A Note To Our Readers

For a change, very few problems.

The big question in the e-mails is will be there be an edition next weekend? We're planning on it. Having killed the supsense there, let's take a moment to discuss this edition.

A lengthy piece once again lost in posting (Dona points out that she asked repeatedly, prior to posting, "Do we have a backup copy?" and was assured that we did when we didn't). That ended up being okay because Kayla had given permission for C.I. to carry something over to this site. We congratulate Kayla and her husband on their newborn son Brian. "What Noble Cause?" is the name of that piece and thank you to Kayla for permission to include the photo of her son.

The online novel Miss Swanson Regrets has quite a few fans surprising even Ty who hadn't given it a second thought (or so he says) since last Sunday. When Jess noted the e-mails on it, Ty pulled out the outline and we got to work on a second chapter.

We offer "Five Books, Five Minutes" for those who enjoy the book discussions. (Even those who disagree with our takes on the books we're discussing.) We think there's a variety in this week's selection both in terms of topics and in terms of length.

Ava and C.I. did a rough draft of their TV review while we were trying to figure out if there was a backup copy to the lost piece. They weigh in on Commander-in-Chief. They gave it a polish before publishing. We think the majority will, as usual, e-mail to say it's the best thing in the edition, it's the funniest thing, it's the . . . and we're sure that the three people who have griped about every review since April will continue to write in and make their usual threats of violence.
For you three, who've hung in long after your other crazies have moved on, we'll note that Ava and C.I. don't read the e-mail on their TV reviews. The minute they were identified as the TV reviews, the disagreeing e-mails went from "I disagree" or "You're stupid" to lengthy descriptions of how you'd slit their throats, etc. The rest of us will read your threats but as Dona said, there's no point in Ava or C.I. wasting their time on that "shit." But it's good to know you're still reading. Even if you are frustrated that Ava and C.I. won't meet with you or give out their addresses.

When we say we hope there's something in each edition that makes you laugh or makes you angry or makes you think, we probably should have clarified that while we hoped you would have some sort of reaction, homicidal rage wasn't one we were going for.

As usual we offer an editorial. The piece we lost was on Falluja but we'd already decided the editorial would be on Bob Woodward. (And yes, if you've already read the editorial, C.I. was the one who popped up with "in fairness . . .")

We thank Dallas for hunting down links, we thank Maria for allowing us to rerun her contribution for The Common Ills.

The TV review was written by Ava and C.I.

The credit for all other pieces written for this edition goes to:

The Third Estate Sunday Review's Dona, Jess, Ty, Ava and Jim,
Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude,
C.I. of The Common Ills and The Third Estate Sunday Review,
Kat of Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills),
Mike of Mikey Likes It!,
Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz,
Betty Thomas Friedman Is a Great Man,
Wally of The Daily Jot
and Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix.

-- Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess, Ava and C.I.