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Jennifer D. Wade Journal

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Blog posts January 2007

I Can See (More) Clearly Now

I have a new pair of glasses.  Just picked them up yesterday, along with the handy-dandy clip-on sunglasses and the nifty little lens cleaning cloth.

Don't worry.  My old glasses are doing just fine.  In fact, I'm wearing them now.  I got them a couple years ago (remember?  I said, "When should I wear them?" and the eye doctor said, "When you want to see better.").  Anyway, they're still good for what they're good for, which is reading the fine print, or the book, or the computer screen.  Whatever happens to be close at hand.

These new glasses are for driving - so I can see the signs in plenty of time to STOP or YIELD or get into the proper lane for my exit.  I wore them on my way to work yesterday and, I must say, they worked great.  I didn't run one red light or miss one turn.  The only disappointing thing was that the weather was overcast, so there was no need to use the clip-on sunglasses.  That's something to look forward to, isn't it?

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Here's the Deal

Here is the story of my previously unknown and admittedly tenuous connection to a man who made his living, shall we say, by making movies for adults, and those films happen to feature men - and how I came to discover said connection.

It began a couple nights ago with what appeared to be a routine house fire in a part of our viewing area known as the Back Mountain.  Scanner chatter indicated that someone might be trapped in the house, but such chatter is not unsual and, in many cases, it proves not to be true.  In this case, however, it turned out that someone was, in fact, inside the house. 

The next day, Thursday, our reporters continued to follow the story.  The body inside the house had been so badly burned that dental records were needed for a positive ID.  It was eventually determined that the dead person in the house was the man who lived there.  But, an autopsy showed that the fire is not what killed him!  Someone had stabbed him and slashed his throat and then, apparently, set fire to the house.

On Thursday afternoon, more details about the victim emerged.  He made his living by making movies for adults, and those movies feature men.  Thanks to the Internet, his business was nationwide.  His business address was his home address.  He also had a "suite," which turned out to be a mailbox at the local package shipping store.  We also learned on Thursday that, about five years ago, the victim had been in trouble because he had a special friend who, it turned out was not quite old enough to legally be a special friend.

OK.  Fast forward to Friday and my late morning appointment for a haircut.  I ran a couple errands and arrived at the salon a few minutes early.  The woman who cuts my hair was sitting on a bench with another employee reading a newspaper account of the crime.  

Now.  Here's the connection.  It turns out that the woman who cuts my hair - also cut his hair!  I and a man who made his living by making movies for adults, and those films happen to feature men, had the same stylist!  How about that!  Imagine.  Me and a guy like that having a connection. Who knew?

Anyway, it seems that people at the salon did not know what this guy was up to.  He would mention taking business trips to Southern California, but he didn't get specific about what that business was.  when the aforementioned other employee (I think she's a color expert) found out from the newspaper article, she said, "I can't believe I touched him!"  It also seems that many of the people living in the victim's neighborhood didn't know what he was involved with.

All of which makes me wonder just how much I don't know about MY neighbors!

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Still to Come ...

This is what we in the news biz refer to as a tease - just enough information to get you to wait out a commercial break.  So, here it is:

I just found out that I have a previously unknown and admittedly tenuous connection to a man who made his living, shall we say, by making movies for adults, and those films happened to feature men.  Who is he? How are we connected?  Stay tuned.

Now this.

 

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She's In

Here we go.  Hillary Rodham Clinton is in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.  Like nobody knew that was coming, but she went ahead and made an announcement on her website anyway.  And, OK, so it's just an exploratory committee.  That's like first base, and you can't get to second unless you get to first first.  If you're interested, you can listen to her announcement HERE.

In the interests of fair play, here are the websites for the other top Democratic contenders - John Edwards and Barack Obama.  The list also includes Christopher Dodd, Bill Richardson, Joe Biden and Tom Vilsack. Apologies if I missed anyone.  It's getting difficult to keep track.  Republican Sam Brownback also announced today.

Anyway, some observations:

1.  Should Hillary get elected, and should she serve two terms, it will mean that for a 28 year period, the President of the US will have come from one of two families - Bush or Clinton.  The Clintons will have a 4-3 edge in terms of terms.

2.  Hillary is branding herself as "Hillary" as opposed to "Clinton."  The banner on her website is "Hillary for President" not "Clinton for President."  I suppose that makes sense in order to distinguish herself from her husband.  But, it raises questions.  For instance, assuming again that she gets the nomination, she'll have to choose a running mate, let's say Fred Jones.  Will the bumper stickers say "Hillary/Fred '08" or maybe "Clinton/Jones '08" or will they mix and match and go for "Hillary/Jones '08"?  Hmmm.  I'd say A or B, but not C.

3.  I expect a Hillary candidacy will put NEPA in the national spotlight once again.  Not only is PA a coveted swing state, but Hillary has ties to Scranton (her father was born there and is buried there.  The family also has a cabin in the area.  Could Lake Winola be the new Crawford?).  Joe Biden also has ties to Scranton (he was born there and lived in Scranton until his family moved to Delaware when he was about 11).  So, I expect to see Hillary (and Bill) and Joe in NEPA at least as much as we saw John and John and George and Dick in '04.

This oughtta be fun. 

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Make a Wish

Jessica Hardy will no doubt be doing a lot of wishing during the next few years - as in wishing she could get out of prison!  On Tuesday, the judge put the smackdown on Hardy:  3 to 6 in the state pen.

You may recall from PREVIOUS ENTRIES that Jessica Hardy once earned my vote for "Worst Person in the World."  For several years, she ran the Northeast PA chapter of the Make A Wish Foundation.  The organization raises money so that seriously ill children can have a wish come true, say a trip to Disney World or something.

Well, it seems Jessica wasn't content to help make these children's wishes come true.  No, she wanted to make some of her own wishes come true.  She wished for a hot tub, big TV's, her own trip to the Magic Kingdom.  And, how did she make these wishes come true?  Jessica Hardy invented sick children.  She made them up.  Some 20 kids over a period of about nine years.  Then, when kind-hearted organizations or people would, in good faith, make donations to help out these made-up kids, Jessica took the money and fulfilled her own wishes.

In late 2005, county detectives spent several hours hauling stuff out of Hardy's house.  The picture of them taking out the hot tub?  Priceless!

So, the woman who lived a fantasy life by creating imaginary sick children, now has to face reality. Clicking her heels together three times won't help her get out of this mess.

I, for one, love it.  

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Video of the Day

These pictures from Oregon are more than enough to make you appreciate a mild winter.

The link will take you to the story, then click on the "amazing home video."

http://www.nwcn.com/statenews/oregon/stories/NW_011607ORNstorm_portlandLJ.46895f63.html

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It's a Guy Thing

What is it about guys and movie lines?  Just about every guy I know can quote - exactly - multiple lines from multiple movies.  Sometimes, they can quote a whole scene!  I've known girls/women who can do it, too.  But, mostly, it seems to be a guy thing.  And, what makes it worse, is that they usually quote lines from movies that I haven't seen and wouldn't rent of my own free will. 

I listen to ESPN radio a lot, mostly while I'm drving too and from work.  On Thursday night, the hosts of whatever show I was listening to started quoting lines from Eddie Murphy in "Coming to America."  Friday night, it was Chevy Chase in "Fletch Lives."  The guys mentioned that pretty much no one saw "Fletch Lives," but I guess it had at least one quote-worthy line going for it.

I just don't get it.  I can recognize good writing and I appreciate clever phrasing.  On many occasions, I've heard a good line and said to myself I need to remember that.  And, then, I forget it.  At this point, I think I've actually managed to remember two lines.  One is from "Dolores Claiborne," where Kathy Bates says, "Sometimes, being a bitch is all a woman has to fall back on" (or something like that).  The other is from "Code 46," where one character says, "If everyone's children are so special, where do all the ordinary adults come from?" (or something like that). 

See, I'm not even sure if the quotes I memorized are actual quotes!  However, I can tell you that the movie "Get Shorty" is structured like a corkscrew.  I can remember telling a former co-worker who hated the movie "The English Patient" that it was really well done because the whole thing was about how things were not really as they seemed.  I admire Quentin Tarantino's work because he brings stories and characters full-circle.  I can remember scenes, and what characters did in those scenes.  Just don't ask me what they said.

Guys, can you help me out with that?

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Stopping and Starting

One week into 2007 now, and I've finally decided on my New Year's Resolutions.  Actually, I'm making kind of an umbrella resolution which will cover several smaller, but no less significant, resolutions.

Overall, I've decided that 2007 will be the year in which I stop doing things I know that I shouldn't be doing, and start doing things which I know that I should.  Seems easy enough, right?

With that in mind, from here on out, no more "One Tree Hill."  I mean it.  The show has good music but, otherwise, it's ridiculous.  It features a cast of 20-something actors playing high school students who basically live like 20-somethings except that, sometimes, they have to go to cheerleading practice.  And, don't even get me started on the show's adult characters.  Role models, they're not.  So, to sum up:  I'm a 40-year-old watching a show that stars 25-year-olds playing teenagers who have practically no parental supervision.  I need to stop that.  Now.

On the other side, I need to start working out again.  Last year, I managed to play the occasional game of racquetball, but I need to do more.  A lot more.  So, soon, very soon, I will begin regular workouts at the gym.  I need to start that.  Now.  If that doesn't work, I've already made a back up resolution for '08. 

And now, a final word about 2006: plutoed.  Go to my WEBSITE for an explanation.      

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