These are the thoughts of a Texas transplant in West Michigan who makes his living as a newspaper reporter by evening, and a struggling novelist by day.

Saturday, September 30, 2006

"get on your bike and ride"

i experienced perhaps themost reluctant person i've ever encountered while trying to interviw someone yesterday afternoon.

i went out to the park to meet up with some folks who were doing some bike ride. i didn't have much info. on the event. i didn't know how many riders were going to show up since it was dreary.

i walked around the park and through it. no one was there andit was nearing the 5:30 start time. after calling work and being told to stick around five more minutes, some girl coming up from behind me, says, "are you from the paper?" i acknowledge that i am.

she and her friend were on bikes and it was a short trip to the corner of the park to wait others. when we got to the corner, another one arrived on his metal steed.

so i begin to ask this girl about what this event, called critical mass, was all about. she rattled off some iinfo and i listened patiently. then i asked her for her name to see bout quoting, in case it materialized into a story.

"why do you need my name?" she asks.

"so i can write a story,' i reply.

"i already gave you information," she says.

"yes, but i just can't write down the info and not quote somebody," i reply, getting a little testy.

"how about emily," she says.

"emily what?" i ask.

"is that enough?" she says.

"no,l i need a last name. i can't do this anonymously," i say.

she tells me she really doesn't want to be quoted because it's not her putting it all together, it's a group effort.

so i say i really can't do anything with it without quotes.

"but i already gave you the information," she says.

clearly not understanding, i pretended to write on my notepad. another guy arrived, but said he had to leave.

as they began to depart, i simply said, "see ya," and walked back to the office.

i guess people don't have a clue about what goes into an article. i was getting royally pissed off. it was cool out and damp and it was drizzling. i didn't want to be out there, and certainly not with an uncooperative girl who had no clue what was going on.

either way, no story was going to be written since there were only three riders who departed yesterday from centennial park, off to make their mark on the city that biking it a good way to travel.

emily went her way and i mine.

"see emily play..." (pink floyd)

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

House

House is probably my favorite drama on tv today. yes, it has surpassed Lost. it's close to Prison Break.

anyway, i should not admit this, but what the heck. only a few people who read this actually know who i am anyway. the show actually makes me a wee bit weepy.

house, the doctor in the show, is a rough individual who generaly thinks the worst in people and who has a warped sense of humor. probably only a facade.

however, his humanity often comes out at the end of the episode. call it a feel-good moment, but, hey, it works.

during this week's episode, an autistic kid came in. he'd been having problems, going into screaming fits, vomiting and one of his eyes rolled back.

house ended up saving the kid's life. as the parents were taking the boy home, house and a fellow doctor were watching them. house, in typical skepticism, is rating things. he says, first kiss with tongue, 8.5. saving someone's life, a 10. going back home with the autistic kid, the parents are feeling a tepid 6.5 (since it was back to their routine-set lifestyle).

the family walks by and the parents thank house for saving the boy's life. they begin to walk away. the boy turns back and walks up to house. he's moving his head back and forth and his body moving spasmatically. then he hands house his hand-held computer game he played throughout the episode. house took it. the boy stared at him, head still moving back and forth. he never spoke -- he couldn't. then he walked back to his parents. the doctor with house (jim wilson) said "that's a 10."

perhaps cheesy, but still, it hits home.

a few weeks back there was a man who was really thought to be comatose. house insisted he suffered from some condition, but since there was no proof, on one would believe him, even though he insisted. in a second episode he came back. another doctor injected the man with chortizone. he became moving, very slowly, but still moving.

i guess i like the show because it shows theree's hope in life, even in times when there's very little hope. i don't know why the show sometimes affects me the way it does., perhaps it's my dad and his cancer. even in his journey, which has gone up and adown, with most avenues exhausted, there's still hope. so if anything, the show is a real pick-me-upper and despite house's negative attitude, ends up coming up as a positive.