It had been a long and tiresome journey. Continue reading
Author Archives: Ty
The price of activism
So the recent Anonymous-led Internet blackout of websites on April 22 was a mixed bag.
Not as many websites joined the movement as last year’s resistance to PIPPA/CISPA, but, at the same time, the Legislation did get knocked back a bit, so it could be considered a pseudo-success.
I took my website offline for 24 hours in support of the blackout by setting all of my posts to “Private” for the entirety of the day. When the day was over, I switched them all back to public, leading a few posts that were assignments from the class that originally inspired this blog to be published as public, as well.
I was contacted by a few of my more loyal followers (those of you subscribed on the email list) that the posts popped up as new posts. For this, I apologize.
Next time I take my site offline, I’ll find a better way and make sure to not inconvenience my subscribers (I love you all!)
For more on CISPA, and why I felt it warranted my attention, see below, but to make up for the errant emails (someone said they received eight overnight only to find no new posts) I have made public some posts that were originally password protected.
Please accept this as my apology, and thanks for continuing to follow Me, Myself and Ty!
The newly public posts are:
Braves New World
Fear and Loathing at the Daffodil Festival
Crime and Punishment Part I
Crime and Punishment Part II
Crime and Punishment Part III
Love,
Me, Myself and Ty Continue reading
We have the meeting as planned! NO EXCUSES!
I had plans to meet a candidate for Brownsville’s City Commission today following a meeting he was having at the zoo.
It’s an American Kestrel named Kelsey!
It’s within walking distance of the office, so I had no qualms about making it a little easier on his schedule, but moreso I was hoping I could see some animals while I was there.
When I called to make sure we were still on, he said the meeting room he assumed we could discuss his campaign in was full of squawking birds and asked if I wanted to meet somewhere else where it would be a little quieter.
Yeah right.
I convinced him it was fine, stressing that I wanted to make things easier on him.
While he was finishing up the meeting I met the little guy pictured to the right, plus a handful of snakes thicker than my arm, a cockatiel, a little owl that had his head cocked to the side like he was trying to sleep and DID NOT appreciate all of the noise and some insects that I somehow doubt realized they weren’t on display, but on the menu.
A day in the life
Oh no big deal. Just picking up a media packet from this awesome courthouse which was erected in 1912.
Check out the marble stairs and walls. It’s like it was made for me. And, yes, I drag the back of my wrists against the cool, smooth stone on my way up and down.
Making a living
“it’s so exciting to know a real live journalist,” read the message.
Truthfully, I didn’t know how to respond.
Yes, I had felt like a real journalist at times throughout the past six years, but I realized that I had never before felt like a real, live journalist.
Silly rhetoric on her part, probably, but it got to the heart of the matter: I finally feel alive in this profession.
Addiction
I could see myself becoming a smoker simply because the most interesting women I’ve kissed have all tasted like tobacco.
The flight to immortality
March 12 I will celebrate what could be considered my greatest accomplishment, one that was more than two years in the making: My enshrinement into the UFO Ring of Honor at the Flying Saucer.
For those who are strangers to the Saucer (or Taco Mac, which has a similar program), members of the UFO Club (Get a T-shirt and a card, woo hoo!) who have tasted 200 different beers at the Saucer have a plate (saucer?) dedicated in their honor added to the walls and ceiling of their home Saucer.
But my journey to the ceiling wasn’t one I traveled alone. The Saucer became my favorite bar in Raleigh, where the wait staff and managers all knew my name and my palate. More than once I was brought a beer as soon as I sat down because my favorite Beer Goddess knew I would love it (and that I hadn’t tried it yet).
So allow me to highlight a few of my favorite Saucer beers and memories …
You never forget your first
We arrived at the former West Roxbury School late that night.
The view from West Roxbury. Photo by Peggy Boone
It was pitch black and I parked on the street. John eventually had me move the car to a spot where we wouldn’t be hassled by parking officers, but when we finally settled into his couch, he offered us a beer.
Peggy was not yet 21, but that hardly factored into us saying no. He was giving us a place to stay pro bono. It was our first Couchsurfing expedition and we didn’t want to push his hospitality.
Still, he wanted to debrief us on our journey, so he sat down with us and brandished his beer before us. He had been drinking it before we got there, and I noticed first the floral decorations and color scheme of the bottle he was holding. I asked what he was drinking, and he simply said, “a Harpoon.”
I was about 12 years old when I went over to Meme’s house with the beginnings of a cold.
It was just a runny nose that had drained into my throat, but when Meme heard, she poured me a half a shot of Canadian Mist blended whiskey and told me to drink it.
Ty W. Johnson 