by David Bloomberg
Since the Straight Dope Message Board began on the Web (as opposed to the old AOL version), I have spoken to people there in several voices. I have been the skeptic who debunks wild claims, the moderator who gets rid of double-posts and tells people to calm down when they start throwing insults, and the Mailbag author who answers questions that are important – but not quite important enough for Cecil to spend his valuable time on. Outside the SDMB, I've interacted with some of the same people in still other ways. I am the Chairman of the Rational Examination Association of Lincoln Land, a local skeptics group; I help run Skeptic News; I am a freelance writer.Today, though, I write in still another voice – the voice of the editor.
Being the editor of a ‘zine like this one is not all it's cracked up to be. Sure, everybody thinks that you're an editor and so you should be worshipped and bowed down to – just like when you're a moderator. But the life of a ‘zine editor is not quite as rosy as you might think.
For one thing, I know almost all of the people who are submitting articles to us, and like most of them (well, some of them, anyway). Still, we cannot publish every article we receive. Many simply do not match the vision that Patrick and I have for this publication, and so we regrettably have to turn them down. Others may be great articles, but require extensive editing on my part, and so have been pushed back until I have time to do so. (This should serve as a hint to writers: The better the grammar and spelling, the sooner you may see it here.)
So I have to read each article, go through the editing, decide with Patrick what should go in and what shouldn't, and, believe it or not, my boss at work actually wants me to put in a few hours every now and then!
But enough of my problems. The articles you see here now are those that made it! They are the cream of the crop, the pick of the litter, the baby without the bath water – or something like that. These articles and poems cover a wide variety of subjects; there should be something here for everybody. I hope you enjoy them and are spurred on to submit something of your own for upcoming issues.
We'll be back in December again with a host of new articles. Until then, don't believe in UFOs, don't insult anybody on the SDMB (at least in Great Debates), and feel free to send in questions to Cecil so he can pass them down to the Mailbag. I'll see you on the Message Board!