Happy birthday Anne Frank. By my math you would have been 80 today.
It seems we have such a fickle memory for things as a nation, people and species. Granted we cannot become fixated on the past and let that hold us from the future, but we also should not be so quick to jump from one crisis to another. That is the world of cable news. One week it is swine flu, the next it is the economy and then its Sarah Palin and David Letterman going at it. I barely remember a world before 24 hour news coverage, but that doesn’t stop me from longing for it.

So is it perception that we “move on” so quickly these days? I doubt many people will remember the shooting this week at the Holocaust Museum, much less the Holocaust by next June. I think Mel Gibson, that wacky Bishop who was just un-ex-communicated and the Iranian president Beardonotiewearamahjad need to get three riffles and shoot each other in the head. Is that too harsh? The fact that we live in a world where PETA can compare factory farming to the holocaust or W could claim Saddam was another Hitler is revolting. I’m sure Saddam was an evil tyrant, but (hopefully) Hitler was one of a kind.
The one visit I made to the Holocaust Museum taught me two things. The first is that the deli out front is amazing. Why such good food is available at such a sad place is confounding and the second is that whatever we are told about the Holocaust does not so it justice. At one point during the tour, my wife and I had to leave. We vowed to come back later (which we did) but what compelled us to leave was the disrespect of the visitors. A group of African American school kids were joking, laughing and being vocal and obnoxious. I would hope no one would ever go to the Slavery Museum with that attitude. It was at that moment I realized that time may heal all wounds, but it can also cover up what should never be forgotten.

I don't know if it just me or this state but sometimes my life is an exercise in contradiction. I do know this much, I can probably safely say I'm the only person on planet Earth who spent long night drinking Sangria and shooting a .22 into a retention pond and then got up to commute in a Prius blasting ABBA. I could be wrong.

The local news rag once famously declared in front page bold type it had “100 Years of Pubic Service.”
Yup, you read that right. Pubic. It was on Leno and everything. So now seems as good a time as ever to explore blogging again. Maybe, maybe not. I miss the opportunity to write any chance I get. Doing it on the regular was taxing though. Internal dialogue, monologues about current affairs and general rants seemed like a waste of my time and energy (and yours too dear reader).

Now more than ever, it looks like newspapers might not make it. I use to curse those lucky enough to get paid to write. I almost got onboard that grave train twice. The first opportunity was working as a writer for my hometown paper. The only problem was the position was for a sports writer. I probably know more about arthroscopic surgery than football. Not to mention spending my weekend surrounded by drunk rednecks, mosquitoes and fighting a raging case of swamp ass just to write about something I care not even a tiny bit about would have been hell. Plus ,I let my radio station manager convince me to stay in broadcasting. Um, yeah, the choice between radio and newspaper is like picking between the Titanic and the Hindenburg. It was pretty clear where both were heading, even way back in 1997.
Flash forward to a few years later, the hometown paper interviewed me several times for an online editor position. It would have been the perfect job for me. I had masters in Technology and an undergrad in English and Journalism. Yes, I’ll wait while you critique my writing style and grammar. OK, glad you are back. I don’t know who finally was hired. By the time I was no longer in the running, I had to stop caring. It is pretty heartbreaking to get rejected by a paper best suited as birdcage lining, but I was. At least we now get to hear all about this lady and her cats. Fingers crossed this corpse of a publication will drop long before the New York Times. I always wondered what happened to “Mimi” from “The Drew Carey Show.”
http://www.staugustine.com/staff/heymen-anne.shtml