Things That Don't Make the News

We have some strange story requests in the newsroom. Occasionally, people will walk into the paper and request to speak to a reporter about a story idea. All three of us reporters have had some doozies. Within my first two weeks of working there, I had a girl come in and tell me all about her baby's daddy, how his pregnant ex-girlfriend kept taking out restraining orders on her and how the court system is full of corruption.

Jason had a lady talk to him for half an hour yesterday about how one of her relatives routinely beats up her grandson, even though the department of social services has been to the house four times and found nothing wrong.

But Billy might win the battle. A few months ago, he had a guy come in (walking in, I should add) and tell him that he was paralyzed and planned to ride his bike around town with a big banner that read how awful one of our state representatives is.

Shortly after that, he said a sweaty guy came in to talk about something going on in town. He said his sweatpants were unzipped the whole time (and didn't know sweatpants had zippers) and couldn't focus on what the guy was saying.

Then today, a lady called him with another possible story. She told him her kitchen window was dirty, so a bird didn't realize it was a window and crashed into it. She said it left "an imprint in the reflection," whatever that means, and wanted to know if we'd want to cover it as a "human interest" story. After he hung up, Billy said it was neither human nor of interest and Jason and I should be glad we didn't answer the phone.

As a sidenote, one of my friends from 5th grade just found me on Facebook. I was going through her friends to see if I recognized anyone and it seems like she's kept up with a lot of people from that school. It kind of makes me wish I had stayed there and grown up with the same people throughout middle and high school. ... But then again, I've had a pretty darn good life since then anyway. :)

The Exercise Ball...and Prayer Group

I bought an exercise ball last summer. I think I’ve used it five times. A couple of months ago, I put it in my bedroom floor between my bed and bookcase so I’d see it every day and remember to use it.

But you know when you put something in a particular place as a reminder, then it becomes another part of your space so you completely forget about it? It might as well be a staple item just like my bed and bookcase.

So now I have a new plan. I wrote “EXERCISE BALL!” in big block letters on a pink post-it and stuck it right beside my alarm clock. If I run into the same problem, I’m thinking about taping it to the bathroom mirror. … Right where my face should be so there’s no way to overlook it.

In other news, I talked to Mamaw a few weeks ago and she was telling me about her prayer group. She teaches a Sunday school class and has a sort of "prayer chain" going with the church ladies. When I called, she almost didn't pick up and told me she was afraid it would be another lady wanting to talk for three hours. I found it amusing.

By the way, if you haven't noticed, this entry is quite a bit shorter than normal. Here's another thought I've had: if I make them shorter, maybe I'll be more consistent and actually update this more. Is it too late to make another New Year's resolution?