When I heard the one-line news "story" yesterday on the radio that a new poll had been published metering Gov. David Paterson's popularity, I wasn't sure whether the announcer had said the results were good or bad. Between the traffic noise and my divided attention, I missed one the most important part of the sentence - Had he said Paterson was the state's most or least popular governor in New York history?
The news ticker moved on to some more important item and I was left wondering behind the wheel on my way home. I found it quite unbelievable that Paterson could be, of all 55 state governors, the least popular...
I haven’t had much time lately to sit down in front of the TV, let alone turn it on and spend a few minutes watching. I’ve come dangerously close to canceling the cable subscription, actually, but that would mean plunking down $40 for a converter box just to get my Thursday night The Office/30 Rock fix, and that’s a whole ‘nother column.
Sunday, as Syracuse put it’s white coat back on and reminded us all that yes, it is still only February, I settled in for a couple of hours in front of the tube. While I turned interview notes into stories and folded pillow cases and t-shirts, I was reassured by an auto company that if I bought one of their cars now, they would help me out of any financial hardships I might face in coming months...
Let me preface this column by saying, for the record, that I’m not even all that crazy about wine.
Which helps explain why Gov. Paterson’s proposed legislation that would allow grocery, drug and convenience stores to carry wine had failed to hit home for me. But it had not gone unnoticed by local business owners or the media. When Assemblyman Will Barclay was approached by local liquor store owners at Camillus Town Hall, I had a story to write.
I pursued the local implications of the issue and ran an article in last week’s Advocate, and although the story interested me personally I reserved my judgment on the issue for the sake of objective reporting.
But, that was last week...
I know exactly what I expected when I headed to the North Side Sunday evening for the vigil at the Snyder home on Lilac Street, the site of the Jan. 4 shooting of Casimir Snyder in his own front lawn.
I expected there to be tears by candlelight, prayers and embracing, a melancholy gathering of a wounded neighborhood attempting to heal together. I parked my car 15 minutes before the designated 5 p.m. start time and thought, while watching two news vans leapfrog one another to win the closest parking spots, that for residents of Lilac Street, the novelty of seeing news media so close to home had no doubt worn off by now.
The crowd was so thin at one point, just past 5 o'clock, I wondered if I had gotten the time or date wrong - but no, there were other reporters...
Maybe it is a sign of my youth and inexperience in following political elections, but I was floored with the speed with which the news media went from President-elect Obama's winning the popular election to his family's dog breed dilemma to this newest debacle - will he quit smoking?
The New York Times, (and subsequently, I assume, countless other print, broadcast and internet news outlets), ran an article last week questioning whether Obama continues to smoke, and whether he would successfully kick the habit while charged with the Presidential post. My first thought was, "oh, that's right, he's a smoker."
Followed by, "who cares?"
Trust me, I am well aware of the dangers of tobacco - it's a killer, no doubt about it...
For two weeks, Miranda Pennock, editor of the Skaneateles Press and Marcellus Observer and I have been digging deeply into the apparent epidemic of middle and high school students abusing prescription drugs.
And it's frightening.
In college, it was the norm to hear about classmates or roommates or study partners self-medicate. Whether it was a cup of coffee or an energy drink to stay awake through a monotonous three-hour Power Point lecture, or less legal methods - buying a neighbors' Adderall, for example, because that 20-page paper was not going to write itself the night before deadline. The latter was not something I personally saw a lot of, but I knew it went on...
The peak of farmer's market season has certainly passed, but I do like a good challenge. That's why I'm all gung ho about cooking up a homemade and home grown Thanksgiving feast this year.
I mean, it's the first Thanksgiving dinner I've ever had the opportunity to tackle, so why not make it as difficult for myself as I possibly can?
Since Christmas presents a problem for my fiance and I - in six years we still will not have had a Christmas together, our families being spread out as they are - we try to go all out for Thanksgiving...
