News Break
Posted: September 18, 2008 Filed under: A Zany Life, Writers Write | Tags: Current Events, Grey's Anatomy, news coverage, politics Leave a comment »The title implies a break from the news as opposed to a break for the news. Let me explain. Since childhood, I’ve been a news-junky. I was a first grader when President Kennedy was assassinated. I remember watching the horse-drawn caisson and the riderless horse, Black Jack, in the funeral procession down Pennsylvania Avenue. I was watching television when Jack Ruby shot Lee Harvey Oswald. I was twelve when Nixon bombed Cambodia. I remember hearing about the covert operation after the fact on the news at the time.
What does this mean? I inherited the news-junky gene from my C-Span obsessed father. I know more than most care to know about current events. I’m over-the-top with election coverage; who is lying; and who is offering balanced, but false reporting.
After a week that included the Presidential campaign, Hurricane Ike, the California commuter train crash, and the bottom falling out of America’s financial giants, I’m finding it necessary to get out of the loop. I must have been obsessing last night. We were trying to go to sleep when Bacon said, “You should take a week off from the news.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re too keyed up. Remember, how nice it was to go to Holy Ghost and hear nothing about the outside world for a week?”
I thought about it. “You mean like when we bought the Santa Fe newspaper, and there was no news in it–only announcements for gallery openings and green gardening articles?”
“Yep. You calmed down. You could talk about something else.”
“Maybe you’re right. I need a rest.”
As I nodded off to sleep, I heard him say, “But I’m still watching it on TV every night.”
“Yeah, right.”
So, starting today, I’m turning my back on Katie Couric and Brian Williams. Charlie Gibson will just have to get along without me, and I promise not pull up CNN or the NYT websites for at least a week. I’m thinking it will be like when Izzie slept with George on Grey’s Anatomy, and I boycotted it for a year. In the words of Dr. Addison Montgomery (formerly Montgomery-Shepherd), “Nothing’s Changed.”
Crisp @ Random–Sunday Edition
Posted: September 14, 2008 Filed under: Writers Write | Tags: hurricanes, writing 1 Comment »
The comic was created by Debbie Ridpath Ohi and can be found on the web at Inkygirl: Daily Diversions For Writers. Another great site is Will Write For Chocolate, also created by Ms. Ohi. When I first read the strip, I thought she might be hiding out on my block and using me for inspiration. I love writing all day.
Hurricane Ike bypassed San Antonio. On Tuesday of last week, the weather guys here were predicting 100 mph winds. Saturday, we were at 99° without a drop of rain. Once again on the dry side of the storm, San Antonio is thankful to be missed. Say a prayer for the Texans to our east. They weren’t so lucky.
The List
Posted: September 11, 2008 Filed under: Goals, Writers Write | Tags: organizational skills, To Do Lists, writing Leave a comment »I have a To Do list. It’s the same stuff everyday–items like make the bed, unload the dishwasher, walk . . . I’d publish it here, but it’s so obvious, I’m embarrassed to admit the need to write it down. The truth is the list helps me get from moment-to-moment. You see, about a million times a day, I get stuck. I stare into oblivion for as long as it takes to gather my wits and say, “Oh yeah. Check the list, stupid.” Then I do the next thing.
I have this rule. I must work on the next thing for at least 15 minutes. The kitchen timer gets a big workout at my house. If I’m writing that means, I can’t check CNN, or read blog stats, or Google someone I haven’t thought about in twenty years. It means I have to open the .doc file and put one word after another. The list is like a reset button, a place to start when I’m lost in space.
When I had a job, a real job in the outside-of-my-house world, my lists were massive tomes. I can remember entire yellow legal pads of To Do items. Sometimes, the stuff was color-coded with deadlines and contact numbers. Here’s the crazy thing. Finishing the list was easier then. My little, menial list is harder to check off than the mass of scribbles I used to control.
Have I changed or is the work I do now more difficult?
