The Fat Cat's Tale

I just saw a news promo about a fat cat.

No, literally, a CAT that is FAT. Otto the cat weighs three times what a normal cat would weigh or "500 pounds in human weight." Poor thing couldn't get up on his paws and was being helped to crawl along on some indoor turf. The news story (to be presented on the evening news) was about "What is being done to Save Otto."

Unless Otto has opposable thumbs (making him an evolutionary wonder), he has been badly abused by an owner. Clearly, he didn't get to that size by living off the land, catching and eating mice to grow that girth. Sorta makes me wonder what kind of person would overfeed a beloved pet that way.

I've always heard that cats have an innate signal inside of their head that stops them when they have eaten enough. Have cats now evolved to the point where they don't know they've eaten "enough" and stop? How did they become so much like people?

Yesterday, ThePioneerWoman.com's Ree Drummond announced that she isn't going to post daily on her blog anymore. Yes, she'll post recipes. And photography. And homeschooling stuff, along with her contributors. But in general, after more than four years of posting all her innermost feelings, thoughts, daily mental swervings and such, she's divulged enough. And well, she's got four kids that she loves more than blogging and wants to get back to paying attention to them.

It was the healthiest thing I've seen in a very long time. Ree Drummond has had enough.

I'm still looking for "enough." Thought I found a bit of something a few years back, but he was definitely not going to be enough. In fact, looking back, it seemed like was too much. Wrong stuff altogether.

I turn to the Internet almost daily in a search for "some," but I'm pretty sure "enough" won't be found on Facebook or LinkedIn.com either. It certainly won't be found in 120 character bursts on twitter.com. I do find a great amount of distraction there, particularly just lately. What a wonderful thing to be able to watch the creation of freedom in Africa and the Middle East as it unfolds, right?

I think lots of Americans are feeling the same thing. We're wondering what will be enough for us? Abroad, they seem to be happy just to be free, relieved of dictators and despots in those other countries. But we've had that for a long time and we're no longer satisfied. So what is enough? Where will we find enough? When we do find it, can we afford it? Can we eat it and use it to fill that gnawing ache that wakes us in the middle of the night to wonder whether we'll ever be satisfied? Thought about from that angle, it explains a lot, doesn't it?

I'm sure I don't know. I think a little more "People are Candy" might help fill my void. So we shall see. I do know I like people a great deal more than food and can't ever seem to get enough of you all.

Egypt Bows in Prayer

Did you see this one? I was tossing through the NYTimes.com's photo spread on Egypt as a break from my other chores and I saw this:

This is Tahrir Square in Cairo as the crowd bowed for prayer on Tuesday. I was impressed because of the uniformity of their faith. You don't see any dissent or unbelievers. Everyone is down on the ground. Everyone.

And also, this photo reminds me of the time period prior to when the USSR fell and became the various new countries that it is now. Specifically, it brought to mind a song by Sting, in which he said "I hope the Russians love their children, too."

It's hard for us to relate to Muslims sometimes. It's hard for Americans to understand why they are so angry. Why some small segments are take such hostile actions, adopt harsh positions and generally act destructively.

But in this picture, you can see so much evidence of their sincere humility before their God. Isn't that what many in this country aspire to? Shouldn't we be happy that they love God, hold their children close and want a better life for them, too?

This is only one picture of the events in Egypt that are offered on the Internet right now. If you find more and better, please share them.

Mubarak or ElBaradei

Isn't it fascinating to see people dressed like characters from a biblical "period movie" holding cell phone cameras over their swathed heads, taking pictures to send to us on the other side of the world? They've brought it all the way from Egypt to our doorstep using their pocket gadgets. You can almost smell the burning building in the New York Times photo below.

I'm glad they are demonstrating, mostly peacefully, and demanding their rights. I hope they survive to enjoy them.

But I would point out one somewhat painful thing that I find concerning.

For the last several days, one of the commonly heard chants in Egypt has been a demand to know which side the United States is on? Which side is the Obama administration, the U.S. State Department, the big back pocket going to back: Hosni Mubarak or the reformers led by Nobel Peace Laureate, former U.N. official Mohamed ElBaradei?

I was gladdened to hear U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on this weekend's Sunday talk shows, answering questions about that very issue: which side does the United States take. Their answer? It's up to the Egyptian people. It's for the people of Egypt to decide for themselves.

I love that answer. It was a huge relief to hear it and to hear both sides sticking to it. Like glue. Here's my other question. Since when are you asking us to take sides? That is a region of the world strongly influenced by a religion (which is their right, too) that has produced some extremely painful events in the last ten years. They are always suggesting that the United States should not intrude on such things. So it surprised me to see them demanding that we pick a side now.

In another 8 months, we'll mark the ten year anniversary of one of the most difficult moments in our nation's history, the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States. It would be great if Egypt was able to mark that date with free and democratic elections and decide for themselves without concern over what the United States is doing.

We wish you well, whatever choice you and your countrymen and women make.

Tucson's Humiliation

I've been watching the events play out in Tucson along with the rest of the country. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) being shot, along with more than a dozen other people, has shocked and horrified all of us. It reminds me of other painful times for the United States.

It reminds me of the school shootings in Columbine, CO., when I would get up early to watch the news before going to work, and cry my eyes out with sadness that children were shooting each other. I'm generally considered to be a person accustomed to going to tragedies, but that one really bothered me.

And it reminds me of something I read about Dallas, Texas after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated there. I read that the city felt embarrassed at its part in the death of a U.S. President. They were humiliated at being at the center of the action that so deeply wounded our country.

I see what's going on in Tucson and I think "how embarrassing for Tucson." Arizona has always been one of my favorite states to watch, politically, because they just "call it like they see it." They do what they want, when they want and the way they want, from the border issues to polygamists to how they set their clocks and carry guns. They do what's best for Arizona, whether it works for the rest of the country or not. Call 'em names but don't call 'em late to the party. They get it... they just don't care. You have to sort of respect that type of independence.

For some reason, that thinking of their prominent streak of independence that seems to make me sadder for them now. They collected a little part of the blame in this because of those gun laws and unusual immigration tactics.

To be sure, they have some interesting laws in that Western state, but I grew up in a place with trucks and gun racks and men and women who believed in those individual rights. I don't blame guns; I don't blame politics. I blame someone who was not in his right mind. Maybe he can't be blamed because he's incapable of being responsible. What I do know is that it's wrong to try to use rational thinking to interpret a crazy man's actions.

But I feel for Arizona and Arizonans and, well, all of us right now. We are better than this. And I hope Tucson remembers that in coming days. They didn't deserve this either.

Photo courtesy of NBC Photographer Brian Humphreys who has been busting his tail for NBC Nightly News all week.

"Just Out of College at My First Job" --Again!

No, I didn't go back to college and start my life over. But building a website is an education in itself, and launching it is a lot like starting a new career. (Are you ready? I'm about to go public identifying my site.)

Here's what I've learned in the first three months of having NewsGaggle.com go live:

What I thought the website was may not be what it is. It's not "it is what it is." My website is... what other people make of it. At least in part. Otherwise, it won't succeed.

By that, I mean that the users will determine what is important in the website, what value brings them to the site, and if I am wise, the direction it takes off and how it will evolve.

I thought I was starting a great, interesting website for the public to see "behind the scenes" photos and read comments from working news media. I think it will become that, but first, it's going to have to build its foundation constituency. It's got to attract membership from the news media.

NewsGaggle.com is an unusual concept in that it was built with two constituencies and two missions. The first and most important mission is as a registry of working news people. The site allows those of us who work covering the news a place to register and organize our social media for current and prospective employers, as well as the public.

It also helps showcase our work, both written and behind the camera, and in doing so, demonstrate news judgment and personalities. It's a bit fun, too.

The secondary mission of the site is to share "behind the scenes" stories and photographs that are fascinating. Those same photos that you, here on "People Are Candy" enjoyed when I covered Michael Jackson's death and told you how obvious it was that the guy in the blue shirt in the photo below is a faker.

Whew! What. A. Poser.

If you had seen what I saw on the Facebook.com pages of friends during various national and local stories, you'd know how fascinating my industry is. Except you don't know all my friends. So NewsGaggle.com offers them a platform to share those pictures and stories and benefit from it.

So it's got that going on.

Launch with an "in it for the long-haul" view was another big lesson for me as a new website owner operator. It can take years to become an "overnight success." If you think you'll get rich quick, you're almost certain to be disappointed. (Ok, maybe Facebook. Jeff Zuckerberg, if you are reading this, the evolution, constant changing and use-analysis driven changes and growth at FB are impressive and wildly educational!)

Take stock at three months and expect to change. Changes before that are going to jump the gun, so meantime, interact and engage with your membership. They can have great suggestions, if you can accept the fact that your site isn't perfect and learn from what they say. Open the shutters on your ideas. Let those "winds of change" blow through.

Learn to laugh at Google Adsense. It's the easiest and best thing to go with from the start. But don't take it seriously. The analytics are decent and reviewing the system, you will learn much about where to put your ads and what will drive the money, but you probably won't earn a lot.

In fact, I may frame my first check. Uhhh, whenever it arrives.

Lots to learn with a website. So please check out NewsGaggle.com and then come back here and tell me what else I need to know. The Suggestion Box is just below.

The Tale of Two Credit Cards

This is a tale of two American Express cards.

This first is a Delta Airlines Mileage card.

I've had one of these cards for more than ten years. I've gotten a couple of free flights on it, but generally, for the last couple of years, it has been nothing but excess wallet weight. I stopped using it because it was hard to find a Delta flight I wanted and I don't care for "mileage" cards, but I didn't get rid of it because it was three-quarters of the way to the next flight.

So I carried it around.

This next card is a Costco American Express card. This card was a freebie which Costco pressed on me, and to be honest, I accepted. It seemed convenient to get out one card for entry to the membership warehouse store and then use it to pay. The Costco Executive Membership already cost me $100 per year, but the card itself bragged of "no charge."

When I lived in Los Angeles, the "Executive Membership" was a great thing to have because I could get into the Costco an hour early "before the riff-raff." And the Executive Membership paid me back in cash for the money I spent there.

Cash? Really? Well, it paid me in Costco dollars (to be spent only in Costco) and there were a few years where I actually got some sizable kickback checks because I was doing some catering on the side.

So I used it. And used it. And used it. And today, I was thinking about that.

Today, the most recent bill arrived and as with so many things right now, I started to think about the real cost of this card. The bill told me how much money I was getting back. The card pays back only when I spend at Costco or buy gas. But since the Executive Membership Account would pay me that anyway, that's not a real benefit, is it?

If I used the Delta card, I get the Costco bucks AND the miles accrued toward a Delta flight.

I figure it will take me about the same amount of time to get that next Delta flight (and figure out where I want to go) by using that card as it will to figure out which American Express card I should REALLY be using.

I'm sharing this with you so that if you have a "free" Costco American Express card with your executive account, you can wake up, cancel the Costco card which is actually stopping you from using another card which might give you benefits. Or keep it (which could potentially damage your credit rating, by the way), but start using another free American Express card and thereby double your benefits from using your credit cards.

Oh. Unless you don't pay them off every month. In which case, ain't nothing going to save you. Questions? Suggestions for better (cash back, NOT FLIGHTS) fee-free American Express cards are also welcome here.

Update: Website

Did you ever have a light bulb moment in your life? Something that you thought "this is a great idea and I think I can get behind this 100%!"

It's being required to give that 100% that will kill you because as it turns out, pulling off your light bulb moment and bringing it to reality will require 110% of everything that you are or ever have been or ever will be. You gotta put it all on the table.

Last March, I had a light bulb moment. I had an idea for a website.

Oh, yeah, I've had ideas before. Who hasn't, right? I've had ideas for books. I've started writing. I considered starting a barbecue shack. I collected recipes. (I'm practically vegetarian. This was not perhaps the most well thought out idea I've had.) I considered starting going into PR.

In each of these cases, I would start off down the trail. I would go off with the best of intentions. My closest most beloved relatives might try to suggest that I lacked follow-through. But I just couldn't make myself throw the whole pizza pie into the air. I couldn't really commit to any of those ideas. Ultimately, those ideas would fizzle.

This one didn't fizzle. This one survived through a failed working relationship and two failed attempts to hire different companies to help with the project. Finally, I settled into a working relationship that has been successful.

Well, "successful." That's a relative term, right? Do you ever watch the NBC sitcom, "Outsourced"? Yeah, it's a bit like that. A lot like that.

Except instead of characters named Pashta and Manmeet, I couldn't pronounce my site development company's name, so I simply refer to them collectively as The Pirates.

It's been an interesting ride. It's been a great project to work on. It's sucked up my life. Completely engrossed every part of my mind and all the hours of my day. Exhausted me. Did not exhaust my finances. (MOM: I am NOT broke. Do NOT send money.) And it has been challenging. But the time zone difference from the East Coast of the United States to New Delhi, India was only the start of the obstacles. (I quickly learned to sleep in small batches.) It taught me a lot about people and what might be called "India deadline time." Ha! I've also learned how far I can push someone (To be honest, most of my coworkers would say I already knew the answer to that), how to motivate and when to back up, be supportive and accept that "the best a person can do" probably truly is the best a person can do.

In short, I've had a ball. I might be minus a few strands of hair, but I've got a great website to show for it all the sleepless nights, angst and yes, frustration. I'm excited about it. I really hope you will like it, too. It actually had part of its birth here in this blog... in your comments and excitement. I'm not going to post it publicly here yet because it is still populating. (That's web-developer speak for "it's not very well-known among its target demographic" so far. It's still very early.)

But I will post all the details here when it's ready for you and I think you'll really like it.

Remember when you would get excited about my blog updates from behind the scenes at big stories? This is an entire website for that type of photographs and posts. The site launched two weeks ago. It's adding people on a daily basis with more expected in the next week or two.

So that's where I've been. It was never my dream to "own (my) own business," but a website isn't so much. It's a news website. It'll actually help other people. And it actually did require 110%.

I think that might be why I liked it. It was so challenging and demanding and engrossing. Plus involved journalism and current events. Everything I like. I think you will like it, too. I'll let you know when it's completely ready.

Btw, if any of you are on facebook, please ask and I'll direct you to the Facebook Fan page for the site. And the Twitter page. And t-shirt sales. Okay, I'm kidding about that last, but it made you think, right?