What goes around....

Ran across some industry news in the past few days that intrigued me.

Our "sort of" (McClatchy owns 49 percent of them) sister paper, Seattle Times, is going to switch from its CCI publication system to a new one: EidosMedia’s Methode.

The whole reason this intrigues me is that I have a personal and professional love/hate relationship with that three-initial publishing system. It was one of the reasons why I landed in the SeaTac area and I'm curious as to what is going to happen to the unnamed ex-lover who took a job out here to work for that paper's system.

Hmmm.... since we don't speak, I wonder what kind of turmoil that department is in and what he may be dealing with personally. For him to go back to Dallas would be a death sentence.... i know how much he dislikes Texas.

And frankly from a professional standpoint I wonder where this publishing system came from and if it will be better. It is the first US company to use it -- so that will be an interesting test case to watch.

I'll have to pick a friend's brain when I see him next who works there and test the waters for all the newsrooom talk.

Things I miss about Detroit...

Pierogis. Pierogis. Pierogis.
The Dirty Show.
Olga's Kitchen pita bread
The Firehouse after the car show.
Coney runs.
The Magic Bag.
Afterwork dancing.
Robin's loft.
Johns at 2 a.m.
The Magic Stick. Rock and Bowl.
Armandos seafood tacos.
Detroit beer company.
Ferndale eclectic vibe.
The Fox. The Masonic.


*** Recent nostalgia as i tried to have some little polish dumplings shipped to the PNW -- estimated cost: $235 (that works out to a little less than $4 per pierogi...) Uh... I'll think I'll pass.

Makes me wonder....

Going through some backlogged emails.... and i sent a belated one to an ol' CM LIFE coworker and friend who informed me that he's leaving the journalism industry and well, darn it, he's had it with papers and he and the wife are packing up, heading out and going to teach in Korea for a year.

This wasn't a surprise -- or something off the wall -- since he's at least the 10th friend in the industry who has said the heck with it .... and now they are off teaching/working abroad, peace corps, working in the private sector.

What happened to my generation of journalists? Have we already become so disenchanted in our 20s and early 30s or is the rocky road of print journalism just too much to take? Can we already see into that crystal ball and see that the future is nil?

Sigh... better start polishing up my web skills some more or I may be left in the dust.

Sad day for musicophiles....

I just got the word that No Depression magazine is folding after its next issue. Whhhhaaaaaaaaahhhhh!!!!

As a closet music junkie, I was turned onto this mag several years back by an ex (thanks Steve!) and it has been a great resource for those under the radar bands.

Read more here

What am I going to do now? Paste is ok. Rolling Stone is getting too preachy... sigh... Hopefully NoD's continuing website will kick ass!

I feel like a feeble old man...

Mindi and I finally made it to snowboarding up at Snoqualmie Pass Tuesday. And today I am paying for it. Every part of my body aches... and it takes effort just to put on my shoes and socks.

I did manage to stay on the board with two feet strapped in, but talk about a different sensation after skiing for all these years. They teach you in the first lesson with one strap only on and it was definitely daunting to be sharing the bunny slopes with 5- and 6-year-old skiers. But there were some older adults on the lifts. At least I still somewhat look younger... I hope. I even shut down the tow rope when I missed the landing area... and a teenager had to stop the moving sidewalk (snicker, snicker...)




But all in all, a beautiful day on the slopes and great company who also was landing on her butt as well.





I've got two more days/lessons left so I plan on trying it out at least for the rest of the season. I do want to go skiing up there at some point also...

Before it was my house...

Google satellite is a little outdated (at least two years) but I stumbled across what the lot looked like before all the construction in my new neighborhood.

Dallas was a blast!

Little sleep was worth it! Seeing everyone at the Monk, driving around Dallas, eating some wonderful meals at the Mansion on Turtle Creek, Dallas Fish Market, dinner with Ted at Mi Piaci (which was comical in itself as the backup for Valentine's Day night was already in force) and great tex mex at Matt's... what more could a girl ask for?

I did get the upgrades to first class which became ground zero for sleep... and as I drove around Dallas it felt as if I had been gone on just a long vacation. The sun, the crazy drivers all in their big ol' SUVs they can't drive, the pretty, enhanced blondes on their cellphones not paying attention to traffic... I was home.

Update on a few things...

Countdown to Lasik: 60 days! Got the time off and Mindi has graciously agreed to be my driver! Talked to another co-worker who said the benefits are worth it but get a double dose of valium as it felt like his eyeballs were going to explode.. great.. i can ponder that for the next two months.

Countdown to say farewell to Anna: In 4 days, i'll be back in Dallas -- seeing all the peeps and sending off Anna to Hong Kong with some good meals under her belt... and a great bar night at Lee Harvey's -- I miss that place! And warmer weather....

Drumroll... I have all of my window coverings now.. Yeah! The sheets have come down from the windows and I feel less trailer trash-esque. The new bamboo shutters are gorgeous... and they should be for the pretty penny I paid for them.

Also in the works - furniture! Most of the stuff I was holding off on purchasing until I found stuff I liked, the house was really mine and I'm kind of on this whole Pacific NW sustainabilty, greener kick -- since there are so many kinds of options like this out here.

Super Bowl may be over but man, work is getting busier and with less space to work with. We've had these teeny, tiny sections lately -- sigh, I'm learning to do more with less --- A few things on my radar are the NBA all-star game, tons of prep state coverage plans, some Mariners spring training and that little thing down the road called March Madness. February is going to fly right by.

"Ladies and gentleman...."

I am not a complete cyber idiot.... I blog to you wirelessly (and three months after I bought the router) from my third floor guest bedroom.

The router is on the first floor (in the den) and after about 2 hours of beating my head against a wall and then sucking it up and calling D-Link... I can now surf the net and not steal from my neighbor! Whohoo....

Next mission: Wirelessly hooking up my printer and my laptop.

It may even take me less time... Wish me luck!

Four-eyes may be a thing of the past

Went for a consult today up in Renton to see if I was still a candidate for Lasik. I am -- and it is within my budget (I actually planned for it this year and put money aside in my flex spending account!)

The procedure will take all of 10 minutes. The prep time -- almost three hours though.

Now finding the time to get work off (i need at least two days and they only do surgery on Thursday-Saturday: key sports days!) so I'll be working on fitting that into a schedule...

And finding a wonderful friend who can spend four hours of their morning driving my temporarily blind butt to and from the Renton office two days in a row...

I like my new neighbors...

as i gave up trying to wifi my house a few months ago. I really need to get it done. But then i discovered one of the new neighbors forgot to lock down their wi-fi -- whohoo! I can put off my slackerness for awhile and surf the net in the living room!