NEWS FLASH - First Week of January '08

NEWS FLASH is basically news or thoughts that may be changing over time - an update or an evolution of thought that covers a multiple of topics. It is what makes a blogger tick and it is the reason why we read. So, with that in mind, I came up with NEWS FLASH as an acronym that stands for what is going on in life:



News (or current events)
Entertainment (movies, TV, celebrity, etc.)
Work (thoughts on the job or employer)
Spirit (thoughts on God and/or the supernatural)
Family (or friends)
Love
Anxiety (a rant or a trouble)
Sports (also considered should be contests, reality tv, recreation, cards, games), and
Home (house, yard, or even another family type of thought.
___________________________________________________________________

Vacation from work kind of kept from blogging like I should. I did manage to come back at the same time that this little short story haunted my mind till I got it down. Some of you read it; it's called "Leave it All on the Field" and it is sitting just below this NEWSFLASH. Actually, it is a rough draft. I wanted to see what people thought when they read it without introduction. I want to get into the habit of writing more this year so this is how I kicked that off. I am not sure that I will continue to put it here - especially now that one of my reader's feedback said it would be a better idea to put it somewhere with my own domain - I don't really know what that means. I can only assume that it involves money that I don't have. Does anyone have an opinion on the appropriateness of throwing that stuff out on my blog from time to time?

Anyway, for a not so upbeat NEWSFLASH:

NEWS - I hate it that a tiger got out of its exhibit in California and attacked three teenagers killing one. There is some liability there with the zoo as the walls of the containment was about four feet two short. However, there is also some talk of the teens taunting the tiger with sling shots. If this is true, the story is just tragic all the way around. That would mean that both a kid and a beautiful animal had to die at least partly because of stupid decisions these young guys made. I hope there is a lesson there for all involved.

ENTERTAINMENT - The writers' strike is creating a comeback of the reality show. Most of these shows are junk but every now and then there is one that will captivate my attention. Here's hoping for the best. BTW - has anyone other than me wondered why HBO and or other pay channels haven't gotten into the reality show business? You would think that unedited (for content) shows would draw much more attention than their watered down counterparts. I know that Showtime showed live footage of Big Brother this past summer, but it was just a mundane live hook-up (that was still edited when something unfavorable to the program was happening).

WORK - Work is picking up again. My intern who drew rave reviews from me earlier in the school year is MIA right now. I have been working on her assignments all morning. (sigh)

SPIRIT - My spirit life is starving right now. I guess it is a combination of things but the blame ultimately lies with me.

FAMILY - We had a pretty nice Christmas. It is funny how my evaluation of Christmas has changed over the years. At some point, it stopped being about what I got and turned into what I was able to give. I had to go into debt, but I helped my "pre-disabled" sister get back into her apartment before she lost it and all of its contents. Two of my sisters were in the hospital over the holidays. One with health insurance, one without. Guess who was treated better and longer? Hopefully, my uninsured sister will get approved for disability soon so she can get healthcare. Somewhere there is an office pool where the winner predicts what will come first, her disability or her funeral. If she dies first, at least she won't die a socialist. What a disgrace that would be, no?

LOVE - This is the year that something must happen with my marriage either good or bad. New Years Eve was a disaster. We went to a neighbor's house that we didn't know very well. She didn't like it so we left early. Then we tried to go somewhere that had a band. However, when we arrived at the venue, I noticed I didn't have any cash for the cover, so I announced that we have to go by an ATM. Well, that sealed the deal. She just wanted to go home instead. I don't know why. On the way home, we stopped at the store to pick up something to drink. I don't drink alcohol, not much anyway, but despite it being a point of contention between us in the past, I thought for New Years Eve, it would something I could give in on. I told her she needed to eat something or she might get sick. When we discovered that our plan to order a pizza was foiled by the pizza shop being closed, she was yet discouraged again and just decided to go to bed at 12:10. The ball dropped. No kiss, no happy new year, just "I'm going to bed". Whooopie!

ANGUISH - I will give you three guesses.

SPORTS - It is a boring college bowl season so far. Illinois, Hawaii, and my beloved alma mater, Indiana were major disappointments. Let's hope the NFL playoffs are better. I did manage to make to the Superbowl of my fantasy league, however. I lost.

HOME - I have to take down two Christmas trees still and recover from bad financial decisions over the holidays and after. My jeep requires a major repair with the door. Right now, I am crawling over to the passenger side to enter and exit. Home would be better if I had money and good head on my shoulders to manage it.

14 comments:

Stepping Over the Junk said...

Happy New Year. I'm sorry.

Chris said...

L and A make me sad. Best of luck in 08 Jeff.

Anonymous said...

Well, as far as your very well written post about Eric and Gina, I go back and forth (as you well know). I think it comes down to whether or not you think you'll ever actually publish it in a book of short stories, etc... I will say that I'm not sure the word "appropriate" was the best word usage in the comment - in terms of what she was trying to convey. I think she meant what you think she meant, but...who knows... Now I'm not making any sense! Its been another loooong day. Sheesh.

My thoughts and well wishes are with you as far as your relationship, Jeff. Just trust your gut when your heart and mind can't come to an agreement.

Everything about that situation at the San Francisco zoo just broke my heart. So very sad all the way around.

Anonymous said...

Sorry about New Years and stuff :(
I find that things that start badly in this kind of way, where it feels like too much is going wrong at the same time, often ends well. Here's hoping!

I thought I'd commented on Leave It On The Feild, but I guess I had problems with the Google sign in.
I thought it was great! Emotive and absorbing. Lovely short story.

As for the domain thing - perhaps she meant you'd get more control of publishing and more promotion opportunities on your own site? I dunno. If you do want a cheap site, NearlyFreeSpeech.Net is a really good and cheap host - my first year on there cost me about $10. It's costing me about $40/yr (extremely rough estimate) now with 200 visitors/day.

Jodi said...

I thought the short story was awesome! I'm sorry I didn't leave you a comment earlier about it. In fact, I read it twice.

Sorry your New Years wasn't so good. Mine was kind of blah, too.
Sorry, too, about your sisters. You're a good brother to care so much.

I'm still off school until Monday.....care to take a drive? (smile)

Love ya,
J.

Sayre said...

About your story - it was terrific! I found out, though, that if you plan to publish it, you need to not post it somewhere public. It may cause copyright problems down the line. As in you don't make money you should have if it has been previously "published". If you had a private blog, that would solve the problem, but anyone can stumble across this one.

Sorry about your newsflash. If it's any consolation, my new year's eve sucked too. Hubby went to watch FSU lose at his son's house and came home so drunk he was swaying on his feet. To make matters worse, he was driving - and had our son with him. I am more than pissed and told him in no uncertain terms that if he EVER did that again, we would not be there when he woke up. I don't like handing down ultimatums, but when it involves the life of my son, I won't hesitate.

Still working on the computer issues at home. I think I see signs of life!

The Real Mother Hen said...

Happy New Year Jeff.
Sorry to hear about the New Year's eve.
I will keep you in my prayer Jeff.
And hope you can let whatever happen, happens.

goddessdivine said...

My New Year's Eve sucked too.

I liked the story. It grabs your attention and gets at your emotions; which is what a story should do. It also makes one think....like what one ought to do and ought NOT to do. Wherever you decide to 'publish' it makes no difference to me.

Jeff said...

Stepping Over: You too, and no biggie.

Chris: Thanks. Happy New Year to you.

Steph: Thanks for your input. There is a lot on the plate in 2008! Hey, I made a rhyme.

Kristarella: Thanks for the infusion of hope. Really! Also, thanks for the nice comment on my story. Is this site your talking about your blog or something more?

Jeff said...

Sayre: Publish keeps coming up here. I never thought about trying to publish it. I really didn't think it was worth considering. It was just a little story that haunted me. It seems a little predictable to me. But, hey, I am flattered that anyone enjoyed it. I didn't know what people would do with a little story like that hanging out there without any context.

Sorry about your New Years situation. We should start a club. Still hoping your computer recovers.

Mother Hen: Thanks for that.

Kristen: Thanks for your thoughts and prayers. Want to join Sayre's and my bad New Year's Eve club? Wait, is that poor English?

Jodi said...

Hey! You skipped me! (pout)

J.

Jeff said...

Hoosiergirl: I didn't REALLY skip you. I was just trying to figure out a way to give you an undivided reply. Now you gave me one and I am much obliged.

I am glad that you liked my story. Read it twice? I am flattered. You, too, are invited to join the crappy New Years Eve club.

The drive is tempting but my wife is leaving town again Saturday and taking the vehicle most likely to make the drive. ;)

I hope you have a terrific New Year!

Anonymous said...

Yup, that's for my blog (and my photoblog as well).
I still get surprised when I see the number of visitors I get. Only about 5 people comment regularly. Actually most of those visitors only go to a couple of posts I've written about the GIMP (GNU image manipulation program). Doesn't matter really, they still factor into what I think is a pretty low cost of running a website. :)

Michelle said...

Hope 2008 starts to see an easing and smoothing out of all your problems, Jeff.