The Ripley Veteran's Roll of Honor memorial was dedicated last November (Veteran's Day) and lists the names of those men and women from Ripley who served in the military since WWII. I went to cover a meeting and the memorial service for the newspaper and I'm not sure how it happened, but I ended up being responsible for the making of a dvd of the event. As some of you know, I'm a complete idiot when it comes to computers, so I convinced Bill to do the production work.
Well, we spent 6 hours last Saturday cutting 2 camera angles of video for what is supposed to be a 45 minute production. We ended up with 47 minutes without even touching on the picture montage and the two speeches that will be included. So I went to the committee and viewed the rough draft with them, and we made more cuts. Now it's back to the "cutting room" with Bill.
I'm excited about this project though. I think when it's done it's going to be awesome. The music I suggested to the committee was overwhelming approved and will include Jay Unger's tune "Ashokan Farewell." If it goes as planned, all 700+ names on the memorial will scroll at the end of the video, first to Amazing Grace, played by a local bagpiper, then to a full orchestra version, then to Ashokan Farewell. I think it might be quite emotional in the end.
Anyway, thats what I've been up to lately, along with working on the school's newsletter, The Blue Eagle Express. Dawn's helping me with that one. Our biggest problem now is that my computer crashed with the blue screen of death and all the files I sent to her are unreadable by her computer. sigh I guess it's just gonna be a little late this month.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Spring is Sprung
Ruminations - Spring is sprung 3/12/09
Step outside and take a deep breath. Smell it? Spring is trying to break the back of winter. I opened the bedroom window a crack last night, and the smell of rain and wet earth filled the house. I haven't been outside much recently, no more than to walk from the car to the store and back, but I ventured out today. The crocus's are poking their heads up and the willow trees are budding. I can see the buds on the tree outside my window starting to swell, as the raindrops glisten on the fine lace branches like so many diamonds. The wonder of early spring is so easy to miss. Our brains are still sluggish from the cold and dreariness of winter, we're still focused on the chill of the wind, and the knowledge that winter hasn't lost its grip altogether. There will certainly be more snows, and more cold north winds; but the geese are coming back, flocks of seagulls gather in the field behind my house, and the cardinals are calling forth their territory, all sure signs that spring isn't far away.
The lake is an endless source of fascination for me. Being gone for so long, it's been decades since I've seen it frozen over. The ice formations are constantly on the move, forming and reforming as the winds blow from different directions. Some days Lake Erie appears frozen solid, the next will reveal a wide swath of open water, only to be swallowed up again by ice. But the open water is ocurring more often and in larger areas. It won't be long before the ice breaks up, finds its way to Niagara Falls, and the north winds, when they blow, won't be further chilled by the frozen water. Spring WILL come. It's not far off. I can smell it.
We're not long from Fat Tuesday and the first Friday of Lent, and already St. Patrick's Day is next Tuesday, unless the Catholic Church decides to change the date again. I think we're safe this year though. I haven't a drop of Irish blood in me (that I know of), but I'll don something green, pay homage to the leprechaun's and fairies, and pray for warm weather. I've seen St. Paddy's days of the past as warm as 78 degrees, and I've watched parades in St. Paul, Minnesota, which is predominately Irish and German, in freezing sleet and snow. The Irish are an affable lot as a whole, friendly but stubborn, feisty yet poetic by nature. I'm sure these are stereo-types, but I've become acquainted with a few Irishmen and women and they seem to fit this pattern. I don't know what the Irish makeup of this area is, but to the Irish everywhere - May the Irish hills caress you. May her lakes and rivers bless you. May the luck of the Irish enfold you. May the blessings of Saint Patrick behold you.
Step outside and take a deep breath. Smell it? Spring is trying to break the back of winter. I opened the bedroom window a crack last night, and the smell of rain and wet earth filled the house. I haven't been outside much recently, no more than to walk from the car to the store and back, but I ventured out today. The crocus's are poking their heads up and the willow trees are budding. I can see the buds on the tree outside my window starting to swell, as the raindrops glisten on the fine lace branches like so many diamonds. The wonder of early spring is so easy to miss. Our brains are still sluggish from the cold and dreariness of winter, we're still focused on the chill of the wind, and the knowledge that winter hasn't lost its grip altogether. There will certainly be more snows, and more cold north winds; but the geese are coming back, flocks of seagulls gather in the field behind my house, and the cardinals are calling forth their territory, all sure signs that spring isn't far away.
The lake is an endless source of fascination for me. Being gone for so long, it's been decades since I've seen it frozen over. The ice formations are constantly on the move, forming and reforming as the winds blow from different directions. Some days Lake Erie appears frozen solid, the next will reveal a wide swath of open water, only to be swallowed up again by ice. But the open water is ocurring more often and in larger areas. It won't be long before the ice breaks up, finds its way to Niagara Falls, and the north winds, when they blow, won't be further chilled by the frozen water. Spring WILL come. It's not far off. I can smell it.
We're not long from Fat Tuesday and the first Friday of Lent, and already St. Patrick's Day is next Tuesday, unless the Catholic Church decides to change the date again. I think we're safe this year though. I haven't a drop of Irish blood in me (that I know of), but I'll don something green, pay homage to the leprechaun's and fairies, and pray for warm weather. I've seen St. Paddy's days of the past as warm as 78 degrees, and I've watched parades in St. Paul, Minnesota, which is predominately Irish and German, in freezing sleet and snow. The Irish are an affable lot as a whole, friendly but stubborn, feisty yet poetic by nature. I'm sure these are stereo-types, but I've become acquainted with a few Irishmen and women and they seem to fit this pattern. I don't know what the Irish makeup of this area is, but to the Irish everywhere - May the Irish hills caress you. May her lakes and rivers bless you. May the luck of the Irish enfold you. May the blessings of Saint Patrick behold you.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Paris, I promise the newspaper will be on its way in a day or two.
Well, I'm out of the frying pan and into the fire! I'm done with the Republican and started on the Blue Eagle Express last Thursday. Dawn and I got it done and to the printer by Wednesday! and I distributed it that same day. I can see some things we left out, but hey, it was my first attempt.
I've been talking to Nancy McIntosh, the town librarian, and I have a plan in the back of my head to combine a newsletter for the library with the school publication. We'll see how that flies a bit down the road.
It's really dreary today, warm but overcast.
Well, I'm out of the frying pan and into the fire! I'm done with the Republican and started on the Blue Eagle Express last Thursday. Dawn and I got it done and to the printer by Wednesday! and I distributed it that same day. I can see some things we left out, but hey, it was my first attempt.
I've been talking to Nancy McIntosh, the town librarian, and I have a plan in the back of my head to combine a newsletter for the library with the school publication. We'll see how that flies a bit down the road.
It's really dreary today, warm but overcast.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Column from February 19, 2009
(with no repercussions from Meeder's I might add)
I love small towns. What you see is what you get. Walk into any restaurant and an egg salad sandwich comes two ways - on white bread or on wheat bread. Roast beef and gravy comes with mashed potatoes or fries. There are no menu items with fricassee or flambe in them. Chicken is chicken, beef is beef, pork is pork, and most generally you can identify them by sight. And coffee comes regular or decaf.
Things are more complicated in larger towns and cities where there are Olive Gardens, Perkins Restaurants, or Tim Horton's, or more exotic places like El Torito, Fuji Ya and Buca di Beppo. The choices there are overwhelming and the food sometimes unrecognizable. Don't get me wrong, I love Fuji Ya and Buca di Beppo, and I miss them, but sometimes you wonder what it is under all that sauce and noodles. Don't even get me started on Starbucks or other designer coffee places. A double grande, split shot, extra hot, dark chocolate mocha with no foam, one extra raw sugar and whipped cream is just not my thing. I like my coffee simple, hot and black.
That being said, I've discovered I'm a high maintenance kinda girl. My husband has claimed to know this for years, but I'm just now realizing it. We've had occasion to eat out several times lately and I find I'm not content to order a plain BLT (bread untoasted, crisp bacon, mayo on the side, please), or salad (no onion, sliced not chopped tomatoes, Thousand Island AND French dressing, both on the side), or burger (lettuce, tomato, no onion, what? no avocado?, okay just pickles, and ketchup). I have an annoying tendency to order things special made, not how they come out of the kitchen. I've given up asking if the "wheat" bread is really whole wheat or just white bread colored with caramel. I just smile and order wheat bread and eat whatever comes. I quite often order mayonaisse or salad dressings on the side so I can control the portion size. It rarely comes on the side regardless of how I order. I just figure if I'm paying good money for someone else to prepare my food, I ought to get what I want. It's Burger King's fault - "have it your way."
I'm sure servers find me annoying. I apologize for this. I tip well though. When my friends are in town and try to order a "mocca chocca decaf skinny with vanilla and a sleeve" I'll just smile sweetly and say, "Coffee, black please." It won't matter to me whether I get regular or decaf.
Honest.
(with no repercussions from Meeder's I might add)
I love small towns. What you see is what you get. Walk into any restaurant and an egg salad sandwich comes two ways - on white bread or on wheat bread. Roast beef and gravy comes with mashed potatoes or fries. There are no menu items with fricassee or flambe in them. Chicken is chicken, beef is beef, pork is pork, and most generally you can identify them by sight. And coffee comes regular or decaf.
Things are more complicated in larger towns and cities where there are Olive Gardens, Perkins Restaurants, or Tim Horton's, or more exotic places like El Torito, Fuji Ya and Buca di Beppo. The choices there are overwhelming and the food sometimes unrecognizable. Don't get me wrong, I love Fuji Ya and Buca di Beppo, and I miss them, but sometimes you wonder what it is under all that sauce and noodles. Don't even get me started on Starbucks or other designer coffee places. A double grande, split shot, extra hot, dark chocolate mocha with no foam, one extra raw sugar and whipped cream is just not my thing. I like my coffee simple, hot and black.
That being said, I've discovered I'm a high maintenance kinda girl. My husband has claimed to know this for years, but I'm just now realizing it. We've had occasion to eat out several times lately and I find I'm not content to order a plain BLT (bread untoasted, crisp bacon, mayo on the side, please), or salad (no onion, sliced not chopped tomatoes, Thousand Island AND French dressing, both on the side), or burger (lettuce, tomato, no onion, what? no avocado?, okay just pickles, and ketchup). I have an annoying tendency to order things special made, not how they come out of the kitchen. I've given up asking if the "wheat" bread is really whole wheat or just white bread colored with caramel. I just smile and order wheat bread and eat whatever comes. I quite often order mayonaisse or salad dressings on the side so I can control the portion size. It rarely comes on the side regardless of how I order. I just figure if I'm paying good money for someone else to prepare my food, I ought to get what I want. It's Burger King's fault - "have it your way."
I'm sure servers find me annoying. I apologize for this. I tip well though. When my friends are in town and try to order a "mocca chocca decaf skinny with vanilla and a sleeve" I'll just smile sweetly and say, "Coffee, black please." It won't matter to me whether I get regular or decaf.
Honest.
If I could save time in a bottle...
Okay, okay! DRR is nagging me to post. I don't really have 50 things to blog about, but a couple things have happened recently. I got my letter of approval to become the new editor for the Ripley school newsletter, The Blue Eagle Express. I think I may have bitten off more than I can chew with this one. I've not used a publishing program before. The writing, getting stories and photos thing won't be bad, but I'll have to learn an entire program to get the thing laid out. They tell me Pam Boll will be available to help/teach me. Hope this old brain can assimilate everything.
Yesterday (Friday the 20th) was my last official day at the Westfield Republican. My replacement seems really nice and fun and I'm sad I won't be there to work with her, although that wouldn't have been an option anyway. I'll go back Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to train her. After that I'll pop in every few weeks to bug Alex the editor and I'll email in my column and any stories that I write about Ripley. I'm going to enjoy the writing part, that's what I always wanted to do anyway. They're going to pay me for my column, a pittance, but it's something.
Nancy McIntosh at the Ripley library had asked me a couple weeks ago if I'd consider being on the "Friends of the Library" board, and we had our first information meeting this morning. The wish list of what Nancy would like the board to accomplish is huge and daunting, but we're going to meet again in two weeks and break down the list into manageable pieces and timelines. Again, I don't know where I'm going to find the time. Maybe it won't be as much of a time commitment as I'm afraid it will.
Bill and I are working on the Ripley Veteran's Roll of Honor (RVRH) video. So far we've taken over 500 photos and whittled it down to 82 (I think). And Bill's got the two video tapes that were taken and put them on his computer. We've got until Memorial Day to get them done. Another huge time commitment.
Okay, now I'm overwhelmed. I've commmitted to too many things. It all sounded so good at the time though... lol
Yesterday (Friday the 20th) was my last official day at the Westfield Republican. My replacement seems really nice and fun and I'm sad I won't be there to work with her, although that wouldn't have been an option anyway. I'll go back Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to train her. After that I'll pop in every few weeks to bug Alex the editor and I'll email in my column and any stories that I write about Ripley. I'm going to enjoy the writing part, that's what I always wanted to do anyway. They're going to pay me for my column, a pittance, but it's something.
Nancy McIntosh at the Ripley library had asked me a couple weeks ago if I'd consider being on the "Friends of the Library" board, and we had our first information meeting this morning. The wish list of what Nancy would like the board to accomplish is huge and daunting, but we're going to meet again in two weeks and break down the list into manageable pieces and timelines. Again, I don't know where I'm going to find the time. Maybe it won't be as much of a time commitment as I'm afraid it will.
Bill and I are working on the Ripley Veteran's Roll of Honor (RVRH) video. So far we've taken over 500 photos and whittled it down to 82 (I think). And Bill's got the two video tapes that were taken and put them on his computer. We've got until Memorial Day to get them done. Another huge time commitment.
Okay, now I'm overwhelmed. I've commmitted to too many things. It all sounded so good at the time though... lol
Thursday, February 5, 2009
New Direction
I'm turning in my resignation at the Westfield Republican tomorrow (Friday). I've been contemplating it for awhile now, and the final straw came yesterday when I was told I wasn't doing my job. I've been bustin' my butt, working all kinds of hours and not getting paid for them, but I'm not doing my job. Evidently my job consists of cold calling people to see if they'll advertise in our classified ad section, and doing three or four more reports, and taking on the advertising inserts for the papers, blah blah blah. In essence they want to take away the only part of the job I love (writing) and have me do twice again the amount of work I do, all for $7.75 an hour. The stress just isn't worth it.
I never intended to work full time, but couldn't pass up working for a newspaper and maybe getting my foot in the door to do some writing. With any kind of luck I'll continue to write my Ruminations column, and hopefully get paid for it. I'm not holding my breath, but I'm going to see if they'll pay me something for it. In the meantime, the school has already made calls to tell people I'm on the list for available substitute teacher's aid. And I've been asked to be on the "Friends of the Library" board, so I won't lack for things to do. I just need to make a little money each month so I don't have to beg from Bob.
I'm excited about handing in my notice tomorrow, but a little nervous too. I know it's not going to be taken well. I'll keep you posted.
I never intended to work full time, but couldn't pass up working for a newspaper and maybe getting my foot in the door to do some writing. With any kind of luck I'll continue to write my Ruminations column, and hopefully get paid for it. I'm not holding my breath, but I'm going to see if they'll pay me something for it. In the meantime, the school has already made calls to tell people I'm on the list for available substitute teacher's aid. And I've been asked to be on the "Friends of the Library" board, so I won't lack for things to do. I just need to make a little money each month so I don't have to beg from Bob.
I'm excited about handing in my notice tomorrow, but a little nervous too. I know it's not going to be taken well. I'll keep you posted.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Watch What You Say
Watch What You Say
I'm hearing a lot of "I wish it was spring," and "I can't wait til it warms up," as well as other sentiments from disgruntled citizens of the realm. I know I commented earlier in the winter about wanting more snow, and even my need for the white stuff has been satiated, but I won't wish for anything else. I refuse to wish my life away. Time flies too quickly as it is.
When my son was an infant and colicky I heard myself saying I wished he were older so he'd outgrow that stage, and then I realized I was wishing his little life would progress faster than it already was! I resolved then that I would not wish for time to be anything other than what it was at that moment. Life is too short to not experience each and every moment.
Another comment I hear is, "Been there, done that." What an insidious remark that is. In four little words it manages to diminish and trivialize the sentiments or feelings of another. A few years back I was sharing the trials and tribulations of taking care of my invalid mother-in-law to a friend. Without even listening to everything I was saying, his reply was, "Been there, done that." Immediately I felt as if my challenges and problems were totally inconsequential, and my feelings had no merit. It's a nasty little phrase that tells the person it's said to that they don't matter.
"Duh," is another commonly used put-down. Want to make someone feel stupid? Just respond with "duh" when they point out a fact or situation of which you're already aware. A sarcastic "no kidding" fits the same category. People love to share their knowledge and discoveries. Is it really necessary for us to put them down for it?
Ever notice we tend to be meaner and nastier to family members? We would never say some of the things we do if we were talking to a friend, acquaintance or stranger. Well, maybe some people would, but those people need special help anyway. Why do we talk to our children or spouses as if they have no feelings? Some of the wounds we inflict with our words last a lifetime. Who was it who said, "the pen is mightier than the sword?" Actually several famous people said it, but they all meant you could do more damage by writing something (or saying something) about a person than you could by piercing them with a sword.
So watch what you say! I'll be listening.
I'm hearing a lot of "I wish it was spring," and "I can't wait til it warms up," as well as other sentiments from disgruntled citizens of the realm. I know I commented earlier in the winter about wanting more snow, and even my need for the white stuff has been satiated, but I won't wish for anything else. I refuse to wish my life away. Time flies too quickly as it is.
When my son was an infant and colicky I heard myself saying I wished he were older so he'd outgrow that stage, and then I realized I was wishing his little life would progress faster than it already was! I resolved then that I would not wish for time to be anything other than what it was at that moment. Life is too short to not experience each and every moment.
Another comment I hear is, "Been there, done that." What an insidious remark that is. In four little words it manages to diminish and trivialize the sentiments or feelings of another. A few years back I was sharing the trials and tribulations of taking care of my invalid mother-in-law to a friend. Without even listening to everything I was saying, his reply was, "Been there, done that." Immediately I felt as if my challenges and problems were totally inconsequential, and my feelings had no merit. It's a nasty little phrase that tells the person it's said to that they don't matter.
"Duh," is another commonly used put-down. Want to make someone feel stupid? Just respond with "duh" when they point out a fact or situation of which you're already aware. A sarcastic "no kidding" fits the same category. People love to share their knowledge and discoveries. Is it really necessary for us to put them down for it?
Ever notice we tend to be meaner and nastier to family members? We would never say some of the things we do if we were talking to a friend, acquaintance or stranger. Well, maybe some people would, but those people need special help anyway. Why do we talk to our children or spouses as if they have no feelings? Some of the wounds we inflict with our words last a lifetime. Who was it who said, "the pen is mightier than the sword?" Actually several famous people said it, but they all meant you could do more damage by writing something (or saying something) about a person than you could by piercing them with a sword.
So watch what you say! I'll be listening.
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