SELEDA Upper Management, who have not been hode sefi since that indelicate time they suffered from QunTan having over-indulged on specially ordered "fat free QuanTa", had to be reminded that April was SELEDA's second anniversary. Not that they are new to chela mallet-ing prominent occasions-such as our first anniversary, but deep in our collective Qism we were hoping they would at least postpone their "Meet the New Manicurist" session hastily arranged after previous manicurist was "promoted" to Assistant Editor-in-Chief. Ostensibly, alls that's needed to achieve that status around here is to materialize with a nail file right at the moment upper management is wrought with the siQa and CHnQet me'abel that comes with breaking a nail.

"BerE ke-araju yiwilal" indylu...

Indemn senebetachihuln, SELEDAwian? Inkuwan le brhane tinsaE adderessen.

Well, the rest of us SELE-Proli (SELEDA Proletariat) didn't need any reminders. We've been waiting to celebrate this most auspicious of anniversaries with the same kind of meQuneTneT that would sweep over us while waiting for "Ke Majet eske Addebbabai" to begin.

Has it really been two years? We look back at the friends we've made and the enemies we have meQelebe-ed and we think... ahhhh, it has been two years! Where do we start? Two years ago, upper management still believed in producing receipts. Two years ago our writers were sitting barefoot and cross-legged in Berkley trying to persuade American hippies to smoke gEsho leaves wrapped in koba. Two years ago, our Computer Negestat were snickering at the thought of being in the same room with people who have not coded a thing since they color-coded their daily pills. Two years ago SELEDA interns were shiny happy people-and they were paid! Where does time go? Somehow, we all managed to come together and for two years have had some of the most trying, intriguing, but ultimately fun times of our lives.

"Ahun hoya hoyE atabzu," indatilun inna... where would we be without you? A threadbare "thank you" would seem alagbab mesQonQon, so we are working on a Two Years in Review retrospective for the May issue, which, appropriately enough, is the Neuroses and Tsebel issue. In it is where we will perform the more appropriate ritual of "Without you, our readers and contributors, we would be but another little zinb on the mound of nfT on a molQaQa lij's afinCHa."

Welcome to the Heroes and Mavericks issue! We have taken the liberty of saluting fellow Ethiopians and their stellar achievements... the kinds of achievements people like us have natural immunization against. Mn yaregal? So the closest thing we can do is go ga-ga from afar. After several temper tantrums and "Sebhat le-abb"s we managed to boil it down to the people in our Headliners Gallery. It is far from being an exhaustive list, but we had to stop at one point.

As always, our contributors came shuttling forward with nuggets of their own, further shaming us into the asmesai tegadai corner. M'ts... M'ts... M'ts. Our heartfelt thanks to our April contributors, to whom, ehem, if they deigned ask, we would happily give the shirts off our backs. Thank God they have no interest in that half-baked quid pro quo. We hope you enjoy our anniversary issue.

So, what's new at SELEDA?

Well, while the war to find us a purpose still rages on, we have, you will be happy to note, found us a new motto... We are the Washint Generation! Waw-wee! How narly is that! Of course, we didn't come up with it ourselves since that kind of Qum neger inde QumTa yaTrenal... However, we did shamelessly siphon it off of one of our Life Diarists, the estimable Lullit from the Literature Issue. It is an apt description of SELEDA and SELEDAwian, so, why not? Besides, neither our choice, 'SELEDA: The E-zine for Qeleblaba Lubricious Peeps', nor our bosses' 'All ye of little fabulousness, do not enter!' seemed a little, hmmm? Qeleblaba? So, say it, spray it... We are the Washint Generation!

Also new is the experimental SELEDA chat that will commence on Monday, April 23, 2001 at 7:00 p.m. EST. Those of you in Europe (tee hee) and other parts of the saner world who have a few hours and plenty of brain cells to kill, please let us know the GMT they make you use over yonder. Please join us to discuss articles from the past, and this month's banner article, Mekasha's Mother. Questions as to why it took two whole years to set up a l'il web chat ma-thinggy will be considered hate speech. So, when your clock strikes 7:00pm that fateful night, ignore the chilling calls of the night from outside, and come get cozy with us at the Seleda Chatroom, which will be at http://www.seleda.com/chat. This meleflefia kifle'gizE is powered by Chatspace; so, if you know how to get online, this should be a piece of difo-dabbo. Just type in your desired nickname (no password required), and proceed on to get your chit-chat on! Don't worry about overloading the server or what have you ... we have one that can handle quite a furious ye'dula wurjibign. See you all on the 23^rd then, right? IndEtaaaaaaa!

We hope you have already started penning your contributions for our May issue, Neuroses and Tebel, where we all have a chance to vent about everything ibdet and nek and ibdet nek: the madness of life, yiluNta, sidet...the secrets that have driven us a little crazy, and the people we have driven a little crazy. Let all the voices in your head be heard. YinCHaCHu.

Articles are due in by April 15, sent to editors@seleda.com, but in celebration of neuroses, we will extend the deadline to the... 14^th. Ay sewech, ay degoch!

And June will be our Food and Drink issue. Yes, yihen yahil ayn awTitenal, to dedicate a whole issue to gastronomical services. So go ahead, release that secret recipe to your ambazza-be'gubet-shortcake, vent about your (mis)adventures with cuisines, drinks, ye'gebeta amel, ye'amet be'al ceremonies ... anything and everything to do with our very primal and basic needs to eat and drink. Esti, do tell.

And with all this, we leave you be. New Assistant Editor-in-chief is summoning us to a meeting. (Note to selves: teach new boss it is SELEDA not 'Selwiidaa'... where the 'on' button on the computer is... and why it might not help painting and filing the keyboard. Mekera new.) We look forward to hearing from you.

Selam inihun.

The Humble Editors

editors@seleda.com