Safety Dance

Posted in Personal, Politics with tags , , , , , , , , , , , on February 6, 2010 by Steven Allen Adams

I hope you like the redesign. People mentioned to me over the past few weeks that they missed The Holywriter blog I used to run, so I felt the need to revive her.

This has been a surreal week but a good one. Currently I am getting ready for the All Vinyl Dance Party at St. John’s Episcopal Church on 1105 Quarrier St. in Charleston, W.Va. It starts at 8 p.m. and costs $20 to get in.

It’s a fundraiser for Manna Meal and I’m happy to support it. We’ll hear the tunes of the 60s, 70s, and 80s. I even found this sweet shirt to wear to dress the part.

Last night I went to the Kanawha Players on 309 Beauregard Street, Charleston, W.Va. It was the first night of 12 Angry Men, one of my favorite plays. Kennie Bass, an anchor for WCHS TV, played racist Juror No. 10. My friend Rudy Panucci, who writes for The Charleston Gazette’s PopCult blog, has a full review:

Kevin Pauley shines as the one man at the beginning who has reasonable doubt. His calm, restrained performance sets the stage for the slow conversion of his fellow jurors, who initially believe the case to be open-and-shut.

WCHS TV’s Kennie Bass gives an exceptionally believable performance as the racist juror whose outburst late in the play is so ugly that it turns the tide of the deliberations. The entire cast does an impressive job maintaining character even when they aren’t the focal point at the moment.

Read the rest here – PopCult » Blog Archive » 12 Angry Men And A Busy Weekend On Tap

Go for the Sunday Matinee at 2 p.m. or next weekend, Feb. 12 and 13 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $16 for adults, $10 for students.

The next play will be Raisins in the Sun, another favorite play of mine. Both plays deal with stereotypes to some extent; fitting since it is Black History Month.

Of course, stereotypes aren’t just in the world of race; you can be stereotyped based on certain political beliefs. It sort of happened to me this week, but it worked out for me good. My problem has always been people trying to shoehorn me into a political philosophy based on one or two beliefs I have. Typically I’m thrown into the conservative camp, and I do lean that way, but depending on the issue I might be liberal or middle of the road.

Example: I’m pro-choice and pro-gay marriage – actually I think it’s a violation of the church and state for government to be involved in marriages. Legally I should be able to make anyone the beneficiary of my government or work benefits whether it be a wife, a partner, or a son/daughter. When I tell people who consider themselves liberals, they are very surprised I have these beliefs. I don’t align with the conservatives on all issues.

I consider myself a free thinker, which is why I make a good journalist. I am able to listen to both sides of an issue because I LOVE listening to both sides. I am a believer in the marketplace of ideas; ideas should be allowed to rise and fall on their own merits.

The problem is there are left-conservatives and right-conservatives. What I mean is most liberals who claim to be liberal and tolerant usually are the opposite, making them conservatives – just left-leaning conservatives. And of course, right-conservatives are obviously close-minded.

There is way more gray than both sides care to admit. We’d have a better world if we’d listen more.

End of soapbox speech.

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PHOTO ESSAY: Downtown Charleston Attitude

Posted in Personal, Photo Essay with tags , on February 6, 2010 by Steven Allen Adams

Apologies for picture quality, but these were taken with my Blackberry Curve.

Virginia St., Charleston, W.Va.

A sculpture in front of United Bank.

At United Plaza there are these dove banners. Not sure what they mean, but I like them.

Intersection of Virginia and Capitol streets.

I love the architecture of old, turn-of-the-century banks.

In case you weren’t sure of the address of this building.

Masonic Temples are always ornate…and always creepy.

Charleston’s First Presbyterian Church, a beautiful building with a marvelous rotunda that I couldn’t capture on film.

Thanks for stopping by!

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PHOTO ESSAY: Snowy Saturday in Charleston

Posted in Personal, Photo Essay with tags , , , on January 30, 2010 by Steven Allen Adams

Hey friends, it snowed here in Charleston, W.Va. Let’s take a walk and see the snow!

Beautiful in any kind of weather.

We probably have about three inches or so. This is Washington St. East, on Charleston’s East End. There is a nice theater group down the street from me, Kanawha Players.

All down the street there these great signs promoting East End Charleston, each done up by a different area artist. The bus system here is know as the KRT. It’s very good, but I’m still figuring out the schedules.

The Papaya Food Mart. I enjoy these colorful neighborhood stores and try to support them as much as possible.

Typical weekend routine for me; a newspaper and an order of biscuits and gravy at Tudor’s Biscuit World.

The sign designed by Mark Wolfe is my favorite.

I love these old-school wall murals used to advertise the business.

This is a street near my apartment. Very quiet.

This is the snowy Kanawha River, across the street from my apartment complex.

I can say I live in a historic district.

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Just a West Virginian Blogger

Posted in Journalism, Personal, Photo Essay with tags , , , , , , on January 22, 2010 by Steven Allen Adams

Today is the end of my first week covering the West Virginia 2010 Legislative Session for West Virginia Watchdog and it has been a great experience with a few minor issues.

I showed up at the Capital Complex Monday morning. I had filled out the application for press credentials on Jan. 8 before I left for my Washington D.C. conference. Honestly credentials aren’t needed; they only get you on the House of Delegates and State Senate floors, but I wanted to make sure I was kosher.

In order to get credentials you have to be approved by a member of the Capital Press Corps. I was told flat out by an Associated Press reporter who I had thought was friendly that they do not usually let bloggers have credentials.

This “blogger” theme will become evident in this post and will be addressed towards the end.

So I filled out the application and left town. I came back Friday, Jan. 15, and still hadn’t heard anything. I show up Monday and asked an awesome guy in the Office of Reference & Information what the status of my application was. The app is sent to the press room, a press corps members signs off, then sends the app back to be filed. They didn’t have the original, so they had me fill out another.

When completed, the information officer walks over with me to the press room, where he sees my app sitting on top of a filing cabinet untouched in the Charleston Gazette wing. I was told who was responsible, but in the interests of being more mature than this old man I will not divulge the name.

So we go back to the West Virginia Public Broadcasting office, which quizzed me a bit on my intentions, but after showing them my U.S. Capitol credentials they signed off pretty quickly.

So far everyone except the gentleman in question have been nice, or at least polite, to me. I’m known as the blogger who writes his own reports. I’ve tried to explain that I’m part of a news network and I’ve done everything but give out my resume to prove I’m a working journalist, but even the people who like my writing call me a blogger. I could be mad and offended, but since blogging is what rescued me in 2006 from a life of hosting and made me a print and broadcast journalist, I can’t really be too hurt by being called a blogger.

Speaking of blogging I finally made it to a 304 Blogger Tweet-Up. The Charleston-area bloggers have been trying to get me to come down for their monthly fellowship meetings, but I don’t drive, so no dice. They all know me from my Holywriter days back in 04-08. It was a good group of people and I hope to become good friends.

Thank goodness for wi-fi in the press room and Taylor Books, where I am now. I was going to rely on my AT&T air card until I realized I used way more than the 5 gig limit. I was trying to figure out why it wasn’t working, only to discover that it was because I had used a crap load of data and had a $800 bill.

*spit take* WTF!?!

After explaining that I had no clue the card wouldn’t satisfy my needs, they cut the $800 down to $80, but the situation told me I needed a internet service provider.

…not The Situation. But if The Situation told me to switch, I would.

I went with Verizon and should have it set up by Wednesday. Until then I’m living off coffee shop wi-fi. Luckily I just got my taxes done and I’m expecting a nice fat refund; the most I have ever gotten.

The big goal is getting the apartment furnished. Dad will be bringing some of my remaining things in a few weeks.

I am fat, ugh! I now have to take the above-the-head-looking-down shots that I always made fun of other for doing. Karma I guess.

I am also now playing foursquare. I am lame.

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PHOTO ESSAY: January in Washington D.C.

Posted in Journalism, Personal, Photo Essay with tags , , , , , , , on January 16, 2010 by Steven Allen Adams

Fellow journalists Grant Bosse of New Hampshire Watchdog and Bill Osmulski of the Maclver News Service in Wisconsin. We were riding on the undergound rail cars that connect the Senate/House office building to the U.S. Capitol. I had heard of these but never seen one.

This is the old U.S. Supreme Court chambers on the first floor if the U.S. Capitol. There is where the highest court in the land met from 1810 to 1860. Another thing I didn’t realize still existed.

This is the world famous painting depicting the committee tasked with creating the Declaration of Independence. My ancestor John Adams is the the gentleman on the left, behind Benjamin Franklin. If it wasn’t for Adams, Thomas Jefferson probably would have never been picked to pen the famous document.

The Apotheosis of Washington, which adorns the ceiling of the Rotunda. One of my favorite works of art. The outer ring depicts scenes from American history, showing various Greek gods helping out.

This is a plaster copy of the statue that sits on top of the Capitol dome. Lady Liberty in all her glory.

Me in front of the White House. Our hotel was right down the street, so we had plenty of opportunities to walk by this grand structure.

I already showed this picture in my blog post below, but I can’t stress enough that, while the W.Va. Capital Press Corps is dragging their feet on my application for credentials, I am a credentialed member of the Capitol Hill Press Corps. Suck it Matt Lauer!

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My Up and Down Week in DC

Posted in Journalism, Personal with tags , , , , , , , , on January 16, 2010 by Steven Allen Adams

This is probably the longest roller coaster of a week ever and I’m very happy to have a few dollars in my pocket and to be back in Charleston hanging at Taylor Books.

I woke up, took a taxi at 10 a.m. to Yeager Airport to catch a flight at 12:30 p.m. to Reagan National Airport in Washington D.C. 12:30 p.m. soon became 2:30 p.m. and were finally told the plane would not start. I can only assume they left the plane out in the cold overnight or some such nonsense. This was U.S. Airways, operated by Colgan Air.

So they started putting people on a United Airlines flight going to Dulles International, but due to some paper work snafu they were not taking off when they were supposed to, which was 3 p.m. By the way, United is operated by Colgan Air.

When the U.S. Airways counter person tried to change over my ticket to United, the computer wouldn’t let her because the computer was telling her the United flight was canceled (it wasn’t). She spent a better part of 45 minutes trying to work out the problem and gave me a ticket.

I went to the United counter and gave the poor clerk the ticket. He was the Dante of airport workers; we wasn’t even supposed to be there that day, he had volunteered to come in. He took my tickets with the others and went to go get them switched out, but he didn’t come back with mine because the U.S. Airways counter person hadn’t actually gotten me into the system; Dante had to build me a ticket from scratch. By the time he got the other passengers boarded and started building my ticket, they had closed the doors.

I was furious, but not at Dante. I understood the computers were the real culprits in this crime. He said he’d build me a ticket for the 8 p.m. flight into Dulles. The only thing that made me feel better was this bratty business woman trying to get to Boston. She looked like a female version of my dad. She was rude to everyone. She wanted to get to Boston that night, but the best they could do was get her in by 11:30 p.m., which was too late for her. She wanted Dante to fix it, all the while she was on the phone with United trying to get a call center person to fix it. Dante finally had to explain to her that she either had to talk to him or the United call canter person, but talking to both was only making matters worse because they were both in the computer system battling each other.

So after hanging at Yeager, flying out, taking a Super Shuttle to my hotel, I finally settled in my room at 10 p.m.; 12 hours after leaving my apartment. The next time I’m taking the Charleston Amtrack.

The other problem I had is the Capital Hilton punishes those who choose to not have credit cards. I hate banks, so I cash my checks at Walmart and have the funds placed on a Walmart debit card. It has NEVER caused me any problems at hotels and airports until now. They charge $75 per day as a deposit for using a debit card for incidentals. So they pretty much wiped out the funds on my card. If it wasn’t for my friend Jason using his card for me room and my boss wiring me funds, I would have been broke. I should have the $375 back on my card by Wednesday.

I also didn’t have hot water until Friday, but then again I didn’t pay for the trip or hotel, so I sucked it up.

I was in town for the frequent training sessions that that journalism group I’m affiliated with puts on. It’s a full week of hanging with the best journalists in the business and learning some new things.

The one nice thing about this trip was a select number of us were granted press credentials for the U.S. Capitol. It was super easy: provide a valid I.D. and get a picture snapped. Now you have to can navigate the Capitol without being guided around, including the beautiful Rotunda. The funny thing is I still haven’t heard back from the W.Va. Capital Press Corps in regards to my application for credentials, but I have Capitol Hill credentials. I would image if the federal government says I’m a journalist, it ought to be good enough for state government. I even got to cover a Capitol Hill press conference and interview Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va.

I was given a fantastic opportunity, but I had to turn it down. I was offered an all-expense paid trip to cover the special election for former Sen. Ted Kennedy’s seat in Massachusetts. The seat is a horse race between Democrat state Attorney General Martha Coakley and Republican Scott Brown. Several of the reporters in our group were offered a chance to go and I was asked and had said yes. But when I was at Reagan Airport I got to think I had better not. It is a great opportunity to write about a high-profile race, but I already missed the first week of the West Virginia Legislative Session due to the conference. I need to be here and cover the session. I’m sure there will be other opportunities since I’m one of the successful journalists in our organization.

Before leaving D.C. I met my friend Jaque Bland, an editor at The Washington Examiner, a former editor at The State Journal in Charleston, and the talented blogger behind Girl of Words. I write op/ed’s for the Examiner, so she brought me copies. We’re virtual friends, but we had never met in person until now. No awkwardness, which is odd since we only know each other though blogging. It’s funny how friendships are in this age of instant communication. I’ll be meeting other fellow blogger/friends at the 304 Blogger Tweet-Up on Wednesday.

The flight back was the best ever; no issues. Took a taxi home, took a shower, got my air card fixed, had coffee at Taylor Books, wound down at 101, and now I’m home finishing this blog post.

Roller coaster ride over.

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Charleston State of Mind

Posted in Personal with tags , , , , , , , , , on January 9, 2010 by Steven Allen Adams

Well, I have been in Charleston, W.Va., since Thursday afternoon. I rode down with my boss to move in.

My organization is the best. They’re paying my rent for the first 90 days, then if I choose to stay they will pay half of my rent on top of the salary I already make. They would really like for me to stay here, since it’s obviously a better place to cover state politics and government. I still have to pay electric, but it could be a ton worse.

So we got here just ahead of the storm and started moving stuff in. Jim was under the impression the place was furnished, but that wasn’t the case. Luckily we scrounged up a new twin-size bed floating around, plus a kitchen . I also have access to a sleeper sofa and chair, but they didn’t seem to be in the best condition.

The place is Edgewater Apartments, 19 Bradford St., Charleston, WV 26301. The place dates back to the 1940s and the current caretakers seem to maintain the place perfectly. I did a photo essay showing what the apartment is like, but to sum up it is fantastic. It’s beautiful, I have a great view, the place is secure, and it’s a short walk from everything.

Next stop was Walmart to get food and necessary apartment items; I got all I needed except for a shower curtain. I had to shower without it yesterday and wipe up afterward. While in the produce aisle Jim introduced me to Justice Brent Benjamin. He just finished up a rotating term as Chief Justice of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals. He gave me some ideas for some stories to write.

Friday was my day to explore. I went to the Capitol Complex to fill out my application for press credentials. I have to be approved by the Capitol Press Corps, which means they may decline me, since I am a journalist for a non-profit. Hopefully they decided to have some foresight and approve me.

Then I want to the AT&T store to get new drivers for my USB Internet Card. Since I upgraded to Windows 7 it wasn’t working, and since it’s my sole source of internet. The new drivers worked and now I’m flying.

For something to do I want to Taylor Books. Now I have been familiar with Taylor Books ever since I have been talking to Charleston bloggers dating back to my Holywriter days, but this was my first time there. I bought an autographed copy of “Don’t Buy Another Vote, I Won’t Pay For A Landslide,” written by Dr. Allan Loughery. I got a large mint mocha, and sat down to listen to fellow Parkersburg native Todd Burge perform. I didn’t know he was coming down, so it was nice to have a fellow brother from the Mid-Ohio Valley. Then I went to 101 for a night cap and came home.

It’s only been a few days, but I am very much in love with Charleston, W.Va. I’ll be at The Boulevard Tavern tonight for a show. Then tomorrow I fly out of Yeager Airport for my week-long trip to Washington D.C.

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PHOTO ESSAY: My Charleston, W.Va. Apartment

Posted in Personal, Photo Essay with tags , , , on January 9, 2010 by Steven Allen Adams


Edgewater Apartments, 19 Bradford St., Apt. 409, Charleston, W.Va., 26301

The living room. Yes, a been bag chair and a box as an end table. Don’t judge.

The kitchen.

The dining room, which is being used as my office. The my fourth floor apartment gives me a great view of East End Charleston.

The bathroom. It took me a few days but I do now have a shower curtain.

The bedroom. We didn’t find out the apartment was unfurnished until my boss and I got here. The apartment folks were kind enough to track down this twin-size bed. I’ll bring back some stuff the next time I’m in St. Marys.

Due to lack of furniture, I turned packing boxes into night stands and end tables. This is my makeshift book shelf.

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The Long Goodbye

Posted in Personal with tags , , , , , , , , on January 7, 2010 by Steven Allen Adams

Today is the day. I leave for Charleston, W.Va. in under an hour.

I spent the day Tueday playing with my roommate’s German Shepherd, named Major, out in the snow. Then Wednesday I spent all day packing and bringing my stuff into St. Marys. I stayed at Dad’s place last night so I could spend some time with him before I go.

His new shower is the bomb. It has separate handles for the temperature and water pressure, plus a handle that controls to body jets. Best shower I have ever had I think.

I ate breakfast this morning at McDonald’s and walked around St. Marys one more time. I have butterflies about moving. I’m an independent guy, but at the same time I haven’t lived more than 25 miles away from my hometown. I lived in Parkersburg for eight years, but that’s not far away.

There have been a few times I have tried to go elsewhere. I tried to join the Marines in 2005, but surgery I’ve had on my left wrist disqualified me. Some friends tried to get me to move with them to Wilkes Barre, Penn., but some how I felt it was the wrong move. Good decision on my part because it was only a month later I got hired at The Marietta Register and Results Radio; I’ve been a full-time journalist ever since.

As I said earlier, I needed to come back to St. Marys to rebuild bridges with family members and close friends. That has been done, so I feel like God and/or fate has finally said that I’m free to leave the area. It’s still hard though. On Sunday night my pastor brought me to the front to ask the church to pray for me. I had so many well wishes, hand shakes and hugs. I’m going to miss them all so much. I didn’t have the heart to say the move might be permanent.

I don’t know much about the place I’m moving into, other than it’s furnished and it is two or so blocks from the Capitol Complex. My company is paying for the first 90 days and if I like it they’ll pay half my rent for the first year. That is a good deal, so I’m going to see how well I like the place and make a decision in a few weeks.

I won’t get to enjoy it right away though, got to go to Washington D.C. Sunday. I have a press pass waiting for me for the U.S. Capitol, so I plan to see our Congress in inaction. Will also get to see my friend Jaque who writes for The Washington Examiner. She is good people.

So my next post will be from the capital of West Virginia.

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“Chasing the sun away”

Posted in Personal with tags , , , , , , , on January 2, 2010 by Steven Allen Adams

As you have seen, my unspoken new years goal has been not only to blog more, but to blog more honestly.

Reader that have followed my various blogs over the years also know I hate the term “new years resolutions.” I’m a goal setter. Sometimes I complete the goals and sometimes I fail, but I like goals better than resolutions.

I don’t remember the goals I set last year. I remember one was to eat healthier and exercise. Not only did I fail, I am now a 38 inch waste. I did manage to start cooking more and eating out less. But now I need to actually cook, as in slice vegetables, saute stuff, bake, etc. Right now I just buy skillet meals I can dump into a pan.

If I thought someone would listen I’d start a personal podcast. I already do one for West Virginia Watchdog, though I took a break during the holidays. When I’m in Charleston I plan to do a good deal of interviews and livestreaming. As you can see from the pic I have the equipment to do a high-quality show.

My friend Molly might start up a blog, as she should because she is funny and I miss her musings. I’m hoping she will break down and do a podcast because I would gladly produce it.

Today is the NCIS marathon. Now I know I sound like a couch potato, but I normally don’t watch that much TV. But I’ve been in the TV mood this weekend.

I have a love/hate relationship with NCIS. It’s a fun show to watch, but it also doesn’t make much sense. NCIS stand for Naval Criminal Investigation Service, yet none of the people on the show wear military uniforms or act like military officers.

I am a details guy and the accuracy of NCIS just sucks. I take things too seriously.

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