The Blue Cupcake of Death
And left it … and left it … and left it.
It’s HARD AS A BRICK. No joke. It makes a loud clunking sound when you set it down (turn up the volume on the video and you’ll hear it). All the moisture has been sucked out of it, and it’s shriveled and rather disgusting looking. But it’s not growing anything yet, so it’s still on my desk.
Eric and I have started calling it the Blue Cupcake of Death because surely you would die of some strange disease if you ate the thing. We were feeling a little mischievous today, and, well, we thought we would play a little prank. We left our Cupcake of Death in The Times’ community snack area and hid the video camera in a leftover box of tea. Hilarity ensued: (Keep reading this entry to see the video!)
Tags: cupcake, Fun, pranks, The Huntsville Times, video
A source died last week. Not just any source, and not just any way — He was a unique man, and one that I never thought would take his own life.
I met Damon John Percival and his beautiful girlfriend, Amy Mansell, on one of the coldest days in 2008. It was Dec. 22, to be exact, and the temperature was drifting down in the lower 20s. D.J. had called my city editor on the spur of the moment about a blanket and socks drive he had organized a few days before, and he was on his way to the homeless camps beneath Interstate 565 and at the end of Derrick Street to distribute those necessities to the homeless.
My boss asked me to go. I remember thinking, “It’s way too cold today for me to stand outside and interview college students and the homeless.” But I bucked up and went, and now I’m grateful I did.
Tags: Damon John Percival, death, homeless, source
CLICHÉ ALERT: I have good news and bad news.
First, the good: I have a new job title here at The Times. Starting Monday, I will be the Social Media Editor. Before you start asking the inevitable questions (“That means you’re the society writer, right?”), check out the end of this blog post for my job description. Unfortunately, this exciting opportunity (promotion, to some degree), comes with a tiny problem: I have to change the name of my blog. I can’t call it “Night Owl: Thoughts from a crime reporter” when I’m not longer a crime reporter. Sigh.
So this is where I need your help. What should I call my blog, based on my new responsibilities? I’m considering this tag line: “Personal and professional musings of a new media journalist.” So what replaces “Night Owl”? I don’t want to be too specific because, let’s be honest, I’m too ADD to write only about one topic. I need something catchy, something descriptive … yeah, this is why I don’t write headlines.
Leave a comment with suggestions. I can’t promise I’ll use your idea, BUT, if I do, I’ll buy you a pizza and have it delivered to your house. Come on, how’s that for an incentive? Just make sure you enter a valid e-mail address when you comment (it won’t be shown on my site) so I can make arrangements for your pizza.
Tags: free stuff, Help!, pizza
It’s nearly a week after the fact, but oh well — I can’t possibly exclude my trip to see the Davis Cup match between the United States and Switzerland from this blog. I won’t bore you with a soliloquy on the wonders of the Davis Cup, held in scenic Birmingham, Ala. Let me tell you, though, I never would have thought the ITF could transform a dirty old arena into a dazzling tennis stadium. I’m not sure which was more impressive: The set-up or the tennis. I was fortunate enough to watch the Bryan brothers trounce Switzerland’s Yves Allegro and Stanislas Wawrinka on my birthday (March 7, for those of you who don’t know).
In the interest of brevity, I’ve broken down my Davis Cup highlights into three easy-to-digest pieces: A Flickr slide show, a set of links and a funny story.
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