Scarlet Letters

MAN: Some of our friends need to be more careful. These highly attractive women wanting to be my friend have mutual friends with me. ME: The highly attractive woman looking for a good man? MAN: Yes. I get these friend requests from these gorgeous supermodels who are all about friending me and I'm all, "Delete." ME: Now now, hon. Who's to say an attractive woman would not be falling all over herself for you? MAN: *eyebrow of skepticism* Not these women, hon. ME: So you're saying there's no way an attractive woman would be attracted to you? MAN: That's right. ME: So you're saying I'm not attractive? MAN: ... MAN: ... ME: *wide grin* MAN: Woman! ME: *guffaw* Oh honey. It's right in front of you, a giant pit, and you go and just jump on in. ----- BOY: What's for dinner? ME: Food. BOY: There are mashed potatoes on the counter, but no other food. ME: Yes there is. There's a roast in the oven. BOY: *makes face* Roast? ME: ...

This weekend I had the privilege of speaking at the Walter Cronkite Conference on Media Ethics and Integrity. I was pretty nervous, as I'd never done an academic conference before - SPJ conventions, guest speaker at local universities, and of course, cons. No one at the Cronkite Conference was dressed as Pennywise the Clown, however. Somehow I missed that the conference was scheduled to coincide with Cronkite's 100th birthday, which was celebrated at the Walter Cronkite Memorial on Friday along with the unveiling of Phase IV of the memorial. We were treated to an amazing three-act play developed by the memorial staff titled "And That's the Way It Is: Cronkite's Journey." This show has been taken on the road and performed all the way to D.C. If it is ever in your area, you owe it to yourself to catch it. Actor Jim Korinke does a spot-on Walter Cronkite, and the gentlemen playing Harry Truman and Martin Luther King Jr. are pretty amazing themselves. ...