new applesauce, new perspective
This weekend, our server was hacked and certain sections of exittheapple were lost. Applesauce was among them. We logged in Friday night to add the newest installment of poetry edited by L. N. Diggs, only to find an impenetrable set of coded gibberish. In english, we believe the code read: start over from scratch, suckas!
This makes us sad.
But we are blessed with perspective right now since this weekend also marked the passing of SciFi giant Octavia Butler. There is little we could say to convey the sense of loss we feel at the silencing of her powerful voice and ruthless social imagination. In the face of this elder’s sudden journey, our database problems seem a touch more manageable. We look forward to building up our zine again and reinstalling our archives. Smile. Rebirth is the stuff of life.
Rest in peace, ms. butler; your legacy is cherished and your work has been well loved.
February 28th, 2006 at 11:00 am
Devestating news…A colossal loss to the Creative Community…
And yet, she lives — oh, yes — she lives. With a legacy that will outlast us all, this elder has lit the torch, illuminating the dark inner landscape of our collective fears, desires and of course, hopes.
Samuel R. Delaney, Steven Barnes, Tananarive Due are left, all torch-bearers; all moving us forward.
Now for the future…for the rest of us — Creatives and aspiring creatives.
Steve Jobs once asked ‘If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?’ I read that some time ago and its haunted me ever since. Because, the Elders are watching us. They held the torches for so long to give us the proverbial ‘well-lighted hallway’, are we running with it?
Will we light the way for others?
So don’t wait. Ever. Don’t worry if the work is perfect. Or if you’ll be ridiculed. Because this Elder’s legacy is a one part of us. And, the flames of the torch are waiting…Don’t let them burn out, stoke them!