I blither like a magpie.

It's not particularly early, but I'm not particularly awake, either. I got up a few minutes ago, went and found the newspaper, and read the section of readers' letters- about the only part I read. Our city is fairly large, and our paper goes to a lot of people, I guess. They are apparently experiencing financial problems like every other newspaper. It doesn't help that in the past year, dozens of people have had letters published stating they were canceling their subscriptions (one guy called the paper a "urinal". It was awesome), if they indeed followed through with those promises, and surely more followed suit, as our paper is infuriatingly biased. Really. It's disturbing and oftentimes gives me a headache. I could have sworn journalism was supposed to be objective, not subjective.
Anyway. A month or two ago they started shifting things around in the newspaper, making the print smaller, eliminating some sections on some days (like the classifieds) and some sections altogether. Our paper has gone from a sizable stack of news to a few pages one might think came from a small town. Maybe a newsletter. My university's paper has more pages than our newspaper sometimes.
Despite the fact that they appear to be in dire straits, that nearly everyone in the country is feeling some kind of financial pinch, they continue to publish something that the readers have been complaining about for as long as I remember. On Fridays, I think it is, our paper publishes three pages on a big fancy home in town. They divulge information like square footage, number of workout rooms and home theaters, and where so-and-so had their fancy bathtubs and columns imported from. What is the point? Honestly! I don't understand why this kind of information is being printed. I don't know what purpose it serves, other than to say "hey, this person lives in town. They must have some money, huh?" If we did a special on an annual design showcase, or something, that would be different. This is EVERY WEEK. I don't understand it. It doesn't make me jealous (well, the family whose kid had a really awesome Star Wars room made me a tiny bit envious. Maybe.) And readers continue to write in about this feature. Some are offended, some are saddened, others are just confused, like the writer today. If the paper doesn't want to spend money to publish a section of classifieds on Mondays- which includes bargains, help wanted ads, and available employment- why on earth would they think they HAD to publish this section? Wouldn't it make more sense to maybe profile a family who is making do with a little less, like the rest of us? A family who has recently lost some income but manages to make a small home (like the majority of us has) beautiful? Cost-saving advice wouldn't be too bad either. Really, how does it benefit me, and everyone else like me, to read about what I don't have, what I will never have? I don't get it. I'm sure that the people being profiled aren't all selfish braggarts, but the fact that they submitted their names for this kind of feature in a dying newspaper that refuses to get with the program, as it were, doesn't really make me have the best opinion of them.

How is your newspaper doing? Has it made any ridiculous decisions lately?

By the way, while I am wasting time to wake myself up, I feel the need to acknowledge the end of the season for one of my favorite television shows- Top Chef. If I was disciplined enough, I would have written posts about each episode, as some other people do on their personal blogs for their favorite shows. I was going to write last week, too, but I forgot.
Hosea won Top Chef. I did not like Hosea too much. Fabio and Carla were my favorites, Fabio lost last week and Carla just lost it. Carla's style is very individual and her dishes are inspired. She seems like she doesn't want to cook something if it doesn't come from her heart. She talks a lot about sending love through her food to the diner. I liked that. She was really sweet. For the finale, the judges brought back three runners-up from previous seasons. Richard, who was extremely talented and likable, and had some crazy skills with molecular gastronomy; Marcel, who was difficult to work with and had an obsession with foams, but was a hard worker and nearly always put out fantastic food; and Kasey (or Casey?). Kasey had talent, but I never really found her dishes or personality to be memorable. One time for a quickfire challenge Kasey lost her team's considerable lead by taking insanely long to chop an onion. That bothered me. I was kind of worried when Carla got Kasey for the finale as her sous chef. I was right to do so. Kasey ended up talking agreeable and personable Carla into changing two of her three dishes. The meat in one was pronounced to be texturally unappealing, and everyone- even her fellow chefs- was shocked when Carla announced what exactly that dish was. Then, for her last course, Carla was going to make a cheese tart. Carla had made tarts maybe three other times in the competition, and every time the judges fawned over them. I think that at least once her tart was pronounced the best and most memorable part of a team's meal. Kasey, I think, put doubts into Carla's mind about the authenticity of a tart at a French meal (which it wasn't, but they were in New Orleans) and convinced her a souffle would be a better idea. The souffles curdled in the oven, Carla couldn't bring herself to serve them, and she lost. In a big way. The judges didn't even really consider her at the last Judges' Table. And she cried, and Stefan, the evil European comforted her, which was surprising. Anyway. It made me sad. It was a really good season, though, and I look forward to it starting up again. I wish I could be Top Chef. Or at least be a guest judge. And if I ever have to have anything catered in D.C., I'm definitely calling Carla. ^_^