CNN gets it right: a reporter's life is stressful

I hate when I follow a blog or a columnist and it is days, weeks - or even months on a rare occasion - between postings. So I feel a little guilty that my postings have been much more infrequent in recent weeks. In fact, as anyone who follows this blog knows, it's been nearly a week since I posted.

Blame it on the Pinnacle Awards special section I had to design, edit, and partly write, last week. And on the day I took off to drive back from the U2 concert in Pasadena. Or the student interns who called in sick or took a week off to go to Hawaii. This week felt like I was weeks behind schedule, even with the work I did on Saturday, and writing a couple columns late in the day on Monday, after getting very little sleep and driving for nearly six hours. It's the life of a journalist, and probably one of the reasons "reporter" was named to CNN Money's list of stressful jobs that pay badly.

Others jobs that made the list include social worker and probation officer, so basically reporter is right up there with people who are breaking up families or following around criminals.

I am technically not a reporter anymore since my official title is city editor, but I still do plenty of reporting, writing, page designing and sometimes even handle receptionist duties since that position is filled by a part-timer. But perhaps I am not the only reporter in the world who is grinding my teeth in my sleep and having nightmares about work on a regular basis - and occasionally crying a few frustrated tears.

But there is a reason some of us reporters stick with a job that offers a mediocre salary and lots of stress. There are moments that make it all worthwhile, such as the reader who came in today and said he feels like he knows me since he always reads my food column. Or discovering last night that someone who has been a mentor with the Puente program at Gavilan College for going on three years (I am a mentor with the program, too) signed up originally when he read a story I wrote about the need for more male mentors.

It might be a world of stress, but the little impact I can have on the world makes it worthwhile.

The Facebook Facade

I had the rough workings of a post on Facebook rambling around in my head when I came across this CNN article yesterday, I swear. Ask my co-worker - I mentioned it to him on Monday. I probably wouldn't have happened across this article at all except I was using someone else's computer who happens to have CNN set as the homepage. The article basically breaks down Facebook users into 12 categories of annoyingness. I can think of at least one person on my list of 90 friends who fits into each category - some fit into more than one - and now I am paranoid that I might fit into some myself.

Am I the shameless self-promoter, as I have been posting links to my food and movie columns from the Weekend Pinnacle and links to this blog? I only started doing it at the request of friends who wanted a reminder when the columns go live. Am I the lurker since everytime I add a new friend, I check out their friends list to see if we might have mutual acquaintances.

I know which of the 12 annoying habits is my biggest pet peeve - let's just say my editor's eye is always open.

The thing that gets me about Facebook is not the top 12 grievances, but more that it creates this weird world of relationships that never quite materializes. Sure, I know when former coworkers are having a bad day, or if a friend had dinner out at a fancy Nashville restaurant over the weekend. I can check up on a crush discreetly to see if his status is still listed as single and I can chat for a few minutes with a friend from Ireland when our time zones meet at a convenient moment.

But looking over my list of 90 friends - not counting people I am related to or who work in my office - I have only seen two of those people in person in the last three months. Sure there are a lot of people who live out of the state or far enough away that regular visits are unexpected. But sometimes it feels like Facebook creates a false sense of intimacy. After all, I don't have to see people in real life if I can just check their status everyday and send a comment every once in a while.

I have to say I am a traditionalist, so I think it's time for me to step away from Facebook a bit and get back to interacting in the real world.

But for now, I have to log onto Facebook because I've got some crops on Farmville that need harvesting.