Light blogging apology... weekend plans

Due to changes in my rooming situation, I've had to disconnect the computer back in the barracks. I'm waiting to figure out where I'll wind up before I get the 'net hooked back up, and in the meantime, the Computer Security Wizards on post decided to make Blogger off-limits for the past few days. My friends' rooms are no good, since it's hard to write posts while cans of Coors are being shoved into my hands.

So here's an update for the past few days.

Saturday I linked up with another Turret staffer to see Ira Glass, host of WBEZ-Chicago's This American Life. It's probably the best thing on the radio right now, and Glass' presentation -- held in Louisville's historic Brown Theater -- was enlightening. He considers his job an equal mix of literary storytelling and journalism, and some of his insights into how best to accomplish that by engaging the reader I found very helpful.

I wrote it up for the paper, and the story is running in this week's edition. The online version will probably be up tomorrow (Friday) for anyone interested.

Also tomorrow, I'll be covering a court-martial. I believe it's for a soldier who has some strange, convoluted desertion/reintegration story, with added bonuses of forgery and housing allowance fraud thrown in for good measure. I can't wait to hear his testimony.

That afternoon, I'll be getting into the Road Shark and setting off for the Great White North... Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which is not only home to my brother BroRizzo, but will also be one of the nation's Main Nerves this Super Bowl Sunday. If the Steelers win (as they're favored to, at the moment), then Steel City is going to be absolute bedlam, and I don't want to miss that. Since Rizzo isn't going to be off work until Sunday morning, I'll get to spend a little time at my alma mater 30 miles west, in Steubenville, Ohio.

I've secured a pass for Monday, which should give me plenty of time to get back to Knox after recovering from what's going to undoubtedly be a crazy scene in Pittsburgh.

It'll be nearly a seven-hour drive, so I'll be taking some time today to make sure that the Road Shark is up to the trip -- oil changed, new wiper blades, and new tires (it's slightly too much fun to have the tires scream and spin when the lights turn green at an intersection).

I usually pack pretty light -- a change of clothes, something warm, a shaving kit. That's usually about the extent of it. This time, I'll also be packing a camera, several reporter's notebooks, and a tape recorder (keeping a record of the weekend will be crucial -- if only to help justify my trip to the Boss).

And of course, a Steelers cap.

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