10 Unprofessional Questions I'd Like to Ask the President

Interviewing the President of the United States is every reporter's dream gig. There's so much you could talk about, but for the sake of professionalism you always stick to the basics.

But what if you got to interview the President outside the realm of the journalistic ethics? What would you ask?

I've put together a list of 10 of the questions I'd never dare to ask but not-so-secretly want to know about the POTUS.

1. When you get a booger or a wedgie, what do you do to get it out without being photographed?

2. What's one silly thing you do that you hope no one ever finds out about?

3. What's your favorite room in the White House? The Oval Office doesn't count.

4. What's the weirdest, craziest thing you're afraid of?

5. What's the craziest thing you've ever done to get a girl's attention?

6. If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?

7. Who's one celebrity you've been dying to meet?

8. What's the most embarrassing song you could be caught singing along to?

9. What's the biggest law you've ever broken?

10. Which reporter/member of the media do you dislike the most?


Here are some questions some of my coworkers and friends would like answered:
-Mr. President, would you have run the ball against Texas A&M?
-What would you REALLY like to say to your harshest critics?
-Boxers or Briefs? Pepperoni or Cheese? Beach or Mountains?


What non-political questions would like to ask the President?  

Belatedly Thankful

This week has been emotionally exhausting.

On Tuesday morning, I got what is arguably the most devastating phone call I've ever gotten in my life. It was an expected phone call, but just because something is expected doesn't mean it's easy.

I was in the shower when it came. I had woken up earlier than I needed by about 30 minutes and for once decided to go ahead and get up.

I got out of the shower and saw that I had two missed calls from my Mema's numbers, one voice mail and a text message from my mom. I checked the voice mail, assuming it was something about Thanksgiving. I was wrong.

I can't count how many tears I shed this past week. I can't describe the sadness I felt. I can tell you that the only way I made it through was because of the people I surround myself with on a daily basis. This post is for them.

Thank you.

I've been very lucky in my lifetime to not lose any close family members. That changed this morning.

I've spent a majority of the morning wiping my eyes and blowing my nose. I don't know how to deal with this, so I'm turning to what has helped me in every other difficult situation I've been in - writing.

My Papa wasn't an easy man to get along with. In fact, sometimes I wondered if we argued more than actually talked. But there are a lot of good things I'll remember about the 26 years we spent together.

"I'm as old as my tongue and a little older than my teeth."

You were full of wise cracks. Even when you reached that stage where you were doing good just to catch your breath, you'd never miss an opportunity to throw one of those sayings I'll always associate with you into a conversation.

You taught me how to whistle, albeit not very well and never as good as you. And to this day I still wish I could wiggle my ears like you could.

Remember that time you leaned too far back in your chair at the kitchen table just to prove to Mema that you could and flipped it over?

Little red caboose,
little red caboose,
little red caboose behind the train.
Smokestack on its back,
coming 'round the track,
little red caboose behind the train.

That's still one of my favorite children's songs. I still like playing checkers, and riding through cotton fields -- but I don't think I've climbed up in a cotton trailer since the last time I did it with you.

There are too many memories for this blog, so for now I'll just leave it at this:

See ya later alligator.

Monday Motivation

Because we all could use a little motivation sometimes.

Measuring Success

I like lists. From to-do lists in my planner to how-to lists online. Thanks to Yahoo, I read a lot of lists -- how to get a flat tummy, how to land that promotion you want, the worst jobs for stress, etc.

One of my coworkers shared this article on her Facebook last week about the eight things remarkably successful people do, and I have to say that I didn't really agree with it, mainly because it leaves no room for personal achievements outside of the workplace.

If you type in "measuring success" in Google, you'll get more than 55,000,000 results. You can find strategies to determine if your small business is successful, if you're utilizing your social media sites successfully ... and the list goes on and on with news articles and blog posts.

If you look up the definition of success, this is what you'll find:
success
noun 
1. the favorable or prosperous termination of attempts or endeavors.
 2. the attainment of wealth, position, honors, or the like.
3. a successful performance or achievement.
4. a person or thing that is successful.

If you look in the thesarus, this is what you get: favorable outcome.

It seems to me that everyone measures success differently -- my theory is supported by the millions of search results on google and the varying definitions in the dictionary. So I decided to look at my own life and career and make my own measure-of-success list, and my list is very simple.

Yep. That's it.

Step 1: Ask yourself this question - "Am I happy?"

If you answer yes, consider yourself successful. If the answer is no, find something to do that makes you happy and start over.

Simple right?

Whoever said life has to be complicated?

Behind the Scenes: Election Madness

We are two days from Election Night 2012.

Two days.

*Deep Breath*

I've been preparing for this election for two weeks, and I still don't feel like I'm ready.

I worked for more than a week on putting the graphics together. Then another 3 days on gathering candidate and amendment info and putting it together.

It's my first major election, although there are very few local and/or state races.

We're also in the middle of sweeps. This week is also the National Peanut Festival.

Whoever decided to name November as a ratings book needs a good kick in the pants.

I may not make it out of this week unscathed.