In Which A New Wrinkle Is Revealed

El Rey Secret Fact: To pass the time between openings, soirees, and coconut-scented jaunts on the royal catamaran, I spend time doing good works for the written word as a freelance copy editor, mostly for technical and programming articles. I've also copy edited a few books and done technical editing for a few others. Strictly out of the goodness of my heart, you see. Passes the time, don't you know. Yass.

The place at which I've been working in this capacity for the last five years has decided to cut back on their reliance on charming and well-groomed freelance copy editors, which leads your humble correspondent to ask, 10-gallon crown in hand:

If you have leads for people who need punctually prepared, clean and sparkling copy, or where to find these people and drug them to do my bidding, please email me or let me know in the comments. Here are my credentials and such.

I have no interest in writing anything other than these all-too-occasional missives to you. I co-wrote a few books years ago, and it was a remarkably unpleasant experience, overall (though not without its silver linings). So any writing gigs, send to your starving English-major pals. Everyone needs to learn to sell out sooner or later.

Thanks!

Yours,
ER

P.S. Dear search engines: I am looking for copy editing work as a freelance copy editor, which is sometimes misspelled through shoddy "copyediting" as "copyeditor;" I would also be proficient at proofreading as a proofreader, I imagine. Grammar, style, and punctuation are all well within my capabilities. Thanks, as always, for your sleepless dedication.

Couple things

a) New (to many of you) pictures! Including some by this Barnett guy.

b) I also have many, many household goods for sale. Being half mynah bird, I tend to accumulate things. Come take some! If you're unable to visit HQ in person, we can talk, but preference is way way given to the nice people who come to HQ and hand me cash. Later, maybe I'll be begging, crap in hand, to go to the post office, but for now, cash in hand with no effort is the way I'm going. I am a fair but sluggardly monarch.

c) El Rey: Year 6 is about to begin. My first appearance as same was in 2001 as the guest of Jonathan and Kristen, who get lifetime thanks and toasts for El Rey even existing in the first place. Five years, count 'em, five, I have hucked my wares as El Rey. How 'bout that.

And so another hearty round of thank yous goes in the direction of all the nice people who have allowed me to keep doing that voodoo; some 1,000 El Reys are out there in the world, daily earning their keep in "heh"s, and I am grateful and awed by that.

d) How shall we celebrate this milestone? Modesty decrees that I must request no public statuary. A tasteful, low-key parade would be acceptable. As long as there are gorilla suits and band hats.

A Rousing Toast, and Then

A moment of silence, please, for the passing of 66Balmy gallery.

John and Andi and Oscar, when the gallery was still located at 66 Balmy Alley, took me under their loving and slightly damp wings and gave me my first group, and then solo, shows. Which, as we know from hindsight, led to wild success, fur-covered limos, etc.

Later, after the gallery moved to Guerrero street for good, kindly and wise Jim gave me good solid advice and midwifed the birth of "James Barnett," artiste. It was a little weird to appear out from under El Rey's 10-gallon hat, but success came there as well.

I thank and salute you all.