Well, my friends, the move is complete. AND, I think after tonight, unpacking and settling in will be done as well. I need to stop and pick out some curtains, hang a few pictures, get a lamp I already know I want, and find places for some kitchen items, and I’ll be all set. (those of you who helped with the moving, I know you’re wondering ‘what about that closet, Steph?’ well, I finished unpacking and organizing the closet last night. I know it’s hard to believe, but once I got started I really couldn’t stop until it was done.)
I’m going to wait for the finishing touches before I take a picture and show you guys – but the place is really awesome and the furniture fits perfectly and the colors look great. I really couldn’t be happier with it.
But – after all day moving on Saturday, then work, then work Sunday morning, then cleaning all day Sunday, then finishing up the closet – OWIE ZOWIE! I’m sure mom, dad, Jeremy and my friend Crystal are also a little sore and stiff as well. Thanks, guys. You know I couldn’t have done it without you.
More on that later…
The newest thing to be about this move is actually having to drive on (gasp!) interstates to get to work. That has never been the case for me in my whole life. Especially living here in Louisville, I always lived close enough to downtown that I could just take a series of surface streets and be at work in 10-15 minutes. Now I have to take a major road onto a major freeway, onto another interstate, and then finally another interstate to quickly exit onto the streets of downtown Louisville. The good news is I don’t work typical hours (8-4 or 9-5), so I’m not traveling at ‘rush hour’. Still, I don’t really know what to expect with this whole ‘commuting’ thing. I’m sure some mornings or evenings I’ll want to scream, but this morning (even though it was raining like crazy) I didn’t encounter any wrecks or ‘disabled vehicles’ I’ve been reading about on the traffic report… I didn’t even encounter any doofuses (or is that doofusi?).
Previous drive to work time: 12-15 minutes.
Today’s commute time: 23 mins.
So, it’s not that bad. So far.
Special Tribute Section:
My friend Crystal. She is amazing. She helped ALL DAY on Saturday (moving day). And not only did she help, she jumped right in! She was cheerful and helpful and…just plain wonderful. Not only that, but after a whole day of moving, when I said I’d be spending the next day cleaning the old apartment, she volunteered for that too. I never would have even asked such a thing after what she did for me on Saturday. But, there she was on Sunday. I was just finishing up scarfing down my lunch when she got there and she went straight to work taking down brackets that had held up my curtain rods. Let me tell you people, this girl can CLEAN.
If I were to try to draw a caricature of Crystal today, she would be a beautiful, warm, loving, worker bee or something.
When I tried to express how grateful I am for her help yesterday, she said something like ‘I’m not doing anything special. I’m just giving other people the help that I would want them to give me.”
Wow.
What a concept.
You rock, Crystal.
You seriously rock.
Standby.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Happy Birthday to Bubby
It's my little brother's 21st birthday!!! How crazy is that?
I could get all rhapsodic about this kid and his awesomeness, but I'm pretty stinkin' busy today, so that'll have to wait for another day.
Happy Birthday, Bubby! Love you!!
Standby...
I could get all rhapsodic about this kid and his awesomeness, but I'm pretty stinkin' busy today, so that'll have to wait for another day.
Happy Birthday, Bubby! Love you!!
Standby...
Monday, March 24, 2008
Homage to The Parental Unit
If it weren’t for my parents, I would be sitting in a sad, rumpled lump in the middle of the floor of my bedroom at the new place…with brown and green paint caked into my hair, mixed in with tears and sleepy winkers… with a blank stare of defeat on my face. My room would be streaked with globs of mis-matched paint, which would also be all over the carpet and other places it’s not supposed to be.
But – that is not the case. When my friends had work or work or family commitments and other stuff… my parents showed up. They always do. Not only do they show up, but they know exactly what I need, and they do it.
At 9am on Saturday, I’m laying in the bed, listening to the cat purr, wondering how I’m going to do all this work… (plinky plink!)…text message. “ETA 10:30” from Mom.
I jump out of bed…do a little dance…send a text feigning ignorance…but really, I knew they would do that. I was hoping for it.
So, my parents came up and helped me paint the new bedroom and bathroom on Saturday… the rooms look awesome and there’s NO WAY it would’ve gotten done without them. Viv (new roommate) helped for a bit too (and did the HARDEST part of the bathroom!). But all the kudos for the day go to my parents.
Then, to show my gratitude, I made them drive BACK to Louisville Sunday to go to my awesome church for Easter and then made them take me and a friend out to a ridiculously expensive restaurant. (really, I didn’t KNOW!)
Later, me and mom were driving around getting boxes for packing and searching for a place to be open that sells curtains (no luck there) and what happens? Giant snowflakes start falling!
Mom, who had worn bright, spring-like colors and no jacket – was sad.
Other topics:
Helping with the children – I volunteered to help with the kids at church on Easter Sunday. Our church has six services and probably about 25,000 on Easter weekend, so they need a little extra help. My friend Ann usually helps with the fourth graders, so I signed up there and planned on basically following here everywhere like a lost puppy dog and trying not to accidentally kill any children.
Let me tell you: I did not suck at this! It was a little awkward at first, but my awesome friend Ann helped me much in the way she was helping small children make friends. And (more quickly than I thought) I was talking to kids, helping them make crafts, talking to them about Easter, etc. They were so awesome!
Then, we take them to a worship service designed just for them and just sit there and make sure they don’t escape or something. Also, they have awesome worship songs that all have motions and dance moves and stuff, which was really fun once I learned them.
There were four or five girls in front of me I could tell were really good friends. Not only did they know all the words and the dance steps and hand motions, they were busting those moves like they were in a music video. As I watched them, struggling to learn these moves, I thought to myself, “That’s me when I was in fifth grade.”
I also felt a little affection for the kid I was sitting next to. I sat there because he chose to sit away from the other kids… and didn’t seem to know the words or moves for any of the songs, so I thought he was probably new. I asked if I could sit with him, then told him I didn’t know the songs or the motions and maybe we could learn them together. He didn’t really say much, but I liked to think my goofiness made him feel a little more comfortable. Later, I asked his name, and thought he said “Cooper”, then I thought he said “Copper”, then I realized he said “Copland”, like the composer. How awesome is that?! Then I got him talking, and learned not only is he NOT new, he’s very far from new, both his parents are in the Easter pageant, and he doesn’t like the motions to the songs. Oh well.
While we were praying silently while the kids took communion, I couldn’t help but feel really overwhelmed with my concerns and praises and prayers for the children I was sitting around. I saw so much of myself in those girls and felt so much for little Copland… I wanted them to always feel about God the way they felt at that moment… that nothing was ever scary or hard or challenging when you put God in control of it. That they wanted to shout from the rooftops about their love for Jesus and have courage to stand up for their beliefs. They don’t know what’s coming and church is doing all the right things to prepare them for it, but sometimes it’s not enough. Pray, pray, pray.
One of my favorite things about that morning was watching my friend Ann do her thing. You know how you talk to your friends about their jobs and hear about their days and think ‘wow, she’s really gifted and must be really good at that.’ Well, Ann teaches little kids all day long about music, and I’ve always thought she must be really great with kids. So seeing her on Sunday was like getting a little glimpse into what her days are like and let me just tell you, she’s AWESOME. She's so full of warmth and energy and kindness. I wish I could exude that on a more frequent basis like she does.
Speaking of Ann, I found this picture still on may camera from when we went to the Jug Band Jubilee.
Standby…
But – that is not the case. When my friends had work or work or family commitments and other stuff… my parents showed up. They always do. Not only do they show up, but they know exactly what I need, and they do it.
At 9am on Saturday, I’m laying in the bed, listening to the cat purr, wondering how I’m going to do all this work… (plinky plink!)…text message. “ETA 10:30” from Mom.
I jump out of bed…do a little dance…send a text feigning ignorance…but really, I knew they would do that. I was hoping for it.
So, my parents came up and helped me paint the new bedroom and bathroom on Saturday… the rooms look awesome and there’s NO WAY it would’ve gotten done without them. Viv (new roommate) helped for a bit too (and did the HARDEST part of the bathroom!). But all the kudos for the day go to my parents.
Then, to show my gratitude, I made them drive BACK to Louisville Sunday to go to my awesome church for Easter and then made them take me and a friend out to a ridiculously expensive restaurant. (really, I didn’t KNOW!)
Later, me and mom were driving around getting boxes for packing and searching for a place to be open that sells curtains (no luck there) and what happens? Giant snowflakes start falling!
Mom, who had worn bright, spring-like colors and no jacket – was sad.
Other topics:
Helping with the children – I volunteered to help with the kids at church on Easter Sunday. Our church has six services and probably about 25,000 on Easter weekend, so they need a little extra help. My friend Ann usually helps with the fourth graders, so I signed up there and planned on basically following here everywhere like a lost puppy dog and trying not to accidentally kill any children.
Let me tell you: I did not suck at this! It was a little awkward at first, but my awesome friend Ann helped me much in the way she was helping small children make friends. And (more quickly than I thought) I was talking to kids, helping them make crafts, talking to them about Easter, etc. They were so awesome!
Then, we take them to a worship service designed just for them and just sit there and make sure they don’t escape or something. Also, they have awesome worship songs that all have motions and dance moves and stuff, which was really fun once I learned them.
There were four or five girls in front of me I could tell were really good friends. Not only did they know all the words and the dance steps and hand motions, they were busting those moves like they were in a music video. As I watched them, struggling to learn these moves, I thought to myself, “That’s me when I was in fifth grade.”
I also felt a little affection for the kid I was sitting next to. I sat there because he chose to sit away from the other kids… and didn’t seem to know the words or moves for any of the songs, so I thought he was probably new. I asked if I could sit with him, then told him I didn’t know the songs or the motions and maybe we could learn them together. He didn’t really say much, but I liked to think my goofiness made him feel a little more comfortable. Later, I asked his name, and thought he said “Cooper”, then I thought he said “Copper”, then I realized he said “Copland”, like the composer. How awesome is that?! Then I got him talking, and learned not only is he NOT new, he’s very far from new, both his parents are in the Easter pageant, and he doesn’t like the motions to the songs. Oh well.
While we were praying silently while the kids took communion, I couldn’t help but feel really overwhelmed with my concerns and praises and prayers for the children I was sitting around. I saw so much of myself in those girls and felt so much for little Copland… I wanted them to always feel about God the way they felt at that moment… that nothing was ever scary or hard or challenging when you put God in control of it. That they wanted to shout from the rooftops about their love for Jesus and have courage to stand up for their beliefs. They don’t know what’s coming and church is doing all the right things to prepare them for it, but sometimes it’s not enough. Pray, pray, pray.
One of my favorite things about that morning was watching my friend Ann do her thing. You know how you talk to your friends about their jobs and hear about their days and think ‘wow, she’s really gifted and must be really good at that.’ Well, Ann teaches little kids all day long about music, and I’ve always thought she must be really great with kids. So seeing her on Sunday was like getting a little glimpse into what her days are like and let me just tell you, she’s AWESOME. She's so full of warmth and energy and kindness. I wish I could exude that on a more frequent basis like she does.
Speaking of Ann, I found this picture still on may camera from when we went to the Jug Band Jubilee.
Standby…
Friday, March 21, 2008
Dwell at the Cross
We get to celebrate the Resurrection in a few days. Today, let's remember the cross.
Also, a REALLY REALLY interesting article.... I HIGHLY suggest it. It's a USA Today article... here.
Standby...
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
A Hoo is inside our clock
This'll be short today because I gotta lotta work to do! Man, this working DURING THE DAY is exhausting! :)
So you get a short, funny story...
We're been having problems with our clocks at the radio station. This doesn't sound like that big of a deal. But it is. The clock is our lifeline. Everything we do is according to the clock. They are throughout the building, they are on our broadcasting boards, etc.
Our engineer has been working to fix them for several days, but usually we come in and find the clock is a humorous 17 hours off... or a heartbreaking 3 seconds off... but today it said this:
Standby...
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Eureka! (no, not the castle)
We started a new website for my radio station recently – one that allows us to blog and get comments from our listeners on stuff. We were excited about it, even though it’s hard to meld the news-writer in me with a more personable voice needed for a blog entry. Everyone in the newsroom was excited to get comments from our listeners… but no one commented. After several days, we even wondered if the comment action was *working* (we tested it, and found it was).
Finally, this week, my blog entry for Studio 619 got a whopping THREE comments. Woo hoo! Okay, two of them are from the same person. And I’m pretty sure the other one is from one of my friends, posing as a doctor.
Anyway, the blog in which I finally found success was about epiphanies. People think very different things about what an epiphany IS… some think it’s just realizing something. I’m not sure that’s true. But – if it IS true – I learned a few things today…
One in six women will be the victim of a sexual assault in their life. (I learned this in an interview with a lady at the Center for Women and Families. I have a friend who works there, so I’m sure right now she’s thinking ‘DUH!’ but that number is really high!
The guy who won those lawsuits against the Archdiocese of Louisville (sex abuse cases) is now trying to sue THE VATICAN. That’s pretty intense.
Other topics:
Easter pageant: I could go on and on about what I liked about the new production at church, but really, all my comments are just my own and the important thing is that people are touched and invited to God by the show, and, as we all know, only God can do that. So I’m going to keep praying and praying for the people who are going to see it.
I will share with you my favorite moment from my pageant-going experience:
The cast members go out into this huge atrium at church to greet people as they leave, sign autographs, take pictures, etc. I was standing there talking to two of my friends who are in the pageant… they are all dressed up in their 1st century garb and with dark, clayish makeup on to make them look all tan. A little boy walks up and stands really close to us and looks up at my friend Lisa like he wants to talk to her…(he has a piece of paper and a pencil in his hands)… she looks at him and says hi and his eyes are filled with wonder, as he says,
“Are you Satan?”
Standby…
Finally, this week, my blog entry for Studio 619 got a whopping THREE comments. Woo hoo! Okay, two of them are from the same person. And I’m pretty sure the other one is from one of my friends, posing as a doctor.
Anyway, the blog in which I finally found success was about epiphanies. People think very different things about what an epiphany IS… some think it’s just realizing something. I’m not sure that’s true. But – if it IS true – I learned a few things today…
One in six women will be the victim of a sexual assault in their life. (I learned this in an interview with a lady at the Center for Women and Families. I have a friend who works there, so I’m sure right now she’s thinking ‘DUH!’ but that number is really high!
The guy who won those lawsuits against the Archdiocese of Louisville (sex abuse cases) is now trying to sue THE VATICAN. That’s pretty intense.
Other topics:
Easter pageant: I could go on and on about what I liked about the new production at church, but really, all my comments are just my own and the important thing is that people are touched and invited to God by the show, and, as we all know, only God can do that. So I’m going to keep praying and praying for the people who are going to see it.
I will share with you my favorite moment from my pageant-going experience:
The cast members go out into this huge atrium at church to greet people as they leave, sign autographs, take pictures, etc. I was standing there talking to two of my friends who are in the pageant… they are all dressed up in their 1st century garb and with dark, clayish makeup on to make them look all tan. A little boy walks up and stands really close to us and looks up at my friend Lisa like he wants to talk to her…(he has a piece of paper and a pencil in his hands)… she looks at him and says hi and his eyes are filled with wonder, as he says,
“Are you Satan?”
Standby…
Monday, March 17, 2008
Purge
** Don’t be grossed out – this isn’t the ‘purge’ of ‘binge and’ fame.
I spent the weekend throwing things away. It sounds really wasteful, but I can assure you they were all things that needed to be thrown away (or – in some cases – set aside to be donated to charity later). I filled up all four of my apartment building’s garbage cans (sorry, neighbors) and I still have more that needs to be thrown out. I just really can’t justify MOVING most of that stuff, much less paying to STORE it somewhere while I compact all my stuff from a quite large apartment to two little rooms (and some stuff in the common areas).
It feels really nice to get rid of stuff I don’t need or use. The good kind of purge.
You may be thinking: why are you so intensely packing so early, Steph? Well, number one, I’m sort of like that… I don’t want to wait until the last minute and I like to be really super-organized about things… and number two, it takes me awhile… because I want to look through EVERYTHING. I’m not just throwing stuff into a box or a tote. So when I come across my Box of Important Things in my nightstand, I’m going to look through everything in it. When I run across the photo album of my trip to Brazil, I want to look through it. Not efficient, but hey, I planned for it!
Anyway, back to the Box of Important Things. I imagine we all have these, even though we don’t talk about them much. At first, it was used to transport all the stuff I kept on my corkboard in my dorm rooms. Then it became much more than that, now it houses things that are important, but don’t really have a ‘spot’. Lots of important photos. Lots of cards and notes. Postcards. The receipt from when Dad and I spent about six hours at Red Lobster eating never-ending crablegs. Truth is, I KNOW what’s in there, I just want to revisit it.
But, this time, there was something in there I’d completely forgotten about. It was a piece of raggedy envelope, and on the back of it, in my mother’s lovely, feminine handwriting,
“Please do not talk while my daughter is playing.”
(big smile comes across my face) It was from a concert in college. I think it was a concert featuring the entire brass studio… so some of it was a bunch of trumpets, a bunch of trombones (Lord help us), etc. So, someone whose kid DIDN’T play the French horn thought it was okay to talk while my mom’s daughter was performing. I’m sure the usual dirty glances were employed, but they clearly didn’t work. So my mom took an envelope out of her purse and wrote that note, showed it to them, and put it back in her purse. Love it.
Here is your fair warning to people who aren’t familiar with the wrath of mom. She is a wonderful, warm, hospitable, friendly person. Until you mess with her children. Just FYI for any of you who may want to slight me in the future. It’s not me you have to worry about. It’s mom. The note is just a peashooter in her Mama Arsenal. (Love you mama!)
Other topics:
Holidays I don’t want to celebrate: St. Patrick’s Day. What is the point? Let me also be clear about my opposition to it: I’m not wearing green today. It’s not because I FORGOT it’s St. Patrick’s Day… it’s because I choose to not participate. The other holiday I don’t want to celebrate? Halloween.
Many of you will think I’m a stick in the mud because these are the two most fun holidays to many people outside of Christmas and New Year’s. But it seems to me that St. Patrick’s Day is only around to cause pain (pinching) and to provide an excuse to get really, really drunk. And Halloween is literally a celebration of evil.
I’m okay with people who want to celebrate. I just don’t want to.
My art project: Thanks for your concern about the art project! It actually went really, really well! It doesn’t look quite as good as if a professional painter, or, say, ANN, did it… but I kind of like the amateurish-ness of it. I think it’ll look nice in the new bedroom. I’ll post a pic here once I get all the walls painted and get the room put together.
Things I learn from my friends:
from Crystal: It actually IS kind of important at this point in our lives to be NEAR our friends. Crystal and I had dinner and gelato Saturday night and she was in such a great mood after spending the day doing a variety of things and with a variety of people. For those who don’t know, Crystal recently moved to Louisville after living in Shelby County. It doesn’t SEEM that far away, but it kind of is, especially for spur-of-the-moment get-togethers. She was just so happy Saturday night, it reminded me of how that’s important for us.
Also, a cute story from the outing with Crystal:
I had been running errands all day, it had been raining for part of that, and then I spent the second half of the day painting my art project. So I was a little sweaty, a little rained-on, and a little painty when it was time to throw some other clothes on to go to dinner. She was coming in, like, five minutes, so I just put on some jeans and a long-sleeved shirt. I’m still without my umbrella, so I chose my newsboy-lookin’ hat and just decided to make it part of the outfit instead of taking it on and off and on and off. Almost the moment I’m dressed, I hear her knocking on the door, I swing it open…. and she has on HER newsboy-ish hat too! Normally, I hate it when friends who are hanging out have sort of the same outfit on… but this time it was cute because we didn’t plan it and it took us a couple of seconds of looking at each other to figure it out! Ha!
Standby…
I spent the weekend throwing things away. It sounds really wasteful, but I can assure you they were all things that needed to be thrown away (or – in some cases – set aside to be donated to charity later). I filled up all four of my apartment building’s garbage cans (sorry, neighbors) and I still have more that needs to be thrown out. I just really can’t justify MOVING most of that stuff, much less paying to STORE it somewhere while I compact all my stuff from a quite large apartment to two little rooms (and some stuff in the common areas).
It feels really nice to get rid of stuff I don’t need or use. The good kind of purge.
You may be thinking: why are you so intensely packing so early, Steph? Well, number one, I’m sort of like that… I don’t want to wait until the last minute and I like to be really super-organized about things… and number two, it takes me awhile… because I want to look through EVERYTHING. I’m not just throwing stuff into a box or a tote. So when I come across my Box of Important Things in my nightstand, I’m going to look through everything in it. When I run across the photo album of my trip to Brazil, I want to look through it. Not efficient, but hey, I planned for it!
Anyway, back to the Box of Important Things. I imagine we all have these, even though we don’t talk about them much. At first, it was used to transport all the stuff I kept on my corkboard in my dorm rooms. Then it became much more than that, now it houses things that are important, but don’t really have a ‘spot’. Lots of important photos. Lots of cards and notes. Postcards. The receipt from when Dad and I spent about six hours at Red Lobster eating never-ending crablegs. Truth is, I KNOW what’s in there, I just want to revisit it.
But, this time, there was something in there I’d completely forgotten about. It was a piece of raggedy envelope, and on the back of it, in my mother’s lovely, feminine handwriting,
“Please do not talk while my daughter is playing.”
(big smile comes across my face) It was from a concert in college. I think it was a concert featuring the entire brass studio… so some of it was a bunch of trumpets, a bunch of trombones (Lord help us), etc. So, someone whose kid DIDN’T play the French horn thought it was okay to talk while my mom’s daughter was performing. I’m sure the usual dirty glances were employed, but they clearly didn’t work. So my mom took an envelope out of her purse and wrote that note, showed it to them, and put it back in her purse. Love it.
Here is your fair warning to people who aren’t familiar with the wrath of mom. She is a wonderful, warm, hospitable, friendly person. Until you mess with her children. Just FYI for any of you who may want to slight me in the future. It’s not me you have to worry about. It’s mom. The note is just a peashooter in her Mama Arsenal. (Love you mama!)
Other topics:
Holidays I don’t want to celebrate: St. Patrick’s Day. What is the point? Let me also be clear about my opposition to it: I’m not wearing green today. It’s not because I FORGOT it’s St. Patrick’s Day… it’s because I choose to not participate. The other holiday I don’t want to celebrate? Halloween.
Many of you will think I’m a stick in the mud because these are the two most fun holidays to many people outside of Christmas and New Year’s. But it seems to me that St. Patrick’s Day is only around to cause pain (pinching) and to provide an excuse to get really, really drunk. And Halloween is literally a celebration of evil.
I’m okay with people who want to celebrate. I just don’t want to.
My art project: Thanks for your concern about the art project! It actually went really, really well! It doesn’t look quite as good as if a professional painter, or, say, ANN, did it… but I kind of like the amateurish-ness of it. I think it’ll look nice in the new bedroom. I’ll post a pic here once I get all the walls painted and get the room put together.
Things I learn from my friends:
from Crystal: It actually IS kind of important at this point in our lives to be NEAR our friends. Crystal and I had dinner and gelato Saturday night and she was in such a great mood after spending the day doing a variety of things and with a variety of people. For those who don’t know, Crystal recently moved to Louisville after living in Shelby County. It doesn’t SEEM that far away, but it kind of is, especially for spur-of-the-moment get-togethers. She was just so happy Saturday night, it reminded me of how that’s important for us.
Also, a cute story from the outing with Crystal:
I had been running errands all day, it had been raining for part of that, and then I spent the second half of the day painting my art project. So I was a little sweaty, a little rained-on, and a little painty when it was time to throw some other clothes on to go to dinner. She was coming in, like, five minutes, so I just put on some jeans and a long-sleeved shirt. I’m still without my umbrella, so I chose my newsboy-lookin’ hat and just decided to make it part of the outfit instead of taking it on and off and on and off. Almost the moment I’m dressed, I hear her knocking on the door, I swing it open…. and she has on HER newsboy-ish hat too! Normally, I hate it when friends who are hanging out have sort of the same outfit on… but this time it was cute because we didn’t plan it and it took us a couple of seconds of looking at each other to figure it out! Ha!
Standby…
Friday, March 14, 2008
New Records in Weakness
I listen to Morning Edition twice every day. (Well, not anymore after this week.) Inevitably, there is *something* that isn’t really funny that cracks me up for some reason. This morning, it was in the newscast. Dude was reporting on our crappy economy and said, “The dollar continues to break new records in weakness.” Even now, I can’t explain why, that sentence just makes me laugh. Maybe it’s because I’m picturing an animated dollar bill (Schoolhouse Rock-style) with really puny arms, and he can’t lift a toothpick. And he makes a sad face. And there’s a reporter with a notebook in the empty bleachers behind him writing really frantically.
UH-thur TOP-icks:
Pronouncers: If, for some reason, you ever have to write a pronouncer for something, keep the following in mind: 1.) it should not look exactly like the word 2.) you have to indicate emphasis as well as vowel sounds and 3.) there can be NO question of how to pronounce the word with your pronouncer.
We deal with pronouncers a lot in radio. For example, there’s a guy named Harry Moberly in the General Assembly. In all the stories our awesome Capitol reporter Tony McVeigh writes, he includes the pronouncer “MAH-ber-lee”, not “MOE-ber-lee”.
However, I very often see questionable pronouncers throughout our news from other stations and (gasp!) sometimes even within our station. But yesterday. Yesterday I saw a pronouncer I just couldn’t overlook. (Let’s keep in mind that by writing a pronouncer, you are admitting it might be a little difficult to pronounce the name, or there are a few ways it would be pronounced.)
I should mention this was not from a news person, but it IS from a RADIO person. The word was a person’s name: Rere. The pronouncer: (re re)
:: shaking my head in a mixture of disbelief and disappointment::
I decided to read it “RAY RAY” instead of “REE REE”, but, who knows…
One thing I DO know how to pronounce…
“LAST DAY OF MORNING EDITION!”
I’m about to kick some news reporting bootie.
Standby…
UH-thur TOP-icks:
Pronouncers: If, for some reason, you ever have to write a pronouncer for something, keep the following in mind: 1.) it should not look exactly like the word 2.) you have to indicate emphasis as well as vowel sounds and 3.) there can be NO question of how to pronounce the word with your pronouncer.
We deal with pronouncers a lot in radio. For example, there’s a guy named Harry Moberly in the General Assembly. In all the stories our awesome Capitol reporter Tony McVeigh writes, he includes the pronouncer “MAH-ber-lee”, not “MOE-ber-lee”.
However, I very often see questionable pronouncers throughout our news from other stations and (gasp!) sometimes even within our station. But yesterday. Yesterday I saw a pronouncer I just couldn’t overlook. (Let’s keep in mind that by writing a pronouncer, you are admitting it might be a little difficult to pronounce the name, or there are a few ways it would be pronounced.)
I should mention this was not from a news person, but it IS from a RADIO person. The word was a person’s name: Rere. The pronouncer: (re re)
:: shaking my head in a mixture of disbelief and disappointment::
I decided to read it “RAY RAY” instead of “REE REE”, but, who knows…
One thing I DO know how to pronounce…
“LAST DAY OF MORNING EDITION!”
I’m about to kick some news reporting bootie.
Standby…
Thursday, March 13, 2008
What a little packing can do for ya…
A couple days ago I was packing up boxes (for moving)… mostly desk stuff, and I came across… my METRONOME! For the non-musical-type blog-readers among us, a metronome is that nifty contraption that keeps a specific tempo for you and ‘tick-tocks’ is out. Your mental picture of one is probably one of those boxes that sit on top of a piano and has a metal pointy thing that tilts back and forth.
MY metronome is way better than that. Not only can you set the tempo (which, it wouldn’t be a metronome if you couldn’t do that), but you can also set how many beats per measure you have, assign a different tone to the first beat of that measure, or program different rhythms it will illustrate. Yeah, there’s quarter notes, eighth notes and sixteenth notes…(boring)… but there’s also sixteenth notes with only the ‘e’s and ‘a’s, triplets, triples without the second one, etc. It’s pretty fun. There’s also a tuner, but I think I’m about to lose some of you, so I won’t get into the specifics of that.
I got really excited when I ran across it and played with it for, like, twenty minutes. Which is kind of a lot for something that isn’t really a toy. I told my friend Ann (she’s a music major too, and a famous opera singer) about it last night and she got really excited about it too. So I started thinking about why we’re so endeared to our metronomes.
I don’t really know that much about ‘vocal’ majors (like Ann), but I think I love my metronome because it was with me throughout my college career. I probably have close to the same affection for it that I have for my French horn. My metronome was with me for all those long hours in the practice room, trying to perfect a difficult lick in a horn solo… or keeping me on track for the endless hours of trying to learn to play the piano (which I still can’t do)… it was there when was elated over the smallest successes, and when I was overcome with tears and frustration. I know last part seems pretty dramatic, but when you’re working for hours and hours on something that is both technically and emotionally stimulating, all your happiness starts to depend on really tiny things.
My metronome was with me the very first time I ever climbed the steps of the 8 or 10 foot tall podium to lead my college marching band. It’s missing the dial to alter the tempo because I once dropped it from that podium, and broke the plastic doohickey (don’t worry, it still works). That metronome was tick-ticking in my ear into those nighttime rehearsals when we had to stay because we had a football game the next day and we weren’t getting the timing right – when the band was so close to me and so loud I had to practically will myself to be INSIDE the metronome to hear it’s steady pulse.
That metronome was with me when I was preparing for my podium conductor auditions. I was a sophomore in college, trying to get one of the three conducting spots in marching band – positions that usually go to MALES who are MUSIC ED majors and are UPPERCLASSMEN – I was none of those things. I had to memorize several tempos. Memorize them. As in, “Conduct at 144 beats per minute. Go.” So, as I was taking on one of the biggest challenges of my college career, helping me through hours of preparation I wasn’t sure would even matter because of my credentials, the metronome was there.
I love it and as I was throwing away tons and tons of stuff (I’m a thrower-away, not a keeper), I realized I would NEVER throw it away. I probably wouldn’t even think of letting anyone borrow it.
Also, I’m going to try to take on some conducting students. I used to teach drum major lessons in college to make some extra money. And I realized I really miss it. I miss marching band. I miss conducting. I miss teaching those really great kids who want to be leaders in their bands. So, I’m working on it. And I’m pretty excited about it!
Other topics:
Leatherheads: Yes, I really, really, really want to see it. Football. George Clooney. Jim from The Office. What more is there to like?
Art project: I’m taking on an art project this weekend. It’s for my bedroom in the new apartment. My friend Ann inspired me to try it and I’m a little scared because she’s way more craft-oriented than me. Pray for me. (ha!)
Standby…
MY metronome is way better than that. Not only can you set the tempo (which, it wouldn’t be a metronome if you couldn’t do that), but you can also set how many beats per measure you have, assign a different tone to the first beat of that measure, or program different rhythms it will illustrate. Yeah, there’s quarter notes, eighth notes and sixteenth notes…(boring)… but there’s also sixteenth notes with only the ‘e’s and ‘a’s, triplets, triples without the second one, etc. It’s pretty fun. There’s also a tuner, but I think I’m about to lose some of you, so I won’t get into the specifics of that.
I got really excited when I ran across it and played with it for, like, twenty minutes. Which is kind of a lot for something that isn’t really a toy. I told my friend Ann (she’s a music major too, and a famous opera singer) about it last night and she got really excited about it too. So I started thinking about why we’re so endeared to our metronomes.
I don’t really know that much about ‘vocal’ majors (like Ann), but I think I love my metronome because it was with me throughout my college career. I probably have close to the same affection for it that I have for my French horn. My metronome was with me for all those long hours in the practice room, trying to perfect a difficult lick in a horn solo… or keeping me on track for the endless hours of trying to learn to play the piano (which I still can’t do)… it was there when was elated over the smallest successes, and when I was overcome with tears and frustration. I know last part seems pretty dramatic, but when you’re working for hours and hours on something that is both technically and emotionally stimulating, all your happiness starts to depend on really tiny things.
My metronome was with me the very first time I ever climbed the steps of the 8 or 10 foot tall podium to lead my college marching band. It’s missing the dial to alter the tempo because I once dropped it from that podium, and broke the plastic doohickey (don’t worry, it still works). That metronome was tick-ticking in my ear into those nighttime rehearsals when we had to stay because we had a football game the next day and we weren’t getting the timing right – when the band was so close to me and so loud I had to practically will myself to be INSIDE the metronome to hear it’s steady pulse.
That metronome was with me when I was preparing for my podium conductor auditions. I was a sophomore in college, trying to get one of the three conducting spots in marching band – positions that usually go to MALES who are MUSIC ED majors and are UPPERCLASSMEN – I was none of those things. I had to memorize several tempos. Memorize them. As in, “Conduct at 144 beats per minute. Go.” So, as I was taking on one of the biggest challenges of my college career, helping me through hours of preparation I wasn’t sure would even matter because of my credentials, the metronome was there.
I love it and as I was throwing away tons and tons of stuff (I’m a thrower-away, not a keeper), I realized I would NEVER throw it away. I probably wouldn’t even think of letting anyone borrow it.
Also, I’m going to try to take on some conducting students. I used to teach drum major lessons in college to make some extra money. And I realized I really miss it. I miss marching band. I miss conducting. I miss teaching those really great kids who want to be leaders in their bands. So, I’m working on it. And I’m pretty excited about it!
Other topics:
Leatherheads: Yes, I really, really, really want to see it. Football. George Clooney. Jim from The Office. What more is there to like?
Art project: I’m taking on an art project this weekend. It’s for my bedroom in the new apartment. My friend Ann inspired me to try it and I’m a little scared because she’s way more craft-oriented than me. Pray for me. (ha!)
Standby…
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
My GFs
WARNING: This post MAY make you a little sad for me. Don’t be. Because I’m happy for me.
After a snowed-in-type weekend, and a gathering of some really great girlfriends, I’ve been thinking a lot about my Louisville friends and how they are possibly the best friends I’ve ever had in my life. And, refreshingly, they’re mostly girls. This will all seem very obvious, but I do have a point.
For most of my life, all the way through college, I had come to accept the fact that I just wasn’t a ‘girl’s girl’. For some strange reason, I just seemed to get along better with guys. My relationships with girls (especially in college) were superficial at best and deplorable at worst. My roommate situations were rarely good (gee, who would have thought randomly assigning people to live with each other could ever go wrong?).
When I say I got along better with guys, I’m not referring to boyfriends. I’m referring to guys who are friends. It’s really going to take close self-examination for probably at least 25 more years to understand why.
But NOW… now I find myself in a community of really great, caring, unique, wonderful, smart, warm, hilarious women that I not only GET ALONG with…but I LOVE. When I realized this, I was quite startled.
Not only do I have a bunch of awesome female friends, but we do really girly things! Like sit up drinking wine and TALKING for HOURS AND HOURS, going to a tapas restaurant and sharing all our food (which, by the way, is in my Top Five Favorite Birthdays list), going to movies like Hairspray and Enchanted, talking about Jane Austen, cooking, and having long conversations about decorating and spices. Not decorating and spices. Decorating. And spices. Anyway, for a split second there, I thought, “Have I become a girlie-girl?!?” GASP!
Thirteen-year-old Steph would be very disappointed. She was planning on being a football-lovin’, smarter-than-the-boys, stronger-than-the-boys, don’t-have-to-wear-cute-clothes-to-make-you-like-me, don’t-need-makeup-to-make-me-look-pretty kind of woman.
The good news for thirteen-year-old Steph is that I still don’t think I’m a ‘girlie-girl’. (One thought of my awesome friend Ann would put that to rest!) But 25-year-old Steph is definitely girlier.
And I think thirteen-year-old Steph would like 25-year-old Steph. Mostly because she’s still football-lovin’, smarter-than-MANY-boys and don’t-have-to-wear-cute-clothes-to-make-you-like-me, but still manages to be like-to-wear-cute-clothes-to-feel-cute, yes-that’s-lilac-perfume, and yes-you-can-hold-the-door-open-for-me-thank-you-very-much.
Other topics:
Barackabama: Hey news folks, can we please not revert to laziness of the mouth by calling Barack Obama “Barackabama”? It makes me think of Chaka Khan. I realized this last night watching 45 minutes of Mississippi Primary Coverage. Which brings me to my next topic…
You’re not fooling me, CNN: I’m a bit of a political dork. (and a weather dork) (and a marching band dork) So I’ve watched MOST of the coverage of each and every one of the stinkin’ primaries we’ve had so far. It’s quite perplexing to me how CNN can project a winner many times the INSTANT the polls close. I’m sure it has something to do with exit polls, but I wish I understood it more. Anyway, they DIDN’T project a winner when the polls closed last night in Mississippi. Wolf Blitzer says it wasn’t because the race was close, it was because they didn’t want to ‘just base their projection merely on exit polls”, they wanted to “wait for REAL numbers” to come in.
BIG DAVE, Wolf Blitzer! Ya’ll know that as soon as you say who won, most people are going to change the channel.
Wronged wives of politicians: Lots of people (Jack Cafferty, me, and mom, that’s three) have been talking about Eliott Spitzer’s wife standing stoically by her husband while he announced his infidelities. We’ve seen this before. But we don’t understand it. A reason why I love NPR: they’ve put together a slideshow of similar images on their website. It goes all the way back to Ted Kennedy. www.npr.org.
Easter pageant in IMAX: Southeast’s Easter Pageant begins again tonight. It’s a pretty big deal – they’ve completely redone the music and the script, they’ve filmed movie scenes to show on two IMAX screens to transition from live action stuff on the stage. Dave Stone told us last week they’re having serious technical problems with the production, so I’ve been praying a lot for it to be successful. Prayer is a BIG BIG part of the Pageant.
Prayer not only that the performance will be flawless, but – most importantly – that people’s lives and souls will be touched…that in that amount of time, hearts can be changed and people won to Christ. For the performers, it’s a really emotional experience: to be so exhausted and yet so exhilarated, and spending every spare minute of the performance praying for those people who are living it at that very moment. It was such a great experience for me two years ago, it brings me to tears (happy ones) to think of it.
So, if you guys could pray for the performers and the 75,000-plus people who are going to see the Pageant, that would be awesome. Also, my friend Katie is in the production, and she has a really stressful job and won’t be getting much sleep, so I’m praying for health and safety and a great experience for her.
Thanks, peeps.
Standby...
After a snowed-in-type weekend, and a gathering of some really great girlfriends, I’ve been thinking a lot about my Louisville friends and how they are possibly the best friends I’ve ever had in my life. And, refreshingly, they’re mostly girls. This will all seem very obvious, but I do have a point.
For most of my life, all the way through college, I had come to accept the fact that I just wasn’t a ‘girl’s girl’. For some strange reason, I just seemed to get along better with guys. My relationships with girls (especially in college) were superficial at best and deplorable at worst. My roommate situations were rarely good (gee, who would have thought randomly assigning people to live with each other could ever go wrong?).
When I say I got along better with guys, I’m not referring to boyfriends. I’m referring to guys who are friends. It’s really going to take close self-examination for probably at least 25 more years to understand why.
But NOW… now I find myself in a community of really great, caring, unique, wonderful, smart, warm, hilarious women that I not only GET ALONG with…but I LOVE. When I realized this, I was quite startled.
Not only do I have a bunch of awesome female friends, but we do really girly things! Like sit up drinking wine and TALKING for HOURS AND HOURS, going to a tapas restaurant and sharing all our food (which, by the way, is in my Top Five Favorite Birthdays list), going to movies like Hairspray and Enchanted, talking about Jane Austen, cooking, and having long conversations about decorating and spices. Not decorating and spices. Decorating. And spices. Anyway, for a split second there, I thought, “Have I become a girlie-girl?!?” GASP!
Thirteen-year-old Steph would be very disappointed. She was planning on being a football-lovin’, smarter-than-the-boys, stronger-than-the-boys, don’t-have-to-wear-cute-clothes-to-make-you-like-me, don’t-need-makeup-to-make-me-look-pretty kind of woman.
The good news for thirteen-year-old Steph is that I still don’t think I’m a ‘girlie-girl’. (One thought of my awesome friend Ann would put that to rest!) But 25-year-old Steph is definitely girlier.
And I think thirteen-year-old Steph would like 25-year-old Steph. Mostly because she’s still football-lovin’, smarter-than-MANY-boys and don’t-have-to-wear-cute-clothes-to-make-you-like-me, but still manages to be like-to-wear-cute-clothes-to-feel-cute, yes-that’s-lilac-perfume, and yes-you-can-hold-the-door-open-for-me-thank-you-very-much.
Other topics:
Barackabama: Hey news folks, can we please not revert to laziness of the mouth by calling Barack Obama “Barackabama”? It makes me think of Chaka Khan. I realized this last night watching 45 minutes of Mississippi Primary Coverage. Which brings me to my next topic…
You’re not fooling me, CNN: I’m a bit of a political dork. (and a weather dork) (and a marching band dork) So I’ve watched MOST of the coverage of each and every one of the stinkin’ primaries we’ve had so far. It’s quite perplexing to me how CNN can project a winner many times the INSTANT the polls close. I’m sure it has something to do with exit polls, but I wish I understood it more. Anyway, they DIDN’T project a winner when the polls closed last night in Mississippi. Wolf Blitzer says it wasn’t because the race was close, it was because they didn’t want to ‘just base their projection merely on exit polls”, they wanted to “wait for REAL numbers” to come in.
BIG DAVE, Wolf Blitzer! Ya’ll know that as soon as you say who won, most people are going to change the channel.
Wronged wives of politicians: Lots of people (Jack Cafferty, me, and mom, that’s three) have been talking about Eliott Spitzer’s wife standing stoically by her husband while he announced his infidelities. We’ve seen this before. But we don’t understand it. A reason why I love NPR: they’ve put together a slideshow of similar images on their website. It goes all the way back to Ted Kennedy. www.npr.org.
Easter pageant in IMAX: Southeast’s Easter Pageant begins again tonight. It’s a pretty big deal – they’ve completely redone the music and the script, they’ve filmed movie scenes to show on two IMAX screens to transition from live action stuff on the stage. Dave Stone told us last week they’re having serious technical problems with the production, so I’ve been praying a lot for it to be successful. Prayer is a BIG BIG part of the Pageant.
Prayer not only that the performance will be flawless, but – most importantly – that people’s lives and souls will be touched…that in that amount of time, hearts can be changed and people won to Christ. For the performers, it’s a really emotional experience: to be so exhausted and yet so exhilarated, and spending every spare minute of the performance praying for those people who are living it at that very moment. It was such a great experience for me two years ago, it brings me to tears (happy ones) to think of it.
So, if you guys could pray for the performers and the 75,000-plus people who are going to see the Pageant, that would be awesome. Also, my friend Katie is in the production, and she has a really stressful job and won’t be getting much sleep, so I’m praying for health and safety and a great experience for her.
Thanks, peeps.
Standby...
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Move Mode
I realized this weekend while I was shopping for groceries that I’m already in Move Mode. For those who aren’t up to speed, I’ve moving at the end of the month!
Yes, my apartment I live in now is charming and in a great neighborhood and has lots of natural light and has…character. Let me translate what I’ve learned all those things really are: charming = old = toilet is from the 1820’s and you have to take it apart and put it all back together every other day. Lots of natural light = ginormous windows = outrageous heating bills. Character = interesting layout and high ceilings = sometimes pipes leak for no reason and no one (landlord) cares and you can’t change a light bulb without an oxygen tank. The great neighborhood is still true.
Let’s talk about the new place… it’s a condo… it’s farther from downtown (where I work), but closer to church. These are the things I love about it: central heat/air, dishwasher, washer/dryer IN the unit, balcony, high ceilings in PART of it, fireplace, toilet that works. And the BEST part? It comes with an awesome roommate! For free! (ha!)
Her name is Vivian and most of you know her. But for those who don’t, the short version is this: we met at church and she joined our Bible study and now we’re BFF. Also, her blog is linked to the right if you want to read about her. And witness how sometimes she misspells ‘here’.
Anyway, Move Mode is what I go into when, for some reason, I want to run out of everything at precisely the day I’m moving. So I’m trying to regulate my toothpaste usage so I run out literally THE MORNING I move. Why? So I can throw out the container, not have to worry about packing and unpacking it, and then replenish AFTER the move. Toothpaste isn’t a good example though. When I was shopping this weekend, I needed toilet paper, so I reached for the jumbo-cube of, like, 24 rolls of t-p. Then I realized I was moving soon, so I’m just going to operate in four-packs until that happens. See what I mean? It probably doesn’t make THAT big of a difference, but the less stuff I move, the fewer trips I have to make up and down those stairs on THAT day.
Other topics:
Roving Doctor Bandits: I meant to write about this yesterday, but I was obviously so shaken up, I forgot. It’s really disturbing to see how many people are driving at 3:45am. The first morning I did Morning Edition, several weeks ago, I experienced something very strange on the drive in that at first made me feel like I was just being overdramatic. But it’s happened a few Monday since then too (not ALL Mondays).
I don’t take any interstates to get to work from home. It’s only about ten minutes, but these are well-known routes that a lot of people drive. Basically, a band of speeding vehicles come up from behind me, act like I’m driving ten miles an hour, speed around me, and then are kinda ticked when I inexplicably catch up with them at a traffic light (the lights downtown are synched). What’s weird is that they all seem to know each other and want to drive really, really fast. The first time it happened, I named them the Roving Doctor Bandits because they all drive nice cars and turned away at the hospitals, so I assume they are doctors.
It just doesn’t make sense on SO many levels.
Elliot Spitzer: Really, dude? Really?!
Back to the Source: I’m hearing a lot these days about the upcoming summer Olympics in China. Air pollution, human rights, political freedom, their stance on Darfur and Islam…etc. Here’s what I think: We already knew these things about China when they were selected to host the Olympics. So why aren’t we giving the selection committee crap about it? I’m sure there were countries where you don’t have to wear pollution masks that wanted to host the Olympics.
Things I learn from my friends:
from Coach, Mrs. Dr., David and Charlie: good recommendations apparently only come from people you’ve known for at least five years. Thanks, guys!
Standby…
Yes, my apartment I live in now is charming and in a great neighborhood and has lots of natural light and has…character. Let me translate what I’ve learned all those things really are: charming = old = toilet is from the 1820’s and you have to take it apart and put it all back together every other day. Lots of natural light = ginormous windows = outrageous heating bills. Character = interesting layout and high ceilings = sometimes pipes leak for no reason and no one (landlord) cares and you can’t change a light bulb without an oxygen tank. The great neighborhood is still true.
Let’s talk about the new place… it’s a condo… it’s farther from downtown (where I work), but closer to church. These are the things I love about it: central heat/air, dishwasher, washer/dryer IN the unit, balcony, high ceilings in PART of it, fireplace, toilet that works. And the BEST part? It comes with an awesome roommate! For free! (ha!)
Her name is Vivian and most of you know her. But for those who don’t, the short version is this: we met at church and she joined our Bible study and now we’re BFF. Also, her blog is linked to the right if you want to read about her. And witness how sometimes she misspells ‘here’.
Anyway, Move Mode is what I go into when, for some reason, I want to run out of everything at precisely the day I’m moving. So I’m trying to regulate my toothpaste usage so I run out literally THE MORNING I move. Why? So I can throw out the container, not have to worry about packing and unpacking it, and then replenish AFTER the move. Toothpaste isn’t a good example though. When I was shopping this weekend, I needed toilet paper, so I reached for the jumbo-cube of, like, 24 rolls of t-p. Then I realized I was moving soon, so I’m just going to operate in four-packs until that happens. See what I mean? It probably doesn’t make THAT big of a difference, but the less stuff I move, the fewer trips I have to make up and down those stairs on THAT day.
Other topics:
Roving Doctor Bandits: I meant to write about this yesterday, but I was obviously so shaken up, I forgot. It’s really disturbing to see how many people are driving at 3:45am. The first morning I did Morning Edition, several weeks ago, I experienced something very strange on the drive in that at first made me feel like I was just being overdramatic. But it’s happened a few Monday since then too (not ALL Mondays).
I don’t take any interstates to get to work from home. It’s only about ten minutes, but these are well-known routes that a lot of people drive. Basically, a band of speeding vehicles come up from behind me, act like I’m driving ten miles an hour, speed around me, and then are kinda ticked when I inexplicably catch up with them at a traffic light (the lights downtown are synched). What’s weird is that they all seem to know each other and want to drive really, really fast. The first time it happened, I named them the Roving Doctor Bandits because they all drive nice cars and turned away at the hospitals, so I assume they are doctors.
It just doesn’t make sense on SO many levels.
Elliot Spitzer: Really, dude? Really?!
Back to the Source: I’m hearing a lot these days about the upcoming summer Olympics in China. Air pollution, human rights, political freedom, their stance on Darfur and Islam…etc. Here’s what I think: We already knew these things about China when they were selected to host the Olympics. So why aren’t we giving the selection committee crap about it? I’m sure there were countries where you don’t have to wear pollution masks that wanted to host the Olympics.
Things I learn from my friends:
from Coach, Mrs. Dr., David and Charlie: good recommendations apparently only come from people you’ve known for at least five years. Thanks, guys!
Standby…
Monday, March 10, 2008
As Reba once said: “Take it Back”
You may remember Friday, when I said “Say No to Snow”. (If you don’t remember, just scroll down a little.) Well, today, a mere three days later, I’m taking it back.
It’s true – over the last couple of years, I’ve lost that childlike adoration of the fluffy stuff. Maybe it’s because we haven’t had a real, coating, ‘fluffy’ snow in the last few years. Maybe it’s because snow days are pretty much out of the question when you work in news. Probably it’s because the clearing of the snow from sidewalks and cars isn’t exactly a good time, and navigation through the slush and ice isn’t exactly easy in the Jetta.
I’ve noticed that maybe I’m becoming too much of a scrooge about this in the last couple of months. Our afternoon news anchor is always getting really excited about the possibly of snow and gets cranky when we don’t get ENOUGH snow to cover the grass. I attributed this to the fact that she has a garage and ‘people’ to clear her driveway for her. But maybe she’s just got a little more whimsy than me when it comes to snow.
So, as well-documented in this very blog, I was not pleased when Louisville’s forecast included four inches – and then TWELVE inches – of snow last week. I was grateful the worst of it was going to be falling after I was safely tucked away in my apartment, in front of my fake, electric fireplace.
It snowed a little on Friday morning, and then stopped for awhile. Some people at work got frustrated and actually thought ‘the big storm’ was over. I never had a doubt a lot more was coming. I went to bed early Friday night (I was pretty tired from getting up early and then not having a successful nap), and when I woke up Saturday morning, I quickly looked outside to survey the damage.
Not only was the snow cover beautiful, but it was still falling in big cotton-ball looking flakes, lightly drifting to the ground. I wanted to stay in my nice, warm bed. But I wanted to enjoy the snow too. I’ve been doing Morning Edition for so long, and that means sleeping during daylight so long, that I had actually forgotten that I could raise the shades in my bedroom! I was so happy when I remembered. I opened the shades on those giant energy-sucking, single-paned windows and crawled back into my cozy bed, fluffed up the pillows and sat up watching the snow fall on the trees outside and my neighbor’s roof.
It was quite peaceful. And then it was pretty funny because my cat has apparently also forgotten how awesome snow can be, so she sat at the end of my bed in feline wonderment… and then decided the mysterious white flakes were trying to infiltrate our domestic hideaway and must be stopped. It was pretty hilarious.
Then, I was even happier when I realized my glasses and the book I was reading were on my bed stand (read: I didn’t have to get out of bed to get them). What made it even better is that I was right in that sweet spot of a book where you still have a lot to read, but you really like the book and don’t want to stop reading. What could be better for that than a morning with several inches of snow on the ground and maybe four more inches throughout the morning? I mean, clearing the car would be futile! Besides, I had no where pressing to go. So, I went to Mansfield Park and stayed there all morning. And it…was…delightful.
Complete bliss.
A few more snow-related awesome things happened I’ll quickly get through: my friend Crystal called, and wanted to round up some people to go sledding. That’s not really the awesome part. The awesome part is that she sounded so…joyous. She’s been dealing with job issues and such and it was SO nice to hear her having such a great time in the snow because she is a truly wonderful person and she deserved an amazing and fun weekend.
Also, even the clearing of the snow wasn’t so bad. Even though there was a lot of it… there wasn’t much ice, so you just had to kind of push the snow around. It was quite possibly the loveliest snow ever.
Other topics:
Guilty pleasure TV: I remember in college, when reality TV was first growing in popularity, one of my media professors asked us in a survey what we thought of reality TV. It was multiple-choice. And I remember choosing “I wish it would go away.” But yesterday I realized that I really like it, when done in a tasteful way. A couple of friends were talking this weekend about how we like “Millionaire Matchmaker” on Bravo…not because we agree with the concept of finding beautiful, young women to date socially awkward millionaires who are at least ten years older than them. We like it because we like seeing the matchmaker ream women for wearing fishnets to their interview or chastise the men for being millionaires and taking their dates to Sonic for lunch.
I finished my book on Saturday and started a new one, but felt okay with watching several hours of TV yesterday. TLC had a marathon of “Say Yes to the Dress”. It was great. Not because I like to keep up with the latest style of wedding gowns and designers, but because I like to watch brides go through the process and critique how they look in different gowns. Also, Italian mechanic fathers from New Jersey who think they know a lot about gown-making and want to chew out the wedding gown designer whose dresses are about $5000. Then Jon and Kate Plus Eight came on and I love that show too!
And now that I think about it, there are quite a few reality shows I like. Project Runway and The Amazing Race and two of my favorite shows that I will actually remember the time they are on so I can watch. So…I guess I take that back too.
Things I learn from my friends:
from Vivie: the mortgage industry is a lot more complicated than we all think it is.
Standby…
It’s true – over the last couple of years, I’ve lost that childlike adoration of the fluffy stuff. Maybe it’s because we haven’t had a real, coating, ‘fluffy’ snow in the last few years. Maybe it’s because snow days are pretty much out of the question when you work in news. Probably it’s because the clearing of the snow from sidewalks and cars isn’t exactly a good time, and navigation through the slush and ice isn’t exactly easy in the Jetta.
I’ve noticed that maybe I’m becoming too much of a scrooge about this in the last couple of months. Our afternoon news anchor is always getting really excited about the possibly of snow and gets cranky when we don’t get ENOUGH snow to cover the grass. I attributed this to the fact that she has a garage and ‘people’ to clear her driveway for her. But maybe she’s just got a little more whimsy than me when it comes to snow.
So, as well-documented in this very blog, I was not pleased when Louisville’s forecast included four inches – and then TWELVE inches – of snow last week. I was grateful the worst of it was going to be falling after I was safely tucked away in my apartment, in front of my fake, electric fireplace.
It snowed a little on Friday morning, and then stopped for awhile. Some people at work got frustrated and actually thought ‘the big storm’ was over. I never had a doubt a lot more was coming. I went to bed early Friday night (I was pretty tired from getting up early and then not having a successful nap), and when I woke up Saturday morning, I quickly looked outside to survey the damage.
Not only was the snow cover beautiful, but it was still falling in big cotton-ball looking flakes, lightly drifting to the ground. I wanted to stay in my nice, warm bed. But I wanted to enjoy the snow too. I’ve been doing Morning Edition for so long, and that means sleeping during daylight so long, that I had actually forgotten that I could raise the shades in my bedroom! I was so happy when I remembered. I opened the shades on those giant energy-sucking, single-paned windows and crawled back into my cozy bed, fluffed up the pillows and sat up watching the snow fall on the trees outside and my neighbor’s roof.
It was quite peaceful. And then it was pretty funny because my cat has apparently also forgotten how awesome snow can be, so she sat at the end of my bed in feline wonderment… and then decided the mysterious white flakes were trying to infiltrate our domestic hideaway and must be stopped. It was pretty hilarious.
Then, I was even happier when I realized my glasses and the book I was reading were on my bed stand (read: I didn’t have to get out of bed to get them). What made it even better is that I was right in that sweet spot of a book where you still have a lot to read, but you really like the book and don’t want to stop reading. What could be better for that than a morning with several inches of snow on the ground and maybe four more inches throughout the morning? I mean, clearing the car would be futile! Besides, I had no where pressing to go. So, I went to Mansfield Park and stayed there all morning. And it…was…delightful.
Complete bliss.
A few more snow-related awesome things happened I’ll quickly get through: my friend Crystal called, and wanted to round up some people to go sledding. That’s not really the awesome part. The awesome part is that she sounded so…joyous. She’s been dealing with job issues and such and it was SO nice to hear her having such a great time in the snow because she is a truly wonderful person and she deserved an amazing and fun weekend.
Also, even the clearing of the snow wasn’t so bad. Even though there was a lot of it… there wasn’t much ice, so you just had to kind of push the snow around. It was quite possibly the loveliest snow ever.
Other topics:
Guilty pleasure TV: I remember in college, when reality TV was first growing in popularity, one of my media professors asked us in a survey what we thought of reality TV. It was multiple-choice. And I remember choosing “I wish it would go away.” But yesterday I realized that I really like it, when done in a tasteful way. A couple of friends were talking this weekend about how we like “Millionaire Matchmaker” on Bravo…not because we agree with the concept of finding beautiful, young women to date socially awkward millionaires who are at least ten years older than them. We like it because we like seeing the matchmaker ream women for wearing fishnets to their interview or chastise the men for being millionaires and taking their dates to Sonic for lunch.
I finished my book on Saturday and started a new one, but felt okay with watching several hours of TV yesterday. TLC had a marathon of “Say Yes to the Dress”. It was great. Not because I like to keep up with the latest style of wedding gowns and designers, but because I like to watch brides go through the process and critique how they look in different gowns. Also, Italian mechanic fathers from New Jersey who think they know a lot about gown-making and want to chew out the wedding gown designer whose dresses are about $5000. Then Jon and Kate Plus Eight came on and I love that show too!
And now that I think about it, there are quite a few reality shows I like. Project Runway and The Amazing Race and two of my favorite shows that I will actually remember the time they are on so I can watch. So…I guess I take that back too.
Things I learn from my friends:
from Vivie: the mortgage industry is a lot more complicated than we all think it is.
Standby…
Friday, March 7, 2008
Say No to Snow
Yesterday’s forecast of four or five inches of snow has been changed to…. oh… about TWELVE. Sigh…
The good news (for me) is that I don’t really have to go anywhere for the next two days if I choose not to. And the really crappy stuff (sleet) is going to happen while I’m at work and therefore I won’t have to scrape my car because I get the very best parking spot in the garage every morning since I get here at 4am. Thanks, Morning Edition.
At least weather is never boring here.
Other topics:
Wet Hair Day: My hair dryer broke this morning. This is more of a problem for me than most gals, because my hair is really, really thick and would never dry without the hair dryer. You think I’m exaggerating, but I’m not. It would ALWAYS be wet. And I can’t really run by Walgreens and get a new one at 3:15am, so I was kinda grumpy. Then I just realized it meant I’d get to wear a hat, which I really like. So I’m okay with it now.
Religious Exclusivity: This rarely happens, but this week the message at church was along the same lines as the lesson in Bible study. Basically, a lot of non-Christians view our beliefs as ‘intolerant’ or ‘exclusive’ and our society looks down on that. The idea that the gods of all religions are the same god, just worshipped in different ways has become more socially acceptable. But – the truth is – Christianity IS exclusive. Jesus: “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. NO ONE goes to the Father, except THROUGH ME.”
There are a lot of other religions that believe that Jesus existed and was a decent enough guy, but not the Messiah. Here’s what occurred to me this weekend and in the last few days: You either believe Jesus was a great guy AND is God’s son and our Savior, or you think he was a LIAR. There’s no in between. He can’t be a good guy AND the biggest liar ever. It’s too big of a contradiction.
Today, on Morning Edition, there’s a story about ‘Sunday school classes’ that parents say are teaching their kids ‘morals and values’ instead of religion, but really it’s teaching them religious relativism. One of the quotes in the story is from the teacher, speaking to the class: “So what did we learn today? Religions are like lampshades… they all look different on the outside, but on the inside…” (children respond) “The ALL have the light of God!”
No. They don’t.
It ain’t popular. But it’s true.
Standby…
The good news (for me) is that I don’t really have to go anywhere for the next two days if I choose not to. And the really crappy stuff (sleet) is going to happen while I’m at work and therefore I won’t have to scrape my car because I get the very best parking spot in the garage every morning since I get here at 4am. Thanks, Morning Edition.
At least weather is never boring here.
Other topics:
Wet Hair Day: My hair dryer broke this morning. This is more of a problem for me than most gals, because my hair is really, really thick and would never dry without the hair dryer. You think I’m exaggerating, but I’m not. It would ALWAYS be wet. And I can’t really run by Walgreens and get a new one at 3:15am, so I was kinda grumpy. Then I just realized it meant I’d get to wear a hat, which I really like. So I’m okay with it now.
Religious Exclusivity: This rarely happens, but this week the message at church was along the same lines as the lesson in Bible study. Basically, a lot of non-Christians view our beliefs as ‘intolerant’ or ‘exclusive’ and our society looks down on that. The idea that the gods of all religions are the same god, just worshipped in different ways has become more socially acceptable. But – the truth is – Christianity IS exclusive. Jesus: “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. NO ONE goes to the Father, except THROUGH ME.”
There are a lot of other religions that believe that Jesus existed and was a decent enough guy, but not the Messiah. Here’s what occurred to me this weekend and in the last few days: You either believe Jesus was a great guy AND is God’s son and our Savior, or you think he was a LIAR. There’s no in between. He can’t be a good guy AND the biggest liar ever. It’s too big of a contradiction.
Today, on Morning Edition, there’s a story about ‘Sunday school classes’ that parents say are teaching their kids ‘morals and values’ instead of religion, but really it’s teaching them religious relativism. One of the quotes in the story is from the teacher, speaking to the class: “So what did we learn today? Religions are like lampshades… they all look different on the outside, but on the inside…” (children respond) “The ALL have the light of God!”
No. They don’t.
It ain’t popular. But it’s true.
Standby…
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Strange weather we’re having
It was 70+ degrees on Monday. Starting tonight, we might get five inches of snow. This is not unusual for Kentucky.
What IS unusual is that the upcoming winter storm was characterized this way in this morning’s forecast on the NWS website…
“Friday: Occasional snow and sleet, mainly after 10am. High near 33. North wind between 10 and 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New snow and sleet accumulation of around 2 inches.
Friday Night: Occasional snow showers, mainly before 7pm. Low around 25. North wind between 11 and 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New snow accumulation of around 3 inches.”
OCCASIONAL snow and sleet… that ends up resulting in FIVE inches of snow in ONE day? I don’t think so, NWS.
Want.
Beach.
Other topics:
Milk varieties: This was actually something I meant to write about yesterday, but I forgot. I’ve been keeping milk and cereal at the station, so I can eat when I get hungry in the morning and it doesn’t have to be Triscuits. When I went to the fridge to get my milk for my cereal, I noticed an individual-sized beverage container in the shape of those protein shakes and such called ‘Muscle Milk’. How disgusting is that? Even if it isn’t actually milk, and just some protein shake with a ‘clever’ name, that’s just gross! I actually gagged a little when I read it.
Florida and Michigan: I know, I know. I can’t stay off politics for a stinkin’ day! Let me just say now that if they allow the vote from Florida and Michigan to count, I will be extremely POed (unless, for some weird reason, they hold the Dem primaries again). To the DNC: If you make a bold decision, like penalizing those states for trying to move their primaries up, stick to it! You can’t be pansies and change your minds later! To other people who might force the DNC to make those primaries count: NOT UP TO YOU.
Zzzz: My nap was ruined yesterday by a truck whose seeming purpose in life was only to beep and squeak its brakes really loudly and I didn’t get to sleep until 10 last night because of Bible study. What I’m trying to say is I’m sleepy and I can’t come up with anything else to write about. Sorry.
So I’ll leave you with lyrics from a worship song we sang at church a couple weekends ago I’ve been reflecting on a lot. This is just the chorus, and now that I’m looking at just the black-and-white of the words (without the music), I’m wondering why I’ve been so inspired by the song… but maybe you can get the jist, it’s called ‘Your Name’.
Your name is a strong and mighty tower
Your name is a shelter like no other
Your name, let the nations sing it louder
'Cause nothing has the power to save
But Your name.
Standby…
What IS unusual is that the upcoming winter storm was characterized this way in this morning’s forecast on the NWS website…
“Friday: Occasional snow and sleet, mainly after 10am. High near 33. North wind between 10 and 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New snow and sleet accumulation of around 2 inches.
Friday Night: Occasional snow showers, mainly before 7pm. Low around 25. North wind between 11 and 13 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New snow accumulation of around 3 inches.”
OCCASIONAL snow and sleet… that ends up resulting in FIVE inches of snow in ONE day? I don’t think so, NWS.
Want.
Beach.
Other topics:
Milk varieties: This was actually something I meant to write about yesterday, but I forgot. I’ve been keeping milk and cereal at the station, so I can eat when I get hungry in the morning and it doesn’t have to be Triscuits. When I went to the fridge to get my milk for my cereal, I noticed an individual-sized beverage container in the shape of those protein shakes and such called ‘Muscle Milk’. How disgusting is that? Even if it isn’t actually milk, and just some protein shake with a ‘clever’ name, that’s just gross! I actually gagged a little when I read it.
Florida and Michigan: I know, I know. I can’t stay off politics for a stinkin’ day! Let me just say now that if they allow the vote from Florida and Michigan to count, I will be extremely POed (unless, for some weird reason, they hold the Dem primaries again). To the DNC: If you make a bold decision, like penalizing those states for trying to move their primaries up, stick to it! You can’t be pansies and change your minds later! To other people who might force the DNC to make those primaries count: NOT UP TO YOU.
Zzzz: My nap was ruined yesterday by a truck whose seeming purpose in life was only to beep and squeak its brakes really loudly and I didn’t get to sleep until 10 last night because of Bible study. What I’m trying to say is I’m sleepy and I can’t come up with anything else to write about. Sorry.
So I’ll leave you with lyrics from a worship song we sang at church a couple weekends ago I’ve been reflecting on a lot. This is just the chorus, and now that I’m looking at just the black-and-white of the words (without the music), I’m wondering why I’ve been so inspired by the song… but maybe you can get the jist, it’s called ‘Your Name’.
Your name is a strong and mighty tower
Your name is a shelter like no other
Your name, let the nations sing it louder
'Cause nothing has the power to save
But Your name.
Standby…
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Dirty Litter Box Wednesday
I’m not going to get into a lot of political analysis or ranting here, but I’ll just say that the poop did not get scooped yesterday. And therefore it’s Dirty Litter Box Wednesday. And I’ll end this portion of the blog on this note: Gadzooks, people! Is Kentucky’s primary going to MATTER? It’s in MAY and it NEVER matters. If it does this time, I will find it extremely hard to not get involved. But I won’t be able to. Maybe if I quit my job…
Other topics:
Owie in the kablowie: Maybe I’m not doing it right, but I’m really sore after bowling with my little sister on Sunday. I WILL say that it’s extra-tiring to bowl with only two people (one of which is a child) because you essentially never stop bowling. Also, I think I probably look ridiculous when I’m bowling, and I’m probably doing something really insanely wrong because the next day my gluteus maximus was really sore!
A few weeks ago at church, the preacher mentioned something about how when you work out, your muscles literally tear and then new muscles build up in the gaps and that’s how you build muscles. I remember looking at my friend quite quizzically, and thinking ‘WHAT?!’, but now, as I wince up stairs, that sounds about right.
My CNN buddies: One thing that has been cultivating as I’ve been doing Morning Edition is my familiarity with the morning CNN people. We keep the TV on in the control room, but on silent. So throughout the morning, my attention is sometimes drawn up to the TV, where I have no idea what they’re saying. One of their reporters, Ali Velshi, has been reporting from Texas all this week. Some of them have been political reports, but I get the impression the majority have been economy and business reports. Here’s what gets me: he’s been wearing ridiculous cowboy outfits and cowboy hats all week! I will admit I don’t know Ali. And really, I’ve never noticed him until this week, but I find it highly dubious that Ali wears cowboy attire all the time.
Also, I have a TV crush on Rob Marciano. I have no idea what he sounds like, I just watch him in the morning as he points at a map. I assume he’s talking about the weather. Sometimes he’s out in the field somewhere. I’d be okay with him wearing a cowboy outfit.
Two seconds is a long time: The clock on our control board is wrong. This is a big problem for me because it’s the clock I time out my breaks and newscasts with. Yesterday it was about a half second slow, which is noticeable to the folks out in radioland, but I can just be aware of that and fix it in my mind. This morning, it’s a full TWO SECONDS slow. So, now I have to re-work my whole studio setup so my vision is in line with a different clock in a completely different location. It’s not that big of a deal, but the couple of breaks I messed up this morning made me realize (again) just how important those two seconds are.
Funny things said by NPR people: In a report earlier this week, one of my favorite NPR reporters, Wade Goodwyn, explained the Texas primary system and the very confusing way in which delegates get assigned. The last line of his feature was: “This primary tutorial doesn’t include how the caucuses work here. It’s called the Texas Two-Step, and that’s a whole other story. For NPR news, I’m Wade Goodwyn.” Ha!
Also, David Greene started a report earlier this week this way: “When covering the Clinton campaign, you learn what it is to never sleep.” HA!
I try to put jokes in my stories, but they usually get cut out.
On a somewhat related note, you should check out the NPR Election Map. It’s super-awesome, and super-fun. Especially if you like maps and politics. It’s at WFPL’s website, which, as of this week, is brand spankin’ new!
www.wfpl.org
Standby…
Other topics:
Owie in the kablowie: Maybe I’m not doing it right, but I’m really sore after bowling with my little sister on Sunday. I WILL say that it’s extra-tiring to bowl with only two people (one of which is a child) because you essentially never stop bowling. Also, I think I probably look ridiculous when I’m bowling, and I’m probably doing something really insanely wrong because the next day my gluteus maximus was really sore!
A few weeks ago at church, the preacher mentioned something about how when you work out, your muscles literally tear and then new muscles build up in the gaps and that’s how you build muscles. I remember looking at my friend quite quizzically, and thinking ‘WHAT?!’, but now, as I wince up stairs, that sounds about right.
My CNN buddies: One thing that has been cultivating as I’ve been doing Morning Edition is my familiarity with the morning CNN people. We keep the TV on in the control room, but on silent. So throughout the morning, my attention is sometimes drawn up to the TV, where I have no idea what they’re saying. One of their reporters, Ali Velshi, has been reporting from Texas all this week. Some of them have been political reports, but I get the impression the majority have been economy and business reports. Here’s what gets me: he’s been wearing ridiculous cowboy outfits and cowboy hats all week! I will admit I don’t know Ali. And really, I’ve never noticed him until this week, but I find it highly dubious that Ali wears cowboy attire all the time.
Also, I have a TV crush on Rob Marciano. I have no idea what he sounds like, I just watch him in the morning as he points at a map. I assume he’s talking about the weather. Sometimes he’s out in the field somewhere. I’d be okay with him wearing a cowboy outfit.
Two seconds is a long time: The clock on our control board is wrong. This is a big problem for me because it’s the clock I time out my breaks and newscasts with. Yesterday it was about a half second slow, which is noticeable to the folks out in radioland, but I can just be aware of that and fix it in my mind. This morning, it’s a full TWO SECONDS slow. So, now I have to re-work my whole studio setup so my vision is in line with a different clock in a completely different location. It’s not that big of a deal, but the couple of breaks I messed up this morning made me realize (again) just how important those two seconds are.
Funny things said by NPR people: In a report earlier this week, one of my favorite NPR reporters, Wade Goodwyn, explained the Texas primary system and the very confusing way in which delegates get assigned. The last line of his feature was: “This primary tutorial doesn’t include how the caucuses work here. It’s called the Texas Two-Step, and that’s a whole other story. For NPR news, I’m Wade Goodwyn.” Ha!
Also, David Greene started a report earlier this week this way: “When covering the Clinton campaign, you learn what it is to never sleep.” HA!
I try to put jokes in my stories, but they usually get cut out.
On a somewhat related note, you should check out the NPR Election Map. It’s super-awesome, and super-fun. Especially if you like maps and politics. It’s at WFPL’s website, which, as of this week, is brand spankin’ new!
www.wfpl.org
Standby…
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Pooper Scooper Tuesday
I actually thought of the name for this blog about two days ago, and I’ve been excited to use it. I’ve had enough of the 24-hour news networks proclaiming the madness of each primary or caucus that takes place in America. And, really, this name sums it up… rhymes with ‘super’… and, hopefully, the poop will literally be scooped from the race by the end of it. I’m ready to take a little politico break until the general election stuff ramps up.
After a little sabbatical, I’ve taken out my Hoops’n’Yoyo coffee mug this morning for a little pick-me-up. For those of you who haven’t had the pleasure of experiencing the Hoops’n’Yoyo mug… here’s the jist… it’s pink… it has a pic of Hoops… or Yoyo, I’m not really sure which is which… and it sings…
“Glug glug glug glug….
I’m driiiiiiinking my coffee out of my mug that sings to meeee….it sings to me.
I’ll driiiiiiink a lot of coffee and then I’ll have to pee… I’ll have to pee.
(giggling)
You can’t say that!
Why not? It’s true! Everyone knows it’s true!”
** I just realized there is a lot of excrement in the blog today… my apologies**
Anyway, the mug makes me happy, so I broke it out this morning for a little cheerfulness.
Other topics:
Hazelwood: I covered a press conference at the Hazelwood Center yesterday. It’s a medical and residential facility for the mentally handicapped. They were announcing that House leaders in KY had allocated money in their version of the budget to build new group homes and clinics there (important note for Ky voters: they announced this money pep-rally style, but it isn’t actually guaranteed… it would have to be approved by the Senate and the Governor… which is questionable). Anyway, the PR guy thought it would be a great idea to include some of the residents of Hazelwood in the audience of the press conference. (I can see why he would think that, but he’s not thinking through the eyes and ears of a reporter.) So, there were five or six Kentucky lawmakers, four or five hospital administrators, twenty to thirty other people and about fifteen residents of the hospital in the audience. Throughout the speakers, people were shrieking, yelling and growling. As a human being, I understand and am compassionate toward what is happening in their lives. As a radio reporter, I couldn’t believe that every possible 20 second quote was lined with inexplicable screaming. There was just no way to explain it in a 45-second news story. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
It’s actually a pretty important story and I’ll probably re-visit it when I’m on regular schedule and can work on features.
Love Is All Around – I started getting season one of The Mary Tyler Moore Show a couple weeks ago, when, in my voice training, my teacher told me I didn’t want to sound like Ted Baxter and I didn’t know what he was talking about. I’ve seen about ten episodes and I really like it! Single gal…working in a newsroom… the last one I watched yesterday was about how lonely she was when she had to work on Christmas Day. I thought ‘Tell me about it, sister!” But I have an awesome mom who went to work with me when I had to do that… and her mom is somewhere far away… wherever she moved from.
Love – you have to give it, to get it. Duh!
Things I learn from my friends:
(empty) Ya’ll need to step it up! Ha! Just kidding.
Standby…
After a little sabbatical, I’ve taken out my Hoops’n’Yoyo coffee mug this morning for a little pick-me-up. For those of you who haven’t had the pleasure of experiencing the Hoops’n’Yoyo mug… here’s the jist… it’s pink… it has a pic of Hoops… or Yoyo, I’m not really sure which is which… and it sings…
“Glug glug glug glug….
I’m driiiiiiinking my coffee out of my mug that sings to meeee….it sings to me.
I’ll driiiiiiink a lot of coffee and then I’ll have to pee… I’ll have to pee.
(giggling)
You can’t say that!
Why not? It’s true! Everyone knows it’s true!”
** I just realized there is a lot of excrement in the blog today… my apologies**
Anyway, the mug makes me happy, so I broke it out this morning for a little cheerfulness.
Other topics:
Hazelwood: I covered a press conference at the Hazelwood Center yesterday. It’s a medical and residential facility for the mentally handicapped. They were announcing that House leaders in KY had allocated money in their version of the budget to build new group homes and clinics there (important note for Ky voters: they announced this money pep-rally style, but it isn’t actually guaranteed… it would have to be approved by the Senate and the Governor… which is questionable). Anyway, the PR guy thought it would be a great idea to include some of the residents of Hazelwood in the audience of the press conference. (I can see why he would think that, but he’s not thinking through the eyes and ears of a reporter.) So, there were five or six Kentucky lawmakers, four or five hospital administrators, twenty to thirty other people and about fifteen residents of the hospital in the audience. Throughout the speakers, people were shrieking, yelling and growling. As a human being, I understand and am compassionate toward what is happening in their lives. As a radio reporter, I couldn’t believe that every possible 20 second quote was lined with inexplicable screaming. There was just no way to explain it in a 45-second news story. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
It’s actually a pretty important story and I’ll probably re-visit it when I’m on regular schedule and can work on features.
Love Is All Around – I started getting season one of The Mary Tyler Moore Show a couple weeks ago, when, in my voice training, my teacher told me I didn’t want to sound like Ted Baxter and I didn’t know what he was talking about. I’ve seen about ten episodes and I really like it! Single gal…working in a newsroom… the last one I watched yesterday was about how lonely she was when she had to work on Christmas Day. I thought ‘Tell me about it, sister!” But I have an awesome mom who went to work with me when I had to do that… and her mom is somewhere far away… wherever she moved from.
Love – you have to give it, to get it. Duh!
Things I learn from my friends:
(empty) Ya’ll need to step it up! Ha! Just kidding.
Standby…
Monday, March 3, 2008
LDFTP2008 was A-OK!
Leap Day Fish Taco Party 2008 can be summed up in one word: “yummy”. It makes this strawberry pop tart I’m eating seem really lame. (By the way, did you know they make strawberry pop tarts WITHOUT the frosting? WHY on earth would you want it WITHOUT the frosting?)
When I left Louisville about 2:15 on Friday (yeah, I had to work late and I was kind of ticked about it), I thought to myself, ‘why are you doing this?’ I was super-tired… I felt like I could’ve slept for 14 hours straight. And there I was, packing a bag and getting ready to drive an hour and a half to Paris.
But I’m so glad I went. The fish tacos were really yummy and it was actually really fun making them. (I got about an hour and a half nap when I got there.) I got to practice my Top Chef/Take Home Chef-inspired knife technique:
When I left Louisville about 2:15 on Friday (yeah, I had to work late and I was kind of ticked about it), I thought to myself, ‘why are you doing this?’ I was super-tired… I felt like I could’ve slept for 14 hours straight. And there I was, packing a bag and getting ready to drive an hour and a half to Paris.
But I’m so glad I went. The fish tacos were really yummy and it was actually really fun making them. (I got about an hour and a half nap when I got there.) I got to practice my Top Chef/Take Home Chef-inspired knife technique:
Yeah, I’m pretty awesome.
Oh, yeah. Mom and Dad did stuff too (HA!)…
Dad monitored the temp of the oil for frying the fish…
And Mom did, like, everything but that and the chopping up of cilantro…
And it all came together for a lovely and tasty finished product.
We also watched The Kingdom on DVD (good) and then went to see Vantage Point the next day at the movies (also good). I wouldn’t recommend seeing both of them within 24 hours of each other though… need a little buffer from all the terrorists. (Welcome to my blog, NSA! Some of my friends recommend you jump straight to the one titled “Universe to Steph: No Bubble Baths EVER!” It’s a knee-slapper!)
Other topics:
Little Women: I could not convince my li’l sis yesterday to read Little Women. She tells me all the time that she likes to read, so I thought it would be an easy sell… but yesterday she told me she doesn’t like to read ‘chapter books’ and mostly reads ‘Scooby Doo’ books. It makes me sad because I think it would be a great book for her to read at this point in her life. So we went bowling instead. I took this picture of her because she had awesome earrings that I wanted to show my friend Ann…
Things I learn from my friends:
from Ann: Sometimes it’s possible to over-hype something and then the event lives up to it! Can you believe it?
Standby…
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