Long Weekend

This is, by far, the busiest week of my year. Well, Christmas has its rush and busyness, but it is a different kind of busy, a controlled busy.

Holy Week drains me.

I love it. Truly I do. It is also my favorite week of the year. There are a lot of intense emotions happening amongst all the church services. Easter vigil may be my favorite church day of all. You walk into the church and it is pitch black. Then come the candles, slowly being lit. The readings, the singing without the organ, which had been shut on Thursday night, the renewed light and life. It gives me goosebumps, and more than once, it has brought me to tears.

But those emotions, not to mention the singing and preparation, make me tired. When tomorrow comes, I plan to spend the day crashed on my favorite chair, reading.

It's kind of ironic, when you think about it, that on the holiest day of the Christian year, I don't go to church. My obligation for Easter is met tonight. I prefer it that way. Tonight, this whole week in fact, are the regulars. Sunday will have regulars, of course, but the church will be packed with the folks who go to church twice a year.

I've always thought there should be a special church service for those folks, the C&E ers. The last time I went to a Sunday morning Easter service, the twice-a-year folks were out-right rude. They didn't follow basic etiquette, which in our church is to either slide down the pew if other people come to sit there or, if you want on the end, get up and let people through. They talk through the service. They let their kids run without care. They don't wait their turn for communion. They show up in their Easter finery. And they completely ignore the message.

Oh, not everybody is this way, of course, but a surprising number are. It's like they want the whole world to know they are there, fulfilling their obligation.

I'm all for people believing what they want to believe and practicing the way they see fit. But in turn, I want them to show some respect, too.

No Respect

I want to bring to light a hidden prejudice, a bias that no one wants to talk about but it is out there, plain as day.

It is the discrimination of night owls. You know, those of us who believe that the day doesn't really get going until the sun is going down.

I'm lucky in that I have a job where I make my own hours, and my choice is to begin my day around 10 am when I crawl out of bed and then start work after a few cups of coffee. My best work and my best time of concentration comes around 3 pm. It is amazing what I can get done between 3 and 6. I like to work late at night at times, too, when the world is quiet and the phone will not ring except in a true emergency.

Most of us aren't so lucky and we have to abide by the rules of the morning people. A friend said it goes back to the days when farming ruled, which is true of course, and it also harkens back to a time when we had to work when the sun shined in order to have good light. However, most of us don't farm, and most of us have access to electricity. And yet, the morning people still set the rules.

Construction workers start bright and early -- and if they are working in a neighborhood, who cares that people might still be sleeping at 7 am. Gyms all over open at the crack of dawn for those folks who like to work out early, but those of us who like to work out late are shit out of luck (unless you live in a city with a 24-hour fitness club, but don't go looking for that in most small towns). Research shows time and again that teenagers have a strange body clock and physically need to sleep in, yet their school day starts earlier than the younger kids who always seem to wake up early, and perhaps the height of foolishness, the SAT begins at 8 am when the majority of teens can barely remember their name (which is probably why you get points for writing your name on the test).

I'm not allowed to complain if a neighbor decides to use power tools, throw a loud party, or shoot off fireworks at 8 am on the weekend, but that same neighbor can complain if I use power tools, throw a loud party, or shoot off fireworks at 11 pm. I'm disturbing his right to sleep, I'm told, and his right to a quiet evening. What about my right to sleep? What about my right to a quiet morning?

Night owls deserve respect, too. Give us at least one day over the weekend (I say Saturday) when the world shifts over to our time. No power tools or lawn mowers before noon! Let us be able to sit on the back deck with a group of friends and laugh out loud past midnight!

I'm a night owl, and I have rights, too.

Whatever Floats Your Boat

I like sports. A lot. When I watch television, I spend a lot of time on ESPN or ESPN2. This afternoon, I'll probably watch hockey for a while and then listen to a baseball game while I do work around the house.

On the other hand, I don't like reality television, soap operas, award shows, or anything with the initials CSI. This is my choice. I understand that this is not the choice of a lot of other people. Everybody is entitled to their likes and dislikes, and that should be that.

As I've bounced around the blogosphere, it has surprised me how quickly others write off things they don't like as a bad thing. More than once, I've seen someone write that they hate sports, therefore no one else in their house will watch sports or participate in sports. Or they don't like a certain type of book or movie, and they poke fun of the people who do enjoy that genre.

I don't understand this attitude at all. Wouldn't the world be a nicer place if we could all step back and accept that we are all different in many ways? I wonder if these blog writers realize how bitter and mean they sound when they put down the likes and activities of other people.

Spending my weekend watching a ball game doesn't make me a bad person. It is a facet of my life that I enjoy and share with others -- just like the person who spends a weekend shopping or in the art museum or watches movies all day.

Accepting these smaller issues will help us accept the larger differences, the issues that really matter in the world. Being open minded has to start somewhere.

News, Just the Way I Want It

I read an article today that said the conservative press and bloggers are complaining that Meredith Viera has been picked to replace Katie Couric on the Today Show. "She spoke out against the war in Iraq!" they are complaining. "She'll be biased! Bad hire!"

I'm sure if she spoke in defense of the war, the liberal press and bloggers would be complaining and the conservatives would be hailing the choice as a way to bring the conservative opinion to the "liberal" morning shows.

Now, I'm a news junkie. I watch CNN all the time. I'll flip on Fox every so often. I read all kinds of news magazines and news websites. I want to hear and read all the different spin. I know people who go to the BBC website because "the BBC tells the truth."

What people believe is "truth" is really a mix up between what is fact and opinion. The way I see it, every news media I tune into should share the same basic facts of a story. But facts still might not be truth -- facts in reporting is providing the information that is available at that moment. The only ones who know the "truth" are the ones intimately involved with the story.

From the facts, we form our opinion, and that's where everything gets screwy. You see, it is impossible, completely against human nature, to report a story -- any story -- without showing some bias. Even if the story presents multiple points of view, it will hone in on the point of view that the reporter agrees with. Interview subjects have a bias. It can't be helped. Don't believe me? How many blogs do you see with a completely neutral tone? One side or the other, baby. That's the way it is.

Too often people confuse opinion with fact. They listen to the likes of Rush Limbaugh or Al Franken and decide that the pontifications of these men is TRUTH, even though it is pure opinion, pure entertainment. I worry when people get all of their "news" from a source like this. I have to say, even the guy I agree with turns my stomach after 10 minutes.

No wonder we are so divided, when we confuse opinion for news. It bothers me when I hear one group complaining about a reporter or anchor person or publication and how the news from that source will be skewed. News should not be reported the way we want to hear it. It should be reported to present the facts, whether or not you like those facts.

Witch Hunts or How the Media Get Revenge

Today is one of my favorite days of the year -- the start of baseball season. Okay, so technically it started last night, but my team doesn't play until today.

Of course, the baseball season is already tainted by steroids and the growing fear that Barry Bonds will break Hank Aaron's record. Well, the media want you to think it is tainted and that Bonds hitting 756 will be a bad thing. I don't agree.

This attack on Bonds is a witch hunt, pure and simple. The media hated the guy for years and now, thanks to the hearsay in a book, the media as a whole figure they've got the goods to convict Bonds and toss him out of the game. The media bullied Bud Selig, that spineless wimp of a commissioner, into an investigation mostly of Bonds and steroids. Let's be realistic here -- do we honestly believe anyone else will get more than a glance? And how do you investigate? Retro drug tests?

I'm not denying the likelihood of steroid use by Bonds or by hundreds of other players. I'm not defending steroid use either. It's stupid beyond words. Nor is it the only drug problem in baseball.

Except fo the year with 73 home runs, Bonds's statistics don't vary much from year to year. He was a consistent home run hitter by the mid-90s. People forget that Roger Maris had one monster home run year and then returned to being a slightly above average baseball player.

I hear the stories that Bonds will be hated for breaking Ruth's "record" (what record? Ruth no longer holds the homerun record so let's toss him out of the mix) and I hear he'll be hated if he breaks Aaron's record.

Let's see, Maris was hated for breaking the single season record and had to spend a lifetime fighting the asterisk next to his 61. Hank Aaron got death threats for daring to hit 715 home runs as a black man. Hate comes with the home run record territory and we're kidding ourselves if we think otherwise.

But the media want you to hate Bonds because they hate Bonds. Sports media are the most jealous group of writers walking the planet. They love sports but are stuck reporting because they aren't good enough to play at the top levels. In their jealousy, they've tried to make themselves more important than the game. It isn't just baseball. Football reporters did a real good job egging on Terrell Owens to hate on the Eagles. They create controversy where none existed.

I say, let's watch what happens with Barry Bonds this season, as he is tested and watched for steroids. And then we can begin to make judgments.

Hypocrisy

This will be short because time is getting away from me.

The other night, I saw a feature on one of the news programs I watch. It talked about how angry evangelical Christians are that the current administration and Congress are ignoring the 2004 elections. One preacher said, in effect, the evangelicals made sure Bush and company were returned to office to focus on moral issues, such as gay marriage and aborition. So the evangelicals held a conference to put together a plan of action to take over the federal government.

I'm a Christian myself, and I'm sure I share a lot of basic moral values with many of the evangelicals. But I'm not arrogant enough to believe that the government should work on the agenda of only one group. I believe morals need to be taken care of from within the home, not through the government. Rather than worry about gays getting married, how about making quickie Vegas marriages illegal or divorces harder to get? If you are so worried about the influence of Hollywood, quit buying People and the other celebrity rags. If you want change, work on making it yourself rather than sitting on your butt and telling the government to do it. Oh yeah, and when the government does start spending too much time on your morals issues, don't go crying about jobs lost, local taxes going up, bad roads, or any of the other things that the government should be focused on. And please, don't tell me that anyone is fighting for our freedoms in Iraq because you are doing your damndest to squelch our personal freedoms at home.

One final thought. That Christian conference had a keynote speaker: Tom DeLay. Here's a group of people claiming to concerned about the moral future of the country, and they lustfully cheered one of the most corrupt, unethical, dishonest, probably morally bankrupt character in politics. Something seems so wrong.

From the sideline -- Introduction and Beth Twitty

This is my first post here. Hello to anyone who might be reading. Glad you stopped by.

Why am I here? To pontificate, mostly. Also because blogs amuse me, and comments amuse me even more. They also make me wonder why people do the things they do or say the things they say. Topics in the news also amuse me.

My posts will be on a single topic, my thoughts on something I've read or heard or seen that I think deserves a comment. This will not be stories of my life. My life is very busy. I do not stay on the sidelines, watching life go by. What I post here are the things I notice as I go about my day.

I read this article today: http://www.steveyuhas.com/columns/yuhas_20060329.htm

It is mostly about Beth Twitty, mother of Natalee Holloway, the teenager who disappeared in Aruba and made famous by a couple of media hounds who get stuck on pretty blonde girl stories. Reports question whether she died from alcohol or drug poisoning, not murder.

I have to say that's a thought that had crossed my mind almost from the beginning.

Beth Twitty has gone through every parent's worst nightmare, and let me tell you, on that level, I feel for her. But now, I've got to wonder if she is exploiting her daughter's death to stroke her own ego. She's famous now. The beautiful, grieving mother who kept a vigil on a tropical island. She and her media cohorts, the Wicked Witches of Cable, turned Aruba into an evil island, a place full of people ready to kidnap and kill your own pretty teenage daughter.

Oh pulleeze.

What happened in a bar in Aruba could have just as easily happened in a bar in the States -- and does. Frequently. It happens at fraternity parties and apartment parties and wherever people meet and drink adult beverages. Some horrors in life are preventable if you use good judgment and surround yourself with trustworthy people.

Unfortunately, Natalee Holloway did many stupid things -- drinking to excess, not sticking with her friends, leaving alone with guys she did not know -- and it all led to a very sad ending. But so have many other young men and women who pushed under the carpet, who are never talked about except by their loved ones.

It is time for Beth Twitty to go home and mourn her daughter.