this ends one era of the word.

after two years of writing, reading, responding, aligning, arranging, choosing managing blocking thinking of what to put into each issue, we are changing things a little bit.

in the words of one of our writers:

... a lot going on lately and actually, most of those things have been on the up and up... behind myself and some of my good friends there just seems to be a weight that's sapping the energy out of us, holding us back, weighing us down. there's also the matter of some financial set backs, but it's nothing serious and it looks like it will all be straight away soon. you can attribute that to the onset of classes, which in itself is a mixed blessing.

so school has started and work has just been a mess of rampant business, stressing at times but the days go by quickly. ... i actually had a touching little moment with all of my office mothers the other day cause we were talking about my plans after graduation. moving out dictates that i need to find a better job, besides, it's time to move on anyway.

you know, that seems to be the theme of the season, moving on. a lot of changes are going on right now, some good, some bad, but in some way, many people that i know are in the moving on state of mind. it's a difficult thing to do as i'm sure most of you know, but we're a blessed little circle of friends. on top of that, some very good friends of ours from yesteryear have come around and we've all been spending some time together and it's been really good, for all of us. you know who your real friends are when years can go by and you can bring things back together as if nothing has changed, pick up right where things were left off in the past. personally, i've thoroughly enjoyed getting reacquainted with our old friends, they're magnificent people, and as luck, well maybe not luck, but as fate would have it, they too are moving on.

i don't know what it is, maybe it's just the point that we're all at in our lives that's doing it. we all stand on the verge of another huge milestone in life, the first step into the "real world", whatever that is :P. first step, probably not, but the first leg of upper education will be complete and the career searching begins. i dunno, maybe we were all just meant to support each other through times like this. He has a funny way of planning things out that's for sure :P

you look at some situations and you just can't help but think that it's not right, things have to be different, they just can't be real. and in that instant or for that span of time, you just won't accept that things have panned out the way that they did. we just have to keep keeping on. ...

more later, time to work.

we are going to let our writers talk for themselves a bit more now instead of making them filter their thoughts to be as authentic as possible through the medium of the newsletter.

our essays remain: all these drafts have come from journals people have written for the word and for themselves. Click HERE!

it has been a challenging two years. thank you for reading!

the word staff  
september, 2002
chicago, illinois
USA
"yup" by christopher batu, august 28, 2002