In the News

In my profession, if I'm doing my job well I tend to see a lot of news stories shaping from behind the lens. It's gratifying - heck, it's job security - to see clients placed on the front page, above the fold or to hear the evening news anchors read your media advisory verbatim.

So I thought I'd be a little more "used" to it if roles were somehow reversed. Not just in a "KUTV's Casey suddenly made a rapid side movement, the camera followed suit and my once out of the way location is suddenly in the middle of the shot" sense. No, reversed in the sense that the content involved me/my family and wasn't just from me. It's interesting when the cameras turn and you find yourself - or a story near and dear to you and your family - part of the headlines. And when it happens twice in two days, it's cause for a blog mention.

The first was my company's Amazing Race II - a way to get out of the office, get a little winded, complete some arduous tasks (running with watermelons in 103 degree weather - anyone, anyone?) and compete for the all-mighty dollar. Or the all-mighty $100 bill, as it were.

I work for an advertising/PR agency in Salt Lake City - The Summit Group - and we (had better!) understand the value of communicating with appropriate audiences. The A.S.S.H.A.T.S. (aka "The Association" or activity-planners of TSG) employed the same logic in advertising our event and getting the randomly-selected teams of four psyched for the Race. This included posters hung around the building, in the restrooms, in the gym...

and custom t-shirts color coded by team with the team's name on the back...

This year's event had an added twist - strictly public transportation. And no guns. Cars and automatic weapons nearly spelled disaster for those involved in the first TSG Amazing Race.

The TSG Amazing Race II was shaping up to be a pretty killer event, so my talented colleague Candace and I decided the local media would probably want to tell everyone about it. And follow us around with cameras. And make a mad dash for TRAX with us. KSL accepted the challenge.

So rather than explain any more of the TSGARII, I'll let Keith McCord do the talkin'...

Please do note my thinking pose. Classic.

KSL had to get back to do their editing thang after the second challenge, so home viewers were not privy to such inspiring moments as:

• Allison's first-ever bobbing for apples experience. Completely immersing your head in a bucket of water in attempt to sink your chompers into a McIntosh is not so pleasant. I mean, I probably wouldn't do it every day.
• My team RUNNING their guts out. Any time the destination was such that we had the option to haul buns or catch TRAX, my team always opted for the former. Kudos guys, kudos.
• My teammate, Jordan, literally giving up the shirt off his back when a watermelon cradling option was devised. The man ran shirtless up State Street hauling a watermelon like a little papoose for the good of the team, and I applaud that.
• Near dry-heaving as we choked down a plateful of larvae. YEAH. You heard right. Larvae.

Ah, crap. Blogger clearly did not approve of the rest of my content because it just DISAPPEARED. I promise to fill you in on the details of the second In The News installment, but for the sake of it actually working and me not losing my mind, please check back. It's in the works.

It Read My Mind.

I'm at work completing a pretty mindless task, so I decided to listen to some tuneage while I worked. Finding myself pocketless, I jimmy-rigged the iPod to my arm with a Reminderband (thanks, American Diabetes Association!) and set the iPod on shuffle.

This delightful contraption just played the FOUR songs I wanted to hear in likely the same order I would have selected if I'd been in complete control of the tunes.

• Adrian - Mason Jennings
• She Was Only In It For The Rain - Rocky Votolato
• This Is Home - Switchfoot (I don't know if it's cool to like Switchfoot anymore. Or ever.)
• Violet Hill - Coldplay

Incredible. I'm going to go see if this thing can also make dinner tonight and write a few PR proposals.

Birthday Suit

This post is much more G-rated than its title suggests. You have my word.

Noah stepped out of the shower the other day (you still have my word) and began assessing injuries sustained at that morning's corporate games softball tourney. Those corporate types must have a lot of pent up something because these were the most ruthless battle wounds I'd seen from a day at the ballpark. Injuries included a painfully road-rashed calf, gruesome bruise on his thigh, an equally painful looking wound on his hip and the baseball-imprinted bruise on his lower back where the opposing team's shortstop tagged Noah as he hauled to first base. Seriously, I think the guy was out for the kidney.

It wasn't until he stepped a little closer that I realized his shoulders were also peeling from prologned exposure to more sun than we've seen all summer (granted, not a ridiculously high benchmark to hit, here) during last Monday's SelectHealth river rafting outing.

Conversation ensued.

"Oh, babe. You're peeling, too?!"

"Yeah. It's been a rough week on the ol' birthday suit."

Jay Aych Why Oh.

My adorable little sister has been working her tail off in Jackson Hole, WY for the summer. Between Megs and the antler arches, we had two good reasons to make a trip to "God's Country" (that was for Whitney) in Wyoming.

The trip was made even more enjoyable by spending it with my fantastic parents who happen to really enjoy traveling with their kids. (They took a few kidless trips to Europe and came back saying they just wished we were there the whole time. It sounds like a line, but I tend to believe them. I think they genuinely like us.)

Nice picture, non? Excellent luck with the ask-a-stranger shot.

This was literally the extent of the trip. A little browsing (not shopping - the Furniss ladies don't shop well in resort towns. We're cheap. In the kindest sense of the word, Mom.), some delicious meals, hiking at Jenny Lake, randomly running into cousin Brandon on the trail, randomly seeing his lovely wife - Jessica - at church, (church and the trail are probably a good place to happen upon these relatives, so the chance meetings' odds were decent) pretending to push Allison off bridges, the usual.