That awkward moment between a man and his leftover turkey

We are quickly approaching that very awkward time of year.
It’s that time when you look in your refrigerator, take a long, lingering look at the container of leftover turkey, and make the judgment call that we all dread making. That container has been sitting there for a week now. You’ve had your fill of turkey in its various incarnations and now you must decide if it is to become yet one more meal, dog food or garbage.
It’s just one of the many important, life-changing decisions all of us face as we round Thanksgiving and make a beeline for Christmas. The decisions we make now will have longer lasting impacts than most of us realize. Everything from the gifts we give (or don’t give or forget to give) to the food we eat and the clothes we wear can shape people’s opinion of us for years.
For example, when my kids were little, their aunt and uncle went to great lengths to give them Christmas gifts that made a lot of loud, repetitive, obnoxious sounds. You have no idea how good it feels now to have boring teenagers while we get to return the favor with a healthy dose of karma.
Actually, my wife Sandy does the lion’s share of the Christmas shopping and she is a lot more merciful than I am. She is usually the only one I shop for. I let her do the rest of the shopping because: A) she is a woman and that’s what women do, and B) I am a man and men don’t do shopping.
When I do go Christmas shopping for Sandy, I get a budget and a list. From that point on I am an apex Christmas shopping predator. I find what I want, where I want it and the price I want it for; then I go out and bag that sucker like a 10-point buck on opening day. Forget Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Christmas shopping for me usually happens on Dec. 24 sometime after 5 p.m. It’s the hour of desperation known to men and journalists (of which I’m both) across the land as The Deadline. That’s when our finest and most inspired work gets done. (It’s when this column is getting written!)
Some people say we procrastinate because we’re lazy. Not true! We procrastinate because we need more time to put more thought into it. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!
Getting back to the importance of making decisions this time of year, it really is true that what you wear impacts how people think of you. Are you a Santa hat person? Do you wear ugly sweaters? People remember those things. If you don’t think the clothes are important, trying going a day without them. (People really remember that!)
What you eat is also very important. Every single calorie you consume between Halloween and New Years will stay with you for a very long time. I’m still pretty chummy with a piece of pumpkin pie I ate in 1983. There’s also that fruitcake from ’92 and the Great Mashed Potato and Gravy Flood of 2004.
People will not only judge you based on how much of your annual indulgence is still with you a year later, but on how you indulge. If your indulging includes imbibing you may leave an indelible impression – indelible to everyone, that is, but you. I must confess to consuming Christmas confections at a rate that would make a pig proud. It’s a shameful time of my life also known as my first 50 years. I don’t eat like that anymore. I reformed my gluttonous ways a very long hour ago.
Now when I select delectables during the holidays, I very carefully consider healthy choices, smaller portions and reducing how much I eat, how fast I eat it and when I eat it. I then boldly and confidently forget my willpower and fill my plates with thirds of dessert.
In all seriousness, this time of year can be challenging to those of us trying to lose weight but that’s because we make it harder than it needs to be. Just remember as you stare at those turkey leftovers that it is a really lean, healthy meat to eat. Your real battle is not with the container of turkey, it’s with the leftover pie in the container next to it.
Do yourself a favor and chuck the pie and engage the turkey. Just go easy on the mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, green beans, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, and (oh man, I’m hungry again). You can also do what works best for me. Raise up a couple teenage boys and leftovers become a problem you no longer have to worry about.

I picked up my local newspaper and then this happened…

As we prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving, please allow me to give you something to be thankful for beyond our families, friends, homes, jobs, health and the usual litany of things we all count as blessings in our lives.
I want you to be thankful for the things in life that are true. We have come through an American election cycle like no other before it. Although this nation has always been divided politically, we’ve always been able to accept the victory or defeat of our favored party and move on until the next election.
We are not seeing that this time around and I think it comes from a gross deficit of truth. It’s not just that the candidates themselves have been dishonest with us (they have), it’s all the third-party misinformation that has people riled up. When I say third party, I’m not talking about political parties but rather all the race-baiters, click-baiters, meme-makers and self-aggrandizing pundits with their own hidden agendas who have been flooding social media with hurtful and hateful messages designed to brew dissension across this great land of ours.
The so-called “fake news” sites flooded Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites with so much inflammatory garbage that it became nearly impossible to tell real news sources from the pretenders. Even legit media outlets had to spice up their headlines just to stay in the game. The fact that the mainstream media so badly predicted the outcome of the presidential election didn’t do much to restore the trust it lost.
I’d venture a guess that more people got their “information” about the candidates from their Facebook feed than they did from legitimate, traditional sources. By traditional sources, I mean formally educated and trained journalists who actually research and report the news with fairness and accuracy.
People have become so inflamed and opinionated by the half-truths and flat-out lies shared on Facebook that they don’t care to take the time to get the facts. In all fairness, it’s getting harder to decipher fact from opinion in the mainstream media. I just visited the sites of several major TV news outlets, the New York Times and Time Magazine. Their click-bait headlines blended so well with the fakes that you really couldn’t tell them apart. It really has become an Orwellian Animal Farm.
On the other hand, if you pick up a copy of your local community newspaper, you will see something entirely different. You’ll see a reflection of your community. You’ll see stories about your local government, local schools, civic groups, sports teams and interesting features about people in your neighborhood.
Community newspapers give you a true and honest look at the place where you live. They touch the important aspects of your life. They give you information to help make important decisions. They entertain you. They are increasingly filling a void created by the colliding kaleidoscope of fake news and real news sites online. Whether you’re reading a printed copy of the paper or viewing it at www.FortBendStar.com, you can trust that behind every byline is a trained professional journalist who lives in and cares about the communities we cover.
For almost four decades, readers in Fort Bend County have been able to count on the Star to bring them the news they depend on. We’ve also delivered it to your doorstep free of charge. That’s not going to change, at least not in the foreseeable future. We are firmly dedicated to bringing you important, timely news about your community.
What we are asking is for a little gratitude in return. Next week you will receive a letter from our publisher, Jonathan McElvy, asking for a voluntary contribution for the Star. Granted, there are some who would like us to go away. There are many more, however, who read the paper religiously and appreciate what we do. They appreciate that we were providing a free service long before you could get your news for free online.
The cost of printing the paper keeps going up. So does the cost of delivery. We want to be able to show our carriers a little love for the holidays and your contribution will help us to tip them and to meet some of the other expenses of producing this product. Whether you can give a few bucks or a few hundred dollars, anything you can do will not only help support this small business, it will also go right back into your community.
It is our hope that as you untangle the quagmire of misinformation that has engrossed and inflamed so much of this nation that you will be thankful for and respectful of a community newspaper that is dedicated to the truth and to the cities and towns we serve. We are certainly thankful for you, the reader, and all of our advertisers who afford us the opportunity to do what we love.
As you take some time to ponder and give thanks for the good things in your life, please don’t forget to be thankful for the truth, for free speech and for a free press that still brings you real news.
I thank you for your time and consideration.

Year of the underdog: 2016 burning with surprises and unrest

There are certain years in history that just stand out for all the extraordinary events that occurred during that blip on the timeline.
The year 2016 will certainly be one of those years. It’s the year of unlikely champions. From the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Chicago Cubs to Donald Trump’s election to the presidency, this year will be one for the underdogs.
Back in July, I wrote a column reminisce of Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire” talking about all the things that had 2016 burning just in the first half of the year. I had no idea then that we would be in an inferno coming into the homestretch.
Obviously the hottest thing at the moment is Trump’s “surprise” victory over Hillary Clinton in the presidential election. I find it hard to call it a surprise when it’s something that over half the nation wanted. What does surprise me is how sore the losers are. Protests, marches, school closings – come on people, grow up! I find it ironic that many of the people who equated a vote for Trump as a vote for hate are now the ones spewing venom across social media and taking to the streets to display their temper tantrums.
In many ways, 2016 is a reflection of the years 1968 and 1969. There was plenty of political turmoil, including the riots at the Democratic National Convention and the assassinations of Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. It was not a good year to be a sports fan in Baltimore in 1969 as the Jets upset the Colts in the Super Bowl and the Mets came out of nowhere to beat the Orioles in the World Series.
Back then the Cold War was on, as was the war in Vietnam. The United States became victorious in the space race by landing men on the moon. And don’t forget peace, love and Woodstock!
I was just a small boy back then, blissfully unaware of the significance of the things my parents were watching on the TV news each night. I was more enamored with the likes of Star Trek, Batman and H.R. Pufnstuf. I was too young to know or care that we were living in extraordinary times. I am 51 now and painfully aware that we are living once again in extraordinary times. Social, racial and political unrest are rampant.
Unlike the late ’60s, we are not caught up in the race to the moon. We’re still hanging out (barely) in low-earth orbit and talking about maybe going to Mars someday. Heck, we’re still in disagreement over who can use what bathroom. It’s no wonder we can’t find our way to the red planet. Of course, space travel is expensive and this nation is more than $18 trillion in debt.
When you think about the debt and the chaos our society is in, perhaps it makes sense to have a maverick billionaire at the wheel. As unpopular as he is, he just might be the perfect person to make the tough choices, ignore political correctness and put this country on a path of recovery and prosperity. It won’t be pretty but it needs to be done.
I think the question for each of us is what can we do to help? I think the best place to start is with a complete change of mindset about diversity. There has been a push for years to celebrate diversity or to take pleasure in the things that separate us. Instead of diversity, we need to think unity. Let’s celebrate the things that bring us together. Let’s find common ground.
Let’s respect that we are all human beings and that this planet is the only home we have. We need to share it, honor it and take care of it. We do that by first taking care of each other. We are all part of one large living entity that includes plants, animals, humans, soil, air and sea. If one part gets sick, all parts suffer. The human race is sick and we see that reflected in nature.
The longer we go on hating and hurting the worse things are going to be. The polarizing attitudes in America today only make us weaker. Instead of being red or blue we need to find more purple in our lives. Let’s learn to live with more personal responsibility and dignity and quit placing blame and expecting to be taken care of.
Black Lives Matter and Police Lives Matter need to understand that all lives matter. Illegal immigrants need to realize that they are lawbreakers and are subject to the appropriate penalties. At the same time, this nation of immigrants needs to be more accommodating in its immigration laws. We do need to secure our borders from those who would harm us but we should also be welcoming to those who would help us. Fear builds walls but friendship builds bridges.
If we want better healthcare, we need a system that is focused on the preventative side rather than the more costly reactive side. Let’s put our resources into making food healthier and more natural, limiting portion sizes and drastically reducing our sugar intake. If we’re going to offer payments for medical care, why not instead help pay for gym memberships, building bicycle lanes in our cities and finding ways of getting people away from their TVs and computers and onto their front porches and sidewalks? It’s one thing to sit in front of a screen all day and snipe at each other on social media over political ideology. It’s quite another to do it face-to-face over the back fence or a cup of coffee.
If there is one thing I have learned after eight years of the Obama administration is that we can disagree without being disagreeable. There are a lot of things he did and tried to do that I don’t like but I’m not going to express myself by rioting. Real, positive change comes through civil discourse and is often expressed at the ballot box.
It is my hope that the fires of 2016 can be extinguished and that something beautiful can bloom from the ashes in 2017. But that can’t happen as long as we continue to trample on one another.
I want to end this column with the same quote that I used in another column last July.
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” – Martin Luther King Jr.

Boy Scout wants to know why news is always bad

We received a letter to the editor this week from Boy Scout Alex Carothers from Troop 38 who asked an age-old but important question.
“Why is our news filled with primarily sad and violent stories?” He suggested that, “every once in a while you should have a front page story that shows and recognizes the accomplishments of the community that would surely make the news happier!”
Alex, you may not know it, but you’ve asked a very complex question. I almost never answer letters to the editor, preferring to let the writer’s opinion stand on its own merits. You, however, have asked an important question and I feel it deserves an answer.
Before I answer your question, let me give you a little background. I am an Eagle Scout and have once been where you are, sending a letter to the editor to meet the requirements of a merit badge, presumably Communications. Please consider the requirement met; I’ll vouch for you!
Now, to answer your question let me first ask you a question. What is news? What events that happen every day in your community, nation and world would you consider news? I presume by your question that you believe the “if it bleeds, it leads” mentality that is so prevalent in society today. If you watch any of Houston’s (or any major market) television news, you will see that most of the time coverage is dedicated to crime and major accidents. Or at least that’s the perception.
Things of that nature – or “negative” news – are generally things that people want and need to know about. That is why they get reported. If someone in your community were murdered, that would be important to you, and you and your neighbors would be talking about it. Our job as reporters is to research and present as much information about the case to help keep people educated and informed.
Another thing to keep in mind about whether a story is positive or negative has a lot to do about the reader’s (or viewer’s) perspective. Right now the elections have been grabbing a lot of headlines. If the news about the election is positive or negative, it probably depends on which candidate you are supporting. If the media report that the FBI is investigating your candidate, you might see that as bad news. If you support the other candidate, you might see that as good news.
Another thing you need to consider is that not all news is black or white, positive or negative. There is a lot of gray or neutral news out there. Last week we had a story about the Allens Creek Reservoir project moving forward. To a lot of our readers that may be good news or bad news but to most, they’re probably indifferent to it, at least for now. A few weeks ago we had a story about the Fort Bend ISD superintendent getting a new contract and a raise. Is that good news, bad news or just indifferent information to you? Again, it depends on your perspective about Charles Dupre and the job he is doing.
As a newspaperman with about 30 years of experience, let me let you into the mind of an editor. Every day and every week I have to make a very difficult choice about what news gets into the paper and then how that news gets played. I can’t speak for television news, but I know they are limited on airtime as much as we are by available space in the newspaper. How much news we get to print is directly related to how much advertising is sold.
Once I know how much space I have to work with, I must then determine which stories we have room to run out of the hundreds of articles that are sent in each week and the stories that my correspondents and I have written. From there, I must determine if a story goes on the front page or somewhere inside. Is a story important enough to go on top or does it go below? Do we have room for the whole story or just part of it?
As the editor of the Fort Bend Star, I must take into consideration whether or not the information is widely disseminated through other media outlets. We do not cover the presidential elections, for example, because it is so well covered elsewhere. I want to give our readers the news about their community that they will probably not receive anywhere else. I also try to provide news that adequately reflects what is going on in our communities.
Alex, as to your suggestion that we run a “front page story that shows and recognizes the accomplishments of the community that would surely make the news happier,” let me invite you to take another, closer look at the Fort Bend Star. Our Oct. 5 edition had more than half of the front page dedicated to the Sugar Land Skeeters winning the Atlantic League championship. The Skeeters title run made the front page four weeks in a row. I don’t know about you, but I would consider that some very positive recognition of accomplishments in our community. In the last few months we have had front page coverage of Olympic gold medalists from Sugar Land, the opening of the new patient tower at Memorial Hermann Sugar Land Hospital, the opening of Texas State Technical College’s new Rosenberg campus, the Fort Bend County Fair, the Wings Over Houston air show, a Ridge Point High School graduate who is now a Houston Texans cheerleader and many others that I would consider to be good or positive news.
I hope that this gives you and all of our readers a little insight into what makes the news and why. As you can see, there is a lot more to it than what meets the eye. I hope that as you venture forth through Scouts and school and into adulthood, that you will be able to keep an open and informed mind as to what is good and important news and what is clutter and a waste of your time as you filter the thousands of messages that bombard you each day from many news outlets and other sources out there.
Alex, one other thing before I go, please never stop asking tough, important questions. That is how you get answers and information that will help you make informed choices in life.

Packrats on the run: The Fort Bend Star is moving

t sure doesn’t take long to accumulate a lot of stuff.
As we are discovering here at the Fort Bend Star, years of accumulation can wrap around you worse than the extra 10 pounds you put on over the holidays. We are in the process of moving to a new location at 3944 Bluebonnet Drive in Stafford. The building we called home for the last eight or so years has been sold and the new owners want our space.
So here we are, scrambling to get a new location ready for us to move in. In the meantime, we are drowning in cardboard boxes and tripping over each other as we amble about packing, pitching and trying to keep the regular workflow going. It’s not a pretty sight.
If there is one thing that can be said about newspaper people is that we are notorious packrats. We save things – a lot of things – because you never know when those old city council meeting notes from 1992 are going to come in handy again. Of course you have to save a copy or two of everything you publish. Then there are the sentimental keepsakes – the trinkets, lanyards, mouse pads, mugs, pictures and things that you just don’t want to let go.
One of the interesting things here at the Star is the collection of old Mac computers. This place is a museum of ancient Apple products. I’ve only been here since March, so I can only assume that when a computer became outdated and useless that it was replaced and set aside “just in case we need it later.” Well, later is here and we still don’t need them.
Scores of awards and other plaques are about to be recycled or pitched. The same goes for a bunch of paintings and posters. Several old desks, chairs, filing cabinets and other office furniture that local charities passed on but are still in fair shape are being hauled off, never to be seen again.
As a serial packrat, it hurts to see good stuff go to waste but there is no room at our new office to keep it nor is there a reason to do so. Unfortunately, by the time you read this all that stuff will be gone, so if you want any of it you’re too late. Trust me, you probably don’t want any of this mess. Anything of value has already been snatched up or is going with us.
I think the hardest part about any move – aside from lifting heavy objects – are the strolls down Memory Lane as you come across sentimental keepsakes that make you pause and recall the good times associated with the object. That’s when you have to decide if it’s important enough to keep. I find that even though I haven’t seen a certain item in years that I’m doing a disservice to the memory or people involved by chunking the item.
I also suffer from a narcissistic hang-up that someday I will have my own man cave (a Museum of Me, if you will) where I can proudly display all of these trophies I’ve bagged over the decades. Of course I’m no longer talking about the office but my own collection of stuff. They tend to intermingle because many of my personal treasures are things I’ve collected as a journalist. There are all kinds of mugs, awards, special press passes and lanyards, autographed pictures, etc., that I can’t decide if I want them in my office or at home.
Since coming to the Star in March, my office has become a mini-museum of Sugar Land Skeeters collectibles. It is a mix of things I’ve collected over the years, augmented significantly by giveaways I snagged while covering the team this season.
At some point I will need to decide if the Skeeters’ stuff belongs at the office, at home or maybe even donated to a museum some day. The team is only five years old now, but there will come a time when this memorabilia will hold some local historic value. At least I keep telling myself that.
In the meantime, we will keep plugging along amid the boxes and chaos between the offices and with luck and a little hard work we will continue to put out a paper without missing a beat. All we ask is that you please pardon our dust as we scoot ourselves down the street a ways.

Now that’s entertaining
One of the things I’ve become acutely aware of in the few months I’ve been here is the large number of major entertainment acts that come to town. Admittedly, what really caught my attention is the number of classic country artists who pass this way.
When the Fort Bend Star hosted its annual Senior Expo at the Stafford Centre three weeks ago, it opened my eyes to the quantity and quality of entertainment coming to Stafford. Regrettably, the theater has flown under my radar until then. I’ve been captivated by the big names and all the hoopla surrounding the new Smart Financial Centre opening soon in Sugar Land. Now I see we have these two wonderful entertainment venues in our back yard, along with several others that routinely host major acts.
As a result, I’m going to attempt to start an entertainment calendar. It will be small in scope at first in an attempt to get it going. It will differ from our regular community events calendar in that it will be limited to entertainment only. I’m also limiting information to the name of the act, date of appearance and the venue. Ideally, the venues will want to promote these events and will either advertise them or make a sponsorship arrangement for the calendar.
Whatever happens, I think this will be of real value to our readers. I know it would have helped me to know some of these concerts and events were coming up and I hope it will help you, too.