Tag: journalism

Apparently, a blogless day and a deep breath is what needed

imageAs I mentioned at the beginning of yesterday’s post, I was going to be unplugging from everything for a day or so  to find my peace with what happened earlier that morning. No social media, websurfing, instant messaging — nothing. I needed to be completely in the moment. To embrace the sadness willingly rather than be enveloped by it. As  I’ve said before, sadness is the flipside of humor. And as much as I’d like to think I’m pretty good at the humor part, I’m also pretty good at the sadness part when the situation warrents it.

Yesterday definitely warrented it.

Today, I returned to the blogosphere and just wanted to say thank you; for respecting my need to shut down for a bit; the kindness you shared in the comments left on yesterday’s post; and the incredible number of shares my tribute to Shiloh received. Writing it was as close as I could get to sharing his warm handshake with as many of you as I could, in a moment when I needed to share it most — so that his warmth and goodness could in some way touch your life as it did mine. Thank you for understanding that, and for returning the handshake with the same kind of warmth. It made me smile for the first time since yesterday.

It was a fitting reminder that, though gone from this world, Shiloh’s handshake is still making me and others smile.  Continue reading Apparently, a blogless day and a deep breath is what needed

Spring never officially started until I got a handshake from Shiloh

This is the only thing I will be posting today, in tribute to a wonderful young man who was tragically taken from the world early this morning. After this, I will be shutting down my devices for the day and avoiding my social media sites. But before I did, I wanted to share my thoughts with you about a young man named Shiloh Sundstrom…

imageThe four years I covered Shiloh Sundstrom during his time as a Mapleton High School athlete remain among my favorites in my 16 years at Siuslaw News.

Not because he was a particularly extraordinary athlete. But because he was most definitely an extraordinary person.

The kind that makes you feel good just to be near him because he not only carried positive energy and warmth with him, but shared it with everyone he came into contact with.

Even after Shiloh graduated and moved on to Oregon State University, his seasonal returns to Bowerman Field to assist his dad, longtime Sailors’ track coach Johnny Sundstrom, remained something I looked forward to. It was my opportunity to be in his energetic and positive presence while catching up on what he’d been doing. I discovered early on that, much like talking with his father, it was impossible not to smile while talking with this young man.  Continue reading Spring never officially started until I got a handshake from Shiloh

Voting has opened; time to get “RAW”

imageHey everyone! Voting in this week’s round in the “Performer of the Year” competition at The Public Blogger has begun!

After six weeks of voting — and an unfortunate outbreak of salmonella — the field has been reduced from 12 nominees to five heading into tonight’s round.

This week’s challenge, titled “RAW,” was possibly the toughest yet, with each of us given just 24 hours to complete our presentation — which was to answer the following two questions:

1) What is your contribution as an artist?
2) Have you ever had sex while dressed as a Star Wars character?

OK, not really. Ha! Ha! I made the first question up. Continue reading Voting has opened; time to get “RAW”

Tonight’s performance will be raw — and not that funny

Tonight, things get serious.
Tonight, things get a little serious.

For those of you following and supporting my pursuit of “Performer of the Year” in the A Star is Born competition at The Public Blogger, the theme for tonight’s round is “RAW.” Fortunately, since this isn’t Hell’s Kitchen, there won’t be Chef Ramsey yelling at everyone about their uncooked chicken or lamb. What it does mean is that, unlike past weeks in this competition, we were given just 24 hours to respond to two questions:

What is your contribution?

And

Where will it find its home? 

The point of this round, and why we were given such a short time to put our submission together, was so that it would be as unrehearsed, real, live and “raw” as possible. For my piece, I decided to strip away as much as possible (Don’t worry! There’s no nudity!) by answering those two questions as spontaneously and unrehearsed as possible. To do that, I avoided the written word, which allows me time to think things through. I simply set myself up in front of a camera and answered the questions uncut and unrehearsed. No fancy images. No music or flashy segues — just me, answering in one take.

No second chances.  Continue reading Tonight’s performance will be raw — and not that funny

Your Thanksgiving questions answered by Mr. Knowitall

(Today I’m over at Long Awkward Pause, where Mr. Knowitall is talking turkey about Thanksgiving myths. Just don’t stand in front of him when he actually says “myths” because he tends to spit a little…)

Mr. Knowitall is happy to answer your questions
Mr. Knowitall is happy to answer your questions

It’s been 395 years since that first Thanksgiving, when the Pilgrims and Wampanoag Indians sat down together in celebration and, much like the Americans of today, made a solemn vow not to eat more than your standard bull elk. We know this because of a passage recently discovered in the diary of Pilgrim Edward Winslow, who described the first Thanksgiving like this:

“Our harvest be large so that we might rejoice! Our plates and bellies be full to swelling! We have feasted on meats and gathered crops, and pies of sweet fruit!
Aye, I say! I think it be time to vomit!”

— Edward Winslow, Nov. 26, 1621

In spite of this kind of irrefutable historic documentation, many myths still exist about one of our most celebrated holidays.

For example: Did anyone actually eat the Indian corn, or was it just used as a decoration?

As a special tribute to Thanksgiving, we asked our resident historian, Mr. Knowitall, to help separate fact from fiction about this important holiday. We encouraged readers to send us their own Thanksgiving questions and, as a result, were inundated with hundreds of emails! Mostly male enhancement offers… but still enough questions that choosing a handful (of questions) required a highly complex selection process utilizing dozens of volunteers, an empty office and one wild squirrel… (MORE at Long Awkward Pause)

It’s official: Let’s try this post again! (In its entirety this time)

(Note: This has been updated from the original post earlier this morning, which was missing 300 words thanks to the new “auto-save” feature on the new “WordPress Editor.” In short: I almost had a stroke already this morning…)

image The latest round in The Public Blogger’s “Performer of the Year” competition has been completed, and thanks to your continued support — and a little help from Canada,eh? — I not only made it through the round but remain in the No. 1 spot after sweeping the public and judges vote. And yes, and investigation has been launched.

My reaction when the results were posted was something along the lines of:

“HOLY @#$%!”

So what does this mean exactly?

I have no idea, other than I’ll be heading into Round Six with my fellow nominees — Oscar, Rebecca, Kelly and Charles — this Sunday for our next challenge, which is called “RAW.” The one thing I do know is that if they want the ratings to stay up, it better include me keeping my clothes on. Continue reading It’s official: Let’s try this post again! (In its entirety this time)

It’s official: Canadians still like me pretty much

(Note: This has been updated from the original post earlier this morning, which was missing 300 words thanks to the new “auto-save” feature on the new “WordPress Editor.” In short: I almost had a stroke already this morning…)

image The latest round in The Public Blogger’s “Performer of the Year” competition has been completed, and thanks to your continued support — and a little help from Canada,eh? — I not only made it through the round but remain in the No. 1 spot after sweeping the public and judges vote. And yes, and investigation has been launched.

My reaction when the results were posted was something along the lines of:

“HOLY @#$%!”

So what does this mean exactly? Continue reading It’s official: Canadians still like me pretty much

A sneak peek at my 24-hour Canadian citizenship

image Who doesn’t LOVE Canada, AY? Moose. Mounties. Molson. Maple syrup. Mike Meyers. And lots of other uniquely Canadian things that begin with the letter “M.”

Which is why I was excited to be given Canada (yes, the whole country) as my guest for the next round in The Public Blogger’s “Performer of the Year” competition tomorrow!

I actually have several readers who claim to be from Canada — and hey, I believe them. In fact one of them, fellow humorist and tireless thespian rights activist Ross Murray, actually sent me a can of real maple syrup once! And I know it was genuine because the label was written in actual Canadian-uh-ish. Plus, the contents were measured in metric kilograms.

Or millimeters.

No, pentagrams.

Anyway, he was also gracious enough to make a brief cameo in my video for tomorrow night’s competition. Not that he’s wearing briefs in the actual video, just so we’re clear. Continue reading A sneak peek at my 24-hour Canadian citizenship

Don’t let your Thanksgiving turkey become memorable for the wrong reasons

imageThe countdown has begun. Before long, thousands will be in the kitchen preparing their very first Thanksgiving turkey. As a service to readers, I felt a responsibility to help educate people about foodborne illness by offering a special holiday feature that I’d like to call:

Don’t lose your giblets this Thanksgiving.

Being a writer, I’ve naturally spent a good portion of my career working in the food service industry. And like most writers, it was there that I was able practice my craft and eventually acquire something that ALL good writers must have: A Food Handler’s Card.

Because of this, I can stand before you as someone highly qualified to talk turkey.

So let us begin. Continue reading Don’t let your Thanksgiving turkey become memorable for the wrong reasons

Your decomposing pumpkin could threaten mankind

This weekend, watch for falling pumpkins.

I left the house this morning and made an important realization: What I had assumed was a fleece-lined, bright orange sweatshirt laying crumpled on the front steps was actually NOT a garment at all.

It was our jack-o-lantern.

This realization was made while attempting to pick it up. Though my intention was to give my children a stern lecture on taking care of their clothing, I decided instead to scream uncontrollably after grabbing a handful of pumpkin mucus. Somehow, our pumpkin’s aging process had accelerated, causing it to collapse in on itself and sprout white fur — literally — overnight.

This isn’t an isolated incident. Anyone who hasn’t disposed of their jack-o-lantern by now has witnessed this process, which we can all agree defies the natural laws of physics. One morning, your pumpkin’s face is triangle-eyed and gap-toothed as normal. The next morning, it is Buddy Hackett. Continue reading Your decomposing pumpkin could threaten mankind