November 4, 2004 Issue

It’s good to be queen. True, the extent of my realm is small, 40 to 48 pages fortnightly, but hey, some of us monarchs just control smaller territory.

In addition to the power, I have queenly accessories. My office chair is throne-like, able to accommodate my queenly physique while providing back support and rocking action. My computer screen is oversized and sports a royal lavender background. What more could any queen ask for?

As queen, I largely decide what does and does not go into this newspaper in the way of extras, that is, pieces submitted by others and not assigned to my royal queue of contributing writers. Thus it often comes down to deciding between this and that release as space allows. For the record, this queen tries to be fair, providing a balance between press releases submitted by non-profit organizations and those submitted by public relations firms on behalf of clients in the private sector.

I’ve been surprised at the number of submissions of mermaids for consideration as cover art. Most of them are wonderful, but I could literally have a mermaid on the cover every other issue, so some time back I decided on one mermaid cover a year. Not because I don’t like mermaids, but I strive to have a variety of material on the cover. So if you have submitted a mermaid to this publication, rest assured I still have it and will get around to you one of these years. To the artists so willing to share their creations with us, I cannot adequately thank you enough. People are forever telling me how much they like the covers and we do too.

One other ubiquitous item coming my way every week is the big check. It’s lovely that so many local businesses do so much good and raise so much money for worthy causes, but frankly, the big check photo is boring. To guarantee that I give space to the big check, the big check needs to be really big, as in lots of zeros. Alternately, those who find a way to submit the big check photos in a unique and funny way will get a slot. I promise. Skateboard on the check, make love to it, dance with it, use your imagination and I’ll find the space. Four people holding it, just doesn’t do anything for me, so like mermaids, one big check photo per year. We’ve already published this year’s big check photo, so unless your donation check is obscenely large or submitted with some humor and flair— better luck next year.

Because I am a queen without an excessive ego and because I recognize and value the superb talent of our contributing writers, from time to time an essay from one of them will appear in this space, That is only right. Not only because they have opinions, but also because they like to flex their writing muscles on something other than business profiles, dining and book reviews and other more reportage type stories. Bruce Collier’s riff on the French published in the last issue is just one example of the kinds of things these writers think about. Look for more of them. I gladly cede my space to those efforts better than anything I conjure up in a fortnight.

Speaking of opinions, Charles Morgan has some. Most locals are well aware of Morgan’s political views and while some may think an entertainment vehicle is not the place for them, we disagree. We disagree because opinions and the differences therein, make for interesting reading. We also think differences of opinion are entertaining in and of themselves. While some of you may agree wholeheartedly with him, others of you couldn’t disagree more. It makes for a conversational starting point. You needn’t say thank you—it’s just another service we offer.

Til next time, I give you the royal smile and nod…

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