Greetings! Well, what do you think of our new hairstyle and fashion choices? It is truly a new Lament and we hope you enjoy it. We’ve brought aboard some exciting additional friends to beef up the usual offerings from Mike and myself, as, lets face it, there’s only so much of us any one person can take in a given time frame (actually, is this true? I feel like I could take a lot more of Mike than I get, and I see him in person all the time, him and his stupid, stupid dog).
The need the Lament was originally intended to serve was that of somewhat thoughtful, or at least long-form, roughly literary writing, in the age of the Tweet. We’ve decided to expand that original goal even more, and periodically invite a rotating cast of like-minded friends to enthrall us with short essays on whatsoever topic they may wish to expound upon. This week we have an intense and gripping screenplay from Starr Ahrens, local comedian and gifted after-dinner speaker, who, coincidentally, now lives in the apartment I lived in when September 11th happened. (I am intrigued by dates that are also events. You could say “I lived there during September, 2001” but it’s interesting that you can also use the date as a noun to pack a more dramatic punch. Anyway, good thing we had a TV). We’ve also gifted you with Matthew Spencer’s wonderful WE ENJOY, a series of links to things you might not have noticed but will definitely appreciate. And Mike’s column, usually billed as the letter from the editor, is now being called A BUSINESSMAN AT LARGE, wherein I assume he will talk about numbers and graphs and will attempt to dress up corporate malfeasance as free-market determinism as is his wont but we love him anyway. And now the letter from the editor slot, once held by Mike, will now be held by me, Yours Truly. I am also literally the editor now, meaning, the one who corrects misspellings. I am very good at it.
Finally, we’ve instituted a bold new element, which is the personal ad written by someone else. In this case, I have written one for Greg, who makes another appearance in my Host Autumn review, but please don’t let the unorthodox and offensive comments he makes in that review deter you from answering his personal ad if you feel you’d be a good “match” for him. If these personal ads ever lead to an actual marriage then Mike and I are taking ourselves on vacation to Hawaii, so GET ON IT please.
We hope you enjoy! All our love,
Yours Truly