Themes for Upcoming Seleda Issues

The Depression & Ecstasy Issue: March 2002

The Ethiopia Issue : April 2002

The Depression & Ecstasy Issue: March 2002

To dig or not to dig? To poke, to puncture, perchance to bleed? MoyalEs can be painful, no? Yes they can. The distress of walking on a damaged heel because that miserable little wretch decided to dig itself into your body. Imagine that! YOUR body, damn it! And there it is, lodged comfortably in your heel, the pride and soul of your flawless walk and prance. There it is, grinning ad infinitum, while you huff and puff in an effort to dare the needle. That bastard! Your heel will never be the same again. Never! Imagine the expenses for psychiatric care to nurse your severely damaged self-esteem … all on account of that miniscule wretch. Yet abatu, ya agdim-adeg!

Is the perfect heel too much to ask for? Imagine the joy, the sheer bliss of waking up and looking at a flawless, smooth heel, sans intruder infestation. It would even make the most menial, tedious jobs seem like heaven.

In all seriousness, March is our "Depression and Ecstasy" issue. The hours spent fiddling and toying with sanity while itching from depression bites … momentous outbursts of ecstatic celebration that would put to shame the CHiffera and dinfata of a igir-aTabi who got promoted to Tegur-astekakai … folks, here's your chance to tell us your stories. Come hither and vent; our support group welcomes thee.

So … all megl-yeQuaTeru terekezoch due on the 15th of February? 17th, if u have pedicured feet.

The Ethiopia Issue: April 2002

This one is about evocation. About fishing into your memories and your dreams, your fantasies and your hardships, your senses and sensibilities. This issue is less ABOUT Ethiopia as about YOU, and what Ethiopia means to you. Perhaps it is just the word, its sound, the way it is written, mispronounced, or its "P" misstressed. Maybe it is a past you would much rather get away from, or a future you feel you have an iron destiny with. Maybe it is a projection of what you consider to be bliss — a sense of community and worth.

Or maybe Ethiopia is an infinite source of inspiration, contemplation, irritation, hey even intellectual masturbation.

Maybe Ethiopia is not an It at all, but a loving motherly she, a stern fatherly he, an immature teenager, an old man holding too fast to his old ways. Maybe Ethiopia is the scent of freshly turned earth, the whirrr of the gossamer-winged kremt awCHi insects, the smoke of Mesqel chibbo hanging in the air, the busy busy busyness of Merkato. Maybe Ethiopia is where you did not know ‘’you’’, and only knew ‘’us’’.

Maybe, just maybe, Ethiopia is where you are right now in Chicago or Toronto, London or Sydney, Accra or Tokyo, Delhi or Rio. Maybe Ethiopia is that irresistible burning in your eyes as you see the flag fly in Olympics and Reggae concerts.

Imagine a past or remember a future or dole out from your present. Sing us your dreams, draw us your poems, paint us the scents that make you go wild, and touch us with your sensation as your mind turns wax to gold.

Words, Pictures, Music, Voices are all welcome.

Evoke something, and get us a masterpiece by March 15th.

GUIDELINES