Spliced Issue 04\r\n\r\nRa! Ra! Go team!\r\nIn case you hadn’t noticed, this is the tattoo issue. We love them. And we love the fact\r\nthat this particular form of body art is being embraced by so many different people\r\nfrom all walks of life. The beautiful image that graces our cover is one of my favourite\r\nfrom the series shot by Tim Hulme, specifically for this issue. So many awesome\r\npeople volunteered to show off their tattoos for us, and we were incredibly impressed\r\nby the quality and diversity of the ink on show.\r\nJust once, I wonder what it would\r\nbe like for an issue to run completely\r\nsmoothly, with no glitches, and no drama.\r\nI’ve been involved in a variety of different\r\nfields over the years, from lecturing, to\r\ntelevision presenting and production.\r\nI’ve been a writer for many years as well,\r\nbut every issue there are always a new set\r\nof challenges that arise, and this whole\r\nmagazine editor business has been a\r\nvery different experience for me. In fact\r\nI think indeed it’s been quite a different\r\nexperience for all of us involved.\r\n\r\nWe’ve all had to learn to work together\r\nand while it’s been fun, at times it’s also\r\nbeen frustrating, with tempers flaring\r\nwhen under ordinary circumstances we’re\r\nall pretty chilled people by nature. There\r\nare times when it seems like we’ll never\r\nagree on something that seems incredibly\r\ntrivial to anyone on the outside, but then\r\nall of a sudden something just clicks and\r\nthe harsh words and frustrations are\r\nforgotten in an instant, and that to me is\r\nwhat makes this team work. Yes, we get\r\nannoyed with one another, but we also\r\nwork really well together. We have a vision\r\nthat is compatible, and we all want to see\r\nSpliced succeed.\r\n\r\nin any way, but we moved for a variety of\r\nreasons, one of which is an opportunity to\r\nexplore the integration of richer content\r\nwithin the magazine. I’m pretty confident\r\nthat your reading experience won’t be\r\naffected in any way, but if for some reason\r\nyou disagree, do let us know how you feel.\r\nWe’re working hard to make every issue\r\nengaging and entertaining for both our\r\nreaders and ourselves.\r\nLastly, I have to say a heartfelt thank\r\nyou to everyone who helped me out this\r\nmonth while I was pretty much MIA\r\ndealing with a family crisis that happened\r\njust after the release of our last issue. I’m\r\namazed by the fact that even without me\r\nthere nagging you (ok, only a little towards\r\nthe end) you all still (mostly) met your\r\ndeadlines and sent me amazing work. If all\r\nyou readers out there didn’t already realise\r\nthat we have an amazing team working\r\nat Spliced, I’m telling you right now. We\r\nhave an amazing team of people who\r\nare dedicated to making every issue the\r\nabsolute best they can. \r\n\r\nPippa Tshabalala\r\n{ Editor }\r\n\r\n\r\n