When's the last time...?

I know it's only October, but it's never too soon to start getting in the holiday spirit.

Me, I'll be spending my Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at CBS 6 News this year. Working on Christmas is never ideal, but millions of people have to do it. This year, I'm one of them. There's no guarantee my news director will throw me a little on air love for working on Christmas, but it'd be cool to report on Christmas Day.

But anyway, as I'm sitting here I start to wonder, when's the last time I did something for a bigger cause. I mean, I help my friends, co workers, and players out all the time. But that's not what I mean. I hope that as the holidays draw nearer, I can find somewhere to volunteer at, or some family that I can help somehow. I've always, for example, wanted to volunteer with senior citizens. There are so many seniors out there who have lost their spouse, and live alone. Most of them spend much of their days and night all by themselves. I think that's sad, and I'd love to volunteer to help that cause, because part of be in the journalism field means I have to love to talk to people, and I do. Nobody wants to be alone on Christmas....

Moving on, today was my first day off in a week. I wish my body hasn't been stuck on an automatic alarm clock for 8 something in the morning for the past month or so. I guess that's a sign though that God wants me up for a reason, to work harder and focus on the future.

How awesome was The Walking Dead last night in the season premier? I mean it left me saying wow, and I can't wait for next week already. That show is picking up a ton of speed, and it seems a lot of people are talking about it. The ratings are probably huge.

I motivated myself this weekend. I was out in the field covering Occupy Richmond. Yes, the Occupy Wall St. movement made its way to Richmond this weekend, and continues today, with about 50 people left (down from 500 ish on Saturday). Anyway, I took a chance and tried to be creative with a stand up for the story. Working on my own, it's tough to get movement and creativity into a stand up when it's just me and a tripod, but I keep trying anyway. I got back to the station, and obviously my idea didn't quite work. It was kind of funny, you can laugh it off, delete it, and move on, but I'll admit, I was a little discouraged at first. The more I think about it, though, I remember that to be successful, you have to take chances! People may laugh at it, criticize it, you might fail. But don't stop taking chances. These learning experiences have to motivate you. It's true, you miss every shot you don't take.

Anyway, on to Monday night TV. Two and a Half Men is already off to a pretty funny start. Maybe the Cowboys will trade for a running back before Thursday.

Keeping the faith and still taking shots,
-- TP