(1) It may be a proud and lonely thing to be a fan, but it need not be a silly and obnoxious thing. Meaning, "sci-fi" is a perfectly acceptable abbreviation for "science fiction," interchangeable with any other abbreviation. See, the first three letters of "science" are "s-c-i" and the first two letters of "fiction" are "f-i", making "sci-fi," like "SF," an abbreviation for the complete term. One can prefer one term over another for reasons of cadence or aesthetic appeal--personally, being a classicist, I prefer "scientifiction"--but there is no difference in ideological, moral or intellectual standing reflected by which abbreviation one uses on any given ocassion.

I bring this up because a surprising number of non-fans of Dave Itzkoff, the new sci-fi reviewer at the New York Times Book Review (note my subtle, subversive use of the incorrect wording) have heaped scorn on his use of that particular abbreviation rather than the abbreviation they themselves prefer for various esoteric reasons. The fact is that most people who read the stuff aren't aware of the secret wisdom governing these matters. I appreciate that as Part Of The Community, your mastery of said secret wisdom dwarfs that of the average casual reader of the genre, but its a little creepy when you get upset about things like this.

(2) Just because you're a big important magazine, that doesn't mean you are in any way required to shun modern technology. We wouldn't think any less of you if you took e-submissions. Here's my pitch for this idea: As it happens, one can actually communicate far more rapidly and cheaply by means of this "e-mail" business than they can by sending bulky packages with self-adressed stamped envelopes through the mail, or by carrier pidgeons, or smoke-signals, or any of the other alternative methods. Please?