I'm an addict

Seeing my name in the paper has become an addiction. I'll do anything, write any story, just to see my byline. I'm hungry for it, I need it, I want it.

It's funny, that feeling of pure desire — wanting my name out there, my story and information shown to thousands of people — waxes and wanes just like the bright light of the moon. Some days, like today, I can't wait to tackle a story. Other days, it's ho hum.

I guess this business is unique in that what we do as journalists is seen and scrutinized by so many people. It's not like being a contractor on a house and having to deal with only one family. I have to deal with everyone, and if they don't like it, boy do I hear it.

Luckily I haven't had too many irate people calling me. Although I did have one lady who tried to tell me that saying, "The couple was married," was wrong. She proclaimed, "It's 'The couple were married.'" Actually, in our modern English, "couple" is considered singular. If you are in the UK, you would say, "Couple were."

Of all the things for someone to be upset about, I hardly think that would be high on my list.

Another round of complaints came (luckily not to me) the other day we ran a photo of a woman who had massive amounts of blood on her white shirt. It ran above the fold, lead story. The deal was she had been in a fight with family members at a local rent to own store and things got a little ugly. We got several calls about that. Well, it's news, and in these parts, when it's considered breaking news if a chicken farts, a bloody photo is gold — pure gold.

Anyway, enough about that. I'm done for now. Later.