4.5.00

I started editing as an independent contractor at a small Internet company in Pioneer Square. Everything about it is precarious - it's not even a foot in the door, but more like getting a few fingers caught in it. Nevertheless, I'm glad to be there and to be part of the public world. Taking my bus to work with the others in the pale mornings, slouching over my desk unyieldingly attentive to the tasks at hand, and later when the day has yellowed, emerging from the mind place to strangers busy on sidewalks. I like the pace of the day and the days passing quickly while my emotions are superseded by little puzzles of words. I like the smell of spring in an evening coastal town and the feeling of satisfaction I have at that time each day of getting paid so well to read and write. I'm surprised to like editing so well. I don't think of myself as the kind of person I imagine editors and journalists to be. Don't you think editing seems like a very boring job? Pouring over words with a diligent eye for those silly rules of grammar and punctuation seems the persona of some shame-inducing English teacher. But there aren't many rules. For me, language is an auditory function and most rules seem to make sense if you think of them as guidelines to melody. I can't diagram sentences and I notice that I'm unfamiliar with some of the grammar vocab around the editorial department, but the ears know - or know well enough. Basically, I just like pushing around words to make pretty pictures and smooth rhythms.

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