October 17, 2007 Bonus Blog
One of our prettiest staffers is getting married. Ms. Abby Pearson, our crack designer, is marrying Mr. Scott Goodrich this coming January 19th.

We often talk about the graying of our audience, and how do we reach younger readers. Here's a Hollywood example of reaching younger viewers at the expense of people my age:

"This new generation may all become deaf.

"Attending the movie 3:10 to Yuma with a friend, the sound was so loud, she had to remove her hearing aids. And I held my hands over my ears the whole time.

"This is not what concerns me. Growing up in the 1930s, movies were not allowed to show violence or sex. Even married couples were shown in twin beds because the actors were not married.

"Obviously, things have greatly changed, and it is no wonder we have so much violence and sexual harassment today.

"Thinking back to the 'good ol' days,' we left the keys in the car when shopping downtown, did not have keys to the house beause we never locked it anyway, and my parents allowed my 13-year-old girlfriend and I to walk home from the evening movie without concern for our safety.

"Perhaps if we reinstated the ban on violence and sex in the media, we would experience a safer environment."
—Martha Ackerman, Scottsdale, letter to the editor in The Arizona Republic

"To fulfill a dream, to be allowed to sweat over lonely labor, to be given a chance to create, is the meat and potatoes of life. The money is the gravy."
—Bette Davis