Scarlet Letters

For the purposes of this, you must understand a few things about Boy. He does not have a debit card, so when he orders things he gives me money and I order it for him. His father lives in Memphis, so gifts he purchases for his father are often managed this way. And he hates tomatoes with a living passion. At Subway... BOY: I'd like a ham and cheese on monterey cheddar. ME: Please. BOY: Please. SERVER: *makes sandwich* And what would you like on it? BOY: Extra onions, lettuce, pickles - ME: Ew. BOY: Hush. ME: Ruination of a good sandwich. BOY: And what are you ordering? ME: Subway Club. Nunya. BOY: And mayonnaise, please. SERVER: Anything else? ME: Extra tomatoes. SERVER: *looks at Boy* BOY: She's kidding, no tomatoes. SERVER: *is giggling* BOY: You're not funny. ME: I'm hilarious. Later, I texted him to let him know his Father's Day present for his father was ordered. ME: Ordered and on its way. One Chicago Cubs wall pennant. BOY: Mom no yo...

Jim and I were alone on Father's Day, so we drove up the Great River Road and had wine at the Pere Marquette Lodge. Jimmy got sleepy and I did some shooting. We love Pere Marquette; the views are so spectacular they can't really be captured with my photographic skill (yet) and it's a giant no-cell zone, which was poorly timed since the phone died in the middle of chatting with my dad. This was my second experiment with manual focus. I switched back and forth between manual and autofocus in the prom shoot, but that was different; I was using a tripod with humans who mostly stood still. This was handheld on a floating dock or by the side of the river on unstable rock. Turns out there's a few kinks in the system. One of them: It's really hard to adjust manual focus when the sun is shining directly in your eyes. I tried sunglasses, but then I could barely see at all. Here's a few of them. I will have to decide which go up on the shop ; I can't afford to put ...

I must have made some kind of enormous salary leap in my dream world, because my office was amazing. A lovely, sunlit room with a comfortable sitting area apart from my desk, a fireplace that was clearly for cooler days, and windows everywhere. There was a patio door that overlooked a lovely pool, clean and inviting. Beyond the pool patio lay a strip of beach clearly shared with the two mansions on either side, running all the way to the shining ocean. Someone had been busy. The sand castles out there were worthy of a TV special. I wanted to go snag my camera and get some pictures. It was a staggeringly beautiful day, with blue skies and an inviting beach not dissimilar to Jamaica. But first I had to interview security guard candidates, and I was trying to come up with intelligent questions and scenarios while I made them wait. It's not like it would matter; the first was such a total bozo I'd already decided not to hire him; he fell asleep while waiting and he'd brought hi...

I'm writing this on the day the world lost a good man. It won't post for a while yet, because his family doesn't know.* It seems somehow wrong that those of us who worked with him know before his family does. But sometimes that's the way it happens. Shortly after work tonight - Wednesday night - I was killing time in a Wal-mart checkout line by cruising Facebook. I saw a post from a local police department stating that they had found an unconscious man in jogging attire on the running trail of a local park. They were unable to save him, and he was carrying no ID. They asked for the public's help in identifying him. I hadn't seen anything on our website about it, so I called it in to the newsroom. I asked one of the guys on the copy desk if we already had someone working on the unidentified man in the park. He said no, and I told him about the police department's post. "Mainer's missing," he replied. And heaven help me, for a brief secon...

I was playing around on Bed Bath and Beyond's website, because sometimes I get to nesting and I can't help myself. Also, we still have a bit of wedding gift card left to spend. ME: We have been married for 574 days. So sayeth this website. JIM: Is that all? ME: ... It feels longer, is that what you're saying? JIM: No... You can't track perfection, that's what I'm saying. ME: Nice try, Sparky. You rolled a two on your saving throw. ------- BOY: Mom! I'm trying to watch Daredevil  and Netflix won't let me. ME: The bill is paid. Why not? BOY: It says it exceeds the maturity level. ME: We don't have a maturity restriction... (opens site) Oh. It does on your profile. "Teen and below." BOY: Fix it please? ME: Hmmm. The next level is "all content." That means you'd have access to everything on Netflix. Your poor innocent eyes. BOY: *sigh* I'm trying to watch superheroes! ME: Okay, I'll reset it, but you'd...

Today is our Relay for Life. Usually I drive folks crazy in the weeks leading up to Relay with exhortations and incentives to donate, but life intervened this year and I've only issued the one plea. This is probably why as of now, I've raised $10 toward my personal $300 goal, and my team is still nearly $1,000 short of its $3,000 goal. I am speaking at tonight's Survivor Dinner (no, I'm not a cancer survivor, I just run my mouth a lot.) Below is the speech I intend to give. Please read it, and if you are so moved, consider donating before 10 p.m. CST. It reflects the number of people in my life who have been touched by cancer - at times, it feels like it is all around me. And if you're reading this, I imagine it has touched you, too. Thank you for your time. Fighting the Beast I’m Elizabeth Donald, captain of the St. Andrew’s team . I’ve been walking Relays off and on for 18 years, most of them here in Edwardsville. And I feel a little funny being the on...