Lou Pickney's Online Commentary
September 2000
Thursday
September 28, 2000
7:42 AM EDT
RUMOR KILLER -- Contrary to rumors going around at WSAZ, I have not reached any agreement to go to a station in New Orleans. I'm not quite sure how this one started, but I haven't even sent a resume to any New Orleans stations at this point, so as of now I'm staying put. It's no secret that I would like to go there eventually, and that my contract allows me a New Orleans out, but I don't anticipate that I'll be going anywhere before the start of the new year at the very least. All along I've been wanting to stay here for at least one year, and that hasn't changed.
I slept for less than five hours on Wednesday. I thought I was back on my normal sleep schedule, so I didn't take any sleeping pills, but that bit me in the ass when I woke up at 2:55 PM (after going to bed at 10 AM) and spent the next hour tossing and turning trying unsuccessfully to go back to sleep.
The meeting last night went well, with us finding out that we've "made plan" for the fiscal
year (which means we'll have a bonus coming our way). WSAZ General Manager Don Ray even
pointed me out and said that I've been doing a good job, which I appreciated. Praise from the
top is a nice thing. From there my quarterly review went well, which makes me 3-for-3 to
this point on good reviews.
I stopped by BP on my way in to work and bought a cappichino. Well at least I tried to buy
it, but the woman at the counter was like "Is that all?" I said yes, and she said, "Go ahead,
take it." I was amazed by that, but who am I to pass on free cappichino? Later I heard that
Tim Irr had been given free coffee earlier that day, so I guess they were trying to get rid
of their coffee supply (or maybe using some sort of unusual word-of-mouth marketing tactic).
But as it was, my luck for the day ended there. Trade my karma for a cup of cappichino.
Work today was a rare ugh day, with sleep deprivation hitting. I booked the newscast way too
tight, incorrectly anticipating that with Rob on vacation and David in for Scott that there
would be a lot less chat time and fill time. So I ended up having to kill things left and
right. Plus poor Melanie was feeling sick, making things even worse. At least Joe Thornton
did a good job with the record 101 tapes that we had in the newscast.
You know what sounds good now? Sleep. Hopefully I'll get more than 5 hours worth this time
around (something tells me I will).
Wednesday
September 27, 2000
9:32 AM EDT
Not much to say right now, other than wow am I sleepy. I'm still getting re-adjusted to my
regular sleep schedule (the vampire schedule as many people call it). Tonight I have a staff
meeting at WSAZ and then my quarterly review before work at 11.
My friend Brent Frazier wrote me an e-mail this morning, as he's finally joined the digital
age and landed an e-mail account. He's working a similar schedule as I am reporting for
WSMV's morning news in Nashville. Later everyone.
Tuesday
September 26, 2000
9:27 PM EDT
I've been spending alot of time setting up and using my new computer, and wow has it ever
been fun. I'm hoping to find some kind of .html editing program to do some further work on
my webpages.
I have my quarterly review at WSAZ tomorrow, which will probably come right after an evening
meeting that I will be attending. Over the weekend I had a dream that I received a promotion
at work, so who knows maybe it'll come true.
There are some good movies coming out soon on DVD -- in particular American Beauty and Toy
Story 1 and 2. Now I'm not exactly Mr. Disney Movie, but the two Toy Story movies were
incredibly clever, entertaining and well-made. I brought my DVD player up to Indiana this
past weekend, and Kara tells me that she has now ordered a 5 disc DVD player herself. She
had Night at the Roxbury on DVD but no player, so we watched that (well actually I fell
asleep during it) and a few of the movies I brought with me (Goodfellas and Happy Gilmore).
Monday
September 25, 2000
7:52 PM EDT
I have the new computer set up now, and I'm slowly trying to get it all figured out. It's
quite a jump to go from Windows 3.1 to the brand-new Windows ME, but it's been fun trying all
the new stuff out.
This past weekend in Indiana was fun. Kara and I went to a club called the Neon Cactus on
Thursday and Friday night, where they have a really cool piano bar area in a room called the
Rusty Bucket. A man named Bruce Barker plays piano and guitar in there and does an incredible
job of entertaining the crowd. If you ever find yourself in West Lafayette, you absolutely
owe it to yourself to go there and check it out. On Friday night Steve Levy from ESPN was
there, and Bruce ended up getting him to get up and sing a duet with him and help out on
piano. It was hilarious, and I wish I had brought a camcorder along to get it on tape. Classic
stuff for sure.
Kara and I went to the Purdue/Minnesota game on Saturday, which was fun. Drew Brees, Purdue's
quarterback, is the real deal. Later.
Tuesday
September 19, 2000
10:07 AM EDT
Oh, where to begin? The Johnny Socko show on Saturday night was incredible. I wrote a detailed
review that you can read
right here. They rocked the house at the Empty Glass in Charleston. If
you have a chance to see Johnny Socko in concert, DO IT... believe me, you won't be disappointed.
They're playing a couple of hours from here in Ohio later this week, but unfortunately I won't be able
to go.
This weekend I'm going back to West Lafayette to visit Kara. I'm trying something a little different with
my travel plans -- leaving right after my newscast is over at 7 AM Thursday and driving right up there.
Then catch a nap at Kara's place, and try to switch my sleep schedule a bit. Then Sunday morning
I'll head out and return to Huntington, hopefully in time to get some sleep here before work at 11 PM
Sunday night. The last time I went up there, the turnaround for work on Tuesday was brutal.
But it'll be great to get to see Kara, though unfortunately I'm not sure when I'll get to see her again
after this weekend. Her October break falls on the weekend when I'm going down to Mississippi
State to visit Matt, and then she won't get time off until Thanksgiving, and even then it's not a given
that she'd be able to come visit me here. Over Christmas I'm going to fly home to Nashville, then fly
with my family to Colorado before flying from Colorado to Huntington. Kara and I have talked about
possibly going out to San Diego the week of her spring break, but that's in March, which is quite
far off from now.
My Dell computer has finally shipped (as of Friday), so it will hopefully be here soon. I can't wait, it's
going to be so much fun. Plus I acquired the MTV Music Generator program for the PC over
Ebay, so that should be arriving to me sometime soon as well.
By the way, I'm on Ebay as TVNewsLou, though I've only purchased now three things from there.
I need to get a digital camera so I can get involved with the selling portion of it.
In recent days I've been doing some comparison shopping for DSL service, and I think I'm going to go
with the former Bell Atlantic (now known as Verizon) for my DSL. Virtually all of the research I've
read has pointed me toward DSL, with privacy and reliability concerns surrounding cable modems.
Last night right before I had to go to work I checked my mailbox. And, lo and behold, in there was a
letter from Aaron Thompson! Turns out that he's working at CBS 44 (WEVV-TV) in Evansville as a
photographer/master control operator. It was great to hear from him, and I plan on writing him back
soon. Hopefully he and Valarie will get a computer soon so I can e-mail him and what not...
Saturday
September 16, 2000
9:14 AM EDT
"I know it's hard to keep an open heart
When even friends seem out to harm you."
-Guns N Roses "November Rain"
Let me start off this commentary on a topic that has irked me for awhile -- age descrimination. There
are laws on the books that prohibit age descrimination... for those in their older years (I think it's either
40 or 45; the exact number eludes me at this moment). But for young adults, descrimination based on
age is a common practice, readily enacted and enforced by pandering politicians eager to bring in the
senior vote. If you're in the 18-20 age group, you're at the most risk of suffering from it. And I'm not
talking about the usual clumping of 18 and 19 year olds in with minors (you know, those who try to
better themselves by berating cigarettes companies for "marketing to teenagers", overlooking that it
is legal for 18 and 19 year old to buy cigarettes, and in fact legal for 16 and older to buy in England and
most of Europe). The 21 drinking age is the most glaring example of age descriminiation within the
American legal system, but it applies to other laws as well, everything from firearms to requirements
for wearing helmets while riding a motorcycle (as in Kentucky). The supreme court has upheld the
idea of this age descrimination against young adults as being acceptable, and so sadly the practice
continues.
Of course, some people give me a hard time when I speak out for young adults' rights. "But Lou," they
say, "you're over 21 now, why should you care? You had to put up with it." It's that sort of mindset
that allows such practices to continue. Just because I had to deal with the ridiculous laws and
regulations set forth by politicians, Republican and Democrat alike, who were pandering for voters by
setting descriminatory rules against the 18-20 age group, doesn't mean that my brother Matt, who's
19, should put up with the same ludicrous statutes, or anyone else in that age bracket for that
matter.
I bring this up because of a conversation about rental cars that Kara and I had early this morning. We
spent more than two hours talking (and I kept poor Kara up past 4 AM her time), but one of the topics
was about rental cars and how many companies simply refuse to rent to those under the age of 25.
Age descrimination is at work again, this time against me. I'm 23 and I have a steady job with a
dependable income, yet due to blind descriminatory rules I am denied access to the rental. And for
those companies would do rent to the under 25 market, they stick you with a daily surcharge for the
privledge.
Now, granted, I do comprehend the fact that statistically under 25 drivers are more likely to be involved
in auto accidents. But the very elderly are likewise at a higher risk than the average population for
involvement in wrecks, yet I don't see Hertz refusing to rent to anyone 85 or older. If they did that, then
boom they'd get hit with accusations of "ageism" (as if there weren't enough "isms" out there) and
descriminating against the elderly and before you know it they'd have the AARP on their ass and
Congress and god knows who else.
So why the hubbub for that, yet the silence over age descrimination for young adults? Simply, it's a
matter of money and power. Young adults like me tend to have very little money available for things
like political action groups and campaign contributions and the like. Plus, while I am an active voter,
many young adults are not registered to vote, and if they are they tend to show up at the polls in low
numbers. Compare that with the elderly, with their nesteggs and life savings available for throwing
around to the AARP or political interests and their free time and tendency to vote in high numbers.
But does that reality excuse a government from setting laws that descriminate against young adults?
Of course not. And hopefully someday future generations will not have to face these inproprieties.
As a sidebar, I think that it is ridiculous that a minor can be "tried as an adult" on a crime. How
ludicrous is that. We have the likes of the self-righteous Joseph Lieberman ranting about how these
supposed evil interests "market to teenagers", yet then we turn around and want to convict a 14 year
old as an adult. Granted, if a teenager murders a loved one of mine I'd want him or her to receive
maximum punishment, but the key to that is creating stiff penalties against minors, not the notion of
"trying them as an adult." As if suddenly they gained the capacity to make adult decisions (but hey
buddy, no smoking if you're not 18). What a crock.
Last night I went to the new "Cell Block G" club in Huntington. They moved from 4th Ave. to 3rd
Ave., into a much larger building (which used to be "The Warehouse" before it closed). It has much
more room than the old Cell Block, and the second floor area is kinda cool in that you can look down
at the dance floor. The dance floor itself lights up, which looks pretty cool, though it looks like it was
part of the set of the old game show Press Your Luck. With the red and yellow (and a little green)
flashing, I was waiting for a whammy to show up, or at least Peter Tamarkin.
In a few moments I'm going to go help Dave Kinder move. He and his wife and daughter are moving
from Huntington to Beckley, West Virginia. Dave will work out of our Charleston newsroom (and have a
bitch of a commute to make as a result), and he will be greatly missed as the morning newscast
tape editor at WSAZ. In my nine months working with him I've found Dave to be a very hard worker
who cares deeply and genuinely about our product. Moreover, he is a great person and a blast to have
around -- you never know what Kinder will do next. So Dave, good luck in Beckley, and keep your
camera near the phone... I might be calling at 2 in the morning wanting you to go shoot some breaking
news out in your neck of the woods.
Tonight Johnny Socko is playing at the Empty Glass in Charleston. I'll be there for it, and you should
too -- it'll be a fun show.
Friday
September 15, 2000
8:10 AM EDT
Another week, another three-day weekend for me. I think I'm going to get spoiled with all these
four day (or less) work weeks in a row. But, hey, I've earned this time off.
Last night I was a guest for the Pumpkin Fest media dinner out in Milton, West Virginia. Myself, along
with Tony Cavalier, Scott Sabol and Scott's girlfriend Tina rode up in the First Warning Weather Van,
which was my first time to ride in that particular vehicle. The dinner was tremendous, especially by
my usual standards for a meal (i.e. a packet of Lipton noodles). It was like a Thanksgiving feast.
Mmm, delicious. Plus seeing Tony and Scott and Bill Murray get talked into participating in the
Pumpkin Pie eating contest was hilarious. The concept was a bit brutal though, as after eating this
huge meal the contestants were subjected to trying to be the first person to finish eating a mini
pumkin pie. Luckily as a producer I'm an unknown to the general public as a person, so I didn't get
called out to go up there.
Once we got back I headed over to Sharkey's. I met up with Tara and Crystal over there, and I was
happily surprised with Doc being back in town. He's found an apartment down in Charlotte and he
finally moves for good on Sunday, and it was great to see him one more time. Unfortunately I won't
get to go out with them all on Saturday night; they invited me to go with them to The Empire, a new
club in town, but I've already made plans to go see the band Johnny Socko in Charleston.
They had acoustic night last night at Sharkey's, and it was really cool. Tara even got up there to sing
some, and she has a really good voice. Some guy from one of the outlaying counties was there, and
he was a pretty young guy (looked to be about 19) but he did a tremendous job. But anyway, Tara
told me that her interview at Amazon.com went well, but if she doesn't get a job there she'll probably
move down to Charlotte with Doc. Great, just what I need, another friend moving away.
I called Kara the other night, and it sounds like she's doing pretty well up in West Lafayette. I'm
planning on going up there next weekend, which will be fun, but the turnaround on the sleep will
again be brutal. Plus, this time I'm going to try driving up there early Thursday, which will make things
interesting since I'll have been up working the entire night before. But if I leave right after work I
should be ok. We'll see what happens though.
The Olympics are already underway, and it will be interesting to see how the U.S. does. I've been
kind of apathetic about the events up to this point, cause really the qualifying is, to me, immaterial.
But the main events themselves should be interesting. WWF pro wrestler Kurt Angle won the gold
medal in the heavyweight division in the 1996 Olympics, and given his success I imagine that the
winner this year will get major looks from both U.S. and Japanese wrestling companies. Actually
Angle would have been a better natural fit with New Japan Pro, though he's done an amazing job in
making the transition to the pro level (which is an entirely different thing).
This morning I caught the new video for Lenny Kravitz' song "Again". It's a good song, though I could
have done without Lenny walking around nude. I also saw the video for "Bent" by Matchbox 20 for the
umpeenth time, but I'm still not sick of it. The new single by Matchbox 20 is great, too. But "Bent"
will forever in my mind be the song that reminds me of the summer of 2000, the summer of reruns.
Wednesday evening I awoke and heard a message on my machine from a Dell representative. They
had to order my hard drive, which they didn't have in stock. Maybe I should have gotten the 75 gig
hard drive instead of the 45 gig. Oh well, it's $200 more that I won't have to spend, and I can always
add another hard drive later. Now the decision for me becomes: do I get cable modem access, or
should I get a DSL line?
When the new computer finally comes, I look forward to getting a program to help me design web
pages. Everything I've ever done in designing a webpage has been done by programming the source
code myself. I remember back in August of 1995 meeting Andy Capps by chance in one of the number
of lines I had to wait in for freshman stuff. Andy wasn't a freshman, but he knew some about .html
programming and writing source code. At that time there was no program, at least to my knowledge,
that would set it up for you -- if you wanted a webpage, you had to design it yourself. So with some
tips from him, and by studying some other webpages out there, I ended up formulating my original
design. While I'll always remember that fondly, five years later the technology exists to create some
really sharp looking designs. I've pondered establishing either a career or a secondary job as a URL
designer, though that was more back in my minimum wage days as a production assistant at ABC 25.
But still, having web programming skills gives me a major edge in the marketplace as far as having a
marketable and valuable skill.
Wednesday
September 13, 2000
9:02 AM EDT
I hope my cold medicine doesn't have me too loopy to write a coherent commentary. Yesterday morning,
thanks to the over-the-counter medicine I took, I fell asleep watching the movie Man on the Moon on
DVD. Unfortunately, it was due back to Blockbuster by noon Tuesday, so me returning it this morning
makes me a day later and, ahem, a dollar short. But hey hey, what can I do?
I thought that Jim Carrey gave an excellent effort, though having seen much of Kaufman's original
material I found it difficult to accept any imitation in place of the original. Nonetheless, I don't know
who could have pulled the role off any better.
Last night it was cold medicine part deux, as I dozed off watching the Bobby Knight interview on
ESPN. It was humorous in a half-awake sort of way, as I'd be jolted back to temporary awareness by
a hostile exchange by Knight, only to doze back off again. Jeremy Schapp did a good job in a tough
role, and of course Knight remained his old bullying self in attacking Schapp, with Knight saying that
Jeremy had a long way to go to match his father, the well-known and well-respected sports reporter
Dick Schapp. Speaking of Dick Schapp, I remember early in my time at the University of Evansville a
comedian coming to the school and trying to tell a joke off the name Dick Schapp (use your
imagination on that one buckos). Actually the comedian was really poor, as I remember him trying to
make jokes out of things he found in the Evansville Crescent newspaper and falling rather flat in the
effort.
Sorry, but sleepiness plus cold medicine equals stream of consciousness at times. That's how it goes.
I type pretty fast, but I can't seem to type fast enough to keep up with what I'm thinking. Only one
day left in the work week for me, as I have this Friday off from work. There are good things to be said
about week-long vacations, but this string of Friday's off in a row is pretty sweet, I must say.
Speaking of vacation, I've been trying to figure out my vacation schedule at work, and it's been a bear
to say the least. With Emmis about to purchase WSAZ from Lee, that changes everything from the
way payroll is handled to the way vacation runs. So instead of my vacation running on a year-to-year
from my hire date (December 27), it goes to a fiscal calendar that everyone operates on, from March 1
to February 28 (or 29 as the case may be). But wait, it gets better. The anticipated purchase date
will be October 1, and from what Maribeth at work tells me I would get 4 vacation days from October
1 to February 28, 2001 in a sort of modified pro-rated setup. I've asked for the week of Christmas off
(in order to be home for Christmas and to go with my family to Colorado) and received it, but the
question becomes: what about October 6 and 9, the two days I booked back in July to go visit my
little bro Matt down at Mississippi State? It's so complicated. Dec. 25 and 26 are "holiday" days off
for me (one perk of Emmis over Lee -- more holidays on the books), with the 27-29 being vacation
days. So now I'm not sure if this puts me one day over on my booked vacation, or if I have an extra
day to spare; it depends on interpretation and what the higher-ups say I guess. Either way I'll make
it work. But I have many people pulling on my time -- my parents want me to come to Nashville, where
I haven't been since Christmas 1999; Kara wants me to be able to go visit her in Indiana and is hoping
that we might get to go to San Diego over her Spring Break in March (which would luckily fall under
next year's vacation time for Emmis); Matt and I have planned my trip down to Starkville for months
now, and I'm hoping to go visit him over in England next summer if he ends up studying abroad there;
my friends Ben and Andy in North Carolina have been bugging me for close to 2 years to go visit them
in Charlotte. Plus having the occasional day off available might be a nice thing, too. Of course,
planning for vacations and long-term plans can be tough knowing in the back of my head that other
job opportunities might come up. But I'll deal with all that when the time comes.
I can't believe I forgot to mention how I did some shooting for WSAZ early Monday morning. Stephanie
Dusek called me after anchoring the Sunday 11 PM news to tell me about a wreck involving a Papa
John's pizza delivery car and a pickup truck that was maybe 3 blocks from the station. Unfrotunately
I had no photogs in-house, but Christi was there, and she stuck around to listen to scanners while I
grabbed a digital camera and went over there. The wreck was your standard fare accident, nothing
too serious injury-wise, but it was a fresh story, something we always like in the morning, *especially*
on a Monday morning when there's usually little to nothing intriguing going on from the weekend. Turns
out that the pizza delivery guy ran a red light and, oops, got in a wreck. The video wasn't exactly
Emmy-award winning quality stuff, but I managed to shoot it which was the goal. Plus Ken seemed
impressed by my effort, which is good. It's always nice to have some positive recognition after giving
an extra effort, though for me it was just a matter of doing whatever was necessary to get the best
possible news product out there.
The big story from that day ultimately was the murder of a Nicholas County sheriff's deputy. As of
this writing, the suspect (David H. Morris) is still at-large, which really surprises me. He was arrested
on DUI charges, and the deputy brought him in for booking, but apparently in the search overlooked a
gun that Morris had, and at the station Morris is believed to have fatally shot him. They have the
murder on tape from what I understand, and it's evidentally clear that it was Morris who did it from what
I've heard. Anyway, there's a massive manhunt that continues to this hour. If he's still in Nicholas
County, my feelings are that they will catch him soon. If not, then who knows.
Sleep is on tap for now...
Monday
September 11, 2000
5:46 PM EDT
First things first. I just read an article on pwtorch.com about the plans of Al Gore and Joseph
Lieberman to expand federal governmental control on what you should have the freedom to choose
to watch. Read about this sickening pandering to misguided voters in an era of paranoia by
clicking here. I mean if you don't like George W. Bush then ok (though I think he'll do an
excellent job as president), but by god if you're gonna vote for Gore and Lieberman I really hope you
can sleep in peace knowing that you've cast a vote to take away more of your freedom (along with
everyone elses).
Work this morning went well. Most people don't like Mondays, but I usually actually enjoy them,
because I'm well rested and ready to go. By the end of the week I'm worn down and needing a
respite, but unless I've been on the road the previous weekend Monday is usually a good day.
Unfortunately this is also tempered by circumstances beyond my control, namely trying to fill a
two hour newscast with the limited-at-best news from the weekend. Though today we fortunately had
plenty to fill the time with, even with Melanie Shafer off today (and thus less time to be booked for
"cross talk" time).
Bob Knight being fired as IU's basketball coach has been a hot topic of conversation. I called Rob
Johnson as soon as I heard about it yesterday (at 2 PM during CBS' halftime show during the
Bengals/Browns game). He wasn't in, but when he got back from the public event he was appearing
at he found out from my message. It's been especially interesting since I've been reading Bob Knight
related books in the past month or so.
It's too bad about The Sopranos only receiving one Emmy last night, but voters can be fickle people.
At least The West Wing received 9 Emmys -- it may be the best show on broadcast TV. It's intelligently
written and well-acted. As for Will and Grace, I've seen it maybe once, and I found it tolerable but
nothing particularly special. But I'm not much at all for sitcoms, so who am I to judge?
My bro Matt e-mailed me today, and get this, he and my dad left Sunday's Chiefs/Titans game with
two minutes to go!!! My dad likes to beat the traffic, but that backfired as the Titans rallied to
send the game into OT and then ultimately win it on an Al Del Greco field goal. The Titans tied an
NFL record with nine consecutive regular season wins to open a new stadium, and the game where
they go for the record tenth will be most intriguing as they host the upstart New York Giants on
October 1st (they have a bye this week and play at lowly Pittsburgh next week). As of now, the
plan is that I'll get to see the Titans' season finale, a home game against the Dallas Cowboys on
Christmas night.
My Fantasy Football team won a much-needed game. Next week we play the 2-0 Bay Area Pigs, and
we won't have Peyton Manning, Marvin Harrison or Kevin Dyson at our disposal. We'll need some luck
to win...
Saturday
September 9, 2000
4:00 PM EDT
Marshall's 18 game winning streak has come to an end, as they lost at Michigan State 34-24. It was
a close game for a long time, but ultimately MSU was just too tough. It's too bad that Marshall and
Michigan State didn't play last year -- that would have been an incredible game...
The long weekend has been nice for sure, and I should be well-rested for getting back to work on
Monday. Right now I have Notre Dame and Nebraska on in the other room. My friend Phil Murphy is
at that game (he's a Notre Dame grad), and I know that Lance Wilkerson back in Evansville is cheering
like mad for Nebraska (he's a big Huskers fan and he hates Notre Dame). In fact I never heard the end
of it after a bunch of us from Channel 25 in Evansville (me, Lance, Chad Rhinesmith and Ken Murray)
went to the 1998 Orange Bowl in Miami when Nebraska beat Tennessee in Peyton Manning's last
game for the Vols. But that's what I get for going to that game with three Nebraska fans...
The club scene was pretty dead in town last night, which can be attributed to many of the students
from Marshall going up to East Lansing for the big game with MSU. It pretty much sucks with Tali and
Doc both having moved out of town as far as finding people to go with me to hit the bars and what not.
But hey, the next few weeks should be good. Next weekend Johnny Socko is playing up in
Charleston, then the following weekend I'm tentatively planning on going back up to West Lafayette.
After that it'll be back to reality with a five day work week.. but then the following weekend I'm taking
Friday and Monday off to go visit my bro Matt down at Mississippi State.
I talked with my parents the other night, and they told me that it only took them about a week and a
half to get the computer that they ordered from Dell. Hopefully mine will get here soon like that -- I
can't wait to get it. I'll get it set up and hopefully get my cable modem access going, and it'll be nice.
There's not much else to say right now. Guess I'll go catch the second half of Nebraska and Notre
Dame here in a few minutes...
Friday
September 8, 2000
7:38 AM EDT
"You may be done with the past, but the past isn't done with you."
-Line from the movie Magnolia
Sorry for the lack of updates in the past week, but sometimes things get busy and overwhelming and
what not. But it's like I blink, and *poof* a week goes by.
I heard yesterday from Jenny Kinney,
a girl from Evansville who I dated once upon a time. She tells me that she's
getting married next spring, so congratulations to her. I'm still not used to the whole thing, friends and
ex-girlfriends and people my age who I know who are getting engaged and married. Not that it should
be surprising to me, I mean I turned 23 last month so that's reality, and a generation or two ago that
would be much much more the case. I'm not quite sure that this is the appropriate forum for me to go
on a rant about marriages, but in a nutshell I think that quite often it's something that people either
rush into or feel pressured into or for whatever reason find themselves in for the wrong reasons. Imagine for a moment that
instead of people getting married, they signed a "five year deal". They'd be saying that they'll spend
the rest of their life with someone anyway by getting married, so five years is a mere drop in the bucket,
right? Of course, who am I to go against culture and tradition and religion and whatever else people
want to come up with to justify something that fails more than 50% of the time? Sometimes I think I
put too much thought into certain things, but when it comes to a lifetime commitment like marriage,
I think that it's something that deserves a great deal of thought and planning.
For me, personally, I don't want to find myself becoming a shell of myself or a parody of who I really am
or otherwise compromising my reality in order to play some role in a marriage just to keep things
"happy". Now if I can find myself in the right relationship with a woman who understands all that and
won't expect or demand otherwise, then we'll talk. But until then, I guess it's just me against the
world.
I hate to come across as negative, but I've felt kind of out of it since I got back from Indiana. Late
last week I was facing some major sleep deprivation. From 5 PM Wednesday until 2:30 AM Friday
I was awake, and then up visiting Kara in West Lafayette sleep was really catch-as-catch-can. And
despite only having a three-day work week, I found myself really irritable and in a bad mood, for reasons
I don't understand. Perhaps it's the whole sleep thing and not being caught up even now. Tuesday
morning at work was beyond brutal -- in hindsight I *really* should have taken a nap before I went in.
But it was great getting to see Kara again. It's too bad that she lives so far away (it's about a 5 1/2-6
hour drive from Huntington to West Lafayette), though at least she'll be finished with school in May.
She and I get along great when we're together. Unfortunately we didn't get to play any tennis as we
had hoped, as a major thunderstorm hit right when we were driving over to the courts. But perhaps
we'll get to play when I go back up there in a few weeks. Here's a picture of Kara and I from '97.
I rented the movie Magnolia, which I just finished watching. It's a great film, though with it being so
long I can understand why some people may not like it. Kinda like how I love the movie Boogie
Nights, but some people hate it cause it goes on and on. But that's P.T. Anderson's style, giving you
lots of sub-plots and character development and depth, which I love. Some people are so conditioned
to the standard movie formula that they react negatively to something outside the box, but I think that
Anderson's work is tremendous. Tom Cruise's character in Magnolia (T.J. Mackey) is outstanding, as is his
portrayal of it.
Kara actually this past weekend mentioned that she thought that I could be an actor. I've heard that
from time to time, and actually it's something that I think I would enjoy. My difficulty has been in
memorizing lines, but everyone from teachers to friends have made mention of that they think I could
be an actor. Of course, being at Harlaxton with some of the most talented college-aged actors and
actresses in the country put things in perspective to a certain degree, but nonetheless it is something
that has that spark of interest for me.
I've finally ordered a new computer. I ended up going through Dell to get it, and it'll be sweet. 800 mHz,
256 megs of RAM, CD-Rom and CD-RW (so I can burn my own CD's), Sony trinitron monitor, 45 gig
hard drive, and hopefully soon to have @Home cable modem service. So no more slow 14.4 modem to
get on AOL (if I'm lucky and no one in my family is logged on) and cumbersome uploading to put stuff
on my webpage. I've actually fallen a bit out of practice with my .html skills recently due to my
ungodly inconvienant setup and slow system. But hopefully with the new system I'll have the chance
to do lots of updating and redesigning on my pages. And maybe I'll even work with an .html design
program, which would be a first for me. Every page I've ever designed has been code I've done
manually.
Just this morning I finished the Steve Alford book "Playing for Knight". It's a good read, though not
nearly as in-depth as the Feinstein book on Knight. Next I start on Joan Mellen's "Bob Knight: His
Own Man." Rob Johnson let me borrow all three of the aforementioned books on Knight, so that's what
I've been reading as of late.
Random thought -- I need to get a library card. The Huntington downtown library is only a few blocks from my apartment.
My fantasy football team lost this past weekend to Josh. I've never started a season at 0-2, so there's
major pressure on my fellas to win this week against Bob.
Right now sleep sounds like a good idea. Hopefully my next update will be soon...
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