On riper reflection, it became clear to us that issuing one’s opinions in an editorial is simply a way of crowing from the top of one’s dung-heap: an understandable but unnecessary assertion of territory. This may have had greater meaning during the high and palmy days of print publishing, when writing was (compared to now) rare and valuable—but in the Internet age everyone has access, and the atmosphere is so polluted with opinions that it catches fire by itself several times a year.
Our intent is to use the “About This Issue” feature primarily to attribute the masthead art. In the present issue, we have a treated photograph of carnival prize stuffed animals from the boardwalk at Wildwood NJ. The artist is Meryl Gross, creator of the Spectral Suburbs Tarot.
We are interested in contributions for the masthead. After two years of experimentation we have settled upon style criteria: graphic, bold and modern! If it’s in the same end of the spectrum as wallpaper from the 1970’s, California Hard Edge painting, or Maurice Noble backgrounds for Roadrunner cartoons, you’ve probably got it just right.