Nothing new under the sun... or is there?

Marti wrote about this in the previous post so I won't say much about it, but Monday was pretty bad. Not just because the server died and I was up at the media center until about 2 a.m., but also because it rained all day. Literally. I don't remember it raining like that in Oxford since my freshman year. It was miserable.

But at a certain point you just kind of have to laugh. The days when things go so ridiculously wrong that you find yourself laughing hysterically simply because there's nothing else you can do. I actually find satisfaction in days like Monday because it reminds me that in life, there is nothing new under the sun (or the clouds, whatever the case may be). Everyone else has had days just as bad as mine, and they made it out alive. And it's likely that I will too. The absurdity of a bad day becomes comical, and all you can do is revel in it.

And I do truly believe there is nothing new under the sun. Everything I am saying right now has been said before. Everything's been done before. Everything's been thought before. However, I can't help but think that, in a weird way, there is nothing under the sun that is not new. Including The DM. Everyday, it's the same. It's The DM; it has the same template, the same name plate, the same masthead. But everyday it's completely different from the day before. And that's because of our staff who works so hard to put it together.

My role as managing editor includes reading the content and pages for the Arts & Life, Sports and Opinion sections. Marti reads the News sections and in this way we split the newspaper evenly and read the entire thing with a critical eye. I read for copy editing errors, Associated Press style errors and design flaws. I also run the daily budget meetings in which the whole staff and our faculty advisor Ellen Meacham discuss what will run in the paper the next two days. In addition, I manage payroll for all staff members, writers, photographers and any other contributors. In all, I usually work from five to six hours a day in addition to taking 15 hours of class per week. I get stressed a lot. Especially now that October is coming to an end, I feel burned out. I'm ready for a break.

But I love what I do, which is why I continue to do it. I just love journalism and I love editing and I love writing. I love The DM and I love being able to contribute to it everyday. It's all for you, readers. Keep on reading.