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Between Deadlines
the informal journal
Created on 2001-07-12 19:18:47 (#244295), last updated 2009-06-26
1,709 comments received, 2,740 comments posted
Paid Account [Gift]
1,272 Journal Entries, 72 Tags, 17 Memories, 10+ ScrapBook Files, 0 Virtual Gifts, 42 Userpics
Basic Info| Name: | Thomas Fletcher |
|---|---|
| Birthdate: | 1977-12-18 |
| Location: | United States |
| Website: | "Deadline Pressure" |
Contact:
fletch31526@livejournal.com BioI'm just your garden-variety journalist-turned-firefighter. I'm 31, more than seven years removed from college and a career firefighter for almost as long. How many neighborhood heroes do you know with a mass communications degree? Okay. So that's a trick question. I'm no hero. I've never earned a life saving award. I'm yet to pluck anyone from a smoky abyss. But, by golly, if someone ever needs me to... I'm there for them.
Before the firefighting gig (which actually began in 2000 as a paid-per-call firefighter), I was a newspaperman. In 1994, I was blessed with a part-time type-setting position at my hometown weekly. Through the misfortune of others, God's blessings and good timing, I advanced through the ranks of two newspapers over the eight years the followed. Type-setter, sports writer, sports editor, photographer, columnist, graphic designer, editor... There was little that I didn't get the chance to do. I even sold an advertisement once.
I began writing online on Friday, June 2, 2000. It's hard to believe that if I'd had a kid then, he'd already be in elementary school. It all started after a particularly hectic semester in the Spring of 2000, I was a bit frayed around the edges. I needed to find an outlet to put things in perspective and to get things off my chest without boring my friends. After reading Melissa's writing, I took the Internet journal route. A lot of good things happened. I put things in perspective. I got things off my chest. My friends were spared. I bored people around the world.
I kid myself by thinking that I still publish that same journal online. (Click to read. Come on. You know know you wanna.) To be honest though, it's really just a reflection of the past. The rate of entries has long since dropped off from once-a-day to once-a-month to once in a blue moon. As a matter oflaziness convienience, I now write almost exclusively on LiveJournal, although a rare entry at Deadline Pressure is still possible. Since January 2007, the LJ has been almost exclusively friends-only with the exception of my Wednesday night entries... So, I encourage you to visit both places and give the old stuff a read while before you decide to join the crazy.
I'm not sure what the future holds for my writing. I didn't do a lot of it in 2006, which is surprising since it was one of the most exciting years of my life. In January, I became an engaged man. That was big news for most everyone -- even myself. As close as a few weeks before engagement day, I wasn't sure I wanted to be married. The decision was actually made as I wrote a series of LiveJournal entries to sort out my romantic thoughts. During the summer, the future Mrs. Fletch & I bought a house. In November, she dropped the "future" and became Mrs. Fletch. In December, she moved in. If that string of events doesn't get a guy writing, what will? I don't know, but you'll probably want to be there when it happens...
The Original Wednesday Night Lyric: "I wish I had a ticket for an airplane -- somewhere unknown. A place I'd not seen before. To a country with a language I can't even name. Where there's no phones. And no one to call anymore. I close my eyes and I think about the way it was back then. We were invincible. It was our time & our day. We were invincible. And no one can take it away." [Cowboy Mouth, "Invincible"]
Before the firefighting gig (which actually began in 2000 as a paid-per-call firefighter), I was a newspaperman. In 1994, I was blessed with a part-time type-setting position at my hometown weekly. Through the misfortune of others, God's blessings and good timing, I advanced through the ranks of two newspapers over the eight years the followed. Type-setter, sports writer, sports editor, photographer, columnist, graphic designer, editor... There was little that I didn't get the chance to do. I even sold an advertisement once.
I began writing online on Friday, June 2, 2000. It's hard to believe that if I'd had a kid then, he'd already be in elementary school. It all started after a particularly hectic semester in the Spring of 2000, I was a bit frayed around the edges. I needed to find an outlet to put things in perspective and to get things off my chest without boring my friends. After reading Melissa's writing, I took the Internet journal route. A lot of good things happened. I put things in perspective. I got things off my chest. My friends were spared. I bored people around the world.
I kid myself by thinking that I still publish that same journal online. (Click to read. Come on. You know know you wanna.) To be honest though, it's really just a reflection of the past. The rate of entries has long since dropped off from once-a-day to once-a-month to once in a blue moon. As a matter of
I'm not sure what the future holds for my writing. I didn't do a lot of it in 2006, which is surprising since it was one of the most exciting years of my life. In January, I became an engaged man. That was big news for most everyone -- even myself. As close as a few weeks before engagement day, I wasn't sure I wanted to be married. The decision was actually made as I wrote a series of LiveJournal entries to sort out my romantic thoughts. During the summer, the future Mrs. Fletch & I bought a house. In November, she dropped the "future" and became Mrs. Fletch. In December, she moved in. If that string of events doesn't get a guy writing, what will? I don't know, but you'll probably want to be there when it happens...
The Original Wednesday Night Lyric: "I wish I had a ticket for an airplane -- somewhere unknown. A place I'd not seen before. To a country with a language I can't even name. Where there's no phones. And no one to call anymore. I close my eyes and I think about the way it was back then. We were invincible. It was our time & our day. We were invincible. And no one can take it away." [Cowboy Mouth, "Invincible"]
ConnectInterests (87):
3wa, are you with me, arkansas razorbacks, astruc, black tie mousse cake, bourbon street, breakfast, callie o'malley, callie torres, celtic woman, championship vinyl, chasing amy, chicago cubs, chicago hope, chips, christmas, coca-cola, cowboy mouth, curse of the goat, dapper dan, david letterman, emergency!, emt, extrication, f'list, family plots, fire engineer, fire rescue, firefighting, fred leblanc, french quarter, hashai, high fidelity, hurricane katrina, hurricane party, ice cream sandwiches, insomniac, jdn, jenny says, john thomas griffith, johndoe.org, journalism, kentucky fried chicken, kevin smith, king of mardi gras, ladder 49, lafourche parish, live christmas trees, louisiana warhawks, mary lasang, mashed potatoes, matlock, max cherry, memphis, mercyland, michigan state spartans, my birthday, new orleans, newspapers, nremt, oatmeal rasin cookies, online journals, paul harvey, paul sanchez, photography, poway bernardo mortuary, pyrotechnics, radio-tv-film, reddi-wip, rescue me, resident life, rob savoy, sex in the city, shoney's breakfast bar, silent bob, sprite zero, squad 51, sun belt conference, the andy griffith show, the south, third watch, tj hooker, troy trojans, uh-oh, voodoo shoppe, worcestershire sauce, wrapping paper
External Services:
 | fletch31526@livejournal.com | |
 | deadlinepressure |  |
 | fletch31526 | |
 | What the hell is Jabber? | |
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aine6, alison22lynn, annarain, apers, ardennes, bedaub, boschka, casey98, claire98, clear_bead, crimsontyde375, discountsatori, djm1975, ebr877, fd_captain, femtastic, ghostjourney, gracegiver, gypsy_soul, halfocean, innerdiva, jaws_of_life, jeniferrobin, jmr1331, joannemerriam, kini, ladeejane, ladiankh79, lowflyingsquab, marnerider, monotony, myasma, nakedlove, no_lady, nobes, notacolour, pei, pinkroo, randombiznitch, sabbath999, saraastruc, sarcasticah, solitarychele, squintt, threetoedcharli, travellingmercy, trillian42, utatu, zyzyly
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