A quiet place to think out loud Who put the filling in the pie in the sky?
Sunday, December 30, 2001
YOU HAVE EXCEEDED YOUR STORAGE CAPACITY..
(also known as Revenge of the Nerds Part Infitinty)...
It's as though they're trying to get us back for EVERY time we laughed at them. Computer people (I would NEVER call them geeks) run everything now. The ones where I work control even how long we're allowed to be online before we have to clear the files off our computer. When we have surfed beyond our allotment, we get an error message like the one I typed above. You'd think I would remember it since I see it several times a day. Tonight, I exceeded my storage capacity simply by booting up the browser to write this blog. Mind you, I didn't do it by actually going to a website.. or typing ANYTHING.. merely logging on. There's a metaphor about life and modern day society in there - but I'm too tired right now to figure it out. Interesting though, that the forces that lead us down the information superhighway deem doing ANYTHING as too much. Hmm.. once again I suspect I may have picked the wrong career.
It's a cliche - but it's true. This year, someone explained to me one reason why time seems to move ever-faster: He says that since every year you get older, a day/week/month/year becomes a smaller portion of your life, it seems to last a shorter period of time. Makes sense to me. This year went by so fast I've forgotten half the stuff I don't remember. (Huh?)
This time last year - I had just finished a class on building websites. It was something I felt I should learn. As you might notice from this site - I haven't actually taken to doing anything with it yet. But I have a purpose now (the same one as last year - but with renewed urgency). I've made it a goal over the next few weeks to overhaul my personal website to become an online resume (including video and sound!). That's where the whole "time flies" thought comes from. Seems like just yesterday I put the books down with the mental note to do all this. If it weren't for the layer of dust - I'd almost believe it was yesterday. Anyway, I spent yesterday (the literal one - not the figurative one ) pulling out the books I bought last year and reading them again. Have to get to it before another year slips away...
That's my single profound thought for the week. Must be the holidays.. cause you'd think after a week I'd have more to say... oh yeah - Happy New Year!
There's no place in the world quite like Manhattan at Christmas. Decorations everywhere - people shopping and eating out - coming from all over the world to see The Tree. The thing about it is - if you do it every year - some parts of it are habit. The Tree is always in the same place.. standing over the ice rink at Rockefeller Center. When you know it's there, you round the corner looking right at it.. like it's part of the skyline. It is - for a time.
This year, of course, the skyline in New York is different. Just like the spot where the tree is.. there's the spot where the Twin Towers are supposed to be. I wondered what I would notice most about my first trip to The City post 9-11.. and that was it. Every time I turned to that spot where they were supposed to be - they just weren't there. EVERY time.
I got within two blocks of Ground Zero - and people have been asking me what I saw. I saw lots of different things - but mostly the spot where they used to be. The spot where my uncle used to work - a thousand or so feet up in the sky. There's a crane hanging there now with four flags on it - the US, Canada and two others I couldn't make out. Buildings still closed - but close to reopening now.. on streets that still look like a war zone (or what I would imagine one to look like since I've never been to one).
I've heard people say they feel empty since 9-11.. (by the way everyone in New York refers to it by number only - nine-eleven..) and now I know why. This year the tree is where it's supposed to be - the people (save for about 3,000 of them) are where they're supposed to be - but there's a big empty whole in the skyline. I suspect most people over 10 who are either from New York or who are used to being there - will always see that empty spot - and it, too, will become a part of the skyline.
No matter how beautiful Manhattan is at Christmas - and if you haven't spent time in Central Park when Tavern on the Green is decorated - or checked out the other trees at Lincoln Center or along the wonderful residential streets of the Upper East Side - you're missing something - still - you can always turn around and see what isn't there. A little less joy to the world this year..
Homer Simpson and I have (disturbingly) a lot in common. The glazed over eyes and drool he displays for donuts.. I offer forth for sleep. Not "I have to get up for work tomorrow so I'd better go to bed" sleep. The REAL kind. Where alarm clocks don't exist. I can stay up and read until 3 because I don't have to get up until.. well.. 3. That's the best part about vacation. I'm actually worried about meeting a friend for lunch tomorrow - because I might not be up in time. Mmmmmmmmmm.... sleep.
Today being December 20th and all.. I have made it my mission to wrap and ship Christmas presents... so that they are Christmas THIS YEAR presents. (See PROCRASTINATING below) That should occupy me for the afternoon. Tomorrow - I'm going to satisfy a need I'm not sure I like having - and venture to Ground Zero to see firsthand what I've been watching on TV since September 11th.
I think it's time to borrow another page from the famous Homer (Simpson of course) and find something to eat. Mmmmm... food.
A lot of people think being a reporter means doing something different everyday. Turns out, that's only partially true. One of the most challenging and frustrating things (funny how those two seem to always go together) about my job is figuring out how to do a story I've already done - again. Today it was how to do a story I've already done several times.. again.. and make it FRESH (see "producer fantasia" blog soon to be developed). Since the story centered around debit and gift card traps - we decided to go with a "card trick" theme.
The idea is only part of the problem. Translating it into an idea that tells a story, gives the viewer useful information and just happens to be entertaining in two minutes of less (exhale).. takes longer. So, right now I'm sitting here with a deck of cards, figuring out how to use them to illustrate about how the face value of gift cards isn't always what the card is worth. Next, I have to explain it to my photographer so that he can properly light the area and move the camera along with me as I flip the cards. If we do it right, it will look completely spontaneous.. like we just sat down at a table and pulled out a deck of cards. Eight hours of work for two minutes of product. And people wonder why we're so high strung... :) :) :)
I know this won't exactly be a newsflash - but the malls are damn crowded. So are the parking lots, roads, and the occasional lawn near them. A friend and I spent the afternoon shopping for clothes (hence the Valley-girl title above). I'm not really a shopper so much as a buyer. If I can't buy things I don't like to look at them. Watching friends buy things is almost as cool. Anyway, he bought a lot more than I did. We managed to stay away from the mall, and still have a milkshake. Sometimes, the simple things make you happy.
On another topic - I never pretend than the anchoring part of my job is difficult. Saturdays and Sundays are the "fun" days for me. I enjoy anchoring, it isn't hard work, and I'm starting to think after all these years that I'm getting the hang of it. But, I just watched the tapes of tonight's newscasts. Maybe it was an off night, or maybe I need to consider that it's a little harder than I thought and pay more attention. We'll revisit this topic later..
Just got an e-mail from a buddy in New York.. who I'm tryiing to have lunch with later this week. I think we both realized at the same time that we haven't really seen or talked to each other (except of course on Sept. 11) since our last Christmas lunch. Don't know what to do about that.. friends keep moving and spreading out.
I don't know why this happens. Apparently the procrastinating (see below) got to me. So today, I did almost everything I was supposed to do. Maybe it's because vacation is coming up soon.
I'm really looking forward to the next few weeks. Between next Wednesday and the Wednesday three weeks later, I'll spend two weeks on vacation! Outstanding. Fun with family and friends.. NO WORK! It's nice just to read that on the screen here.
Maybe if I took more vacations, I would get more work done! I like the way that sounds...
I should be grading papers. Instead, I am writing this. Before writing this, I did laundry, wrapped Christmas presents, started reading a new book, and watched some television. If it were light outside, I'd probably wax my car. Anything except finish my "homework". I'm having grad school flashbacks... :)
I like to brag about my friends. But, then again, they make that very easy. My first website reader is one of my best friends - one who I used to spend a lot of late nights with - trying to sort out the meaning of life. Turns out, it has something to do with lite beer. He e-mailed me to remind me that there are other ways to talk when you live far away. Apparently, there's this thing now called the telephone. Who knew? He was referring to himself - but I saw my reflection in the computer monitor. Point taken.
It feels like Christmas outside. It's cold and cloudy. (Southern cold - about 45 degrees). At least I'm not worried that my Christmas tree will sprout roots and grow in the 70 degree sunshine we had up until last week. I'll be fine with the cold until January 2nd.. when, in my mind, it should be Spring. But at least the weather outside is somewhat frightful.. and it's starting to FEEL like Christmas. Which is great - because I love Christmas. If you're still trying to figure out the point I'm trying to make with this... I'll let you know as soon as I figure it out. :)
One of the big experiments of this site will be to see how well I translate sarcasm into the written word. I've been told by people who have known me for years - that I couldn't NOT be saracastic if I tried. Although I COULD put a sarcastic reply here - I'm not. SEE! (Oops.) So, I guess this is a disclaimer: if you're going to read this.. plant your tongue firmly in your cheek. Otherwise, you'll think I'm always grouchy.. (your chance to try sarcasm here). :)
Wednesday is the end of my week. That probably would seem so unusual for the rest of the world. In my world, it's perfectly normal. Our usual group went out for a few drinks tonight. It's kind of like an assurance that all is right with the world. Whatever happens that week, we have a few drinks and talk about it (or I should say - make fun of it). We even wrote a poem about it - wonder what ever happened to that...
A very good week this week. I got everything done I needed to get done. I was actually in control of most of the things that happened to me this week at work. I'm re focusing on that. Seems like I've given up control of a lot of things that are important to me lately. I'm working on taking them back.
Personally - a mixed bag. I met some cool new people. Talked to some very good friends who are very (too) far away. But, I feel like a very good friend is slipping away. I don't know what to do about it. Any ideas? I've come to realize that I sometimes hold friendships up as being more important than how other people see them. I don't even know if that's gramatically correct.. it's just how I feel. Maybe I need to learn that somethings just ARE.. and I can't make everything better. Still, that sense of loss is very much a part of me right now.
I decided to buy Christmas presents for a family of kids who were burned out of their home this week. Two boys 6 and 9.. two girls 10 and 13. Maybe some people at work will chip in. No idea what to get them. But kids need Christmas. That much I know.
Get to see my family next week. And my "extended family" in California a couple weeks later. Can't wait. This year, more than ever, being with all of those people seems like the most important thing there is.
