What to Say, What to Say...

Okay... I've now discovered why people don't update their blogs every day. Besides the time factor, you really have to come up with something to say!

And, you don't want to insult too many people, so I won't post my strongest opinions on here. I do have some, by the way. I moderate "The Rant" forum on WHNT.com and would love to jump into a few discussions on there to tell people where to stick it. But, for the most part, I just bite my tongue and wear my journalist hat, and let people go back and forth.

That is one of the tough things about being a journalist. Keeping your personal opinions to yourself. The blog world has laxed that a bit, and you see people writing opinions here and there, and that's fine. I just choose not to do it, for the most part. Someone jumped on my religion the other day though, and I couldn't keep quiet. He apologized. He is a frequent Rant poster, so I can't get too mad at him. I do appreciate people who keep coming back to WHNT.com!

I guess I'll talk about some of my co-workers at NewsChannel 19. A lot of people ask me "what is Jerry Hayes like? What is Steve Johnson like? Is Greg Screws really 9 feet tall?"

Yes, Greg Screws really is tall.. probably more like 6'5" though. He can't play basketball worth a lick, though, and he admits that.

Steve Johnson and Jerry Hayes are two of the nicest men you'll ever meet. They are gentlemen in every sense of the word. Steve loves to read (so does Greg, when he's not growing taller).. and can have a conversation about anything. Steve sits across from me, and sometimes I'll forget he's there and I'll start singing a tune.. Steve will say "Claire, I love it when you sing" and I'll be embarassed for a moment. But, he's nice to say that. Now, I don't mind it too much any more.

I love to sing, by the way. My husband Joey and I do a great karaoke version of 'Love Shack" by the B-52's. At least, we think so!

Greg is a nice guy, too. He's a newlywed, and loves his family. His daughter Emily goes to the University of Alabama and he couldn't be more proud of her.

Jerry is a hoot. He loves country music and telling us about his adventures with his identical twin brother, Terry. Did you know the two of them tried out for the Dukes of Hazzard? This was when Jerry had a bigger hairdo (a 'fro') and he wore the jeans, plaid shirt, boots, the whole nine yards. He also wants to marry Sara Evans. (Jerry's, she's single again!)

Jerry is also super-proud of his two daughters.

There are many others I could tell you about - Carson Clark is one of them. One of the most humble people you'll ever meet, and quiet, too. He also hasn't updated his blog in a while, (like, since he voted in June) but I keep asking him to.

Amber Stuart is a good buddy of mine. She keeps a blog, too, and does update it several times a week! I did a few guest posts on Amber's blog - one about Harry Potter, one about Keith Urban - and I guess that gave me the push to do my own.

There are many others I'll talk about in future posts. I'm really blessed to work with some great people here at NewsChannel 19. No, I'm not toting the company line. You hear about big egos in TV, but we're fortunate not to have them here. When I interned at a Birmingham station in 1997, there were some egos at that place, which will remain unnamed.. but we're in a good situation at WHNT. We work together well, I think.