Don't Cry

Turns out I'll be in Tampa come August for the annual journalism fete after all.

And it begins again...

I've been busy

Actually, no. I've just been tired.

I feel like I did like two trials non-stop last month. I didn't. But the one I did do was a doozy that my newsroom was having wet dreams over so it was causing me much angst. First day of testimony, they're like, give me 175-190 lines.

'scuse me? That's like 25 to 30 inches, sir. People seem to think a bunch of stuff happens during a day of testimony, like it does on TV. They lie. This is how testimony goes in real life.

Prosecutor: What's your name?
Witness: Joe Smith.
P: Where are you employed?
W: Widgets and Stuff.
P: What do yo do there?
W: I'm a janitor
P: How long have you been there?
W: 15 years
P: Do you have a family?
W: Yes.
P: Are you married?
W: Yes.
P: To whom?
W: Sally Smith.
P: How long have you been married?
W: 25 years.
P: Did you have chance to be working on March 23, 2005?
W: yes I did.
P: And how did you start that day?
W: I cleaned the trash cans and picked my nose and read people's mail like I always do. ....

But it takes a lot longer than it took you to read that. Trust me. And cats don't want to believe me when I tell them that

Pause for the cause.

I think Dan Barry just walked into my newsroom. Ahh, I think he's speaking (or spoke) at a journalism class taught by one of my colleagues. Apparently he's got local ties. From wiki: Dan Barry is a reporter for The New York Times. His column, "About New York", appeared on Wednesdays and Saturdays in the NY Region section of the paper. While working for the Providence Journal-Bulletin in 1994, Barry won the Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting after exposing corruption in the Rhode Island court system. Well, dang.

Back to our regularly scheduled post.

So anyway, they want me to pull 30 inches of crap out of my neck when they don't understand that the first few witnesses aren't necessarily the juicy ones. Like, they have to set scene and establish all these things before they get to the juicy stuff. Let ME -- the person who sat in court all day -- tell you how much I can pull out of my neck, please.

But I wrote it anyway. Here it is. I got in trouble for not having enough attribution. I complied in later stories.

So after that, I started writing this other story that keeps getting held. Shoot, actually two stories. I know it's the nature of the beast, it just is MAD irritating. Because they keep coming to me with stuff that's in the story asking me about it. And I fix it, or bring their point up higher in the story and the joints still haven't run. Someone kill me.

Beyond that, training has been beating me. And I'm lazy. I did do 30 minutes of core strengthening yoga this afternoon followed by a 45 minute run/walk that covers the 3.1 miles I'll be running on May 2. I was proud because I got further than I had been before I stopped to walk, but still kinda discouraged because I had to stop. I'm building up slowly, so I figured it best to at least get used to the distance, even if I didn't run it the entire time. I ran in intervals. So I guess that's improvement, huh?

I'm hungry and I'm about to go to a Town Council budget workshop session. Joy.

Since I've been gone

A few things, since I haven't updated in forever:

I didn't get my hair done. Loser, right? I was in the middle of covering a murder trial and I wasn't committed to paying for someone to do my hair for the Follies.

So I did it myself instead.

It's not the same style. I originally did two strand twists with the intent to do a twist out the night of the show (an old standby from Follies past). But then, I twisted up a few of the twists and realized it looked pretty cute as it was. So I left it. Here it is:

I'll post a better picture a little lower.

So anyway, the Follies were a hit. The show went off pretty well and I only forgot a few of my words -- That's a success in my eyes.

I didn't get mentioned, but the Phoenix gave us a pretty good review. Overall, we've been getting a lot of good feedback about the show. I wasn't in that many numbers -- I think three, not counting the opener and closer, so it was a low key night for me. Which was actually good because I wasn't completely exhausted as I have been in previous years where I'm on stage constantly. This year, I played Sasha Obama with another coworker and sung a song about how cute we Obama girls are, I was in a song about the layoffs at my newspaper, and I was in a song about Steve Alves - a former senator in West Warwick who was ousted by a baker. Good times indeed.

In other news, the BF went with me to the show. I fought him on the outfit (which was his idea) but we turned out to be "the best dressed couple in Swansea." I'll take it. He was excited about the Urkel glasses. I was skeptical at first, but they turned out to be a nice addition.

After the show, we went out to a local bar and hung out with some of my coworkers and the other folks who went to the show. Then we went to my coworker's house and played Rockband until like, 3:30, 4 a.m. It was ridiculous. A good night though. A really good night.

At work, things have been kinda rocky -- no pun intended. We laid off an additional 100 people, including two of my favorite office assistants ever in life. They were my friends -- one even my "adopted mom" who always looked out for me when I first came to the Journal and was assigned to her bureau. I didn't get a chance to say goodby because I've been working on a murder trial and was out of the office most days. After they got the news, thankfully the company didn't make them continue to work - like they did the last round of layoffs we had. So when I came in to joke with one of them, their desks were cleared out. Good for them, sad for me. I'm going to get some cards and write nice notes to them and send them to them, because I honestly don't know if I'll see them again. Which is pretty sad.

The good note is that, as I mentioned, I've been covering a murder trial the last few weeks. You know I LOVE trials right? You do. Anyway, I think I've been writing some really good stories -- I even got front page two days in a row. Yesterday, I was the front page centerpiece! How cool is that? Wanna read my stuff? Here's some of it. You can also google me. I got hits, yo.

Bishop tells his story

Alfred "Freddie" Bishop guilty in 2007 murder

Brother of slaying victim tells of fatal struggle with intruder in Warwick home

And I was a freaking blog superstar all during the trial. I was calling in updates, e-mailing posts and just all around being a "blog-centered" superstar. I rock. Hard.

Anyway, um, other than that, things have been cool. I'm completely slacking on my exercise, which I fully plan to get back on this weekend. I've just been pooped lately. But I gotta start running again or I'll never be ready for this 5K. Oh, and just in case you haven't already, there's still time to donate!

Considering the crack

I think I might be breaking down because it just. keeps. calling. my. name.

I might get a smartphone.

Shussh. Don't tell nobody.

So, here's how this potential breakdown/silent protest against the 24 hour workday came about.

The BF has an iPhone. You've seen them. They're cool. And so daggone functional. Like, oh, we're going out to the mall, let me scroll to Bank of America to check my account balance. Some downtime on the train? Veronica just put up a funny facebook status. Wanna make an appointment to get fitted? Let me check my calendar.

Like I said. Super functional.

And here's how I came to envy it. (I know, horrible, right?)

I'm all about paper planners. I love the idea of writing things down and making notes and being able to flip through pages. But it's becoming a lot less convenient. I'm all on my Outlook tip these days, using the calendar and contacts function and e-mailing up a storm with my boss. So, as I'm talking to a source who wants me to stop by Town Hall on Thursday, I just go to my calendar, type in the info and tell him I'll see him then.

I don't transfer it to the paper calendar. Which becomes a problem.

So when I'm not near my computer, I literally have no idea what I'm supposed to be doing on any given day. I feel like I'm just drifting through space because I don't have those little white boxes (on the teal background, thank you) telling me that I need to check on that child porn case from 2 to 2:30 p.m. I also would love having access to all of my contacts on my phone, especially since with the new position, I spend a lot of my time in the courthouse away from my Rolodex (yes, I was old school until I upgraded) and Outlook contacts.

Now, the obvious problem with getting a smartphone will be that it will cost me money. Probably lots of it over the course of life. Actually, let's do some math.

My monthly bill now is about $60. Which means that for a year, I pay roughly $720 to call and text all the important and/or necessary people in my life. The data/internet/call/text plan I'd have to get from Sprint is about $99, which would up my bill to $1,188.

In case you missed it, that would be an additional $468 a year -- an extra $39 a month.

And I'm not sure I want the committment.

Today, I bugged an AP reporter in court about his (work sponsored) Palm and how he liked it (he's addicted) and talked to my girl over sushi about her Blackberry (she wants me to get one). But I'm not sure. Some of them are kinda ugly. This one seems to do what I want. Not sure how I feel about the design. And everyone and their mama have the Blackberry Curve it seems.

The BF did find this one, which makes me drool. It links your AIM and text message conversations with one person so you can see them in one place. And it's touch screen.

I don't know if I can deal.

Bout time I got '09 in gear

It looks like a lot, but it's not. I'm just very specific with my goals so that each is a step in itself toward fulfilling a larger goal. If I do these things, it'll be easier to cross more of them off come next year!

1. Forgive my father and deal with the issues I've developed with relationships in general because of my relationship with him so that I can stop hurting.
2. Begin yoga/Pilates/stretching 2-3 times a week to alleviate back pain and increase flexibility, strength.
3. Do 15 -30 minutes of cardio at least once a week; work up to two (or three) times a week by July.
4. Sit up straight.
5. Set up a monthly budget cutting out unnecessary expenses and stick to it.
   
6. Set up and begin a payment plan to pay off all credit cards and other debt by July 2010.
7. Set up another savings account so that I can have three: emergency (3-6 months salary); a life happens fund (for unexpected expenses) and a vacation fund.
8. Increase savings contributions to E-trade to finance trip to Spain in fall. Devote tax returns to building up savings reserves and contributing to vacation fund.
9. Do something every month to pamper myself. Get a mani/pedi. Get my hair done. Get a massage. Take a long bath. Buy myself something nice.
10. Try out a new healthy recipe at least once a month. Build up my repetoire to include more than fried foods and fatty sauces.
11. Eat out at a new restaurant at least once a month. Use this time to try different cuisines and experiment.
12. Read. Whatever I want. Magazines. Books. Whatever. Just read.
13. Go see "Raisin in the Sun" at Trinity Jan. 30 - March 30. Go see a show on Broadway with Setta B.
14. Keep clips up and network; send update mailings to potential employees two times a year (March and September, maybe?)
15. Write something that makes me proud, whether it wins any award or not.
    
16. Find an organization to volunteer with and do so, regularly. Can either be one organization with a long term commitment, or various organizations with one time commitments
17. Go on dates with the BF that (sometimes) require more than just driving to Boston and cooking food.
    
18. Take pictures to document life and stretch my creative muscles.
    
19. Start doing crosswords to exercise my mind.
20. Be present at all times. Start each day as if it were on purpose, not an accident.
    

Style Star

I promised ya'll a new pic, didn't I?

So, about that.

I just got back from a banging vacation/professional development stint. I was gone nearly two weeks. First, I went to the quadrennial UNITY: Journalists of Color convention in Chitown. Good times were had. I got to hook up with the Ten95 homies, as well as other friends from the industry -- and surprisingly from Flint.

Then I headed to Reno, Nevada for a seminar on court reporting. Then it was five days in sunny Richmond, Calif. eating barbecue and drinking sweet tea.

And I promise I documented a lot of it. I swear I did. But my camera died. And I can only charge it with the USB cord that allows you to download the pictures to your computer.

I lost the cord.

So, until I can find it, here's a shot of my new 'do (which, ironically, I washed out this morning) courtesy of Facebook.

It's a picture of me and Duck at the UNITY party in Chicago. Note the Prince and the Revolution T-shirt. So hood.

Anyway, those lovely comb twists you may be able to see atop my noggin lasted me three time zones, seven plane rides, and three weeks. Tell me that's not a good deal for $55. I was going to try to stretch them one more week with a coil out, but when I started taking them out this morning and saw all that dirtiness from 3 weeks of travel, I decided my hair needed a good washing more than another week of a hairstyle.

So it's back to the 'fro. At least for a little while.

Surprisingly, the response to my new hair was overwhelmingly positive. People LOVED it. Although, I'm not sure if they loved it because it was a great hairstyle or because it's something different from the puff I normally wear.

As the BF says "I'm always a fan of variety."

Guess the masses have spoken. T-Dot needs to switch it up from time to time.

*reaches and pulls out the collection plate*

Anyone want to ante up for my next style change? I'm thinking two strand twists. We like the kind that jingles, but we'd prefer the kind that folds. Thankyou.