Enough is enough

I wrote this a couple months ago.

I'm taking it all back. Facebook is not better than MySpace.

Don't get me wrong. My relationship with Facebook started out promising. But my how it has fizzled. What went wrong? Consider this comparison. You start dating someone new. In the beginning it's hot, it's exciting, it's all you ever wanted. But as time wears on, the excitment wears off. Soon you discover the little annoyances you failed to see at first. Before you know it, you're completely irritated...and the relationship is over.

So goes my relationship with Facebook. I was excited about it when I first signed up. But now, I'm just irritated. I'm sick of all the "applications." I don't want someone to test my movie knowledge. I don't want to join a game of Scrabulous. I don't care how sexy my name is. Those are just a small portion of the applications I've been asked to add. For the record, I've only allowed two: Oregon Trail (because seriously, how could you not like Oregon Trail) and Skiers vs. Snowboarders. But do I really need 4,500 (that's how many Facebook applications actually exist) to choose from?

I did a little research and found that I'm not alone in this. One blog out there called all the applicatons a "cornucopia of uselessness." Ditto.

I'm not ridding myself of Facebook. I've found people on there I never would have been able to track down. But the love affair is over.

I'm rekindling the romance with my original flame...MySpace.

Happy Birthday

Today was my dad's birthday. I didn't call him. Sorry, Dad.

I really didn't forget. I thought about it several times today. It's just that whenever I did remember it, I was on some sort of deadline for work. And whenever I experienced a lull...I forgot about it.

So Happy Birthday. Thanks for all the help (financial and otherwise) over my past 28 years. Just because I'm getting a new job and I'll be making more money...doesn't mean that has to stop. :)

GBH

I've written before of my complicated relationship with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Refer to that post for details and background.

With that mentioned, I was genuinely saddened to hear that Gordon B. Hinckley had died. Despite my criticisms of the church, I saw in him a little of what I've always found hard to see in Mormonism; compassion without judgement. I always got the sense that he walked a bit of a tightrope...upholding church doctrine while legitimizing and recognizing different viewpoints.

Perhaps others didn't see him that way. I did...and my gut always told me he was "good guy." I'm sorry to see him gone.

Powder, birds, & guts

I've snowboarded many times. I worked two full ski seasons at three different resorts in three different states. I've had my fair share of powder days. But nothing I've experienced so far compared to this past Saturday.

This is what it looked like in Big Sky. That's a car under there. Bad news for that car's owner. Good news for me. The riding was unbelievable. At least 2 feet of fresh, dry powder for the taking. The best part? Big Sky isn't like many other resorts. Even on a Saturday powder day...the slopes are crowd free; one advantage of being in a remote part of Montana. It was one of the best riding days I've ever had. It came at just the right time, too. Severe winter weather blew in today. It's supposed to -10 tonight with a wind chill approaching -25. The front steps of my apartment have disappeared...replaced by a four foot high snowdrift.

Speaking of just outside my apartment, check out this photo:


I walked out of my building a couple weeks ago, looked up, and stopped dead in my tracks. Ravens, ravens everywhere. I felt like I was in "The Birds." I counted 40 altogether. And finally, speaking of animals, don't you just love seeing a gutted, split-open elk on the back of a pickup in front of you on the freeway?

I was trailing this guy for a while wondering what the hell I was looking at. I finally got close enough to identify the rib cage. A freshly killed, freshly gutted elk.

I'm gonna miss Montana.

"...and all the rest of dear old West..."

Aging sucks.

I'm nearly 28. By the time my contract ends in Boise, I'll be nearly 30. I think of those numbers and while my face wrinkles into a frown...it's still hard to wrap my mind around them.

Mention my 10-year high school reunion...and it's a different ballgame.

I was on the phone with a friend yesterday when she said, "you're going to our reunion right?"
"What reunion," I said.
"Our high school reunion. Our 10-year high school reunion."
"What!? But that's not 'til 200-." That's when I gasped. "Oh my God. It's 2008. I graduated 10 years ago?"
"Yeah you did."
"Oh my God, I'm old."

There you have it. My 10-year high school reunion is this year. I'm only turned off by the fact that it's been 10 years. Unlike many, I'm okay with actually going. I haven't gotten fat. I'm not bald. I have a respectable/unique/interesting job. I've done fairly cool things in the time I've been out of high school. I like seeing old friends. I think it'll be interesting.

But damn....I'm getting old.

Gramically?

I'm sorry Beth. I must blog about you and your quote today. Please forgive me.

So Beth and I were chatting on the phone. We were talking about someone who has a hard time reading and writing coherently. In all seriousness, Beth pulls out this zinger:

"Nothing they write is gramically correct."

Ahh...good times.

In other news....

....my reign of terror officially ends tomorrow. I am no longer interim news director at my station. Woohoo! The new news director starts tomorrow. Granted, he'll have an adjustment period and yes I'm leaving soon anyway but oh man...it still feels good not to have intolerable levels of responsibility.

My last day is three weeks from yesterday. It hasn't sunk in yet.

A Dog's Life

I am a big baby.

I've teared up before while watching a sad movie, hearing a sad song, or reading a sad book. But never have I cried so much as I did when I finished "Merle's Door."

I had never even heard of the book. I was browsing the shelves in Borders and happened to see it. I read the inside jacket and thought, "I should buy this." So I did.

Wow. I can't believe how much if affected me given the fact that I've never owned a dog. If you get a chance, read it. And if you're making fun of me for crying...you'll be singing a different tune when you finish it. I promise.

New Adventures

Boise it is. Here goes nothin'.

I don't know that I've ever had such a tough time making a decision. Of course, I never had to make one as seemingly important as this one. In retrospect, it was Boise all along. I could see that. It was just a cloudy view. I had to suffer through the haze until things cleared up.

Still, even if I did know what I wanted deep down, it was not an easy decision. How do you casually decide to leave something that isn't necessarily bad? How do you know when to walk away from something good? Those are always the hardest steps to take. You know it's right...but you know following through is going to hurt. It's a tough pill to swallow.

I know I'm constantly fawning over Montana. Some don't understand it. Others are sick of it. Still others just think I'm crazy. But you have to see it like I see it. I came here as a broken 22-year-old. Montana, and everything I found here, healed me. How can I not have deep, unwavering affection for such an all-encompassing salve?

Still...it's time to go. You can expect me to wax poetic over the next month. I'll probably drive out of this state sobbing like a baby....but I suppose tears of nostalgic reflection are the best kind of tears to cry.

p.s. thanks to everyone who cares

Decision Time

Wow. I haven't posted in a while. I'm sorry. I actually do feel bad when I slack off. The guilt was eating away at me. But, as stupid as it sounds, I didn't want to write anything until there was some certainty as to what I would write about. That certainty has arrived. Now it's time to choose.

vs.

I got a nice present on Christmas Eve. The news director in Boise called and offered me the job. I was genuinely excited...yet still conflicted. For days, I'd been wondering about a specific job with my current company....in Missoula. Although it wasn't actually open, the timing and circumstances were such...that the possibility was there. I was terrified of accepting the Boise job...and finding out days or weeks later that the Missoula job could have been mine if I'd stuck around. I finally just said to my bosses, "Hey. I want this. If I can't have it...that's cool. Just let me know so I can accept something else without hesitation." They let me know. The job wasn't available. I was relieved....

...until they brought up the prospect of something else.

The possibility had been presented to me before. I wasn't terribly excited about it, but I never firmly discounted it either. When it was presented to me again, I said, "Okay. I am, at the least, interested. But I need to make a decision soon. Let's talk." We talked today. In all honesty, I was curious about a salary. The figure they quoted.....was surprising. It was higher than I had imagined. And now I'm left with this question: Should I stay or should I go?

Either way, I'm leaving Bozeman...probably by the end of this month. But should I go to Boise or Missoula? From a purely career standpoint, Boise is the better move. From a lifestyle standpoint, Missoula trumps Boise. However, neither perspective outweighs the other to the point of my choice being easy and clear.

I put together a rough pros and cons list earlier tonight. Didn't help much. Both choices had many pros. Both had few cons. Both jobs offer new adventures. Both offer new challenges. Both jobs offer growth. But in comparing Boise and Missoula...it's all a matter of degree. EVERYTHING about Boise is new. In Missoula, I can experience new things as well, but with a certain degree of familiarity.

I have a lot of thinking to do.