Diet Update

For those who have been following the "more personal" aspects of this blogg, they know I was trying to lose some weight through "standard" dieting methods.

I gave up on that about 2 weeks into it and returned to my deep fried extra fat please, eating habits.

Then something happened. At church one night, there was a collective challenge issued among the 30-somethings. Who could lose the most weight in a 6-week time period. A light switch flipped in my mind... "I can win this."

You see, I lost 35 pounds in a two-month period on the Atkins diet back in 2002. If I could do it then, I certainly can do it now, right?

My mind was made up. I was determined to win. If you are not "in it to win it," then why play at all.

It has been 4 weeks today -- and I have lost a total of 23 pounds with two weeks to go.

The others in the contest have given up. But I will stick to it until the end. I just hope when I return to a life of carbohydrates, that I can keep the weight off.

May the Blog Be With You.

Tree killers

As someone in the newspaper business, I take my fair share of criticism for 'killing trees." After all, the news is printed on paper. However, I have yet to see the outcry from environmentalists taking issue with junk mail.

Or how about those to kill trees in the hopes of reaching the right person, by sending multiple versions of the same letter to several people at one place.

Case in point - Today's mail contained identical letters to the following individuals:

David Specht (me)
Clint Land (hasn't worked here since 2003)
Jerry Byrd (Sports Editor)
Randy Brown (Ad Manager)

The sender of these letters: The National Arbor Day Foundation

Where's the outcry?
Where's the defender of these poor defenseless trees who gave up their lives for mass mailings?

Ridiculous isn't it?
Remember that the next time someone talks to you about conservation.

May the Blog Be With You

Where have you gone, Marshall Fannin?

People in Shreveport-Bossier media and blog enthusiast alike know the name Marshall Fannin. His satirical look at our area was unique in this day and age of political correctness.

Last week, he took aim at the governor's race -- posting a pseudo-press release from the Democratic Party of Louisiana, followed by a pseudo-interview with U.S. Rep. Bobby Jindal.

Both were obviously in jest and quite comical.

As of Monday (at least that's when I noticed it) his site was gone.

Marshall's identity was always unknown, but perhaps he was "outted."

In true Marshall Fannin form, perhaps we can start a top ten list of possible suspects in his Disappearance:

10. One of the people he didn't pick as "best news anchor in Shreveport-Bossier."

9. An official with the Central Hockey League who had learned of Marshall's planned expose' on the "Mudbugs Conspiracy."

8. Foster Campbell - because Marshall didn't have a pseudo-interview with him too.

7. The Mayor of Marshall, Texas, because he felt the blog was being misconstrued as the City's Website.

6. Marshall Fannin was just a dream - kind of like that whole season of Dallas.

5. The Rev. Al Sharpton, because he felt Marshall's initials were offensive.

4. The entire news staff of the Shreveport Times, because Marshall's blog received more hits that all of theirs combined.

3. Prentiss Smith - Because he thought Marshall Fannin was actually George W. Bush's pen name. Sorry Prentiss, Marshall had better grammar than that.

2. The Rev. Jesse Jackson - because he refused to be upstaged by The Rev. Al Sharpton

and the number one suspect in Marshall Fannin's Disappearance

1. THE TECH SUPPORT GUY AT MARSHALL'S BLOG SITE. He got tired of all the hits overloading the system.

My apologies to Marshall, everyone mentioned and tech support people everywhere.

May the Blog Be With You.