Well, not so greatly exaggerated.

The ax has fallen. The news is out. 3/17 is the last print edition of the Seattle PI. RantWoman did not think to get a copy of the inauguration day issue, and she is, um embarrassed to think she might not want a copy of the final edition lying around collecting dust either. RantWoman does not even regret in the least the fact that HOPEFULLY she will no longer have to snarl at the phone solicitors about why she has no interest in subscribing to the the print edition. Well the Seattle Times handles the business end of this and they are still in print, so RantWoman, sigh, may still get to snarl.

RantWoman did get notice that her much neglected efforts at turning the headlines into haiku will still be up and running and that the electronic archive will persist. RantWoman considers both of these points right good news. The haiku has to speak for itself and RantWoman is not even posting a link. As for the rest of the electronic archive, RantWoman is greatful to be able for at least a couple decades of material, to skim with software commands rather than with dust in nostrils or rolls of microfilm.

RantWoman is also seriously bumming on behalf of the 130-odd writers, reporters, etc who have been surplused in the current leap into the online beyond.

Okay, now enter RantWoman's conflict of interest. The Friendly Neighborhood Center for Extreme Computing needs some media and marketing assistance. RantWoman extends a sincere invitation to any journos who find themselves needing a break from the grind of unemployment and other upheavals (RantWoman knows of what she speaks) to contact RantWoman for a more formal description of options. Rantwoman thinks there exists but has not personally found a way to send email directly to RantWoman with inquiries. If RantWoman is serious about solicitation of help, she should make it easy of course, and onward anyway.


What's in it for you,besides exposure doing a really cool project?

--Being unemployed means feeding lots of bureaucracies paperwork. The Friendly Neighborhood Center... can offer plenty of exhortations to get it done and plenty of moral support when facing such mirth-filled phrases as "Letter from Employment security" or "some dang thing from (insert name of vexatious bureaucracy du jour)."

--Some people from the Friendly Neighborhood Center... even know how to help with activities to fill in the blanks for some of these bureaucracies' hoops.

--The people at the Friendly Neighborhood Center...are right entertaining on multiple levels and when things are not so entertaining, sometimes it is not terrible to walk away grateful to have only one's own problems.

--You get the opportunity to meet RantWoman in person and to laugh, laugh, laugh with other people whose sense of humor is at least as twisted as RantWoman's. Who could pass that up?