Tulips - photo by Meaghan 

North Shore sunset

This is the first photo posted to my blog. I hesitate to call it a photo of the day, but...

Self publishing is this miracle outcome of technology. However, for every freedom to publish I gain, so do others gain and in the rush of many me's to the www I am lost as just another me.

I will continue to publish anyway. I believe I have crossed the hump at school. Although with just two weeks left in the term I could have used passing it earlier. Good grief the past month has been tight. I want it all to end, to relieve myself of the pressure, but worry that any such easing will lull me into the ways of a lazy man. I must defend myself against such an outcome.

If it means a picture a day, so be it. I could probably do a story or two a week as well. I should head down to the North Shore News with a portfolio of my photography and writing. WTF.

the voice

April 11 and the end of the term won't come a day too soon. I don't know how much more stress I can take with this. This latest copy of the voice has an opinion piece in it that I just wish my name wasn't attached to.

In a comparison of the copy I handed in with that of the final edition some ma argue there was an improvement. Obviously this is the case since changes were made. I don't agree and this rant is to rid myself of the demons that are keeping me awake tonight.

My copy editor was an idiot. Copy gets handed off on letter size paper in a 12 point font. The editor I had wanted me to fill the spaces at the end of the paragraphs. She didn't like to see wasted space. Makes sense, in a really stretching it kind of way, if the final copy is printedin the same format.

The Voice uses a 9.5 point font and the columns are an inch and a bit wide. How the fuck is she going to know from my copy that I'm wasting, "space that could be filled with words." I stopped listening to her after that.

She asked me to reduce four paragraphs to one or two sentences saying the subject didn't need to be explained because an article elsewhere in the paper had an explanation in it. I disagreed and shortened the paragraphs and simplified the language.

Well what the fuck, the final copy took my simplification and then added a paragraph of explanation which she said wasn't necessary in the first place.

Make up your mind.

Now I understand this notion that some copy editors want to make a mark on everything they touch.

If you want to read the article, link to it through the voice link to the right and head to page four. I'm not going to make it any easier to find. The more I think about it the more I wish I had pushed harder to have the changes taken out or the whole piece removed.

Anger.