Tuesday, December 20, 2005

Maya wrote:

"there's something i like about the crazy shit that
happens in this city. there's such a sense of "suck it up together" that i
like about times like this. seeing the throngs walking and hitch
hiking...it's kind of cool."

I totally agree. I started walking from my crib at 8:30 this morning,
headed toward the Williamsburg Bridge, and on my way a car with two women in
it called out to me, "Manhattan?" I said yeah and they said hop in, so I
did. Later we snagged another girl - making the total of four per car
necessary to enter the city - and had a great time talking and listening to
the news about the strike. Then, when they let me out, the driver,
Valiance, said if I wanted a ride tomorrow that she was picking up her
friend at 8am on the corner of Graham & Metro, right near where I live.

And it was funny, waiting in traffic to cross the bridge, to see all the
random collection of people in all the cars: black, white, Asian, Mexican,
doesn't matter at all. Everybody's a New Yorker and's gotta get to work!

Monday, December 19, 2005

December 16, 2005

Joe Levy & James Kaminsky
Rolling Stone
1290 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10104-0298

Dear Mr. Levy & Mr. Kaminsky,

My name is Hunter Slaton, and I’m writing today to apply for the music editorial assistant position I heard might soon be open at your magazine. Here’s why:

• I thought it odd that Zadie Smith was quoted in the recent feature on Jay-Z. However, I loved the bit where Jay-Z teases BeyoncĂ© about Houston not being ghetto.
• A couple years back, I really enjoyed the mock-serious piece on mascot assault.
• I know David Fricke by sight. (Not especially difficult, but still.)
• Tucked away, I have a few favorite issues of Rolling Stone, including the one with the cast of Seinfeld in Wizard of Oz get-up, and the one after 9/11, with Jann’s American flag pin on the cover.
• Two pieces I’ve been tempted to pitch: the annual IceStock rock concert at McMurdo Station, on Antarctica (where I worked last winter), and a camp-out/weekend-long show by Apollo Sunshine at their home outside of Boston.
• The piece David Foster Wallace wrote about the McCain campaign was brilliant and fearless.
• I keep an immaculate workspace, so Mr. Wenner’s desk inspections would pose no threat to me.
• Rolling Stone is the only US music magazine that covers the whole scene and everything in between, from American Idol to alt-country.

Herewith, please find a copy of my resume. I’ve worked in editorial at the Rough Guides for the past few years, but it’s always been a dream – as I hope is evidenced by the above – to work for Rolling Stone.

All the best,

Hunter R. Slaton