Cotter’s Corner

I read a REALLY good book lately and I wanted to share. It's called The Road. It's written by a man named Cormac McCarthy. This book is a little hard to describe, but I will say it's probably one of the best books I've read, maybe ever. I've decided against talking about the substance at this point, other than to say it's a very easy read and very worth while. I found myself literally unable to stop reading it. Started reading it on the train into the office one day, read it through lunch and then found myself reading periodically that afternoon – compelled to know what was next. I highly recommend the book, it's just amazing.

Yes, it's on the "Oprah Book Club" list and it's received a lot of notoriety from that – but don't let that dissuade you from picking this up. It's simply fantastic. I found myself very moved and somewhat affected by the story, and while I may be an over-sensitive ass, that really hasn't happened from a book in a long, long time.

Please go read it! 

I would like to apologize for the overtly hostile nature of this post in advance. I have really been turning this blog into a rant filled place of anger and I'm going to be moving back away from that soon. It's just with all of this stuff going on in Virginia it seems like the media have forgotten about basic human dignity and respect. Was it a horrid, tragic event? Absolutely. Does it need to be sensationalized and poured over to the point of exhaustion? No. Seems the media didn't learn their lesson after 9/11. There was quite a backlash when they broadcast those images of the towers falling and the planes striking the buildings. Terrorism porn. Now, they are at it again. So, I thought I'd remind everyone that there are some things you should remember about the Mass Media. 

• They don't have YOUR best interests in heart. Despite all of their pandering comments and heart-felt segments on the good in the world, the mass media survives on the worst that the world has to offer. They gather it up and serve it to you cold.
• They are two faced. They will fire Don Imus for saying something that hurts someones feelings but they won't hesitate to grasp at ratings by airing the insane murderous ramblings of a killer. And then claim they were acting in the interests of the public by inspiring waves of copy cat killer and imitators. Nice how they can wash their hands of it when it's convenient, isn't it? Hipocracy my friends.
• They subject America to their Murder Porn and shamelessly stalk anyone on the VT campus who is shedding a tear. Does anyone really think they are doing this for America anymore? Is it really in *your* best interest to know how damn near every student is feeling and/or coping with this tragedy?
• Ratings and advertising drive everything they do. Long gone are the days of truly responsible reporting. Sensationalistic media is the word of the day. RealityInfotainment.
• If you witnessed the head of NBC's news division getting interviews by a guy WHO WORKS FOR HIM (namely: Brian Williams) then you witnessed a truly wonderful event. The "virtual" hand wringing he was doing on the air in an attempt to justify his self-centered decision to air the killers "manifesto" was testament to how low the news has sunk.

I'm just one person sharing my own stupid views, too bad I don't have a whole network, huh?

So, we've had our house on the market for one month now. And we've had ONE person come to look at it. Pretty depressing. We priced it according to the advice of our realtor and we've had lots of people come by for the free fliers in the front of the house, but that's probably just our neighbors seeing what we're asking for the place. We have been really good about keeping the place neat and tidy in case we get a surprise call, but honestly it's a little sad at this point. I think (despite what our realtor says about the local Wilson County market) that we're seeing the signs of that much ballyhooed housing market slow-down. 

So here we are. We've been on the market now with our house for over a week and we FINALLY got a call. Our real estate agent told us that she had hardly any houses and now was a great time to sell. *cough*

Anyways, our MLS number is 853595 if you want to go visit http://www.realtracs.com and look up our house so you can buy it. That'd be great!