Jeff Likes to Tell Stories

Welcome to my blog. I haven’t kept up with it in a while. But I hope to get back to writing the types of stories you’ll find here. If my life was a sitcom, these might be considered scripts for the show. I write about my life, my interactions with my family and those strangers I encounter on a daily basis. My more serious writing can be found in various places. But I often post them on Medium.

News Outta My Control / 29.03.2003

I was involved in my first anti-war protest yesterday. It started innocently enough. I had no prior plans to publicly voice my concerns. It seemingly came out of nowhere. While activists formed human chains across 14th and Pennsylvania yesterday morning (a block from the White House), my protest occurred in the early evening at my local CVS drugstore. Two weeks ago I had a root canal. At the time, I was effusive about the whole affair. It was one of the best dental experiences I had ever had (I still stand behind that). But in the past week I’ve come to...

News Outta My Control / 25.03.2003

The authority of a king is physical and controls the actions of men without subduing their will. But the majority possesses a power that is physical and moral at the same time, which acts upon the will as much as upon the actions and represses not only all contest, but all controversy. Alexis de Tocqueville Democracy in America Michael Moore held nothing back when he took his opportunity to “thank the Academy” for his Oscar Sunday night. Neither did the audience when it tried to boo him off the stage for candidly stating his sentiments about America’s recent foreign policy. While Adrien...

Fairly Odd Parents-Present, News Outta My Control / 18.03.2003

And so it begins. No, not The War—but the non-stop news “analysis.” MSNBC has a countdown clock on our television screens at all times, counting down the hours and minutes before Saddam and his progeny have to exit Iraq. Retired colonels and generals stand with long-stemmed pointers on large topographical maps, waiting to be called into service. Three-D icons of air, artillery, and ground support ring the country. When it starts, we will bestow expert status on these on-air soldiers as we hang on their every word. “The media have collectively conveyed the impression that this thing will be over...

Fairly Odd Parents-Present, Medicinal Properties, News Outta My Control / 15.03.2003

Over the course of the last month, the pain in my lily-livered liberal all-American heart has only been exceeded by the pain in my #12 all-American tooth. Each conveyed a kind of dull, background ache as I carried on my daily routine. When focused on other things, like coding Web sites or writing, the discomfort seemed to disappear. But when I sat quietly for a moment, with no outside interference, I felt #12 pulse rhythmically. As things started to heat up in the Persian Gulf, so too did the searing in my upper jaw. I drove 40 miles in a driving...

News Outta My Control / 14.03.2003

As mentioned last week, Kevin Sites, CNN reporter in Kuwait, has been sending emails to those of us back “home” on his personal reflections around the Persian Gulf. Kevin has now set up his own blog so we can keep current with his “first-person account of a news correspondent’s life on the front lines.” Not only is he blogging in the traditional sense, he’s audio blogging, calling in posts via his mobile phone. Today’s post comes from Tehran as he and seven others from CNN, a mix of camera people, satellite engineers, producers, and reporters, prepare for a ten hour trip to...

Artistic Tendencies, News Outta My Control / 13.03.2003

"Another Poster for Peace is a group of designers who are commited to the peaceful and just resolution of the current crises in the Middle East. Our goal is to help create a grassroots campaign for patriotic dissent as a counter to the onslaught of fear and warmongering currently in the media. If enough of us voice our dissent, we can raise the level of public engagement and concern to a point at which politicians will have to sit up and pay attention. If enough of us voice our dissent, we will be heard." All posters are downloadable, copyright free (you...

News Outta My Control / 11.03.2003

In this case, we know what the questions are going to be, and those are the ones we want to answer. We think the public will see the thought and care and attention he’s given to a lot of the different questions that are being asked about the diplomatic side and the military side and the potential post-Iraq issue. These are all legitimate questions that he has answers for and wants to talk about. Dan Bartlett White House Communications Chief We need intelligent answers, Mr. President. Many lives are depending on you. I was stupefied by your performance at last Thursday’s press conference....

News Outta My Control / 08.03.2003

Kevin Sites, a CNN reporter in Kuwait, has been sharing personal reflections on the soon-to-be war front with readers of boingboing via email. Here’s an excerpt from his latest (read his entire post here): For most of the journalists here in Kuwait, this is the fear and this is the joke; that for all our technology—our videophones and portable dishes, our Thurayas, and Iridiums and Neras, our digital cameras and laptop editing systems—we could end up covering this war with wind up film cameras....

News Outta My Control / 02.03.2003

George W. Bush lives at the intersection of faith and inexperience. This is not a reassuring address, especially in a time of trouble. Joe KleinTime Magazine The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has let stand their June 2002 decision to ban the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in American schools. While initial attention was focused on “One Nation Under God,” it has been subdued in the Court’s latest ruling. This, however, will not end the debate between a religious and a secular definition of America. Attorney General John Ashcroft has vowed to take this decision to the Supreme Court. Even the California...