See you next year.

Originally published in Countryside Post, Issue 1.16.

I know, I just know, that no matter how many warnings I put into this issue, some people are gonna call the Post's office next Tuesday and say, “I didn't get my copy this week.” And the funny part is that some of them will have read all of those warnings and will have just forgot it was coming. That's okay; I do that too. You tend to forget a few things after a week. It's just a sign that we're all slowly slipping into a nice, comfortable senility. (That may sound bad, but I actually welcome senility: that way, I won't be expected to remember everything as much as I am now.)

You may not be used to newspapers taking a week off for Christmas. Like I keep saying, the Post does everything a little bit different. Part of it is because Jill and I want to spend time with our families; part of it is because our advertisers blew all their money on Xmas ads and can't afford to advertise until New Year's—and they subsidize the Post, you know. Actually, I suspect they really can afford to advertise; they probably just want a vacation after the Xmas rush. Well, I don't blame them. I want one too. So I'm outa here.

About BASC.

Originally published in Countryside Post, Issue 1.15.

There’s a meeting this Thursday at high noon in the Post’s Living Room: the first meeting of the Business Association of South County. It’s somewhat appropriate that the meeting is being held at the Post; and not just because Jill is one of BASC’s promoters.

Y’know, it’s often said that a town isn’t a real town unless it has a newspaper; and though south Nevada County is not a proper town, it is a proper community, and as such should organize community-promoting things. We have concerned citizens groups, and now a newspaper. As this area grows—and, like it or hate it, growth is inevitable unless people stop producing children—it makes sense to create a local business association.

Respecting opinions.

Originally published in Countryside Post, Issue 1.14.

People are still talking about the hate mail we got in issue 1.10—to me, it’s old news, but some people have yet to put in their two cents about it, and when they meet me, they do. Some of them, unfortunately, end the conversation with, “Well, you gotta respect a person’s right to have an opinion.”

I hate that saying, because it’s not true. Few really respect any opinions other than their own. Any other opinions are worthless unless they agree with it. And if you’re under 30 or “inexperienced,” you don’t know any better, so shut up and let your elders talk. (Being under 30, I deal with this attitude constantly.)

Wait a week…

Originally published in Countryside Post, Issue 1.13.

Last week was a bit too soon for me to announce “The Countryside”—which was where we were gonna stick a bunch of neat stuff, such as ancedotes and photos from people in our countryside. The first one will be in the next issue.

The delay is my fault. Regular features need development time, and Thanksgiving kinda got in the way. Besides which, I’m sure all of you were too busy with Thanksgiving preparations to even think of sending stuff to the paper.

Being thankful.

Originally published in Countryside Post, Issue 1.12.

The front-page quote is from Franklin Roosevelt’s Thanksgiving proclamation, in the year he moved it. Originally Abraham Lincoln, who proclaimed the first Thanksgiving Day in 1863, set it on the last Thursday in November. Roosevelt moved it to the fourth Thursday—a subtle change, but three years out of seven it means an extra week of Christmas shopping. Be glad it’s where it is, or the Xmas season would start after Halloween.

So what are you thankful for? Me, I’m thankful for a good past three months at Countryside Post. I’m thankful that many of you like it so far, and that you’re contributing—contributions have been downplayed in the news biz over the last 11 decades, and though it’s not a new idea, it’s not put into practice much. I’m also thankful that many of you are overcoming your shyness in order to send things in. Some people are way too critical of their writing ability. Don’t worry; it’s my job to make you sound good.

Dealing with mail.

Originally published in Countryside Post, Issue 1.11.

Jill has been speculating all bloody week about who Yvonne Wright might be. Since Ms. Wright stuffed her letter in the Post’s mailbox and left, without the courtesy of including a number nor address, and since no one we know knows her, I’ve been referring to her as “Ms. Wright—if that is her real name.” It probably is.

Jill just wants to know how on earth we managed to tick her off so much. I don’t speculate on things like that. It’s a waste of time. I expect hate mail in the course of this job—there is always going to be someone you rub the wrong way, no matter how much you try to do everything right. If she had a legitimate concern, and presented it as constructive criticism, I would address the problem and see if I could solve it. But she had neither, so that’s that.

Big dead animals.

Originally published in Countryside Post, Issue 1.10.

In this space I often mention the complaints Countryside Post gets, and I apologize for them. This week, I'm offering no apologies for something we ran. Young David Martin shot his first deer recently and proudly submitted a picture of it to the Post, and we ran it on page 5 last week.

Since then we've received five phone calls from people who, for various reasons, do not wish to see dead animals in their paper. I can understand where they're coming from; deer are cute and friendly and it's not nice to see one of God's creatures butchered like that. On the other hand, we've been running pictures of dismembered animals in our supermarket ads… but then again, deer have better publicity. Disney never made a cartoon about a baby cow.

News sometimes isn't pretty. Sometimes it's horrible. Take that horse some psychos set on fire the day before Halloween. We almost ran a photo of it. Why? Because it was news. Insane behavior, when it affects other people, is news. I prefer good news, but sometimes the public has to know bad stuff whether they like it or not.