the "star reporter" enters her second week

So the life of a small-town journalist is never dull... I've only been on the job a week and already the mayor knows me by name, people run from the camera whenever they see me, and though I have three days off a week, the 4 days I'm on can run for 12 to 14 hours.

And I do mean run. You may think that there's not a lot of room to run around in Houston, and I guess if you look at it one way, you're right. But when you're flying around town trying to get pictures, names, and information, it gets a little busy and frustrating at times.

Especially when the organiser of the event you're supposed to be covering is not cooperative and indeed, gives you the brush off. And then asks to borrow your pen because he doesn't have one. Hmmm... I was supposed to take pictures at this dance competition. This guy teaches kids how to break dance and the event seemed fun. Kids aged 5 - 13 stood in a circle and showed their stuff. But how was I supposed to take pictures when the only light flashed from a strobe light? And in the newspaper business, so I'm learning, we need names. They don't print anything if they don't have names. So I managed to take a few printable pictures and went over to the guy to see if he could supply me with the names. Because the kids were all having fun dancing, right?

But this guy (and I swear he was on drugs) didn't even give me the time of day! He couldn't take two minutes to tell me his students' names for the pictures that would go in the newspaper. And he even faxed over an announcement to us, asking us to be there! Needless to say I was mad. I told him that we couldn't print anything without names. He didn't seem to care. So I asked for my pen back and marched out.

I'm a busy journalist. Time is money and I don't have a lot to waste. There were other events to cover.

That event was a charity concert organised by an 11 year-old going on 40. I asked her some questions to put in a short article and she kept on trying to look at what I was writing down. She wasn't even discreet about it. This was a full-fledged lean-over and bend-the-head kind of thing. Hmmm... It reminded me of a saying I heard recently from Emerson... "Who you are screams so loudly into my ears that I cannot hear what you say." I think she was screaming of prima donna syndrome.

Other than those kind of random encounters, I am enjoying my job. It keeps me on the go and makes me really thankful for my days off. Mike is still enjoying his job. We're looking at a house pretty seriously, so I think we might be staying up here for a time or two. Once we have a house we'll have space for visitors, and you're most welcome to come up!