I'm still learning about this whole small-town, local newspaper thing.
But apparently, full moon = big news day. And not necessarily the good kind of news. Before 11, we've already had a fire and a motorcycle crash. I'm just kind of sitting here waiting for the plagues to hit.
And, generally speaking, I kind of feel like the office is in a slight state of chaos today. Its the last day for one of our reporters, and its a Friday, which I'm sure had fed into the mess.
People in Morgan County are mean to each other. Not necessarily violent mean, but mean-spirited mean. Its just an observation from my first 5 weeks (halfway point, YAY). You would not even believe the horrible things people say to each other on message boards. Here is my favorite one. We had to take this comment down from the website...we take all the ones with profanity, violent threats or lewd comments down--
"I wouldn't piss in your ear if your brain were on fire."
Now, I'm not going to give any names or even info about the situation its about... but its quite possibly the best, most creative stupid, hateful thing anyone has ever said.
I now use it daily.
Last night I slept in Lauren's room and we played "truth or dare" while we were falling asleep --(after we watched the best movie with the most horrible ending..."the Painted Veil"-- and I dared her to say it to Dad sometime today. And it has to be a time where he's not necessarily in a joking mood...maybe even when they are arguing about something. On second thought, she should wait until the Reds are on tonight, they always put him in the worst mood. A mood so bad, that even when I tell him I'm making a phone call, my friend Joanna still got to listen to my dad's rendition of Geaorge Carlin's "seven words you can never say on television" on her voicemail.
I'm not bitter, or anything. I'm also not bitter about the fact that 10 p.m., my weeknight bedtime, is apparently the time of night he must do all things that make a lot of noise. Honk the horn in the driveway...Run the mini-steam cleaner...Yell at the reds for blowing a two-run lead...those are just a few examples.
My dear friend Nichole is getting married tomorrow in souther michigan...I get to handle the wedding registry, which I'm actually kind of pumped about. Not the actual task itself (who wants to meet 200 strangers in an hour) but the fact that I don't have to be a bridesmaid. She kept it small. After tomorrow, she's going to be Mr. Edward Burl Sponseller. Not a great name, but he's a really great guy... I like him a lot.
My mommy's coming to take me out to lunch in a few minutes... exciting stuff.
Friday, June 29, 2007
Thursday, June 28, 2007
It's a day for Quotes
I'm in a mood to not have anything to say. I just want to surround myself with what other people have to say, stuff that moves me but lets me remain where I am at the same time. Here is some of what I've been reading...
"I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day." - E. B. White
"I love the rain the most when it stops." - Joe Purdy
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." - Aristotle
"So scared of getting older, I'm only good at being young." - John Mayer
"I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear." - Martin Luther King, Jr
"You can safely assume that you've created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do." - Anne Lamott
"God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing." - C. S. Lewis
"Goodbye is the best way that I know to forgive, and still be letting go." - Dave Barnes
"I can accept anything, except what seems to be the easiest for most people: the halfway, the almost, the in-between." Dominique, The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
"I think writer means you show people some beauty, you engage them in a story, you let them know that their life is much bigger and better than they thought it was, and to some degree you help people know that as a human being we really have a lot to identify with each other. And that's kind of it. I don't see my calling as being too much bigger than that." - Donald Miller
"There is only one success: to be able to spend your life in your own way, and not to give others absurd maddening claims upon it." - Christopher Darlington Morley
"If a million people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing." - Anatole France
"The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn." - Alvin Toffler
"I have found the paradox that if I love until it hurts, then there is no hurt, but only more love." - Mother Teresa
"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, “Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?” Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we're liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." - Marianne Williamson
"Amos could think about Jesus for hours, how he inverted the status quo and begged us to lay down our weapons, how (and his is a stunner, as far as Amos was concerned) one of the tests scholars apply to the Gospels, in trying to determine what might be legitimately ascribed to Jesus, is this: what speech, what gesture, is the most unlikely in first-century Palestine? Find those, and ecce homo, you've found the Man." -- The Solace of Leaving Early, Haven Kimmel
"Goody, I love you."- Derek Morgan
"I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day." - E. B. White
"I love the rain the most when it stops." - Joe Purdy
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." - Aristotle
"So scared of getting older, I'm only good at being young." - John Mayer
"I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear." - Martin Luther King, Jr
"You can safely assume that you've created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do." - Anne Lamott
"God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing." - C. S. Lewis
"Goodbye is the best way that I know to forgive, and still be letting go." - Dave Barnes
"I can accept anything, except what seems to be the easiest for most people: the halfway, the almost, the in-between." Dominique, The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
"I think writer means you show people some beauty, you engage them in a story, you let them know that their life is much bigger and better than they thought it was, and to some degree you help people know that as a human being we really have a lot to identify with each other. And that's kind of it. I don't see my calling as being too much bigger than that." - Donald Miller
"There is only one success: to be able to spend your life in your own way, and not to give others absurd maddening claims upon it." - Christopher Darlington Morley
"If a million people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing." - Anatole France
"The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn." - Alvin Toffler
"I have found the paradox that if I love until it hurts, then there is no hurt, but only more love." - Mother Teresa
"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, “Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?” Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we're liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." - Marianne Williamson
"Amos could think about Jesus for hours, how he inverted the status quo and begged us to lay down our weapons, how (and his is a stunner, as far as Amos was concerned) one of the tests scholars apply to the Gospels, in trying to determine what might be legitimately ascribed to Jesus, is this: what speech, what gesture, is the most unlikely in first-century Palestine? Find those, and ecce homo, you've found the Man." -- The Solace of Leaving Early, Haven Kimmel
"Goody, I love you."- Derek Morgan
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
My ever-so-quiet life
My summer life is a quiet one. I know that I'm working on a newspaper, a daily. And there's a lot of hustle and bustle associated with interviews, deadlines, many phone calls, readers and sources calling to yell (I mean, complain) at you.
But at 4:00 I leave the office. And I'm alone for a half hour. Sometimes I'm on the phone, but not often. I get to listen to "All Things Considered," and just... think. About people and current events. My thoughts do not have to carry over into anything. I'm not going to be graded on them, and I won't be forced into some classroom discussion. They belong to me and only me.
A little while ago I was home alone for 10 days. My little sister went on a mission trip and my parent's went on their 25th anniversary trip. That house is so quiet when I'm the only one there. Sometimes I kept the TV or the radio on so there'd be noise, and I wouldn't have to resort to talking to myself. But a lot of the time, it was just me. And the quiet. I spent a few nights with friends but they all have real lives. There was one Friday night when everyone had plans, and I thought about going to see "Knocked up" by myself, then changed my mind and rented "Running with Scissors," "Little Children" and "Because I Said So" (I promise I can justify why I rented this movie). I also picked up a bottle of Oliver's while I was out. I came home and opened the bottle, cleaned the kitchen and made dinner. Sat down with dinner and watched all 1.5 movies before falling asleep BEFORE 10 p.m. It was a very slow, quiet night.
And I kind of feel like that is defining my whole summer. Yes, I'm learning a lot and getting my byline in the paper 2-3 times a week. It is a significant time in my life, but a quiet one. No drama to speak of, even with my little sister in my life. I haven't been really angry about anything in so long. 10 p.m. is my bedtime. Last night, it was 9. I was exhausted from, I don't know what. Sitting at this desk all day putting out copy for the county fair articles? Making 59,000 unreturned phone calls? Maybe its just the knowledge that I'm putting in 40 hours a week. A full-time job is a beast to me. I'm learning how to do my best, and still have a life.
I at the midway point in this internship, and I do like it. I like the people in the office and the work I've done so far. But I am so, SO ready to go back to school. Its going to be a piece of cake, and I think I'll get my life back.
Have I ever told you how much I love Joe Purdy? I, of course, have to give my friend Tabitha all the credit for the discovery, but he's fantastic. He has like, seven albums that he's independently put out and you can buy them all on itunes. He's folky without being annoying, and his voice just makes me long for something when I hear it. I'm not sure what, but something...
But at 4:00 I leave the office. And I'm alone for a half hour. Sometimes I'm on the phone, but not often. I get to listen to "All Things Considered," and just... think. About people and current events. My thoughts do not have to carry over into anything. I'm not going to be graded on them, and I won't be forced into some classroom discussion. They belong to me and only me.
A little while ago I was home alone for 10 days. My little sister went on a mission trip and my parent's went on their 25th anniversary trip. That house is so quiet when I'm the only one there. Sometimes I kept the TV or the radio on so there'd be noise, and I wouldn't have to resort to talking to myself. But a lot of the time, it was just me. And the quiet. I spent a few nights with friends but they all have real lives. There was one Friday night when everyone had plans, and I thought about going to see "Knocked up" by myself, then changed my mind and rented "Running with Scissors," "Little Children" and "Because I Said So" (I promise I can justify why I rented this movie). I also picked up a bottle of Oliver's while I was out. I came home and opened the bottle, cleaned the kitchen and made dinner. Sat down with dinner and watched all 1.5 movies before falling asleep BEFORE 10 p.m. It was a very slow, quiet night.
And I kind of feel like that is defining my whole summer. Yes, I'm learning a lot and getting my byline in the paper 2-3 times a week. It is a significant time in my life, but a quiet one. No drama to speak of, even with my little sister in my life. I haven't been really angry about anything in so long. 10 p.m. is my bedtime. Last night, it was 9. I was exhausted from, I don't know what. Sitting at this desk all day putting out copy for the county fair articles? Making 59,000 unreturned phone calls? Maybe its just the knowledge that I'm putting in 40 hours a week. A full-time job is a beast to me. I'm learning how to do my best, and still have a life.
I at the midway point in this internship, and I do like it. I like the people in the office and the work I've done so far. But I am so, SO ready to go back to school. Its going to be a piece of cake, and I think I'll get my life back.
Have I ever told you how much I love Joe Purdy? I, of course, have to give my friend Tabitha all the credit for the discovery, but he's fantastic. He has like, seven albums that he's independently put out and you can buy them all on itunes. He's folky without being annoying, and his voice just makes me long for something when I hear it. I'm not sure what, but something...
Monday, June 04, 2007
My first week in a newsroom
There has been so much happening, but not very much time to sit and process it all. I'm at work right now, with a few minutes before I've got to go into my editor's office for a staff meeting. This reporter thing is serious business. I only worked four days last week because of the holiday weekend, but I've written like 6-7 stories. A lot of them are briefs, but its seriously probably more than what I wrote all of last semester. I have had two top-of-the-fold, front page stories written... and Brian (my editor) made me write a column introducing myself to the Morgan County community. I hate columns, but this one went okay for me. I think it turned out pretty well, I've gotten a few compliments. Brian told me to connect myself to the county in some way. And I really have only one story that can do that for me... and the main character is Sarah the cow. It was fun to write.
You can check out all the Martinsville, Ind. happenings at www.reporter-times.com. If you're bored you can read about my bovine counterpart in the columns section.
I really didn't think that I was a very tense person before last week. But I've realized that I tense up when I'm writing. Even more so when I'm writing on deadline. My shoulders are aching right now. And my neck keeps cracking. I miss my dorm bed... the beautifully dirty but oh-so-soft mattress on a metal spring frame. I'll never sleep as well as I did those nights in Roush Hall. I've resorted a few nights to taking a half dose of Nyquil to help me sleep. I might as well just booze up before I hit the sack. Its the same effect. Five-six hours a night is just not going to cut it this summer.... I need my eight. Which means giving myself a 10:30 curfew on weeknights.
I'm not trying to complain. Actually, things are going amazingly well for me. Aside from the fact that I haven't seen my friends in over a week. I just have to figure out how my schedule is going to work out, and when Amy's done with classes, we'll have more time to hang out. I've spent a lot of mom time lately, though, and I'm loving it. She's a really great pal. We're bonding over weight watchers, my new summer project. My mom's really good at the whole points things...finding out how to eat the most for the least points possible. I told her that and she asked me if its because she's cheap, something my little sister usually calls her when she doesn't want to spend $50 on a worn-out tee shirt from Hollister bares too much midriff. But I told her she's just economically-savvy. I'm so the better daughter.
So that's the update.... its meeting time.
You can check out all the Martinsville, Ind. happenings at www.reporter-times.com. If you're bored you can read about my bovine counterpart in the columns section.
I really didn't think that I was a very tense person before last week. But I've realized that I tense up when I'm writing. Even more so when I'm writing on deadline. My shoulders are aching right now. And my neck keeps cracking. I miss my dorm bed... the beautifully dirty but oh-so-soft mattress on a metal spring frame. I'll never sleep as well as I did those nights in Roush Hall. I've resorted a few nights to taking a half dose of Nyquil to help me sleep. I might as well just booze up before I hit the sack. Its the same effect. Five-six hours a night is just not going to cut it this summer.... I need my eight. Which means giving myself a 10:30 curfew on weeknights.
I'm not trying to complain. Actually, things are going amazingly well for me. Aside from the fact that I haven't seen my friends in over a week. I just have to figure out how my schedule is going to work out, and when Amy's done with classes, we'll have more time to hang out. I've spent a lot of mom time lately, though, and I'm loving it. She's a really great pal. We're bonding over weight watchers, my new summer project. My mom's really good at the whole points things...finding out how to eat the most for the least points possible. I told her that and she asked me if its because she's cheap, something my little sister usually calls her when she doesn't want to spend $50 on a worn-out tee shirt from Hollister bares too much midriff. But I told her she's just economically-savvy. I'm so the better daughter.
So that's the update.... its meeting time.
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