Voted yet?
As of this posting, you have two more hours to do so — polls close at 8 p.m.!
I’ll have the vote count, live, on TheDailyGrafton.com sometime after 8 p.m. I’m doing a dry run of the new pay-as-you-go Broadband card as I wait for my daughter to finish up with her hip-hop class and, fingers crossed, looks like I can get the final vote to you as it happens!
Life’s a beach
How warm was it today? I only walked a little way onto slushy Lake Ripple before deciding I just didn’t feel confident enough in the ice to continue further.
Clearly, I was the dissenting opinion.
How awesome is that set up? If you look closely, he has the whole contraption on skis. I salute you, ice fisherman!
It’s not just like riding a bike
My daughter is the 9-year-old daredevil of the family. She once accidentally failed to stop her sled just before she came to the backyard drop-off and went careening down the hill, through weeds and bushes, straight down. She was a little shaken (I was freaked out) but sure enough, I caught her trying to replicate the feat a few days later.
She’s the one I plan to take on “The Amazing Race.”
She was inspired recently by the family ice skating party on Lake Ripple — and probably the Olympics — to attempt ice skating, especially after Michelle gifted her with a pair of hand-me-down figure skates. Lacking skates of my own, this meant we had to go to an actual ice rink rather than take to the lake.
My first pair of skates were white with red trim. I learned to skate on them in Milford, at the ice rink which became Skate Palace which is now a bowling alley. At least I remember going to a lesson there. Mostly they were used in the swamp behind my house and, when I was old enough, on the ice at Beaver Pond. I was never a spectacular skater, but I could stay on my feet, skate backwards and jump over the inevitable humps on the pond’s surface.
I haven’t put on ice skates since college. I didn’t think it would matter.
I was wrong.
Ice skating isn’t one of those things you can just pick up 20 years later. Balance wasn’t an issue — I could walk in the skates easily — but possibly the weight of the rental skates were. I grew up using figure skates. I ended up with hockey skates, which felt like I strapped on a pair of ski boots and added a couple knives to the bottom.
My husband, of course, got on the rink and picked it up again with a bit more steadiness. Klutz that I am, it took me a couple go-rounds before I felt confident enough to move a good distance from the boards.
Naturally, my daughter felt a little safer with Daddy, especially when I pulled her down on the ice within 10 minutes of setting foot on it. The pair of them skated in circles while I shambled on after them like Frankenstein’s monster on ice. It wasn’t pretty.
I’d chalked it up to a bad experience and was fully ready to surrender the ice skates for good, but Little Miss burbled happily all the way home about what a great time it was and when the next time we’re going ice skating?
I think next time, I’m sticking with what I know. We’re going on Lake Ripple. She can wear her ice skates.
I’m sticking with the snow boots.
How not to apply for a job
I shouldn’t have to say it: don’t answer your phone in the middle of a job interview. But more on that later.
Anyone who’s taken a look at TheDailyGrafton.com lately knows I’ve been super-busy lately — I’m still mentally exhausted from Town Meeting (I’m thinking the live-blogging may have to become a regular thing if I can track down a pay-as-you-go broadband card for my laptop) and CentralMassNews.com now covers six towns.
A couple weeks ago, I actually left Grafton and visited one of Dan Kennedy’s Northeastern University classes to talk about the changes in the news business that led to my unexpected career trajectory. It was really a rather interesting experience to be in a room full of journalists-to-be and it became a rather lively discussion (He talked about his recent class visitors on Media Nation this week. I need to read Steve Garfield’s book, by the way). I’m hoping a few might remember me fondly come graduation time and send a resume my way because, yes, I’m still actively looking for reporters.
How often do you hear that these days?
We’ve been looking for writers through Journalism Jobs and, I have to say — it’s a bit of a slog. My inbox is flooded with resumes, but a good portion of them are from people who are simply wrong for the job — they’re in another time zone, they have experience well beyond my fairly simple requirements, they have ridiculous salary demands.
And more than a few of them don’t appear to have even read the job listing. For me, the most important paragraph is this:
Writers who live in the area of Northborough, Westborough, Holden and all towns surrounding Worcester MA are encouraged to apply. Please send your resume, clips (links to stories are okay) and a cover letter that not only shows us you’ve looked at our sites, but leaves us wanting to know more about you.
I’m convinced most of these are generic cover letters that they are sending to every job listing, and then they wonder why they aren’t getting interviews. Shouldn’t job applicants, especially reporters, be doing a little bit of research into the company to see if they’d be a good fit, especially since that’s suggested in the ad?
The cover letters range from “hey there, here are my clips” to small novellas on their study abroad experiences in Nepal and dreams of becoming an entertainment journalist or NFL sportscaster. Some of the letters from recent graduates read like revised versions of their college entrance essays. Sell me on your qualifications, definitely, but tell me this: how are they going to help you cover Westborough?
I’m reading all of these applications as the picky editor that I am, keeping in mind that just a year ago, I was unemployed and thinking I wasn’t going to be working in news again unless I somehow managed to get a Grafton site off the ground (and really, what were the odds that one small town would have both a writer who wasn’t sure about the ad thing and a sales guy who wasn’t sure about the writing thing both thinking about websites?).
Maybe I’m being too harsh. Maybe I should gently explain to the guy who didn’t like my “attitude” when I noted he didn’t attach his resume that I can’t call him for a job interview if I don’t have his phone number. Maybe I really do need a fashion writer, a movie critic and someone to cover the rockin’ nightlife of Northbridge. Maybe the conceptual photographer and videographer would do a kick-ass job covering the GEA Spelling Bee.
But I draw the line on answering your phone in the middle of the job interview. Seriously?
Liveblogging Town Meeting
I’ve had a number of requests to recap tomorrow’s Town Meeting “just like you used to” and I’ll be doing it — with a twist.
I’m liveblogging Town Meeting, from the floor to your Internet, starting from the moment I find a seat (hopefully in the auditorium!) to the moment we have a decision. I’m doing this with a techno-assist from my neighbor and, knock wood, we won’t have to move to the back up plan, which involves my iPhone.
Oh, and it’s all going down on TheDailyGrafton.com starting around 9:30 a.m.
Who is this aimed at? People who are going to be out-of-town and checking in on their smart phones. People out running errands and hoping they can get to the high school before a vote takes place. People stuck at home with a sick kid who wants to watch the same DVD over and over instead of Town Meeting on TV.
Or people who just want to hear me snark on Town Meeting. You know, for old time’s sake. Sadly, I’m going to be a bit too busy for Bingo.
See you there!
Any bird experts out there?
The stars aligned and my friendly neighborhood hawk perched on a telephone wire at a time when I had the Greater Grafton Camera ready to catch him.
Any idea what kind of lethal predator I have swooping around my yard on a regular basis? It’s a seriously bad-ass bird — although I think there may be more than one of them. The one I tried to snap on my deck a few months ago was the size of a Labrador retriever puppy, it seemed, and I think its breast feathers were a bit more yellowish. Anyway, I’ve seen this, or one similar, carrying some bunny or kitten-sized prey away.
Help GMS dress its Guys and Dolls
From Ellen comes a plea for costumes for Grafton Middle School’s April production of “Guys and Dolls.”
Here’s what they need:
- Dresses and sizes: The girls range in size from 8 girls to 14 women’s (my best guess) We can always take something in.
- Boys/mens suits and suit coats.
- Dark colored dress shirts.
Are your cast-offs dreaming of a life on the stage? This could be their chance.
Town Meeting Bingo, anyone?
I’ve had a number of people asking if we are going to be playing Town Meeting Bingo on Saturday and, you know, I think that’s just what we’ll need to make it through this meeting.
If you’re not familiar with Town Meeting Bingo, here’s the drill from May. We basically come up with a whole bunch of Town Meeting cliches — the constant reminders to “speak through me, the moderator,” the person who refuses to use the microphone, the first time Scott Browne pops up, etc.
There are 25 spots on a Bingo card and not all the cliches from last time are applicable this time — and with it being a one-big-issue Town Meeting, that opens up a bunch of whole new categories.
Who’s up for Bingo?
How to ruin a perfectly good honors student
I would like to point out that the bit of nepotism on display today on TheDailyGrafton.com is not, in fact, a mother pushing her son into journalism. It is not an editor desperate for sports copy, either.
My family has a disease. Into every generation, a writer is born. My son has apparently inherited this gene.
I will say, handing my son his first reporter’s notebook, on his request, and instructing him on interviewing techniques was a rather proud moment.
I don’t see myself encouraging journalism as a career for him, however. He has an A in Pre-Algebra! I can’t make a writer out of him!
As Grafton residents know, there is no definitive Plan B if the proposed Grafton High School is not approved by voters. Greater Grafton recently received a copy of “Plan C,” a super-secret proposal to have a system-wide layoff of Grafton students to ease school overcrowding.
Dear Grafton student,
We regret to inform you that budgetary and space issues have forced us to terminate your education, effective at the start of the 2010-2011 school year. We realize that this may be a difficult concept for some of you to understand — indeed, some of you may not even know how to read — so we have prepared an informational booklet, “Mr. Bobo Can’t Go To School,” for younger students.
We realize that this interferes with your life plans and may prove to be rather inconvenient for your family. After all, the area isn’t exactly teeming with affordable private schools and adjacent towns, facing their own school space woes, aren’t clamoring for school choice students. Besides, we need to spend that $9,180 ($3,000 below the state average per pupil rate) that we would have spent on your education educating other children, so we’re requesting that high school-aged kids also avoid going the charter school route…. and good luck finding a spot at Valley Tech.
By remaining education-free, you will be saving the taxpayers of Grafton the cost of building a new high school. Should your family actually manage to sell their home in this economy, we ask that a “no children” clause be placed in the deed. Tough economic times call for creative measures, and we salute your sacrifice.
Sincerely yours,
The Grafton Public Schools
P.S. Police Chief Crepeau asks that you not turn to a life of crime to compensate for your lack of education, as he is unable to hire more police officers.
