o u r n i n g

ii l e n c e

a g a z i n e

“words for the mindfully braindead”(

a generation's stylish retreat

)

issue oneedition two

11/2008

issn forthcoming

2010

mourningsilence.com

(for the purpose of historical documentation)

6 AUGUST 2008

The following pages are in their own way a retreat. There is a simplicityinvolved with the way I've done things here that is not unintentional. Thereis a rawness that I believe belongs in the very first issue of every magazine.There is no template for the kind of fiction I publish, it's very much of amatter of whether or not I found myself enjoying the words before me.There are four stories. There is not yet a table of contents, a necessity formasthead, a format, or even an ISSN. By this point you are probablysurprised I even know what an ISSN is. A friend informed me, if you werewondering. Moving on, feedback is important. There will be a message-board. On it you will kindly post your thoughts about the magazine as awhole. You will spread the word. S/he who is credited with the mostreferrals will receive a piece of thank-you merchandise. The rest will abidein hades. Merchandise and such will develop. This is a project I will refuseto give up on. It is a long-term thing. & this will all make sense one day. I'mnot going to comment on the words herein, except to say that they are forthe mindfully braindead. Or willfully braindead. However you'll have it.Believe it or not, each of these stories speaks for itself. Still waiting to bethe soap box for a new medium of any kind. Still putting off all my reallycool ideas for the day when I have an audience and I am sure I have anaudience.Over.

H. Tim Dieselby, editor-in-disguise

iiii

21 NOVEMBER 2008

Dear Reader,

I have spent this month developing a number of knots in the looseends of my life. I revealed my “true identity.” Not sure why, except that Ihoped it would help people understand why I have to put submissions andproduction on hold for over a year. I just can't see myself producing aquality magazine while deployed to Iraq. My hope is that in my absence, if Ihave made any good plays thus far, people will not completely lose interestin

mourning silence magazine.

I hope this because I have made the decisionthat I will never give up on this magazine. Halts like this current one mayhappen again in the future, though probably not after the year 2010. Thatwill be the year the next issue is released. My hope is that during the four-hundred or so days that I do not put any new effort into this project, peoplewill find it for the first time, and find the beauty I have tried to instill anddistill herein. I hope that the writers I have promoted as a “screensaver” of sorts will continue to gain popularity both online and in print, and in sodoing, will thus further the popularity of this magazine.I truly believe in the fiction pieces presented in this, the first issue of

mourning silence.

I hand-picked the submissions and edited them eachcarefully. It was only in the actual production that my quality suffered, andthat is why on this Friday night I have decided to reproduce the first issue.Not as a “greatest hits” sort of volume or a votive even, but as a means of displaying indisputable progress in my thinking, tempo, and abilities as apublisher. As far as I am concerned, I have the rest of my life to develop inthis category. Publishing is something I always intend to do, and I alwaysintend to do it independently. To date I have been doing it nearly four yearsin an identifiable way. If one day it becomes so sustainable that I can do itfor a living, I will. If not, it will not change my dedication to the variousprojects which keep a smile on my face.This magazine in particular has two core values: that there should bea professionally pressed version and that every contributor should receiveas payment for his or her contribution a free copy and a stipend, which willincrease over time. These are the two core values I started with, anyhow;over time, more will be developed in the process.The cover of this re-issue demonstrates one thing I have learnedfrom my time publishing: the importance of brand, the importance of aesthetic memorability. The cover is simple, it is the logo which I recentlycommissioned from the artist Jennifer C. Patel. A link to her website,

Inky Blakk

, is posted on the website. As far as I can see, this logo will brand everything produced by

mourning silence

for as long as

mourning silence

produces things under this moniker. As I said and as of now,

that means theremainder of my life.

Along with my varied other projects, most of whichmake less sense and are far less “marketable,”

mourning silence magazine

will be willed to someone I trust, should I ever perish. If I come back in2010 and put out a second issue of

mourning silence

, unlike