General Chaos

Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty, I'm free at last (well, almost).

The big reporting project I've been working on has just been officially accepted as complete by my boss, the mad genius. It's going to be a 14-page package in the magazine–and I had to cut it by half to make the main story fit. Of course, the tightening made it a better story to read, but it also meant that a lot of good material will never see the printed page. A whole 1500-word sidebar will only go online.

And I have about 20 hours of interviews that I've only used a fraction of. I am suffering from TMI — too much information. Some of it, I'll use later in other stories. Some of it, I'll find ways to put online to refresh the story over the month ahead after the original story is posted. Some of it…will never see the light of day. And that's probably a good thing. You'll see what I mean when the article appears in November.

Now, on to the next project.

Standard
Headline Haiku

No haiku lately
I've been busy with my life
and other pursuits

But certainly, words
are massing on the border
prepared for attack

Sometimes life alone
is cause for celebration
when death lurks nearby

Who values life more:
a rush-hour sniper or the
righteous war wager?

Death at discount
It's cheaper by the millions
than one at a time

Blood spilled far away
makes for better tv than
death on your doorstep

Who can be “pro-life”
that prepares to cause the death
of scores of children?

Standard