I didn’t ask for this job. In fact, arguably, we don’t need this job. Arguably, we can talk this out as a group and figure out our problems together. I think I would prefer it to go that way.

Are we going to tear the whole thing down and start again?

Or maybe we should just tear the whole thing down.

If G is not going to be here, this is definitely a different thing.

It doesn’t have to be a different thing. It can be the same but with less celebrities basically. But that’s a good thing, right?

Let’s go. How many of us are in the room? Joy, Herman, Kahana, Lu San, Marla, Hillel and Carl. And from Central School, Milo, Kaya and of course, Ed. Does anybody want to say anything?

Maybe we’ve said enough.

Meaning what?

Maybe we don’t need the Utopian.

Interesting thought.

There’s a moment to silence where everybody tries to figure out whether there is a decision to make here or not. Arthur decided to speak up.

Listen, I want to keep going. We said we were doing 15 and that means we have six to go. I don’t mean to get religious about things but it seems like we do all understand what it means to do six and take a rest. We all understand that doing this without G is going to make things different. To say that we only exist because of G, if you ask me, belittles us all as individuals. G doesn’t wave his hand and the Utopian appears. It takes hours of work, hours of attention and then more hours of editing to try and get our 16 pages right. And I would also like to point out that we are usually pretty happy and proud of our work. But for good or for bad, G has walked away from the show and that means it’s going to change. Maybe it will be better or maybe it will be worse or, like you say, maybe we don’t need it at all. I don’t know if I’m being persuasive or not persuasive or if I’m even trying to be persuasive. But I say let’s just do this. It’s better to do something than nothing, we are ecologically sound in our human efforts and we are infinitely sustainable. We provide good ideas and if we don’t do this, we’re going to sit around in all of that free time eating ourselves to death because we are too lazy to do our job just because the benefactor went on sabbatical. For me, I say we do it. Does anyone else have anything to say? No? Well, there’s 11 of us. Let’s get our hands up in the air if we’re going to keep going.

Let the record show 11 hands in the air. -Ed

Right. So, no bloody festivals but the heat is on the way. Things are getting hot and that means it’s going to be tricky. What have we got?

I have a list. This week, for sports, we have our first Utopian golf tournament. The two rounds are field golf on Sunday and on Wednesday they will play stadium golf for the championship round.

What’s the difference between field golf and stadium golf?

They will play the stadium golf at the stadium.

Hmm.

The homemade musical instrument club will be having a performance on the square this week. I think it’s going to develop into a genuine sing-along depending on how many people come with instruments or just wanting to sing or bang a drum. That’s Thursday evening.

There is a public debate about the rights of parents to be intentionally influential on their children. It’s a worthy discussion and a worthy debate and it’s on the ballot.

There is also an aggravated ballot measure from the purest gardeners asking people to stop fornicating in the gardens. They say they understand being carried away by the moment but it’s annoying.

Very good. Hillel, Marla, what’s going on with you guys.

We’re just good friends.

No, what are we putting together this week?

Oh, right. The big column on page 13 will be covered calmly. I’m not sure I’m the most professional at it but people seem to like me in the tent of meeting and I guess I’m making contacts. I can’t guarantee an interview with Moses, but I’m getting a handle on things so there are good possibilities. It’s difficult and I’m sorry if I get kind of crazy sometimes. I hope I’m making my points.

You are. And if all of that means you’re trustworthy, I’ll expect your columns on Thursday.

We will expect the columns, Arthur.

Yeah. You’re right.

May I say something? I usually do not mix in on the creative side because I do not wish to be an influence. But at the end of the day, if we cannot be understood, we haven’t said anything. Perhaps there’s been some very good freedom in writing the Utopian. We were given an opportunity to create something and we all took advantage of the freedom to make use of our resources. But at what point does the weight of our egos and our emotions drag us down to the level of our incompetence? I don’t really mind working to keep things clean and I suppose I don’t mind working at two in the morning. But I would be a lot happier if you guys would take the trouble of re-reading your glorious words before walking away to go do other things. I understand my job is to edit but at least rereading would be an act of kindness for all of us.

There was a moment there and I felt the love. – Ed

Okay Arthur. You’re managing the team. You make the lineup.

Player manager. Democratic player manager. We’re going to do everything by vote just like any good community should. So if everyone’s okay and there are no questions or commentary, let’s go make a Utopian that G my get a smile from.