Lucky turkey, indeed
I was telling Brandon last night about how I will actually miss George Bush for the sole reason that while he lacks in foreign and domestic leadership, economic acumen, vision and decision-making and IQ points overall, he’s at least provided lots of comedy fodder. Fortunately, we have Sarah Palin to fill the gap. There’s nothing like ceremoniously pardoning a turkey while a turkey bloodbath ensues in the background.
If you’ve suddenly lost your appetite for turkey carcass, check out this Newsweek article about Thanksgiving Day’s forgotten and forlorn: vegetarians.
Filed under Food, Politics, Vegetarianism | Comment (0)Meet Harry
You know the old saying about a lucky rabbit’s foot, right? Well, on election night, I brought home the whole rabbit. Yeah, I like to think it helped my man win. Actually, my graduate seminar this year is on animals in American history and the other week had us reading Katherine Grier’s “Pets in America” — a bad choice for someone who’s already a sucker for all things furry. By the end of the third chapter, I felt the irresistible need to go to a pet store. By the end of the book, we were getting a bunny. So, meet Harry.
Feline fixation the night I brought him home. Now he’s just like a piece of the furniture to most of them, except for Chloe. She’s his new best friend.
In another life…
A local fire department offered a mini-media fire academy to a group of my company’s writers and photojournalists. The official explanation given to our editors for missing more than a half-day of work is that we would be better able to report on emergency situations if we better understood the job itself. Unofficially, dressing up in turnout gear, sawing sedans into convertibles and crawling in a controlled 600-degree burn situation sure beats sitting in a cubicle being hounded by voice messages and emails. Here are some photos from the day:
Strapping on an air tank
Me vandalizing a car
Me and co-reporter Shauna (I’m on the right) using the jaws of life to cut apart a car. The spreader tool weighs 75 pounds!
Better angle shot of us using the spread tool to pop open the rear door
The result? A new convertible!
Because nobody looks good after sweltering in too-big thermal turnout gear for three hours.
I was the only one of our group to have even an iota of experience in this kind of work. I was in two Fire Explorer groups as a teen, where I got to legally help burn down houses and scale the sides of buildings. I had my own turnout gear and regularly rode with local departments and later, after getting my EMT certification, with Cincinnati. So, when our firefighter instructors would call for volunteers, I’d look around, see everyone shuffling their feet in hesitation, and then raise my hand like an overeager Boy Scout.
The academy was made especially poignant by the department hosting it, Colerain Township. As locals will remember, the department lost two of its own earlier this year in a house fire. The whole morning really reminded me of how much I miss the whole firehouse culture and EMS work. When I finally finish my master’s degree (hopefully in June of next year), I’d like to become recertified again and begin volunteering with some local departments.
Filed under Local Interest, Personal | Comment (0)How to eat chocolate
My niece Klara and nephew Caleb at a family friend’s wedding last weekend 
Buddhism - the dirty secret of the McCain campaign
Because I am a journalist and my contact information is splashed across news media directories worldwide, I get a lot of crackpot kind of emails. The latest comes from a man who’s appalled that John McCain recently met with the Dalai Lama and addressed him as “your Holiness.” “With his right hand,” declared the email writer, “John McCain confessed his Buddhist faith.” From his letter, you’d think Buddhism to be a four-letter word.
Yeah… crackpot emails generally don’t work, but they are even less effective when you send them to a reporter who’s also one of those Buddhists.
Filed under Personal, Religion | Comment (0)Gas prices reach new high (or low)
Brandon and I are lucky in that the exorbitant gas prices haven’t affected us as much as, say, my brother who has a 45-minute commute each way to work every day. Brandon’s company is just 7 miles away and my office is usually my home office. His Jeep only gets about 14-miles to the gallon, so we usually take my car about town, which is much more fuel-efficient at 28-miles to the gallon. Still, the high cost of gas was enough to make us cancel a scheduled weekend trip to Chicago last month. The gas cost alone would rival that of our hotel stay.
But you really know gas prices are getting out of control when women resort to selling their bodies for gas - read story here.
Brandon’s been clamouring for one of the “new” Smart Cars (which have available in Europe for a decade). Last night, a local news channel took a look at them and I was surprised to find that they only get about 38-miles to the gallon and they’re a really rough ride. My sedan, which is probably three times as large as the Smart Car and very comfortable, gets just 10-gallon less per mile. You’d think in our infinite technological prowess that we’d be able to make cars that are more fuel-efficient. Or maybe they have, but as conspiracy theories would have it, the car manufacturers are in cahoots with the oil companies. Who knows. All I know is that that cute retro Vespa scooter is looking better and better each day.
Filed under Politics | Comments (4)Newport’s Green Thumbs
When my contractor neighbor told us that Newport’s historic East Row was comprised largely of gays and older émigrés from Indian Hill (one of the nation’s richest ZIP codes), I thought he was exaggerating or homophobic or a combination of both. But after being greeted by four gay couples in the first four homes of the eight-home Newport Garden Walk Sunday, even I had to admit the astuteness of his observation.
Despite Esquire magazine’s declaration in 1957 of Newport as “the most wicked city in America,” the city today is surprisingly conservative. The Committee of 500, a team of religious do-gooders, first set siege on the “Sin City” in the 1960s, declaring war on the city’s gambling, vice and prostitution bosses - for more on the city’s history, go here. By the time Brandon and I both moved here, much of the evidence of Newport’s illustrious past had disappeared, existing largely today in the memories of local old-timers who recalled the city’s heydays with equal parts nostalgia and censure.
The East Row Historic District sits comfortably at the foot of what is called Mansion Hill – the mansion in reference is the Wiedemann Hill Mansion, which was built for beer baron heir Charles Wiedemann in 1894. The area became a favorite of wealthy business owners and merchants in the late 1800s and its financial demographic hasn’t much changed since. Still considered one of the most prestigious and expensive areas of the city, stately Italianate and Queen Anne style homes mingle along tree-lined streets with many boasting impressive (and professionally designed) back-yard gardens. Here are a few highlights from them and our tour:
More photos are available on our online photo gallery here.
Filed under Local Interest, Nature, Personal | Comment (0)It must be Friday
Being a mobile journalist has its perks. I can work from home in my pajamas or from my “satellite” offices (a.k.a. coffee houses with free wifi) in the communities I cover. I absolutely hate being confined to a cubicle eight hours a day, so the freedom is great. But sadly, it also means that I miss out on such zany office-themed events as Crazy No-Pants Day. Here’s an email one of the editors just sent out:
To: News Users
Subject: WHO LOST THEIR PANTS?A pair of pants — with belt — found its way to right behind my chair. If they are yours — or if you see someone walking around without pants — let me know.
It kind of puts a whole new spin on Casual Fridays.
Filed under The Weird | Comments (2)