What a crazy weekend, right? On top of the storm, I had a whole bunch of stuff going on, and barely scratched the surface of my “To-Do” list. So I’m not going to spend much time preparing some long-winded open thread for y’all like I usually do.
Instead, I’ll leave you to do what you do with the open thread.
Oh, and the gallery of the weekend storm’s damage will be up later today. My request for photos is STILL receiving so many responses that it’s been overwhelming. (FYI: You can e-mail photos and video to nberke [at] sheepsheadbites.com or upload them to Facebook and tag them “Sheepshead Bites”)
This is Sheepshead Bites’ 1000th article.
Wow, I really thought we’d be hitting this milestone with a little more substance. But no, just an open thread.
Need something to riff off of for your ranting? Here are a few ideas:
- The Oscars (Hurt Locker blew. There, I said it.)
- Garbage pickup on Sheepshead Bay’s major avenues (It was particularly bad this weekend.)
- We’re going to reorganize the site’s sidebar, with different features for when you’re reading the front page or a specific article. Anything you want to see in the sidebar while we’re working on it?
- Got a Facebook account? Go and put in your guess about my age. No one has gotten it yet, but some are closer than others.
- Are we finally done with the snow? Well, the next 10 days looks clear.
- Speaking of weather (and our sidebar) – would a weather and/or traffic status box in the sidebar be useful?
- By the way, have you set Sheepshead Bites as your homepage yet? You should do that.
When I was but a wee boy, I taught myself HTML from a book my brother bought me. I had my first website when I was 12. I taught myself about journalism – though later I went to school and received my bachelor’s in it.
While abroad, I taught myself Spanish, though that was by necessity. At first I hated it, and demanded everyone learn English. I also taught myself how to teach (though I’d never compare myself to a true school teacher) and began giving English classes while traveling.
Painting was another thing I taught myself, one that made me good money back in the day.
I like learning new things.
Apparently I’ve been doing this a long time. My parents say that I potty-trained myself, which I’m sure was a relief to them. And I also read before they knew I could. My first piece of literature was a pamphlet on fertilization. My mother was a Lamaze teacher, and I picked up the mail one day and read to her about sperm crashing into eggs, detaching their tails and, behold, the zygote. They gave me a quiz afterwards.
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… like, a lot.
Enjoy your open thread. You know the deal.
Happy President’s Day! Does anyone else feel like February is the month for meaningless holidays?
Anyway, today is going to be a slow post day for technical and logistical reasons. So… sorry readers. I know how you love to read us at work, when you should be working. So I recommend exploring the archives and reading old comments (FYI, we broke the 5,000 comment mark late last night. Thanks everyone!)
Anyway, this is a truly open thread. Rant and rave, like you’re supposed to for an open thread. I’d love to hear some ruminations about your Valentine’s Day, or you can just tell us what’s been bugging you lately.
So get to it!
Every now and then, when I’m working on those longer complex stories none of you want to read, I really wish I had a venue to explain to people what’s going through my head. Many people view the news as a collection of objective, infallible facts cobbled together by some indifferent reporter. News is the Truth, and any deviation from it is the result of a reporter’s bias or agenda.
Here’s a little industry secret: 99.9 percent of the news you read is somewhere in the middle. Where we as reporters screw up is in our constant insistence that every story is a factual, accurate representation of reality. Our frequently repeated commitment to the Truth.
For anyone who’s ever been the subject of a story, you know exactly what the response to that is: bullshit.
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Since we forgot to post the open thread yesterday, we’re catching you up with a special Tuesday edition.
Really, it’s special. We mean it.
Open thread is actually one of my favorite things to write, as it gives me an opportunity to flex and get stuff off my chest.
One thing that’s really been bothering me lately is the amount of stuff I feel rushed to complete. Until a couple of months ago, never did I really feel overly burdened by deadlines, meetings, and appointments. I stay punctual, I get my work done. But these days it really seems like there’s not enough hours in the day, and thus the forgetting of the open thread.
That really grinds my gears, as a certain television character might say.
So, any tips out there for fighting off the feeling that my life is being taken over by my work? And that the work never seems to end? Help me, people!
I don’t know about you guys, but I’m really getting tired of the current economic crisis. Like many other Americans, it’s had major effects on my life. And that doesn’t look like it’s going to change soon.
However, I’m surprised by how few people I know that have been seriously trod upon by the downturn. With such high numbers of un- and underemployed in New York City, and the sheer magnitude of the problem, I’d imagine there are more people in my life burned by it. But no.
How about you? Is the economy affecting you? How?
And for those of you without work, why don’t you tell us about how you lost your job (or don’t), and also give us a brief description of your skill set. Maybe a couple of us with complementary skills can band together and reinvigorate our careers… and our bank accounts.
So get this: instead of doing the work I was supposed to do this weekend, I retreated into the great multimedia bunker that is my brother’s apartment. I spent the entire time playing and beating Assassin’s Creed 2 on Playstation 3, projected onto a wall in high-definition and a sweet stereo sound system.
I’m not a big video game guy, but that was a good weekend.
However, now my eyes hurt, everything is sore, and my brain has the consistency of pudding. I’m way beat, and the only thing I can think of is kicking Templar ass.
Sorry, but this is going to be a slow Monday.
However, here’s something to mull over. If we were to put together a spoof episode – or clip reel – of television’s smash sensation Jersey Shore, and we titled it Sheepshead Shore, what would it be like?
Who would the characters be? What would be their stereotypes? Their dance? Their nicknames? Where would they work? What would they look like? What kind of crap would come out of their mouths?
Now, for those who don’t watch the show, or have seen it and think it’s stupid, please don’t leave rants below about how bad the show is or what it has to say about America’s intelligence. We know. It’s bad. It makes us all stupid.
Sheepshead Shore will be better. I promise.*
*Promises from Sheepshead Bites staff are not an assurance, nor a guarantee, nor a promise. In fact, they’re totally worthless. The promises and the staff.
Not much to say this morning, except that I’m glad the cold is letting up. I’ve had a bad couple of days, mired in frustration.
Here’s something that I hope will get your mental gears grinding for the day:
People are strange when you’re a stranger
Faces look ugly when you’re alone
Women seem wicked when you’re unwanted
Streets are uneven when you’re down
When you’re strange
Faces come out of the rain
When you’re strange
No one remembers your name
When you’re strange
-The Doors, “People Are Strange”
I’d say these words sum up Sheepshead Bay pretty well, at least certain aspects of life here. Your thoughts?
