New newsroom.

We have a different newsroom.

Emily is gone...Michael is gone. Now we have Patti and Ryan. It's still very dysfunctional, which is satisfactory.

Patti is the new editor. She is sweet - with an edge. She is the kind of person who will say something really inappropriate/silly/insane with a cherubic smile on her face. Very nice...and I really like working with her.

Ryan is a hoot. Quick-witted, smart...and he can seem boyishly naive and then turn around and do or say something that makes even MY jaw drop.

Writers. I guess no matter where you go, there they are...all cut from the same twisted mold. Thank God.

Mass Exodus

It's raining today, so there will be no watering of the garden tonight. That will give me more time to focus on other things...like getting some laundry done and doing the pile of dishes in my sink. That garden has become my life.

Well, Michael is officially gone from the newsroom, and Emily's last day is Thursday. I had best definitely come up with something different to blog about. But...I have no love life - and nothing really interesting is happening other than a record setting bout of bronchitis due to technical difficulties in the lung which were banished last week.

So...I need to come up with subject matter. Or just quit blogging.

It's dark outside and only 4 p.m. Weird. The Summer Solstice is in one week. That is when I sense big changes coming. Maybe then I'll have blogging material. One can hope.

Sit and Spin

You know what I miss today? I miss the "Sit and Spin" in Seattle. You could do your laundry, drink alcohol and play Twister with other people while waiting for the machines to wash and dry your clothes.

It only costs a quarter.

It's been a strange few days. I need to get back on track. I need to get it through my head that there are just people out there who are my kryptonite. My Waterloo. Nemesis material, no matter how much I want it to be different. Why do I have such a hard time with that?

It's a hot summer day and I have been reminiscing about those mechanical horses with those quarter boxes. You could pop a quarter in and just be rocked and lulled into a trance while the horse's motor just sort of hummed and clanked along. For just a few minutes you could just sit there and pretend to be somewhere else.

Where did all those mechanical horses go, anyway?

Through thick and thin.

I spent the morning interviewing a couple, Jerry and Vi, for a Memorial Day story. This December they will be married 69 years. He fought in the Philippines during WWII. Vi didn't even hear his voice for more than three years during that time, and communication by mail was sporadic at best.

Whatever happened to that kind of love and commitment?

Monster under the bed.

I haven't blogged since April and I don't EVEN want to write why.

I was bogged down in old quicksand, and thank heavens I've gotten out fairly unscathed.

The newsroom isn't the same, so I almost don't want to blog about it anymore. Michael gave his notice today. I know more changes are coming. It's sad, really. We used to be tight. We aren't anymore. I'll ride out the changes and maybe (and that's a BIG maybe) we will find that rare and unique camaraderie again.

My physical self reacts HUGELY to my emotional state...and I have been under the weather off and on the last couple of months. That is precisely the time I encountered the old quicksand, strangely enough. I've fallen off course, and have to start all over again because I can't seem to learn that there are some things that will never change, no matter how much we want them to.

I need to re-wire a few things inside my head and heart. And I need to simply steer clear when trouble heads my way - even if it comes with pretty stories and ardent apologies. Not everyone out there plays fair. Plays with honesty. Plays with good intentions.

It's almost summer. Less than a month until my solstice. Good things are coming...but just like I hate flying to get to a destination that delights and amazes me, the next few weeks may be a bit bumpy. It may take a little while before I can look under my bed again.

That's life.

Changes in the wind.

Emily just crushed an altoid and snorted it. She is in pain. It's just another day in the newsroom.

At least the sun is shining today...but the wind is blowing like it came straight from Gehenna. It is Oklahoma, after all.

I'm at a loss for blogging material these days. Seems there's a mood that has hit the newsroom over the last month or so, and the silly-happy factor has taken a nosedive.

On a happier note, the summer solstice is a mere 59 days away.