We're Moving

I'm switching my blog over to Wordpress to try it out. I think I like it better. We'll see. The new address is http://laurajeanette.wordpress.com/. Check it out.

Congradulations!

From my inbox:

Congrads on your new position as editor.

Seriously? Come on people. For clarification, this was not some casual e-mail sent to me by a friend. If it were, I would have ignored it. (After all, I don't spell check casual e-mails I send to friends. I don't always spell check my blog.) But it wasn't. It concluded the opening paragraph of a well thought out 800+ word testimonial pitch (we don't publish those anyway) sent to me by a PR representative. Sure, "conGRADulations" is cute on a graduation card ... but if you're trying to pitch a story to an editor, please use spell check. Thanks.

So You Had a Bad Day

http://www.glumbert.com/media/baddayoffice

Martin Luther King, Jr.

I found what Greg Boyd has to say about today enlightening. Those of us who weren't alive during the civil rights movement have no real grasp of what Martin Luther King, Jr. Day means. Most of us grew up in a world where little black kids and little white kids did hold hands and play together. It wasn't always so. I could make a comparison of today's Civil Rights leaders and Rev. King, but I'm not going to. You can do that for yourself and see where you end up.

Doing Martin Luther King Jr. Justice

Today is Martin Luther King Jr. day, so I'd like to share a reflection on this great man and the movement he birthed.

For the first time in history, we have an African American who is a viable candidate for the Presidency of the United States. Barack Obama wouldn't be doing what he's doing today if it wasn't for what Martin Luther King Jr. did 40 years ago -- at great cost to himself. This man did more to free America from its historical racism than any other single individual (though, of course, we still have a long way to go). continue reading

It might be "worth while" to learn the difference between affect and effect.

From my Inbox:

One suggestion I do have is to possibly get on a call with our president…He can talk about mold and its affect on allergies, and he can also provide solutions, with a VERY soft sell of our product (fact sheet attached). Let me know if that’s something worth while to pursue and I’d be happy to set it up for you (or the writer).

Manager, Marketing Communications

Cloverfield

I went to see Cloverfield tonight. I don't really know what to think about it, other than maybe I should have taken a Dramamine beforehand. I would say that I only suffer from mildish motion sickness, but after about 15 minutes of the horribly shaky video footage, I had a major headache and felt like I was going to hurl any minute. I still feel sick. That said, it was a pretty good movie, but I don't know if it was worth the $20 spent or the nausea.

Before going into the movie, I already had a love/hate relationship with J. J. Abrams. I am a loyal LOST fan, but there are days, especially during that whole "tailie" storyline, when I want to strangle Mr. Abrams for asking more questions than he answers. In true Abrams fashion, that's exactly what happens with this movie. In the end, I was left a little ... unsatisfied. With all the buzz surrounding Cloverfield, I went into the theater with a lot of questions. And I left the theater with even more unanswered questions. Oh J. J., why must you torture your fans?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that the movie was bad. There were some positive aspects. First, the few glimpses that we did get of the "monster" were pretty satisfying. Granted, we have no idea what the thing is or where it came from, but it looks pretty cool and has some rather interesting characteristics. (I can only wish J. J. would do the same thing with the mysterious "black smoke" on the island.) There was also an underlying love story (I'm not going to say how that ends) for those people who aren't that into suspense. One thing the movie did do well was suspense. I was never quite sure what was going to happen next. There were even times when I wasn't quite sure what was happening at all.

So, to wrap it all up, I'm kind of ambivalent about Cloverfield at the moment. I'm not one of those people who is going to spend hours and hours on the Internet visiting viral sites to try and figure out the "broader concept" of the movie, so if I have to do that to get the full story, then Mr. Abrams has left me a little disappointed. However, if J. J. is planning on following in the footsteps of the Godzilla franchise and making more Cloverfield movies, then I might keep watching, hoping for some sort of resolution. I do, after all, still religiously follow LOST. I am putting my movie/television faith in J. J. Abrams and hoping his "master plot" does not disappoint.

Old?

I'm 26. I feel old. It sucks.