The past week and the next

Yeah, I'm really tired right now, so my titles aren't that creative. I'll work on it in the near future.

Today is Sunday and I'm at the Brown House. It's sunny, but kinda cold. The house is alive with people. That's really cool to see.

The SPJ Convention
The Society of Professional Journalists annual Region Four Convention was yesterday. Beck and I went to the reception on Friday night at the Freedom Center. It was our first time there and it was very nice. I've heard a bit of criticism about it and, while it was video heavy, I did learn some things. We just checked it out as a sideline to our event, so I'd like to make a day of it and really explore their exhibits. I was glad to see that the Center connected the struggle of blacks to queer liberation and women's lib.

Saturday was the convention. I moderated a panel on Media Reform and Indie Media. It went pretty well. Always get speakers that are more competant than yourself, is my motto. John Fox, editor of Citybeat, George Nemeth of Brewed Fresh Daily and Sara Mahle from Media Bridges spoke on my panel.

Beck attended too and said she thought the discussion was really good. We attended a presentation by a writer from the New York Times on covering disasters, too. It was pretty moving - photos and stories from the first few days in post-Katrina New Orleans.

Kari Wethington and Andrew Warner did some podcasting for SPJ. I'll post the links when they're up.

Willing to put up with less these days
I don't want to say that we have less patience because of the baby coming, but we certainly have a lower bullshit threshold.

We're trying to use barriers wisely and kindly against people with recurring issues who are not addressing their problems. I had an argument with a friend that made me feel really bad a couple of days ago and I realized that it's just not where I want to be; not for myself, Becky or the baby. So I'm going to cool it with a couple of relationships that have been earmarked with anger. I just don't have the time for people who aren't willing to work on their issues.

Have you ever felt like you were in some kind of Groundhog Day (the movie) cycle with someone where it kept going sour on a cyclical basis? That's how I've felt.

Speeders
The bastards speeding down my street piss me off more and more the closer I get to having my baby breathe the air. Yeah, I need to find a solution to these issues. The city responded quickly to my call a couple of weeks ago and put speed limit signs on the street. It's a start.

The new week
Here's some stuff I need to complete this week:
Financial Record roundup and year-end books
Taxes
Getting rid of the blue couch (wanna buy it?)
Finishing the drywall repair in the hallway
Laying down the stone in the backyard
Work on the dining guide stories

That's all for now. Steve.