority, and I truly appreciate and admire all your efforts in that area. I've been sort of overseeing a new editor in the NASCAR area, and trying to help them along the right path. Example: If you look at Nascar9919's talk page, I think you'll see I haven't turned into some sort of unfeeling tough-guy that's just out to sanction people or get them into trouble. Anyway, thank you for your input on that page. Best always, — Ched (talk) 20:10, 4 May 2021 (UTC)

Thank you, Ched. Look above, - I just fondly remembered the beginnings of "our" cabal. Please meet my friend (and recent member) with Italian and Alaska influences, and all connected with all. I have to expand an article, - please talk to each other and excuse me until done. (Sorry, no time to look at the other right now.) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 20:16, 4 May 2021 (UTC)

I believe Gerda just introduced us, Ched. It is a great pleasure to meet you. Welcoming new members properly is essential to the encyclopedia and I also admire Gerda for this. I, likewise, commend you for taking a new editor under your "wing" and teaching them. --ARoseWolf 20:47, 4 May 2021 (UTC)

Tsistunagiska, Hello A Rose Wolf, nice to meet you as well. Always nice to meet another Native American, wolf lover, and husky owner/lover. Welcome to the project. Don't hesitate to ping me if needed, although my skill set is limited. Hope you have a great day and rest of the week. Best, Ched — Ched (talk) 21:12, 4 May 2021 (UTC)

— Ched and any other admin, please watch Ashleyyoursmile, I get pings that smell like vandalism. No welcome ;) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 10:07, 5 May 2021 (UTC)

Thank you, Gerda Arendt. It's LTA Evlekis. They are back with their signature harassment and personal attacks. Ashleyyoursmile! 10:10, 5 May 2021 (UTC)

Ched, I usually only wiki in the mornings. We basically have 24 hour daylight now so its easier to choose when I sleep and I don't sleep well anyway. We own 38 Huskies and about 16 Malamutes. I was adopted by wolves. I'm watching your page too, Ashleyyoursmile, if you don't mind. --ARoseWolf 13:14, 5 May 2021 (UTC)

Now THAT is a lot of pooches to feed. Even my mom never had quite that many when she had her own Collie kennel many years ago. Back in the old chat-room days (Excite IIRC) I went by the handle of "Lone Wolf", and have often used that nickname for many venues. I've owned several Huskies and 1 Malamute what the heck was her name? over the years. Well, anyway - having worked a midnight to 8 shift for years, I can understand the challenges that come with the sunlight, but I've never been to Alaska (although I would loved to have been able to go back when I could). — Ched (talk) 18:14, 5 May 2021 (UTC)

Ched, They are sled dogs and I could name them all but we would need a book as some have local Athabascan names and I'd probably need to get the transliteration for them in order to spell them. My lead dog is Little Jack. My team, minus one Husky that passed last year :-( , is the same team that was with Jack (been a sled dog trainer for 20 years and a guide in Alaska for longer and now our personal dog trainer and a sled team operator) and I when we were caught in a snow storm north of Fairbanks in March of 2018. I was suffering from a serious concussion (I hit my head on the brush bow when the u-bolt snapped and the sled flipped and Jack had broken ribs from hitting the handle bar and footboard. All we could do was pack the snow in around us and huddle inside the canvas covered sled wrapping ourselves in blankets. The dogs came back to our location because the dogs are trained to retrace their steps even in the worst conditions. We made it out alive because of the combined survival training of the the dogs and us. --ARoseWolf 18:57, 5 May 2021 (UTC)

Tsistunagiska, Wow - that's a story that will live for a long time. Concussions can be very dangerous, so I'm glad you had the wherewithal to protect yourselves for the night. That had to be a very tense time. I'm glad everyone made it out in one piece. — Ched (talk) 19:40, 5 May 2021 (UTC)

Ched, we never would have made the night. It was probably -60°f with the wind chill factor. Winds were about 45mph. It was probably only about half an hour to an hour but that's plenty of time to contemplate your death and review your life. In that time the snow had piled up over the sled and Little Jack dug in the snow a little to get to us. I had a pretty bad cut on my forehead and the cold kept it from bleeding worse so that was pretty good but I suffered from migraines for almost two years after that. The last migraine I had was early in 2020. I don't remember much after that as I was in and out of consciousness. I just remember waking up in a hotel bed in Fairbanks. Jack says he took me to the hospital and they checked me over but released me. We've pretty much healed externally but I've never really recovered from that and how can you? It's forever a part of me. --ARoseWolf 20:11, 5 May 2021 (UTC)

Tsistunagiska, - Yep, I can see how something like that would stick with you - very scary time IMO. I could easily imagine a nightmare creeping in, and maybe for years to come. Glad you had Jack and little Jack around. — Ched (talk) 20:24, 5 May 2021 (UTC)

agree - talking of Jack, for a circle --Gerda Arendt (talk) 20:29, 5 May 2021 (UTC)

Ched Oh, I'd need to tell you the whole story for you to get the full experience but we can do that another time and place. I am putting together my journals for some future literary work, perhaps the "Memoirs of Asareel: The Alaskan rainbow" (lol). --ARoseWolf 20:35, 5 May 2021 (UTC)

over

Ched, I think the infobox wars are over. Happy day! --Gerda Arendt (talk) 15:58, 5 May 2021 (UTC)

Glad to hear that Gerda ... that will make things much more peaceful. Cheers. — Ched (talk) 18:14, 5 May 2021 (UTC)

Thank you! - RoseWolf, just a short explanation: the infobox wars were first documented in 2005, example pictured from 2012, with two protagonists for the infobox, the before-mentioned Br'er Rabbit and Andy. They were accused of having driven the author off Wikipedia by that discussion. (I was on the other side, back then, imagine.) Br'er left us later that year, and I continued his work a bit. A 2013 example was Joseph (opera). It got an infobox today. (In 2013, Ched asked the arbitration committee to solve the disputes. They failed to even look at the problem, and made it bigger by asking us in the end to fight it out on every individual article talk. Short version. Long version here.) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 18:52, 5 May 2021 (UTC)

I've had limited dealing with the arbitration committee and/or ANI but from what I have seen, admittedly the personal perception of a wiki-noob, they don't seem to be extremely helpful and actually hurt the encyclopedia more than help. True enough, there are disruptive editors who need to be dealt with but more times than not I have seen good editors who held a different perspective be eviscerated and destroyed because of a personal dislike, rather than actual policy. It's why I avoid those situations as much as possible. Nine times out of ten they are a negative to the encyclopedia than a positive. -ARoseWolf 19:51, 5 May 2021 (UTC)

Just look at #RexxS or the Ultimate guide to arbitration: Don't. Seriously. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 20:08, 5 May 2021 (UTC)

Agree with that sentiment...Don't. --ARoseWolf 20:16, 5 May 2021 (UTC)

A project that doesn't need an arbitration committee would by great! - Tell me the 10 percent that were not a waste of time, please. One case that made life better for us users, please. - While the arguments about infobox opera (which is the only type of infobox the arbs should have looked at in 2013, because it was new and caused trouble when introduced) may have ceased, we still talk about CITEVAR (another waste of time) and whether the "based_on" parameter may mention a Bible story citing the Bible verse(s), or if it needs a secondary source to say so (another waste of time). I have no time today, but anybody is welcome. Thanks to Michael Bednarek for holding my position (but reverted as I write this). Still the same opera, of course. - In case you have extra time but want to do something productive: a peer review is open for Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon, and another for my song of defiance (yes, not only death and fear, but arbitration also), - both not by me. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 13:35, 6 May 2021 (UTC)

I am sure all the members of the committee and most every admin here at Wikipedia are legitimately great human beings. But I can not fathom some of the logic behind decisions made. I used to just say that I don't know everything they know but I actually believe I know more than they know, in most cases, details not important as to how but we'll call it an intuition. The fact is that I haven't seen a single case, taken up, that wasn't, itself, disruptive to the encyclopedia and the community. One would think they are in a bit of a catch because no matter how they ruled there would be those in disagreement. True enough, but the decisions themselves seem disruptive and arbitrary, even more so than the process by which the decisions were made. --ARoseWolf 14:44, 6 May 2021 (UTC)

Agree. The system is flawed, - the so-called evidence is typically a heap of memories of things that went wrong. I know only one case in detail, so am biased, but it drove me crazy when they wanted to ban my friend Andy (mentioned above) as if that would have helped. One of the arbs cited a diff when voting to ban (and it was the majority vote for that ban) where Andy uncollapsed an infobox that I had inserted in an article I had written. I bet that arb didn't read the diff right, and thought Andy had added that infobox, and never bothered to find out what kind of article that was, and if that was welcome or not. Just voted to ban. Kafkaesque. Otherwise a pleasant person, offering tea when you enter his talk. As you say, great human beings. - Don't get near. In case they call me again, I'll not participate. Do you know what I thought was the ultimate guide (until the more ultimate Don't)? Written by Raymond Arritt, missed much. Look! --Gerda Arendt (talk) 15:43, 6 May 2021 (UTC)

Oh wow, that was close to four years ago. I still lived in Haines and didn't even know what Wikipedia was. I'm not even sure I had internet or if it was then it was community internet (lol). I still have the same tablet though it's basically useless now. I wish I had been here to meet some of these incredible people. In regards to the arbs, being a great human being doesn't make you uniquely equipped to deal with the issues that arise. People, good people, have hurt me all my life. Most don't even know how or why they have hurt me. The majority act out of ignorance. They don't really have a solution but a solution must be found or they feel they will lose face. In the name of saving the castle they actually dismantle it stone by stone but because it's a slow process they don't even realize what they have done and most never will. But one day they, or those that follow after them, will remove the stone holding it all together and it WILL collapse upon itself. There may be portions that stand like the ruins of the ancient marvels of antiquity but the real substance and depth of meaning will have long left. The great halls of reason and understanding will have faded from memory. All that is left is the husk, a reminder of potentiality and what might have been. Common ground, collaboration, good faith, sharing of ideas and a genuine caring of others will simply be terms that one uses to make them feel good about life and themselves. But without the desire to fill in every syllable spoken and each letter written with the fullness of ones passion they will simply remain empty promises devoid of all life essence. Hope? I love the quote "Soulwork is not a high road. It is a deep fall into unforgiving darkness that won't let you go until you find the song that sings you home." I am sure that could mean something different depending on who you speak to but I find that encouraging. Life is dirty. Life is messy. You get damaged and cut and hurt and wounded. It seems like darkness is always lurking and ready to take you but there is a song, somewhere, somehow. The soulwork is finding it. There is a rainbow, even in the darkness. There is color, music, life, dreams that can lead you home. Here, in the middle of the madness that is this encyclopedia, I find songs. My hope is to be a song as well. --ARoseWolf 16:59, 6 May 2021 (UTC)

You are a song! - I haven't written my article of the day yet (about a nature reserve where I was today, and where the April flowers were taken last year), and the telephone is ringing a lot, so no focused response right now. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 18:28, 6 May 2021 (UTC)

I found a song, User:Geogre, to listen to ;-). I fail to listen to my grandfather sometimes. "When speaking truth use fewer words...there is less to remember." Yes, grandfather, but the words are inside me and if I don't write them down and share them I am going to explode (lol). Enjoy your time with your memories of nature and those April flowers, Gerda :-D. Write it down! --ARoseWolf 19:11, 6 May 2021 (UTC)

I know Geogre because RexxS rescued his images from deletion. Who will do that now? - Some day, I'll write my memories, but today, I just translate from the German Wikipedia. I'll find a way to include the flowers. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 19:53, 6 May 2021 (UTC)

Look, a start. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 21:10, 6 May 2021 (UTC)

Thanks to Andy who wasted more time and fixed the Bible reference. - I leave the April pic because Wild garlic is still blooming, seen yesterday, and chamomile not yet. Later today: expanding a park (pictured), thinking of a friend's birthday. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 06:07, 7 May 2021 (UTC)

Looks beautiful. I have a brother in Dresden and one of the brothers that lives here in Alaska with me moved from München and brought his family. I am trying to finish up the few remaining redlinks for protected places in Alaska. Curious, why would Geogre's images get deleted? --ARoseWolf 13:02, 7 May 2021 (UTC)

The images were self-portraits so not used in articles. As if we had no other problems ;) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 13:08, 7 May 2021 (UTC)

ps: see User:RexxS#Geogre, and User talk:Geogre, - look for RexxS, how he defended all these proposed deletions, also of other images. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 13:16, 7 May 2021 (UTC)

Re [SlimVirgin]

We deal with life and death of SlimVirgin, an editor who was one of the pillars of the project. Particularly the use of templates on her pages.

To take you up on your comment, I just thought the placement was a misfire. It struck me as odd when I opened the page that I had to scroll down an entire screen to see the template, since in the future it'll be important that people looking for help realize they'll need to ask someone else, and the one on her userpage was also badly positioned (which I fixed). Nothing I feel all that strongly about. The Blade of the Northern Lights (話して下さい) 22:43, 9 May 2021 (UTC)

Just saw your comment on my talkpage, we can continue there if needed. Sorry for any confusion. The Blade of the Northern Lights (話して下さい) 22:45, 9 May 2021 (UTC)

The Blade of the Northern Lights, how are my talk page watchers supposed to know that you speak about placing the "deceased" template on user and talk of SlimVirgin, and where? She left her user page like this. I think the template is out of style in whichever position. When I die, please no template, and no "deceased". - Edit conflict. We can also continue here, perhaps better for when I die ;) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 22:57, 9 May 2021 (UTC)

Apologies for the confusion. I just happened across them already being there, and repositioned them thinking they were just out of whack instead of not supposed to be there at all. Since I never knew any of this, I'm happy for anyone else to remove them; no objections from me at all. The Blade of the Northern Lights (話して下さい) 23:07, 9 May 2021 (UTC)

It doesn't matter where they are and it's certainly not worth the discussion. I placed the one on the talk page, couldn't make heads or tails of the markup and placed where it landed after a few tries but it was not the top of the list of things I was concerned about in the moment. If it can go to the top that's probably fine too, but fwiw it does look ok underneath that nice image. That said, zero preferences from the person who did the placing. Thanks to Gerda for hosting the discussion, best here than on that talk page. Victoria (tk) 23:29, 9 May 2021 (UTC)

@Gerda Arendt: If I have anything to say about it your wishes will be met. Wikipedia is very adamant that our user/talk pages don't belong to us, which is ridiculous by its very notion, and it may be the point at which I leave Wikipedia for good or am permanently banned but a person's preference should be honored out of goodwill. I lean heavily towards leaving their user/talk pages as is, myself. Archiving the talk page and adding a new section about them being deceased seems appropriate. That's my personal principles kicking in. --ARoseWolf 14:34, 10 May 2021 (UTC)

Thank you. What do you think about the precise case below? Light green, intentionally so, and now contrasted with the black and yellow of the template? --Gerda Arendt (talk) 14:44, 10 May 2021 (UTC)

I'm probably not the one to ask about colors but since you did, colors, from my viewpoint, are living representations of individual states of mind, moods, senses and character traits. Beyond what the typical synesthete would say, because if I purely operated from that view I would never see her page the way you all do anyway, I can say that she organized and colored her page the way she wanted to be representative of herself. Deviation from that would be, in my view, a dishonor and disrespect of the individual. Let me say that I don't believe anyone here is intentionally doing anything to dishonor out of malice. But that's my personal view of the situation. --ARoseWolf 15:13, 10 May 2021 (UTC)

template and page style

Some related observations and thoughts, about user page and user talk page of Slim version, and in general, and {{deceased}}:

• SlimVirgin was conscious of the appearance of her personal pages.
  • She changed the image on her talk page from a sleeping woman (which she showed on top as long as I remember) on 19 March.
  • On 8 April, she added the image of RexxS on top of her user page, archived her talk page and added light-green background to both pages.
• I feel that the template is one of those falling into the category "don't template the regulars". Both pages would be perfectly understood without it, and have been understood by all those mourning. We could just add her pages to the categories the template automatically applies. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 10:17, 10 May 2021 (UTC)

I'm stunned...I didn't know. When did SV die? —valereee (talk) 20:50, 13 May 2021 (UTC)

We don't know exactly when Sarah died, early May, last edit 18 April. See WP:Deceased Wikipedians/2021#SlimVirgin. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 21:24, 13 May 2021 (UTC)

I gave her Impact - too late. Mentioning her statement in the arb case request in a link. Arbs should listen to women more. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 21:29, 13 May 2021 (UTC)

Such an amazing person. I cant agree with that last statement anymore than I already do. This whole encyclopedia needs to listen to women more. --ARoseWolf 15:33, 18 May 2021 (UTC)

I completely agree! Bishonen, Littleolive oil, Montanabw, Atsme, Sarah, and I, later also valereee - we all said the same, actually the most experienced arb, Newyorkbrad, also said so, but these men - only men right now afaik - ignored us. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 15:45, 18 May 2021 (UTC)

I honestly believe it stems from a familiarity with our own points of view. I have said, for a long time, that we all have a conflict of interest in every subject that we have ever had the smallest participation in. Conflict does not mean the opposition is my physical enemy. Conflict means opposing viewpoints are antagonist to my own. We all have interests and those become the subject of the conflict. So anyone with opposing or differing views, from all sides of a particular topic or subject, has a conflict of interest. That's part of being human. Passion for our interests, a very real state of being, is what drives our conflicts. I don't care if you are an arbitrator for wikipedia or a judge sitting on a bench deciding criminal and civil cases, you have a conflict of interest and I know most strive to separate their personal viewpoints from decisions made but that is an impossible task. It will never happen. It is impossible to have a completely neutral outcome from arbitration. It is impossible to have a truly fair or equitable result. It doesn't take a genius to review the notice board or arbitrary cases to see this is factual when it involves the review of human beings and their actions. --ARoseWolf 16:46, 18 May 2021 (UTC)

Tbh, RexxS did the exact thing he felt was the best option for him, he walked away. When confronted with the understanding that the system is skewed by its very nature because it is a human made system, and there was no way in hell he was going to get a fair shake, he reviewed his two options, stay and fight and subject himself to a grueling, bitter and stressful inquisition which would have resulted in the same outcome (I don't care what anyone else says, that case was decided before the evidence was provided because nothing provided was enough to alter its course much one way or the other) or walk away with even a sliver of dignity and respect, even if only within his own mind. The character assassination ensued about as I expected it would, of course, with the occasional nod towards a feigned respect of RexxS's contributions throughout the years, if for no other reason than to make the individual saying it feel better about the massacre of a human beings dignity they were engaged in. Sprinkle in a few ignorant and misguided comments about how you don't have to be an admin to still be a major contributor to the encyclopedia which sounded absolutely absurd when contrasted by the veracity by which every minute detail of RexxS's actions here were painstakingly scrutinized to find errors in judgement that are quite common among the species. The result was never in doubt. Even the comments by committee members about how their decision was going to be disagreed with no matter the outcome simply points to their unwillingness to admit the conflict of interest by which they entered the case. Its all to make them feel better and it is a common practice among humanity to do this. No one, from any side has acted outside what was expected from the onset. RexxS weighed his options and I believe he did it with great attention to the consequences, not from arbcom because anyone with enough sense and a willingness to actually see the truth of humanity would draw the same conclusions I have, but the consequences to an encyclopedia that himself and even the allies, opposition and arbcom members genuinely care about. He decided, with the outcome of little doubt, that the best thing he could do for the encyclopedia and himself was to walk away. Arbcom did not win, the opposition did not win, civility did not win, Wikipedia did not win, humanity did not win. All accounts lost. That's the result of arbcom when it deals with humanity. That's the result of conflicts of interest when the passion and the love of ones own views outweighs reasoned temperance. --ARoseWolf 17:16, 18 May 2021 (UTC)

I said (Hammersoft talk) that the case would not improve kindness, nor a single article. Cassandre again. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 17:44, 18 May 2021 (UTC)

Spot on as usual. I tried explaining this with my ex-husband years ago when he felt I should be more upset over him leaving the way he did. My seemingly blasé attitude was not because his actions did not affect me. If he would have known me better then he would have understood that my actions were completely in character for myself. I point inward when tragic events occur. The normally talkative and bubbly personality turns to quiet reflection. Most likely I would withdraw like RexxS did rather than engage in defense of myself. If I am still talking then I haven't reached that point. --ARoseWolf 18:05, 18 May 2021 (UTC)

I was quite bubbly in "our" case, but then understood the perfect guide, nutshell: "Arbitrators usually work from broad impressions and do not consider details, nuance, or context." and finally "You're completely on your own in interpreting any nuances or inconsistencies in the announced decision. While it is possible to file a request for clarification my experience is that the Arbitrators would rather gnaw their own limbs off than provide meaningful guidance to the implications of their decisions." - So, if another case came along, I'd just not participate. Waste of time. Did you read the fascinating bio of Raimund Hoghe? That's what we are here for. He who wrote the guide was also a Raymond in real life. We wanted him for arb. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 18:23, 18 May 2021 (UTC)

I did read the bio. His life was quite intriguing to me. I often wonder if he knew just how impactful he was. I think most people are like that. We are our own biggest critics. You put me on to so many intriguing life songs. Now I need to go read about Raymond. I read everything. It fascinates me. I take my time. I digest all words and roll them around inside me hoping to fully understand the complexity of the individual(s) that constructed them. Sometimes this takes longer than other times. When I was first introduced to RexxS, by you, I spent the better part of a day or two just pouring over his talk page and user page, then I branched out to the case. I have spent a lot of time looking at it, just allowing the depth of me to consume each word to determine the motive and feeling behind it. EVERY word/action has its base foundation in feeling and a state of being. The colors help me but its still my human personality that determines how I see it to a degree. I can own that it is initially tainted by the lens of my own system of colors and sounds. But then I take time to filter it through my understanding of humanity from the experience of life, just life. The results are as neutral and objective a conclusion that I can possibly determine. --ARoseWolf 19:03, 18 May 2021 (UTC)

Raymond Arritt - I miss him every day, although we chatted only once a year, for Precious anniversary. I had no idea what he did for the environment, until he died. - He is quoted in my edit notice, note to self. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 19:09, 18 May 2021 (UTC)

I will pick up with Raymond later but he seems to be another song that I would have liked the personal interaction with. --ARoseWolf 20:27, 18 May 2021 (UTC)

As a bloke (albeit not a particularly stereotypical one) I can empathise with the view that "This whole encyclopedia needs to listen to women more." In fact, I'd go a bit further, and say that this whole encyclopedia needs to listen to the widest and most diverse set of people that it possibly can. It will ultimately make the encyclopedia better. Ritchie333 ^{(talk) (cont)} 16:03, 19 May 2021 (UTC)

Good point, and no contradiction: I don't mean don't listen to men, and see, the three in my edit notice are all men. For Alazi, I didn't know for a while - because of the image on the user page of a naked woman looking at herself in a mirror, but of course a man's view, and because of saying that man/woman is way to simple - and I actually liked not to know and both possible, and both good - but on one occasion he said something like "of course I'm a man or I could take this shit better". How I miss him. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 17:04, 19 May 2021 (UTC)

Life here in wild Alaska doesn't care if you are a man or woman. That's one of the reasons I love it so much. There is one law...survive. You know where you stand and you better mind your step. My sister-in-law and I were driven off the trail by a pack of wolves while we were out on a ptarmigan hunt once. I cared not that we were saved by men. I love the diversity of the sources of knowledge here. I agree that we should listen more to them all. --ARoseWolf 17:20, 19 May 2021 (UTC)

I finally finished reading Ray's talk page, every archived word of it. I am absolutely convinced he was one of the coolest guys to ever live. How can I miss him even though I never exchanged words with him? But I do. I have copied the ten points no doubt written by Raymond at some point and expressed through his widow. I will incorporate them into my philosophy on life. It's already pretty close to that anyway. --ARoseWolf 18:01, 19 May 2021 (UTC)

I do like his support for Clinton as President. See also my remarks at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2019 February 25#Wikipedia:Dramaboard. Ritchie333 ^{(talk) (cont)} 19:53, 19 May 2021 (UTC)

Oh! I wrote that! (WP:Ignore all dramas). I'd completely forgotten. -- Yes, I miss Raymond. We had hilarious conversations, including by email. I regret not getting to meet him in "real life". Antandrus (talk) 20:05, 19 May 2021 (UTC)

@Antandrus and Ritchie333: The amazingly beautiful jewel that is Gerda has put me on the trail of quite a few amazing life songs as of late. I miss them though I never got the opportunity to interact with them but I do have their words and their colors find a way through to me. Each of you were impacted by them and an impact always leaves something behind so part of them is part of you. In that way I do get to meet them through each of you. On top of that I get to listen to your unique songs while improving this project which is pretty incredible for me. --ARoseWolf 20:23, 19 May 2021 (UTC)

Tsistunagiska, However, WP:Ignore all dramas also says, as a welcome footnote, "We're still an encyclopedia, and we still need your help." I'm never going to run out of articles to improve, and having taken 150 articles to good article status, the next goal will be to take that total to 200. Ritchie333 ^{(talk) (cont)} 20:40, 19 May 2021 (UTC)

Absolutely, Ritchie, yes. And Tsistunagiska, in one of those haunting synchronicities in life, I delivered almost exactly your thought, in some of your words, when I gave the eulogy at a memorial service not long ago. We often underestimate the impact we leave on others, sometimes by a lot. You put it really well. Antandrus (talk) 22:01, 19 May 2021 (UTC)

impact - thank you! - (May I introduce Dreadstar to you, RoseWolf? ... who helped me to 'ignore, ignore, ignore" in 2012) --- I need help with translation. Wo Menschen sich vergessen, that phrase, and the the refrain "Da berühren sich Himmel und Erde, dass Frieden werde unter uns". There heaven and earth touch each other so that peace may come (become? grow? be? develop?) among us. - "werden" is hard in English. "Es werde Licht" (from Genesis). - "Menschen" is hard. "sich berühren" is hard. "Himmel" is hard. - And all too long for DYK. I'll probably just say that it was the openening of the streamed service for the ecumenical open air service opening the Kirchentag in Frankurt, planned as a giant meeting in an arena, now instead on a parkdeck with four singers, with the skyline somewhat as pictured above. You saw the skyscrapers right and the Paulskirche left, under a blue sky (Himmel) on Ascension Day (Himmelfahrt). Wo Menschen sich vergessen, where people let go of their ego peace may come. Antandrus, you said that recently, - back to impact ;) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 05:32, 20 May 2021 (UTC)

@Ritchie333, Antandrus, and Gerda Arendt: my grandfather loved the phrase Finché c'è vita, c'è speranza - While there is life, there is hope. He slipped me a piece of folded up paper about a week before he passed and told me to hold on to it, that I would know when the right time to read it was. Every time I went to unfold that paper something stopped me. It kind of slipped from memory in the weeks, months and even years that followed. My grandmother didn't handle losing him well. She became more and more sick and the dementia started taking over her life. To add to it, my uncle and aunt (adopted parents) died in a car accident almost a year after he passed. We both didn't handle that well. Her health continued to deteriorate at a rapid pace to the point where she required 24 hour care so I pretty much moved in with her, probably what ended my marriage. One day, she was quite lucid, she called out to grandfather and I don't know if it was the way she said his name or not but I instantly remembered that letter. I ran home and found it and brought it back to my grandmother and as I sat beside her I opened it. At the very top in his handwriting, Finché c'è vita, c'è speranza. He wrote about his life, losing his parents in WW2 and finding my grandmother in Italy and so many memories . Some things I had heard before, somethings I hadn't. He was never one to share many feelings but he poured them into this little letter. He told me what that phrase meant to him. Paraphrasing: "Life doesn't end with death so long as we continue to live inside those that we have impacted." There is always hope so long as the life essence of the earth remains. We are but a string, a note, a melody. One instrumental in a vast ocean that is a symphony of great voices. Our song is unique and important but together with other songs it is the continuation of life and thereby hope remains. --ARoseWolf 13:18, 20 May 2021 (UTC)

That's beautiful. Thank you. Antandrus (talk) 14:37, 20 May 2021 (UTC)

... yes, and just what I need - singing my song of defiance of death and fear (see top). --Gerda Arendt (talk) 14:55, 20 May 2021 (UTC)

Your story makes an important point - behind each Wikipedia editor is a real person with a background and story to tell. I've had ups and downs in my life too, I just don't feel like expressing them publicly on-wiki. So thank you for wanting to be open about yours. Ritchie333 ^{(talk) (cont)} 18:30, 20 May 2021 (UTC)

A personal reflection: When you bathe in a stream in the middle of nature and live in a house with very few doors then you quickly learn that your life experiences are not really just your own. Our journey is meant to be shared. Our story is meant to be told. Our song wants to be heard. Who am I to deny it? --ARoseWolf 18:38, 20 May 2021 (UTC)

You listen to my song, wonderfully! --Gerda Arendt (talk) 19:00, 20 May 2021 (UTC)

Sometimes it takes me a little while but I do hear most Songs that I come into contact with. Everyone thinks "conflict" is an evil. I don't view it that way. Conflicts that turn toxic can hurt us and that's why we need filters. We all spin at different speeds. Sometimes we collide causing damage to each other. Other times we find the right Song that helps us repair damage to ourselves. Still other times there is damage that can't be repaired, like a deep scratch on one of those old vinyl records we love so much. It sounds like skips and bumps. Momentary pauses in the Song that is our life adventure. We keep moving though. Keep growing. Keep experiencing. Why? Because life is worth it. The journey has value. I will say that if going through everything in my life lead me to edit and improve this encyclopedia just to meet some of you and share in the beauty that is your Song's then it was absolutely worth it. Dreadstar was an interesting one, different, but equally magnetic. I am very glad they found depositories in which to pour themselves into while they were here. It left an impression on so many. --ARoseWolf 13:43, 21 May 2021 (UTC)

yes, thank you! Dreadstar was an actor, with an IMDb entry, DYK? And such a good friend. He stayed in email contact after he left WP, being desysopped for bad reasons (sounds familiar?) The last email was Christmassy, saying how much he cherished the friendship. The news of his death was a shock, not only for me, as you can see on his talk, which we restored against his will. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 15:37, 21 May 2021 (UTC)

I could tell there was a bit of acting in his approach, particularly early in his talk page. I am not surprised he was desysopped, one of the reasons I always pause before endorsing my support of a candidate for admin. I want to say, "Whatever you believe in, pray to them cause you are going to need it". However, I think most will do well, just stay uncontroversial, something I find hard to do (lol). I noticed his talk page was restored against his will. In this case I feel it is justified. So many can learn the perfectly flawed magnificence that is Dreadstar on Wikipedia if they will simply listen. --ARoseWolf 15:49, 21 May 2021 (UTC)

He was a rather uncontroversial admin until he protected a featured article for a week because of an edit-war about the hidden notice (!) to prevent an infobox. He was called to task for having protected (no more) while involved. Kafka, all the time. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 16:01, 21 May 2021 (UTC)

I agree. Seems like such a frivolous and trivial thing to be attacked over. I have read some of the ferocity from all sides in the infobox wars. Not picking a side and rehashing the issues of the past but to lose so many good editors over this, beyond the affect being dressed down and desysopped has on individuals, deserved or not, is simply mind-boggling. --ARoseWolf 16:41, 21 May 2021 (UTC)

Yes, people can get very dug in over inconsequential things. I think that once one's ego becomes over-involved, the inconsequential can seem more consequential than it actually is. The world's wisdom traditions all recognize, among other things, that where one's ego is involved, one suffers. Personally I am trying to back away from such conflicts, and there are many such (not only on "infoboxes"). Spending time in nature gives one valuable perspective, I believe. I think I will go outside today. :) Antandrus (talk) 16:53, 21 May 2021 (UTC)

Antandrus, I edit while being outside a lot right now for that express purpose. It looks like rain later today. Dark clouds overhead. I will always recommend walking away from enflamed situations here. That is sage advice for us all, self included. I have let myself become over-involved in situations and generally there was an irrational response. Once I was able to reset I could see that and make adjustments. --ARoseWolf 17:03, 21 May 2021 (UTC)

The problem with the "infobox wars" is that several of the major players on the "anti-infobox" side are people I would consider friends. If consensus is now that articles should have an infobox in order to be considered properly developed, I can get behind that as long as it closes the debate. As for getting "dug in over inconsequential things", I think the other thing to realise is we all have different views on what is important, and all it takes to have a blazing row is to have two editors with strong but diametrically-opposed views that nobody else cares about. I think my current bete noire that I get annoyed about (but no more than that) is people putting frivolous tags on articles (something I know Antandrus has commented on in the past), which makes me wish back to simpler times when WP:SOFIXIT was widely practiced. That said, it does happen if you look closely; when Smirkybec got stuck into improving O'Connell Street with me and actively helped out at the GA review, I thought "hallelujah, collaborative editing's not dead yet!" Ritchie333 ^{(talk) (cont)} 10:00, 22 May 2021 (UTC)

Today, I came across Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Underwater diving in popular culture, which looks heading for a "delete" close. Who's a good editor who can help rescue diving articles? Ah, RexxS. *sigh* Ritchie333 ^{(talk) (cont)} 13:50, 22 May 2021 (UTC)

(quick stop here, feast days and company:) The infobox wars are dead. GFHandel made an edit today, after 9 years!!! Turn to articles. Celebrate with friends. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 15:43, 22 May 2021 (UTC)

Ritchie333 thank you so much for tagging me in, reading the whole conversation I feel amongst friends here :) I miss Rexx too (I'm lucky enough to see him IRL from time to time, always a joy to chat with). Here's to more editing with friends! Smirkybec (talk) 19:44, 22 May 2021 (UTC)

Welcome, Rebecca. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 22:35, 22 May 2021 (UTC)

May 1455

		Reform, renewal
		"...& alle othir there that willed the reformacion thereof"

Thank you, SN! Reformation is a work in progress. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 07:09, 2 June 2021 (UTC)

DYK for Philipp Harnoncourt

On 30 May 2021, Did you know was updated with a fact from the article Philipp Harnoncourt, which you recently created, substantially expanded, or brought to good article status. The fact was ... that Philipp Harnoncourt (pictured) initiated the restoration of a Gothic chapel with a triangle floorplan, originally dedicated to the Trinity and reopened on Trinity Sunday 2020? The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Philipp Harnoncourt. You are welcome to check how many pageviews the nominated article or articles got while on the front page (here's how, Philipp Harnoncourt), and if they received a combined total of at least 416.7 views per hour (i.e., 5,000 views in 12 hours or 10,000 in 24), the hook may be added to the statistics page. Finally, if you know of an interesting fact from another recently created article, then please feel free to suggest it on the Did you know talk page.

 — Amakuru (talk) 00:02, 30 May 2021 (UTC)

He stood for something useless but not senseless ("nutzlos, aber nicht sinnlos"), and especially meaningful today, on Trinity Sunday. He inspired many to help, and restored a building that was meant to be demolished more than once back to its original message, at an "impossible location". It's rare that a person is pictured when a dream comes true. - If you understand spoken German: there's a lecture by him on YT. The opening, on Trinity Sunday last year, is also available. For a quick glimpse from that opening: [4] - Matching: Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon. Thanks to all involved, making exception after exception! - If you still have time, there's Gott Vater, sei gepriesen for the day, "reconcile what is divided". --Gerda Arendt (talk) 07:47, 30 May 2021 (UTC)

Shoot for the Stars!

	Shoot for the Stars!
	Thank you so much for all your help on improving Shoot for the Stars, Aim for the Moon! You do not know how thankful I am for your help on improving this article.This album means so much to me and it will be FA in no time thanks to you! You know I'm shooting for the stars, aiming for the moon 💫 (talk) 06:55, 2 June 2021 (UTC)

Thank you! We try. It will be #3 FA initiated on this page in 2021, and I love it. No reward needed, but much appreciated, good for my blushing zone ;) - How do you like this star? --Gerda Arendt (talk) 07:02, 2 June 2021 (UTC)

I think it is beautiful. I am also Catholic and am very proud of it! I have not been to mass in months because of school and work, but now since school is over. I am going to a very beautiful Cathedral that is near me and pray for my priest who died from Covid in January. You know I'm shooting for the stars, aiming for the moon 💫 (talk) 07:12, 2 June 2021 (UTC)

We miss too many, but flowers, music and stars will survive, and shooting for them. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 07:23, 2 June 2021 (UTC)

... and this month's flower even looks like a star ;) - I see it shoot where I sit, but in this cold year, it may take to July to bloom. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 07:37, 2 June 2021 (UTC)

Do you think I could nominated the article a little earlier than its two week period? I am going to be working full time at a new job and will have to start getting ready to leave college soon. Meaning I will have to leave Wikipedia in July. You know I'm shooting for the stars, aiming for the moon 💫 (talk) 08:17, 2 June 2021 (UTC)

Ask Gog the Mild, who will mildly say yes. (Was granted for the last such case which made it to FA then.) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 08:19, 2 June 2021 (UTC)

DYK for Jubilate Deo (Britten)

On 10 June 2021, Did you know was updated with a fact from the article Jubilate Deo (Britten), which you recently created, substantially expanded, or brought to good article status. The fact was ... that the Jubilate by Benjamin Britten was written in 1961 for St George's Chapel (pictured) at the request of the Duke of Edinburgh, and performed there for some of his birthdays and his funeral? The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Jubilate Deo (Britten). You are welcome to check how many pageviews the nominated article or articles got while on the front page (here's how, Jubilate Deo (Britten)), and if they received a combined total of at least 416.7 views per hour (i.e., 5,000 views in 12 hours or 10,000 in 24), the hook may be added to the statistics page. Finally, if you know of an interesting fact from another recently created article, then please feel free to suggest it on the Did you know talk page.

Cwmhiraeth (talk) 12:02, 10 June 2021 (UTC)

Blessing to me

Gerda, you have been such a blessing to me over the last several weeks and months, even before I left for winter. I have enjoyed our conversations here in regards to life and improving this encyclopedic adventure for everyone who takes the first step to explore. I always encourage others to become explorers here, no matter what position they take. I have been fortunate to have met some extremely interesting people here and gotten to know them through Wikipedia in a way I might not have otherwise. I have also met some, through you, whom I wish I had been able to get to know better but our stars did not align for such a meeting. Still, I heard their songs through your song and my life is enriched because of it. Every encounter, whether it has been one born out of moments of kindness and our mutual common shared humanity or even those begun in moments of discord and disagreement have been moments I keep very close to my heart and will cherish forever. Forever, that seems like such a long time. Indefinite. Undefined? I think it is very defined. Eternal? Perhaps, but definitely every day that I am given to enjoy the songs around me on this Earth. I don't know what tomorrow brings but I am ready to face whatever it is. I spent this weekend in the hospital. I don't mind sharing what I know but will not speculate or entertain anything that I do not know. I woke up Friday feeling very weak. Brian, my daughters father, noted my paleness and so we arranged a flight to Fairbanks. I went to hospital there and by Saturday I was in Anchorage getting blood transfusions, I have had seven in total, and having all kinds of tests run. My hemoglobin levels have been hovering around 5-6. The transfusions typically bring me back to a low normal level for a few hours but gradually fall back to sub 7 levels which indicates that my marrow is not producing red blood cells like it should. I have had no other symptoms other than fatigue and pale skin and they have ruled out any internal bleeding based on the testing. They called in a hematologist and they scheduled a bone marrow biopsy. I had a biopsy done early in 2019 that came back negative for leukemia but they want another biopsy due to my symptoms and what the hematologist saw in my blood. It's difficult for me to stay calm in hospitals, partly due to my past and partly due to the overwhelming emotions that are tied to hospitals in general and specifically, but I will manage that. I'm not scared. I'm not even nervous. I've been trying to be the most difficult patient, its the nonconformist in me (lol). No, seriously though, I'm having fun with the hospital staff and they are are having fun right back with me. Life is too short not to have fun with it and laughing is good for body, mind and spirit. I trust you are well and thank you for the June message. I try to improve where I can and genuinely love the Wikipedia experience. --ARoseWolf 15:57, 21 June 2021 (UTC)

Perhaps you are not nervous but I am now, sending all good wishes, - feel it? LouisAlain, did you meet him yet? Also strange symptoms. Life is not fair, - insect bites being all I could complain about right now. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 16:05, 21 June 2021 (UTC)

Good recovery! Grimes2 (talk) 16:13, 21 June 2021 (UTC)

How could I not feel your well wishes, Gerda? The wind carries them to me no matter where I am. They are like a beautiful melody, so sweet to my ears. Life is not fair, no, and many face things they do not deserve to. It can be discouraging to many when they see it and I am sure that many more even ask why but I love that quote from one of JRR Tolkien's characters, whom he said probably most emulated himself, when the wish for dark times and heavy tasks to have never come was put forward. He said, "“So do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” When faced with difficult times, we take courage in the fact that we are not the only ones to have ever experienced difficult times and also in the knowledge that "white shores and, beyond, a far green country into a swift sunrise" is always waiting around the corner ;-). It is a comfort. I have not had the fortune of meeting LouisAlain but I would very much enjoy that chance. And thank you, Grimes2. Very gracious of you. --ARoseWolf 16:21, 21 June 2021 (UTC)

I was just informed that it's positive even without getting the full results back so I won't be leaving the hospital for now. They will be coming in soon to let me know what the next steps are in the process. Thank you for the positive vibes and I very much hope you will continue sending them to me. I'm not sad for me but for my daughter. She had to go through this before with her mother and I want different results this time. Anyway, chin up, deep breath, here we go! :) --ARoseWolf 16:35, 22 June 2021 (UTC)

A rainbow for my dear rainbow soul! - "Chin up" I heard in 2013, fondly remembered (and it was up already) ;) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 11:29, 24 June 2021 (UTC)

I needed that rainbow. Thank you so much. I think I have spent more time out of my bed staring out the window than I have in the bed. I'm like a little girl again. Every time someone knocks on the door I jump back into bed. My isolation has started. Day one began last night. The only visitors I get now are my interactions through this screen. The only people I see are the medical staff fully covered head-to-toe. But I see them and hear their songs, no gowns or gloves can hide from the eye of the soul. One thing I struggle with in the lonely times in between, It's hard not to think about little microscopic things going through my bones killing everything inside them. Mmmmm, Rainbows ~ Bright, vibrant, clear, swirling all around, pure, rich, deep, Music to the Soul, soft, warm, sweet, Sunkisses on the cheek, Rainbow calling to us, look, listen, live, love colourfully. --ARoseWolf 13:20, 24 June 2021 (UTC)

Did you know how inspiring you are? - I added more pics to my impressions, the yum-yum strawberry cake pictured, rose clouds reflected in the Rhine, - meet if you are in the mood. - Want to meet another great person who was here? Eric Corbett who said chin-up (which I didn't need but needed solace because Ched had left then). --Gerda Arendt (talk) 13:41, 24 June 2021 (UTC)

Another great read and a beautiful song shared. Thank you. :) As far as inspirations go, I was told a version of a story a lot of people have heard before, from another dear friend, years ago. It goes like this, A man walked along the shoreline and in the distance saw a shape that looked like it may be dancing. It was on a bright and warm sunny day and the tide was slowly slipping back out to sea. As he got closer he saw it was a young woman bending over and picking something up and tossing it into the ocean. He called to her, "Young woman, what are you doing?" She replied, "I'm tossing these starfish back into the ocean before the sun dries them out." The man looked beyond her at the miles of shoreline and quipped back, "But there is too many of them and miles of shore. What can one person do? You can't possibly save them all." She briefly paused and then tossed the one she had picked up back into the ocean. Then she turned to the man and responded, "I don't have to save them all. That one is back home so I just need to make a difference for the next one." With that she bent over, picked up the next one and tossed it with a smile. That has been my approach in life when dealing with others. I have been asked if I have ever intentionally caused conflict or chaos. If I felt it would save another starfish, in a heartbeat. Songs tell me what to say and when to do. I hear because I listen. I see because I look. I sing because I know. I have saved many, lost more still, but I never give up because the next one matters. Soul work is sometimes dark and dirty. Remember to just keep singing the song that brings people home. --ARoseWolf 14:53, 24 June 2021 (UTC)

"the next one matters" - how true, thank you for the reminder! --Gerda Arendt (talk) 14:57, 24 June 2021 (UTC)

Our collaborations....!

Hi Gerda, thanks for your messages. Yes we DID collaborate on Graham Waterhouse, and also (if you remember) on Hugh Maguire, whose lyre has since fallen silent. Despite all hopes and good intentions, going back at least to that time if not before, still no-one has written articles about Arnold Goldsborough or Herbert Downes. Although I am not a mighty one for anniversaries, I have just been celebrating one with my dear Mum, who reached a very remarkable birthday recently. I like your special new page. I am somewhat without music at present, apart from growling out some biblical chants to myself, and I can't have a piano where I am (having recently moved), so I am considering whether to invest in a spinet to dream away the idle hours. Spinets do have such a melodious twang about them: but they don't come very cheap!! I hope you are keeping well in these troublous times. warmest greetings, Eebahgum (talk) 21:34, 24 June 2021 (UTC)

yes I do remember, and yes, too many articles not yet written, and yes, chants are the most personal expression, with no other instruments than a voice, and yes, spinets are not cheap - look around: I'm healthy but too many are not --Gerda Arendt (talk) 22:10, 24 June 2021 (UTC)

DYK for Psalm 85

On 3 July 2021, Did you know was updated with a fact from the article Psalm 85, which you recently created, substantially expanded, or brought to good article status. The fact was ... that a verse from Psalm 85 has inspired artworks depicting the kiss of Justice and Peace? The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Psalm 85. You are welcome to check how many pageviews the nominated article or articles got while on the front page (here's how, Psalm 85), and if they received a combined total of at least 416.7 views per hour (i.e., 5,000 views in 12 hours or 10,000 in 24), the hook may be added to the statistics page. Finally, if you know of an interesting fact from another recently created article, then please feel free to suggest it on the Did you know talk page.

Cwmhiraeth (talk) 00:02, 3 July 2021 (UTC)

... in the set today in memory of Yoninah. Around 100 psalm articles are waiting for improvement, DYK? --Gerda Arendt (talk) 06:24, 3 July 2021 (UTC)

Greetings Gerda

I just wanted to say hello Gerda, and to thank you for your kindness in remembering me. I am glad to see that you are still active in improving Wikipedia and want you to know that I am considering a wiki-return to editing myself. Either way, I wish you the very best!--John Cline (talk) 03:59, 3 July 2021 (UTC)

Lovely, John! --Gerda Arendt (talk) 06:24, 3 July 2021 (UTC)

DYK for Heiligen-Geist-Kapelle, Bruck

On 4 July 2021, Did you know was updated with a fact from the article Heiligen-Geist-Kapelle, Bruck, which you recently created, substantially expanded, or brought to good article status. The fact was ... that the Heiligen-Geist-Kapelle in Bruck, a unique late-Gothic chapel with a star rib vault (pictured), was almost demolished to make room for a highway? The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Heiligen-Geist-Kapelle, Bruck. You are welcome to check how many pageviews the nominated article or articles got while on the front page (here's how, Heiligen-Geist-Kapelle, Bruck), and if they received a combined total of at least 416.7 views per hour (i.e., 5,000 views in 12 hours or 10,000 in 24), the hook may be added to the statistics page. Finally, if you know of an interesting fact from another recently created article, then please feel free to suggest it on the Did you know talk page.

Cwmhiraeth (talk) 00:02, 4 July 2021 (UTC)

... but was rescued and restored on the initiative of Philipp Harnoncourt, who won his siblings (Nikolaus, Franz, Karl, ...), the city of Bruck and more supporters. Franz and his wife were at the opening one day after Philipp's funeral, - YouTube in the article. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 06:34, 4 July 2021 (UTC)

Thanks, Gerda

Thanks, Gerda, I'm glad you liked my essay ... Chiswick Chap (talk) 08:47, 4 July 2021 (UTC)

It's great! - Recommended reading: You don't have to be mad to work here, but, - which is so true in a broader sense for our doings here ;) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 08:55, 4 July 2021 (UTC)

Fourth of July, Brian's birthday, remembered in gratitude for his unfailing inspiration and support. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 10:11, 4 July 2021 (UTC)

Mary Shelley scheduled for TFA

This is to let you know that the above article has been scheduled as today's featured article for 30 August, 2021. Please check that the article needs no amendments. A coordinator will draft a blurb - based on your draft if the TFA came via TFA requests, or from an existing blurb on the FAC talk page if one has been posted. Feel free to comment on this. We suggest that you watchlist Wikipedia:Main Page/Errors from the day before this appears on Main Page. Thanks and congratulations on your work. Gog the Mild (talk) 16:00, 5 July 2021 (UTC)

Gog be mild, my work was only the nomination. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 20:00, 5 July 2021 (UTC)

Boohoo

Don't you miss me no more? (joke; thanks for missing me for so long). Belle (talk) 11:35, 6 July 2021 (UTC)

Belle, belle!!! Your day just passed, and I turned to stricter rulez: whoever didn't edit during the past year obviously didn't need a new reminder. - I'll give it to you, after food. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 11:38, 6 July 2021 (UTC)

DYK for Christa Ludwig (writer)

On 12 July 2021, Did you know was updated with a fact from the article Christa Ludwig (writer), which you recently created, substantially expanded, or brought to good article status. The fact was ... that Christa Ludwig, known for fiction for young horse-lovers, received a prize after her novel about Else Lasker-Schüler's late years in Jerusalem was published? The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Christa Ludwig (writer). You are welcome to check how many pageviews the nominated article or articles got while on the front page (here's how, Christa Ludwig (writer)), and if they received a combined total of at least 416.7 views per hour (i.e., 5,000 views in 12 hours or 10,000 in 24), the hook may be added to the statistics page. Finally, if you know of an interesting fact from another recently created article, then please feel free to suggest it on the Did you know talk page.

— Maile (talk) 00:03, 12 July 2021 (UTC)

This was written thinking of memories. She introduced me to Rilke, Die Aufzeichnungen des Malte Laurids Brigge. Today, I also remember Frank Stähle's birthday who introduced me to Mendelssohn, Elias, remember. I am thankful having listened to Fidelio this weekend, in concert, with dear people. - I need help with Psalm 86 and about 100 other psalms, missing Yoninah, in whose memory I added Jerusalem to this hook. - Waiting: expanding holocaust survivor Esther Béjarano and tenor Rainer Trost, and both have to be today, and all the things I'm behind remebered or forgotten. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 08:21, 12 July 2021 (UTC)

DYK for Die güldne Sonne voll Freud und Wonne

On 16 July 2021, Did you know was updated with a fact from the article Die güldne Sonne voll Freud und Wonne, which you recently created, substantially expanded, or brought to good article status. The fact was ... that for the morning song "Die güldne Sonne voll Freud und Wonne", the poet found a new metre, and the composer a new melody, to reflect the many meanings of "rising"? The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Die güldne Sonne voll Freud und Wonne. You are welcome to check how many pageviews the nominated article or articles got while on the front page (here's how, Die güldne Sonne voll Freud und Wonne), and if they received a combined total of at least 416.7 views per hour (i.e., 5,000 views in 12 hours or 10,000 in 24), the hook may be added to the statistics page. Finally, if you know of an interesting fact from another recently created article, then please feel free to suggest it on the Did you know talk page.

Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 12:02, 16 July 2021 (UTC)

• Congratulations--well done! Drmies (talk) 13:16, 16 July 2021 (UTC)

  Thank you, Drmies. One of the songs I received for last year's virtual birthday singing. The cousin who "gave" it to me, hesitated because of the line "... lagen darnieder" (... were down), but rising from being down in more than one sense is what the song - and life - is about. We just met last weekend, - once a year ;) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 14:24, 16 July 2021 (UTC)

Flood

Some asked about the flood, and I explained in some detail (see Floq#July music) that I was not hit personally, but shocked about the loss. In my picture book, the last image I took is of rainbows over the Rhine which flooded a pedestrian bridge in Geisenheim. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 07:26, 17 July 2021 (UTC)

Glad you're ok! Rubbish computer (Talk: Contribs) 13:21, 19 July 2021 (UTC)

When devastation hits it is only natural to see the destruction and tremble at the magnitude of it. I know there are those who are affected and my heart reaches out to them. I know their pain of loss. But those rainbows remind me of something my grandmother used to tell me. Even in the darkest times of devastation there is beauty to be found. Sometimes it's very hard to find and it is always difficult to see past the loss but it is there if we are willing to take the time to look. I am sending my love and thoughts to those affected by this flooding. Hope is an enduring virtue of humanity! --ARoseWolf 13:42, 19 July 2021 (UTC)

"Geh aus, mein Herz, und suche Freud", that's the song I was given the most for my birthday, and it translates to "Go out, my heart, and search for delight", which is exactly what you described. The husband wrote it to his wife after they had survived the 30 years war, having lost four of five children. - Flood: my parents were treated - long ago - in the evacuated hospital, but they are no longer there. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 14:27, 19 July 2021 (UTC)

Its hard to lose something or someone you love so much. In 2018 I lost my grandmother, the strongest woman I have ever known. My youngest brother and I were with her when she passed. I couldn't take her loss so I left the hospital and walked. I came upon this diner and went inside. I saw this little girl sitting on a stool at the bar and I asked her if I could sit beside her. She looked at me but didn't speak. I sat down and tried making small talk but she never said a word. I asked what was good to eat here and she looked at her plate, a cheeseburger and fries. I ordered the same and when they brought me my plate I made a funny face on the patty with the condiments. I asked her if she wanted me to do the same for her and she nodded. I drew a face on her patty and we both began eating. She finally smiled. That was when her father showed up and was amazed that I was able to get her to eat with no fuss. I could feel the tragedy hovering over her without her saying a word. I asked her father about her and he told me that they lost her mother to cancer when she was four. She was now seven and hadn't spoken a word publicly in three years. We talked for a while and then we had to go our separate ways. I asked if I could see her again and her father agreed to meet with me the next morning there at the diner. As I walked to the diner the next morning I stopped by every store to try and find something to give her. I walked by windows looking in and I found exactly what I wanted, bought it and made it to the diner. They were both sitting together on one side of the table so I sat down opposite her and after exchanging hellos with her father I turned my focus on the little girl. I told her I had gotten her a gift but she had to promise to take care of it because its special. She nodded and I told her to close her eyes and hold out her hand. I placed it in her hand and told her to open her eyes. I had placed a rainbow keychain in her hand that said, "Be A Rainbow Today". Then I told her the story of my childhood. My fears, my pain, the never ending torture I endured and how I gave up on life and refused to speak words. But then I told her about my grandmother. How she refused to allow the darkness of a tormented life to consume me. How she said enough was enough and started fighting the shadows with her songs and words of love. She was not going to leave her grand daughter to suffer the life of a victim. She moved into the room next to mine and began holding me at night when the terrors would come. Se would sing songs in Hebrew, many from the Torah. She would squeeze me tight and rock me. One day she came home with a picture of a Rainbow and put it over my bed and dared my Papa to remove it. That night she pointed at the Rainbow and told me that I am that Rainbow. I am a Promise of a better day. All who look at the Rainbow will be reminded of the Promise that storms will not last forever and Beauty is always around the corner. A promise of renewal, that we do not have to live the existence of a victim but can rise above it and thrive in life overcoming the terror. That's my story. She helped me learn to speak again. She gave me my voice back. And I gave it to that little girl because she is that Rainbow too. That little girl became my daughter. Now I cant keep her quiet and I never want to. Her voice is so precious to me and I love hearing it. --ARoseWolf 15:47, 19 July 2021 (UTC)

I am glad your family is okay, Gerda. Sorry for the long comment but I wanted you to know part of my story. You are such a good friend to me here. --ARoseWolf 15:49, 19 July 2021 (UTC)

Your stories are wonderful and never too long! I love their details! --Gerda Arendt (talk) 15:52, 19 July 2021 (UTC)

@ARoseWolf: That is a story of astonishing beauty. I had a moment of just staring into the morning light coming through my trees. Wow.

Gerda, was thinking about you with regard to the news. Glad you are all well. Best regards from my land of drought and fire! Antandrus (talk) 16:07, 19 July 2021 (UTC)

Heard about the fires, holding breath. Thank you! --Gerda Arendt (talk) 19:38, 19 July 2021 (UTC)

Antandrus, meaningful words. If they don't carry you to a place of adventure and growth and open your eyes to the beauty around you then they haven't done their purpose. Very beautiful image of the sun peeking through the trees. I love seeing the light of hearts breaking through the clouds of life to reveal the colors of the soul. --ARoseWolf 16:15, 19 July 2021 (UTC)

The colours you paint carry strength and glow, thank you! --Gerda Arendt (talk) 19:38, 19 July 2021 (UTC)

DYK for Cello sonatas (Vivaldi)

On 21 July 2021, Did you know was updated with a fact from the article Cello sonatas (Vivaldi), which you recently created, substantially expanded, or brought to good article status. The fact was ... that although Vivaldi composed cello sonatas for private international customers, six of them were published in Paris in 1740 without his permission? The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Cello Sonatas (Vivaldi). You are welcome to check how many pageviews the nominated article or articles got while on the front page (here's how, Cello sonatas (Vivaldi)), and if they received a combined total of at least 416.7 views per hour (i.e., 5,000 views in 12 hours or 10,000 in 24), the hook may be added to the statistics page. Finally, if you know of an interesting fact from another recently created article, then please feel free to suggest it on the Did you know talk page.

Schwede66 12:02, 21 July 2021 (UTC)

Player pictured above --Gerda Arendt (talk) 12:15, 21 July 2021 (UTC)

DYK for O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort

On 23 July 2021, Did you know was updated with a fact from the article O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort, which you recently created, substantially expanded, or brought to good article status. The fact was ... that "O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort", translated as "Eternity! tremendous Word", is a hymn by Johann Rist (pictured) that served as the basis for the first work in Bach's chorale cantata cycle? The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort. You are welcome to check how many pageviews the nominated article or articles got while on the front page (here's how, O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort), and if they received a combined total of at least 416.7 views per hour (i.e., 5,000 views in 12 hours or 10,000 in 24), the hook may be added to the statistics page. Finally, if you know of an interesting fact from another recently created article, then please feel free to suggest it on the Did you know talk page.

— Maile (talk) 12:02, 23 July 2021 (UTC)

August Editathons from Women in Red

Women in Red | August 2021, Volume 7, Issue 8, Numbers 184, 188, 204, 205, 206, 207 Online events: New: Indigenous women | Women's leadership & empowerment Contest (Jul/Aug/Sep): Latin America contest Continuing: Olympic & Paralympic Games | Women's rights | #1day1woman

--Megalibrarygirl (talk) 22:25, 23 July 2021 (UTC) via MassMessaging

ITN recognition for Alfred Biolek

On 24 July 2021, In the news was updated with an item that involved the article Alfred Biolek, which you updated. If you know of another recently created or updated article suitable for inclusion in ITN, please suggest it on the candidates page. PFHLai (talk) 14:08, 24 July 2021 (UTC)

DYK for Nele Hertling

On 25 July 2021, Did you know was updated with a fact from the article Nele Hertling, which you recently created, substantially expanded, or brought to good article status. The fact was ... that Nele Hertling, working for the Academy of Arts, Berlin, brought innovative culture to the city including the Tanz im August festival? The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Nele Hertling. You are welcome to check how many pageviews the nominated article or articles got while on the front page (here's how, Nele Hertling), and if they received a combined total of at least 416.7 views per hour (i.e., 5,000 views in 12 hours or 10,000 in 24), the hook may be added to the statistics page. Finally, if you know of an interesting fact from another recently created article, then please feel free to suggest it on the Did you know talk page.

— Maile (talk) 12:02, 25 July 2021 (UTC)

Wussten Sie schon? ... dass Nele Hertling, die für die Akademie der Künste in Berlin arbeitete, innovative Kultur in die Stadt brachte, darunter das Festival Tanz im August? Jetzt weiß ich es! † Encyclopædius 11:15, 27 July 2021 (UTC)

Gut. - The German term for DYK is "Schon gewusst?" - Too bad they didn't take the image. Perhaps a woman has to be young and wear make-up to be pictured on the Main page? At least the theatre she managed will be pictured, sigh, and only because I insisted. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 11:33, 27 July 2021 (UTC)

O Ewigkeit trumpet

When you have performed it, has the trumpet player changed instruments for no. 8? I've got very limited experience on nat (train wreck, don't ask) and none on slide so I am unclear as to whether you can just do the nat stuff on the slide instrument (without moving it!!) or if the tirarsi makes a rubbish nat? And yes, I should look it up, but sometimes it is nicer and/or better to start by asking your friends! (Clarification: no. 8 is a nat in C. In all the other movements it's a tirarsi playing merrily away in F. Without knowing for sure, my feeling nevertheless would be that a tirarsi, notwithstanding its perhaps [??] being fully chromatic, that works well in F might be a stinker when slideless in C. But what do I know? Fast nichts.) Cheers DBaK (talk) 23:19, 26 July 2021 (UTC)

About trumpets, nothing is exactly what I know. I never sang it, but I heard it being played in Frankfurt on 13 June, Graham came along and was impressed. I didn't see her change instruments, but I'm not watchful for such things. She changed position for the aria, coming to the front. I don't take pics during the service, and for conclusion - instead of a postlude - they did the opening again (and then we clap or hands). (The pic used is from a different day.) Perhaps ask, the conductor's site is a ref for Gelobet sei der Herr täglich. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 06:19, 27 July 2021 (UTC)

Thanks! I am far too chicken to ask someone I don't know, but I will ask someone in the business here and that will sort out my curiosity! I do like your pic, regardless of which day ... Cheers DBaK (talk) 14:29, 27 July 2021 (UTC)

Up to you! - I looked up the La Folia orchestra for the name of their trumpeter, and he isn't one of the two pictured for trumpet. You could still address the orchestra's website for who played trumpet in the concert at Eberbach Abbey and moved from far right in the beginning to far left right afterwards, - chicken or not, nothing personal. You could also check out trumpeters for a rather characteristic hair-do. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 14:39, 27 July 2021 (UTC)

Ich bin stolz, ich habe das Wort gesehen und wusste sofort, dass es Ewigkeit (eternity) bedeutet! † Encyclopædius 11:18, 27 July 2021 (UTC)

Your GA nomination of O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort, BWV 20

The article O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort, BWV 20 you nominated as a good article has passed ; see Talk:O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort, BWV 20 for comments about the article. Well done! If the article has not already appeared on the main page as a "Did you know" item, or as a bold link under "In the News" or in the "On This Day" prose section, you can nominate it within the next seven days to appear in DYK. Bolded names with dates listed at the bottom of the "On This Day" column do not affect DYK eligibility. Message delivered by Legobot, on behalf of GeneralPoxter -- GeneralPoxter (talk) 22:41, 27 July 2021 (UTC)

GP, thank you for a thoughtful review! --Gerda Arendt (talk) 22:53, 27 July 2021 (UTC)

DYK for Hebbel-Theater

On 28 July 2021, Did you know was updated with a fact from the article Hebbel-Theater, which you recently created, substantially expanded, or brought to good article status. The fact was ... that the Hebbel-Theater (pictured), designed by Oskar Kaufmann and opened in 1908, was the only theatre in Berlin operational in 1945? The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Hebbel Theater. You are welcome to check how many pageviews the nominated article or articles got while on the front page (here's how, Hebbel-Theater), and if they received a combined total of at least 416.7 views per hour (i.e., 5,000 views in 12 hours or 10,000 in 24), the hook may be added to the statistics page. Finally, if you know of an interesting fact from another recently created article, then please feel free to suggest it on the Did you know talk page.

Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 12:02, 28 July 2021 (UTC)

DYK for Lili Marberg

frameless|right|130px On 31 July 2021, Did you know was updated with a fact from the article Lili Marberg, which you recently created, substantially expanded, or brought to good article status. The fact was ... that Lili Marberg, an actress at the Burgtheater in Vienna from 1911 to 1950, was painted performing Wilde's Salome in Munich (painting pictured)? The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Lili Marberg. You are welcome to check how many pageviews the nominated article or articles got while on the front page (here's how, Lili Marberg), and if they received a combined total of at least 416.7 views per hour (i.e., 5,000 views in 12 hours or 10,000 in 24), the hook may be added to the statistics page. Finally, if you know of an interesting fact from another recently created article, then please feel free to suggest it on the Did you know talk page.

Cwmhiraeth (talk) 00:02, 31 July 2021 (UTC)

ITN recognition for Ben Wagin

On 31 July 2021, In the news was updated with an item that involved the article Ben Wagin, which you updated. If you know of another recently created or updated article suitable for inclusion in ITN, please suggest it on the candidates page. PFHLai (talk) 21:50, 31 July 2021 (UTC)

Happy First Edit Day!

Happy First Edit Day, Gerda Arendt, from the Wikipedia Birthday Committee! Have a great day! History DMZ (HQ) † (wire) 01:48, 2 August 2021 (UTC)

August songs

Thank you! I hope so, it's also - coincidence - the birthday of Franz Harnoncourt, or Harnoncourt-Unverzagt, and unverzagt means unafraid - coincidence. He is the brother of Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Philipp Harnoncourt and Karl Harnoncourt, and I wish I could find enough about their sisters Juliana and Alice for articles. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 05:59, 2 August 2021 (UTC)

Can't find more than that Juliana married Herrn Theiner and they had 5 children. Other relations: Alice Harnoncourt (sister-in-law), Alice Hoppe-Harnoncourt (niece), and Ladislaja Harnoncourt (mother). --Gerda Arendt (talk) 08:26, 2 August 2021 (UTC)

DYK for Franz Harnoncourt

On 2 August 2021, Did you know was updated with a fact from the article Franz Harnoncourt, which you recently created, substantially expanded, or brought to good article status. The fact was ... that Franz Harnoncourt became CEO of the Kastner & Öhler department store in Graz after working for Karstadt and Marks & Spencer, and beginning as sales person and storage worker? The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Franz Harnoncourt. You are welcome to check how many pageviews the nominated article or articles got while on the front page (here's how, Franz Harnoncourt), and if they received a combined total of at least 416.7 views per hour (i.e., 5,000 views in 12 hours or 10,000 in 24), the hook may be added to the statistics page. Finally, if you know of an interesting fact from another recently created article, then please feel free to suggest it on the Did you know talk page.

Cwmhiraeth (talk) 12:03, 2 August 2021 (UTC)