Editorial Introduction

by Patrick Malone

Gosh, look at the calendar? Have we been doing this for a full year now?

Well yes, it seems we have! I was going back through the previous issues yesterday in preparation for putting together downloadable and printable versions and was surprised at how well things had come together over the past year. It's my opinion that we've published some world class articles here. And even though it sometimes is a pain in the rump trying to get everything together by the deadline, it's been my pleasure to bring them to you.

Not that I should have been surprised. I'll admit to having some doubt at the outset of this. I remember when david and I first started this we worried whether we'd even make it beyond one issue. But just from reading the message board I should have realized that we have a bunch of real talented people here. Just looking at the pieces we've featured on the "Extras" portion of the zine would seem to bear this out. Perhaps it's the nature of the beast, but the type of board we've run tends to bring out the best, most literate, most informed people on the internet. (Compared to Usenet, the number of complete nutjobs we get is remarkably small.) The fiction we've published could well have been picked up by any number of literary magazines.

So, here we go with year two and I have to admit to harboring some of the same doubts as I had when we first started. How long can we keep this up with voluntary contributions? Will the quality remain as high as the standards that we've set for ourselves? I have complete faith in the abilities of the teeming millions to keep it so.

One feature of "Teemings" that I keep wondering if anyone has ever noticed or even cared about is the title that each issue is given. Admittedly, they're pretty random, but they do have specific references and I keep wondering if anybody "gets" them. So, here's the deal. I will arrange for a choice of a Straight Dope coffee mug or tee-shirt to the first person who can correctly identify the references for each of the seven issue titles we've published so far. Please post your answer in the thread in MPSIMS where this issue is announced. E-mailed answers will NOT be accepted. I'll let you know who gets there first.