My least favorite thing to do

I completed my first session of Christmas shopping last night. On December 18. How did it go, you ask? Well, it went about as smooth as a Brittany Spears interview about being a responsible parent.

I really dislike Christmas shopping. Not that I don't enjoy giving because I do. But the thought of spending three hours in a crowded mall, having to fight my way through the stores (using my elbows if necessary) and waiting in lines 15-people deep is not my idea of a fun time.

My biggest problem with holiday shopping is figuring out what to buy everyone. I've heard people say they suffered a major sensory overload after spending a few days in Las Vegas, and I can understand that. The lights, the noises, the hookers outside your hotel, yeah. That all plays a role. Christmas shopping is very similar: I call it way-too-many-things-to-choose-from overload (try saying that five times as fast as possible).

For example, I could go to Macy's and buy my sisters perfume, shoes, handbags, dresses, pants, sweaters, homegoods, kitchengoods, bathroom goods, and all other types of goods.

Or I could go to a golf store and buy my dad golf balls, tees, a new driver, a new putter, golf shirts, pants, hats, a new bag, headcovers, or a new golf swing (he could use some help).

I may also want to drop by Williams Sonoma and purchase something for my mother: new pots and pans, an expensive knife set, an oak cutting board, a Rachel Ray cookbook, a fondu maker, or another overpriced kitchen-related item.

And then there are the gift cards: GAP, Best Buy, CVS, Barnes and Noble, Borders, itunes, ihop, isomethingelse, Safeway, Giant, Shaws (for you Northern folk), Amazon.com, Flowers.com, yourlastname.com, and the generic mall one.

So what are you all doing for the rest of the week? Who here still needs to purchase some last-minute gifts? If you are looking for me, I'll be lost somewhere between a new wallet and a six-pack of tube socks.

-Jason

What I do all day

It's time for some self promotion. See the links below for some recent stories I have written for the paper. And I know, our Web site is pretty lousy. We are in the process of creating a new site and the tentative launch date is March 1.


I wrote a piece on a local basketball player that was in a car accident a few months ago. Her left lung collapsed twice as a result of the crash, but she has returned to the team. She scored a team-high 16 points the other night in a win! One of her teammates has also been out with an injury -- plantar fasciitis (I know ONE of you knows all too well what that is) -- so I wrote something on that as well. The plantar fasciitis was a web-only story but the other one was above the fold on A1!! That's pretty big for a sports guy like me who usually has stuff buried on the sports page.

Rising to the challenge (collapsed lung)

Three best friends minus one (plantar fasciitis)

Leave me a comment with your thoughts on those stories because I am thinking about entering them in the Virginia Press Association's annual awards as one package.


I am not into wrestling and basically know nothing about the sport, but I learned a little bit when I was at a big opening-of-the-season meet last Friday. We ran a bunch of stuff for the wrestling preview, which included this story. I was proud of my "choke hold" comment in the second graf.


One of the teams we cover, Chantilly, had an incredible postseason and made it to the state football final in Division 6. But in the first playoff game against undefeated Westfield -- a team that clearly should have beaten the then 8-3 Chargers -- something happened to their quarterback. He was hit in the first quarter and suffered a concussion. He was taken off the field in an ambulance, driven to an adjacent field and left the school grounds in a helicopter! He made a speedy recovery and played in the state final last weekend, which Chantilly lost.

Anyway, I wrote a story on the injury and the scene that unfolded in front of everyone. The kid was lucky to be OK because it was a pretty violent helmet-to-helmet hit. Click here to check it out.


Enjoy

-Jason

Blockheads, flu shots and a book called [Insert title here]

Picked up pieces while trying to figure out the plot for my first novel ...

Christmas time is here. Happiness is here. (sang in my best Charlie Brown-choral voice)

Yes folks, it's true. Christmas is almost here. Can you believe it? The year 2007 is almost upon us. Let's hope this country keeps moving forward and the newly-elected Democratic Congress can work with our great president to make everyone safe.

Has anyone read any good books lately? I've been on a book craze since earlier this year and I find myself getting through one novel every two weeks or so (sometimes even faster!). I am now reading a non-fiction work called "Nightmover." It details the life of Aldrich Ames, an ex-CIA officer who became an informant for the KGB. He was the Russian intelligence agency's highest paid American spy in history, bringing in about $4.6 million during the 1980s and '90s. Good Lord. Now he is rotting in a prison somewhere.

So I got a flu shot two weeks ago. Yup, sure did. I felt a little out of place when I looked around the room and saw people twice my age waiting in line, but I digress. Let's just hope this thing is worth the $23 I spent on it. I was bedridden three times last winter (that's no typo) with a high fever (100+) and an awful cold. It was either suffer through that again or get injected with what I was told was a dead influenza virus. The jury is still out on that one.

Can someone tell me how the Boston Bruins are 14-12 and in last place in the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference? That continues to baffle and frustrate the hell out of me. And the B's were dealt a setback when it was announced that rookie Phil Kessel underwent cancer surgery yesterday. His health issues aside, can't this team get a break? We pulled it together after a horrendous start but now our top prospect is out indefinitely. Jeez.

The more books I read, the more I get excited about writing one of my own. And having spent five months in a police academy, you probably know what it will be about. I have three or four ideas for plots and when I have some free time over Christmas, I plan on putting some of those ideas on paper and getting started. Once I start writing, I will post snippets in this space in order to hear some feedback.


That's all I got.

-Jason

The T word

One of my best friends in the world no longer lives near me. She's fun to be around, loves to play games and always makes me laugh. Always. And I miss her like crazy.

She only goes by her first name but when called, she always runs over to me. Whether I am in a good mood, bad mood, or something in between, I always cheer up upon seeing her. I can talk about anything with her and she just sits there and listens.

But most importantly, I can trust her. I am convinced of her loyalty and dedication to me and the rest of the family. It is such a comforting feeling to have someone like that in your life -- and it is important. Because without trust, you have nothing more than a pile of dirt.

I am talking about my dog Mocha, who lives with my parents in Massachusetts. It is amazing at how excited she gets when I come home, even though I moved to the Washington, DC metro area 1.5 years ago. When I made a surprise visit home for Thanksgiving (I drove ALL night and showed up at my aunt and uncle's house), Mocha went crazy when she saw me. And when I am home in a few weeks for Christmas, she will do the same thing.

Why am I telling you this? Besides the fact that I wanted to mention Mocha in this space, I am trying to highlight a more important issue: trust.

We all need someone in our life to trust, someone in whom we can confide. That could be a spouse, friend or a teacher. Or it could be a pet. An animal's loyalty to its owner is unprecedented, as this story proves (read it, great stuff). A pet does not lie, does not cheat and does not do anything to break that solid bond.

For the past few months, I have done a lot of thinking on the issue of trust. Some very awful things happened to me and as a result, I was forced to end something that was once a very important part of my life. But I am perfectly OK with my decision and I stand by it. Not that I needed any closure, but writing this column has made me feel even better about how I decided to handle the situation.

So if you are feeling down about something or need to talk to someone, feel free to call your dog over, have him or her sit down, and start talking. It works.

Trust me on that one.



On another note, I have decided to moderate the comments you guys post. I hate to do it, but some people like to ruin the family-oriented atmosphere I have established here with some moronic comments. I still want you all to leave a note and instead of it appearing on the page right away, it will go through me first. I am a journalist and stand by our First Amendment right to freedom of speech, but I have to do this. I promise you that your comments will be uploaded -- I just need a filter to get rid of a few unnecessary ones.

-Jason