"If It Bleeds, It Leads"

First off, let me apologize for the time that has passed since my last post. I wish I could say that I was involved in some wonderful freelance project that has monopolized my time or that I have been reaching daily epiphanies during some self-imposed period of introspection. I could tell you that, but it would be a lie. The fact is, I just haven’t been feeling it. The intersection of my emotional health and spiritual stamina has just not put me in a place where I can put words to paper in a semi-coherent manner. I have tried, though. I have a very serviceable first paragraph about my thoughts on the Skip Gates/Cambridge Police Department altercation, which at some point I may finish. Anyway, I just didn’t want you to think I had forgotten about the five or six people who read this blog on a regular basis. My bad.

Anyway, I am writing this entry to explain the next couple of entries I plan on writing. For the past few weeks, I have been thinking about my next entry of this blog, my personal recounting of August 17, 2008, Jesika’s last birthday. I had also planned on publishing this entry on August 17th of this year to commemorate Jesika’s birthday. The only thing is, there are going to be a lot of noteworthy things going on in my life right around the 17th, and I don’t want my recollection of Jesika’s birthday to get lost in the shuffle.

The first thing I have on my plate is a trip to Cincinnati, the city that was my home for almost 7 years. Officially this trip is for business, but I think it will be a good opportunity to reconnect with friends and reflect on the trajectory of my life since leaving the "Queen City". The second and more “bloggable” set of events involve my activities on the 17th itself. Not only is it the day that Jesika’s childhood friend, Becky, and myself have decided to have the next installment of our monthly lunch series, but we also have decided to visit Jesika’s grave site that day. This would be emotionally charged enough, but I have gotten an intelligence report from one of my clandestine sources that one of Jesika’s more hostile family members is coming to town to visit her grave site on the same day. Now needless to say, I am not expecting nor I am hoping for any kind of confrontation, but whether there is such an altercation or not, I think some very “bloggable” things might happen. And with our, “if it bleeds, it leads” journalistic culture, I am afraid that even I would be tempted to gloss over Jesika’s 30th birthday, and opt for the sexier story, “[Potential] Showdown at Mt. Vernon Cemetery”.

So, I will be writing about Jesika’s last birthday a little bit early. There is no great conflict or adversity in the story. But it’s one of my most cherished times with the woman I so loved, and even though, like much of our relationship, it will probably seem quite dull to the outside world, it’s important to me and I think me writing about it would be important to Jesika. Thank you for your time.

You stay classy, blogosphere.