Friday, March 03, 2017
Thursday, March 02, 2017
Thursday Thirteen
New things I've learned this week -
1. Temporal arteritis, also called giant cell arteritis (GCA), is a systemic inflammatory vasculitis of unknown etiology that occurs in older persons and can result in a wide variety of systemic, neurologic, and ophthalmologic complications. GCA is the most common form of systemic vasculitis in adults. (Mostly it means you have severe pain in your temple and eye. I don't have this but the doctor thought I might. I've had a bad headache in one eye for 10 days.)
2. Alexa on Kindle Fire HD cannot be turned off, apparently, and sometimes it just up and talks to you whether you think you have it on or not. I tried to remove the app but it keeps replacing itself. It's a little spooky.
3. February set records for weather all around the nation. Chicago broke a 146-year record for lack of snowfall. Our area had its hottest February on record. March came roaring in like a wild lion yesterday. Is this our new normal?
4. You can clean jewelry with toothpaste. I had no idea.
5. Persimmon tea is supposed to help with stomach issues. I am going to find some on the Internet and give it a go.
6. Lamps today are (a) ugly, (b) poorly made, and (c) expensive.
7. Bethesda, a video game group that makes The Elder Scrolls series (my favorite), allegedly is working on Elder Scrolls 6, but it's all hush-hush. I want to know more!
8. You can have shingles without a rash. (I don't have shingles, either, but that was also suspected for a little while.)
9. TMJ, or temporomandibular disorder, causes the following: popping or grating sound when you open or close your mouth; headache or pain in your jaw, ear, neck, or face; pain or swelling of the jaw muscles; tingling or numbness in the jaw or face; trouble opening or closing your mouth, or your jaw locks. (This is what they decided I do have.)
10. The concept of individuality ultimately breaks down society. I didn't learn this: I am observing this and watching it happen all around me.
11. There is a chaos theory in sociology which actually has to do with order and not disorder. Nature, including some instances of social behavior and social systems, is highly complex, and the only prediction you can make is that it is unpredictable. Chaos theory looks at this unpredictability of nature and tries to make sense of it. You can read more about it here. Breakdowns in the social structure lead to disorder and chaos, and appears to be cyclic. What cycle do you think we are entering?
12. I started reading about chaos theory because of a video game I am playing. It is a city simulation, and if you don't keep things equal and correct, the little people in the city become unhappy, sick, starve, and die. This means resources must be allocated accordingly; too much on one side and the other side starts going downhill. It also resonates with our current economic climate.
13. This story in The Guardian indicates that Shell knew in 1991 that climate change was a danger to humanity. Like other corporations, though, the company took no stance and made no changes. Because, you know, money.
*Do we do stuff that makes us feel good, or stuff that actually does good? That's my question for the week.*
____________
Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 489th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.
1. Temporal arteritis, also called giant cell arteritis (GCA), is a systemic inflammatory vasculitis of unknown etiology that occurs in older persons and can result in a wide variety of systemic, neurologic, and ophthalmologic complications. GCA is the most common form of systemic vasculitis in adults. (Mostly it means you have severe pain in your temple and eye. I don't have this but the doctor thought I might. I've had a bad headache in one eye for 10 days.)
2. Alexa on Kindle Fire HD cannot be turned off, apparently, and sometimes it just up and talks to you whether you think you have it on or not. I tried to remove the app but it keeps replacing itself. It's a little spooky.
3. February set records for weather all around the nation. Chicago broke a 146-year record for lack of snowfall. Our area had its hottest February on record. March came roaring in like a wild lion yesterday. Is this our new normal?
4. You can clean jewelry with toothpaste. I had no idea.
5. Persimmon tea is supposed to help with stomach issues. I am going to find some on the Internet and give it a go.
6. Lamps today are (a) ugly, (b) poorly made, and (c) expensive.
7. Bethesda, a video game group that makes The Elder Scrolls series (my favorite), allegedly is working on Elder Scrolls 6, but it's all hush-hush. I want to know more!
8. You can have shingles without a rash. (I don't have shingles, either, but that was also suspected for a little while.)
9. TMJ, or temporomandibular disorder, causes the following: popping or grating sound when you open or close your mouth; headache or pain in your jaw, ear, neck, or face; pain or swelling of the jaw muscles; tingling or numbness in the jaw or face; trouble opening or closing your mouth, or your jaw locks. (This is what they decided I do have.)
10. The concept of individuality ultimately breaks down society. I didn't learn this: I am observing this and watching it happen all around me.
11. There is a chaos theory in sociology which actually has to do with order and not disorder. Nature, including some instances of social behavior and social systems, is highly complex, and the only prediction you can make is that it is unpredictable. Chaos theory looks at this unpredictability of nature and tries to make sense of it. You can read more about it here. Breakdowns in the social structure lead to disorder and chaos, and appears to be cyclic. What cycle do you think we are entering?
12. I started reading about chaos theory because of a video game I am playing. It is a city simulation, and if you don't keep things equal and correct, the little people in the city become unhappy, sick, starve, and die. This means resources must be allocated accordingly; too much on one side and the other side starts going downhill. It also resonates with our current economic climate.
13. This story in The Guardian indicates that Shell knew in 1991 that climate change was a danger to humanity. Like other corporations, though, the company took no stance and made no changes. Because, you know, money.
*Do we do stuff that makes us feel good, or stuff that actually does good? That's my question for the week.*
____________
Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 489th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.
Wednesday, March 01, 2017
A Statement from the Authors' Guild
We Are Not the People’s Enemies
First President Trump complained that “the media” was biased against him. “Dishonest.” Presidents have made such complaints before, in moments of weakness and self-pity.
Then he labeled the media as “the opposition party.”
Now he has declared journalists to be “the enemy of the American People.”
We at the Authors Guild hear that as a declaration of war. We know our history. Enemy of the People is a phrase long favored by authoritarians and tyrants. The “correct Russian term,” Gary Shteyngart points out, is врагнарода, vrag naroda. Long before Lenin and Stalin used it, Robespierre inaugurated the Reign of Terror by declaring that the Revolutionary Government “owes nothing to the Enemies of the People but death.”
An earlier president, John F. Kennedy—when he was taking a beating in the press after the Bay of Pigs fiasco—was asked if he resented the media. He said this:
“It is never pleasant to be reading things that are not agreeable news, but I would say that it is an invaluable arm of the presidency, as a check, really, on what is going on in the administration … I would think that Mr. Khrushchev operating a totalitarian system, which has many advantages as far as being able to move in secret, and all the rest—there is a terrific disadvantage in not having the abrasive quality of the press applied to you daily …Even though we never like it, and even though we wish they didn’t write it, and even though we disapprove, there isn’t any doubt that we could not do the job at all in a free society without a very, very active press.”
President Kennedy was a member of the Authors Guild. So are many of the journalists now covering the Trump presidency, the historians who will soon reflect upon it, and the novelists who challenge us with their imaginative—and, yes, subversive—visions.
The administration is now said to be preparing the elimination of the National Endowments for the Arts and the Humanities under the false guise of budgetary necessity. We understand this, too, to be part of an attack on the free expression of diverse views.
The Authors Guild serves writers as a nonpartisan advocate. Our members represent a broad spectrum of social and political views. But blanket attacks on writers and journalists, as a class, are not a partisan issue; they are attacks on democracy itself. And, as advocates for authors and the first amendment rights of writers, we cannot let these attacks go unanswered.
We are not the people’s enemies. We are the eyes and ears of the people. And we are the people’s memory.
First President Trump complained that “the media” was biased against him. “Dishonest.” Presidents have made such complaints before, in moments of weakness and self-pity.
Then he labeled the media as “the opposition party.”
Now he has declared journalists to be “the enemy of the American People.”
We at the Authors Guild hear that as a declaration of war. We know our history. Enemy of the People is a phrase long favored by authoritarians and tyrants. The “correct Russian term,” Gary Shteyngart points out, is врагнарода, vrag naroda. Long before Lenin and Stalin used it, Robespierre inaugurated the Reign of Terror by declaring that the Revolutionary Government “owes nothing to the Enemies of the People but death.”
An earlier president, John F. Kennedy—when he was taking a beating in the press after the Bay of Pigs fiasco—was asked if he resented the media. He said this:
“It is never pleasant to be reading things that are not agreeable news, but I would say that it is an invaluable arm of the presidency, as a check, really, on what is going on in the administration … I would think that Mr. Khrushchev operating a totalitarian system, which has many advantages as far as being able to move in secret, and all the rest—there is a terrific disadvantage in not having the abrasive quality of the press applied to you daily …Even though we never like it, and even though we wish they didn’t write it, and even though we disapprove, there isn’t any doubt that we could not do the job at all in a free society without a very, very active press.”
President Kennedy was a member of the Authors Guild. So are many of the journalists now covering the Trump presidency, the historians who will soon reflect upon it, and the novelists who challenge us with their imaginative—and, yes, subversive—visions.
The administration is now said to be preparing the elimination of the National Endowments for the Arts and the Humanities under the false guise of budgetary necessity. We understand this, too, to be part of an attack on the free expression of diverse views.
The Authors Guild serves writers as a nonpartisan advocate. Our members represent a broad spectrum of social and political views. But blanket attacks on writers and journalists, as a class, are not a partisan issue; they are attacks on democracy itself. And, as advocates for authors and the first amendment rights of writers, we cannot let these attacks go unanswered.
We are not the people’s enemies. We are the eyes and ears of the people. And we are the people’s memory.
Tuesday, February 28, 2017
February Yellow
An overly warm February brought out daffodils and pansies. What will March bring? Will it come in like a lion, or a lamb?
"Then you should say what you mean," the March Hare went on.
"I do," Alice hastily replied; "at least - at least I mean what I say - that's the same thing, you know." - Lewis Carroll
Sunday, February 26, 2017
Sunday Stealing: Questions
Sunday Stealing: My-New-Favorite-Author Questions
1. Where do you go to decompress from the world?
A. Inside a book. Nothing like a good read to take you away from the world. Video games also work for that.
2. If given $10,000, what would you do with it?
A. My friend and her husband are taking a trip to Alaska in late summer and I would love to go with them. That would just about cover the costs for my husband and me.
3. What is one major renovation you would love to make on your house?
A. I would like to replace the carpet with hardwood flooring.
4. What is one movie that you love and didn’t expect to love?
A. The Blind Side.
6. What is the oldest knick-knack you own and what is its sentimental value?
A. I have two coin banks that belonged to my grandmother, which I gave to her and my grandfather when I was about nine years old. I purchased them at the Mr. Peanut shop in downtown Roanoke during a Christmas shopping trip with my mother. The Mr. Peanut shop no longer exists, but the banks still do.
7. Do you own any books you keep out of obligation, but actually hate?
A. I may have a few signed books on my "signed books" that I don't particularly care for, but I don't hate them.
8. How many countries have you visited outside of the one you live in now?
A. Just this one, and the imaginary ones inside my head. There are millions of those. [Edit: I misread this question. I have been to Spain and France.]
9. Have you ever read only part of a book, but claimed you’ve read the whole thing?
A. Yes. Except I always skip to the last chapter and read that.
10. Have you ever spent a lot of money on something? What was it?
A. I guess my last big purchase was for a guitar.
11. If you could change your name, what would it be?
A. Susan.
12. What is a nickname a former (or present) lover gave you?
A. My husband calls me many different names from "baby" to "pookie."
13. How do you style your hair? If you just would say "cut" what style is it?
A. It's layered with bangs and shoulder length. It is brown and "soft white."
14. How many colors are you wearing now?
A. White, gray, and three variations of pink.
15. What's one piece of fiction that changed your life?
A. Bambi, by Felix Salten.
16. Is there anything that has made you unhappy recently?
A. Yes.
17. Tell us about the job that you did before your current one or last one.
A. A very long time ago I spent some time in retail, working a cash register and stocking shelves. I was working for a friend and I learned a great deal about what makes people part with their cash and how foolishly people spend their money. She sold stuff I wouldn't have purchased ever.
18. What was the last song to get stuck in your head?
A. Ruins, by Melissa Etheridge.
19. What is your least favorite thing to do that you have to do everyday?
A. Cook.
20. Best time of your life?
A. Now I've had the time of my life, and I owe it all to you . . . Sunday Stealing.
21. What are you most looking forward to in the coming year?
A. I hope to get a writing project under way, if I can ever get my office cleaned up and some oomph in my oompha.
__________
I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.
1. Where do you go to decompress from the world?
A. Inside a book. Nothing like a good read to take you away from the world. Video games also work for that.
2. If given $10,000, what would you do with it?
A. My friend and her husband are taking a trip to Alaska in late summer and I would love to go with them. That would just about cover the costs for my husband and me.
3. What is one major renovation you would love to make on your house?
A. I would like to replace the carpet with hardwood flooring.
4. What is one movie that you love and didn’t expect to love?
A. The Blind Side.
6. What is the oldest knick-knack you own and what is its sentimental value?
A. I have two coin banks that belonged to my grandmother, which I gave to her and my grandfather when I was about nine years old. I purchased them at the Mr. Peanut shop in downtown Roanoke during a Christmas shopping trip with my mother. The Mr. Peanut shop no longer exists, but the banks still do.
7. Do you own any books you keep out of obligation, but actually hate?
A. I may have a few signed books on my "signed books" that I don't particularly care for, but I don't hate them.
8. How many countries have you visited outside of the one you live in now?
A. Just this one, and the imaginary ones inside my head. There are millions of those. [Edit: I misread this question. I have been to Spain and France.]
9. Have you ever read only part of a book, but claimed you’ve read the whole thing?
A. Yes. Except I always skip to the last chapter and read that.
 |
| My little Taylor GS Mini |
10. Have you ever spent a lot of money on something? What was it?
A. I guess my last big purchase was for a guitar.
11. If you could change your name, what would it be?
A. Susan.
12. What is a nickname a former (or present) lover gave you?
A. My husband calls me many different names from "baby" to "pookie."
 |
| Me |
A. It's layered with bangs and shoulder length. It is brown and "soft white."
14. How many colors are you wearing now?
A. White, gray, and three variations of pink.
15. What's one piece of fiction that changed your life?
A. Bambi, by Felix Salten.
16. Is there anything that has made you unhappy recently?
A. Yes.
17. Tell us about the job that you did before your current one or last one.
A. A very long time ago I spent some time in retail, working a cash register and stocking shelves. I was working for a friend and I learned a great deal about what makes people part with their cash and how foolishly people spend their money. She sold stuff I wouldn't have purchased ever.
18. What was the last song to get stuck in your head?
A. Ruins, by Melissa Etheridge.
19. What is your least favorite thing to do that you have to do everyday?
A. Cook.
20. Best time of your life?
A. Now I've had the time of my life, and I owe it all to you . . . Sunday Stealing.
21. What are you most looking forward to in the coming year?
A. I hope to get a writing project under way, if I can ever get my office cleaned up and some oomph in my oompha.
__________
I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.
Saturday, February 25, 2017
Saturday 9: I'll Be There
Saturday 9: I'll Be There (1992)
Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.
1) In this song, Mariah pledges to "have faith in all you do." Have you recently given someone support or a pep talk?
A. Last Sunday, I went to my father's baptism to support him.
2) Mariah was at the center of a controversy in Times Square on New Year's Eve when she had audio problems and claimed she could not perform. Times Square is at the busy intersection of Broadway and 7th Avenue. If we went to the busy intersection nearest your home, what would we find? (A store? A church? McDonald's?)
A. Exit 150 off Interstate 81 is currently under construction, so you would see a lot of orange cones and have a hard time finding your way around. You would also see a Hardee's, a Country Cookin', a Cracker Barrel, a few motels, and some other run-down old gas stations that need to be demolished.
3) Her nickname in high school was Mirage because she cut school so often. Did you ever play hookey?
A. Yes, I did. On more than one occasion, actually. Once several of my friends and I skipped out after lunch and went to the city and went to the movies. We saw The Rose, with Bette Midler.
4) Mariah doesn't apologize for spoiling her dogs, who have been known to travel by limo. Do you know anyone who treats his/her pets like people?
A. Yes. Not us - my husband says houses are for people, barns are for animals. Most of my friends have indoor pets, though. Because of my severe allergies and asthma, I don't visit them.
5) Mariah has something to fall back on. She studied cosmetology and worked as a hair sweeper in a salon. When you get your hair cut, do you socialize with the stylist?
A. I have been using the same stylist for 33 years. We don't talk politics, but we talk about everything else - her daughter and son-in-law, her husband, my husband, rental properties (we both are landlords), whether or not I can stand upright the day I see her.
6) When married to her first husband, Mariah went vegetarian. Tell us about last night's dinner. Would it qualify as a vegetarian meal?
A. Nope. I had a chicken salad sandwich.
7) This week's song was introduced by The Jackson 5. Think of your favorite Michael Jackson song. Did he record it solo or with his brothers?
A. I guess that would be Thriller, which he recorded solo. I like most of his songs, though. Thriller was unique for its time.
8) In 1992, when this song was popular, The Mall of America opened. Located in Minnesota, it's the biggest mall in the nation, with more than 400 stores. Think about the last thing you purchased. Were you shopping out of necessity, or for fun?
A. I was at the grocery store, so necessity. I had been informed there was nothing in the house to eat.
9) Have you ever shoplifted? (Don't worry. We won't tell.)
A. No comment.
_____________
I encourage you to visit other participants in Saturday 9 posts and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however.
Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.
1) In this song, Mariah pledges to "have faith in all you do." Have you recently given someone support or a pep talk?
A. Last Sunday, I went to my father's baptism to support him.
2) Mariah was at the center of a controversy in Times Square on New Year's Eve when she had audio problems and claimed she could not perform. Times Square is at the busy intersection of Broadway and 7th Avenue. If we went to the busy intersection nearest your home, what would we find? (A store? A church? McDonald's?)
A. Exit 150 off Interstate 81 is currently under construction, so you would see a lot of orange cones and have a hard time finding your way around. You would also see a Hardee's, a Country Cookin', a Cracker Barrel, a few motels, and some other run-down old gas stations that need to be demolished.
3) Her nickname in high school was Mirage because she cut school so often. Did you ever play hookey?
A. Yes, I did. On more than one occasion, actually. Once several of my friends and I skipped out after lunch and went to the city and went to the movies. We saw The Rose, with Bette Midler.
4) Mariah doesn't apologize for spoiling her dogs, who have been known to travel by limo. Do you know anyone who treats his/her pets like people?
A. Yes. Not us - my husband says houses are for people, barns are for animals. Most of my friends have indoor pets, though. Because of my severe allergies and asthma, I don't visit them.
5) Mariah has something to fall back on. She studied cosmetology and worked as a hair sweeper in a salon. When you get your hair cut, do you socialize with the stylist?
A. I have been using the same stylist for 33 years. We don't talk politics, but we talk about everything else - her daughter and son-in-law, her husband, my husband, rental properties (we both are landlords), whether or not I can stand upright the day I see her.
6) When married to her first husband, Mariah went vegetarian. Tell us about last night's dinner. Would it qualify as a vegetarian meal?
A. Nope. I had a chicken salad sandwich.
7) This week's song was introduced by The Jackson 5. Think of your favorite Michael Jackson song. Did he record it solo or with his brothers?
A. I guess that would be Thriller, which he recorded solo. I like most of his songs, though. Thriller was unique for its time.
8) In 1992, when this song was popular, The Mall of America opened. Located in Minnesota, it's the biggest mall in the nation, with more than 400 stores. Think about the last thing you purchased. Were you shopping out of necessity, or for fun?
A. I was at the grocery store, so necessity. I had been informed there was nothing in the house to eat.
9) Have you ever shoplifted? (Don't worry. We won't tell.)
A. No comment.
_____________
I encourage you to visit other participants in Saturday 9 posts and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however.
Friday, February 24, 2017
February Volunteer Violets
So here it is February 24, and we have daffodils blooming and weeping willows greening because the weather has been too warm for this time of year.
These violets are from last year, and came up all by themselves in my flower bed.
Thursday, February 23, 2017
Thursday Thirteen
1. My camera.
2. A Kindle paperwhite, a Kindle Fire, and a Kindle Fire HD.
3. A personal CD player.
4. A light therapy light.
5. Burt's Bees Natural Throat Drops.
6. An audio book on CD: Sex, Lies & Serious Money, by Stuart Woods.
7. An empty bowl.
8. A glass of water.
9. Nail clippers.
10. An unopened "surge protector" set.
11. A heating pad.
12. A ruler.
13. A calendar.
*Stuff on my desk this morning.*
____________
Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 488th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.
2. A Kindle paperwhite, a Kindle Fire, and a Kindle Fire HD.
3. A personal CD player.
4. A light therapy light.
5. Burt's Bees Natural Throat Drops.
6. An audio book on CD: Sex, Lies & Serious Money, by Stuart Woods.
7. An empty bowl.
8. A glass of water.
9. Nail clippers.
10. An unopened "surge protector" set.
11. A heating pad.
12. A ruler.
13. A calendar.
*Stuff on my desk this morning.*
____________
Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 488th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.
Wednesday, February 22, 2017
Cardboard Bob
Virginia's 6th District Congressman, Bob Goodlatte, choose not to show up at a town hall meeting today in Vinton.
The folks talked to his cardboard likeness instead.
I believe in education, environmental protections, and taking care of people.
I do not support Bob. Bob, by his actions, has proven to me that he does not believe in any of those things.
Tuesday, February 21, 2017
Burning Bridges Beyond Repair
I am not an enemy of the people. Nor are any of the local news media folks I know "enemies of the people" - and I know many of them.
They are all good people - beautiful people - who do their jobs with determination and grit, and who would never dream of making up a news story, or of using their position to go after someone just because.
People who are in the media are your neighbors. We send our children to your schools, we walk our dogs, we spend our money in your community.
No, the people who write the local news are not CNN or FOX or MSNBC. But the jobs they do are similar. Just not so, well, big league.
The recent tweet from #45 cut me to the core. I am not longer a working news reporter, but I took my job seriously. I lived and breathed it 24/7 for decades. I wrote enough words to have created numerous books, but instead I chose to write small articles, deciphering information so that you, my neighbor, would have some inkling as to what was happening in the immediate world around you.
I was a government reporter and at various times I have covered meetings in multiple counties. I've written for more than a dozen publications, including The Fincastle Herald, The Roanoke Times, The New Castle Record, The Roanoke Star, The Roanoker magazine, The Vinton Messenger, The Salem Times Register, and several that are no longer in existence. So take nothing I say here as an implication of my resident county alone, because I have covered meetings in eight different counties over the years, as well as numerous towns. Regardless of location, the routines are the same. The elected folks gather in a place in a meeting open to the public to do the public's business. The public seldom shows up.
I was there. I was your watchdog, ensuring that your representative was really representing you.
While you were at your 9-5 job and then settling down with your children and/or spouse, sometimes I was working on hour 14 of my job that day. Breaking news doesn't wait. Meetings that are supposed to run for two hours sometimes go on for seven. I didn't get to close up my notebook and go home simply because the clock said I was heading into overtime.
While you were fixing dinner, I was making sure local government officials followed the rules (they don't always) and obtaining the facts offered at a planning commission meeting, a board of zoning appeals meeting, or a supervisors meeting. Afterwards, I dissected them as honestly and truthfully as I could so that you, the reader, could see what your government was doing.
Because I was there, officials could not go into a closed session to discuss things behind closed doors. I would call them on it if they tried. I knew the Virginia Freedom of Information (FOIA) front to back and didn't hesitate to cite it if I had concerns. My presence alone was enough to keep them in line, usually. They knew I would write "the council then went into closed session, refusing to cite a legal reason under the Virginia FOIA" if they tried to do that. I did write that more than once, and on occasion that was enough to upset a few residents and create a stir. They didn't do it again.
That's what the media does. We keep you, the people, informed. We sit for hours at boring meetings, taking notes and listening to mutterings of elected officials so we can quote them correctly.
I spent long nights watching the electoral board count votes during elections. I watched school boards make decisions that affected your children. I drove home at midnight after long public hearings on battleground issues such as budget figures and tax hikes. I woke up at 3 a.m. to finish an article due by 7 a.m.
I sat with your representatives and talked to them about current issues. Then I wrote about it. I never wrote with an agenda, though I have been accused of that a time or two. I just wrote what happened at meetings or what an official said. I have been told that most people liked my work because they considered it to be fair and balanced. Republicans thought I was a Republican and Democrats thought I was a Democrat. I used to laugh at that, and for the longest time I never told anyone my political leanings. If you read this blog regularly, you know now I lean left - and being a journalist is one reason why. I have been in the homes of many of our poorer residents, seen how they live, and watched the "free market" system screw people over without a second thought. It's not a very fair, or even Christian, economic system.
Supervisors frequently found me problematic, because I quoted them. On more than one occasion, I had to produce a tape of the meeting to an editor (I used to tape them all), to prove I'd quoted someone correctly. Most frequently the complaint was "I might have said that, but that is not what I meant."
Mind reading is not part of a news reporter's job. If #45 or one of his representatives are speaking about something but mean something else, there is no way to know that they have misspoken. Unfortunately, in the visual medium, the news is immediate, taped, and hard to fact-check during live appearances. That makes the fact-checking look like the speaker is being picked on - but the media has a duty to go back and correct errors. If there was not a massacre in Sweden or Bowling Green, then the media has a responsibility to make note of that.
If a supervisor said he was going to do away with this or that, and I reported that, but he really meant something else - who's at fault? Usually I was on a deadline, with the story due two hours from the time the meeting ended, if I was lucky. I had little time to call someone who seldom answered my calls anyway.
But I did double-check frequently, and as a result I am pleased to report that during my career there were very few corrections on my stories. Occasionally I would mistype a number, and I am terrible at computing percentages, so sometimes, yes, I messed up. One of the most aggravating corrections I ever had to make came about because an editor thought he knew more than I did and rearranged my article to the extent that he completely changed the facts. I stopped writing for the publication after that story ran.
Once I wrote an article about local volunteer fire departments that did not go over well with the volunteers. Volunteer fire departments can be cliquish, and many members attacked me. Hard. They sent letters that the editor would not even let me read, they were so hateful. The story came out of a town hall meeting held by an elected official. Several members of a local volunteer department showed up to report that calls were not being run efficiently, that volunteering was down, that, frankly, the community was suffering and people were dying because the locality needed paid firefighters and emergency service workers. I checked with the county dispatch and did follow-up on rescue calls and sure enough, the locality constantly was having to ask for assistance from neighboring communities or from volunteer departments on the far end of the county. I did the legwork; the story was right. But a certain segment of the community demonized me for writing it. The irony of it all was that my husband used to be a volunteer firefighter, and is a paid firefighter. I knew what was going on probably better than most reporters, and I was sure of my facts. What I had miscalculated was the ego of the volunteers involved.
News reporters spend hours at dull meetings, often coming home after midnight to type out or record a story, just so you, the reader or listener, can know what is going on. So you will know that your next-door neighbor was killed in a car wreck, that your landlord's house burned down, that your government just decided to give millions of tax dollars to a private corporation for a few jobs that won't pay more than $40,000 a year.
That is not being your enemy. That is doing a job so you can stay informed. It is offering you information so you can act upon it, if you choose.
One of the things I learned over time was that no two people read a story the same way. People frequently do not read the bylines of articles. Many times I was stopped and someone said, "Did you know thus and so happened, I read it in this publication." I would smile and say, "Yes, I wrote the story. I believe you must have missed a paragraph during your review, because the article actually said . . ."
So even though I gave it my 100 percent, the readers (and viewers) didn't - and don't - give it their 100 percent. They skim, they read only headlines, they take away from a story only the things that confirm their world view. Reporters can't be responsible for how a reader comprehends a factual, well-written article or news report.
Unfortunately, issues between the press and politicians are long-standing. *In 1800, a newspaper wrote this of Thomas Jefferson: If he were elected, "murder, robbery, rape, adultery and incest will be openly taught and practiced . . . the soil will be soaked with blood, and the nation black with crimes."
Despite that villainous description, it was Jefferson who supported what has come to be known as The Fourth Estate. He said that if he had to choose between "a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government," he would take the newspapers without a government.* And don't forget, the press and the freedom thereof is explicitly mentioned in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
Knowledge is key to democracy. That means reading things you do not agree with, learning things you don't care to know, and understanding that the world is about more than just you and your opinions.
The present day hostility toward the news media is terrifying. The current Republican administration needs a common enemy, and it has chosen the press to vilify for the moment. (Incidentally, creating a common enemy is on the list of how to become a dictator at WikiHow. Controlling the media is also listed frequently in discussions about how to create a fascist state. (WikiHow is not a source I would use in an article, but this is a personal blog entry and therefore opinion. Different rules.))
*The current Republican administration has gone after the media, and been openly hostile towards it, almost from day one. #45 said he had a "running war" with the media; his pal Bannon called the press "the opposition party" and said it should "keep its mouth shut."* Some of his other representatives have been openly critical as well.
Once public trust in the media has been undercut - once it has become even more politicized than it already was - the damage will be very hard to undo. Maybe the public trust has already reached that point where it will be very hard if not impossible to repair, I don't know. I hope not. Society here has depended upon a free and vibrant press to move forward and to keep politicians on their toes for more than 200 years. If the Fourth Estate goes down, we will all suffer mightily because of it.
_________________________
*Quotes taken from Time magazine, February 13, 2017 edition, page 4.
Sunday, February 19, 2017
Sunday Stealing: Bungalow
Sunday Stealing: The Bungalow 26 Questions
1. Which living person do you admire the most, and why?
A. I admire anyone who treats people with honesty, respect, and integrity. I greatly admire my close friends, many writers and artists I personally know, and a few other people.
2. When were you the happiest?
A. When I was writing full time for the newspaper.
3. Besides property, automobile or furniture, what is the most expensive thing you have bought?
A. There isn't much left after that, is there? What else do you need? Maybe the hotel expenses for a vacation?
4. What is your most treasured possession?
A. My wedding ring.
5. Where would you like to live?
A. I am content where I am, for the moment.
6. Who would you get to play you in a film of your life?
A. Kathy Bates for the current me. I'm not familiar enough with younger actors to name one for when I wasn't graying.
7. What is your favorite book?
A. I don't have one.
8. What is your most unappealing habit?
A. Biting my fingernails.
9. Twitter or Facebook? (Or if both share the differences in your opinion.)
A. Facebook.
10. What would be your fancy dress costume of choice?
A. Something black.
11. What is your earliest memory?
A. When my brother was learning to crawl, he swallowed a bottle of baby aspirin. I saw him and called for my mother, who made him throw up before she took him to the doctor. He would have been less than 1, so I was 3.
12. What is your guiltiest pleasure?
A. Playing video games.
13. What do you owe your parents?
A. Nothing.
14. To whom would you most like to say sorry, and why?
A. Nobody.
15. What or who is the greatest love of your life?
A. My husband.
16. What does love feel like to you?
A. A soft warm sweater.
17. What was the best kiss of your life?
A. I guess the first one from my husband? He's been kissing me for 34 years, I must have liked it.
18. Which words or phrases do you overuse?
A. "Interesting." It is my catch-all for everything, and can mean anything from, "Yes, that is interesting," to "how stupid can you be."
19. What's the worst job you have done?
A. Cleaning chicken coops.
20. If you could edit your past, what would you change?
A. Some things are better left unsaid.
21. What is the closest you have came to death?
A. I had an ovarian cyst that was infected that had to be removed via surgery. I ran a high fever and had a high risk of sepsis.
22. What do you consider your greatest achievement?
A. Obtaining my college degrees.
23. When did you cry last?
A. This morning; I woke up crying from a nightmare.
24. How do you relax?
A. What is this "relax" of which you speak?
25. What single thing would improve the quality of your life?
A. Better health.
26. What is the most important lesson life has taught you?
A. Nobody is going to take care of you except for you.
__________
I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.
1. Which living person do you admire the most, and why?
A. I admire anyone who treats people with honesty, respect, and integrity. I greatly admire my close friends, many writers and artists I personally know, and a few other people.
2. When were you the happiest?
A. When I was writing full time for the newspaper.
3. Besides property, automobile or furniture, what is the most expensive thing you have bought?
A. There isn't much left after that, is there? What else do you need? Maybe the hotel expenses for a vacation?
4. What is your most treasured possession?
A. My wedding ring.
5. Where would you like to live?
A. I am content where I am, for the moment.
6. Who would you get to play you in a film of your life?
A. Kathy Bates for the current me. I'm not familiar enough with younger actors to name one for when I wasn't graying.
7. What is your favorite book?
A. I don't have one.
8. What is your most unappealing habit?
A. Biting my fingernails.
9. Twitter or Facebook? (Or if both share the differences in your opinion.)
A. Facebook.
10. What would be your fancy dress costume of choice?
A. Something black.
11. What is your earliest memory?
A. When my brother was learning to crawl, he swallowed a bottle of baby aspirin. I saw him and called for my mother, who made him throw up before she took him to the doctor. He would have been less than 1, so I was 3.
12. What is your guiltiest pleasure?
A. Playing video games.
13. What do you owe your parents?
A. Nothing.
14. To whom would you most like to say sorry, and why?
A. Nobody.
15. What or who is the greatest love of your life?
A. My husband.
16. What does love feel like to you?
A. A soft warm sweater.
17. What was the best kiss of your life?
A. I guess the first one from my husband? He's been kissing me for 34 years, I must have liked it.
18. Which words or phrases do you overuse?
A. "Interesting." It is my catch-all for everything, and can mean anything from, "Yes, that is interesting," to "how stupid can you be."
19. What's the worst job you have done?
A. Cleaning chicken coops.
20. If you could edit your past, what would you change?
A. Some things are better left unsaid.
21. What is the closest you have came to death?
A. I had an ovarian cyst that was infected that had to be removed via surgery. I ran a high fever and had a high risk of sepsis.
22. What do you consider your greatest achievement?
A. Obtaining my college degrees.
23. When did you cry last?
A. This morning; I woke up crying from a nightmare.
24. How do you relax?
A. What is this "relax" of which you speak?
25. What single thing would improve the quality of your life?
A. Better health.
26. What is the most important lesson life has taught you?
A. Nobody is going to take care of you except for you.
__________
I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.
Saturday, February 18, 2017
Saturday 9: Johnny Angel
Saturday 9: Johnny Angel (1962)
Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.
1) In this song, a girl sings that she'd rather spend a quiet evening at home than go out on a date. How about you? Do you enjoy quiet time? Or do you prefer keeping a busy calendar?
A. I prefer to stay in and read a book, although I don't mind eating dinner out so I don't have to cook. My calendar is looking very white and peaked these days, since I no longer actively pursue my writing career. No meetings or phone calls on the schedule anymore.
2) She dreams of how her life with Johnny would be. What did you most recently daydream about?
A. A new car. My Camry, which is fortunately still under warranty, developed an issue with the passenger seat which required multiple visits and hours at the car shop this week. I hate dealing with car issues.
3) Shelley never considered herself a singer and is more comfortable acting. A costar on The Donna Reed Show, she was pressured to make this record by the show's producer, who wanted extra exposure for the show by having this song on the radio. Tell us about a time you ventured outside your comfort zone.
A. “It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.” I can't think of anything recent. Going up in a hot air balloon was way outside of my comfort zone, but that was 30 years ago.
4) Elvis said she was his favorite leading lady, and she appeared with him in three films. What qualities do you appreciate in a coworker?
A. Discreet, quiet, responsible, and trustworthy.
5) She met her close friend and fellow teen star Annette Funicello when they were 12 and attended the same Catechism class. What do you recall from your middle-school years?
A. This all happened within about a 3-week period around Christmas in 1975: I fell and broke my wrist, my father ran over my brother with a tractor, and my grandfather died. I was in 7th grade.
6) After The Donna Reed Show, Shelly went on to a recurring role on One Day at a Time and was twice nominated for an Emmy for her work on Coach. Her husband is Mike Farrell, who played BJ on M*A*S*H. Which of those four sitcoms would you enjoy binge watching?
A. M*A*S*H.
7) In 1962, the year this song was popular, is also the year Jack Nicklaus began his successful pro golf career. Do you enjoy playing golf? Watching it on TV?
A. I do not putt into little holes, I do not kick into too-high goals, I do not play sports like many can, I'm not athletic, Sam-I-Am.
TWO Random Questions (especially for Harriet):
8) A 2013 study said most Americans will have 12 romantic relationships in their lifetime. Does this mean you've had more or less than your share?
A. I can't think of 12, so less. But the one I have has been long-lasting, and that matters more than numbers, doesn't it?
9) It's closing time at the mall and you find yourself accidentally locked in a toy store. You call the police and they say someone will be there in about half an hour to rescue you. While you wait, will you play with any toys? (If so, which ones?)
A. That might be kind of fun. I would play with the action figures, whatever they are now. (Captain America and Superman? Batman? Wonder Woman!) I haven't been inside a toy store in years.
_____________
I encourage you to visit other participants in Saturday 9 posts and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however.
Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.
1) In this song, a girl sings that she'd rather spend a quiet evening at home than go out on a date. How about you? Do you enjoy quiet time? Or do you prefer keeping a busy calendar?
A. I prefer to stay in and read a book, although I don't mind eating dinner out so I don't have to cook. My calendar is looking very white and peaked these days, since I no longer actively pursue my writing career. No meetings or phone calls on the schedule anymore.
2) She dreams of how her life with Johnny would be. What did you most recently daydream about?
A. A new car. My Camry, which is fortunately still under warranty, developed an issue with the passenger seat which required multiple visits and hours at the car shop this week. I hate dealing with car issues.
3) Shelley never considered herself a singer and is more comfortable acting. A costar on The Donna Reed Show, she was pressured to make this record by the show's producer, who wanted extra exposure for the show by having this song on the radio. Tell us about a time you ventured outside your comfort zone.
A. “It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.” I can't think of anything recent. Going up in a hot air balloon was way outside of my comfort zone, but that was 30 years ago.
4) Elvis said she was his favorite leading lady, and she appeared with him in three films. What qualities do you appreciate in a coworker?
A. Discreet, quiet, responsible, and trustworthy.
5) She met her close friend and fellow teen star Annette Funicello when they were 12 and attended the same Catechism class. What do you recall from your middle-school years?
A. This all happened within about a 3-week period around Christmas in 1975: I fell and broke my wrist, my father ran over my brother with a tractor, and my grandfather died. I was in 7th grade.
6) After The Donna Reed Show, Shelly went on to a recurring role on One Day at a Time and was twice nominated for an Emmy for her work on Coach. Her husband is Mike Farrell, who played BJ on M*A*S*H. Which of those four sitcoms would you enjoy binge watching?
A. M*A*S*H.
7) In 1962, the year this song was popular, is also the year Jack Nicklaus began his successful pro golf career. Do you enjoy playing golf? Watching it on TV?
A. I do not putt into little holes, I do not kick into too-high goals, I do not play sports like many can, I'm not athletic, Sam-I-Am.
TWO Random Questions (especially for Harriet):
8) A 2013 study said most Americans will have 12 romantic relationships in their lifetime. Does this mean you've had more or less than your share?
A. I can't think of 12, so less. But the one I have has been long-lasting, and that matters more than numbers, doesn't it?
9) It's closing time at the mall and you find yourself accidentally locked in a toy store. You call the police and they say someone will be there in about half an hour to rescue you. While you wait, will you play with any toys? (If so, which ones?)
A. That might be kind of fun. I would play with the action figures, whatever they are now. (Captain America and Superman? Batman? Wonder Woman!) I haven't been inside a toy store in years.
_____________
I encourage you to visit other participants in Saturday 9 posts and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however.
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