What A Sap

A crumpled McDonald's napkin sits in my lap as I write this, damp with my tears of wistfulness.

I started crying during my show today. One down, seven more to go at the fine confines of Newschannel/On Your Side/NewsChannel yes there's a difference with the Other Newschannel/Action News (we've been through so many brands it's sometimes hard for me to remember).

The sad, melancholy longing for the days of old crashed head on into the hopping, zia-a-dee-doo-dah, skip in my step kind of mood I've been in all morning long, fresh from my interview in the town where pigs fly.

It's true what they say; when one door closes, another one opens... it's just hard to take those steps across the threshold into the unknown.

Ah well, on to bigger and better things. Literally.

The day trip to Cincinnati proved to be awesome. The folks up there were the example of kindness and professionalism, taking a good look at my tape (resume tape, that is) and offering both constructive criticism and appropriate praise: two things I really get off on at work. I'd met the news director two and a half years ago, and so it was nice to refresh his memory on what I've been doing and where I want to go professionally and personally.

For those of you that don't know much about The Nati, it's the nation's 33rd largest television market, with New York checking it at #1 and Glendive, Montana scraping the bottom of the barrel at #210. Cincinnati's sandwiched between Milwaukee and Columbus, 32 and 34 respectively. My current home of Lexington is ranked at 64, so the move across The River would be a good climb, professionally.



The station's tricked out, too. New graphics package, live trucks, photogs and reporters galore, a huge news hole (meaning lots of shows with lots of needed producers) and a strong viewer following. It's the flagship station for a huge media corporation that's better known for it's radio and billboard endeavors (that was a hint, if you're looking for one) so it's safe to say it has a nice fat cat budget to work with.

A budget that I want a piece of ;)

Anyway.

The gig would be either producing the weekends (full time job but with three days off a week M/T/W) or an hour of their three hour morning show. That shift would be M-F but I'd go to work around 11:00 pm. Not so keen about the Graveyard Shift, I must say, it's not very conducive to meeting people in my book.

But I digress.

I don't know. I totally believe in serendipity, so my freaky chakra side was going berserk inside me during the interview. I headed out of there with a handshake and the word from the News Director that he'd be calling Wednesday or Thursday. Woo hoo.

I drove over to this hip part of town that's, like, a mile away called Mount Adams. It's high on a hill duh with all kinds of cool bars, restaurants and the city's highly acclaimed art museum. Mt. Adams embodies all things bohemian, and plus it's got the coolest Catholic church in Cincinnati. I immediately drove over there (to kill time until my friend got out of his show) to look for hip spots to live, some with spectacular views and other closely situated to all the nightlife.

My friend Dermonte (I like to use fake names to protect the innocent) got out of his show and kindly gave me the rest of the night. We tooled around the hot spots to live before we stopped in this restaurant with the most kick ass burgers (bleu cheese, bacon, sauteed onions/peppers/mushrooms on mine).

I am so ready to pack my bags. I mean, really. Those burgers sealed the deal, folks.