• the217
• Buzz
• Editor's note

On the last day of working on this week’s issue, a few things fell apart at buzz, namely the company car before I could return to the office and the lighting equipment as we were ready to shoot the cover shot. Maria Surawska, the art director, was looking pretty, dressed up in the gaudiest sweater ever and practicing the Miss Teen USA speech delivered by Miss South Carolina this year.

But the car and the studio equipment are pretty old, and these kinds of things always happen with everything.

It’s like when my family was ready to sell our house in 2004 and the garage door broke and the downstairs bathroom started leaking. This was the house where we replaced all the carpets with wooden floors, painted the walls, remodeled the closets, and installed a new washer, drier, refrigerator, oven, and dishwasher, among other things. But it was also an old house.

But you just go on, patch up the leaks, find more lights, and, hey, maybe invest in a few new things.

For example, the Singapore Zoo invested in some pachyderm-sized booties to help ease the pain and heal the lesions of their elephants.

The buzz is also going through some giant changes in the following few weeks. As we keep publishing through the winter break weeks (except for Dec. 27), we’ll be turning the staff on its head.

Our new food editor starting this week is our long-time writer Janice McDuffee. She has already plunged into her new job starting. Next week will be the first for calendar editor Erin Gillman, also a buzz writer who has written for the calendar and music sections. Our new community editor, Suzanne Stern, will take over Evangeline’s job in January. And Evangeline Politis will become managing editor starting in January.

My final issue as editor in chief will be the next one and Stephanie Prather will run the show from then on. She’s even already excited to take over my blog on the217.com (“The Hunt”) and replace it with her own take on this town.

As for me, I’ve got one final to finish, all my belongings to pack, and a home to go back to. No more broken lights during photo shoots. No more staying up way too late in the office with my staff who’ve become my friends and being exhausted by our own creativity. Yes, it’s one hell of a job here. It’s been fun.