Random thoughts

I used to enjoy the Progressive Girl on those ads where she is the 60-s looking clerk in the all-white store. Now I don't. I don't know why it grates on me now and it didn't before. She does a good job, always hitting the right notes and tone...but still, I think I'm over it.

I still like the FreeCreditReport.com ads with the slacker guy singing, and the Geico commercial with the cavemen and the gecko best. If you have to like a commercial at all, I mean.

A boy went missing from school the other day, the school in my neighborhood, not the school I usually work at. He ran away from the After School program, and the police, fire, rescue, and helicopters were all in full mode practically instantly. That was great to see. I became aware as I heard the helicopter landing in the playground-field across the street. It buzzed around for an hour making grid-like swoops over the neighborhood, while police coordinated from the ground.

It was such a heartbreaking thing...counting the hours till sundown, praying for the mom and dad, praying for the school officials...eventually the boy was found unharmed. It is so tragic when it happens anytime to anyone but when it's a kid you know it is a thousand times worse. (no last names were given but I had taught at the afterschool Good News Club so it was likely I knew him or his family in this small community). I felt so helpless to DO anything, something! I prayed a lot and looked for him around my yard and in the immediate environs, the shed, under the shed, in the rushes, on the deep front porch...all I could do besides leave it to police and to God.

I find the sound of running water extremely peaceful. Especially tides or small waves. Always have. No wonder Watson Mill Bridge State Park is one of my favorite places...I've sat by the river's edge and listened to the waterfall many a time.

I am reading Tim LaHaye and series right now titled The Jesus Chronicles, documenting in novel form the early Christians immediately after Jesus died. The first one is called The Last Eyewitness, and it is about Apostle John. I read Mark's Story next and now I'm on Luke's Story. Though the first two were very simplistic in writing, they did give me a sense of the background of the early Christian life and their travails and sacrifices. The third installment is a bit more meaty so I am enjoying it more.

What ever happened to the anchor desk? Now the news guys stand up in front of a star trek-like wall of moving images, buttons, flashes, and banners. Not to mention the one scrolling across the bottom of the tv screen. I long for the day when one guy sat behind a solid looking desk, spoke the news without smarm, double entendres, or snideness, and just simply delivered the news.

Speaking of newsmen, that was Walter Cronkite in the early days of CBS, 1968. Here is he below in New York City at the Society of Professional Journalists' conference at the Grand Hyatt, which I attended with a colleague in 2006. Also in the photo is Brian Jennings and a SPJ organizer/executive. That was a fun time. Not only did we get to listen to Bill Moyers, Cronkite, and many other journalism luminaries, but we had a reception aboard the Intrepid, and then a yacht ride by moonlight around Manhattan Island and Lady Liberty. A good time was had by all.