I have to put a new entry in my journal to get the calendar to update to the new month and therefore the new year. I don’t want to look like I’m living in the past. So here’s a break-down of the status of things in 2003. Umm.. we’re on the brink of war (what else is new?), we’re cloning humans (no comment), the Avs are finally winning and all they had to do is unjustly fire their coach and promote a guy who has absolutely no coaching experience - Tony Granato was still wearing a Sharks uniform in 2001, the current television season which I was looking so forward to has been quite disappointing, I’ve stopped watching entirely: The Practice - how many serial killers and pedophile priests can there be in the city of Boston really, it was quite enough already; 24 - snore; Crossing Jordon - Christ, there aren’t enough derogatory comments; Third Watch - they just never recovered once they killed Bobby, and talk about enough already. I predict the next to get cut from the line-up will be Alias, Rambaldi file and all. They better increase her ass-kicking by at least 25% if they are gonna keep my attention. Oh well, at least I won’t be using up those 80 hours of recording time on my Tivo too quickly. I do love my Tivo. It’s never going to snow again as we have recently acquired a snow boogie board, a snowball maker, and snow shoes. The geocaching is still a go. I’m planning a trip to Vegas & L.A. Oh, and the biggest local news story of the new year.. “Bloodshed in Suburbia” There was a shooting at the mall I work at - WHILE I was working. It was at the other end of the mall, but still.. here are the shocking and scandalous elements of the story: the details were very sketchy.. within half an hour mall management circulated a release to all the stores to prevent sensationalism which explained that shoplifters were fleeing the scene and an officer with the sheriff’s dept was “struck” causing his firearm to “accidentally” discharge, but no one involved was seriously injured. hmm.. this already somehow seems implausible.. Half of the mall’s parking area was blocked off for hours while hellicopters circled, yet that night on the news where a traffic stop can easily turn into a major media event, the incident did not lead the broadcast with 12 minutes of speculation and conjecture about the “origination” of the gunfire. Instead it was the second or third story which received only two minutes of coverage in which they explained that the three females were caught shoplifting and fled in a stolen car which now has multiple bullet holes in it. It was unknow why the officer “opened fire” but one of the perps had been wounded and hospitalized. That was it!.. They did have a pretty good shot of a pool of blood in the parking lot tho, but that only intrigued me more. How suspicious is that?? Not to mention, this particular mall, Park Meadows, is the quintessential suburban mall, an upper-middle class paradise where a ding on your SUV is about the worst potential tragedy one would expect to be risking. But for another case of Horror in the Heartland it got absolutely no press. ..very odd. And how will the soccer moms ever feel safe again?