Tag, I'm It

It’s a blog game where writers eTag one another. It is then responsible to write about certain aspects of It’s life that certain others may or may not know. It is also responsible for tagging several others. I doubt I’ll do that.

Now that I’m It, I’m going to write about me, not that I don’t really write about me every other time. My spin on the game is going to be a little bit different. Considering that life is significant, I’m going to dribble monumental moments that have certainly impacted my life. I’ll probably forget one or two, but I’ll get most of them. So hold on to your hats because here we go:

• Born - Same year that man 1st walked on the moon; Woodstock; Hillary and Norgay made it to the top
• Sometime between day one and year seven – Met for the first time soon-to-be life-long friend, Fluid
• ’77ish-‘78ish – Met for the first time soon-to-be life-long friend, Popeye
• ’77ish-‘78ish – Parents divorced
• ’79 – Parents remarried
• ’80 – Father died; Brother moved to college; Mom working full-time
• ’81-‘82 – Met for the first time soon-to-be life-long friends, Crad, Brew
• ’82-’83 - Met for the first time soon-to-be life-long friends, Cerra
• ‘83 – Accepted God as my savior; became a member of the RUMC - I believed , but had an understanding of a teen. A point made obvious by several of the following.
• ’84 – 1st use of adult beverages, and got caught - Cerra, RB, Popeye, Def Leppard
• ’84 – Suzuki Shuttle, my moped
• ’84 – 1st kiss-JS; First time I ever felt a girl's boobie, Shannon (someone) from Doylestown
• ’84 – High school freshman
• ’84-‘85 – 1st smoke, both the brown leaf and the green leaf
• '85 - Got busted by RHS for smoking pot, suspended for one week
  
• ’85 – First Concert, Motley Crue w/ Y&T opening
• ’86 – Lost a status with the help of JS
• ’86 – 10-0 football season, 1st long-range goal successfully accomplished as part of a team
• ‘86 – My mother remarried, BF
• ’87 – Graduated High School; Began College
• ’87 - Met for the first time soon-to-be life-long friends, TF, VW
• '88 - Worked at Stone Lab, an island in Lake Erie
  
• ’88 – First long-term girlfriend – TB
• ’88 – Obtained my first real job at the Faculty Club
• '89 - TB and I drove to the Grand Canyon, worked as wait staff at the Bright Angle Lodge for the summer
  
• ’90 - ’91 - Met for the first time soon-to-be life-long friend, LM
• ’90 – Popeye starts college and we move in together
• ’91 – Met for the first time my nephew - TW
• ’91 – First Grateful Dead Show
• ’92 – 1st true broken heart - TB
• ’92 - Graduated from College (struggle!); moved to Gvl, S.C. and in with my brother, his wife, and his two kids; Met for the first time my niece - KW
• ’92 – Obtained my first professional position at WYFF; Met and started dating Kimberly
• ’92 - Met for the first time soon-to-be life-long friend, MD
• ’92 – Met for the first time my future wife, PH
• ’93 - Met for the first time soon-to-be life-long friend, JR
• ’93 – Cousin, KW, killed in a car accident
• ‘94 – Started dating my future wife
• ‘95 – Started shooting TV News
• ‘95 – Windows 95; first computer;
• '95 - Jerry Garcia dies
  
• ‘95 – Met for the first time a person that would later help cause havoc in my life, EJS
• ’96 – 1st award for photojournalism
• ’96 – Moved in with PH
• ’98 – Married PH; 1st time home owner
• ’99 – 1st Emmy Award– Collaborative Effort
• ’99 - Met for the first time soon-to-be life-long friends, MB, BW
• ’00 – 2nd Emmy Award – Best Photography
• ’00 – Switched positions at WYFF from photojournalism to web-based journalism
• ’00 – ’01 - Met for the first time soon-to-be life-long friends, TG, GD
• ’01 – Entered the field of public relations, a local hospital
• ’02 – My first digital camera
• ’02 – Diagnosed with ADD & HD – drastically over medicated, extremely life-changing, opening of a new world
• ’02 – My angle was born
• ’02 – Joined Brookwood Church
• ’03 – My first recognition of possibly being over medicated on adderall
• ’03 – A year of firsts, mostly dealing with shame, embarrassment and GHS; fixed medication issues
• 03 - Purchased my first personal video camera
  
• ’03 – Beginning of a long journey to fix that which was broken in my life
• ’04 – New Job - 1st PR agency job - resigned after four months
• ‘05 – PW's dad dies
• ’05 – New job – Editor and Chief of Upfront Publishing, former publishers of three magazines, laid-off
• ’05 – New Job – Public Relations Clemson University; began a quest for knowledge dealing with all things computer, digital, and communication; my 1st digital SLR
• '06 - Started my own personal website
  
• '06 - Joined a men's small group at my church
  
• ’06 – Gman dies, video
  
• '07 - Started Blogging
  
• Today – Happy Birthday to Me

By the way, the photo above is the house in which I grew up, 147 Grandview Blvd.

The Illusion of Growing Up…and a Big Tornado

The Graduate:
I am the very proud father of a graduate. Amongst a large mix of gleaming grandparents, crying pre Ks and frazzled but pleased parents, the Overbrook Baptist Church preschoolers took to the stage Thursday singing a mix of traditionals before teachers handed out graduate certificates.

I can’t believe that at the end of this summer my little girl will be going to big school. Right now she’s on-the-books for Mitchell Rd. Elementary.

I’m still hoping for Stone Academy. We’re 3rd on the list to get in. As a graduating present, Mom and Dad gave REW her own (Wal-Mart special) digital camera. Surprisingly, it works fairly well. She’s thrilled…as am I.


Visions or Illusions:
The things that I take for granted are amazing to me, and it’s take a child to make me understand.

The RER clan, REW and I made a quick trip to Greer Family Days last Saturday. Both Otis and I spent about $30 on $5 worth of food before spending another $7 to ride the jumpy things.

Who knew that God was about to go bowling after the first bouncing fiesta?

Our first refuge seemed great until we discovered the wind was blowing in our direction. The brick overhand didn’t help much. We then darted across to the shallow awning of the Greer Citizen.

This is where we stood for the next ½ hour making reference to Caddy Shack and joking about the citizenry of the town while rain torrents rotated to pesky drizzles and back again.

Otis the Younger learned to mimic the fearful sounds of REW after each major clap despite his daddy’s pleas to raise the arms in victory and then punch it home. Having a daughter, it’s always fun for me when a friend’s male child exhibits girly traits.

Digressing: Most adults would wash the day with a stroke of bad luck. The treat actually came after the rain. After nearly five years of reading in various books about them, REW saw a rainbow for the first time. I think it was probably The Younger’s first as well.

Judging from REW’s expressions, I would have to conclude that the prismatic colors are both visions and illusions…at the cost of $74.



On a Completely Different Note - Before and After:
Pictures are many words, but I’m going to give you a few words anyway. If you’ve been dead to the world for the last couple of weeks, you may not have heard.

A large tornado caused extensive damage in Greensburg, Kansas on May 4th. Okay, large is a bit of an understatement. Reports claim that the tornado was 1.5 miles wide. ONE POINT FIVE MILES WIDE!

Imagine a destructive whirling mass filled with cows and cars, light posts, two by fours and aunt Janet’s dentures rapidly advancing on your position.

I can only imagine that it sounded like a freight train traveling through my back yard.

However, I don’t have to imagine the destructive force. These before and after photos give me a pretty good mental image.

Hey Joe Died

It was me a hundred times over during the course of nearly ten years in the TV news industry. Somewhere on a highway shooting the scene of an accident was where I cut my teeth, or at least learned how to always white balance. When the weather was bad and driver visibility lessened was when I was dispatched the most.

I once did a 11p live shot in the sleet/rain on I-385 at the intersection of I-85. We were stationed at the apex of a blind hill so we could get microwave reception. The on-coming drivers saw nothing until cresting. They would then be blinded by the frezzi on my camera and any extra lights I could set up before deadline. Mix in with the weather and the bright lights the ohhh & ahhh factor of a big TV news van and a reporter. What you get is nothing but a journalists’ nightmare.

To me his name was Hey Joe. That’s what I said every single time I called the assignment desk at Fox Carolina. The response was always the same; a semi-husky and friendly tone of, “Hey Tim, what’s going on? How are ya?”

Joe Loy was one of those embedded Upstate journalists with nearly an entire career covering local news. Like most journalist that work in this market for more than five years, Joe knew everyone…and their phone numbers. He knew how to get from here to there no matter either location. He understood news and he understood Upstate news. There is a difference. He was a very sweet man who always had time for conversation, and he always cared, or at least seemed to care, about the hack pitch du jour.

Joe worked the assignment desk at Fox but would pick up a camera from time to time. He was certainly no stranger to it. While covering the subsequent gawker wreck of a major accident on I-85 in Spartanburg County yesterday, an impatient driver recklessly cut off a van along that stretch of highway. The van driver overcompensated trying to keep his vehicle out of danger. Investigators are uncertain right now if the van hit Joe or if it slammed into the news vehicle and the news vehicle hit Joe.

I wonder if the impatient driver was hurrying home to see his kids. Joe has kids, too. I’m sure the driver learned this information on the 11p news last night. He certainly didn’t stick around scene to find out. When the police find him (or her) and take him to jail, I wonder if his kids will miss their father. I also wonder if this man (or, again, woman) has enough integrity to step up to the plate and turn himself in. I wonder if he even knows it’s his time to bat or did his impatiens leave him blind to everything that happened, everything except that which was in front of him.

Joe died doing that for which his professional life was dedicated. He will be deeply missed.

More about Joe | More about Joe | More about Joe

Take a Cell from W. D. Griffith When Parenting

There isn’t one all-encompassing answer when situations like the recent shooting at Virginia Tech happen. However, prophylactic protection for such random acts of violence begins at home, and it’s the duty of all parents to participate.

The causes of such situations are rooted in many different aspects of life. Mental health is one of them. Mental health is certainly real and an issue in both children and adults. But there are many other factors at work; proper parenting from day one is the most important.

If a child doesn’t feel loved by his parents, it has a dramatic affect on the child. He/she will never have the ability to love. Subsequently, such people will mimic those relationship aspects with their children.

Parenting is also involved in teaching respect for everyone and the opinions of others regardless of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation or body type. Children tease other children, but it can certainly be minimized by teaching what is and what is not proper respect for others.

Active participation in a child’s life by both mother and father is essential. Every child must learn specific roles or traits from a man and a woman. If the child doesn’t receive any one of these numerous characteristics, an instinct jones will cause them to seek until they find. A prime example is that one girl that you knew; you know the one about which I’m speaking. She’s the one who lacked a strong male influence in her life, and probably the one with whom you know a lot better than the other girls in your class.

Children’s thoughts and feelings need to be respected and validated. Telling a child that he/she is wrong without an explanation doesn’t work. Essentially, it’s nothing more than rejection. Positive reinforcement works indefinitely. Negative reinforcement creates a cycle passed on through generations of intolerance.

Proper parenting also involves teaching children how to deal with their problems, no matter the size or circumstance. If you come from a family that sweeps problems and issues under the carpet, your children will again mimic this attribute in their lives unless the cycle is broken. Hear no evil, see no evil, ignore, repeat is not a healthy way to live life and not a healthy thing to teach children.

Respect for diversity is a hot topic right now, and for good reason. It is the golden rule, it’s the second part of the Great Commandment (Mark 12: 29-34), and it’s the proper way to live your life and teach your children how to live their lives.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m not throwing stones. I have no right because I’ve made mistakes. I can assure you that I will make more. However, recognition of those mistakes, learning from them and breaking the cycle of intolerance must be the cornerstone for building the next great generation.

Idiots Have Their Places In The Newsroom

A career telling the story of others’, as you might expect, brings you in contact with thousands of people over the years. As such, it doesn’t take long to figure out the world is teaming with idiots.

Becoming jaded is, in part, a resultant defense mechanism of the profession. You simply have to become hardened to horrible things that happen to good people as well as seeing good people do horrible things. Having a front-row seat to the world in which you live isn’t always as good as it sounds. Tragedy happens. I’ve seen it; women get raped, children die horribly by accident and purposefully at the hands of another, and psychos walk into offices and start shooting. I ain’t talkin’ bout no puppy-kitty love-in fest feature story.

The idiots are the part of the profession that keeps us all grounded. They are the ones who distract us after weeks of telling the detailed story of a woman who straps her children in the car and drowns them. They are the ones who give us stories to tell while having a tall frosty, and they also help us dissipate any journalist-on-journalist flap that happens daily (“Just jazz it up a bit with some nats.”)

There are several variations of idiot, and we love'em all simply because they make us laugh.
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THE DAILY IDIOT: This is the most common. He’s the one who calls the newsroom on a daily basis to either talk or complain about something. Most of the time this person is lonely and wants to talk to someone.

One South-Carolina hot August day my buddy receives this call.

“Newsroom.”
“Yeah, uh….is this the newsroom?”
“Yes sir, how can I help you?” (side note: it’s 5:30 p.m.)
“I see you guys doing stories on how to keep cool. Well, I just got out of the shower and had a towel wrapped around me but didn’t have anything else on. I walked past my fan, and that blew right up my towel. Boy, that sure is keeping me cool. Just wanted to let you guys know.”
“Thank you, sir. I’ll pass that along.”
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THE STUPID IDIOT: This person simply doesn’t think before speaking.

“Hey, what newspaper is this going to be in,” he asks the photojournalist who is shouldering a 35-pound Betacam, schlepping a 15-pound metal tripod, and wearing the photog equivalent of Batman’s Bat Belt.

For those not in-the-know, a huge Betacam with mentioned accessories looks nothing like a standard 35mm still camera.
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“Channel 4”
“Yeah,….uh, is this Channel 4?”
“Yes sir, how can I help you?”
“Hey, does my kid have school today,” the caller asks the wet journalist who picked up the newsroom phone after coming in from his 5 a.m. snow-coverage liveshots.

Silently the journalist waits for more information. Silence…..silence……silence……nothing except the caller saying, “Uh, hello.”

“I’m not sure,” says the journalist.
“My kid’s school said that channel Foe would tell us if we had school or not.”
“What is my name,” asks the journalist.
“How should I know your name,” says the increasingly frustrated caller.
“How should I know if your kid has school if you don’t tell me which school he attends.”

Again back to those not in the business. This happens 1000 time every single time we have a threat of snow.
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For Part II of the Idiots Have Their Place In The Newsroom series, we’ll explore several more types of idiots who help keep the newsroom running smoothly.

On a completely different note, I’ve noticed through my blog tracking stats (which tracks IP addresses, by the way) that someone is googling my last name and “Greenville Hospital System” in an attempt to find my blog? STOP IT!