Today I saw a story that made my journalist’s skin crawl. Evidently Joe the Plumber is now going to be Joe the War Correspondent. He says he’s going to Israel to talk to some Israelis to get “the real story” because we’re not getting it. My opinion — this dude has totally dug his 15 minutes of fame and is milking it for all it’s worth. While I will admit that my initial reaction was that this had to be the “brainchild” of a particular network, it turns out he’s going to be “reporting” for something called Pajamas TV. What the…? Has anyone ever heard of this?

Also from the not-so-stellar word of TV news…President-Elect Obama met at the White House with the current and all the living former presidents. This is a big deal when you think about it — five men who have or will hold the highest office in one of the most powerful countries in the world all in the same room at the same time. Think of all they must know. But what do the reporters report on? How Obama and the two Bushes were wearing blue ties while Clinton and Carter were wearing red, how far they were standing apart and how they all ordered off the menu. Seriously, this is the best you can come up with?

Granted I’m a print journalist, but TV news is always amazing me with its idiocy. True, there are good TV journalists out there, but unfortunately they’re becoming overshadowed by these people who, OMG, have evidently never seen the inside of a journalism classroom. You’d think with a 24-hour news cycle on multiple networks, we’d get some wonderful, in-depth reporting from countries all around the world as well as from within our own country. Nooo. We get comparisons of presidential ties, Joe the Plumber heading off to Israel to tell us what’s “really happening” and crap like the latest antics of Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton.

Sigh. Somehow I don’t think this is what was intended when the First Amendment was penned.

It seems like just yesterday that I was vying along with my fellow contestants in the American Title contest, but another year and another group of contestants have arrived. We over at the Title Magic blog (last year’s finalists) are hosting interviews with this year’s finalists this week and next in advance of the opening of voting. So if you’d like to get to know these contestants and their work more before placing your first votes, check out our interviews. Today, I’m interviewing Barbara Longley.

Speaking of voting, it’s the last day of early voting here. I’ve already voted, and by what the news reports are saying we’ve way surpassed the number of people who early voted in the last presidential election. Whatever the outcome, that’s good news. I firmly believe that if we live in a country where we are allowed to choose our leaders, we ought to make the effort to take part in that process. So if you haven’t voted yet, either hurry to early voting before it ends or make the time next Tuesday, no matter how long the lines. Take a book to read or an iPod to listen to as you stand in line. It won’t seem so long that way.

I’m finally home today (i.e. not working at office of the contract job), here to work on my line edits which arrived this week for Her Very Own Family, my May 2009 Harlequin American.

My sister just sent me a link to an article in The New York Times about the death of Tony Hillerman, one of my favorite mystery writers. I was saddened to hear of his passing. I’ve enjoyed his Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee series set on Navajo lands in the Southwest. Someday, I plan to visit Shiprock, New Mexico; Window Rock, Arizona; Canyon de Chelly National Monument and all the surrounding areas Hillerman detailed in his books. He was one of those writers who could make me feel like I’d been somewhere when I hadn’t. I think part of it is a tribute to his writing and part to the fact that a series allows the reader to keep going back to a setting over and over, learning more about it each time. That’s why I often credit mystery authors such as Hillerman, Dana Stabenow (Alaska) and Nevada Barr (various national parks) with being very good at making setting a character itself.

Anyone out there a fan of Hillerman’s? Of mysteries? What series do you like?

Since I had a book waiting for me at the library, I decided to zip over there today and perhaps vote in the presidential election if the early voting line wasn’t too long. I’d tried to vote earlier in the week, but the parking lot was packed. People were even parking in the grassy areas beyond the parking lot. I decided to try another day. The parking lot was still pretty full today, so I took several pages of my freelance editing job in with me, intending to work while I stood in line. Maybe being prepared to stand in line is the key to not having to. I just walked right in, signed my paperwork, and voted. I’m even sporting my “I Voted” sticker.

I don’t go into politics on this blog because that area, along with religion, are two hot-button topics that can turn friends into enemies. I’m not going there. Still, this election is fascinating and historic, no matter what the final outcome. I watch a fair amount of political coverage — I’m heartened by some things I hear, and so incredibly disappointed in others. And this is from the voters, not the candidates. This was the first time we’ve ever donated to a campaign and the first time I’ve ever put a political sign in my yard. I will get absolutely no work done on the evening of Nov. 4 because I’m going to be parked in front of the TV watching the election returns.

Anyone else planning on parking it in front of the TV on the evening of Nov. 4?

Are you confused about the financial crisis that’s going on here in the U.S. right now? For those of us who aren’t accountants or economics gurus, it can be confusing. A friend sent me this link to a layman’s description of what the heck is going on. Be warned, there is some crass language in this, but it might be the best explanation I’ve seen. I now have a pretty good idea of what an amazing series of bad decisions on the parts of people who should have known better have brought us to the point of a $700 billion government bailout. And if we’re already in debt up to our eyeballs to countries like China, where in the world does $700 billion come from? Is there a money tree growing in the District of Columbia that I don’t know about?

Sigh. I think I’ll go back to my revisions. While mind-twisting at times, they are less so than this behemoth of a financial mess.

Oh, and by the way, if you live in the Knoxville, Tennessee area and can come by the Food City Food Show at the convention center tomorrow, I’ll be there signing A Firefighter in the Family from 3:30-5 p.m.

The story of this little girl evidently being kidnapped was posted on one of my writing loops today. It checks out as true on Snopes.com, which has good information as to which of those rumors you get in your e-mail inbox are true or just urban legends. Poor kid. Though the passage of time since her disappearance makes the odds of her safe recovery slimmer than one would hope, I still hope she’s somehow found safe and returned to her family.

I came back from an appointment this afternoon to the sad and surprising news that Meet the Press host and NBC News Washington Bureau Chief Tim Russert had died suddenly today of a heart attack. Not only is this sad for his family, friends and co-workers, but it’s also a sad day for quality news coverage. I was trained as a journalist and have worked at newspapers and a magazine, but in recent years I’ve become disillusioned with much of the news coverage and the “journalists” who deliver it. Granted, I’ve worked in the print journalism field and most (but not all) of my ire has been directed at TV journalists, some of whom I’d swear have never darkened the door of a journalism school.

Tim Russert was the type of journalist all journalists should be — dedicated, prepared, one who digs deep for the truth but who doesn’t delight in the discomfort or downfall of others (even if he was holding their feet to the fire), one who loved it instead of loving having their face on TV screens across America. It’s a little ironic that he came to his signature coverage of politics and politicians after working in the political arena. Maybe that’s what made him so good at it. He knew the tricks and talking points they used and didn’t let them get away with it when they faced off against him across the table.

And what’s really touching is that from all accounts, he was a genuinely nice guy, a wonderful family man, and a thoughtful and true friend. Not much makes Andrea Mitchell lose her composure, and she nearly broke down while talking about Tim on TV this afternoon. Same with many other top journalists who I could tell were struggling to share with the audience their memories of and respect for their colleague, their friend.

Yay! I’m thrilled to be done with my revisions to Heartbreak River. Of course, my Internet is down and I had to come down here to Panera Bread to send the manuscript back to my editor. Side benefit — dinner from Panera.

I went to my local RWA chapter’s meeting today. It was a casual meeting, on collaging. So I started work on a collage for my next YA book. When it’s finished, I’ll post a photo of it here.

How wild was it that a tornado hit downtown Atlanta? It’s really scary when a tornado hits such a populated area. I remember when the one hit downtown Nashville. The sky was this weird green color. My husband can see downtown from where he works, and he said the cloud looked like the mother ship from the movie Independence Day.

Okay, I plan to totally veg the rest of the night. I’m picking up dinner, and we’re going to watch The Bourne Ultimatum, which came from Netflix today.

I don’t know why, but I’m fascinated by the Top 10 lists that Yahoo does quite often. They are usually things like the top 10 environmental cities or the top 10 cities with horrible traffic. Today’s installment isn’t a list that no city’s chamber of commerce wants to make — America’s Most Miserable Cities. What makes a city miserable? Violent crime, high unemployment and let’s throw in a little toxic waste just for the heck of it. So which city tops the list? Looks like the Motor City of Detroit might have to change it’s name to Misery City.

The others on the list aren’t too surprising except No. 9, Charlotte, N.C. Charlotte mainly made the list because employment hasn’t kept up with its skyrocketing population growth.

If you had to place a city on the misery list, what would it be and why?

Merriam-Webster’s word of 2007 is W00T, a word I admit to using fairly often myself. W00T illustrates how pop culture (W00T comes from the world of gaming) influences language. Last year’s word was “truthiness”, a term coined by comedian Stephen Colbert on his The Colbert Report.