It’s been an eventful year. Not just for BTSB, but for the world in general. We live in a time that I believe could easily go down as a crucial turning point in history. There’s a lot of conflict in the air, and it seems increasingly inevitable that something has to give. What this means is that it’s more important than ever to stay informed, to stay aware, and to have an opinion. Of course, at the same time, it’s still just as important to stay humble, stay aware of your own mistakes or shortcomings, and to be able to change or adjust your opinion if needed. It’s impossible to predict where we’ll be going. Put away your glass ball. We live in an uncertain time. Because of this, it’s no small comfort to have something that you can believe in and something you can depend on. As I end my own tenure as editor-in-chief, I relinquish control of something that is very dear to me, something that I’ve been a part of now for over 4 years. While this could easily be something difficult to do, I can honestly say that I couldn’t be more at ease. You know that uncertainty I was talking about? There are many things about the future that I’m not as certain about as I used to be, including whether we might actually have to endure a Trump presidency (had to get one more Trump reference in before the end of my term). But if there’s one thing I’m certa in about, it’s that the future of Better Than Sliced Bread is in excellent hands.
I have the absolute pleasure of leaving BTSB in the more-than-capable hands of Elizabeth Oakes. Elizabeth has been a part of BTSB since October of 2013, but has been honing her writing skills for far longer than that. Her voice comes through in every piece she writes, whether it’s about literary translation or webcam channels starring a squirrel in a miniature coffee shop. Her talent and experience have made her an invaluable part of the BTSB team, and make her the perfect candidate to lead BTSB into the future.
Elizabeth, as the new editor-in-chief, will be leading a ragtag group of editors and staff including our new web wizard staff, consisting of Inka Vappula and Juho Kajava. In fact, Inka will be taking on double duty as she’ll also be the official Secretary for BTSB Meetings. I’m also happy to say that I’ll at least be staying on as the Social Media Administrator. I want to wish our new staff the best of luck and a hearty congratulations! Furthermore, I want to give a big shout-out of thanks to Ari Mäntykivi, Laura Kurki, Esko Suoranta, and Elizabeth herself for their work this past year keeping BTSB running like a well-oiled machine.
As for me, my own future goes back to that theme of uncertainty. During my tenure, I’ve graduated from HelsinkiUniversity and even managed to secure a year-long teaching gig for myself. However, even as I set forth on a new personal journey, my heart still belongs to BTSB. My future certainly has some of that unpredictability to it (and what’s life without at least a bit of that?), but I’m at least certain that I’ll continue to be somehow connected with BTSB for the near foreseeable future, at least as the aforementioned Social Media Administrator. More than anything though, I’m looking forward to seeing some brand new editors start to populate these pages alongside the more seasoned writers. If there’s one more thing for me to say, it goes out to anyone that has every considered writing for BTSB: just do it.
Oh, and always wear sunscreen.
All the best,
Jesper Simola
Current and soon-to-be former Editor-in-Chief.
Our summer issue kicks off with some slightly under-the-radar recommendations including Esko's piece on Babymetal, Elizabeth's article on demented sock puppets, and my own piece on the indie game Oxenfree. These are sure to keep you busy when it's raining too hard to play Pokémon Go outside. On top of those recommendations, we've also got Kaisa's coloring book art based on DC Lassies for you to fill in however you want! That's not all! We've also got two continuations of previous articles! First, Laura finishes off her journal on job hunting (read it to find out whether it's a happy ending!). Finally, I have the pleasure of introducing another article in BTSB's own "I Was Wrong About..." feature! This one chronicles Milla's move to Jyväskylä and how she was wrong about what it would be like living there.