Do-over

Aesthetics are important to me. I pay attention to way things look. I'm interested in things like studio set design, architecture, and monument design. I also like spectacle. Concerts and fireworks displays come to mind. I like it when my eyes are wowed.

That's why I was so disappointed with the opening ceremonies at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. That stupid glitch with the Olympic cauldron really pissed me off. I know, I know. What a dumb thing to fixate on. But I haven't been able to get it out of my head for the past two weeks. It's supposed to be the pinnacle moment...and it gets screwed up. I know it was no one's fault. But there were BILLIONS of people watching from across the world...and the most visually compelling display...fizzles. Frustrating...and pretty embarrassing for Canada.

As far as I was concerned, Vancouver blew it with that one big mess-up. I was wrong. I had a big smile on my face when I saw them acknowledge the glitch in tonight's closing ceremonies. A mime comes out, does a little "maintenance" work on the broken cauldron arm, and it rises out of the ground. Then, Canadian athlete Catriona LeMay Doan, the woman who missed out on the first lighting because of the glitch, sets the thing ablaze. It was awesome.

As far as aesthetics are concerned, I think it's the coolest cauldron I've seen...followed closely by Salt Lake's.

I love the Olympics. I was lucky enough to be involved in the 2002 Games. I'd like to be a part of a future Games. I'm gonna take a wild guess and say I probably won't be an Olympic athlete anytime soon. So, hopefully I can be in London, Sochi, Rio, or a future Olympic city as a broadcaster. We'll see.

Go time

First and foremost...I'm excited to be here in 29 days.

I haven't been to Delicate Arch in about 5 years. But I'll be welcoming my 30th year with a sunrise hike to my old friend. Early in the morning (or even in the middle of the night) is the only appropriate time for a visit. Delicate Arch is too popular, too awesome, and too easy to get to. Because of that, most people have to share a visit with throngs of others. I've even heard up to 10,000 people have made the trek in a single weekend. I won't accept that. I'm selfish when it comes to nature. I've been to the arch about a dozen times in my life. For the past 5 or 6 visits, I've never been there with more than one or two people. (That doesn't include the friends I've hiked with). That's only because I've hiked up in the middle of the night or very early in the morning. That's the plan next month. I've invited many friends. I'm not sure how many will show up. But I honestly can't think of a better way to celebrate a birthday. Bar hopping and getting trashed for my 30th...well, that's not exactly my cup of tea.

In other news, I've been a little more open lately about my itch to get into theater and acting. The support is nice. I'm thankful to have friends and family who don't laugh off seemingly crazy aspirations. So...I'm pursuing it...to a degree. I won't be taking any giant leaps of faith. I'm well aware that great rewards often involve great risk. But I'm going to be somewhat practical in my approach. I'll keep those details to myself for now.

I will be in Boise for the next 6 months. I've signed a short extension with my station. I've also signed with a talent agent to help with my next news job. News is still a passion of mine. I think it would be foolish of me to give up on it completely. I know how the business works. I have a good head start. I have experience. While the industry is getting hit hard economically, I have nothing to lose by looking for another gig. There's no telling what I might find or where I might end up. An excellent opportunity just might present itself.

So the heat's been turned off for a while. August will be here before I know it and I'm sure I'll start freaking out soon enough. For now though, I'm breathing easier.

Change of course?

I packed up my life and moved to Montana in the summer of 2002. At the time, I thought it would be a 4-month long diversion from life. Long story short...4 months turned into 4 years. Plenty of people thought I was crazy. That bothered me a little but I found comfort in two things: the fact I was having a kick-ass time and the knowledge that I was doing what was right for me. I took a major detour and I felt good about it.

I figured that would be the end of it. I left the seasonal world more than 4 years ago and jumped into the world of TV news. Overall, it's been a very good experience. I've learned a lot. I've been validated many times. I enjoy what I do. That is why the prospect of another detour seems so unbelievably terrifying. But that's exactly what I'm thinking about. Another detour. I can't get it out of my head.

I've been a mess for the past few weeks. I really have. I wake up to heated arguments already blazing in my head. I go to bed with the same.

Do it. Don't do it.

Dive in. Step in.

Rational. Irrational.

Too old. Age is a number.

Crazy. Sane.

Risk. Reward.

It's killing me. I've had desires to do things before and I've never gone full throttle because there just didn't seem to be a way. But no matter what, I can't look at this like that. I've tried. The rational part of me has tried to be pragmatic and cautious. It's not working. I've got an itch to do something and I'm starting to think the only thing I can do is scratch it.

The question now is to what degree. I love news. I always will. But I've gotten bored and unsatisfied. There's every likelihood that a new job would reinvigorate me and shove these latest inklings to the corner of my mind. But I'm not even sure I want that to happen. There's also the not-so-minor detail of actually finding a new job.

A few of you might be asking, "What the hell does he want to do?"

I'll tell you...and that, in itself, is a big step.

I'm thinking about going back to school to study acting and theater.

Yeah, yeah...I'd raise one eyebrow too. There are major issues to work through. Location. Cost. Etc. But I've always had an interest in it. It's just that news has always trumped it. I've started to wonder if it can be trumped anymore.

Missed Opportunity

I remember being home last summer and making fun of my mom for watching Harper's Island. I didn't know anything about the show but I thought the few minutes I did see were pretty lame. Fast forward to late last year when my station's movie critic recommended the show in that weeks DVD picks. Then, earlier this week, I noticed it on a shelf at Hastings. I figured I'd give it a shot. I'm glad I did. It's not particularly well written. It's not particularly well-acted. It's not particularly believable. But it is good fun. I wasted this past week watching all 13 episodes. I did a little research online after the fact. I guess the show wasn't a big success. It definitely had a cult following but was largely ignored by the mainstream masses. That's too bad. I hear that, had it been successful, CBS was committed to the same idea again...a limited run, murder/mystery series with a "reality show" twist (that being one main character killed off each week). Oh well. If you get a chance, rent Harper's Island. It's not the greatest TV show you'll ever see...but it's damn good fun.