The Median Sib

I’ve received communication (comments and email) about my earlier post about annoying folks in the MSM - specifically Anderson Cooper, Christiane Amanpour, and Soledad O’Brien.  No one has bothered to stand up for Amanpour or O’Brien, but several people have said that Anderson Cooper shouldn’t be judged so harshly.

From comments: 

He didn’t make it because of his famous mother. In fact-it was quite the opposite. He did it on his own. He followed wars around the globe with his own video camera and nothing more. This was after being denied a job with ABC news.

Here is information from someone who watched him cover the Democratic Convention in 2000.

[Other reporters] would come in and do the PR thing and sit down to be briefed and handed their pages and go on air and then disappear.  He [Anderson Cooper] was there studying — focus and uninterruptible – totally engrossed in his work at least an hour before he went on the air.

So maybe he isn’t so smarmy after all.  He just never made a positive impression on me.  However, I’ve only seen him as a news reporter - and as a host for “The Mole.”

I wrote yesterday that Anderson Cooper seems smarmy - even though I wasn’t sure of the meaning of the word.  Well, here’s the official definition - and I was right - he’s smarmy:

Main Entry: smarmy

Function: adjective

Pronunciation: ’smär-me

Etymology: smarm to gush, slobber

1 : revealing or marked by a smug, ingratiating, or false earnestness

2 : of low sleazy taste or quality - smarm·i·ly/-m&-le/ adverb - smarm·i·ness/-me-n&s/ noun

Some people can be annoying simply by existing.  There are three MSM folks who fit that category perfectly.  I really can’t put my finger on why two of these three bug me so much, but as soon as one of them is on TV, their annoyance factor outweighs anything they could possibly say.  I usually change the channel immediately - or if RT is enmeshed in watching it, I grab a book and read or find something else to do.  Even doing the dishes is more appealing.

Here are my nominations for the top three most annoying folks in the MSM - and what a coincidence, they’re all at CNN:  Anderson Cooper, Christiane Amanpour, and Soledad O’Brien.

Anderson is just smarmy - and I’m not even sure what the word means, but it fits him.  I can’t figure out how he got his job - he must have something major on the bigwigs at CNN.  Plus, the title of his show is so pretentious:  AC 360.  Really!  (Of course Wolf Blitzer’s “The Situation Room” isn’t any better!  And he could very well be #4 on this list.) 

Christiane gave the commencement address at my daughter’s college graduation and used the opportunity to make a political rant.  I lost all respect for her at that moment.  Enjoy your left-wing vitriol, but don’t spew it at my daughter’s graduation! To be fair, though, reading the news doesn’t take a lot of intelligence, and so it might have been beyond her capabilities to come up with an appropriately encouraging and congratulatory speech.

Soledad just acts so . . . I’m not sure how to describe it, but it’s like someone playacting.  I figure she must have something on the bigwigs at CNN, too.  How else could she have gotten the job?  She acts so fake…and serious.  Like if she keeps this stern look on her face, she’ll be believable and people will take her seriously - but it’s not working.

So, what do you think?  Who would you nominate?

Tonight’s the first time RT has been out of town overnight in over a month.  And guess what else is happening for the first time in about that long.  Yes, it’s a thunderstorm.

I’m not a fan of storms, although I’m trying very hard to change my attitude.  I dated a guy a few years ago who loved them.  He wanted to sit on the porch and watch them.  I, on the other hand, tended to want to hide under the bed with my fingers in my ears.  At least I never acted on that want - but I thought about it.

So, here I sit - by myself in the house - with lightning flashing and thunder booming around me. 

Okay, I’m a day late because the carnival was posted yesterday, but still - if you have an interest in teaching and education, take a look at this week’s Carnival of Education, hosted by California LiveWire.  Although one of my posts is included, don’t let that keep you away. 

Blessing #1:  I had a meeting at the school’s central office at 1:00 today - and the topic of the meeting was something I am passionate about.

Blessing #2: The meeting only lasted two hours - and the time went quickly because it was interesting, the other people in the meeting were knowledgable and fun, and the meeting was well-managed.

Blessing #3 (and the best one):  Since the meeting only lasted two hours, that means that my work day was over at 3:00 p.m.  CELEBRATION!

Last week I wrote about a quotation that a friend had shared with me:

Life is a game in which you are juggling 5 balls.  The balls are called WORK, FAMILY, HEALTH, FRIENDS, and INTEGRITY.  And you’re keeping all of them in the air.  But one day you finally come to understand that work is a rubber ball.  If you drop it, it will bounce back.  The other four balls - FAMILY, HEALTH, FRIENDS, INTEGRITY - are made of glass.  If you drop one of these, it will be irrevocably scuffed, nicked, perhaps even shattered.  And once you truly understand the lesson of the 5 balls, you will have the beginnings of balance in your life.

~From Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas  by James Patterson

I had read Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas before, but it had been a long time, and I couldn’t recall the storyline.  So I got another copy and just re-read it.  It’s a quickie book - only took a couple hours to read.  Such a good book with such a good message.  So, if you’ve never read the book - find a copy and read it. 

In thinking about the five balls, I realize that I do a pretty good job of balance in my life except for the health ball.  So, since all I’ve done since I got home from work is read that book, eat two sugar-free ice cream bars and then write this post, I’ll go get some exercise. 

I mentioned in an earlier post that RT and I have been going to counseling in order to work through the issues that led to our divorce nine years ago.  Today we “graduated.”  Our counselor told us that she felt we had made great progress and that we were very different from how we were when we first started talking to her a couple months ago.  And she is right.  Our relationship has changed tremendously - and for the better. 

We, of course, can make another appointment if anything ever comes up that we need help with.  However, it was very satisfying to have someone we both respect - who knows us and our relationship well, and who has heard the good and the bad - tell us that she feels our relationship is healthy and that the idea of a wedding in Alaska sounds perfect. 

Let’s hear a little “Pomp and Circumstance” for the graduates!

So now RT and I are talking about getting married when we’re in Alaska August 28 - Sept. 6.  Just thinking of it.  Guess I need to do some research about that.  Like, do we need to get a license in Alaska?  Who would officiate at the wedding?  And I’m not sure I want to mix the wedding in with the trip.  RT said that the “new frontier” of Alaska would fit with the “new frontier” of our second wedding.

Wow!  I just did a search, and there are all kinds of sites about weddings in Alaska - Alaskan glacier weddings,  Alaskan garden weddings . . .

I was surfing around some of my favorite teacher blogs and came upon this post writen by Graycie at Today’s Homework.  Here’s an exerpt:

My rule is that I don’t have to think about school (not in any practical way (messing around with my wiki and reading the thoughtful and intelligent words of all you ed bloggers counts as ‘fun’) until August 1st. Then I’ll figure out what day I have to go back, what day I’ll really go back to “check my room out” (read: start moving furniture and hanging wall stuff) . . .

That describes me almost perfectly this summer.  When I left school the end of May, I did not even think about school again in any substantial way until July 24th when I began six days of workshops - 4 days of writing and 2 days of coaching (academic - not athletic).  And yesterday I drove to my school and just looked around for about 15 minutes to decide how I would arrange the desks and bookshelves. 

After having a classroom all to myself for two years, I will have to share my room with the leveled book room and the teachers’ professional library.  Our school is growing and the two rooms that housed those items were needed. 

It will work out, though.  Before school was out, I drew a diagram of how everything should be.  Then during the summer when the work crews moved everything, they followed the diagram.  So my room is mostly set up - with just a little rearranging on my part.  The space for my reading groups was substantially reduced, but I’m still more fortunate than many of the other reading specialists in our school systems.  A couple of them have only a rolling cart or a closet to call home at their schools.  At least I have a room - and I don’t have to share it with another teacher - just with a lot of books.

So tomorrow (Sunday) is my last official day of summer vacation.  I will go to Sunday school and church, spend time with RT, maybe go to the farmers market to get some fresh tomatoes, and relax.  I will NOT think about school, though.  Monday will be here soon enough.

RT and I are discussing selling his house, buying an RV, trailer or motor home to put on the land to live in while we build the house.  Hmmmmm.  It’ll be spring before the new house is built.  As I write this, there is a crew over there digging the 4-foot deep trenches for the water and electricity lines.

If we follow that plan, we’d put most of our stuff in yet another storage unit (that would make THREE full storage units of our stuff), take just what we need to get us until spring, and then put the motor home/RV/trailer on the land and live there while the house is being built.  That would free up the money to pay for the house rather than having to take out a loan.  And the building site is a long way off the road - at the end of a 1/3 mile winding driveway that RT built.  So there wouldn’t be any danger of neighbors complaining - because no one could see it unless they drove to the end of the driveway.

I think it could be considered an adventure since there would be definite parameters of time.  i.e. You can handle most anything as long as you know there will be an end to it.  It would be nice to be over there because it is such a beautiful place.

So today I’m looking online at campers and RVs and motor homes and trailers - and thinking about being real-life trailer trash!  Yea!

The news has been depressing lately.  I was driving home after having lunch with RT, my daughter, my son and my daughter-in-law awhile ago, and I was listening to the news.  It was just too much.  I changed the channel to an easy listening station.  Today even Barry Manilow singing “I Can’t Smile Without You” was welcome.

Beth at My Vast Right Wing Conspiracy has a post that expresses how I feel.  Sometimes I think we need a break from the conflicts in the world around us.  Sing to me, Barry.

Just go here and read.  The only way to stop islamic terrorism is to obliterate the terrorists.

I got my new camera - A Nikon D50 - and I’ve taken a BUNCH of photos.  However, I realized a little late that I did not have it set for automatic focus, and so most of the pictures were so out of focus I deleted them.  Here are four that survived the delete button…barely.

This first picture is of a hen turkey with two chicks (rather large chicks) who were in our front yard yesterday morning.

This next photo is of a deer who was on the hill behind our house Tuesday morning.  There were actually two deer and several turkeys - but they were too far apart to get all of them in the same photo.

And here, friends and neighbors, is the bane of my existence - poison ivy.  I took this photo last night when I was standing by this tree helping RT as he worked on the engine of the tractor.  I was VERY careful not to touch any of it.

And this is the second photo from last night.  Two blooming flowers - the background is one of the tractor tires.

Sometimes - no, make that MOST times - I am appalled at the news coverage of the situation in Israel and Lebanon.  How can the MSM be so openly biased and people don’t see it for the dangerous farce it is?  And I’m also appalled at the gullible (hopefully but doubtfully) or totally self-interested (probably) reaction of many (most?) liberals and democrats.  Do they REALLY want the Islamic terrorists to prevail in the middle east?  Today while surfing some of my favorite websites, I found this cartoon at Dr. Sanity. It says it all.

I hesitate to recommend another real-life drama book after being burned for my recommendation of A Million Little Pieces by James Frey (here, here and here).  Turns out the horrible experiences that Frey described in his book were “enhanced” for literary effect.  He lied, in other words.  Apparently he felt that the real story wasn’t dramatic enough for a book.  He even duped Oprah with his story.

I hope that the book I’m about to recommend wasn’t enhanced in any way.  Do you remember the guy a few years ago who was mountain climbing and a boulder fell and trapped his right hand between it and the side of a rock wall - and after a few days he cut off his own arm in order to escape?  That guy was Aron Ralston, and his book about the experience is Between a Rock and a Hard Place.  I finished reading it last week, and I keep going back to re-read parts of it.  Such a fascinating and horrifying experience. 

During his experience, Aron who had been traveling alone and hadn’t notified anyone of his plans, had his video camera nearby and he recorded his experience.  He expected to die there since he didn’t have the tools the cut through the bone in his arm to free himself.  And so he videotaped his last will and testament, scratched his epitaph on the rock wall next to him - until, in one shining moment of inspiration, he figured how to bypass cutting through the bone in order to cut off his arm and escape.

Absolutely fascinating.