The right to vote

Today is Women's Equality Day, established in 1971 to commemorate the passing of the 19th Amendment in 1920, which gave women the right to vote.

The founder of Women's Equality Day was Bella Abzug, a lawyer, TV news commentator and member of the U.S. House of Representatives (first Jewish Congresswoman).

I found these great quotes from Bella:
* Women have been trained to speak softly and carry a lipstick. Those days are over.

* The test for whether or not you can hold a job should not be the arrangement of your chromosomes.

* We are coming down from our pedestal and up from the laundry room. We want an equal share in government and we mean to get it.

You go, Bella!

Most adorable child ever

I wanted to share these terrific photos of Katherine I had taken last week. Chris Smith is the photographer. I use him quite a bit for work projects and knew he would do a great job with Katherine's 6-month portraits - and he did. Truly, she is precious - and that is my completely objective Mommy opinion! ;-)

Daddy's Little Hacker

Last year Clint went to Las Vegas for the annual DEFCON convention -- basically a hacker conference. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to attend this year but a co-worker brought him a T-shirt and Kate a onesie. So, here are some pictures of "Daddy's Little Hacker." :)

Skywriting

Ten years ago this month I embarked on a major life change. Armed with a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Ohio University, a summer of experience at The Indianapolis Star and a serious sense of adventure, I packed up and moved to San Angelo, Texas. I worked as a reporter for the local newspaper and still count it as one of the best experiences of my life.

I find myself faced with a similar opportunity and can’t help but think, “That was then. This is now.”

I went to a job interview a couple of weeks ago in Fort Worth. I have the opportunity to be the editor of a new business publication in Denton County. It would be a sister publication of the Fort Worth Business Press. Long story short, the interview went well but I still felt conflicted and had a lingering question for the publisher about the kind of business publication they want to create. A follow-up e-mail seemed to confirm his commitment to a true business-to-business publication.

At this point, I’m about 90 percent ready to take it. I think that lingering 10 percent is fear. Fear outweighing any youthful sense of adventure. Oh, how the times have changed. Sure, 10 years ago I was afraid to move from Ohio to Texas. My grandparents helped me move and I’ll never forget that early Sunday morning when they pulled away from my apartment. I was struck by the thought that there went the only people in the city I knew and what if I had made a huge mistake moving here.

It wasn’t a mistake at all. And my sense of adventure took me on a wonderful ride. But I’m well past 22 years old when I could move across the country and had nothing to lose. I didn’t have a house to sell, a child, a husband. At that point, I didn’t even have a career. Life was fresh, new and full of potential.

I have lived in Charleston for eight years and have a comfortable life here. We have a nice home in a great location. We have good friends, a nice church and I have a good job. Why rock the boat?

Maybe for something even better.

This job sort of fell into my lap. And last week we found out that Clint’s company would like for him to stay on and just work from home in Fort Worth. How easy is that?

My friend Ronda and I always talk about how we wish God communicated in skywriting. Ronda says the way all this has fallen into place is skywriting. It could be I’ve been so wrapped up in the “what ifs” and “what might go wrong” that I haven’t looked up to see God’s skywriting.

I can’t help but think this is an awesome opportunity for me. I have the chance to build an entire business newspaper from scratch. Scary? Of course. An adventure? No doubt.

Could it be I’ve spent the last decade preparing for just this opportunity and now I’m going full circle back to the Lone Star state? The skywriting seems to say, “Yes.”

I'm ready for my book signing

This fall, I'll be published in a book. I'm so excited! OK, before you start asking if I'll be at your local Barnes & Noble signing copies, I should clarify that this is a textbook and I just contributed one chapter.

But still, I'm totally excited to see it in print. The book, "Understanding Media Convergence," is scheduled to be out in November. You can read more about it here. I love the review quote from another academic who says, "The text presents an impressive list of topics that are written by an impressive list of authors." I am totally going to consider myself among the "impressive list of authors."

One of my professors from graduate school at the University of South Carolina is one of the book's editors. I did an independent study with this professor and wrote a research paper titled "Developing Media Managers for Convergence: A Study of Management Theory and Practice for Managers of Converged Newsrooms" (it really doesn't get more academic sounding than that, does it?). The paper was picked up by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, and I presented my work at the AEJMC conference in summer 2005.

So, Dr. Grant asked it he could use my work in his latest textbook. Of course, I agreed. It's nice to see your hard work do more than just collect dust on a shelf or take up space on your hard drive.

It's not like I haven't been published a zillion times in newspapers and magazines, but never in a textbook so this is very cool. I'll be sure to let you know when it comes out. And, if you decide to order a copy, do know I'd be happy to sign it. :)

Eight years ... really?

Today Clint and I marked our eighth anniversary. I can hardly believe it. So much has happened since we stood in the Nazarene church in San Angelo, Texas, and exchanged our wedding vows. As those vows predicted, we've had better, we've had worse and we've had true love and happiness.

I'm blessed to have a great husband who puts up with my occasional bouts of crazy and grumpy. We can laugh together over such silly things - jokes that only he and I would find funny. We share a history and a passion. Thanks, Clint, for being the love of my life.

Fighting heart disease

I've joined my company's team for the American Heart Association Heart Walk. If you'd like to support this important cause, check out my donation Web page. Thanks for your support! Your donation will help fight our nation’s No. 1 and No. 3 killers—heart disease and stroke.