Hey guys!

I am in the midst of writing a junior theme, which is sucking all the life out of me, so the editor’s letter is a little lite this month. Mostly I’m gonna plagiarize from the email I sent to our staff when it was time for their pitches:

May’s theme is ATTENTION. Fame, what you choose to pay attention to/give importance to/spend time on/spend mental energy on/David Foster Wallace’s commencement speech, doing sex stuff for attention, wanting attention, when a cry for help is dismissed as an act of attention whoring, when you realize there’s so much you’re not paying attention to (be it ~smelling the roses~ or how fucked up the world is), when paying attention to how fucked up the world is exhausting but necessary, attention disorders, attention in social media/how people like MARKET their SOCIAL LIVES and PERSONAL INTERESTS (I am guilty of this whether I believe I am MARKETING or just being like “Oh I like this thing let’s Insta it”), people who give up lives full of attention to pursue something more fulfilling or to be a hermit.

Random inspiration: Last Days of Disco, Chloe Sevigny, Grace Jones, Andy Warhol, Edie Sedgwick (and, conversely, how the ideal of being some tortured glamorous skinny white girl is kind of messed up), Stephen Sprouse, Chelsea Hotel, selfies, Beyoncé’s “Countdown” video, André Leon Talley, Diana Vreeland, Debbie Harry/Blondie, Janelle Monáe, child stars, Divine, early days of Interview magazine, Patti Smith + Robert Mapplethorpe + Just Kids, Keith Haring, candid photography/party photography, club kids.

As you can see, this will be a month of HARD-HITTING JOURNALISM about SELFIES.

And here is a playlist I made of songs about wanting little signals from yer crush.

Illustration by Minna

Illustration by Minna

Anaheed and I worked really hard to come up with one last pun for this letter, but we are both zonked out. I hope none of you are also dealing with standardized tests and end-of-the-year research papers at this time. If you are, stay strong! Drink water! Resist the urge to bubble in your test form in the outline of a penis!

Love,
Tavi