Thanks, Miranda

Sad news. Miranda Jesch, our arts editor, is moving on. You can probably imagine how much we’re going to miss her around here; she is a good, solid writer, a good, solid editor, and a good, solid friend.

Miranda’s been going to school full time, and she wanted to find some work that will allow her to concentrate on her studies. I can sympathize. It’s not the 9-to-5 stuff that wears on journalists; it’s the stuff that happens after 5—whether a story is going to come in on deadline or whether California really intersects Keystone—that wake you up at night (usually after the issue has already gone to the press).

I’m not sure I ever knew anybody who grew into a job the way Miranda grew into the arts editor position. She’d been doing part of the calendar back in 2002, almost two years ago, when Carli Cutchin left the job. She didn’t have a degree in journalism, and her only newspaper experience was here. But talent, flexibility and drive will sometimes overcome a lack of experience. A few weeks ago, she honchoed the Women’s Issue, which meant she’d run the gamut, intern to editor.

Despite her down-to-earthedness, I’ve always thought of Miranda as a seeker. She constantly looks around the world for her next big adventure, looking for ways to make herself a better person. I’m sure she’s going to be OK where ever she ends up. She will, of course, continue to write for us on a freelance basis.

Thanks, Miranda. And bon voyage.

It’ll probably be a couple weeks before we find someone to take over her desk, so please bear with me while I try to do the job. You’ll note I said take over her desk be-cause it’s going to be really, really hard to fill her shoes.

Reason to vote No. 49: The people you vote for, from city council to president, will decide economic policies that will determine whether you can get the kind of job you want when you want it.