Wednesday « Kenny Smith | A remarkable thing happens …

Wednesday

A meaningful header would make you see past maple leaves

It is a shareable age, but you just can’t express autumn in any of the formats yet available to us. But if yours hasn’t passed yet, go outside and enjoy it some. May the weather be great and the leaves be bright, wherever you are just now.

Because you know what they say about winter.

So, anyway, even if you can’t really share the sense of the season in one photograph, I’m going to try. Here’s a basic under tree, looking up and through shot from campus today:

(And if that seems like a weird idea, I’m going to blame the Canadian singer-songwriter that’s playing as I type this.)

We were in the newsroom until 8 p.m. They gathered there less than 17 hours after leaving the place this morning. Student leaders, eyeing their upcoming Thanksgiving break, are wrapping up their plans for an issue the week after.

You have to really want it to work in student media, as they do. They know there will never be enough of them, or enough accolades or recognition for them. But I know those putting their hearts into it have learned the value of the work they do. The only lament is that not enough people appreciate their efforts and, sometimes, their sacrifices.

Elsewhere, here is a conversation I had with my friend and colleague Chadd Scott. He’s always worth a listen. This is no exception as today he’s breaking down what this underwhelming football season means for Auburn’s football coach. (The short answer, he suggests, is a great deal in the medium-term.)

Chadd was my first radio mentor and it is, to me, a neat thing to still get to work with him on projects. Check out Gridiron Now. It’s a great project.

Tomorrow I’m going to make a video. The best days are the multimedia days.

memories / photo / Wednesday — Comments Off
11
Nov 15

Memory week photos, day three

It was fun showing off old photos last week and following them down memory lane. So here’s some more of that for this week. As far as I can recall, I haven’t published these pictures anywhere. The theme is signs or words.

Here’s two now.

Ms. Buben’s 3rd and 4th grade class clearly had a big event at McDonald’s.

This is in Alaska. We were driving through this area as a wildfire was burning just a few miles away. Fortunately it was a very sparse area, so the human concerns were somewhat limited. But the sky was erie and all of the local store marquees were concerned with the fire and fire fighters.

Ms. Buben started teaching in the Soldotna school district in 1988. I wonder how many of those french fry crafts she’s supervised over the years.

These signs are for a dive restaurant near The Yankee’s hometown. It is one of those places that almost got washed out to see during Hurricane Sandy. I think it actually did and no one noticed. The stuffed burgers are good.

It is the best of the three or four places I’ve been that wound up on Guy Fieri’s show. The Italian place in front of the Duck, and beside this sign, is much better.

memories / photo / Samford / Wednesday — Comments Off
4
Nov 15

An impromptu reunion

I had the good fortune there to run into a former student today. She graduated maybe two years ago and works on campus now. Lovely young woman; she’s charming, bright and quick with a good joke.

She would always give me a hard time in class, too, because my shoes were always untied. I never can keep them together for very long. It doesn’t matter the length of the string or the shape, so the failing must be mine. I’ve discovered these laces you don’t have to tie for running shoes and that’s changed how many times I have to kneel on a daily basis by much more than I’d care to admit. Best thing since velcro.

Once upon a time near the end of the term she decided she was going to tie my shoe for me. Show me how it was done and all that. A friend of hers decided to tie the other one, so they had a contest and see which knot lasted the longest. I walked around for several weeks with those shoes properly tied. One of them finally let go over Christmas break in Manhattan.

My knees say those were the best weeks of my life, because, again, they were saved a great deal of bending and strain.

So anyway, I ran into her today. She’s married and life is grand. Nothing less than you would expect. It was good to see her. “Come up and visit,” I always say when I run into familiar faces.

She walks this direction, back toward her building. I walk the other direction, off to wherever I had to go next. I look down:

photo / Samford / Wednesday — Comments Off
28
Oct 15

These leaves are quitters

I stepped outside two times today. Once was to go from office to class and once was to go run, a brisk five mile jog that was mostly remarkable for feeling normal.

On the way back from my run, and on to an evening meeting, I got a few leaf pictures. They are giving up the fight:

By next week they’ll all be on the ground and brown, probably. That’s the way it moves here: fast.

So you seek out the maples and the dogwoods and you hope your timing is right.

Now, no photo could ever capture the feeling of autumn, particularly on a rainy day, and especially not the hasty cell phone variety of shot. But that doesn’t mean we don’t try.

photo / Samford / Wednesday — Comments Off
21
Oct 15

Under the blinds, out the window

Sure, I have a corner office. It overlooks the recycling dumpsters and some parking. But it gets a really nice flat early morning light and some charming and golden rays, like this, in the evening.

I see both a lot.

Tuesdays are an all day and all night affair. Wednesdays have a slightly later start and still runs until 9 p.m. Then back to it all again on Thursdays. But, hey, you can’t beat that view.