7" of Separation

Skirmish.

What a great word.

I’ll have a real post, with like personal stories and revelations and whatnot, soon. But, sometimes I find something that I just have to share.

Kitlers. That’s right. Cats that look like Hitler… Kitlers.

This is a pretty good one:

With this site, it has become clear to me that humanity can achieve anything.

Holy crap!

So Greenpeace adopted a whale. They want to name it and are holding a vote. You can vote here. Please, please help me and a lot of other people name a whale “Mr. Splashy Pants.” Please vote now.

The Civil War

Next Saturday, it’s going to be cold. But thanks to a UCLA shutout of the Ducks this weekend, the Beavers might just be able to hold their own against the very badly wounded Ducks. More than anything, it’s going to be a defense game. So, get ready for a long, cold, slow, low-scoring game. That’s my prediction, at least. Hopefully, this year I can be a loud Beaver fan — wearing my Orange and Black proudly in the sea of Green around me. Come on Beavers, don’t make me sit quietly all day again this year.

Work

Sometimes I stress about work, only to find, come Monday morning, that things fall into place. Most things… I will never get when people bug us to do promotional stuff then they don’t follow through on the actual process of getting a story done. I can’t promote your event unless you help me make sure all the pieces are there.

Motivation

I’m struggling to find my motivation. It was so strong the last few weeks. Most likely, a honeymoon effect from my vacation. But, I was sure hoping it would hang around. Perhaps it is the bleak, cold Oregon winter that has sucked me dry. Either way, I need to do some serious reframing. Because right now, all I want to do is watch season two of Dexter and sleep. One possibility for my lack of get-up-and-go might stem from the fact that I have lots of adventure planned for the next year. Maybe, on some level, I’m just waiting for things to get interesting.

Blogging

So, over on Bethany’s blog, she asks in a recent post about why we blog. I figured I could reply in a comment, but to foster blog community, I will post a response here.

The primary reason I keep 7″ of Separation going is to keep the Oregon diaspora updated on my happenings. Most of my readers are close friends and family — many of whom have recently moved out of state. But the blog has served a variety of functions over the past year. From time to time, readers get rants on bad days, reviews of what I’m currently in to, funny videos (I’m pretty sure no one ever actually watches the videos I post), social observations, and every once in a while, a shout out for a cause I feel is important.

I think that’s probably where this blog will stay. A running journal for my friends and family. I hope those of you who read it, enjoy it.

As things progress, I hope to have a couple more blogs up an running by year’s end. First, a music review blog where I will also post download links for some rare 7″s, imports, bootlegs, etc. (This project is in the works now.) And second, as Pam the Van starts to transform over the winter, a new blog that will track the weeks up to my road trip and the trip itself.

One other thought on all this. I am always surprised when someone from my newspaper’s coverage area reads this blog. While I understand that anything on the Web is published and can be found with google, I am always surprised when I have “coverage area readers.”

Also on this topic, I really look forward to when my friends start blogs and/or update running blogs. Updates make me feel connected to far-away friends and give me something to do during slow moments at work.

Speaking of work… I have to go do just that.

1) Ellyn. (Obviously number one.)

2) NCAA Football. (Because this season has been amazing!)

3) The internet. (For the ability to know anything instantly.)

So, productivity was put to a halt today when I came back from lunch. LSU vs. Arkansas was on TV and LSU was down. No TV in the office, though.

I spent the afternoon “watching” the game play-by-play on Yahoo sports. Every once in a while, I would let my boss know the score. Interested in how I knew so fast, he asked what site I was on. Then, the entire office cam to a halt as we both “watched” the game play-by-play, hitting refresh every few moments.

Then… “I’ve had enough… I’m going home to watch this,” the boss said.

Sweet victory!

Now, I’m at home watching football in my pajamas.

Nice.

The day wasn’t a total loss.

I’ve actually been productive, so far.

Police and Fire calls — done.

18 inch story on Harrisburg’s skatepark — done.

A series of voice mails left on governmental phones around the state — done.

Still… I’d rather be home in my pajamas, watching football, napping and snacking.

Also, I’m still thinking “Lola verses the Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One” is my favorite Kinks album. But, I’m still working through them. I’ll let you all know what I decide.

And Dan’s… but he’s in Japan… drinking. So that hardly counts.

That’s right. While the rest of America is shopping, making leftover sandwiches and lounging lackadaisically, I sit at my work computer… wondering how to work when the schools, City Halls and everything else is closed. There is work to be done, but no means exist to accomplish the interviews I need to do first.

So, like the BBC, this news organization is is full swing.

What am I going to do today, you ask?

Well… blog. Then, return some emails. Then, I have most the day set aside for determining which is the best Kinks album. Seeing that there are quite a few… that should take a good part of my afternoon.

Happy thanksgiving!

For those of you missing out on Oregon action today — it’s cold, but sunny and clear. One of those days. Seems like winter is going to be like that this year. According to local news agencies, we aren’t to expect snow on Christmas… which plays right into my plans.

I’m watching the parade. I’ve come to this conclusion: musicals are dumb. Really, Legally Blond: the musical? Did we need that? I guess musicals aren’t dumb, they just need to stay on stage. Musicals don’t translate to lip-synced street performances very well. The parade is neat, though. Good to see the Broadway actors, you know, working.

Update: I have now watched performances from Young Frankenstein: the musical and Xanadu. I was right the first time, musicals are dumb. Xanadu confirmed this.

Also: Bob Saget is my hero.

Well, today there will be yams and pie. Real mashed potatoes, made with extra butter. Rolls of potato bread. That green jello salad thing. Yams are my favorite. Pecan pie. Pumpkin pie. Really, Thanksgiving is the best holiday because of its relationship with pies.

Also, I will be participating in Buy Nothing Day tomorrow. You should all think about it. Usually I don’t buy anything on “Black Friday” anyway, but MTV’s refusal to air the Adbusters Buy Nothing Day PSA gave me the motivation to promote for them.

I hope everyone has a happy holiday. Here’s to Brett Favre still being alive.

always goes around again.

Our friends at the Daily Barometer, bless them, have done it again for the first time.

About once an administration someone gets offended to the point of protests — usually over race.

When I was there, we offended Islam. They were right, too. We did offend them. But, we didn’t mean to.

I learned some of the best lessons of my young career by trying to come to terms with what we did when we published an article likening Muhammad to a pedophile. When I, and other editors, let those words by, we thought, “Sure, it will piss a few people off, but they’ll get over it.” They didn’t… but they healed. And we learned.

Now, many probably wonder, “How could anyone let a picture of someone in blackface by unnoticed.” But I understand… sometimes you just don’t think about it. Now, with this lesson… they will think about it, and another generation of responsible journalists was born.

Take that Emerald! All you can do is curse. (You have to follow Oregon Journalism pretty close to get that joke.)

For some reason, I never took my iPod to work with me when I started at the News. Truthfully, I talked myself out of it because I didn’t think my boss would think too highly of it — I told myself I wouldn’t be able to hear the phone. But, spending nine hours stranded in the San Fransisco airport made me realize how much I miss having a soundtrack. (The airline industry is letting down society.)

My iPod was rarely of my head in college — all though, my ears did breath a little more than Feigner’s. I have some really powerful memories from university life involving “Poddy II.” (Poddy I gave out, freezing on the apple screen and spinning his little hard drive like crazy. “It’ll spin itself out, the battery will die,” said the apple store guy.) In college, I had many profound walks down the road to the swings with my dog. On walks like those, I thought myself through a good portion of chasing ellyn around. I made a few life decisions. I certainly got looked at funny by passersby that went unnoticed because I was singing to some strange song — Xiu Xiu’s cover of Devandra Banhart’s “The Body Breaks” comes to mind.

Anyway, my recent trip to New York had a lot going for it. And, it continues to pay off with little residuals like the realization I wasn’t listening to my iPod enough.

I’ve started bringing Poddy to work, and the effects have been great. My productivity is up, way up. I don’t wander off to find a detraction as much, mainly because my distraction allows me to work at the same time. I don’t surf the Web nearly as long in the morning — a great habit to break when at work. Plus, I’m getting into a lot of great music again. My tastes have changed quite a bit in some respects, and in others they have solidified.

Another positive effect of the iPod: it’s a creativity line connected to your brain. My writing gets stronger, more creative and playful when my iPod is on. It starts to flow faster — a great catalyst for a deadline writer. I can still flow without it — this morning I wrote two page-one stories on a three-hour deadline and I didn’t touch the iPod. But, during slower days, where I’m more likely to struggle to find motivation, the iPod sends it in like coal in a furnace.

So, I’m still sold on the iPod. Whatever it looks like, it makes life better.

P.S. As to critics who say I’m shutting myself away from society and missing out on relationships and interactions. This is a foolish argument. I find myself having better personal interactions because they are fewer, more important and longer lasting. Plus, I keep the volume down and I can still hear the phone.