Thoughtful Gifts Build Bonds With Colleagues
New Customs May Ease Gift-Giving of Families
Along With Credit Cards, Bring Courtesy to Mall
State Party's Intention Clearly on Invitation
Ask Thelma: Grace Is Timeless Even in an Electronic World
Yes, I am just childish enough to find it funny that the Journal online has put the very serious opinion column "Time To Kill Death Penalty" just above "Thoughtful Gifts Build Bonds With Colleagues" under Thelma Domenici's name/picture.
And proving that I've been totally out of it culturally, I didn't even know that Thelma D. had joined the traitorous Gene Grant and left the sinking space ship Tribune for the cubed monolith of the Borg. Losing Gene is one thing, but Thelma!?!
Without Thelma, the Tribune is a discourteous pile of Jenga pieces, incapable of both staying erect and maintaining proper etiquette and decorum in doing so. Thelma's leaving is truly a sign of newspaper end times, and also a good indication that the gasping afternoon daily will not use proper stationary to formally announce its death.
As an infrequent contributor to the Tribune (and if I recall correctly, the death of the Trib will make it three separate publications I have successfully killed off merely by writing for them), I get the very occasional person asking me if the Journal has called asking me to write for them. Readers of Burque Babble tend to be a discerning bunch, so I think it's hardly necessary for me to answer that question here. I will say that the question is just about as funny, to me, as the Journal juxtapositioning a plea to end the death penalty between Thelma Domenici's name and "Thoughtful Gifts Build Bonds With Colleagues".
And no, I don't really think badly of Ms. Domenici or Gene Grant for leaving the Tribune early, nor do I think Thelma has hurt our ephemeral collegial bond by not getting me a "thoughtful gift" or even letting me know she was leaving the Trib. We've all got to do what we've got to do, and when the Borg asks you to put on the funky eye-piece headset, or join the others in the burning Viking funeral space boat, being assimilated looks like a pretty good option.
From what I hear (and no, I have no "inside" info whatsoever), the Tribune ain't gonna make it to my next scheduled column for them on January 3rd. Put simply and inadequately, that's a bummer, and not because the readers of ABQ will be deprived of some silly palaver from your humble blogster.
To wit: Randy Burge wrote a column for the Trib a few days back concerning the death of a homeless person. I admit I've generally avoided reading Mr. Burge's business/positive thinking columns over the years. Not my kind of thing. But here was a thoughtful essay that was by far the best "Christmas Sharing/Caring" article I came across this year. And from such an unexpected source.
Losing the Tribune is not a cataclysmic thing. It's not a tsunami along the Thai coast or the senseless death of a South Valley boy from guns or bad driving. But it does matter, I think. And Albuquerque will not be quite the same, regardless of how many blogs and other "news" sources try to fill the resultant void. Including this silly blog.
Well, at least we'll stay informed about things like Along With Credit Cards, Bring Courtesy to Mall. Hard to imagine how we'd get along as a society without sage advice like that.
2 comments:
Though it's in a different department, two more large signs that even if the Trib somehow doesn't die, it will be drastically different: Kate Nash and Sue Vorenberg are leaving for the Santa Fe New Mexican.
There was a right wing rag and a centrist rag. Now there will be just a right wing rag. And, according to rumors, maybe a new extra extra right wing rag.
ABQ needs a legitimate bigtime major news source. Then again, what can you say about a city that runs Ed Schultz as the major live liberal talk show? Maybe the Journal DOES reflect ABQ. How embarrassing.
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