SO MUCH TO SAY... SO MUCH TO DO
OK a lot has happened this week, but that old song, not for me.

First and foremost, I'd like to congratulate my good friends Geoffrey and Stacy on their engagement. They are two of my favorite peeps from Anderson and though they have moved to DC, I'm very happy for them.

Second, I want to wish Todd the best of luck in his new job in Illinois. He's a good dude, and we'll miss having him around the office. Hopefully whoever comes in to replace him will be just as cool a guy. Also best wishes to Marcus, who is interviewing at the Post and Courier next month. Again, I'll be really sad to see him move on, but he deserves a lot of good things to happen to him.

Oh yeah, I guess something did happen to me. Last week I found out that I won an SCPA Award for headline writing for the second straight year. I'm still the third best headline writer in the state -- but I'm the best sports headline writer right? Unfortunately, the judges opted for the bigger papers in Spartanburg and Myrtle Beach again in page design -- the bastards, the judges not the bigger papers, though they could be bastards too.

Anyway, hope all is well with everyone, and yes Casey, I finally did get your Christmas card. :)

LOOK AN UPDATE

Just when I thought it was safe to leave this blog unattended for a while, all my peeps decide it's time to update their sites. So BAH (that's bad) to Marcus, Geoffrey, and Stacy who all updated their blogs, and made me write this entry.

Here's an update from me: I'm still alive and kicking in Anderson. I've begun the process of looking for some other jobs, but not sure if anything will come out of the whole deal. Other than that, things are going OK. I got off work on Friday, so hopefully I will be able to hang out with the aforementioned Geoffrey, and Stacy when they visit this weekend.

NO NEED TO WORRY...

Didn't mean to concern everyone with my previous post. Just dealing with a lot stuff right now. I'll get through it. I always do.

TIME TO CLOSE A DOOR?
I haven't made it a secret how much I'd like to work in auto racing, but the harder I try, the more disappointed I get at bad news.

I know. I'm not supposed to get my hopes up about things that aren't even guaranteed to be there, but the mere glimmer of hope always has me being hopeful that I'm that much closer to my dreams. I thought after a successful run in 2002 with the IRL, that something in 2003 would materialize, yet here I am no closer to a job than I was when I started trying.

It's been three weeks since I applied for the online gig at RACER. I haven't heard from them and don't expect to. That hurts, because I think I can do the job they advertised. It doesn't look like anything will materialize with either the IRL or the Indianapolis Motor Speedway either. That really hurts.... It's just ... I don't know. I want this so bad, and to not get it almost makes it seem like I took the wrong path in my life.

I've interviewed for racing jobs a couple of times, but neither time I was picked. Maybe that's a blessing, or I think it's more of a curse. Racing drew me in and set me up to fail.

This is supposed to be a big year for me. My 20s will soon be behind me and I need to start thinking about being happy about what I'm doing and not what I want to be doing. I've been living in this dream world too long. It's time to grow up and not get teary-eyed everytime something doesn't work out my way.

If racing happens, it happens. I've put off moving on a couple times because of glimmers of hope. Maybe it's time to focus on moving onward and upward in journalism. Maybe it's time to start acting like grown up. And maybe it's time to close the door on my childhood dreams.

WEEKEND WRAP
Once again, I've been too busy to update this blog, but I'll try to do better. I really promise to really do it this time -- really. It was a busy week back at the old salt mine, with lots of deadline events happening National Championship football games, Falcon playoff games and Clemson basketball games. I got through it all basically unscathed and I guess that's the best news of all.

With the new year, I've made some resolutions and I thought I'd share a couple with you guys:

* I'm trying to be a little healthier, so I'm starting to workout a little more regularly and I'm trying to cut my sugar intake by drinking fewer sodas and trying to stick to juices and water. Hopefully it will work out for me.

* I think I've broken the other resolution, which was to keep this journal a little more up to date, but I never said I'd update this thing every day.

Other than that, things are just about the same. No news on any jobs I've applied for, but that's expected. I'm starting to really feel sorry for the newsies, who are down to 3 people and thought they had another copy editor. Unfortunately, she couldn't pass the most important test of all to work in Anderson (The dreaded pee test). Hopefully they'll have someone in place soon.

Shout out to Geoffrey and Stacy, who will be here in a couple of weeks. Hooray!

HAPPY NEW YEAR
2002 has come and gone now, and it just seemed like yesterday we were all worried about Non-Y2K compliant things. I'm back in the Carolinas and have discovered that my fish died while I was on vacation. Sad to see an empty bowl there, but I had him for almost all of 2002, so at least he didn't die in a pet store.

So many things happened in 2002, I can't go into them all. Friends have come and gone and so have some job offers. Life is basically status quo for now. My decision to stay "safe and sound" here in Anderson in 2002 will likely shape what I do this year. It's gonna be a fun ride. So stay tuned!