The Gay Agenda?

Since being laid off, I’ve found new enjoyment in daytime television. I’ve become addicted to Spin City and I’m even watching Dharma and Freaking Greg (even though I find the whole concept repulsive.) I’ve also become a fan of the Ellen DeGeneres talk show.

I don’t generally like talk shows, but she’s very down home, funny, dances like a white boy who grew up in the Church of Christ, doesn’t treat celebrities like royalty and treats her audience like celebrities. I don’t know there is something very sort of real about her that I like. Now I’m sure once I find a job I’ll forget all about her, but for now I’m enjoying it.

Most of you should know that Ellen became famous for her situation comedy a few years back where her character came out and became the first TV character to do so. You could say that she was a trailblazer for all the homosexual characters on television.

The thing is, she doesn’t do lesbian on her talk show. She doesn’t stand on a soap box promoting gay issues, or even mention her own sexuality on the show at all. It’s her telling stories, playing games with the stars and giving away free junk to her audience. No homosexual agenda at all.

The other day, my wife is talking to her aunt and mentions some joke Ellen made on her show and she got a look. The look. The look that says I can’t believe you watch such immoral garbage and you had better not talk about that moral decay in my presence.

I suspect there are a lot of people with exactly that kind of look for Ellen all over America.

I don’t understand this look. Again Ellen doesn’t discuss homosexuality on air. She doesn’t raise any issues at all really. The show is entertainment. She tells jokes and plays games. She’s not trying to tell people how to live. Yet she’ll get lambasted simply because she is a homosexual. The same people (and yes I know I’m over generalizing here) have no qualms about Oprah or Dr. Phil. Yet I will protest that they are pure evil. Oprah pretends to be the queen of spirituality and advice and has not right to. She’s not a Christian, she’s not an exceptionally moral person, yet she spends her day telling people how to live.

A few years back I caught an episode of Oprah and she had a man on who was a homosexual, but had given up on the practice of it because he had found God. Oprah chastised this man and said that God loved him for who he was and that He wanted him to be happy and not deny his homosexual urges.

So here’s Oprah openly supporting the gay agenda, but where are her looks?

---

In discussing this with my wife I started to ponder the state of sexual discourse in our churches. In my thirty odd years I’ve heard numerous sermons on the evils of homosexuality, lessons on the gay agenda, read pamphlets and sat through many a long discussion on this particular sing.

But what I’ve never seen is a homosexual in church. No, I take that back. For awhile I was taking a bisexual to church with me. But other than that I don’t see where the real problem is.

Don’t get me wrong, the practice of homosexuality is a sin. The bible doesn’t cut corners in telling us the immorality of gay sex. But I don’t really see where it is a problem in the church. Are there some rove congregations out there that have been taken over by a gay coup? Are members falling away for the gay lifestyle?

What I do see is a church that is falling pray to a heterosexual lifestyle. I have personally known at least six members of the church who have left their spouses for another person. Two of them have been deacons.

I don’t have all the statistics, but I think it is fair to say that the church is awash in pornography. Our culture is drowning in porno, and I can’t see that the church members have escaped this phenomenon.

Yet I hear very little about these problems. Where are the pamphlets on the heterosexual agenda, or the dangers of porn addiction? Why are preachers not preaching against these sings in a bigger, more real way?

This seems like such a double standard to me, and one that is doing great damage to the church. What say you?

TWS

At the beginning of the semester, those three letters were the most dreaded in the alphabet. They stand for Teacher Work Sample. All across America, aspiring teachers plan a unit for a class they are in a practicum or internship with. They do a pre-test on the children, plan the unit, and the post-test. Then they compare the two different tests to see what the kids learned. Then they write about 30 pages about what they did and why.

The length didn't intimidate me. It was the requirements. There were about 7 parts to the paper and in each part, I had to include certain things. Mess something up, and my score is lowered. Plus, in education, if you mess one thing up, it affected the rest. So if I had messed up one section, the rest of the paper would have been in jeopardy. And there's the whole proving I can actually teach something to children. Oh yeah, and if I fail the TWS I repeat the semester.

I turned this bad boy in about a month and a half ago. We submit assignments online. I knew that it would be a while before I got my score, so I didn't check it often. Sort of a watched pot never boils sort of thing.

I checked on Thanksgiving, knowing the woman who graded it would get a lot done over the break. The score was in. I clicked the link that showed the assessment, and read every rubric to each section. "Indicator met, indicator met, indicator met" was all I saw. I looked through about 4 times, expecting to see some sort of "needs improvement" or something. Surely I left something out.

Nope, I had gotten a 100. And the comments from the instructor were positive as well.

Charlie and I were both very excited when I found this out. Not only do I pass the semester, not only do I use this in my portfolio that potential employers look at, but I actually know what I'm doing. As excited as I was then, I went to class on Tuesday sort of convinced it wasn't a big deal. Maybe it was easier to get a good grade than I thought. During class, my teacher (who graded it) asked me to stay after for a minute.

After everyone left, she said "You got a 100 on your TWS."

"Yeah, I saw. I was really excited," I replied nonchalantly, and a little embarrassed.

"Diana, you are the only one who got a 100. Your work blew me away. I thought you would like to hear that."

As you can imagine, that made my day. Heck, that made my whole semester. There are some things that I know I do well, and then there are things I need to be told I do well. I feel a lot more confident going into next semester (and getting ready for next semester's TWS). I can't wait to start my student teaching!

Oh, and one of my best friends failed hers. They're reexamining her work and may have her redo parts. Of course, there's the chance she may have to repeat the whole semester.

The picture is a sample of student work I had to include in the TWS.

Hand Turkey

It has become tradition in our house to do hand turkeys on Thanksgiving. An odd thing I suppose since we don't have children of our own, but we're kind of childish at heart anyway. This one is mine. What it lacks in technical brilliance, it makes up for in colorfulness.

Now tell me this isn't art!

Some Things In There Aren't in There

My new sister-in-law is a Bible major at Lipscomb. Yes, I also wonder why, but I admire her for loving the Word and desiring to learn more about it.

She was at the house Sunday afternoon, talking about a paper she had to write concerning the canonization of Jude and the questions surrounding a passage found in Jude from the Book of Enoch (a book probably written by a Pharisee during the first century AD).

The verse is Jude 1:9 and goes like this:

But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!"

This verse is found nowhere else in scripture and refers to an occurrence outside the realm of what we know. How do we account for this? Are there other passages where ideas, religious or otherwise, are inserted in the Word?

The short answer is, "Yes."

Here are a few more passages I found here:

The works of theGreco-Roman philosophers Epimenedes and Aratus, quoted by Paul inActs 17:28.

Romans 1:20-29 // Wisdom 13:5,8;
14:24,27Romans 9:20-23 // Wisdom 12:12,202
Corinthians 5:1,4 // Wisdom 9:15
James 1:19 // Sirach 5:11
James 1:13 // Sirach 15:11-12

Here are some more I found here:

Books referenced by the Bible, but not included in the Bible, are...
Book of the Covenant (Ex. 24:7) Book of the Wars of the Lord (Num 21:14) Book of Jasher (Josh 10:13, 2 Sam 1:18) The Book of the Statutes (1 Sam. 10:25); Book of Samuel the Seer (1 Samuel 10:25, 1 Chr 29:29) Book of Nathan the Prophet (2 Chr 9:29) Book of the Acts of Solomon (1 Kings 11:41) The Book of Gad the Seer (1 Chr. 29:29); Book of Shemaiah the Prophet (2 Chr 12:15) The Book of Ahijah the Shilonite (2 Chr. 9:29) Visions of Iddo the Seer (2 Chr. 9:29); Acts of Abijah/Story of Prophet Iddo (2 Chr 13:22) The Story of the Prophet Iddo (2 Chr. 13:22); Book of Jehu (2 Chr 20:34) Acts of Uzziah, by Isaiah, the son of Amoz (2 Chr. 26:22); Sayings of the Seers (?) (2 Chr 33:19) Book of Enoch (Jude 1:14)

Also, a missing epistle of Paul to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 5:9); a missing epistle to the Colossians, written from Laodicea (Col. 4:16)

Very interesting. It builds my faith to see this since the inspired writers verify their contemporaries through mentioning them outright. What do you guys think about this?

Robert Altman 1925 - 2006

This very weekend I sat and watched A Prairie Home Companion. It was a lovely thing – funny and sad and whimsical. Very much the sort of thing you’d expect from a collaboration of Garrison Keillor and Robert Altman. It’s got the sort of down-home, Mid-West low key charm you expect from Keillor and the rolling, dialogue over dialogue doesn’t really have a plot appeal of Altman.

Watching the documentaries about the movie I learned that the studio hired a secondary director just in case Altman died while making it. Now I’ve learned he really has died, and I’m suddenly inexplicably sad.

I can’t begin to say I’ve seen all of the director’s 87 films, nor can I pretend to have liked all the ones I watched (I’ve never found MASH to be all that funny, Nashville is snoresville to me, and I can’t seem to ever make it through McCabe and Mrs. Miller) but there are so many film that I love and cherish that the world’s loss, is my loss too.

Who can forget that night in Mullins dorm watching the endless, rambling and oh so entertaining Player, or Short Cuts? He managed to update The Long Goodbye to the 70’s making it relevant all over again, and almost out Bogied Bogie with Elliot Gould of all people.

He made a musical out of Popeye, and damn what the critics say, he made it great.

More recently he turned created a wonderful Upstairs/Downstairs murder mystery and forgot to tell us whodunit.

His style was more laid back than grilled cheese. He seemed to just let the camera roll and the actors do what they please. Sometimes this didn’t work and we go something more of a mess than a film. But when it worked it was pure gold.

Rest in Peace Robert Altman, you deserve it.

Blast From the Past

You guessed it, that's Julie Mullins dressed up as a clown.

My father, you see, gave me a scanner/printer thing while I was in Oklahoma. The thing was it was actually a scanner/printer/fax thing and the fax part stopped working. The father needs the fax on a very regular basis. You could, in fact, say that the fax was the main reason for buying the scanner/printer/fax thing. Though this could be contested as he does do a lot of printing.


This is before someones wedding. I'm thinking Jamisons, in Jamisons apartment, but I wouldn't swear to it.

But faxes, yeah, he does a lot of that.

Him being none to patient, and not all that computer savvy, gave the fax a few shots, but gave up quick and bought a new one. Now having two printer/fax things and only needing one really, he gave the extra to me.


And that's Jamison's wedding I think. Yeah, it's in the old Dalraida building, I remember the fountain in the pulpit.

Me, not needing a fax thing, but salivating for a scan/print thing gladly accepted.

Hooking this device up today I decided I wanted to do some practicing with the scan thing.


And this is at the Renaissance Festival (breast fest) in Atlanta.

Flipping through the old real picture albums (I haven't used those tings in years) I cam across a few classics to share.

Hope you enjoy!

And Don't we all look young?

Yet Another Update

Sorry to keep telling y'all about this job, but I got some very promising news today.

Yesterday afternoon, I telephoned a good friend of my Dad who used to be to Mayor of Luverne (my hometown). He was appointed to the Alabama Department of Economic Community Affairs (ADECA) by the Governor and later promoted to the head of the Alabama Banking Assoc. In other words, the guy has some pull.

When I phoned him, he wasn't there, so I left a message. He called me this morning and said he needed me to email him all the info I could about the job so he could write me a letter of recommendation.

I emailed him immediately and he emailed me right back. Come to find out that he knows the Colonel in charge of hiring for the job PERSONALLY! He used to work with her when he was with ADECA!

So, he's giving her a call and plans to put in a very good word for me!

Y'all all please keep praying. It's working!

Bonjour la Classe

I never remember how much I keep people updated on my life and my lovely wife’s life, so here’s the rundown. Several weeks ago Depauw University, located in fabulous Greencastle, Indiana, contacted Indiana University about candidates for a French teacher position that they have open. My wonderful and fabulous in her own accord wife was the person they selected.

A few things happened during the application process that seemed like good omens. First before she had applied at all (which took the gathering of multiple things including her past teacher evaluations) the head of the language department at Depauw contacted Amy wondering where her application was. Being that most jobs don’t call you up asking why you haven’t applied we figured this was good news. Secondly when the position suddenly lost one class due to only a few people signing up (and thus lowering the potential pay) the head guy again contacted Amy and basically said that he would love to work with her but understood that these circumstances may keep her from being able to.

On Wednesday, Amy traveled to Greencastle for a full day of interviews, meetings with faculty and administration and teaching one of the French classes. This was the absolute first time Amy has applied and interviewed for anything within her field. Nervous is the word.

A quick word about the job. University hiring policies work pretty much the same everywhere. For those who have just graduated with their perspective degrees they are usually offered positions teaching lower level courses with a 1-2 year contract. Often they will travel about with similar contracts from university to university to build up experience. Eventually a university may offer them another 1-2 year contract when the first one expires and this may continue on for several years and if everything goes right then this person may be offered tenure, which is basically stay here forever.

The Depauw gig is a short time thing. Right now all we know is that it extends to the Spring semester. We are hoping it will travel into the next school year, but we don’t know about that.

I did, however, get word from Amy just now (she’s in Nashville for a conference) that she has been offered the job! Yeah!

We now have to decide if it is worth it to make the move up there, or just have Amy commute. Greencastle is about an hours drive from Bloomington. The problem is that the pay isn’t all that much, and we’re not quite sure if it will last past May of 2007. That’s a lot of expense for not that much. I think if we can get a guarantee that she’ll have the job in the next term, we’ll make the move.

We’ll see, and man am I ever glad she got the job.

Behold, the power of cheese

In case you haven't seen the national weather news lately, you may be interested to know that a tornado swept through Montgomery Alabama this week.

It was on Wednesday and there was a tornado drill (well, not a drill, the real thing) that late morning. I work on the top floor but usually refuse to go downstairs and sit in a hall with 60 or 70 teenagers...

I stayed in my office watching the wonder of nature outside my window. Just then, a very large wooden sign falls over and it pushed against my truck... i smirk and think "Eh, It is a truck". Then, the waterfall that forms right outside my window during a heavy rain begins to fall horizontally... i mean at an almost 180 degree angle....

The power then goes out and my UPS starts to kick in with beeps and screeches, keeping my servers up. Say no more; I unplug my laptop and walk downstairs...

After the storm, we learn that th FunZone (A LARGE building, made of concrete and metal, that housed a skating rink, bumpercars, video games and other 'fun' stuff) was hit by a tornado... When i saw the damage, it literally looked about as much of a building as the world trade trowers did after 9/11... like a bomb went off in it....

FYI, the FunZone has something during the days called "The learning zone" which is essentially a daycare... it had about 60 kids in there at the time. The employyes did a masterful job of getting the kids out before the tornado hit. One kid had to get stitches in his jaw and head, and was out of the hospital in less than 24 hours. Most of the kids got a kick out of the whole ordeal because they got to seek shelter in a dry cleaning store (pretty much a field trip). Then moms and dads showed up crying and in a panic, which (of course) made the kids panic and start crying... lighten up mom!

Likewise, saddleback ridge and taylor crossing apartments (my old stomping grounds) got hit big time. The tragedy in all this was that most renters dont have renters insurance... and all their processions are now gone.

Vaughn Parck c of C and Frazier UMC opened up as shelters this week...

See pics! All pics courtesy of Ryan F.

The not-so FUnZone... between the KFC and the car audio place. If you havent been in Fungomery in a while, this is right next to the BIG post office by AUM (Where all the good looking women send their mail). That post office has been closed ever since. All front windows blown out and cars upside down.

Saddleback Ridge apartments and some randomly mangled metal....

And Taylor Crossing apartments. Me and Ryan used to live here. Notice the top floor unit... there is a reason they tell you go go to the bottom level during a tornado... Only glass left on that SUV is the windshield.

Shake Your Money Maker

Just a little job update:

I may have mentioned this already, but last Thursday evening in my class at Faulkner, I mentioned my need for employment to one of my students. She happens to be in the Air National Guard at Dannelly ANG Base here in Montgomery, so I asked her about possible positions thhere. She said they are starting a new program called the National Youth ChalleNGe. It's a program for kids who have dropped out of school and want to get their GED in an environment of discipline, care, and organization.

She got in touch with the lady who takes the resumes while I ran across the hall to the computer lab to print my resume. I brought it back to her and she said she'd take the resume straight to the top; a Colonel in charge of hiring for the program.

I got an email from my student today. She told me that she had taken my resume to the Colonel and to an Information Systems group out on Base.

I asked her to take an updated Resume and Cover Letter to the Colonel, which she graciously did. She emailed me back a little while later and said she gave them to the Colonel and she was very interested!

Y'all please continue to pray for the right thing, but I'd really love to do this job!

Relativity...

The more I think, the more I find that there are very few "absolutes" in this world. I am finding that so many things in life are so relative to an individual, family, city, state, society, or country.

I was reading a book that I bought last night on dreams. This section is about shamans of all native cultures, particularly Native American cultures. A 'shaman' today would be classified as a schizophrenic lunatic who hallucinates. He would be put on a countless array of medication, be shunned by society, end up in a mental ward, and probably kill himself.

Yet, a shaman 100 or more years ago in his tribe is praised, held in high stature, looked to for guidance. Ironically, most shaman were forced into their positions against their will... how many Americans would fight, kicking and screaming to be looked up to... more relativity.

Likewise, these cultures many times used mushrooms and cannabis regularly to induce lucid dreams, and were used as commonly as we may use a toothpick... We would get hassled by the cops for merely dressing like a hippie at a concert here. Our society feels free to pick and choose what is bad and what is good.

Brew and his wife go to France and the CHURCH OF CHRIST folks there drink wine and beer regularly, as regular as we would drink Coke or Pepsi... Relativity even comes into play at certain OCCATIONS or times of year! I could share a cigar with pals at church if I had a baby... but smoke one on any other occasion (or no special occasion at all) and I get labeled as an addict.

Back to dreams, western society (mostly in the medical field) look at dreams as nothing more than a garbage dumb of the brain getting rid of images and thoughts collected during the day that are useless, but other cultures of every country look to them for insight, and learning.

So what is absolute? Are there any absolute truths? God and the Bible aside of course. (Though one could easily make the argument that many cultures and other religions have a god and have a 'bible' of sorts that they call truth and call our bunk.) Are we humans just a creature that can go around pointing at things not our own and call it 'good' or bad'? 'wrong' or 'right'? 'Insane' or 'sane'?

Am I colorblind? Or is everyone else colorblind...? Do those who see hallucinations 'seeing things' or are we all crazy because we CAN’T see them?

I dont want this to turn into a "If it is bad for you then it is a sin" debate because the retort will always come back as "dont eat junk food then"... in fact, if possible, keeping this away from 'sin' and 'religion' would really help this discussion (if one turns out) be alot more enjoyable... we all are saved Christians here, all of which are pretty staeadfast in our own seperate beleifs of what is right and wrong, so none of us are going to change despite all the commenting that may go on. Besides, this post isnt about religion, or God... see the title...

Yawn

Per a request on the previous post, I am writing something new. What I have to contribute is a bit mundane. I'm tired. I have made a command decision to wake up before my kids do so I don't feel like smothering them to get them back to sleep every morning. I've been fighting them for an hour at a time just to grab 10 extra minutes of sleep. So 6AM, here I come. Coffee is my friend. And I will make the effort to get to bed by 10PM- not likely, but it's worth a shot.

Noah (3 months old) still wakes up about 3 times a night to eat or just to fart. This kid has more gas than the Hindenburg. He especially likes to take early morning strains, grunting and fussing and flailing. I have been bringing him into my bed and trying to comfort him while sleeping and it's not working. Holding a pacifier in his mouth and pushing on his feet so he has leverage for long periods of time puts quite a strain on the back and neck. So I wake up grumpy, sore, and feeling like I've lost a battle. He eventually falls asleep again, but somehow Luke (2 1/2) knows I'm about to get some rest and he wakes up hungry. I feel like an ogre. This has to stop.

I don't feel too sorry for myself, though, because some friends of ours just adopted and brought home 10-day-old twins! Now that's tired!

One of Those Days

I went to the urologist yesterday with high hopes that I'd be in and out with an appointment to have my vasectomy. Of course, I had no such luck. My appointment was at 10:30 AM. So, I courteously arrive at 10:15 then had to wait till 11:30 to be called back. The doctor made it in at about 11:45 and rushed around frantically while he made funny jokes about testicles. He had me stand before him, drop my pants, and show him my stuff. He was impressed that both of my vas deferens (the tubes he'll be snipping for me) run along the front. He said it was unusual, but that it would make surgery easier.

After he examined "my balls" as he called them, he, just out of nowhere, said, "Bend over." I asked him why. "You're getting the check." That's right folks. Dr. Hot Dog Fingers checked my prostate! OW! I feel so violated. At least it was over quickly.

However, my day didn't end there. I came back to work after being gone for 2 hours and went to discuss my surgery schedule with my boss. She asked me to close the door to her office. I almost asked why, but thought better of it and just closed the door.

In a few words, she told me that our current contract was almost out of money, our other contract wasn't looking good, and we'd probably have layoffs. She wanted me to know so I could have my surgery before that happened, so my insurance would cover it. I told her I appreciated the info and that I'd try to do that. I also told her I'd be looking at other employment opportunities. She said she'd try to help me find something in company, but I think I'd rather find something else. I wouldn't turn down a job here, but I look at this as a way to move into something I enjoy more, I hope.

I returned to my cube, disheveled, but determined. I called the doctor. They had no open surgeries till December 15th. I'll probably be laid off before then. Rachel called and I filled her in on the job (I figured Dr. Hot Dog Fingers could wait). She immediately sprung into action looking for jobs for us both. Thank God for her.
My parents, who have some pretty good connections, are checking the job scene for me. Larissa's helping me look on base. I have a good network inside and outside of work. So, I should be able to find something soon. But, y'all please pray for us. I don't want to come upon Christmas without a job.

Ah, Life... as Brew once said...

In our lives we establish friendships with a host of different kinds of people. Some people have 1 or 2 friends. Some people have none (If you can believe it!). Some, like us, have a close-knit group that stays solid as the years and disagreements come and go. Some of us have 2 or 3 different groups of friends that sometimes never cross paths. Friendships are a treasure. I think some of us here sometimes take our friendships for granted since we have been together for so long, but understand that there are MANY people in this woulrd who would give their left eye to have ONE person in their lives like we have the 10 or 12 represented here.

Though, naturally, when one has friends for so long, you tend to take friends for granted. I suppose recent circumstances and events have shed light on the fact that perhaps I have become a victim of the friend-advantage-taking… with a one Ryan F.

Of all my friends, Ryan is the friend I have known the longest and been friends with the longest. I don’t really know what made us friends other than randomly being selected as roommates my freshman year. Mullins was to be in his place, but somehow it got switched at the last minute. Ryan is a bit of a sports nut, I am a casual sports fan and know very little of players and rules and history of the game. There are many other aspects of life that Ryan and I don’t share. Yet somehow, we have remained friends consistently through all these many years.

Having Ryan in town has been a blessing. I tell Ryan things that I usually don’t tell others. I can talk to Ryan about subjects that I may not be comfortable talking to others about. I can tell Ryan “Don’t tell anyone else” and I know anything I tell him is safe with him.

You’d think a guy that I hold this dear to me would be a guy I would hang out with on an almost daily basis. Let’s face it; none of us are 16 anymore and we aren’t in college. We have jobs, families, and some of us have kids… so the “hang out factor” with any friend in your 30s is low. Yet, we at least try to have lunch once a week. On those lunches we either let it all out that we have been dying to tell the other, or we eat in silence. Or we tell a funny story about something that happened that week. No matter the subject of the lunch, the fact that we try to get together once a week has been a testament to our friendship.

I’ll admit, I could be a better friend. We could get together more. We could talk more. We could have lunch more often. But, such is life.

Ryan is moving away, at the latest, January of 2007. He has been offered a job at a church in Jacksonville, Florida. It is for a position he has desired for many years at a church where the elders are loving and down-to-earth. He will get paid more and essentially work less. The best part of the job offer is that they came to him, rather than him going out to find a job.

Ryan has been in this town a long time. I envy him in the fact that he is going to be able to move up in the world AND be able to do it by moving out of this town which seems to pull people in and hold them here with a death grip. Tis a fine town, but for those of us looking for a way of escape, the task seems impossible.

Sure, I will have a place to stay if I go to Jacksonville. Sure, we can go to a Jacksonville Jaguar’s game. And sure, I probably will see him only a little bit less when he moves than I do already. But, going to Peytons Place restaurant to get a meat n 3 will not be the same without some funny anecdotal story being told by Ryan… I don’t know HOW odd and strange things always happen to him, but they do, and he knows how to retell a story.

clearing out

No one is posting so I think I’ll add a few of my thoughts as I’m in transition. Here is my biggest problem moving to Channel 10.

I’ve got 18.31GB, 14.2 days totaling 4344 songs on my iTunes at Scripps. I’ve recently purchased a 300GB external / portable drive with firewire connections. Thinking that I’ve got a newer computer at Scripps I assumed that I could simply pop in my drive and then drag and drop everything from my iTunes over. I can’t. My computer here doesn’t have a firewire port only USB, how antiquated.

Now, all the stuff that I want to take with me including tons of pictures and files has to be transferred via a 2BG jumpdrive on to a laptop. I sort equate this to moving the water from one bucket to another using a soup spoon.

After today I’ve got five days of nothing much to do so my main projects are to compile a list of emails I use regularly, save off my Web Favorites list, and dump several gigs worth of text and image files onto an open source. In the evening it’ll be easier to dump the media down to a permanent device.

Then again I think I’m going to be in the market to get another external drive because after our last computer crashed with tons of family pictures on it I don’t trust computers much.

Yeah, I know. If this is my biggest problem, big freaking deal.

What I've Learned

My class at good ole Faulkner has been nothing short of great. I love teaching and I'm happy to be paid for it but, the students are the greatest aspect of the class.

They aren't the best writers in the world. But, they have an ability to express themselves that intrigues and even impresses me. There's an importance to what they have to say. As a writer, I have never appreciated that as much as I do now. When you write, you're consumed with your own characters, craft, and creativity. No one else's art seems to matter as much as yours. After all, you're making up a whole world and following in the great steps of the literary fathers.

But, none of that matters as much as the heart and soul of the person who tells you about her losses or the end of his life as he knows it. So, in some ways, writing is a great equalizer. It reaches into the parts of us that we didn't look for before. Some will tell THE story and some won't. But, we'll all find something good and maybe even great.

I think what makes this writing different and wonderful to me is the fact that these people are not writers. They don't care to be writers. But, they yearn to be understood; to express in some way who they are. The result is a colorful mixture of words and phrases that delve into a world rarely witnessed by the uber-literate. The words say something true and unmuddled. They speak in kind, warm declarations. And somehow, in flattening themselves, these people make themselves rounder. I'm privileged and blessed to have seen the contents of humanity, clearly printed on the page. It's something I'll never forget.

Headline...

It’s with mixed emotions that today, Nov 1st I offer my two week notice with Scripps Productions.

My life has been blessed with a “colorful” collection of wild, wonderful and learning experiences within the Scripps family. I would like to extend a special thanks Johanna Hoover for her guidance and endless patience along the way, with like sentiment for the rest of the Productions management team. I would also like to thank the entire Scripps Productions team for all the laughs and lessons wrapping up almost six years in the trenches.

Notching several amazing freelance opportunities on my belt along with the wide variety of opportunities Scripps has provided for me eventually “word got out”. From this, I have been offered a “backpack journalist” position at WBIR.

My intention is to continue to work through the 15th of November at Scripps with my last two days of employment in PTO on the 16th and 17th.

So it goes fellas. My time at Scripps has been filled with the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. When I get to the top rated channel in Knoxville on the 20th I will be a journalist on a magazine program called “Style”. I will be researching, writing, shooting, editing and producing my own packages for this show.

I think it’s important to note that the NBC affiliate called me. That is a good sign no matter how you stack the deck. The Executive Producer said that every time the subject of finding someone new to help the show my name continued to come up. He said it was time to either see if I could seriously come on board or stop talking about me.