There’s a report in the Times today that this winter may be the dreariest in New York’s history, which seems a slightly unscientific approach to measuring weather, but feels entirely accurate: it’s piss outside. Very cold piss. Friends from the great white North (i.e., Maine) who say we’ve seen nothing, or at least nothing yet, don’t really understand what it’s like to be not only cold and visibly depressed about it, but surrounded by a few million other people who are just as sick and miserable as you, and just as likely to sneeze on the handrail in the subway.

But, that’s not the point of writing. The point is to celebrate the announcement of our new contributing writer Tobias Seamon, who, as of today, has joined our illustrated staff in the form of a grizzly bear, since that’s kind of what Tobias sounds like on the phone, and our illustrator, Anna Sutton, is busy delivering a baby.

In his other lives, Tobias edits Whalelane.com, a stand-out online literary journal, and spends a lot of time berating used-car salesmen in upstate New York, where it’s probably cold enough to freeze gasoline.

Tobias has a very funny story up today about a misguided emailer who decides to make amends and find dates with a group message. We look forward to many of his very funny stories in the future.



Drooling from my nose,
Rosecrans