Jaded in Emerald City

Adventurous romps in Seattle city experienced by yours truly


Call Me Huck Finn….again ;)


June 21, 2009

If I ever have a dog all to myself, I swear it will be a golden retriever! They have to be the coolest dogs on the planet. They just look like you’re best friend and they’ll never leave you because of their undying loyalty! I saw one when I was walking out of Starbucks this afternoon and it literally spread a smile across my face. Definitely getting a golden retriever….

Follow Up stories are never quite as fun as the breaking news stories. They’re great to go out on for learning purposes, but it’s more exciting to be in the heart of all the action. We were covering the story of a fifteen year old girl who pretty brutally if I may say so, beat another girl in a bus tunnel in January. It received quite a bit of nationwide coverage back when it first happened. So many big things from Seattle make it onto national news! Hmmm…that keeps happening to me….it’s starting to get a little weird.

Back in Florida, WAY back in December before I ever applied for this internship or even knew about it, I did a story on Governor Mike Huckabee when he came to speak at JU. He just happened to be visiting the same week a criminal he had pardoned murdered 4 police officers in Lakewood. Lakewood, WASHINGTON. If you guys remember, they talked about this for DAYS, WEEKS, on end in the media. They’re still talking about it in the news in Seattle. What are the freaking odds? So, of course that was how my story played out-a package about 4 Washington police officers.

Furthermore, the infamous “cop punches girl” aka “punch heard ‘round the nation” that we covered last week continues to be a hot topic around the country. And then today we cover the rest of the aforementioned story concerning the bus tunnel beatings. The “victim” (and I use that term loosely) went on Good Morning America to talk about her experience back in February. When I mentioned how eerie it was that so many Seattle specific incidents kept garnering national attention lately, the photographer told me it must be my fault…lol…I am choosing to interpret all this as the almighty’s confirmation that I DO need to be in the national news circuit. I always knew it!...:) But, really, isn’t it weird that I would end up here after doing that story unknowingly and now all this is happening? Something to be said for coincidence…..

Anyway, the public defender from today’s case does Mark Twain impersonations on the weekend. Seriously though, I really think he does. You guys don’t understand, he literally looks EXACTLY like him, shaggy white shoulder length hair, HUGE white mustache, even the same nose! I wish it wasn’t considered rude to snap a photo of someone without telling them why so everyone could see! I think he might BE Twain. It was beyond obvious, the reporter even laughed when we got back in the van. Hey, nothing wrong with making a little dough on the side, being a PD can’t pay that great.

The reporter I went out with today was really helpful but also very……brusque. She has a lot of experience in the field that I can glean from, and I haven’t shadowed a woman until today so I was excited to finally draw those comparisons. I’m almost positive she thought I was dim until the very end when I actually got a chance to have a conversation with her. She also made a comment about my “accent.” Which doesn’t EXIST by the way!!! She literally asked me if I was from Georgia. Ohhh….burn. :( That’s what I mean. She just sort of says whatever and then goes with it. She’s brave, I’ll giver her that. She’s also good at her job. But anyway, the other reason I think she was surprised that I was smart is because I’m just too darn polite! That’s the thing though, it’s not a pretense, being polite is actually the way I feel most comfortable, not the other way around. I can’t help it and I hate when other people aren’t. And she…..well she isn’t. Actually, she’s really the first person I’ve met up here that was very...how do you say….”northern.” Oh, the perils of a southern belle. Sigh.

But, by the end of the day, she helped me with my writing and thought my stand up turned out well. After, of course, she and the photog berated me for not being able to name a Carole King or James Taylor song. What do I look like? I was almost born in the nineties for pete’s sake. Sheesh.

Song of the Day- “Metamorphosis: Metamorphosis 2”- Philip Glass

P.S. Sorry about the lack of photos lately…it’s hard to take them when I’m busy throughout the day. I will get on it!