Thanksgiving weekend

Here's Fred carving up the pig.

Wow! I must have gained 10 pounds this weekend. I swear all I did was eat.

My brother got in around 2:30 a.m. Thanksgiving Day after being in South Florida for a former colleague's funeral Tuesday and Wednesday.

He slept a few hours and then put the pig on to roast. Oh, yeah. He bought a 70-plus pound pig to roast. Has he ever done that before? Nope. But now he knows how to do it.

Besides all the pork, we had two fried turkeys and a smoked turkey. We had a ham and a pork roast. I lost count of all the sides and desserts we had.

There was a lot of food, but there were at least 40 of us.

There was one injury. Little Emily Wilder, one of Cheryl's great-nieces, fell in the living room and hit her head Wednesday night. Thursday, she woke up vomiting. Of course, the first thought is a concussion, so her parents, John and Heather, took her to the emergency room. They got back to Fred and Cheryl's house late in the afternoon. Emily had a little butterfly bandage on her head and was subdued. It turned out she had a stomach virus, which explained the vomiting.

Friday morning, very early Friday morning, some of us headed out to the the Black Friday sales. My mother asked if I was going. I told her I had to work. And I did. I interviewed a bunch of people who were out shopping.

For dinner Friday night, Dorothy and I went back out to Fred and Cheryl's, while my mother decided to stay home.

We ate even more.

We repeated that Saturday night. I noticed that there was definitely a dent in the amount of meat that was left over.

This morning, as Dorothy was getting ready to go home to Charleston, we got a call from Fred. It turned out that he, Cheryl and Jessica all caught whatever Emily had. You know, that stomach bug. He wanted Dorothy to get some Pepto-Bismol and Immodium.

Dorothy, our mother and I had limited interaction with Emily, so we're fine.

Jess had to work today in Gainesville, where she's at the University of Florida, at 1 p.m., but had to call in sick. She felt well enough to let Scott drive her to Valdosta, where he's stationed. He has to be at work at midnight. (Fred picked him up on his way home from Hollywood.)

I'm not sure if she's spending the night with him or if she drove the 90 minutes or so back home.

I guess when you've got that many people, someone is going to get hurt and someone is going to get sick. It turned out that one little girl got hurt and sick!

We really did have a great time.

CSU Alumni Open House

One day, I'd like Ray Lakes to call me just to say hello. When he calls, he needs publicity for one thing or another.

Now, I love talking to him, but come on, Ray!

I've known Ray longer than I'd like to admit. I was a freshman at Columbus College and he was an older student. That's right, I always joke that he's way older than me. In actuality, he's probably only a year or so older. But I call him the old guy.

He's now the director of alumni affairs at Columbus State University. My have we grown up.

This time when he called, Ray wanted me to do something about the CSU Alumni Open House.

I know that there are thousands of CSU graduates in this area.

So some of you should come to the open house at 5-8 p.m. Tuesday in the Coca-Cola Space Science Center, 701 Front Ave.

You'll get to see some people you know and you'll get to meet the new president, Tim Mescon. I think you'll like him.

And of course, you'll see Ray. You may even see me wandering around.

Tickets are $10, and you'll need to make a reservation.

Call 706-565-4100.

OK, Ray. I've done what you asked. You owe me lunch.

Life is short

My brother headed for South Florida today. When he lived in Cooper City, he was a sergeant in the Hollywood Police Department.

One of the officers under him was killed in a car accident over the weekend while he was on duty.

He was just 31.

Fred must have liked him because he wouldn't just drop everything to go back to Hollywood. The visitation was tonight and the funeral is in the morning. He'll come back right after the service.

Hollywood is about the same size, population wise, as Columbus. Geographically, it's much smaller. But being so close to Miami and the drug trade, I think it's a lot more dangerous for police officers. He worked in vice and that worried my father, especially when Scott was born. But Fred loved his work. When he retired two years ago when he was 48, I wasn't sure if he'd adjust to retirement. But he loves being retired now.

He does work for my friend Bill Rich, building things. He's been working at the new National Infantry Museum.

I went online to read the stories and when I found a video, I watched it. To my surprise, there's a new police chief. When Fred was promoted to sergeant five years ago, Chadwick Wagner was promoted to assistant chief at the same ceremony.

When I called Fred's cell, my niece answered it. He had stopped in Gainesville to have lunch with her before continuing south.

On his way home, he's picking up Scott in Valdosta, where he's stationed at Moody Air Base.

Now as Thanksgiving draws near, I'm really thankful that Fred was unscathed in his years as an officer in a highly dangerous job. And I'm thankful that Scott hasn't been deployed. He's been in Iceland, England and Valdosta so far.

Dancing with the Stars Finale

The judges scores:
Warren Sapp, 80; Lance Bass, 81; Brooke Burke, 88.

Tonight, the very talented Alicia Keys sang before the final dances by the three couples. After the dances, the not-so-talented but inexplicably popular Miley Cyrus performed.

I really miss Kenny Mayne, who was the very first person booted off the very first show. He's been kind of a sarcastic correspondent in subsequent seasons. I agree with him when he said he was robbed.

OK, so Burke won. I think there should be a recount.

When the season began, I really thought it was a ho-hum season. And I thought Toni Braxton would win.

What do I know?

Dancing with the Stars finals

OK, it's coming to an end. As expected, Brooke Burke, a favorite of the judges, rated well tonight. I just don't get it.

Lance Bass is doing very, very well. He started slowly, but the last few weeks, he's been really, really good.

But my favorite is still Warren Sapp. I just love to watch him dance.

Of course, I voted for him. I'm hoping everyone else did, too.

I had to work yesterday, so I missed the final show of "A Love Supreme." I'm hoping Troy videotaped it so I can see it.

"A Love Supreme"

When we were at "Why, Baby, Why," V.J. said we needed to see "A Love Supreme."

I agree.

This is that new drama by young playwright Desirée Samone. It's the last weekend of this show at the Liberty Theatre. It can be seen at 8 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday.

I'll be at the theater on Sunday.

See you there.

Why, Baby, Why

As I've said before, I'm no fan of country music.

I am a fan of Steve Valentini and Debbie Anderson.

V.J. Roberts called me late this afternoon asking if I'd go see "Why, Baby, Why" with her.

I was struggling with my work laptop, trying to get my work for next week's To Do finished. I mean I was struggling. It seemed every other minute, I was asking my editor for help. I'm certain that she's going to slap me silly by the end of the month.

At least I'm not the only one asking her for help.

When Dawn wasn't available, I was asking Jerry or Elizabeth for help.

It seems there's something wrong, but no one knows exactly what to do.

So I muddled through.

In the meantime, V.J. called asking when I could get free. I told her I had one more page.

Then I finally finished and I met her on the street and we walked to the Springer Opera House's Foley Hall.

Debbie and Steve just may be two of the most talented people in town. They can really, really sing.

You don't have to be a country music fan to appreciate the music of George Jones and Tammy Wynette. And the dialogue written by Paul Pierce is snappy and poignant and funny.

After the show, Steve told me that this was the best time he had doing a show in a long time. I believe it.

Paul said to me about Debbie, "Scratch the surface of this opera singer and you'll find a country music star." He got that right. But then Debbie told me years ago that when she was a kid, she traveled around the Southeast singing gospel and country songs with her family's band.

You have one more chance to see this show. It can be seen at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

If you love country music, this is the show to see. If you're like me and don't like country music. Go. You might change your mind.

I'm glad V.J. was persistent enough to make me leave my desk.

By the way, happy birthday, Allison! I'm sure you had a great party. I'm sorry I missed it.

But I bet I had a better 40th birthday party.

It was at the Loft and there was a lot of cheesecake instead of birthday cake.

The Springer Opera House was in rehearsal for "A Chorus Line," and during their break, the entire cast came over and sang "One" to me!

It was the best! People still talk about it.

It doesn't pay to get old

I swear when I turned 50, I was getting sick on a regular basis. I never had bronchitis until a few years ago. Now, I get it every winter.

If there's a bug going around, I'll catch it.

Last week, it was that stomach thing. Now, it's a cold. But I'm achy all over.

I should not have the flu because I had a flu shot last month.

I don't think it's severe.

I'll just stay home as much as possible. And stay away from people.

"The Real Housewives of Atlanta"

I never watched "The Real Housewives of Orange County" or "The Real Housewives of New York" on Bravo.

I was joking with my editor. I told her that I'd bet there would be "The Real Housewives of Buckhead."

Then this season, "The Real Housewives of Atlanta" came on Bravo.

People started talking about it. Especially about NeNe. One of them is married to an NBA player; another is married to an NFL player. I watched a few minutes while I was flipping through the channels. I can't tell one from the other. But just like the other shows, these women are wealthy, living in huge houses. And they don't seem to be happy.

Last night was the season finale and posted a really high rating for a cable show. It was the No. 1 calbe telecast in prime time for adults ages 18-34, which is the most desired group of people.

The reality show was Bravo's highest-rated freshman series since "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy."

The special reunion show will be at 9 p.m. Nov. 25. You'll learn if NeNe and Kim patch things up and if Sheree and NeNe can be friends. And apparently, there was a catfight between Lisa and Kim. We'll find out what really happened to cause the fight.

Ever start to feel bad?

You know how sometimes you feel like you're coming down with something and get all addled?

Well, I may be addled all the time, but this afternoon, I started feeling flushed. Now, I'm going through menopause and have hot flashes all the time. This was not it. I know, too much information!

My body temperature is usually lower than the average 98.6 degrees. So if my temperature goes up to "normal," I have a slight fever. I think that's what happened.

So I told my editor that I had an interview at 5 p.m. and was going home. I went to the site where I was to meet the guys and no one was there.

I realized that I was supposed to meet them tomorrow!

I knew then that I should go home and sleep. I did just that. I got up and ate dinner. I'll get back in bed in a few.

I'm hoping this will pass quickly.

DWTS, Week 9

Cody Linley rehearsing with professional dancer Julianne Hough.

Last night was the semifinal of "Dancing with the Stars." I missed most of it because I was working. We have a new computer system and I'm still having a tough time getting the hang of it. We have worked on Mac systems since we went from typewriters to computers. Now, we use a PC system. I just can't get used to it.

So I'm going to have to get used to working on a PC. My laptop is a Mac.

Oh, well. Another thing I can put on my resume: Can use a PC.

Anyway, I predicted that Cody Linley would go home tonight. And I was correct.

Next Monday is the final. I'm still pulling for Warren Sapp.

The Singer-Moye Mounds

Columbus Museum board of trustees president Ken Callaway, left, watches University of Georgia senior vice president for external affairs Tom Landrum as he signs the agreement document that transfers the Singer-Moye Mounds from the museum to the university Monday afternoon.

Today was a gorgeous day. The skies were a bright blue, the sun was shining, the leaves were brilliant yellow, amber, orange, red and brown.

And I spent the afternoon in rural Stewart County with a bunch of giddy archaeologists.

Stewart County has probably the second largest American Indian mound area in the state.

I guess I've always known that the Columbus Museum had been given the Singer-Moye Mounds. I just always had them confused with the Rood Creek Mounds.

Everyone kept asking me if I'd been there before. I kept saying, yes I had, but that I had been there by boat. You see, a ranger who used to be at the Florence Marina State Park took me and L-E photographer Mike Haskey to Rood Creek.

One person said he didn't think the Singer-Moye Mounds were accessible by boat. I shrugged and said we did.

I didn't realize that these mounds were very unusual because they are not near water.

I finally figured out that there were two sets of mounds in our area. The Rood Creek Mounds are pretty accessible.

These are not. I bet I couldn't find them again.

There are eight of them. Don Gordy, who has spent 40 years of his life preserving these mounds, said he thought there were seven. He discovered the eighth mound about 15 years ago.

The area has been pretty well cleared. But I was very careful where I stepped. After all, I was in the country. And there are snakes in the country, right?

It is beautiful out there.

But I can't see myself digging out there. Garnett Stokes, the dean of the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Georgia said it will be a great research lab for archaeology students.

No kidding. I bet 90 percent of the mounds are untouched.

But they have been carbon dated to the 1400s.

It's really pretty cool.

Mac Moye is hoping that it will become a tourist draw. Clason Kyle was joking when he said he sees a Ferris Wheel and a Disney-esque Indian village on the site

I hope not, but I can see busloads of schoolchildren visiting the area.

Of course, as it becomes more and more well known, there's the risk of looters or just hoodlums destroying the site. I hope that doesn't happen either.

On the other hand, it's so gorgeous out there and I wish everyone can see it.

I'm sick

I couldn't sleep all night. My stomach hurt.

About 5 a.m., I left a message on my editor's phone, telling her I wasn't coming in.

A few hours later, I went out to get the paper and the first story I saw was the one about a stomach bug going around town. Well, whatever it is, I got it.

I've spent the entire day lying on the sofa.

Yuck!

I feel a little better, but not much.

Unfortunately, I wasn't feeling well enough to go to the Liberty Theatre to meet Desiree Samone, who wrote "A Love Supreme." I hope there was a good audience for the show. And I hope she liked the production.

And I really hope tomorrow will be better.

CMA Awards

I was just reading a story about the County Music Association Awards and when I read the list of people who appeared on the show, I realized a bunch of them have performed in Columbus in the past year: Lady Antebellum, Taylor Swift, Miranda Lambert, Kellie Pickler and Sugarland. Not bad for a city that just doesn't get too many concerts.

I was trying to find this picture of Taylor Swift in a gown that was not age appropriate. I think she's far to young to be wearing something like that. I, being computer illiterate, couldn't download the picture. But go to www.eonline.com and click on Photos. Then find the photos from the CMA Awards. You'll see what I'm talking about.

381 Days

As I said last week, the Columbus Public Library, 3000 Macon Road, has a Smithsonian Institution exhibit called "381 Days," which tells the story of the Montgomery bus boycott.

At 7 p.m. Thursday, the Muscogee County Friends of Libraries, is bringing Hank Klibanoff to speak about his experiences as a newspaper reporter during the Civil Rights movement.

I got this bio on Klibanoff from Linda Hyles of the library.

He co-wrote "The Race Beat: The Press, the Civil Rights Struggle and the Awakening of a Nation," which won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for history.

"The Race Beat," written by Klibanoff and Gene Roberts, former editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer and former managing editor of The New York Times, explores news coverage of the civil rights movement in the South. The book looks at the impact and involvement of the black press, the Northern press, the Southern liberal and segregationist press, television and photojournalism from the 1930s through the late 1960s.

Klibanoff was born in Florence, Ala., and grew up in the South. He attended Washington University in St. Louis, and his master's degree at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.

He began his reporting career in Mississippi in 1972 and, for six years, was the statehouse bureau in Jackson for the Sun-Herald on the Gulf Coast and the Delta Democrat Times in Greenville.

He also worked at the Boston Globe and the Philadelphia Inquirer crushed the vitality of rural towns in the Midwest.

Klibanoff had many jobs in his 35-year newspaper career, including sports, national, metro and business. He was also an editor.

For six years, Klibanoff taught a course in journalism issues for the urban studies department at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1995-1996, he was a fellow at the Freedom Forum’s Media Studies Center at Columbia University.

He joined The Atlanta Journal-Constitution as a managing editor in October 2002 and served in that capacity until this summer when he resigned. He serves as a director on several boards, including the Associated Press Managing Editors Association (and was winner of its 2007 meritorious service award), the John Chancellor Award for Excellence in Journalism; and VOX Teen Communications, an Atlanta non-profit youth development organization that, through a monthly newspaper and a Web site (www.voxrox.org), encourages and helps teens develop the skills and resources to express themselves on issues important to them.

Two newspaper projects in which he was deeply involved have been named finalists for Pulitzer Prizes: In 2006, when he was managing editor for news at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the newspaper was a finalist in the breaking news category for staff coverage of a downtown Atlanta shooting spree by a defendant who seized a deputy’s gun and killed a judge and three others; in 1995, when he was deputy metro editor at The Philadelphia Inquirer, that newspaper was a finalist for the Public Service Award for a metro staff investigation into an extensive absentee ballot vote fraud that tipped the balance of power at the state Capitol; the newspaper’s disclosures led a federal judge to overturn the election.

Klibanoff has been awarded the Georgia Author of the Year in the history division in 2007, presented by the Georgia Writers Association; and the Clarence Cason Award in Nonfiction Writing this year, presented by The University of Alabama College of Communication and Information Sciences.

He was inducted this year into the Hall of Achievement at the Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, and was given the Distinguished Alumni Award at Washington University in St. Louis.

Klibanoff has lectured and written widely in the past several years on "The Race Beat," journalism and race relations.

Klibanoff and his wife Laurie have three daughters: Caroline, who is a freshman at Georgetown University; Eleanor, a junior in high school; and Corinne, who is in the eighth grade.

This sounds like something that everyone should go to. I'm going to try to be there.

DWTS, Week 8

Good-bye, Maurice Green and Cheryl Burke.

They are the latest couple voted off "Dancing with the Stars."

So the celebrities left are Warren Sapp, Brooke Burke, Lance Bass and Cody Linley.

I still like Sapp to win.

What do you think?

Why, Baby, Why

I've never, ever been a country music. I'm still not.

When my sister Dorothy was here a couple of weekends ago, she put James Taylor's new CD, the one where he covers a bunch of songs, on when we were in the car. One of the tracks is "Why, Baby, Why?" I said, that's George Jones.

Dorothy looked at me and asked why I would know that. I told her the Springer Opera House is doing "Why, Baby, Why: The Music of George Jones & Tammy Wynette."

Even though I don't like country music, I never underestimate its popularity.

It turns out the Springer has been selling out performances of "Why, Baby, Why," an original musical by Springer artistic director Paul Pierce.

People will go to the shows, fall in love with it and buy tickets for another show. Some are coming back several times.

For that reason, the Springer is holding the show over for three additional performances next weekend.

There are a few tickets left for this weekend's performances, 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday in Foley Hall, 1016 First Ave.

The additional shows are 7:30 p.m. Nov. 20-22.

Tickets are $10-$32.

Call 706-327-3688 to make sure tickets are available on the night you want to go.

A very busy fall

I really can't remember a busier fall than this one.

Local theater started with a bang when the Springer Opera House sold out every performance of "Menopause The Musical," which was followed by a very well-received "Bat Boy: The Musical" by the Columbus State University theater department.

The Chattahoochee Shakespeare Co. produced "Turn in Your Hymnal" and then did "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Abridged" again at the Liberty Theatre.

The Columbus Symphony Orchestra had very good audiences for the first concert featuring the Eroica Trio. I'm sure the very handsome Philippe Quint had a very appreciative audience Saturday night.

And Fred Cohen, the director of the CSU Schwob School of Music, says the music school's concerts have been well attended.

Even with the economy as it is, you are still attending concerts and plays. And that's a good thing.

But I'm pooped. Covering all these shows and concerts is not easy. I know I tell everyone that I have the best job at the newspaper, but I'm busy. I shouldn't complain. At least these days, I don't have to cover nightclubs. I leave that to my colleague Sonya Sorich.

After Thanksgiving, I'll get a little respite. Then it starts all over again in January.

I am truly old and weak and don't know how long I can keep this up!

Going to the movies

Most of you know that I absolutely adore Russell Crowe. I know that "Body of Lies" has been out for weeks.

I finally went to see it today.

I loved the movie.

My gripe: I had to sit through something like 10 commercials. I'm not talking about movie trailers. I'm talking commercials. Then a couple of trailers came on. I really, truly do not mind watching the trailers. But I don't go to the movies to watch commercials that I can see on TV. That I expect to watch on TV.

A friend said that when he went to see a movie in Florida, he was late, but wasn't worried because he expected about 20 minutes of commercials and trailers. To his chagrin, the movie time was the time the movie started. If you wanted to watch the commercials and trailers, then you go early.

I like that.

I wonder if my friends at Carmike Cinemas would like that, too.

"Wicked"

Whenever I say I've never seen "Wicked," people look at me in disbelief.

But I haven't. I bought the book last year and haven't gotten past the first couple of pages.

It's not that I don't like "The Wizard of Oz." I've seen productions of that. I've seen the movie. I've seen "The Wiz" on stage and the movie version. I just haven't seen "Wicked."

Millions of people have.

On Nov. 2, in Atlanta's Fox Theatre, the national tour closed after 32 performances. It set attendance records there. More than 136,000 patrons saw the show, which meant the Fox's box office record was broken.

“We are thrilled with the success of 'Wicked' and the experience that we have been able to provide to our patrons," said Stephanie Parker, vice president of Broadway Across America — Atlanta. "This was a much anticipated production, and we have received a wonderful response from the community who truly embraced the show.”

I have a feeling that those box office records will be broken next year when "Jersey Boys" comes to the Fox.

For more information on the season, call 800-278-4447 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday or go to www.BroadwayAcrossAmerica.com

A Love Supreme

The Chattahoochee Shakespeare Co.'s next production is a collaboration with the Liberty Theatre.

The Liberty's Gayle Daniels was unable to get the rights to the play she had scheduled to start next week. Since ChattShakes' Troy Heard had been using the Liberty to present his plays, she asked him to find a play and direct it.

So he thought of his friend Desiree Samone, whom he met at the Savannah College of Art & Design. Troy was working on his master's degree in directing and Desiree was an undergraduate, taking a class where he was the teaching assistant.

He remembered her senior project about a young woman who wants to be a jazz singer against her mother's wishes.

The past few months, he's been working with her to flesh it out to a full play.

"A Love Supreme" will be presented, beginning next weekend.

I saw a little bit of it tonight. If you go on opening night, you'll get to meet the playwright.

And when she becomes famous, you can say, "I met her one night at the Liberty Theatre."

Dancing with the Stars, Week 7

La Lucci, as my friend Louise Shaffer calls her, was eliminated tonight. It's about time. I think she lasted far longer than she should have.

Louise, the self-proclaimed soap opera diva, worked on "All My Children," but got her daytime Emmy Award for her role as Rae Woodard on "Ryan's Hope."

She told me the night she won the Emmy, she was standing in the lobby of the hotel where they had the ceremony by herself, clutching the statue. Lucci was surrounded by reporters because she had lost for the umpteenth time!

After her career as a soap opera diva ended, Louise began writing for the soaps, including "All My Children."

She laughs when she said the writers were to write Susan Lucci's character, Erica Kane, as if she were 30. In reality, she was already in her mid-50s.

Since Louise and Susan are about the same age, she found it not only laughable but pretty pathetic.

Oh well, it is daytime drama when you need to suspend all credible belief. So why can't an aging actress pretend she's 20 years younger.

I'm no aging actress, but I act like I'm 20 years younger all the time.

Next week, I don't know who will be eliminated. Cody's got all the "Hannah Montana" kids voting for him. I'm guessing Lance Bass still has his N'Sync fans voting. I really don't know who is voting for Brooke Burke. Maurice Green has fans of the Olympics voting. I am still voting for Warren Sapp.

Burke got a perfect 30 Monday night. It's the first 30 of the season. It was a very good dance. Even I have to admit that.

But her music was a better fit for the foxtrot that some of the other stars'.

Wild guess? Lance Bass will leave next week.

Hot, hot dancer

My favorite ballroom dancer is Maksim Chmerkovskiy. No surprise there, right ladies?

He's absolutely gorgeous.

I didn't realize it, but he has never taken part in the "Dancing With the Stars" tour. According to TV Guide, he's never even see the tour.

But he'll be taking over as the tour choreographer from Louis van Amstel.

“What’s made me different as a choreographer will make this tour different,” he told TV Guide Magazine, promising to make the dances as interesting as possible.

The tour starts in December. He won't be able to choose which dancers will make in tour. Maks had to drop out of this season's "DWTS" because his partner, Misty May-Treanor blew out her Achilles heel tendon.

Chmerkovskiy says he wants a cast who “are capable of starting and finishing strong. And can learn the dances fast.”

The tour typically comes to Atlanta. This may be on that I might have to buy a ticket to see!

Update: I just saw that the tour will be 7:30 p.m. Jan. 25 in the Arena at Gwinnett Center in Duluth, 6400 Sugarloaf Parkway.

Scheduled to be on the tour are Lance Bass, Toni Braxton, Maurice Greene, Marlee Matlin, Mark Ballas, Derek Hough, Kym Johnson, Lacey Schwimmer, Karina Smirnoff and Fabian Sanchez. Cloris Leachman will be busy. She's filming a movie with Quentin Tarantino. You know, the one starring Brad Pitt.

Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Monday. They are $52.50-$168. Yikes! Maybe I won't be going after all.

Call 404-249-6400.

Election Day

I voted early. Last Monday at the Government Center. I waited about 90 minutes.

I voted early because I knew I'd have to work today. I thought I'd have to wait a long, long time today. I was wrong. When I visited my precinct, Rothschild Middle School, I found out that even when there were 250 people in line, it only took 90 minutes.

It turned out that Nancy Boren's office had trained the poll workers very, very well. For the first time, I saw queues like the ones you see in amusement park lines.

Another new thing was the "greeter" at each precinct. This person asked every person who was in line if they were a new voter to make sure that he was in the right precinct. What a great idea. I mean wouldn't it suck if you stood in line for 90 minutes only to find out that you were in the wrong place?

Everything went smoothly at the two precincts I went to — Rothschild and St. John AME Church.

And I got to meet some really neat people like Sandy Dowdell at Rothschild and Debora Grant at St. John.

Sandy is a top salesman at HH Gregg and has been working the polls for 19 years. He made his way from a volunteer to assistant poll manager to poll manager. It was his first year at Rothschild, so he wanted to make sure things were running well. When he got to the school at 5:30 a.m., there were already 50 people waiting in line. Some brought lawn chairs and blankets. By the time he opened the doors at 7 a.m., there were about 250 people in line.

When I got there about 2:30 p.m., people could just walk in and vote and leave. But Sandy was expecting another surge around 4:30 p.m. as people got off work. He told me to come back around 8:15 p.m. to get the results.

He was just about right on time about that.

Over at St. John's, Grant, who is the pastor of the church, had set up a table just outside the door of the fellowship hall where the voting took place. She was offering coffee, tea, cider, juice, water and snacks for both voters and poll workers. If people could pay for it, fine. If not, that was fine, too.

To the side, were some folks selling hot dogs and fish sandwiches.

It was almost like a festival.

She also had prayer night Tuesday, where there wasn't a service. She was just offering her sanctuary for people to pray for "our country, our leaders, our community, and most of all, to pray for peace."

What a wonderful idea!

At the newspaper, our editors had a plan and we were all split up across the city. Besides the reporters, we had folks from advertising and circulation departments helping us. And we had students from Columbus High, Harris County High and Brookstone School going to precincts to get results.

All we had to do is go to our assigned precinct, get the results and call them in.

I was finished by 9 p.m.

Now I'm home and watching the returns on ABC and flipping back to Andrew Zimmern and "Bizarre Food" on the Travel Channel.

I was talking to my sister Dorothy tonight. I told her that South Carolina has gone for McCain. She said she wasn't surprised.

Every week, she goes to the Saturday outdoor market. She said she was talking to a woman and told her that she had voted early. The woman asked if she voted the right way. Dorothy told her she voted the left way! And the woman said, "Good for you."

When I was voting last week, I met my sister-in-law, Cheryl. She said she and Fred split the vote every year. She votes Democrat and he votes Republican. "We cancel each other out every year," she said. But I told her that every vote counts. She ought to know. She lived in Florida during that disastrous 2000 presidential election.

Anyway, I've done my part. We'll see what happens as the night goes on.

381 Days

This was Rosa Parks' police mug shot. It's part of the exhibit.

If you haven't been to the Columbus Public Library lately, you need to go. Not to check out any books, but to see "381 Days," the incredible exhibit from the Smithsonian Institution. The exhibit was the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Montgomery bus boycott that began when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus.

I went Friday night to a special viewing of the exhibit before it opened to the public on Sunday.

It's a powerful exhibit. And it's one that takes more than a few minutes to absorb. I went through it, but I need to go back and really read each panel and look at the photographs.

I urge everyone to see the exhibit, though you've got a little time. It closes in mid-January. I walked through the exhibit with local and state politicians, educators, lawyers, bankers, doctors, arts patrons — both black and white — and the gallery was silent as people took in the panels. Even the most talkative of us were reverently quiet.

It's truly a special exhibit.