Music: “Redneck Games” by Alan Jackson

Alright. My supervisor should be back today, which means I shouldn't be spending too many extra hours at work.

Funny thing, it takes more than my usual number of work hours to do the job of two people.

Also, coming in early and working late similarly cuts into the amount of time to write and the number of viable brain cells available.

The best example of that is the fact my evening reading has switched from "Children of Men," by P.D. James - the basis of the dystopian movie by Alfonso Cuarón - with its themes of diminished hope and the human race nearing its end, to a Jeff Foxworthy redneck collection, with themes that are way too obvious to even repeat.

However, I'm rested up from last week and ready to go back to developing the notes of ideas I scribbled down last week.

But not now. I have to polish off my lunch, finish getting dressed and hoof it to work... all in under 30 minutes.

So by "right back," I mean like 11 hours.

See ya.

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Due to a death in the family, my immediate supervisor will be gone the last two days of the work week. This will put me in the position of acting night editor.

It’s a position I’ve worked before, most recently in April I believe. I’ve carried the responsibility enough times not to be frantically nervous about carrying the additional load (more stories to read, more pages to design, and I get to play point person if and when things go crazy).

I’m actually more grounded by the fact that I’ll need to come in early and probably eat dinner at my desk. It’s the old, “I’m on break, but if you really need something I’m not.”

Knowledge can both be intoxicating and sobering. Combined with the fact I get this shot because of a funeral, it’s a development that’s noteworthy, but not worth jumping up and down about.

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Music: “Total Eclipse of the Heart” by Bonnie Tyler

When it comes to my knowledge of the human body, there are days when I think I retained more lessons from Slim Goodbody than from my high school anatomy teacher.

Sorry Mrs. Miller, wherever you are.

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Music: “Riot in Cell Block No. Nine” by the Blues Brothers

For the sake of improving the public discourse and to at least slow the cultural entropy, we continued not to mention Paris Hilton in the newspaper.

I am not saying she and her ilk are not topics to be discussed. I, like most people, scan the tabloid headlines at the checkout counter (“Look, Nostradamus says the world is about to end, again” “Do you really think the Olsens have a third twin?”). I also may go a half step further if I’m in a waiting room with a copy of People magazine and I lack other reading material.

Nevertheless, some things don’t belong in a newspaper, especially one that is of a smaller size. If you’ve got 30 plus pages to fill in the A run, like a lot of metros, I can understand spending a bit more time on some of the lighter stuff. When there are days when we don’t even have space for a world page, and in same instances a national page, I’m not inclined to fill what little space I have on celebrity sentencing/meltdowns/rehab/firing the combination parent and agent/ in trouble with the law again stories.

A couple months ago, before the most recent chapters, the Associated Press tried an “experiment” where they wouldn’t cover Ms. Hilton. While there was no flat out ban against mentioning her, reporters were encouraged not to mention her and give her coverage unless it was truly merited.

This attempt barely lasted a week, and probably attracted more attention to Ms. Hilton than what she would have normally earned on what was a quiet week (no arrests, no embarrassing videos leaked). For that brief period, she made headlines in other outlets for not making AP headlines.

Of course when the blackout ended, the AP looked more foolish than ever. An editor admitted the unofficial boycott had set them up to look hypocritical at the end; though to me I find it more ironic to be report about why we weren’t reporting earlier. Obviously, this was not journalism at its best.

There is a media business model that states because the people want something, we should give it to them.

I also remember a teaching assistant nicknaming this the “drug dealer” rationale, as in, “If they weren’t buying it, I wouldn’t sell it.”

I understand the argument, but it breaks down pretty quickly in most applications. Can you imagine a car dealership selling doughnuts on the side because people seem to like doughnuts? How about the local cable company offering dog grooming? Maybe having your clothes dry cleaned at the dentist while getting your teeth cleaned (a double sheen, double clean special; not valid on Fridays)?

While there are a few business that attempt to have their fingers in as many pies as possible, like Wal-Mart or Google, most understand that they are better off catering to a niche market. By doing what they do best, and hopefully better than others, that’s where they can make a difference.

We’re leaving the Paris stuff for others to cover. Community newspapers aren’t looked to as a source of celebrity gossip, and we don’t care to change that.

Of course when (--fill--in--name--of—a--celebrity--on—the--verge--of--another--breakdown--) goes over the edge again, we’ll talk.

“There's a riot going on...”

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Music: “Read My Mind” by The Killers

“On the corner of main street, just tryin' to keep it in line ...”

My brain has just about caught up with the rest of me, I think.

Of my last four trips that involved airplanes and cross time zone traffic, only in one case did the schedule include some extra time off between racing through terminals and getting to work. Instead of taking the rest of the day to shake off jet lag, I usually went in straight to work.

My first few trips even involved me coming back in on the 1 p.m. flight and being at work by 1:30 p.m., Mountain Time of course. The math adds up, I can personally vouch for that, but it also proves my belief that just because something is logical and technically sound, it doesn’t mean that it’s a sane course of action.

In my most recent trip, I charted the same sleep-depriving course I usually do. I did opt for the 10 a.m. arrival, which was for the best since the flight was delayed not quite an hour and a half. From what I understand there was a technical problem that was discovered early on, I was warned about the delay when first checking in around 5 a.m. in the morning, Central Time. After the necessary mechanics were addressed, however, there was an additional delay in getting people to sign off on the handiwork. The flight attendant/stewardess/lady on the plane described it as a “mechanical paperwork” issue.

Anyway, I made it through that day and the rest of the short work week relatively unscathed. I’m largely caught back up on my sleep though my eating schedule is still out of whack and I’m surrounded by stacks of unsorted books.

Before the week is out it is my plant to jot down a list of the trip’s highlights, most likely in truncated, bulletpoint form. It won’t be too complicated or lengthy, but I hope it will help me restart the posting thing.

Granted, no one is really still reading this, but it’s a goal that’s important to me. On my personal to do list it ranks higher than “go skydiving” but less than “picking up last week’s check and going grocery shopping.” Also, it apparently slightly outranks “finish unpacking” and “read 40-odd books that are new or that I haven’t seen in nearly two years.” I’ve already chewed through four tomes this weekend, but only one was over 200 pages.

So all in all, I’m personally just about “recovered” from my vacation in time to be ready to start work again.

And in just over a month I’ll be doing it all over again, including the part about taking the 10 a.m. plane out to be at work by midday.

I’m sure it will be alright. The numbers crunch out and I even pick up an hour just west of Texas. I guess it’s a good thing that I really don’t sleep anyway.

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