I have very few pet

I have very few pet peeves...cold coffee; a damp towel
when you get out of a shower; stepping in something wet in socks. But nothing
irritates me more than egregious journalism. I don't by any means think that
John Ashcroft is the perfect person. I don't think that he is very personally
likeable. That could be because I am emerging from a long climb out of the pit
of fundamentalism and it irks me when I see others playing in the bottom of said
pit thinking that those who are clawing their way out are lacking in faith for
doing so. That said, the recent Vanity Fair article on him by Judy Bachrach was
so disgustingly laden with personal opinion it made me physically ill. What
happened to responsible reporting; the kind where an editor freely opined on the
first few pages of the publication or in the back of the paper and the gumshoes
got "just the facts" to the people? I usually stay away from political issues. I
was recently encouraged to venture that direction in this blog in order to
encourage writer/reader interaction. I don't write this blog to get interaction,
although I am quite pleased when people do say something and I dearly love
hearing from them (obviously the "comments" button and link to Haloscan). I just
don't go into the political arena because there are a thousand and one blogs
already doing that, not to mention all the media coverage. I personally get
tired of it all. I know what I think; I know for whom I will vote and I don't
suppose that anyone reading my blog will change their mind because of this tiny
little speck on the web. Now, on to more significantly superficial stuff! I
mercifully received Newsweek in the mail yesterday. As soon as was possible, I
filled my tub and soaked until I shrunk a full two inches. One day, while I was
sitting at the kitchen table looking through a magazine, A asked me why I was
"doing that?" "Doing what?" "Looking through the magazine backwards." "Am I? Oh,
so I am. I'm not sure why I do it this way." "You always do, you know." "Really?
I never noticed." So, I peruse magazines, back to front. I have absolutely no
idea why. I have analyzed from every possible angle (even backwards) and can't
figure it out. Just one of my idiosyncrasies (and there are plenty).