jenshrader's Blog

Inane ramblings

jenshrader

jenshrader
Location
LaGrange, Georgia, United States
Birthday
November 15
Bio
A reporter and aspiring freelance writer who sadly needs constant feedback on her writing. Preferably from strangers.

MY RECENT COMMENTS

Jenshrader's Links

Salon.com
OCTOBER 27, 2009 9:47PM

Check this out: money and memories at the store

I saw him in the store the other day.

 

He looking at the pre-packaged soups. He had the canvas hat, glasses. Polo shirt with notecards bulging from the pockets. White scraggly beard. Dark, wide suspenders. I think he even had a cane.

 

If my own father hadn’t been gone… Read full post »

8 Comments
OCTOBER 14, 2009 12:37PM

Words to live by: "Put it in PAAAARK!"

In spite of high gas prices, there’s something about alone time in the car with a CD and my thoughts that greatly reduces my stress.

It makes sense. When I was born, I already had a good 15 miles under my belt, since Mom and Dad had to make the… Read full post »
2 Comments
AUGUST 4, 2009 10:45AM

Thank God, these school supplies are make-believe

I haven’t bought glue and pencils in more than 20 years.

I remember as a child looking forward to school supply shopping. I didn’t care for school all that much, but something about that aisle of paper and folders was so hopeful. The year was beginning, we were starting anew.… Read full post »
6 Comments
JULY 7, 2009 7:34PM

Michael Jackson's daughter broke this daddy's girl's heart

With three simple yet wrenching sentences, Paris Katherine Jackson broke my heart. 

 

No matter how you felt about her dad, Michael – as a man, as a performer, what he did or didn’t do or even how he acquired his children – Paris, at 11, brought it all home. At… Read full post »

9 Comments
JUNE 29, 2009 9:15AM

"Wildlife" on the hog farm

I’ve had some interesting experiences in my years as a reporter. Aside from the big stories - hurricanes, a presidential debate and various investigations - some things have been just plain weird.

In North Carolina, when a strip club opened up in the “extra-territorial jurisdiction,&rdqu… Read full post »
3 Comments
JUNE 29, 2009 9:13AM

Post the first comment
JUNE 19, 2009 10:35AM

There shouldn't be a bear, there!

This is how I spent my day yesterday and I wanted to share with my OS friends. This was nuts. Keep in mind, Hogansville is a small town. Not Mayberry, but close!

 

‘Standoff’ with bear attracts crowds in Hogansville

Black bear caught, released back to wild

 

By 'JenShrader'

Staf… Read full post »

5 Comments
JUNE 15, 2009 11:12AM

Facebook makes me sad–the repost

I admit, now to the world, I cried when I left Illinois. My grad school internship had ended and it was time, finally, to enter “the real world.” I chose to do that by packing up everything I owned, leaving everyone I knew and heading to a small town in the… Read full post »

10 Comments
JUNE 15, 2009 10:36AM

Facebook makes me sad

And in the great realm of “what if?” what would have happened if I’d stayed? 

 

There have been some bright spots, reconnecting with many people I assumed I’d never see again and a small few for whom losing touch actually was upsetting. The town undertaker/

… Read full post »
3 Comments
MAY 29, 2009 9:35PM

Only for Freaky would I do this

For Freaky
9 Comments
MAY 12, 2009 9:17AM

My dog has a girlfriend

My dog has a girlfriend.

My precious boy, who can be, well, downright anti-social, has found a hook-up down the street.

Like most love stories, it happened gradually. I had Hobie on our walk one day when an adorable little schnauzer came galloping up out of nowhere. Her owner, who came calling for/… Read full post »
7 Comments
MAY 10, 2009 1:50PM

For all my 'other mothers'

The clerks have learned not to say anything, I guess.

 

This year, when I took my collection of nine different Mother’s Day cards to the checkout counter, I didn’t get any odd looks.

 

I had my speech all ready, too. I have a lot of “second moms.” This year,… Read full post »

8 Comments
APRIL 22, 2009 10:24AM

I’ll never run out of gas OR go back to La.

I always keep my gas tank full, partly because I don’t know if I could afford to fill it up if it got empty. The gauge won’t get much past halfway before you see me at the local gas station. But my quirk is more than just economical. I
… Read full post »
11 Comments
JANUARY 11, 2009 9:31AM

Mom's lack of understanding cuts deep

My uncle died in a mental institution, from a physical problem, not the mental issue that sent him there. I'd love to know, am wanting so badly to know, what the "issue" was that sent him there. I think it would help me, to know. It would explain so much. But… Read full post »

7 Comments
DECEMBER 29, 2008 11:09PM

25 things: I've had an odd life

1. We'll just get the biggie out of the way first. In my senior year of college, I was a groupie for a rock band. It was a late-80s, early 90s hair band, who shall remain nameless, because a future blog entry may mention that my best friend used to pirate… Read full post »

4 Comments
DECEMBER 27, 2008 1:30PM

I survived Christmas

Well I did it. I got through another Christmas. I could tell yesterday I already was feeling better – it was though a weight had been lifted. I'm starting to think it's ridiculous how much pressure there is to be with family and spend money, the forced merriment of it all. … Read full post »

3 Comments