Journalistic Integrity

The current hullabaloo over Ian's Murphy's prank call to Wis. Gov. Scott Walker brings up issues other than those relating to the current state of crisis in Madison. Calling up a source and hiding your true identity is unethical. As we are all well aware the media landscape is changing. Gone are the days of a reporter with a trench coat and a note pad rushing around the city to get the latest scoop. The masses no longer rely solely on mainstream media outlets - newspapers and broadcast news - to get their information. However, just because the way the public gets their news has changed does not mean that responsible journalism should be thrown out the window. Calling up sources and saying you are a well-known acquaintance of theirs does not fall under the realm of responsible journalism. Not only did he lie about who he was, he recorded the conversation unbeknownst to the source. That's a big no-no.

Whether you agree or disagree with Walker's budget bill, what Mr. Murphy did was wrong. While his intentions may have been noble, his execution was unethical.

Product Endorsement: Carmex Moisture Plus

Zach’s uncle works for Carmex and always has various samples of Carmex products at their house. When we were there on Christmas Eve, his uncle gave me some great hand lotion but also Carmex Moisture Plus. I tried it that day, but not really needing it I didn’t think much of it at all. Yesterday, my lips were horribly chapped and dry. I dug into my purse and there was the Carmex Moisture Plus I had received on Christmas Eve. I put some on and continued on with whatever I was doing. Not having paid much attention to my lips for the rest of the night, I was amazed when I finally realized just how much they had improved. This is by far the greatest chap stick I have ever used.

It turns out it is really rainy in the rain forest

I ate a banana right from the tree in Costa Rica

It was easily the most delicious and enjoyable piece of fruit I have ever eaten in my entire life. I wish I had pictures of it, but it was on our night walk so it was too dark to see anything. The smell was probably the most amazing part of it all. As soon as you pulled back the peal your nose was overwhelmed by the sweetness coming from the fruit. I would have been happy enough to just smell the banana and never even eat it. Luckily, I did eat it because it was so good. I sort of laughed when our guide told us we’d never want to eat a store banana again. How much different could they be? Shockingly, so different! I generally don’t buy into the claim that organic fruits and vegetables taste any better than non-organic. However, in the case of this banana, it was so fresh that no other banana for the rest of my life will ever be able to compete with it.

What surprised me was that this delicious totally natural banana smelled and tasted a lot like artificial banana flavor. It seems as though those artificial flavors are more on than we give them credit!

I really wish I liked mangoes and papayas because they were plentiful. I tried it each time, but each time I was just reminded that it’s in fact true: I do not like them.

The bloody truth

For as long as I can remember, I've always gotten bloody noses. The time or place means nothing to my nose; it will be bleed anywhere whenever it wants. I've gotten bloody noses while sleeping, swimming, eating, playing sports, during midterms and more. Probably the worst of those is the middle of a midterm or just being in class bloody nose. Last night while I was getting ready for bed, I lifted my head up from the sink after watching it to find the water in the sink a gross brown color and blood running down my face. Of course there was no Kleenex in the bathroom. I wiped my face dry as best I could with out getting blood all over the towel and ran to my room to get some tissue. With the bleeding or less under control, I had an interesting thought. I don't think I've ever gotten a bloody nose out of my left nostril. Every single time my nose bleeds, it only comes from one side. Upon further thought, I think it actually is always my left side that bleeds, but the thought of it suddenly switching up did sort of freak me out.

People generally get freaked out when my nose starts bleeding when they are around. They can't believe it just happens with nothing to provoke it. But it does and it probably always will.

Things to contemplate on a Friday

1. Will Jennifer Lopez be remembered in history as a singer or actress? (courtesy of Mike)
My bet is on fly girl.

2. What are Spaceballs, and does the EZ Ball Gun really help? (courtesy of a product release at work)
I really have no idea what this product is or why it was sent to me.

3. Wouldn't it be nifty if we could teleport places?
Yes it would, then I wouldn't have to drive to LaGrange tonight.

4. Who is in charge of the music at work? Today I have heard Snoop Dogg, Janis Joplin and something currently that sounds very island-esque in style.

5. Why can't workplaces buy coffee that doesn't taste like crap? Morale would really improve if the coffee wasn't so gross.

Swine don't you just call it what it is....

The current swine flu pandemic has caused some common things that annoy me to resurface. Well, actually just one main thing. Throwing up and other stomach related symptoms are not symptoms of the flu. I realize we call it the "stomach flu," but that is just a euphemism for diarrhea and throwing up; it has nothing to do with the influenza virus. I'd like to say that I'm just privy to this information because I come from a family of doctors and so I'm in on some sort of secret that the rest of the population just doesn't know. That's not the case though. I honestly don't think this piece of knowledge has anything to do with my family's background in the medical field. My knowledge about Hepatitis C, acid reflux and colonoscopies can all be attributed to the family business, influenza cannot be. Rather, I am simply just an average laymen who reads the newspaper. Without fail, every single year before flu season gets underway there is an article in every single news source about the symptoms of the flu. The symptoms are much like those of the common cold, accompanied by a high fever and body aches. You'll also learn that antibiotics will prove useless against the flu virus because, well, antibiotics only help against bacterial infections not viral ones.

So folks, pick up a newspaper, turn on CNN, go to wikipedia, read WebMD like the hypochondriac you are...I don't care how you do it, but once and for all learn the facts about what the symptoms of the flu are. Oh, and be sure to wash your hands with soap and warm water...we don't need to be catching swine flu.

Make it a sad one

Sad songs are interesting. They have a strange power about them. While they bring you down, maybe make you cry, make you get introspective, you can't help but listen to them over and over again. On my drive home tonight, I was listening to Neko Case's cover of Don't Forget Me. Before I knew it, I had listened to the song at least eight times and was crying. I remember the first time I listened to it I was about two blocks from work and all over a sudden had this over whelming emotional reaction. I don't know what hit me that first time, but now the song makes me think of a variety of people and events -- lost friends, missed opportunities, things I never said.

Songs that make me cry, no matter how hard I try not to:

1. Neko Case- Don't Forget Me



2. Jimmy Buffet- Little Miss Magic


3. Mariah Carey- Hero




Don't make me cry, but might as well because they make me think of sad things, yet I love them and can't stop listening to them:

1. I'm From Barcelona- Treehouse


2. Patsy Cline- Crazy


3. Bonnie "Prince" Billy- Easy Does It

Writer's Block

I've been trying write my story about air handling systems all morning. So far, I've gotten six sentences down. Woo only 1,200 more words to go. To help me get through, I've been listening to Peter, Bjorn & Johns' album "Writer's Block." It's not really helping, but I still like it.

I couldn't find a video for the song Writer's Block, but I love this song and it brings back happy memories. Enjoy.

100,000 and counting

Today at 8 a.m. somewhere in Johnson Creek driving along Hwy 26, with The New Pornographers playing on my stereo, the 3 (my car) hit 100,000 miles. The big milestone came just 3 years, 10 months and 23 days after buying my car. Together the 3 and I have been on quite the adventure. Hundreds to thousands of trips back and forth between Milwaukee and Fort Atkinson, hundreds of trips between Milwaukee and LaGrange/Chicago, two trips to Louisville, Ky. and all over the state of Wisconsin. My original Illinois plates (KIME K8) still reside inside the 3. I just recently moved them from under the driver's seat to tucked nicely in the pocket behind the driver's seat, comfortably next to the Jim Bean license plate dad brought me back from the Jim Bean distillery. We've seen our fair share of problems too. I remember the first scratch the 3 got. I was going to Sarah's place when she lived on Kane. It was super dark out and raining. I was parrallel parking on the east side of Farwell. There's a tiny nick on the back bumper from where I hit the car behind me. The next sent of scratches are along the trunk. These lovely specs of yellow are from the 102.1 scooter we tried to fit in my trunk when Katie was moving to Knoxville. After much shoving and some love taps, we thankfully gave up and the scooter didn't find a home with me. There's some hail damage on the hood from when I lived in Wauwatosa and had to park outside.

We've shared some pretty intense winters together too, me and the 3. Let's not forget the blizzard of 2006. I quickly learned the 3 was not built for Milwaukee winters, but we've made it through. A few more bad winters followed, but I was more prepared. A shovel and an emergency kit (never used, knock on wood) have found a permanent home in the 3's trunk. Not wanting their daughter to get stuck in the snow again, my parents gave me some tread things that also have a permanent home in the trunk. The most recent adventure in our love hate relationship came last week when I brought 3 in for her 90,000 mile check up with Mazda. Just $1,450 later I hope she appreciates all I've done for her. I thought I was showing her enough attention, but I guess I was wrong. I promise to treat you even better, 3.

With recently new tires, new windshield wipers, new rear breaks, a fixed front passenger side wheel, the 3 and me are set for at least another 50,000 miles.

Take my breath away

I've known since I was 18 and first came up to Milwaukee that it was going to be worse for my allergies than Chicago was. Every year in September I would get a sinus infection. Sophomore year my room flooded and I soon after developed a severe headache problem. After several trips to Student Health, a neurologist and an MRI, I was diagnosed with "atypical migraines". Translation, we're not sure what the hell is wrong with you. It was suggested that the flood could have caused a mold problem. I told the school and they said they had checked and found nothing. I don't believe they really checked, but whatever. Flash forward three years. After graduating I moved out to Tosa and started getting strep throat and tonsillitis like most people catch the common cold. Once again a mold situation seemed to be the problem.

Milwaukee is constantly under a air quality warning. All summer long I am one of those people who the recommend stay in doors. Today, I'm in the midst of a wicked asthma attack. Luckily I had my inhaler with me. I took too puffs and went back to working. About half an hour later nothing had changed. I went out in search of a trigger. No one around me has flowers. I'm just sitting at my desk, and it's not like typing is particularly strenuous. I took two more puffs. Back to work. Twenty minutes later, there is still no improvement. I decide I'll go step outside for a little breather in hopes the fresh air will help somehow. Boy was the air fresh, it reaked of cow manure and I didn't last very long. I bent over in hopes of that helping, but mostly I just got dizzy. Two more puffs and then I returned inside. I sat in my chair with my head between my knees looking like a crazy person. Here were are probably about an hour later and my chest is still tight, I'm coughing every few minutes, which then makes me gasp for air and I'm all shakey from taking my inhaler so much. Partay.

My asthma as gotten increasingly worse over the last four or so years. When I was first diagnosed it was strictly exercise induced. Now it is more random and I often can't place the trigger, other than poor air quality and polution.

It's actually bad for my health to be living here. Check out the No. 2 city on this list.

Goals

Just a list; that's all.

1. Run two more 8k races before the end of the year in under 60 min. (Al's Run and Turkey Trot)
2. Run a 10k
3. Finish the short story I started in August
4. Get the hell back to Chicago
5. Only drink coffee in the morning; no more than two "cups."
6. Make it to at least 5 Sox games, not counting Opening Day.

And now some words of wisdom from the White Sox.

Grinder Ball Rule 17: Never be satisfied with what you have achieved. It pales in comparison to what you can achieve.

Acting like adults

I think the car ordeal is more or less behind us. The guy downstairs was taking the dog out when I was walking in last night, but I was on the phone telling my friend she could come get her car. We gave each other an awkward hello and I said the car would be gone within the hour. Then I continued on my way still on the phone. I immediately made a second phone call to RSVP for a party when there was a knock on my door. He had brought up my mail for me. I finished up my call and we sort of talked things out. I was way nicer than I had to be, but frankly prolonging any sort of feud is not worth my time or my effort. I made it clear that the slab is meant for two cars and one of the spots is mine. I said sorry again. We both agreed that we didn't want to have a poor neighbor relationship and it would all be in the past. Hopefully the girlfriend who was the problem in the first place feels the same way. I wouldn't mind an apology either since I've apologized tenfold and didn't technically do anything wrong.

And then we go back to 4th grade

Last night two of my coworkers crashed at my place after the three of us went to a concert. Since the parking slab behind my place is meant for two cars and one of those spots is technically mine, I told my friend to park her car back there. I was sure to tell her to park as close to the garbage cans as she could so that my neighbor downstairs could fit her car in. Seems normal, right? Last night around midnight my neighbor came stomping up the stairs to complain about someone being in her spot. Ok fine, there normally is no other car there so ok. I apologize and say I'll move my car to the street or the slab since it's smaller and she can park in my spot in the garage for the night. Ok fine. So I head outside, leaving the back door open behind me. After a few minutes it becomes obvious that she's not coming out to move her car at the same time as me. I go ahead and park on the street and assume she'll move it later. Instead of parking on the street or squeezing onto the parking slab, she has parked my friend in. Fast forward to 5:30 a.m.: the car is still there. After much hassle, I track down the guy who lives downstairs phone number from my landlord and politely ask if he can give her a call and ask her to move the car, as my friend needs to go to work. He tells me he'll call, but she won't move it because she's mad I didn't move the car last night. What!?! How was I going to move the car when she was blocking it?! As of 10:45 the car still had not been moved but my friend had her boyfriend pick her up. If the car is still there at 6 when I get home tonight, I will once again politely ask them to move it if they are home. If they are not, the city will be called.

Oh, and did I mention my neighbors are in their late 20s-early 30s? Yes, they are actiling like they are 10.

Shufflin' on down, doin' it for you

For someone who barely trained for the Shamrock Shuffle 8k, I must say I'm immensely pleased with how I did. The weather was crappy, but it was still warmer than those races I ran with Mike in January and February. The worst part of it all was how wet our feet got. Before the race even began my feet were soaked through my shoes and two pairs of socks. At the start my toes hurt they were so cold, but by about a mile either I couldn't feel them anymore or they just didn't hurt. Then around mile 2 or so my feet killed. By 3.5-4 miles my entire right foot, ankle and almost up to my knee more or less was numb. I think this maybe be the first time I truly ran through the pain. I ran the whole race with the girl who was standing next to me in the start coral. I think running with a nice stranger was the key to my success. We kept each other on task and on pace but we also didn't talk much throughout the who race. We talked a little throughout, but nothing too major. I improved my time by 3 minutes and actually ran the whole thing which can't be said for the Turkey Trot. Good job, Kim.

Scam service is more like it

I was reading an article on OnMilwaukee.com last week about how bottle service is illegal in Wisconsin, yet there are a number of "clubs" in Milwaukee that offer the "service." The gist of the article is that you need a different type of liquor license to sell bottles of alcohol to bar patrons over something like 12 oz. You need the type of license that allows you to also operate as a liquor store. Aldermen and the police department have both said that they are not concerned about enforcing the law, but owners should be aware of it. But, the politics of this ridiculous law are not the subject I want to talk about. The ridiculousness of bottle service is what I want to talk about.

The idea of bottle service is that you pay around $150 for a bottle of something like Grey Goose, you get VIP seating and the mixers to go with the vodka. First off, $150 for a bottle of Grey Goose? Second, if I am paying you that much money, I don't want to pour and mix my own drinks; I want you to make my drink and hold it up to my mouth for me to enjoy, among other things. Thirdly, there are very few people in this nice industrial city of Milwaukee that really qualify as VIP, maybe a few athletes but that's about it. So basically, this service is for a bunch of people to feel like they are important and to show off their money, even though they probably don't really have any. On top of the $150 for the bottle, you also most likely paid a cover to get into the place because those are the types of places that offer bottle service. Luckily, I choose not to patronize such establishments. If I ever do though, I'll push my way to the bar and order my drink from the bartender, pay my $5-9 for my drink and enjoy it with the other plebeians.

If you are interested in reading the article, you can find it here.

Caf-fiend

I decided for lent I was going to give up caffeine. My initial thought was to give up drinking coffee, but then I realized on Wednesday I hadn't had any coffee since Saturday because I've been on a big tea kick lately. I didn't make the decision until right after I filled up my tea at work on Wednesday, but after that cup I was done. Since about 10 a.m. on Wednesday I haven't had any caffeine.

I read an article yesterday that said the headache associated with caffeine withdrawal could last anywhere from one to five days. At first I was a little concerned about this, but then decided it probably would only last a day and didn't worry. Boy was I wrong. Sure I'm only on day two, but I've had a headache for two days now. What's even worse is my preferred headache medicine is Exedrin; the main ingredient in Exedrin is caffeine. I'm also exhausted. I probably could have gone to bed at 7:30 last night.

I told my friend, Claire, last night about my Lenten plan. Her response: so I should just avoid you for the next 40 days? So far I'm not moody or anything like that though, just tired and have a headache. Really, that's no different than most days, I guess.

It's really good that I don't have a heroin addiction or something like that. I can barely handle caffeine withdrawal, imagine what I would be like if I was coming down off something like that!

I'm living in the wrong decade

One of my coworkers grabbed some random albums that someone left in the breakroom, free for the taking. I was at her desk and noticed them, so we decided to look up the one band: George Baker Selection. Low and behold we totally dug it. She later sent me this video from youtube. What do you know, I already knew the song and loved it! The song is featured in Reservoir Dogs, but that isn't why I knew it. I couldn't figure it out for the life of me. After listening to the song a second time something clicked. Little Green Bag was on a mix tape my friend made me in high school when I was 15! Tonight I'm going to see if by disconnecting the tape deck portion of my stereo I can finally connect the turn table portion. If I can do this, I'm going to borrow the album and will be rocking to some sweet jams all weekend long.

Thanks to amazon.com I'm now the proud owner of George Baker Selection Greatest Hits for the low low price of $3.47 plus S&H. I can't wait until it arrives in 5-10 days!

Tomgirl if you ask me

Yesterday as I was driving to work, I was thinking about the term tomboy. While I won't claim to have been a full out tomboy, I definitely had tomboy characteristics between the ages of say 8 and 14. For instance, at our fifth grade (I think) class picnic I played capture the flag, complete with stone throwing with all the boys, a game that got us all banished to the park bench for at least half an hour. I played basketball with the boys in the neighborhood. I acted tough. I loved playing sports. Sure I did plenty of girly things too, after all I did own quite the collection of Barbies, but I would say I definitely fell under the category of tomboy. Back to what I was thinking about yesterday though. The term really makes no sense to me. I was hoping Wikipedia would pull through once again and make it crystal clear for me. It did not. Mostly, I was looking for some sort of explanation about from where the term was derived. (Side note: I rewrote this sentence so it did not end in a preposition and now I think it sounds dumb, but this is correct.) Instead all I got was a description and something about the perceived correlation between being a tomboy and lesbianism. What I don't get is why isn't the term tomgirl? Tom and boy both express masculinity. The term refers to a girl who participates in predominately male activities or befriends boys over girls. So, shouldn't the the term be a combination of a masculine and feminine words? If you ask me, it should.

Biggest loser- Milwaukee style

Today while I was getting ready to leave the gym I noticed there was a family there together. I thought that was such a good thing to see. The two kids clearly were overweight and the mom was overweight in the way most 40-something year old women are. Anyways, I thought it was really cool to see the mom there with the two kids. We all make such a big deal about how kids are so fat and lazy these days, but very few parents, in my limited opinion, set much of an example for their children. Why should some fat kid believe you when you tell him that he needs to get off the couch, stop playing video games and get outside and move. As a society in general we do a lot of loafing, so why I ask are we so surprised that our children are so fat? This woman at the gym today realized that she needed to get moving too and is setting an amazing example for her children. Maybe it won't last, but they at least all tried it together. I'd like to assume that means they are all probably eating healthier too as a family.