7/30/07

* When you're this worn out, nothing will make sense anyway.

7/29/07

* San Diego is a beautiful city.
* Sunscreen, sunscreen, sunscreen.
* The problem with zoos is that most of the time, the scenery looks so good that the animals get comfy and find ways to hide from the visitors.
* If you've never been to Dick's Last Resort, go. Be prepared to fight back.
* Check other events happening in the area of your planned vacations ...Comicon (huge comic-book conference) just ended and the "American Idol" auditions for San Diego start tomorrow. There's an apparent contestant in the room next door. (Who knew?)
* If it seems quirky in the brochure/on the Web site, it probably is.

7/28/07

* Watching things come together is a fantastic feeling. Knowing you have a place to sleep is another one.
* Does anyone understand significant digits? (Did anyone ever?)
* "Some Like It Hot" was filmed at the Hotel del Coronado in San Diego (well, technically in Coronado).
* Always keep names, numbers and other info you might need for references, resumes or applications. It's a pain to look them all up again.
* I'm so excited for California, I can't think of anything else. Pacific Ocean, here we come!

7/27/07

* When it rains in Phoenix, it pours -- figuratively. Today was a rough one on many levels.
Two news helicopters crashed over a park, killing four journalists from two news channels.
Then a 23-year-old police officer was shot and killed. Last I heard, police still were searching for the suspect, and a Rush concert at one of the huge stadiums downtown was about to let out (read: tons of people, traffic, congestion) just as they were starting to look.
On a personal note, days like these make journalism real. These situations are heart-breaking, but they give newsrooms -- especially those at the center of it all -- a chance to really come together and emphasize a team effort. It's encouraging to see people persevere through tragedy and really work to find the best and most appropriate way to serve the public.
It makes journalism exciting -- but it also forces you to have a thicker skin than most. To do well in these situations, you have to shrug it off to an extent. But some are left so jaded that such things don't phase them at all.
I guess I can only hope I never reach that point.

7/26/07

Happy birthday, Mommy!

* I officially have a copy editing/design job in Crystal Lake. (Yay!)
* "Pixelated" (not to be confused with "pixilated") is not yet in Webster's standard dictionary. (Millennium edition, yes. Regular edition, no.)
* When it rains in Phoenix, it pours. Literally. Storms predicted for the rest of the week.
* The U.S. has made an agreement with the European Union to broaden the scope of traveler info it can get from airline passengers, including such data as philosophies, religion, sexual preference and trade-union affiliations. I can't find the link right now, so I'll return to this later.
* 1936's "Tell Your Children" (aka "Reefer Madness") was way over the top. Or was it? (Mwahaha...)
* Be kind to your cat. This one can predict death.
* It's "aka." No spaces. No periods. No caps.

HEY, CHICAGOLAND!

I know somebody out there in Chicagoland wants a good ROOMMATE.

Come on, you know you do!

(By Chicagoland, I mean northwestish suburbs, but I'm flexible!)

PLEASE LET ME KNOW!

7/25/07

* Thank goodness for nice people who will help out a lost little girl at the gas station.
* Post Office workers are not supposed to tape packages for you. (It's a rule.)
* Live transparently. You'd be shocked (unless you happen to be an investigative journalist or extremely informed citizen) what you can find out about people though public records online. (And that's before you even step foot inside the offices!)
* Funny how -- the same way things never turn out the the way you think they will -- you never feel the way you think you should at the time you think is appropriate.

7/24/07

* "Change is inevitable whether we're seeking it out or watching it pass by."
* Asking someone for advice -- or just about a topic they care about/are good at -- is one of the best compliments.
* Compliment = nice thing to say to someone. (Complimentary = free.) Complement = goes well with
* "Free of charge" is redundant.
* Just saying hi, making a quick call or inviting someone along goes further than you think. (Haven't I mentioned this before?)
* Again, don't be alarmed. Game traffic takes f o r e v e r.
* Have you checked out the new look on the Chicago Tribune site?
* Think about what you want to do or where you want to be in five years. Really think about it.

Now think about where you are now. Who do you hang out with? How do you spend your time? What is at the top of your priority list? How do you think/hope those things will change five years from now?


Now think about where you were five years ago.

Weird, huh?

7/23/07

* Men are required by federal law to remove their hats during the national anthem.
* This little guy is the youngest person to swim around Alcatraz Island.
* Every Braxton I've heard of/know now is a prodigy.
* Does the Edwards/Clinton femininity debate remind you of anything?
* One can hear the TV through the phones at work. (Yikes!)
* Monsoon refers to a change in winds, not a storm itself as many seem to think.
* Just saying hi goes a lot further than you think.
* Further = depth. Farther = distance.
* The NBA and NFL seem to be having some difficulties lately.
(Is this a normal thing, or am I just stumbling across more sports stuff?)
* It's amazing how you can feel completely competent one minute ...and the next, you don't know how to use the phone.

7/22/07

* EIU had a "bomb scare" the other day, and it ended up in The Republic. It's amazing how excited you get when you're far away and you hear/see mention of wherever "home" is. (The messy-looking package ended up being an application. I want to know if that kid got in...)
* The London Bridge is about four hours west of here.
* I've now seen grown men about three seconds away from plugging their ears and saying,"La la la la la" when discussion of the last Harry Potter book comes up. It's really quite amusing.
* The image described above makes me wonder if I'm missing something really good.
* Security guards probably have the best stories.
* Waiting for the phone to ring is a sickness that hits right around junior high and (I have a hunch) never goes away.

7/21/07

* India has named a 72-year-old woman its first female president.
* Tammy Faye died. She was 65 (and 4'11"). The first time she wore eye make-up, she took it off immediately thinking it was of the devil.
* More than 400 people have filed suits against the company that makes homeopathic cold reliever Zicam (based in Phoenix), saying the product has damaged their sense of smell and/or taste.
* Studies show that teen "girl talk" (chatter over boys, fitting in, appearance issues, etc.) is linked to depression in girls but not boys.
(So... You're telling me that girls get more wrapped up in emotional stuff than boys do at that age? Shocking.)
* Microchip implants (similar to the ones developed for pets) can be used to tighten security, keep track of Alzheimer's patients and for identification purposes. The technology is not advanced enough for someone (or the government) to track you all the time, but with all that important info stored in your arm, hackers could potentially steal your ID right out of there. The chips last for about 10 years. Your thoughts?

7/20/07

* I read all the Harry Potter spoilers I could find, and it all still means nothing.
* Women weren't allowed to wear pants on the Senate floor until the '90s. (Yeah, that's the 1990s.)
* Cheetah, the chimp in all the Tarzan movies, lives in Arizona. He's the oldest chimp in the world at 75 (human) years. He also was rumored to be in love with the man who played Tarzan and expressed jealousy by attacking the woman who played Jane. No joke.
* The Munchkins from "The Wizard of Oz" are getting their own star on the Walk of Fame, possibly with yellow brick underneath.
(I only have 5 inches on the little guy quoted in the wire story, but a very kind co-worker eased my mind by saying I don't appear that short. Let's hear it for optical illusions, huh?) But the most pressing matter here: What about the monkeys?

7/19/07

* Nothing like staying up all night working to make you feel like you've actually done something ...and make you dead tired in the (later) morning.
* "A watched pot never boils." Don't you hate that it's true? (And did anyone else wonder what a "watch pot" was as a kid?)
* If you don't take big risks, you're less likely to be disappointed ...but what fun is that? Sometimes the unexpected happens.
* Salmon can jump something like 6 feet in the air.
* It took hundreds of computers running for 20 years, trying out 500 billion-billion (that's right, billion-billion) different possibilities, but scientists have finally done it. They've solved checkers.
* And perhaps the most important lesson for today:
"I will not mock the monsoon. I will not mock the monsoon. I will not..."

7/18/07

* It's tough to choose between what's easier and more secure and what's tougher and more of a risk. And I know I don't have the answer.
* "Fickle" isn't a trait one can part with easily.

7/17/07

* "Breathe with your heels." The Chinese use this old saying to reflect the belief that your feet and where they take you matter. Rather than just treating them as means by which to arrive at Point B from Point A, they do meaningful work.
* "Security is a kind of death," (that's Tennessee Williams) but uncertainty is no picnic either.

7/16/07

* The strangest thing happened on the drive home from work! These small, round dots fell on my windshield. They would splatter and run up the glass like little beads as if they were -- dare I say -- wet or something. I even used the wipers ...once. Cars were stopped alongside the road. (I like to think they were so overwhelmed by the "deluge" that they had to pull off the highway.)
* Rain also smells different in Arizona. But after more than six weeks without a sprinkle, I suppose it's possible for an Illinois girl to forget.
* Matchbox cars first were created to give the developer's daughter an alternative to taking spiders to school in matchbooks. He gave her a tiny steamroller.
* Jim Dale, the man who reads the Harry Potter books on tape has finished recording the last book, after signing a contract to keep his mouth shut about the ending. He also holds a world record for most voices for said recordings ...something like 200.

7/15/07

* Take a cue from Audrie (top left), Chelsea and I: Make sure to get your money's worth from the Seventh-Inning Stretch (above). Scott (top center) isn't quite there yet.
* The suspense is killing me.
* Blago "accidentally" gave a make-up artist $600 of state funds to make up look pretty for the State of the State address. Home, sweet home, huh?
* Chase Field has a pool in the stands ...and a retractable roof.
* This guy blows my mind.
* I read an interesting story today about a couple (who's getting married...blah, blah, blah). They met while serving jury duty for a murder trial.
* The Phillies are the only MLB team to lose 10,000 games.

7/14/07

* Working out at 8 a.m. (which means getting up at 7 a.m. to get through traffic) is surprisingly refreshing ...but I'm still going back to bed.
* If you do not live at a house or are not visiting someone who lives at a house, it is rude to take up the only parkable space in front of said house. Apparently this is one of those concepts that exists only in my head.
* The Cosmo dog park in the Valley was ranked the nation's best.
* Event traffic is worse than rush hour.

7/13/07

* PostSecret updates (sample above) are things to look forward to every Sunday. During the week, there often are e-mail responses added in, too.
* That first little imperfection on whatever new thing you have will break your heart. Every time.
* Along the same lines, everyone will disappoint you sometime, and you'll disappoint them. It's not a matter of if but when. Don't dwell on it, just know that it's coming.
* Is it better to visit every state or know someone in every state?
* Even the most professional of people have a bit of a wild streak ...at least.

7/12/07

* Leaving your immediate future up to a machine is a strange and unnerving feeling. Kind of like I faxed my life away this morning...
* Speaking of this morning, what song do you suppose was playing over the loudspeaker at Staples as I was taking a timed copy-editing test? "Under Pressure."
* When you have a deadline -- and I don't mean a newspaper deadline -- someone will jump in front of you in line. Or your car will stall. Or your nose will start bleeding. Or you'll lose that phone number you need. Or your computer will freeze up. Or something. Plan accordingly.
* Found out today that I get to be part of something I can't help but think of as a "final project." (Guess that school mentality isn't gone quite yet.) I'm super excited. And as of tomorrow, I will officially have design clips from The Arizona Republic. (Yay!)
* It's not a good idea to use hot keys to release pages. And if you're ever using CCI, stay away from F5 at all costs. Trust me.
* An 11 update (for those of you keeping track of the crazy number stuff): My address as a child was Rt. 4, Box 340 (4+3+4=11); my current house number is 1514 (1+5+1+4=11); the test I took today was 11 pages long; the Diamondbacks ticket I grabbed randomly off the top of the pile on a table at work is, you guessed it, none other than Row 11, Seat 11.
* Vise is that tool in the garage (as in "vise grip"). Vice is that guilty pleasure or bad habit you just can't kick.
* Never think you can't be amazed by the way things come around. It'll never cease to surprise you.

7/11/07

* We met Tim Gaynor from Reuters wire service today, and he told us these incredible stories about being a foreign correspondent. Almost makes a person want to get back to reporting. ...Almost.
* Don't waste your time being "kind of" happy. It's not worth it. Take a few risks and find something that really fits.
* Don't be that guy who waits until the lane disappears to try and merge when the signs have been telling you the lane ends for a mile and a half. Good grief.
* Nicer restaurants expect to make their money on drinks during Happy Hour, so they often will mark down a mini-menu's worth of items to better-than-reasonable prices. Ten bucks isn't bad for a normally sit-down meal.
* If you have to back up out of an intersection, make sure you've shifted back to "D" while you're waiting. The car won't go from park.
* Everyone has bad days.
* Reuters started in the 1850s with stock prices and carrier pigeons.
* "We want you to explain the U.S. to the world."
* Calls from mommies and old friends always are fantastic. Try it.
* Sad to say, even after college, tests do not go away.

7/10/07

* I. Hate. Leafblowers. They're loud and they create lots of dust and pollution. Enough said.
* "Ginormous" was added to the dictionary this year, and a professor from Jacksonville, Ill., was quoted here. Home, sweet home.
* I think I love Spinning (the stationary bike kind ...how's that for ironic?) Let's hope the same holds true in the morning...
* You never know where you'll meet nice people or what will make your day better when you least expect it. At the risk of sounding like a greeting card, staying at home "because you don't feel like (fill in the blank)" is the worst thing you can do.
* "You're young. Have fun with it."

7/9/07

* Taser is among the slew of businesses based in the Valley.
* I have a hunch that LayoutChamp is (while obnoxious in its CCI-esque sort of way) all bark and no bite.
* Why do you hear about people in the East and Midwest getting sick and dying of all these heat-related problems in the "oh-my-goodness" 90-degree weather when all the Arizonans are doing just fine at 115?
* To reiterate, there are always more questions than answers.
* What's with everyone being married, getting hitched or dating someone from work? People, come on.

7/8/07

* The French president traditionally gives mass pardons on Bastille Day to free up spaces in the country's prisons. Sarkozy threw in the towel on that one.
* The past two weeks have been the third-longest stretch of 110-plus degree weather on record in Arizona.
* As for ages... use "infant" or "baby" up to six months, "baby" six months to one year, "toddler" one year to three years, "child" three years to 12 years and "teen" up to 18.
* There is no more awkward place in the world than the elevator.
* And, for your reading pleasure, this could be the greatest brief ever. Enjoy.

'Tree' leaves bank branch with cash, man charged
Just as the Citizen Bank branch opened Saturday morning, a man walked in
disguised as a tree, with leafy boughs duct-taped to his head and torso and
robbed the place.
Officers said James Coldwell, 49, was arrested early Sunday at his
Manchester, N.H., home and charged with robbery. “He really went out on a limb,” police Sgt. Ernie Goodno said Sunday.
— Wire services

07/07/07

(How's this for way back?) Happy birthday (as of midnight), Melissa! Someone buy this woman a drink.

* OK. It's 07/07/07. I get it. Sheesh.
* "Seat time" in race-car driving refers to the amount of driving time a person has had with a particular vehicle.
* Use a thesaurus. More meaning, fewer words. Space is of the essence.
* If you don't understand something, chances are readers won't either. Ask questions. Don't just assume people know and let it go because you're afraid of looking stupid for not knowing something you think you should. More people have to look up things than you realize.
* Not only will the temps remain in the 100s, but it also will get humid soon. (And you thought the Midwest was bad.)
* The solar energy available in Arizona is enough to power the entire country.

7/6/07

* Murdoch may or may not have finally reached an official deal with Dow Jones, which owns the Wall Street Journal. (I think the general opinion is that someone jumped the gun on this one, though...) Great, as Marco says, now everything will be fair and balanced.
* The band that wrote the theme for "Revenge of the Nerds" is suing Avril Lavigne for allegedly stealing their stuff for that song I know you all love.
* It's "all OF A sudden," people. Come on.
* Skittish. ( I guess I'd never seen it spelled out...)
* A little bit of high school will follow you wherever you go.
* Again, love the people from work.
* Saw my first glimpse of a dust storm today. Pictures when there's really something to see.
* I'm so. tired. of the number seven right now. Yikes.

7/5/07

* Spartan is not capitalized when it's used as an adjective. Neither is mecca when you're not talking about the actual Mecca.
* ATTN J MAJORS: Check out The Republic's front page tomorrow (Friday) and give me your opinions.
* Libraries aren't necessarily the best resources for things non-book related.
* Hyphenate words that would normally be hyphenated before a noun if they appear after a noun and a form of a "be" verb. (A hard-working man and He is hard-working.)
* Movies start much later in the city. It's almost as if they cater to people like me who have crazy hours. Hmm...
* Anyone been to San Diego?

7/4/07

* You can see at least two sets of fireworks from my current address.
* Pitbulls aren't as small as I had thought. In fact, I've befriended one without even knowing it.
* Summer in New York still gets to 20 or 30 degrees at night.
* Part of New York is an hour and a half from part of Vermont. (Ok, that one was a little weak.)
* I don't know how to grill.
* I can rest easy knowing there's at least one person in Chicago that I won't have to force to hang out. haha
* If it were this time 10 or 15 or even 20 (man, I feel old...) years ago, I'd be heading home from watching fireworks with my grandparents and picking out which ones were the best (the spidery sizzling ones) after a long week of farming, playing games and gardening, among other things. Those days will always be among my favorite memories. Always.

7/3/07

* First, a hearty welcome to Oliver Pierce Jones (above). I vividly remember ending eighth grade with Jerry, and now he's all grown up and married and has a baby boy. Craziness... But congrats, Jerry and Michelle!
* There are 8 ounces in a cup.
* Organic meat is pricey. Actually, organic anything is pricey. And if you go into a store called "Whole Foods," be prepared to hear debates in the aisles and see a bunch of stuff you didn't know existed.
* Oddly enough, said organic store carries "Amy's Organic Salsa."
* Check out (Leslie) Feist if you haven't already.
* Learning to organize a stocked fridge/freezer may be among your greatest assets.

7/2/07

* When it rains, it pours. (Only in Arizona, it's always figurative...) Anyway, the point is that opportunity has a way of not coming at all for awhile, then coming at you in a deluge-type fashion. I think it's part of the sitcominess of life.
* Campaign funds raised ("funds raised," but "fundraiser," "fundraising," etc.) are counted both in total amount and amount that can be used for the primary. Keep that in mind when you're getting numbers. You wouldn't want to send the copy desk on a wild goose chase for which one is which.
* It's smart to know what the people around you know when it comes to experiences, expertise, etc. -- that way, you'll always have good references. And people like it when you ask them for information. (Right?)
* I don't know how people can work without deadline. Seriously.
* The 07/07/07 thing doesn't cut it. Talk to me in four years.

7/1/07

* Sometimes the best option seems to be finding that one person who actually notices when you get a haircut and stick with him.
* The trouble with constant change is that it makes getting close to people really hard.
* There will always be far more questions than answers.
* If you say it the right way, any feedback is good feedback.
* How can AZ do fireworks with wildfires being such a huge issue?
* Is anyone out there? Hello?

6/30/07

* "Experts say Fourth of July temperatures could reach near-record highs; holiday revelers cautioned'
Longest. Headline. Ever.
* It is supposed to get up to 117, maybe higher ...I don't even know what to say to that.
* A longtime employee who just retired from The Republic's copy desk wrote songs for Tony Bennett. He was also a pool shark and hung out with Evel Knievel. Journalists might be the most interesting people in the world.
* Despite what Arizona drivers would demonstrate, there actually is a difference between the dotted and solid lines on the highway.
* Cnn.com changed their site in the middle of my shift. Do you like the update?