As if the general economic gloom isn’t bad enough, the world of journalism/media these days feels like the auto industry. Last week, Scripps (which owns The Commercial Appeal and this very blog) decided to put the venerable Rocky Mountain News up for sale, as a prelude to closing it in early 2009 (can there be anyone out there want to buy a debt-ridden newspaper, despite its recent run of Pulitzers?). The Tribune Co. — LATimes, Chicago Tribune, Baltimore Sun, Chicago Cubs — declared bankruptcy yesterday. And today two anchors and a dozen other employees were laid off from WMC-TV Channel 5. It’s enough to make you stop reading/watching/listening to the news, and, as a journalist, that’s not something I say lightly.

So what’s the solution? Good old fashioned denial — and distraction. This morning, I went to Chapel at my kid’s school — he was the reader this morning, talking about how the river Jordan stopped flowing so the priests could bring the ark of the covenant safely into Israel. Singing a few Advent hymns, watching Tomas in his angelic choir robes read so confidently at the pulpit, has changed the complexion of my day completely from yesterday.

Things are still scary, and the future is still uncertain, but, at least for today, I feel a reprieve.

What are you doing to cheer yourself up these days? Send ideas … there’s no Chapel tomorrow!

I read an astonishing piece of research this morning in my regular e-mail from The White House Project, a women’s political advocacy group whose slogan is “Add Women, Change Everything.” In a study conducted before the most recent presidential campaigns of Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John McCain and Sarah Palin, one in four kids (age 5-10) think it’s illegal for women and minorities to be elected president. And three in four of them think that gender and racial bias is the reason there hasn’t been a woman, African-American or other minority president.

When you look at what kids see in their history books, it’s not too surprising they think presidents can only be white guys, but, as the researcher who did the study points out, no one really tries to explain to them that it’s possible for the president to look different. I wonder what will happen if this research is repeated after Election Day 2008? Surely kids’ perceptions of what’s possible will have changed. Won’t they?

It’s tough to focus on happiness these days, I know, but evidently quite a few of you enjoyed reading about it yesterday in my column, which I’ve posted in full text after the page turn. My voicemail was full this morning of women sharing their girlfriends-saved-my-sanity stories, and others just thanking me for a ray of sunshine in this tough season. And since I got my quarterly 401(k) statement last night (the graph goes right where you’d suspect — straight down), it’s worth reminding myself, too, that money doesn’t equal happiness. It’s the people in our lives who do that. Read the rest of this entry »

On Tuesday, Janice Holder — long a lawyer and judge in Memphis, who’s been on the Tennessee Supreme Court since 1996 — was installed as CHIEF JUSTICE of the Court, the first woman in Tennessee to have that job. (Though I was interested to read that she is one of 18 female Chiefs throughout the country.) Janice is more than a smart, capable, hard-working judge, though she’s certainly that. She’s a third degree black belt in karate (love the photo), and a fascinating person. All the best to her in her new, vital job. You can read more about her in this month’s issue of skirt! Click on the button to the right to find out where to get your free copy.

Remember when former US speedskater Joey Cheek was banned right before the Beijing games started for his Team Darfur activism? Well, the organization that got his original donation, back at the Torino Olympics, Right to Play, is getting some amazing support from some of the US athletes who have won medals in Beijing. As my pal Christine Brennan writes in USAToday, Read the rest of this entry »