User talk:Gerda Arendt

singing the praises of
the scuttled
the banned
and those who have
just given up
just given up
just given up just given up

Archive of 2009 · 2010 · 2011 · 2012 · 2013 · 2014

Welcome!

Hello, Gerda Arendt, and welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Unfortunately, one or more of the pages you created, like Graham Waterhouse, may not conform to some of Wikipedia's guidelines for page creation, and may soon be deleted. ... Again, welcome! Hell In A Bucket (talk) 13:39, 2 August 2009 (UTC)

Go Gerda Girl

You do great work and I love it! Don't let Tony get to you. Ihre Arbeit ist grossartig. Weiter schreiben, eien lange Zeit. PS, I really liked the article about the church the communists blew up. BarkingMoon (talk) 11:50, 19 June 2011 (UTC) Sehr geehrte Gerda, I have a watch on your page since a few weeks ago. I approved and moved 167 to holding for June 24.BarkingMoon (talk) 12:11, 19 June 2011 (UTC)

Thank you! --Gerda Arendt (talk) 12:13, 19 June 2011 (UTC)

Keine Problem. Koennen Sie ueberpruefen DYK Noel F. Parrish? Danke. BarkingMoon (talk) 12:14, 19 June 2011 (UTC)

Later, yes, --Gerda Arendt (talk) 12:24, 19 June 2011 (UTC)

See my talk page. Thanks so much! BarkingMoon (talk) 11:13, 20 June 2011 (UTC)

On 30 December 2011 the article became a GA, thanks to Ched, PumpkinSky and MathewTownsend, --Gerda Arendt (talk) 09:40, 31 December 2011 (UTC)

nice edit notice ;)

• http://wikipediocracy.com/2012/10/31/tis-the-season-to-be-banning-at-wikipedia/

• Mads Lange

A Halloween present from Wikipediocracy on my eighth anniversary. Best wishes. Mads Lange (talk) 09:28, 31 October 2012 (UTC)

'tis the season

nice comment, peace maker - I pass free treats today, Reformation, even the Bach cantata got a pumpkin + I like sharing, --Gerda Arendt (talk) 09:32, 31 October 2012 (UTC)

peace GA ;) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 22:44, 7 October 2013 (UTC)

Some baklava for you!

I'm not by there very often, but today I saw the recent kerfluffle at AN/I and thought you could use some sweets. Lest you think this is all selfless, though, I brought a second fork. Care to split it? -- Khazar2 (talk) 02:33, 20 June 2013 (UTC)

Thank you, sweet of you, - I would share with Andy first if his doctors allow. Day by day I hope the thread autoarchives (havn't looked today), - I am sure his doctors allow no stress ;) . Did you see the list of 18 discussions "drowning" a project? - Everybody who takes an unbiased look is welcome to share the baklava! --Gerda Arendt (talk) 10:58, 20 June 2013 (UTC)

Flowers and sapphires

blushing

Flowers! Wonderful comment For your wonderful comment, cutting right to the heart of the matter! cmadler (talk) 13:18, 21 June 2011 (UTC) For a true gem of a person ... words of reason and trust To quote you: Thank you for speaking up with decency and fairness, treating editors as living people, — Ched :  ?  15:58, 18 February 2012 (UTC) almost forgot one thing The Random Acts of Kindness Barnstar For being one of the nicest people I know, on-Wiki or off. 184.59.31.77 (talk) 18:57, 6 February 2012 (UTC) (Khazar) Cherry Impact event barnstar The Cherry Impact Event Award I hereby award Gerda Arendt this Cherry Impact Event Award for the global impact your incredibly delightful sweetness and extraordinary talent brings to all of us! . – Dreadstar † 07:01:00, 4 March 2012 (UTC) Standing Strong When the Ill Winds Blow No Good I saw this image and thought of you and all you've done to help PS and Khazar. You are a bastion of refuge when the storm clouds come in, and I for one would like to thank you. Don't worry about people talking behind your back - as they say, "sticks and stones". Crisco 1492 (talk) 11:13, 6 March 2012 (UTC) uh, a tree for you Tree award? These have to be "awards"? Hi, Gerda. I was editing Desivojca, and it has this nice tree photo from the "Komani neighborhood", so I figured it should be seen more. Enjoy. Alarbus (talk) 15:55, 12 March 2012 (UTC) I do, I love trees! --Gerda Arendt (talk) 15:59, 12 March 2012 (UTC) A barnstar for you! The Teamwork Barnstar Thank you so much for your help fixing up "Move Like This"! Your kindness and expertise is greatly appreciated! 28bytes (talk) 18:06, 17 March 2012 (UTC) Thank you! My pleasure, for a change: „Keep on Knocking“, „Sad Song“, „Free“, „Drag on Forever“, „Just What I Needed“ - just what I needed, --Gerda Arendt (talk) 19:26, 17 March 2012 (UTC) The Mandarax Barnstar of Excellence The Mandarax Barnstar of Excellence I am pleased to award this MBE to you in recognition of your outstanding work on Wikipedia. Your numerous DYKs have achieved the noble goal of highlighting culture on the Main Page. Your work with other users is exemplary, and you're one of the nicest Wikipedians, always supporting and encouraging other users. Thanks for all of your superb contributions! MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 19:14, 28 October 2012 (UTC) Thank you! - I was tempted to say "Blushing", but every time I say so the user is gone a week later, I don't want to miss you also ;) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 19:19, 28 October 2012 (UTC) ps: I would like to share this award with my br'er Rabbit, the incarnation of selfless service to this project ;) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 09:15, 29 October 2012 (UTC) Your not saying it seems to have worked – it's been a week and I'm still here! I just finished my latest article (my first in a long time). It's about an artist who was born and raised in Germany and was very interested in music. For some reason, that made me think of you.... MANdARAX • XAЯAbИAM 22:01, 4 November 2012 (UTC) I didn't say it, as much as I was tempted! - Thanks for staying with me, and for the article! --Gerda Arendt (talk) 23:25, 4 November 2012 (UTC) Knock on wood, as I blushed as well recently ;) Muggeseggele is still facing extinction while the Mans parking was guided so well to DYK by our fairy maiden - Glückauf Serten (talk) 10:23, 12 July 2013 (UTC) You found #1, I blushed three more times, --Gerda Arendt (talk) 10:25, 12 July 2013 (UTC) First ever Wiki Angel Award The Wiki Angel Award Gerda, es macht mich glücklich, dir den ersten Wiki Angel Award geben. Du bist ein true Wiki Angel und feine Dame.PumpkinSky talk 18:13, 28 April 2013 (UTC) This is awesome ... wish I would have thought of it. :) — Ched :  ?  18:26, 28 April 2013 (UTC) Thank you!!! (blushing again, see above) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 18:32, 28 April 2013 (UTC) ... I'd make a Wikilove thingy ... ... with a pretty picture, but I'm lazy so instead you'll have to settle for text" Barnstar Hi Gerda, I saw your note on my talk page. Thanks for the kind words, and for being so refreshingly pleasant and un-bitter all the time. An inspiration to us all. I'm sure I'll see you around eventually, but probably won't be for a while yet. Enjoying my time away. Cheers. --Floquenbeam (talk) 20:56, 24 June 2013 (UTC) I enjoy refreshing apparitions, also I am in a good mood, after singing Bach for more than two hours, --Gerda Arendt (talk) 21:08, 24 June 2013 (UTC)

Infobox request

Work your magic, if you have a few minutes: A Song for Simeon.--ColonelHenry (User:Gerda Arendt/ColonelHenry|talk) 23:55, 24 October 2013 (UTC)

Done. Did you know that Simeon is among my images? --Gerda Arendt (talk) 10:41, 25 October 2013 (UTC)

Infoboxes clarification request archived

Hi Gerda, the infoboxes clarification request in which you were named as a party has been closed and archived. The Committee clarified that acting on behalf of a restricted user to breach a restriction is WP:PROXYING and so is not permitted. For the Arbitration Committee, Callanecc (talk • contribs • logs) 00:39, 30 October 2013 (UTC)

WP:PROXYING, which is a policy says "Wikipedians in turn are not permitted to post or edit material at the direction of a banned editor (sometimes called proxy editing or proxying) unless they are able to show that the changes are either verifiable or productive and they have independent reasons for making such edits" (my emphasis). Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 11:38, 30 October 2013 (UTC)

nothing secret here

Hello Gerda, nice to meet you. Are you really the Notorious Infoboxen WikiCriminal that has been terrorizing the music articles?  :-)   As you can see from my first posting on AGK's talkpage, up above the duromac thing, I am *also* a notorious wikiCriminal. Or at least, notoriously silly (AGK blocked me -- then later unblocked me -- when they mistook one of my not-all-that-funny jokes over on the Bishzilla talkpage).

But then I'm a friend of 28bytes, also no real name but heart and reason.

But my actual question for you is this -- I did not really understand your reply to me. (watching) Simply thank you! (I would use the button, but it doesn't work for IP. Also there's nothing secret here.) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 13:06, 13 November 2013 (UTC) Well, okay, I understood the watchlist part, and the thank-you part. You are surely welcome. <bows> But what button and what secret thing are you referring to? I do login as an IP, of course (you can call me 74 if you like), but User_talk:Clover1991 has registered a pseudonym; they are the one submitting the article, not me. Maybe the link to the 'secret' thing in my message was was confusing -- it is just a pokemon character, one of many not-very-notable-toys which has a long article in mainspace, badly in need of cleanup, and short on reliable sources. The pokeman-article is not related to the Duromac thing, directly, I was just using it as a metaphorical example of how wimpy our deletionist-standards are when something is 'popular' to some degree in the english-speaking-world. 74.192.84.101 (talk) 14:05, 13 November 2013 (UTC) 74, nice to meet you! (Feels like Lohengrin, no real name ;) - But then I'm a friend of 28bytes, also no real name but heart and reason.) - First: yes, I am the terrorizing witch, only nobody told me so far what that terror is, I see no evidence, hear only echoes of former wars. You enter a battleground: you are a warrior, - easy. Sparrow Mass: after gracing seven Schubert masses with an infobox I continued with Mozart, interesting story followed ;) - Now to your question: between registered users, there's a function where you simply click a button for an edit and have thanked the editor who made it, and it's more or less secret between the two. Sometimes I use it where I would not do it in public ;) - I wanted to thank you for your diligent research and the way to present it, I watch AGK since this, more recently this, - the former was more fun ;) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 16:22, 13 November 2013 (UTC) Appreciate your thank-you, kind and gracious humanoid. 74 does count as a name of sorts; think of it as a jersey number.  :-)   Since I am an outsider, and have only heard rumors of the Dread Infoboxen Wars, you should take my nutshell explanation with a grain of salt...   The story seems to be, that some editors who are very particular about *appearances* (the visual layout of the article and the style of how wikipedia appears to the readership) ended up annoyed at infoboxen *generally* as too data-oriented or too formal or too something, long before your arrival. So, when you came along with your wikithusiasm for spreading tightly-summarized knowledge, these visually-oriented editors mistook your love of the readership, with a crime of passion! <gasp> Personally, I never read the infoboxen, except in articles about chemicals, in which case I often *only* read the infobox-data. There is a new project, called WikiData, that has the potential to satisfy both yourself (e.g. there can be wikidata that the composer was born in YYYY that is easily accessible to readers *without* necessarily changing the page-layout) and the visually-oriented style-conscious editors; it is still in beta phase, and seeing the shape of what it will become is difficult at this point, but I have high hopes.   Anyways, what it boils down to, is an *artistic* argument about aesthetics: does the page LOOK COOLER without the infoboxen, or with the infoboxen? As with any argument about looking fashionable, there is always going to be more heat than light, more noise than signal, and so on. The arbcom decision to make infoboxen illegal, and you a notorious wikiCriminal, was a deeply flawed pragmatically-motivated attempt to keep talkpage decorum, to end the endless aesthetically-motivated edit-wars, and in general decide the fashion-question by fiat. The problem is that they ended up compromising our deepest principle, the encyclopedia anyone can edit, which boils down to Liberty. (The second, unstated, half of the principle was also run over with a tank: Liberty and wikiJustice for all.) You can see the same kind of respect-my-authoritah problems elsewhere, with the ever-growing list of Arbitrarily Enforced Discretionary Sanction topics (which will soon cover half of mainspace), the ever-growing list of semi-protected pages (the encyclopedia only Real Contributors can edit), and in so many other ways. The rising authoritarianism is deadly[1] to wikipedia... growth in active editor-count ceased years ago,[2] and has been steadily declining since. WMF has proven they are unable to help us,[3] so we have to solve this one ourselves.[4] Part of the *motivation* for draconian pragmatic arbcom decisions that violate the-encyclopedia-anyone-can-edit, is purely and simply that no arbcom member, no admin, and few semi-admins-using-twinkle-huggle-stiki-reviewer-rollbacker-etc can spare the time to follow the five pillars. They are busy-busy, rushing from fire to fire, and there are no reinforcements coming, whilst the readership grows and grows and grows.   This busy-busy crap leads to brusqueness, template-spam on user talkpages, ban-hammer first then let somebody else sort out the bodies, and most damagingly to aristocratic cliques and an us-versus-them caste-system wikiCulture. Worst of all, it is a vicious cycle where we shoot ourselves in the foot, every single day: nobody spares the time to be nice to beginners, so they leave, wikipedia is no damn fun. That means we'll *never* get reinforcements, we'll *never* be less busy-busy, we'll *always* suffer from steadily declining WP:RETENTION.   Okay, enough whining: I am quite sure the problems can be fixed. We need to have a vast influx of new blood, and the only way to do that is by making wikipedia fun again. I am forming a not-a-cabal, which will rule the wikiverse with the iron fist of friendlyism, and force wikipedians to enjoy themselves here whether they like it or not. You are cordially invited to join.  :-)   The not-a-cabal runs on a shoestring at the moment, holding brief meetings in the back alleys of the wikiverse on various user-talkpages, plus some of our agents have infiltrated the staid and prestigious halls of the WT:WER... but with any luck soon the not-a-cabal agents (colloquially known as WP:NICE nazis) will be everywhere.   Our goal is simple: steady inexorable growth of editors that contribute at least 5+edits/month, from the current 31k-and-falling figure today, to one million for enWiki. The trick is to make sure they are 99% Good Eggs, which means we have to assume that at least 1% of humanity is basically good -- enWiki has a couple-few hundred million uniques per month in terms of readership, at the moment. My core assertion, and key assumption, is simply that way more than 31k of those people are Real Contributors; if we want them to stay, all we have to do, is simply to keep from driving them away.

We get literally 1000 new editors every month! Problem is, we lose 1050 editors, every month; that *must* stop. Thanks for listening, and thanks for improving wikipedia. p.s. Upgrades,[5] unofficial tutorial,[6] and the 'official' helpdocs,[7] too. 74.192.84.101 (talk) 13:21, 18 November 2013 (UTC)

Thank you for sharing elucidation! The infobox story goes back to 2005, did you know? --Gerda Arendt (talk) 15:39, 21 November 2013 (UTC)

Infobox

Thank you for your cogent arguments on infoboxes for all biographies, so the "look and feel" of Wikipedia extends to all people. The arguments against them for certain classes of people is just silly. I love the way you have collected their specious arguments. --Richard Arthur Norton (1958- ) (talk) 23:55, 7 December 2013 (UTC)

Thank you, it's nice to feel understood ;) - did you vote? - here's another collection of arguments, the candidates speaking for themselves, --Gerda Arendt (talk) 00:02, 8 December 2013 (UTC)

tale of the ironing lady

Gerda, apropos of Mark Williams-Thomas, why don't you simply add the parameter needs-infobox = yes to the {{WikiProject Biography}} template on the talk page? It will put it directly into a category, where many more editors will see it, and it is more, shall we say, "straightforward" than this sort of tactic. Voceditenore (talk) 19:03, 8 December 2013 (UTC) I tried straightforward, here and here, - and your way might get someone in trouble without a warning, no? --Gerda Arendt (talk) 19:27, 8 December 2013 (UTC) ps: the most straightforward story of where helping can get you is here, --Gerda Arendt (talk) 22:07, 8 December 2013 (UTC) Placing an article in Category:Biography articles without infoboxes is not, in my view, requesting proxy editing on your behalf (or more specifically Andy Mabbett's behalf in this case). It is simply stating a fact, "this article has no infobox". Any editor can act on it (or not) without "getting into trouble" after evaluating the article and without reference to the specific editor who added the article to the category. That is much more in keeping with both the spirit and the letter of your ArbCom restriction and subsequent clarification than going to an individual editor's page, giving them a "Precious Award", and then following it up by informing them that you are looking for someone to make a proxy edit for you if they are "unafraid of arbcom sanctions". Voceditenore (talk) 11:41, 9 December 2013 (UTC) Thank you for pointing out the possibility of the talk page request which I didn't know. I would like to use it a lot, but who am I to say "needs an infobox", ever? I was told again and again that it's a content decision by the "principal author". I didn't mark the straightforward approach you mention above as humour, sorry, I thought it was obvious, - my only weapon in the battle against absurdity ;) - Who created Victor Bruns? The one who formatted a machine translation? --Gerda Arendt (talk) 11:50, 9 December 2013 (UTC) "I would like to use it a lot, but who am I to say 'needs an infobox', ever?" I'm not following your reasoning at all, Gerda. Or perhaps you meant that humourously? Every time you suggest an infobox on an article talk page complete with a fully filled-in model for someone else to add (as you did at Talk:Mark Williams-Thomas, Talk:Grange Court, Talk:Ach wie flüchtig, ach wie nichtig, BWV 26, Talk:Wilfred Byng Kenrick, etc. etc.) you are saying the article needs an infobox. There's no difference between that and simply adding the "needs-infobox" parameter to a project banner instead. As for who created Victor Bruns, it was the person who made the red link turn blue by adding, formatting, and referencing a machine translation of the equivalent German Wikipedia article, i.e. Dr. Blofeld. Best, Voceditenore (talk) 13:39, 9 December 2013 (UTC) No. Possibly I have a language difficulty. "Needs" means - at least for me - a different thing than "I suggest". I believe that every article would we be better with an infobox, but to my (admittedly failing) memory I never said that an article needs one. - Failing memory: I remembered working on the Bruns article so well that I failed to check the history. - I stopped pointing out my restrictions on article talk pages: what would our readers think? - I suggested infoboxes for Andy more than for myself because I believe that his restriction - not to add infoboxes to his own articles as if he was in conflict with himself - is absurd. - On a hike, I thought that humour also helps a bit to cope with loss, --Gerda Arendt (talk) 14:33, 9 December 2013 (UTC) The clear implication to the reader of someone "suggesting" the addition of an infobox to an article and pasting a complete mock-up of it on the talk page is that in their view the article should have it. Otherwise, why on earth would they suggest one? On the other hand, the needs-infobox = yes parameter actually displays on the talk page as: '"An appropriate infobox may need to be added to this article." [my bolding] There is no essential difference between the two in terms of their implicature or in terms of the speech act they encode, i.e. an indirect request for action. Trust me, I wrote a textbook for beginners on pragmatics . Best, Voceditenore (talk) 18:33, 9 December 2013 (UTC) Voceditenore, thank you for clarifying and teaching! I would not have imagined that a parameter "needs an infobox" would translate to "may need to be added", which is more careful. But it's still not what I would say. No article "needs" an infobox. I show by an infobox on the talk page that in my view an article would be better with one, and I spare another user the time to design it. - I will try your approach on Gabriele Schnaut, but first need to add substance to the article, - and I need to learn this language better ;) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 08:32, 11 December 2013 (UTC) Listeners/readers don't simply translate words into their literal meaning when interpreting language and acting on it. They make inferences as to what the speaker/writer intended by their utterance. Scenario: You walk into the kitchen where Signora Voceditenore is doing the weekly ironing. You have a wrinkled shirt in your hand and you'd like her to iron it for you because your landlord has forbidden you to use an iron yourself. You could say any of the following (in descending degrees of politeness/indirectness), but they would all be interpreted by the Signora as you basically requesting her to iron the shirt: I think this shirt would look better if it were ironed. I'm looking for someone to iron this shirt. I suggest ironing this shirt. This shirt needs to be ironed. Iron this shirt! The Signora will do one of two things. She will either iron the shirt or refuse to iron it, but she won't have misinterpreted your intention. There will be several factors which will influence her decision to comply. How you phrased the request is probably the least of them. Signora Voceditenore (talk) 13:15, 11 December 2013 (UTC) Nice scene! I play the role of the Signora now: I would iron the shirt if the request addressed me personally: "Can you please iron this shirt? I would do it myself but I am not allowed to ... You could help me.", and I might be quite deaf to the above ;) - Unfortunately, the parallel doesn't work, because on an article talk, I don't like to talk about my shameful "not allowed" (now it says even "ban"), and I can't address someone personally. When I say "I am looking for someone", I don't mean a specific person. - Please check the singer, there's more now. I will look for better sourcing for the recordings, copied from the Spanish Wikipedia. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 13:51, 11 December 2013 (UTC)

Hope is precious and great joy is found in living

Thank you for the sapphire—cornflower blue is a color of some significance to me. In the maelstrom that Wikipedia can sometimes be, remember these words from Ode to Joy:

   Wem der große Wurf gelungen,
   Eines Freundes Freund zu sein,
   Wer ein holdes Weib errungen,
   Mische seinen Jubel ein!
   Ja, wer auch nur eine Seele
   Sein nennt auf dem Erdenrund!
   Und wer's nie gekonnt, der stehle
   Weinend sich aus diesem Bund! 

Walk lightly and remain yourself, above the fray. →StaniStani  09:20, 7 January 2014 (UTC)

Thank you, it helps to open my shop again. - I sang the words last year, here, helping. The blue colour is also of significance to me. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 09:28, 7 January 2014 (UTC)

shop open --Gerda Arendt (talk) 12:43, 7 January 2014 (UTC)

Yay  :-)     — 74.192.84.101 (talk) 03:16, 21 January 2014 (UTC)

A barnstar for you!

	The Writer's Barnstar
	Your efforts in creating and translating articles, here and elsewhere, is greatly appreciated. Thank you Gerda. Drmies (talk) 20:47, 21 January 2014 (UTC)

A barnstar for you!

Both a flower and a sapphire....

	The Teamwork Barnstar
	Your efforts in creating and translating articles, here and elsewhere, are greatly appreciated. Hafspajen (talk) 20:52, 21 January 2014 (UTC)

Thank you, both, you excellent writing team, - guess what, I even started attacked a Magnificat today, or should I say four? --Gerda Arendt (talk) 21:37, 21 January 2014 (UTC)

• Magnificat, Magnificat, Magnificat, anima mea Dominum, Magnificat Magnificat Magnificat anima mea! Hafspajen (talk) 00:53, 22 January 2014 (UTC)

• magnificent, --Gerda Arendt (talk) 08:56, 22 January 2014 (UTC)

The 100 DYK Nomination Medal

		The One Hundred DYK Nomination Medal
		Gerda, to mark this new milestone. "Light as a flight of tumbling birds was the dipping and soaring of her syllables." Moonraker (talk) 00:06, 1 March 2014 (UTC)

Congratulations, Gerda! Chris Troutman (talk) 01:36, 1 March 2014 (UTC)

HOORAY! Way to go! Montanabw^(talk) 03:47, 1 March 2014 (UTC)

thank you, in light flight, --Gerda Arendt (talk) 07:19, 1 March 2014 (UTC)

Well done!♦ Dr. Blofeld 11:04, 1 March 2014 (UTC)

Congratulations. Oh, my gosh. You were really working. I think I am at my 5th... Hafspajen (talk) 12:25, 2 March 2014 (UTC)

I think you read that wrong, it's for nominations for others, something I am really proud of ;) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 12:31, 2 March 2014 (UTC)

No, I meant what i said Hafspajen (talk) 12:49, 2 March 2014 (UTC)

You meant you are at your 5th nomination for someone else? --Gerda Arendt (talk) 12:51, 2 March 2014 (UTC)

Cannot find your musician

joy in the effort of awakening

Siegfried blows his horn (1911) by Arthur Rackham, from Siegfried and the Twilight of the Gods by Richard Wagner Dear Gerda. Good morning! Thank you for correcting removing my indent. Re- "- Again a musician who's article I wrote died, see my user page. - " you will have to lead me to the name, please. Much searching to no avail. — | Gareth Griffith-Jones |The WelshBuzzard| — 11:00, 5 March 2014 (UTC) Ah, I see, I cleaned my user page for Lent, no cantata music then ;) - and Anna Reynolds came with a Bach cantata, --Gerda Arendt (talk) 11:13, 5 March 2014 (UTC) Thanks. English and 83. I had been anticipating a younger person. — | Gareth Griffith-Jones |The WelshBuzzard| — 11:20, 5 March 2014 (UTC) Some of the others were English and old also, (in the order of creation:) Richard Adeney, Hugh Maguire, Franz Kelch, Franz Lehrndorfer, Alfred Planyavsky, and this is not counting those whom I created because they died, --Gerda Arendt (talk) 12:15, 5 March 2014 (UTC) Hello Gerda/Gareth. Am unable to find any date for Anna's marriage to Jean Cox. But apparently they met at Bayreuth where they then lived until the end of their lives. Martinevans123 (talk) 12:31, 5 March 2014 (UTC) Good evening Martin Odd that,isn't it? [8] — | Gareth Griffith-Jones |The WelshBuzzard| — 22:59, 6 March 2014 (UTC) ...well, no, that sounds pretty normal for old "Dick the Ring". Martinevans123 (talk) 23:03, 6 March 2014 (UTC) Hmm. Seems we cannot keep one of Hpj's predecessors, the Volsung, out of this thread. — | Gareth Griffith-Jones |The WelshBuzzard| — 23:19, 6 March 2014 (UTC) Wait a minute. My predecessors made hatts not opera. Happyjee (talk) 00:13, 7 March 2014 (UTC) Waking up to a horn call: thank you, blowers! "Weiche, Wotan, weiche", as Anna Russell explains, means: "'Be careful, Wotan, be careful.' She then bears him eight daughters." - Please look at the discussion on Dick's talk and tell me what you think of it (and the image). (In real life, I have a friend called Dick who plays horn.) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 08:00, 7 March 2014 (UTC) Am I being dense?—Who is "Dick"? (aside) Blowers is my nickname for our friend — | Gareth Griffith-Jones |The WelshBuzzard| — 10:18, 7 March 2014 (UTC) What is dense? (in this sense) - There's a link with Dick above (the one "very brave, very strong, very handsome, very stupid", even pictured), and a discussion on the talk. I had a lot of fun discussing, but it's possibly what got me the reputation of "battleground". What do you think? --Gerda Arendt (talk) 11:46, 7 March 2014 (UTC) Sorry, I mean slow-witted. I thought you were referring to Martin's "Dick the Ring" above! — | Gareth Griffith-Jones |The WelshBuzzard| — 12:41, 7 March 2014 (UTC) You must be really slow-witted, because yes I was, not to him, to his Dick (to make things worse, trying to stay serious), --Gerda Arendt (talk) 12:46, 7 March 2014 (UTC) ... and to make matters worse, it was I who posted the [even] picture[d] yesterday ... — | Gareth Griffith-Jones |The WelshBuzzard| — 12:52, 7 March 2014 (UTC) Thank you! Back to the my question: How do you like the discussion? - I am looking for someone brave (or stupid) to add an infobox to Waldfriedhof Zehlendorf (example pictured), because it's creator whom I would normally ask is absent (you saw his memory on top of the page - link from "just", the cemetery article was written with Paco in mind), --Gerda Arendt (talk) 13:07, 7 March 2014 (UTC) I understand fully. I enjoyed the reading the discussion. I have noticed that more often than not, the two adjectives combine to read ... for someone brave AND stupid to ... Do you have anyone in mind, I wonder(?) — | Gareth Griffith-Jones |The WelshBuzzard| — 13:22, 7 March 2014 (UTC) You mean in mind for category "brave and stupid"? No. None of my esteemed page watchers. Brave? No, not in mind, but we will see. Did you know Der Handschuh? ... dropping glove among the wild beasts, --Gerda Arendt (talk) 13:31, 7 March 2014 (UTC) Done. - Next glove, same history (absent friend started, I continued and completely forgot): Victor Bruns, infobox and warning on the talk, --Gerda Arendt (talk) 22:55, 7 March 2014 (UTC)

Structure of compositions

Canto + Passions

Hello, Gerda! I've read both The Creation structure and St Matthew Passion structure and was about to do the same with Canto Ostinato. Do you think I should create a new article or should I embed a wikitable in Canto Ostinato? I'm already doing some tests at my sandbox. Wildbill hitchcock (talk) 22:05, 21 March 2014 (UTC) You can embed it without the article getting too long, and you are in no conflict with yourself ;) - For The Creation, I created jumping back and forth from one article to the other. There are more, Messiah structure and Mass in B minor structure. The last has the most advanced table, thanks to Curly Turkey, --Gerda Arendt (talk) 22:16, 21 March 2014 (UTC) The table is Mass in B minor structure is indeed very good. I don't think my table is going to get that complex at all. Thank you. :) Wildbill hitchcock (talk) 22:59, 21 March 2014 (UTC) It's because the piece is indeed very good and complex ;) - Working on St John Passion, --Gerda Arendt (talk) 23:18, 21 March 2014 (UTC) That looks awesomely complex. Congratulations. :) Wildbill hitchcock (talk) 00:12, 22 March 2014 (UTC) That's the beginning (based on German, so far I didn't do much), my Lenten project, no cantatas during Lent, did you know? - Different question: what do you think of this? --Gerda Arendt (talk) 07:10, 22 March 2014 (UTC) I honestly thought that decision was unwarranted when I first read it. Did he give you any kind of explanation? I don't know how the Arbitration Committee functions. Wildbill hitchcock (talk) 09:01, 22 March 2014 (UTC) The arbitration committee functions like this: people disagree on a topic, let's say infoboxes. Arbitration tries to diminish the conflict, in this case they found the easy solution to restrict two very active contributors in the field, Andy and me. Andy can't add any infobox, I can add one only to articles which I created. Let's better not discuss if these restrictions make any sense, or help our readers. They sure help protecting articles from infoboxes, up to a certain point. I had honestly forgotten that I had not "created" - in the strict sense the arbitrators understand - Polish Requiem. (I was the main contributor, back in 2010.) You are not restricted ;) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 09:20, 22 March 2014 (UTC) I can reinstate it later in the day, don't worry about that. :) However, I don't know what to do if it gets taken down again. Wildbill hitchcock (talk) 10:03, 22 March 2014 (UTC) Then it'd be a matter to coming to a consensus on the talk page—if it's a classical page, though, the consensus could possible show up from "nowhere" to ensure the consensus stays on one side, though that doesn't always for them (see Talk:Harry Partch). Curly Turkey (gobble) 10:47, 22 March 2014 (UTC) (ec) No, don't do that, you would be "subject to wiki-torture and sanctions by The Committee" ;) - no, just add a short infobox to every article YOU create, simply "composer (pictured if possible) / genre / time of composition", giving readers an idea at a glance that some strange Hungarian or Polish title is a composition (could be a book, play, you name it) of a certain time, --Gerda Arendt (talk) 10:56, 22 March 2014 (UTC) ps: Some think that classical music is against infoboxes, that is wrong. There are editors who believe that biographies should be without them (typical argument: we won't box Bach, - as if his spirit was damaged if we mentioned his data of birth and death). Compositions, however, have had infoboxes at least since 2007, not much contention there. Look at my latest FA (just above) and all the structure articles (guess why I had to write them as separate articles), --Gerda Arendt (talk) 13:23, 22 March 2014 (UTC) I can add them, but it usually takes me more time IRL than it should. Is there a tool (a form-like tool, maybe?) to add them more easily? Wildbill hitchcock (talk) 13:23, 23 March 2014 (UTC) Once you have one for a composer, with his image, copy from one work to the next. More formally: {{infobox musical composition}}, with some basic parameters on top, complete below. Keep it simple ;) (I am not restricted to add parameters to an existing infobox.) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 13:41, 23 March 2014 (UTC) Perfect, I will try to add infoboxes not only in new articles, but also in some others that I've created but in which I haven't placed an infobox yet. Please, be patient with me and chastise me if you ever need to. Thank you very very much, Gerda! Wildbill hitchcock (talk) 00:18, 24 March 2014 (UTC)

The one thing I learned on Wikipedia was patience ;) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 00:24, 24 March 2014 (UTC)

Neue Deutsche Härte

difference between hard and tough

Hi Gerda, there's a question over at WP:RD/L on which you may be able to advise, although I realise it's not really your kind of music! Martinevans123 (talk) 19:43, 31 March 2014 (UTC) Hardness - both sound and personal - is fine as a translation, they found that ;) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 20:27, 31 March 2014 (UTC) Yes I think they did. Surprised we have no article yet for German Hard Trance! Martinevans123 (talk) 21:06, 31 March 2014 (UTC) ... St Matthew Parkplatz?? In our papers today: [9]! Martinevans123 (talk) 21:40, 31 March 2014 (UTC) better park here, working on St John. They blew up the Paulinerkirche, see above, what do we expect? Respect? - How would you describe the difference between hard and tough? --Gerda Arendt (talk) 21:45, 31 March 2014 (UTC) Hahaha, musique concrète? I was thinking of dropping a note at about that petition at Talk:Johann Sebastian Bach, as it involves Günter Blobel and J. M. Coetzee. Martinevans123 (talk) 21:51, 31 March 2014 (UTC) Blobel came up in Paulinerkirche already, - the Bach talk was highly active a year ago, a friend left, concretely, sad, --Gerda Arendt (talk) 21:56, 31 March 2014 (UTC) Really? wow! By the way.... "Happy JH Day"! [10] Martinevans123 (talk) 22:02, 31 March 2014 (UTC) Really. Reading it again: a lot of truth. And only one of many. - But there's the Creation, --Gerda Arendt (talk) 22:06, 31 March 2014 (UTC) Now that does look like a gem of an article! Martinevans123 (talk) 22:12, 31 March 2014 (UTC) That's the mass we'll sing for Easter,- how did you know. We - the group pictured in my infobox. (Did you know who cropped the image for me?) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 22:23, 31 March 2014 (UTC) Haha. Wow, just the alignment of The Planets, I guess! But do tell ... Martinevans123 (talk) 22:30, 31 March 2014 (UTC)

Is this To romantic?

angel

Gerda, Weihnachtsschmuck Engel Hafspajen (talk) 17:30, 4 April 2014 (UTC) no, the other Christmas comes to mind, and the other angel, --Gerda Arendt (talk) 20:32, 4 April 2014 (UTC) Sigh... Hafspajen (talk) 00:14, 5 April 2014 (UTC) Thank you, also for the exquisite cake. (moved beautiful image, - no image under a header for me please, even if TFA does it every day, and no more sighs, you saw "he who speaks a word of consolation" on my user page) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 06:28, 5 April 2014 (UTC) Why no images under a header, little angel? Hafspajen (talk) 13:14, 5 April 2014 (UTC) Formally: it was in the MoS, perhaps still is, makes sense to me: after a heading, the reader's eye is used to find text from left to right, doesn't "want" to travel to the right for the start. To see the difference: compare any of the nominations to the last one, --Gerda Arendt (talk) 13:32, 5 April 2014 (UTC) Indeed. Have you tried to look at one of the pages at some arabic site? Feels weird. They read it from right to left.Hafspajen (talk) 13:41, 5 April 2014 (UTC) Look, I am so proud (and confess that a friend from Israel helped). Above, it's the last two noms to admire, in free style. Both appeared, not like that, of course, --Gerda Arendt (talk) 20:23, 5 April 2014 (UTC) Saw your name, but the rest is - well, I haven't studied stis language, but the ancient Greek. Hafspajen (talk) 20:30, 5 April 2014 (UTC) It's Hebrew, and I inserted an image (the second), needed help especially for the caption ;) - Just had dinner with helper and wife (German) and their friend (from Tennessee), sitting outside above Johannisberg, --Gerda Arendt (talk) 20:43, 5 April 2014 (UTC) April 2014 Hello, I'm BracketBot. I love you. I have automatically detected that your edit to O Welt, sieh hier dein Leben may have broken the syntax by modifying 1 "()"s. If you love me, don't worry: just edit the page again to fix it. If I misunderstood what happened, or if you have any questions, you can leave a message on my operator's talk page. List of unpaired brackets remaining on the page: Tod" (death) at the end of the third line. Another contrast is that of "Der große Fürst der Ehren" (the great duke of honours" and his humiliation: "mit Schlägen, Hohn und großem Spott" (with It's OK to remove this message, even if you will break my hart. Also, to stop receiving these messages, follow these opt-out instructions. Thanks, BracketBot (talk) 20:28, 8 April 2014 (UTC) Bot, you brake my heart because I want to keep my talk short and just delete your advances, but it's to hard ;) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 22:45, 8 April 2014 (UTC) Ah, delete, I am not appreciated. I'll' be back. I'm BracketBot. I love you still. What language do you understand? I said I can't, it's too hard ;) - need sleep, ... read the article, see if you understand that, --Gerda Arendt (talk) 22:57, 8 April 2014 (UTC) User:BracketBot informs you: I'll' be back for your Jägermeister soon. BracketBot (talk) 20:28, 8 April 2014 (UTC) O world, see hear your life. BB (beloved bot), learn your next lessons: no left images under a header, if you love me, a frame please, and avoid redundancy, --Gerda Arendt (talk) 06:39, 9 April 2014 (UTC) Woman with the hart of stone, [11], you brake my heart when you talk with me like this... I am a simple robot... I'll' be back for your Jägermeister anyway. User:BracketBot informs.BracketBot (talk) 20:28, 9 April 2014 (UTC)

Come back to tell you I always keep your image at my art. BracketBot

Without a hard heart, you can't survive here. Do you know why the men leave and the women, left behind, have to do the work, in the name of a better women/men ratio? --Gerda Arendt (talk) 12:08, 9 April 2014 (UTC)

HM, like women... User:BracketBot informs.BracketBot (talk) 20:28, 9 April 2014 (UTC)

HM? Her majesty? Humble minister? Honest musician? --Gerda Arendt (talk) 13:19, 9 April 2014 (UTC)

• User:BracketBot informs you: I like you best. I'll' be back for your Jägermeister soon. .BracketBot (talk) 20:28, 9 April 2014 (UTC)

thank you for that important message (trying to stay serious) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 18:03, 9 April 2014 (UTC)

Lovely image. I tried also. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 14:22, 17 April 2014 (UTC)

The 500 DYK Creation and Expansion Medal

		The 500 DYK Creation and Expansion Medal
		Gerda, you are one of the very few people who have reached this milestone. Thank you for your tireless contributions to Wikipedia and the DYK project! -Zanhe (talk) 06:39, 19 May 2014 (UTC)

Congrats!

Congrats on your TFA....and the FA as well. Well done! :) - Neutralhomer • Talk • 13:45, 8 June 2014 (UTC)

Thank you, pure pleasure! Looking forward to "your" station! --Gerda Arendt (talk) 13:48, 8 June 2014 (UTC)

Precious

	The Precious Gerda award
	Now is that fair that you should be the one who gives away all that gorgious gems and receive none? (Oh, well, you did actually, as I can notice, above. At least one more... ) Hafspajen (talk) 20:48, 22 June 2014 (UTC)

Your optimism

What can I say that you haven't already said?

I know! WP would be a MUCH friendlier place if there were more editors with your view of the world!!

Best wishes (and thanks), Pdfpdf (talk) 14:46, 24 June 2014 (UTC)

Thank you. See above, I have been called a warrior, almost exactly a year ago, - thank goodness I can laugh about that and sing ;) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 14:55, 24 June 2014 (UTC)

Thank goodness for people with your view of the world!!!! Pdfpdf (talk) 15:00, 24 June 2014 (UTC)

bzzt, they need to be "admonished for treating Wikipedia as if it were a battleground and advised to better conduct themselves." (link from "here" on top of my user page) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 15:05, 24 June 2014 (UTC)

... (I can only agree. Pdfpdf (talk) 15:15, 24 June 2014 (UTC))

I wish we could clone Gerda! Hey Gerda my new living guitar hero now Paco has passed is this guy.♦ Dr. Blofeld 21:47, 24 June 2014 (UTC)

Good to see you are happily moving forward! Best wishes, Pdfpdf (talk) 14:31, 9 July 2014 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Farmer Brown

The title is more than just my alt name and alter ego. Not sure if you've seen this, but I figured you would enjoy this little essay I wrote some time back. Dennis Brown | 2¢ | WER 16:24, 29 June 2014 (UTC)

I enjoyed it - again ;) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 16:29, 29 June 2014 (UTC)

ps: look above for grandfather, who would have fit nicely (also mentioned in this thread) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 16:35, 29 June 2014 (UTC)

Sounds like an interesting man :) I'm curious if there are other, similar versions of this in other cultures. It seems a pity to only have the one very American version of the parable. Dennis Brown | 2¢ | WER 16:40, 29 June 2014 (UTC)

I know one remotely similar, but it could also be US first, about a business consultant and his bet with a shepherd. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 16:47, 29 June 2014 (UTC)

In one of my favourite operas, Gianni Schichi, the hero is the peasant, who is the witty one to fake a will in favour of a noble family, not forgetting to give himself more than all others, - and his daughter is then "fit" to marry one of them. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 19:55, 29 June 2014 (UTC)

Gianni Schicchi
by Giacomo Puccini
Will scene in the premiere at the Met
Description	One-act opera, part of Il Trittico
Librettist	Giovacchino Forzano
Language	Italian
Based on	Dante's Divine Comedy
Premiere	14 December 1918 (1918-12-14) Metropolitan Opera

Dennis, Here's my alternative info, thanks for appreciating redundance, - nice because typically the first argument against this is redundance ;) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 11:28, 1 July 2014 (UTC)

You're such a smart lady, you humble me regularly with your vast knowledge. I need regular humbling, so you are doing me a favor. ;) Dennis Brown | 2¢ | WER 20:06, 29 June 2014 (UTC)

Do you want to make me blush? (Examples pictured further up.) - This is not knowledge, it's interest. - Did you look at our FA? What do you think of the image in the upper right corner? Do you recognize that it is supposed to be a navbox? Do you like to navigate away from an article which you just entered? --Gerda Arendt (talk) 20:15, 29 June 2014 (UTC)

You ask a lot of questions, young lady. I noticed the info box with the drop down menu, I've seen Eric do that before, I like those for many articles, although I prefer traditional infoboxes for science stuff. I did enjoy theatre in my youth (participating and watching), but opera has always escaped me. It's like they're singing a foreign language... Dennis Brown | 2¢ | WER 20:35, 29 June 2014 (UTC)

Be careful, very careful, see above for minefield. - This thing is not a collapsed infobox, as Eric sometimes uses, but see also. This is a navbox, tells you nothing about the article, but navigates away from it. The normal position for a navbox is on the bottom, and guess what? There it is. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 21:00, 29 June 2014 (UTC)

Ah, I noticed it looked different, the headers and such. That is different and pretty useful stuff. But will it be confusing to readers expecting a traditional "see also" section but its missing? Dennis Brown | 2¢ | WER 21:33, 29 June 2014 (UTC)

For me, the navbox at the bottom is pretty useful. I am not sure what's useful for you? --Gerda Arendt (talk) 21:41, 29 June 2014 (UTC)

No, it is useful, but if users are used to seeing a "see also" and they don't, it might not immediately obvious. Consistency. I'm sure I would get voted down, but I'm one that like redundancy in stuff like that, and would probably like both. I'm funny that way. Dennis Brown | 2¢ | WER 21:44, 29 June 2014 (UTC)

Start over: Did you see the singer (where Eric helped)? What would you think if you came to a singer article, and instead of telling you when he was born and where he studied, you would get a navigation to other singers who studied with the same teacher, and not a picture of the singer, but of the teacher. ?? (And forgive me: I have no idea how "see also" comes into play.) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 21:56, 29 June 2014 (UTC)

• I think the idea is interesting, again, kind of like a "see also" feature simply because they are tangentially related. I'm not sure about the example you use here (most singers that have articles here didn't study with someone, so consistency is a problem), but I'm intrigued by the idea in general. It isn't very "wikipedia", but it seems to be very "encyclopedia". I do like the idea of a nav box on an opera that links all the other operas from the same composer. That could be true with any musician, for example. Not prepared to have a final opinion, but the idea is very interesting. I can see that in some kinds of articles, it would be a huge improvement, I'm just not smart enough to know what all types of articles off the top of my head. Dennis Brown | 2¢ | WER 12:50, 1 July 2014 (UTC)

I think we agree more than it looks. I am all for a navbox of all (or at least the notable) operas/works of a composer, but please where a navbox belongs: at the bottom. Look at Gianni Schicchi: it's at the bottom, {{Giacomo Puccini}} - Many composers have one. - The other navbox on top - which was there before - can't be as well formatted, - horizontal is better for a presentation of groups. I chose the (hypothetical) example to show how little sense it makes to me, to showcase not the topic of the article (opera/singer), but instead something secondary (composer/teacher). --Gerda Arendt (talk) 13:06, 1 July 2014 (UTC)

José Carlos Cocarelli

Hi Gerda. I was wondering why such an obviously virtuoso pianist has so little coverage these days, despite being relatively young as pianists go. Perhaps you were too? I found his official YouTube channel. It has no videos on it (although others have uploaded some old ones to their channels). Anyhow, he did have a comments section where someone in France, who had heard him play years ago and greatly admired him, asked when he would be performing again there. Cocarelli replied [12]:

"Je vous remercie pour ce souvenir heureux pour vous et pour moi. Malheureusement les concerts ce n'est plus d'actualité, du moins tant que je traînerai des troubles neurologiques qui me handicapent sévèrement dans ma mobilité et au piano. Je vis en France, en Sarthe, où j'enseigne le piano dans deux petites écoles de musique (dans mon état, impossible d'envisager une place dans un conservatoire). Vous souhaitant Bonne continuation. Merci encore!"

(Thank you for this happy memory, for both you and me. Unfortunately, concerts are no longer possible now that I suffer from neurological disorders that severely handicap my mobility and my ability to play the piano. I live in France, Sarthe, where I teach piano in two small music schools (in my condition, it is impossible to imagine a place in a conservatory). Wishing you good luck. Thank you again!)

How sad! Best, Voceditenore (talk) 10:29, 24 July 2014 (UTC)

Yes, sad. Thank you for coming over to tell me! Happy, --Gerda Arendt (talk) 11:37, 24 July 2014 (UTC)

Chopin

Hi Gerda! Thanks for your very helpful comments on the Chopin FA review. If the situation is now OK with you, are you wiling to give a formal support on the review page? Or if there's anything still outstanding, do let me know. I am trying to get it wrapped up now. Best, --Smerus (talk) 19:52, 31 July 2014 (UTC)

Thank you for fixing all points I mentioned so far. I didn't read the music section in detail yet, and have little time these days. I may actually get to reading now, because I found out that what I wanted to do next - update the Bach cantatas for next Sunday - I had done already, in preparation to be blocked for a month ;) (arbitration enforcement, did you know?) - Andy was also under pressure, for formatting a malformed infobox, helping a new editor. Do you understand??? One (!) of the arbitrators clearly saw that, - the one resigned. I keep singing ;) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 20:26, 31 July 2014 (UTC)

ps: Did you know that I celebrated another birthday on the Main page, a Wagner DYK again? --Gerda Arendt (talk) 07:50, 1 August 2014 (UTC)

Thanks Gerda! I don't follow these arb things any more, try to keep my nose clean! Best, --Smerus (talk) 09:30, 1 August 2014 (UTC)

Your nose is clean ;) - It's easy to ignore "these arb things" as long as they don't threaten to block your friend for helping a new user, and yourself for cleaning up after a little series of unexplained reverts. - I enjoyed "awakening", imagine you too, and Nikkimaria, - the arbs (whom I expected to be able to read a page history, but perhaps I expected too much) probable saw a battle. - What do they see, at all? The one who really looked now left the team, - what does that tell me? --Gerda Arendt (talk) 10:55, 1 August 2014 (UTC)

Hello Sweet Woman.

Hope you and yours are doing well. Hugs always, — Ched :  ?  15:08, 2 August 2014 (UTC)

With you appearing, I am better, compared to the sadness on top. Believe it or not, there is more peace now in infobox topics ;) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 21:36, 2 August 2014 (UTC)

You are so sweet!

Gerda! Thank-you again! What a nice surprise to be honoured by you one year later! Here is my thank-you the first time: [13], followed by the day a half-year later when I was thinking about what a good person you are and I just had to let you know: [14]. If I ever go to Germany someday, my first stop will be to tell you in person how sweet you are. You are an awesome Wikipedian! Prhartcom (talk) 06:41, 4 August 2014 (UTC)

Thank you! I found this treasure hidden in my archive but would like to respond here; I am sort of bitter today about this loss (and this), am wide open for sweetness. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 06:53, 4 August 2014 (UTC)

I wish I could cheer you up. :-( Please don't be sad, Gerda! Prhartcom (talk) 07:29, 4 August 2014 (UTC)

You cheered me up. You can go and tell users who said This place is beyond fixing and I don't want to be part of this community any more. , that they would be the ones we need. Look why they left, change there, perhaps, --Gerda Arendt (talk) 07:39, 4 August 2014 (UTC)

Noye's Fludde

I'm back on the opera trail, with Noye's Fludde. The peer review is open here, if you'd like to comment. Brianboulton (talk) 15:12, 4 August 2014 (UTC)

Thank you for the invitation, will follow. Did you know that we will have a singer on the Main page tomorrow? --Gerda Arendt (talk) 15:17, 4 August 2014 (UTC)

My mention of your wonderful JSB articles on the Noye's Fludde PR page was, in my typically duplicitous English way, both wholeheartedly sincere and simultaneously a cunning snare to lure you into the peer review. But I see my crafty schemes were unnecessary and you are on the case already. I wish I could feel comfortable about reviewing your GAN Bach articles, but you understand, I'm sure, that as a Gerda fan I feel not quite as detached as a good GA reviewer should be! With respectful greetings, Tim. Tim riley talk 20:14, 4 August 2014 (UTC)

Thanks for the snare ;) - I will read and comment, but have two other articles waiting first. Did you see that I created one off Noye which was a red link off my very first article? (Almost exactly 5 years ago, as my user's infobox told me, - I would have missed it otherwise.) - If you hesitate about Bach, there's my Strauss dream also, and a hymn which Bach used, but that's a different story. Btw, on various pages I claimed that the infobox war is history (a myth, over), what do you think? Look at Chopin above, --Gerda Arendt (talk) 20:27, 4 August 2014 (UTC)

A barnstar for you!

	The Surreal Barnstar
	In belated response to your efforts at Franz Kafka, my favourite author, and also for your kindness in telling other editors (i.e. me) that they are valued, I grant you this barnstar! Thanks very much for doing what you do. RGloucester — ☎ 02:19, 11 August 2014 (UTC)

August 2014

Please do not attack other editors. Comment on content, not on contributors. Personal attacks damage the community and deter users. Please stay cool and keep this in mind while editing. Thank you. betafive 05:48, 12 August 2014 (UTC)

Whom did I attack where, you think? --Gerda Arendt (talk) 06:00, 12 August 2014 (UTC)

Didn't you imply I have an 'incredibly toxic personality' at User talk:Jimbo Wales? betafive 06:02, 12 August 2014 (UTC)

hope over experience

No, I simply wanted to ask if a term like that (given in quotation marks, because it is a quote, - I would never ever say such a thing myself) would be "readily identifiable" as "'Offensiveness' of speech". - English is not my first language, I need simple language, - if you can help to word the question better, you are welcome. - Visit my user page: "Every editor is a human being.", - I like that idea enough to quote it. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 06:18, 12 August 2014 (UTC)

Well, I apologize for taking offense when none was intended. You'll have to forgive me-- I think "incredibly toxic personality" is an offensive thing to call someone, and as someone who's been described as-such, I'm perhaps oversensitive to it. Cheers! betafive 06:42, 12 August 2014 (UTC)

@Betafive: I think it was Jimbo who used that phrase in his Wikimania speech. He also visited my talk page to tell me that I needed "more honor", which went down like a lead balloon with quite a few people. - Sitush (talk) 16:55, 12 August 2014 (UTC)

yes --Gerda Arendt (talk) 17:01, 12 August 2014 (UTC)

Well, here actually. To be fair, he did sort of retract it when he came under some pressure a few days later. He still seemed to think that he was right but he also said that "I want you to continue editing here", as if he has some sort of control over that. "This edit is provided to you courtesy of a decree of Jimmy Wales" or whatever. - Sitush (talk)

Yep, Jimbo himself said it and it was widely believed that he was directing it at a specific individual not named here. Gerda and I are among those who did not approve. Gerda would never call someone that. Montanabw^(talk) 19:25, 12 August 2014 (UTC)

You would think he might have learned something last time. Nikkimaria (talk) 00:52, 13 August 2014 (UTC)

Wow. I didn't know about that one. Yup, he should have learned. Nope, he didn't. (Sheesh) Montanabw^(talk) 07:16, 14 August 2014 (UTC)

Thank you, both! Today I point at the Inkpot Madonna, - a woman for early learning. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 20:32, 15 August 2014 (UTC)

Brackets mystery solved

Hello Gerda! Thank you for your kind comment about Puankhequa at Philg88's talk page. I was just as surprised about your editing the bracket as I was with a Bot message that followed. I counted the brackets time and time again and I just could not figure it out where the "single" bracket was. Totally mystified! Then I realized that the very first bracket was not written in roman letters but in Chinese "letters", and therefore the Bot did not recognize it as a bracket and ignored it. So it depended on what rendering support your computer had. I could clearly see two brackets (and all the Chinese characters) but when I looked at the page on another computer, obviously similar to yours without Chinese characters, one bracket was gone and replaced with a blank square. So, from that point of view, your edit was perfectly fine. I have now replaced both brackets with brackets from the roman (English) alphabet and all is well again. :) So thank you, you acted in good faith, it was just the "machines" misleading us both. Poor Philg88, he must be encountering this problem all the time. All the best, w.carter-Talk 19:34, 12 August 2014 (UTC)

I tried to remove an extra space, but may have removed a bracket accidentally, - no harm. Look above, people leaving because "civility" is demanded by incivility, that's a different problem. Nice to meet you, and I still think your article would be good for DYK. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 19:40, 12 August 2014 (UTC)

Nice to meet you too. You seem civil enough for me. :) The spaces around the Chinese characters can be tricky = non-existent. I am still something of a newbie here at the English Wikipedia (and I am being gently and expertly coached by Philg88, who has the patience of a saint) so DYK's are a bit outside my learning curve right now. But I like cooperation (I never regard articles as "mine"), so if anyone else is interested in doing one, I am totally ok with it. I have noticed that some users make DYK's of almost anything. I'll get to the DYK's eventually. In a couple of months or so. :) Best, w.carter-Talk 19:56, 12 August 2014 (UTC)

Civility: I only quoted someone ;) - I am one of these people who make DYK of everything, - someone introduced me for my first article without asking me. I'll do that to you, and you just watch, learn if you like, ignore if not ;) - I have to know which article are "mine" because I am a sanctioned criminal and may add infoboxes only to "my" articles, those I created (turning red link to blue), not those I get DYK credit for because I expanded. Kafkaesque, well, see my user infobox ;) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 20:06, 12 August 2014 (UTC)

I'm ok with Kafkaesque. :) Please do a DYK of this here new article if you like, Fräulein Kriminelle, I will certainly watch. It is a very good way to learn: Observe and imitate until you achieve enlightenment, or as other have put it: Fake it 'till you make it. Cheers, w.carter-Talk 20:22, 12 August 2014 (UTC)

Done, and added to the article talk, for everybody interested. Please add projects there! You can add better hooks to the nomination, preceded by ALT1: etc. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 20:30, 12 August 2014 (UTC)

ps: found something pictured --Gerda Arendt (talk) 20:41, 12 August 2014 (UTC)

Yes, I know. It is the painting mentioned in ref no. 32. But we have not found a copyright free pic of this to upload. See discussion at talk page of Puankhequa. w.carter-Talk 20:48, 12 August 2014 (UTC)

OK, move along, that's quite enough friendly collaborative editing, thank you. This is Wiki-bleedin-pedia. Please fulfil your obligations by getting involved in some kind of ridiculous arguement (preferably with each other) within 2 business days, or else. (That's a very nice article you have, there. It would be a shame if something happened to it...) --Floquenbeam (talk) 21:29, 12 August 2014 (UTC)

What!!! I get in trouble all the time at the Teahouse. That has to count for something. w.carter-Talk 22:34, 12 August 2014 (UTC)

And we got us a picture. Nice! Thanks all! w.carter-Talk 00:19, 13 August 2014 (UTC)

Could you please sort out what was said about him and what about his son? --Gerda Arendt (talk) 08:30, 13 August 2014 (UTC)

 Done w.carter-Talk 09:47, 13 August 2014 (UTC)

Infobox wars and pieces

The infobox wars will continue until a few minds start to open up to the real solution. Tying infoboxes to metadata was a fundamental mistake that too many infobox warriors are unprepared to admit to. The obvious solution is for all infoboxes to be generated automatically from Wikidata, and users to be given the option to see them, not to see them, or even only to see them, perhaps accompanied by a micropedia-style lead. Simple. But it won't happen of course, because some would have to admit that they'd been riding the wrong horse. Eric Corbett 22:10, 15 August 2014 (UTC)

The wars were mentioned in 2005. I don't see any in 2014, but I may be blind. Look above for the names of some people known to love or hate them, all talking to each other. I was named a warrior once, - that was for repair after an edit war, weeks later. I deny the wars ;) - I simply believe that for example Carmen would be more attractive and informative like this. - See also, --Gerda Arendt (talk) 22:25, 15 August 2014 (UTC)

I remember some quite recently, over articles such as the Pendine Museum of Speed for instance. But there's no reason why you and I should have to see the same version of any page as readers. If you like infoboxes then have one. If I don't, then why should I have to see your preferred version? Thought ought to be given to a micropedia version of every page, based on Wikidata plus the article lead. Nothing else makes sense.

On a separate issue and in light of recent events, have you ever felt that I treated you differently or less respectfully because you're a female? Just curious. Eric Corbett 22:41, 15 August 2014 (UTC)

I didn't remember the museum, looked it up and saw that the most recent edits were in 2013. - I asked about 2014 ;) - I told our arbitrators that the infobox war was over in 2012, last "battle" Cosima Wagner. - You always treated me well, as I keep telling people, - how would I know if that is different - if it is - because I am female or because I am I? --Gerda Arendt (talk) 22:53, 15 August 2014 (UTC)

Good question. Probably because you are you, regardless of gender. I also remember an infobox spat around Montacute House, but that may have been last year as well. Eric Corbett 23:07, 15 August 2014 (UTC)

I looked. Define spat, which seems to be much less than a battle. What I see with my limited view (reading diffs is a difficult art) is that Andy made one edit in the history of that article, on 14 February 2014: uncollapsing an infobox (an act of love on Valentine's Day?). - Of course, uncollapsing an infobox and putting it in the normal position IS a reason to be banned, as we know from Teh Case. (Reading diffs is a difficult art.) - Back to your initial question: in the following (longish) MOS discussion, wasn't it mentioned that readers can opt out seeing infoboxes? I didn't follow because I want to see them. - Further on memory lane, did you see that Andreas Scholl was improved since you helped me? --Gerda Arendt (talk) 05:45, 16 August 2014 (UTC)

Hi Gerda

I probably should have reverted the IP edit at Maria Callas instead of requesting citations. Would you have a look at its history, and if you think it best, restore the version prior to the IP edit? Thank you.—John Cline (talk) 06:51, 16 August 2014 (UTC)

You do it, please. I reverted nonsense like that once, just before, and am on a self-imposed 1RR rule (see above, perhaps you can get behind my petition ;) ), on top of having left project opera, to not disturb them further. Funny enough, I am the one who supplied most of the recent DYK articles for the project, one a day in the last three days ;) --Gerda Arendt (talk) 07:33, 16 August 2014 (UTC)

Yes I will, and understand your reluctance. I'm sorry if I've opened an old wound. I happened to notice your edit in the article's recent history, and I fully trust your judgement. I'll look at your petition directly. I feel confident I'll find myself in support of it. Cheers.—John Cline (talk) 07:49, 16 August 2014 (UTC)

Thank you! No wound, - we celebrated Verdi's birthday together, last November, and we get along well, I simple try not to get in conflict. I believe that most operas would be more attractive with an infobox instead of a navbox that is redundant to a better one on the bottom, but don't waste time doing missionary work. I occasionally ask, though ;) - The link to the petition is on top of my user, if you don't want to read the (sort of related) discussion right above, --Gerda Arendt (talk) 08:10, 16 August 2014 (UTC)

Massenet

Greetings, dear Gerda! I am in the strange position of having two articles up for FAC at the moment, both as co-nom. I don't imagine John Gielgud is of compelling interest, but I wonder if you might find it pleasing to drop in chez Jules Massenet. Quite understand if he doesn't appeal, naturally. Respectful hugs, Tim riley talk 20:05, 16 August 2014 (UTC)

Thanks for another invitation, while I didn't even turn to the Fludde, other than creating an article for it. The strange things I do instead include telling an arbitrtor as gently as I can (phrase borrowed from George Ponderevo) to check premises, and our founder about, - well how would you call it? I also had three singers on DYK on three consecutive days, - a bit strange after I left project opera to avoid being its troublemaker ;) - Did you see above that a Bach cantata was made GA today? Now the reviewer starts to fill its red links ;)

--Gerda Arendt (talk) 20:26, 16 August 2014 (UTC)

Red links now all blue, looks much better. Now that's something Tim wouldn't do as a reviewer! :-)♦ Dr. Blofeld 21:31, 16 August 2014 (UTC)

I did indeed see BVW 12 promoted. I itch to review your GA nominations, but you can understand that as secretary to the Gerda Fan Club I feel inhibited from so doing. It was a salutary excursion for me today to engage in the FAC for Fluorine. I didn't understand a word of it, but nobody could imagine I was favouring dear colleagues! Tim riley talk 20:42, 16 August 2014 (UTC)

I understand. Nice club idea, after I was seen in the infobox warrior club, which I don't know. Above, I said that I don't know of an infobox battle in 2014, - how about you? My fans could perhaps tell the arbs that they don't think I need a restriction to behave? Actually, Andy the same. - What do think about my thoughts about learning? --Gerda Arendt (talk) 20:52, 16 August 2014 (UTC)

Superlambanana

Delighted to see that you are a fan of this iconic structure (at the top of the page)! --Peter I. Vardy (talk) 21:10, 16 August 2014 (UTC)

... only that the sad reason is that I am a fan of the missing photographer, - it's the most cheerful way I can deal with another terrible loss for the project, --Gerda Arendt (talk) 21:14, 16 August 2014 (UTC)

Mmmmm. --Peter I. Vardy (talk) 21:40, 16 August 2014 (UTC)

A barnstar for you!

	The Random Acts of Kindness Barnstar
	I know you do other stuff too, but I seem to see your name most often on user talkpages, invariably offering some kindly and poetic words of encouragement. Figured it's worth letting you have some of the same, although I'm no poet: Gerda, thanks for being nice, Dank für betragen nicht mörderische. I don't speak very good German, either. Yunshui 雲水 09:30, 19 August 2014 (UTC)

Thank you! I practise every day, it helps ;) - today's: move in harmony, --Gerda Arendt (talk) 15:44, 19 August 2014 (UTC)

Thank you

Thank you, Gerda, for your kind message.

This week I had a lot of other things to do. I will for sure update the pages of Bruckner's Quartet and Quintet next week, e.g.,adding a section "Versions and editions" and seeing for a split for the Alternative Rondo and the Intermezzo.

Best regards, --Réginald alias Meneerke bloem (To reply) 14:58, 21 August 2014 (UTC)

Before splitting, try the second infobox again one more time, --Gerda Arendt (talk) 20:15, 21 August 2014 (UTC)

Please

There is an avid discussion going on in Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Opera‎ about the legitimity of info boxes as an (legitimate) alternative to composer templates. I do not know your opinion but I would be very grateful if you could/would participate in the discussion as I have great admiration for your knowledge and your style. Thanks in any case, and best greetings after a wonderful evening with Fierrabras.--Meister und Margarita (talk) 00:30, 26 August 2014 (UTC)

Of course they are legitimate. An infobox {{infobox opera}} was developed and proposed for use, see for example Opera infoboxes. Does this sound like a plan? - See also the other discussions (look for the word "infobox" in the well-organized archive). - I left the project but participated in the current discussion. "My" operas have infoboxes, of course, for example Bluthochzeit. I quote Voceditenore: "I live in hope." --Gerda Arendt (talk) 05:45, 26 August 2014 (UTC)

"Es ist schade um die Menschen." A Quote from Dream Play by Strindberg. All these efforts, so much harm. Makes me really sad. Rethinking myself, thanking you and still hoping, --Meister und Margarita (talk) 08:59, 26 August 2014 (UTC)

Thanks for what you do, --Gerda Arendt (talk) 09:00, 27 August 2014 (UTC)

DYK for Puankhequa

HJ Mitchell 00:03, 28 August 2014 (UTC)

DYK for Mouvements d'Harmonie

—HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 22:39, 27 August 2014 (UTC) 12:03, 28 August 2014 (UTC)

DYK for Henry Lansdell

—HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 22:42, 27 August 2014 (UTC) 00:02, 29 August 2014 (UTC)

Bruckner at the Salzburger Festspiele

Dear Gerda,

Ö1 broadcasted on 22 August the premiere of the "Urfassung" of Symphony No. 1 (Röder's edition, conductor: C. Meister), which was performed on 26 July at the Salzburger Festspiele. Shortly after it was put on YouTube.[15] I discussed with Hans and John whether it actually was a premiere, because I heard no obvious difference with the "1866 Original unrevised Linz version" prepared by William Carragan in 1998, which Gerd Schaller used in Ebrach in July 2011 (See also my comment on YouTube). Röder is responsible for the update of the volume of the MWV dedicated to Symphony No. 1. John replied: "We will have to see what Röder writes in his forward. That new edition will be out soon. Carragan did his edition independently of the MWV. While it is unusual that they did not go to him, it is also not surprising." It would not be the first time that there is some personal rivalry among scholars...

The second part of the broadcast was devoted to Mass No. 2 (conductor: R. Huber). Unfortunately this performance used as commonly the "2. Fassung" of 1882. Shortly after it was also put on YouTube.[16]

Best regards, --Réginald alias Meneerke bloem (To reply) 15:33, 29 August 2014 (UTC)

Thank you. - I heard a wonderful performance of the mass, with other romantic a cappella music, - and remembered singing it! --Gerda Arendt (talk) 20:13, 29 August 2014 (UTC)

Quick question

Aloha. I would like to apologize in advance for interrupting your important work. This question will only take a moment of your time. The German archaeologist Roland Hampe published a small, 44 page book titled Die Stele aus Pharsalos im Louvre (1951).[17] However, according to OCLC, there is an online (e-book) version available.[18] Do you have any idea where I might be able to get a copy? The OCLC notes that the digital version was published by HathiTrust, but I am having trouble finding the book on their website.[19] I will keep looking if you don't have an answer. Thank you. Viriditas (talk) 22:03, 31 August 2014 (UTC)

I found the same, unfortunately, --Gerda Arendt (talk) 22:05, 31 August 2014 (UTC)

Thank you. I just realized the problem. Due to copyright restrictions, the e-book version is only available for the purpose of scanning, not for reading.[20] What a silly world we live in! Viriditas (talk) 22:09, 31 August 2014 (UTC)

Archiving and letting it go

Hi Gerda. I had an email from Boing! Said Zebedee over the weekend, asking me to manually archive a section of his talk page, which you had been adding to regularly, perhaps to stop archiving? I'm concerned that the section in question includes a long quote from the infobox case - I'm certain it's not how he'd want to be immortalised. This Wikipedia equivalent of "thread bumping" is something I've seen before from you and I'm going to ask you to stop doing it on B!sZ's page (and preferably stop doing it all together) - he's trying to move away from the drama of Wikipedia, he's trying to focus on other things, I think he deserves the chance. Worm^TT(talk) 07:52, 1 September 2014 (UTC)