Back in Black (and White)

After a week, I am now totally re-immersed in the newspaper biz. Last week I wrote my first editorial, and I designed about 4 gagillion ads. This week I wrote obits (!!!), designed 5 gagillion more ads, designed some page layouts, and more...

I'm glad to be doing newspaper work again. It's a secret thrill for me when my boss' pager goes off, and someone has to go out an cover a traffic accident or something...i enjoy being in the middle of things...and the 15 minute drive to work is so pleasant...it definitely beats my old 45 minute commute! the other morning i took a back road to work (a barely one car wide dirt road) and i saw a beautiful bobwhite quail and some pretty white cows that had gotten out of their fencing and were munching on grass on the side of the road.

however...i must admit i miss my old buddies at prudential. i loved the girls at that office...and the agents were always so impressed with my work and always giving me attaboys....frankly, i always thought it was kind of funny, because i'm no graphic artist, and i think they were just easily impressed....i was always sort of considered the smart, creative kid at prudential, and i miss that, because at the paper, i'm not much of anything yet...i don't feel particularly special here (do i sound whiny and silly? probably...)

anyway, i like it here enough. here's the editorial i wrote last week...it was a five minute job...the boss said she needed something to fill the op/ed page, and i shot this out...

RAN 6-8-07 Washington County News

Where were y’all Tuesday?

Specifically, what could you have possibly been doing that was more important than voting to approve an ammendment that would allow us to fund the incentive project for ThyssenKrupp, and to approve a continuance and renewal of the property taxes that will improve our schools?

Oh, I’ve heard all the excuses: you were busy working, chasing children, doing chores, watching soap operas, feeling lousy, blah, blah, blah.

But really, Washington County: what could be more important than supporting ThyssenKrupp and your children’s schools?

ThyssenKrupp is going to radically change this area. Real estate prices are already on the rise, and soon we will begin seeing all kinds of new businesses coming here. ThyssenKrupp will offer hundreds of jobs that will pay fair salaries, so that people will be able to better provide for their famalies. Hopefully, anyone willing to put in a hard day’s work will be able to find a job with ThyssenKrupp or with the other new businesses that move to this area because of ThyssenKrupp.

Years from now, ThyssenKrupp, and the businesses that come to this area, will provide jobs to your children, assuming they recieve a solid educational foundation, which wouldn’t be possible without a good tax system.

If you were not part of the 20 percent of people who actually came out and voted Tuesday, you’re sending the message that you don’t care about your children or the economic prosperity of Washington County.

Shame on those of you who didn’t vote. The arrival of ThyssenKrupp is the most exciting thing to happen to this area in decades, and your lack of support by not voting is highly disappointing.

Many of our grandparents and great-grandparents struggled and toiled for decades to gain the right to vote. They marched in the hot sun, faced poll taxes and other Jim Crow restrictions, and rallied for women’s equality. This past Tuesday, I imagine these courageous citizens were looking down from somewhere above, frowning in disappointment and were even a little teary-eyed at the 80 percent of registered voters in this county who were too busy to do their civic duty.

#30

Two Weeks Notice

After almost two years in the advertising/real estate business, I am returning to the newspaper business as the graphics editor for the Citronelle Call/Washington County News.

This is a big move for me...I'm comfortably happy at Prudential Cooper, aside from the 80 minute roundtrip commute, and $170 per month I spend on gas JUST to get to work. It's scary to change jobs when really, the grass on this side is pretty green. But the publisher of this (award-winning) paper is really great, and made me a very competitive offer, and the 15 minute commute is very enticing...so I gave my boss my two weeks notice this morning.

She understands my move completely, and I think wishes I wasn't going, but she knows this will probably be better for me. I hope.

I know I'll be doing a lot of graphics work (designing ads, mostly) at the newspaper, but I'm sure they'll be some reporting, too. I'll have to dig out the old AP stylebook and refresh myself...it's been so long since i wrote a news story! anyway, i leave prudential on may 25, and start at the paper on june 4 (my birthday!) maybe this will sort of be a rebirth for me...we'll see!

in other news...today i go to the doctor to learn how to give myself my first humira shot...eek!

old ladies don't need slimfast

i often grocery shop on my lunch break, because i hate wasting my free time running errands....well, it seems like the only people who grocery shop during the middle of the day are old people. i always notice what other people buy in the store, but old people are particularly interesting to observe....for example, one old lady who was petite and looked to be just the right weight, bought about 7 slim fast bars. now, if i was an old lady of a reasonable weight, slim fast bars would be the LAST thing i would eat....when i get old, i'm going to savor every chocolate indulgence i can find....hades, i pretty much do that now, in moderation!

what i mean is, i can see why people restrain themselves with regard to calories and sugar when they're less than, say, 70. you want to look good, you want to be healthy, yadayadayade. but after 70, who cares what you look like? eat what you want! you may not have much time left!

and really, part of me says that at any age, people should just eat and do what they want....even now, as a young person, you may not have much time left, so why not enjoy everything?

in other news...my newly adopted cat, socrates, finally decided to come out of his bedroom and explore the rest of the house. what a relief! i was afraid he would spend the rest of his kitty life cooped up in his bedroom/my office! but now he's like a little christopher columbus (minus the ships) checking out everything!

Currently Reading Defending the Damned: Inside Chicago's Cook County Public Defender's Office By Kevin Davis see related

highlights from my day....

this is my life:

(from a real estate ad, giving instructions for other agents showing the property) "if you hear voices while showing this house, do not be alarmed! the sellers have two large talking birds upstairs." i laughed about this one for a good five minutes...

david and i are having about a million people over for mother's day...my family, his family, my sister-in-law's family, friends of my family, etc....18 people in all....and we have 16 place settings, and 16 silverware settings, and 16 nice goblets. now, when i was buying/recieving all this stuff, i thought, when will i use 16 place settings at a time? and now, grr, i am 2 place settings short. i hope our guests don't notice that david and i will be eating with paper plates, lol!

wedding pic (finally got all my wedding pics back from photographer)

ironic, but happy event: david and i (and our two wild dogs) lived in a tiny ugly travel trailer for 4 months between our wedding and our house being finished. it was awful. it's a miracle we survived. but anyway, last weekend, we cleaned out the trailer and on sunday, dropped it off at a busy intersection near our house to sell it. now, we were really excited to get rid of the trailer, but it's so 80s and kinda junky, we thought we might have trouble selling it. IT WAS SOLD IN LESS THAN 24 HOURS! and i continue to receive phone calls from people who want to buy the trailer....i guess one man's trash is another man's...trailer!

on my crohn's: i am switching meds, big time! i've been on remicade, which i take via IV every 6 weeks. apparently my body is forming antibodies to the remicade (basically getting used to the remicade, so that it doesn't work effectively) and that's why i've been having bad arthritis pain lately. now my doc is prescribing humira, which is like remicade (made from mice...eek!), but is something i self-inject. it's not like a big needle...it's like a big sharpie marker looking device, and you stick the plastic end on your leg, press a button, let the tiny (alledgedly) needle puncture your skin for 10 seconds, then take it out. my doc assures me this doesn't hurt (much). i'm really scared, and i feel silly for preferring a big IV over a little shot! i'm going to give it a shot (no pun...) b/c i want this arthritis to clear up....so we'll see how it goes. i get all sweaty and queasy just thinking about giving myself a shot, though!

that's all for now! --joy

a new venture...

David and I have decided to get a small flock of chickens to raise!!!

We are really excited about this....I grew up on my grandparents' farm, and they always had chickens and cows, and the thought of having chickens myself makes me feel like my life is coming full circle....there is nothing like a fresh egg that comes from a chicken in your backyard! David and I visited his client, Roberta, at her farm in Silverhill, and she gave us some of her free-range eggs, and they were the best! as a little girl, i never appreciated my granny's fresh eggs, farm-raised fruits and vegetables, but as an adult, I crave these foods that my grandparents raised...i have had actual dreams about my granny's cooking and all the fresh foods they raised!

anyway, david and i first have to decide where on our property to put the chicken coop and fenced-in chicken yard, and then we will build the coop and buy some chickens. it may be a month or two before the chickens arrive, because i want to be vigilant about building a very sturdy coop and very protective fencing...i would hate for the critters in our area (raccoons, possums, snakes, coyotes, etc...) to kill one of my pet chickens.

the only catch in all this is that chickens require about as much attention as a cat....you have to wake up at dawn to let them out of the coop and into the chicken yard, at which time you give them fresh water, laying feed, corn, and treats like kitchen scraps. then at dusk, you have to put them back into their coop to roost. of course, because of my commute, i wake up before dawn now (5:30 am), and i'm home before dusk (about 7:30 pm), so the "chicken hours" will work out okay. however, in the winter, i'll have to rush home from the office, because dusk will come at 5:00 pm....and in the winter, the chickens lay a lot less, so we will probably need to provide them with artificial light 14 hours a day or so....

anyway, this will be an interesting venture...i'm excited to get started! i'm going to start drawing plans for the chicken coop....