It's tough to believe that 2004 is almost up, only a month before the start of a another science-fiction sounding year, 2005. I still haven't gotten used to the way that time passes. It's like how Hemingway described going bankrupt in The Sun Also Rises—slowly and then all at once. For example: I go through my life, waking up every morning and putting my pants on, grabbing my keys and locking the door with the same swift motion on the way out. And then driving to work one morning there's a Christmas song on the radio. Just like that, the graceless thief time has stripped me (you too, no doubt) again of another year, leaving only the tattered garments of memory that don't bear mending.

Luckily, as I have the good fortune to work in publishing, there's a partial record of what I and my comrades here at Chronogram have done in the past year, spread out before me like 11 time capsules. First, and appropriately so, let's look at the covers. We began the year with Lesley Stone's whimsical collage of a woman descending into a squid. Next came Val Shaff's shaggy cow, followed by a parade of talented local artists who graced our cover with their work: Jeff Milstein, Grey Zeien, Alexander Von Eikh, Rebecca Zilinski, and Charles Purvis, to name a few.

We've added some new sections in the past year and updated some old ones. In April, we launched the Book Shelf, our monthly foray into topics literary and book related, edited by Nina Shengold. Since April, we've expanded it to include more book reviews and a listing of area literary events compiled by Phillip Levine. And due to Phillip's diligent stewardship of Poetica, we added another page of the best in local poetry this September. Film reviewer Jeff Economy joined us this fall. In October, Lorrie Klosterman, who's been writing for us for a couple of years, joined our editorial staff as Whole Living Editor, taking the reins of the Whole Living Guide and the spirit-centered Inner Vision feature.

With your support, News & Politics editor Lorna Tychostup traveled to Iraq twice this year, reporting on the ever-evolving conditions of a country poised between civil war and an uneasy peace. We also covered threats to civil liberties emanating from the Justice Department, American foreign policy's wrong turn in Afghanistan, Bush's links to apocalyptic Christianity, and we exposed the disgrace of electronic voting machines in a two-part series by Donna Zukowski.

We also covered a lot of overlooked local issues this year. Lorrie Klosterman wrote a two-part series on the state of pollution in the region, Will Yandik told of the crumbling infrastructure in our libraries, and Molly Maeve Eagan investigated the low-income trap many area residents are caught in as wages fail to keep up with the region's high cost of living.

We interviewed some fascinating and informative people as well, including media reform advocate Bob McChesney, Joel Kovel on the problem of Zionism, and Jason West on why he did it. Our profiles included a vast array of personalities, from artists to activists, mushroom hunters to filmmakers, beekeepers to lighthouse keepers, including Ed Sanders, Carl Frankel, Michael DiTullo, Jan Sawka, Gene Santoro, Peter Schickele, Larry Fessenden, Nicki and David Goldbeck, Layne Redmond, Kim Wozencraft, Kathe Izzo, Audrey Niffenegger, and Ed Felton.

And don't forget our extensive cultural coverage, Mala Hoffman's profiles of the local business community, and Chronogram regulars Frank Crocitto, Eric Francis Coppolino, Beth E. Wilson, Susan Piperato, Sparrow, and Sharon Nichols.

What you won't see reflected in these pages are a couple of momentous changes that happened in 2004, the first being our move to Kingston. While we loved New Paltz and will always miss it as one pines for a childhood home, our new offices on Wall Street are better suited to our ever-expanding needs, and uptown Kingston has a traditional-yet-funky vibe that's a good match for us. And the food has been fantastic—Jane's, Bread Alone, Gabriel's, and the sadly now-defunct Kingston Cooks serving us great wholesome fare to fuel our creative energies.

The second change may not be apparent in these pages for another 20 years, but it bears noting. In late October, a child was born to the co-founders of Chronogram, Jason Stern and Amara Projansky. Asher Osiris Projansky Stern came into the world the day before Halloween. Welcome Asher. We are endeavoring to make it a hospitable place for you and your children.

A final note: I'd like to invite all of our readers to our annual end-of-year party at Milagros in Tivoli on December 10. DJ Dave Leonard will be spinning, and we'll have two full floors (and a heated tent on the lawn!) for dancing, schmoozing, and hanging out. Please join us, it'll be a blast.

—Brian K. Mahoney