I’ve been pacing around my apartment and staring out the window and typing and deleting words hoping to have an epiphany that will make this the best editor’s note the world has ever read. One that will encompass the breadth of knowledge I’ve gained in my time at the helm of this beautiful publication. One that will impart wisdom to inspire writers to write, musicians to jam, and eagles to soar. One that will make you laugh. One that will make you cry. One that will make you hurl. It must! Because it’s my final editor’s note for Discorder, and I have to show you everything I’ve done
and learned and sum it up in 500 words or less.
But that’s not how life goes. Momentous events don’t just come to an epic climax then get wrapped up in a neat little package and tucked away. I’ve learned that life is a series of one anti-climactic event after another. That big moment comes and goes and sure enough you’re standing there going, “Huh. Well. I guess it’s over then,” wondering why so much emphasis was placed on that one moment.
It’s silly because every single thing you’ve done your entire life has been leading up to that moment; it’s the stuff in between that matters. So inevitably there’s an annoying clichéto illustrate my point: It’s not the destination that counts, it’s the journey. Annoying but true. Or perhaps Ferris Bueller said it best: “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you might miss it.”
My time here has indeed been a journey, and seeing writers grow, bands explode, and artists flourish with Discorder as their vessel has been remarkable. The opportunities I’ve had working here are countless; things that I dreamt of as a writer, editor, and music-lover, became reality. I’m going to miss this magic carpet ride of magazinery and the people behind it quite a bit.
Of course, I wouldn’t leave on anything but the highest of notes, and if I may say, this oh-so-summery issue is packed with butt-loads of awesome reads and looks. From cover to cover, we’re embracing the season like a kid with a Slurpee and discussing music festivals galore in cover story “The Re-Explosion of the Music Festival,” in a trip to ‘Merca in “Snapshots of Sasquatch,” and in our preview of Vancouver’s newest multi-day D.I.Y. music and arts extravaganza, Shout Back! Festival. We also trot down to Secret Location to chat with grunge-gloom trio DIANE in another edition of Jam Space, get the giggles with Pump Trolley Comedy, and get Skunk-punk on-set in a flashback to 1980 in the final edition of our odes-to-Discorder-past in “I Was A Teenage Skunk.” Just to name a few.
On that note, I bid you fine folks farewell. Have a happy summer, listen to lots of music, go to all the live shows, dance yourself clean, eat, drink, nap, and be as merry as you may. See ya at the beach.
Read on and stay rad,
Laurel Borrowman
PS: Stay tuned to find out who the new editor is! I’ll be co-editing with him/her for a very special “slashie” September issue.