2002-02-15 - 3:36 p.m.

Sifting through 30-odd press releases today, trying to put out about eight pages of copy, I'm reminded of a term introduced to me by my illustrious junior high geography teacher, Mr. Bell. That term: embargo. Yes, almost all of these releases are embargoed until March, but that doesn't matter, because in monthly magazine journalism you're always living at least six weeks in the future. It's kinda weird, and when you try to relate to non-co-workers, you think that you've traveled in time and returned to tell the masses the news. Oh, and the reason I was moved to write an entry on an insanely busy day? Mr. Bell made sure we remembered that embargo spelled backwards is "o grab me." He had a host of jokes like that, including an excellent mnemonic device to help us remember the capital of Thailand: "Large man in small latrine." Ah, the wonders of single-sex education.