Telling Other People's Stories

Cal Breed of Orbix Glass helping Shannon create an ornament.

I've been at my job at the newspaper for five months now, and while some things (e.g. council meetings) don't have me sighing with dreamy contentment, there are a few people who have.

Back in the olden days - meaning about 10 years ago - I worked as a summer reporter in The Villages, Fla. Yes, the huge retirement community that airs commercials during weekend golf tournaments. I covered no news. Just fluff.

Beautiful, airy fluff.

To Preach of It: An Original Poem

i looked to you to

tell me i was beautiful

life was hopeful

to be faithful

To Thine Own Self be 'Roo

The Chanticleer, Aug. 30, 2012

Every June, I find myself among 100,000 people on a farm in rural Tenn., all seeking the same ideal: escape.

It doesn’t matter that we’re coming from different realities. For some, it’s a world after graduation. For others, impending fatherhood. For folks like me, it’s the day-to-day life of adult- and parenthood. We share this notion, and that’s all that matters.

“A weekend to walk places, stay dirty and be a part of a community of mostly “like-minded” people living peacefully,” says my friend Jenn. “And now if that doesn’t sound like a bunch of hooey hippy stuff, I don’t know what does.”

And she’s right. I can’t describe ‘Roo without a bunch of “hooey hippy stuff.”

For those that don’t know Bonnaroo, just imagine a modern-day, commercialized Woodstock. Roughly 100,000 people camping around a central location filled with stages and vendors and aaah ... music.

The music is what first draws people. In the past two years I’ve seen Arcade Fire, My Morning Jacket, Mumford & Sons, Fun., The Infamous Stringdusters, Alice Cooper, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Florence + the Machine, Grace Potter & the Nocturnals, The Roots, Foster the People, Danzig Legacy, Puscifer, Iron & Wine, Yelawolf, Flogging Molly, Colin Hay, The Decemberists and Eminem. To name a few.

The AP Stylebook's Rule for Use of Ellipsis

This is what I've been learning since my last post ... three days before Christmas.

The ellipsis, according to the AP Stylebook, is treated as a separate word. Space. Dot dot dot. Space.

Sigh ...

Today is a 'Me' Day & You Need One, Too

Today is a ‘me’ day. No cleaning, no laundry, no running my daughter here, there and everywhere. Time to relax in a coffee shop with my soy latte, get a manicure/pedicure, and at some point, settle down with my current book.

Do I feel guilty? Absolutely.

Should I feel guilty? Absolutely not.