An open letter to Marc Cherry

Posted on January 3, 2011 by Patrick Garvin

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Dear Marc Cherry,

I can suspend disbelief on a lot of things that happen in “Desperate Housewives.” The annual disaster right before the season takes a break between Christmas and New Year’s, for example. But there’s one thing that eats at me more and more as time goes on.

Time.

This show has messed with time more than “Lost,” “Quantum Leap” and “Back To The Future” combined. Except those shows acknowledged they messed with time. I just would at one point to have a character acknowledge that Parker used to be a year or two older than the twins, not five years younger. But I digress.

Last night’s episode pegs MJ as being 9. MJ was born right before “Desperate Housewives” jumped ahead five years. Thus, if he was born at the end of season 4, which ended with the five-year jump, he was 5 years old at the beginning of season 5, right? And if it’s season 7 now, and he’s 9, then did the last two seasons take four years?

It couldn’t have been last year that took that much time, because Lynette was pregnant with Paige from the end of the fifth season to the end of the sixth. And Paige is still a baby, hence the Susan-as-nanny plotline.

Which leads me, Mr. Cherry, to believe that season 5 took three years. Thus, the only logical explanation for MJ not aging to look like a 9-year-old is that he must be like Gary Coleman.

Of course, if MJ is 9, we have yet another problem, Marc Cherry. At the beginning of this season, Bree confessed that “10 years ago,” Andrew ran over Mama Solis. That was before the five-year jump, which MJ’s age establishes as 9 years ago. But that was also one of the first things in “Desperate Housewives.” Thus, we’d be led to believe that all of the first four seasons happened in one year? Danielle’s pregnancy? The Chinese housekeeper’s pregnancy? The poor boy locked in the basement?

And what about Tom having an affair with Renee 20 years ago? Wouldn’t that be when he would have impregnated Nora, before he knew Lynette?

This is just redonkulous. More redonkulous that the supermarket shoot-out, the tornado, the nightclub fire, the Christmas plane crash and the felon riot combined.

I’m worried that this is setting us up for the eventual “Desperate Housewives” finale, when we learn it was all in Mary Alice’s head right before she shoots herself, and that the series was a sham. It was done by “Dallas,” though. But then again, so was the “Who shot the bastard that no one likes” plotline currently unfolding on Wisteria Lane.

But don’t worry, Marc Cherry. This does not mean I won’t watch. Clearly, I’m watching. So, if your gimmick is to mess with our heads and have us checking calendars, we’ll keep watching.
–PMG.

How did your newspaper say, “Happy New Year”?

Posted on January 1, 2011 by Patrick Garvin

Did your paper wish you a “Happy New Year” today? And if so, did your paper use fireworks, kazoos, streamers, vector art or photos?

A quick perusing of Newseum showed that all of the above was at work in the skyboxes this morning. A look at some of them:

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The Gadsden Times
Gadsden, Ala.

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The Huntsville Times
Huntsville, Ala.

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The Montgomery Advertiser
Montgomery, Ala.

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The Anchorage Daily News
Anchorage, Alaska

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The Sentinel-Record
Hot Springs, Ark.

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The Bakersfield Californian
Bakersfield, Calif.

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The Modesto Bee
Modesto, Calif.

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The Weekend Californian
Salinas, Calif.

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The Florida Times-Union
Jacksonville, Fla.

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The Pueblo Chieftain
Pueblo, Colo.

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The St. Petersburg Times
St. Petersburg, Fla.

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The Daytona Beach News-Journal
Daytona Beach, Fla.

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The Star-Advertiser
Honolulu, Hawaii

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West Hawaii Today
Kailua Kona, Hawaii

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The Detroit Free Press
Detroit, Mich.

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The Santa Fe New Mexican
Santa Fe, N.M.

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The Daily Reflector
Greenville, N.C.

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The Independent
Massillon, Ohio

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The Reading Eagle
Reading, Pa.

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The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Pittsburgh, Pa.

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The Virginian-Pilot
Norfolk, Va.

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The Salt Lake Tribune
Salt Lake City, Utah

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The Wisconsin State Journal
Madison, Wis.

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The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Milwaukee, Wis.

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Oshkosh, Northwestern
Oshkosh, Wis.

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The Wyoming Tribune-Eagle
Cheyenne, Wyo.

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These examples only represent some of the papers who incorporated “Happy New Year” into the paper’s nameplate. By no means is this an exhaustive list. Instead, it just represents the ones which caught my eye.

Christmas Drew

Posted on December 23, 2010 by Patrick Garvin

When my brother and I were in elementary school, there was a girl in his class named Eve. She had a brother named Drew a few years older than me. Well, being elementary school kids, my brother and I thought that if her family celebrated Christmas Eve on December 24th, they must celebrate Christmas Drew on December 23rd. To a 10-year-old and a six-year-old, this made perfect sense, and was totally hilarious.

In the years since, the Garvin family has continued to celebrate December 23rd as Christmas Drew. By “celebrate,” I mean we say, “Happy Christmas Drew!”

In recent years, Drew has worked at a restaurant near my parents’ house. My mom recognized him and excitedly informed him of the tradition we based on him and his sister.

He apparently didn’t find it as funny as we did.

Happy Christmas Drew.

Today’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” fronts

Posted on December 19, 2010 by Patrick Garvin

I looked through Newseum today to see how papers covered yesterday’s repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell.” This is not an exhaustive showing, but a handful of examples.

San Francisco Chronicle photographer Paul Chinn’s photos from the San Francisco Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Center were featured on at least two fronts today.

First, he was on, as you’d expect, the Chronicle’s front page:

That woman second from left is Zoe Dunning, a retired Navy commander and a lesbian.

From Marisa Lagos’ story:

[Dunning] came out in 1993 and was one of the first people to be challenged under the policy implemented by then-President Bill Clinton.

Dunning won, but her defense strategy was later deemed unacceptable by military leaders, meaning she remained in the service but others were unable to use the same defense. Until her retirement three years ago, she was thought to be the only openly gay person serving in the U.S. military.

“I’m living proof that the presence of a gay person doesn’t damage unit cohesion or morale,” she said. “I’ve seen 14,000 people discharged since then – 14,000 lives that were changed or altered or sometimes destroyed. … After 17 years of work on this, I am witnessing the end of this destructive policy. These are tears of joy.”

For more of Lagos story, go here.

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Another photo of Dunning, also by Chinn, was featured on today’s West Hawaii Today.

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That above-the-nameplate treatment made me thinking of The Virginian-Pilot, so I checked their front. Here’s how they handled the story:

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Closer to home, The Boston Globe’s page featured a chart showing the number of homosexuals discharged from the military:

To read Mark Arsenault’s coverage, go here.

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And finally, today’s Fresno Bee was interesting. The “don’t ask, don’t tell” story was stripped on top, above a centerpiece about gay teens coming to terms with their sexuality. Those of us in newspapers know that centerpieces are planned days, if not weeks, in advance, so this timing was coincidental, though fitting.

To read Tracy Correa’s story, go here.

Citizen journalism we can all get behind

Posted on December 1, 2010 by Patrick Garvin

I share with you today a man’s reflections on the lessons he learned from cancer. This was published on a site wholly dedicated to “citizen journalism.” In other words, user-submitted content.

This was published Tuesday, Nov. 30, two days after he died.

My favorite part:

4. Cancer has taught me to be a more patient and loving father.

…I am more patient with [his daughter]. I treasure all of the little things she does because I know I won’t be there for all of the big milestones. I may never see her drive a car, but watching her driving her Power Wheels Jeep up and down our driveway, turning to look over her shoulder before she backs up, is a cherished memory I will always have.I may never see her get married, but hearing her talk about “boyfriends” at the age of four already raises those protective feelings in me. I may never see her graduate from school, but seeing her starting to read and write, knowing things even I have trouble with, I know she is going to be just fine.

But it’s not the cry factor that leads me to share this with you. It’s that it highlights the possibilities of citizen journalism sites. Some time back, the Columbia Missourian and the Missouri School of Journalism started MyMissourian.com, which came with the tagline, “Grassroots Journalism for Mid-Missourians.”

From the website:

All content on MyMissourian comes from stories submitted by you! Go to “Share a story or photo” to start your own conversation.

With some rules:

1. No profanity
2. No nudity
3. No personal attacks
4. No attacks on race, religion, national origin, gender and sexual orientation.

I heard some grumbling about citizen journalism attempts, and must admit that besides the occasional Facebook post, I didn’t check out many of these postings. I’m sure the YouTube videos I chose to watch instead were not worth it, but at least I’m honest.

But this piece was pretty moving. I’ll admit, I wouldn’t have checked it out had it not come recommended via Facebook and Twitter by Jacqui Banaszynski, who is a Knight Chair Professor at the Missouri School of Journalism, Poynter Fellow, Pulitzer winner and teller of some of the best stories I heard in J-school. In other words, it took someone with serious street cred to make me even look at this piece. After reading this piece, I should be willing to read it even if it’s posted in a men’s room stall.

Sure, there are probably some real bombs that get e-mailed to the site, and whomever has to wade through those deserves a beer. But if there more straightforward, honest and humbling pieces like this, then I’ll continue to read MyMissourian.com. From New England.

Five-year-old’s monster drawings sold on Etsy help pay for chemo

Posted on November 29, 2010 by Patrick Garvin

A friend and former colleague tweeted this late on Sunday night: “5 yr-old w/ leukemia is selling his drawings of monsters to pay for chemo.”

So, I went to the Etsy account, and the pictures were a scream:

"Sponge Bob and Friends," by Aidan

"Wolf Man No. 1," by Aidan

"Gill-man," by Aidan

"Vampire," by Aidan

"Nosferatu," by Aidan

Aren’t those amazing? The kid is five, and you can tell he’s got a great sense of humor already. Especially when you consider the boy is fighting acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

He was diagnosed on Sept. 11. His mother was pregnant with her second child, and had been a stay-at-home mom. His father, Wylie Reed, had insurance, but the costs were going to be steep. He’d need to take time off to be with Aidan, and the chemo treatments would come with a $250 co-pay each time. The Reed family was already living on a tight budget, so the only thing they could cut next would be the house payment.

So, Wylie’s sister, Mandi Ostein, set up an Etsy account to sell her nephew’s drawings. She said she wanted to sell just 60 at $12 each. It wouldn’t be much, but it would help a little bit.

Since Sept. 17, she’s sold more than 5,000. They’ve sold so many, they’re working just to keep up with the back orders:

Due to overwhelming response, Aidan will be unable to fill special requests or sign pictures. Drawing is something Aidan does for fun and while we apologize for the inconvenience, the last thing we want to do is turn it into a “job.” Thank you again for your support.

To me, there are three heroes in this story:

Aidan, whose goofy nature and fighting spirit have continued despite the treatments
Aunt Mandi, whose desire to help saved her brother from having to sell the house and take on a second job
Strangers, who acted after being touched and wanted to help, whether it be by purchasing a picture or writing a letter of encouragement

Indeed, the strangers who bought the prints are key to this story being so heart-warming. Sure, we can relate to having to face tough things, but not everyone can relate to facing chemo, and probably not when we’re five. We can relate to the aunt, who wants to do something to help. But the fact that enough people bought prints — more than 400 times what Mandi wanted to sell — will mean a lot to the average reader. We see that enough people were like what we’d want to be ourselves: moved to action despite having no personal connection to the situation. So often, we think of strangers as people to fear for any number of reasons: they could be identity thieves, terrorists, sex offenders, hipsters, etc. I think we like these stories because we like getting assurance that our assumptions about strangers aren’t always true.

Of course, it doesn’t hurt that this kid is a total badass. To get a sense of Aidan’s personality, check out the video of ABC News’ John Berman’s visit to Aidan. My favorite part is around the 1:13 mark, where Berman is looking at a picture Aidan drew:

John Berman: What’s this?
Aidan: The doctor giving me a shot, and I’m really, really tough.
Berman: You’re really, really tough in this picture?
Aidan: Yeah.

Aidan: (voiceover) It’s not really fun to get shots.

After that exchange, how can you not love this kid?

Aidan’s story has been covered by The Wichita Eagle, MSNBC and The Oregonian, just to name a few news organizations. To see the family’s blog, click here. To see the “Aid for Aidan” Facebook page, click here.

The effects of bullying, and how school could be

Posted on November 28, 2010 by Patrick Garvin

The Boston Globe today ran its fourth story in its series of occasional articles on bullying and its impact on children, adults, and institutions. In this piece, several adults recounted the torment they experienced as adolescents. For many of those adolescents, the memories are vivid even now, decades later.

…while many of those bullied as children move past it and thrive in adulthood, a surprising number say they have been unable to leave the humiliating memories behind. Their accounts are supported by a growing body of research suggesting that the bullying experience stays with many victims into young adulthood, middle age, and even retirement, shaping their decisions and hindering them in nearly every aspect of life: education and career choices; social interactions and emotional well-being; even attitudes about having children.

For example, one of the adults — Anthony Testaverde — feels his path in life could have been greatly different if not for the effects of his bullying:

Testaverde was an honor roll student who dreamed of a career in technology or engineering. But he also suffered from a spinal deformity, and said he was ostracized as a “freak’’ and “hunchback’’ throughout his high school years. He never went to college, largely because he feared being bullied again. A self-taught electrical technician, he said he might have done better for himself if it weren’t for the bullying. Deeply self-critical and preoccupied with what others think of him, he said he cannot be at ease in large groups and has found it hard to stay at one job, because even minor workplace conflicts trigger fears and the urge to flee.

“A part of my life has been robbed,’’ he said. “It’s like the show ‘Lost,’ where there are two storylines — one on the island, and one if the plane never crashed. Sometimes I think about what would have happened, if I hadn’t been as depressed, if I could have taken more risks.’’

In my experiences, many adults are remorseful for how they acted in high school, even if they weren’t bullies. I’ve seen people reach out to old classmates to apologize for perceived slights, even if the bullied student doesn’t remember the incidents. But for people like Testaverde, the damage was more severe than being made fun of for liking Marilyn Manson, Charles Bukowski and fine art. For him, the damage had life-changing effects.

By the time many of these bullies become wiser with age and maturity, the damage is done. They realize a fraction of the pain they caused, and now can’t do anything but apologize.

Another piece in Sunday’s Globe explores the effects of bullying on the teenage brain:

A new wave of research into bullying’s effects, however, is now suggesting something more than that — that in fact, bullying can leave an indelible imprint on a teen’s brain at a time when it is still growing and developing. Being ostracized by one’s peers, it seems, can throw adolescent hormones even further out of whack, lead to reduced connectivity in the brain, and even sabotage the growth of new neurons.

These neurological scars, it turns out, closely resemble those borne by children who are physically and sexually abused in early childhood. Neuroscientists now know that the human brain continues to grow and change long after the first few years of life. By revealing the internal physiological damage that bullying can do, researchers are recasting it not as merely an unfortunate rite of passage but as a serious form of childhood trauma.

I think that bears repeating: the brains of kids who are bullied in school can resemble the brains of kids who are physically and sexually abused. Chilling, eh?

Both are sobering reads, but eye-opening.

Another Sunday read shows how high school could be. In today’s Florida Times-Union, Mark Woods tells the story of Cara Stieglitz, a high school student with Down syndrome who was voted homecoming queen in a landslide. When Cara was a freshman at Fletcher High School, her parents Dave and Melanie Stieglitz prayed that God “send a friend to Cara. One friend. Someone to sit with her at lunch.”

“As a parent, that pulls at your heart,” Melanie Stieglitz said of picturing her daughter sitting alone.

So every Tuesday, she went to school and ate lunch with Cara. And on Sundays, they prayed that someone else would join her.

Of course, the story ends happily. Not just for the Stieglitz family, but for the school. Cara could have been the prime target for bullies, but she ended up being their homecoming queen. How she, her family and her classmates persevered for this to happen is a great bookend to the Globe pieces mentioned above. The story reminds us that the stories of the outcast students don’t have to end with misery and tragedy.

These stories can end with a different kind of tears: the tears of joy that a parent can experience watching his daughter with Down syndrome become homecoming queen. The tears that teachers at her school can have, knowing their students rose above the nature of bullying and became heroes. The tears of strangers reading her story, miles away in Cambridge. Because however out of place one might feel, there’s Cara, who became an emblematic example that bullying doesn’t have to be the norm in our high schools.

In Case You Missed It: En route to Boston

Posted on November 13, 2010 by Patrick Garvin

I would have updated sooner, but I spent the last few weeks focused on jumping from task to task to task that needed to be completed before leaving Jacksonville.

That’s right. You may have read it here, or on Facebook, or Twitter, or on some graffiti-covered wall, but it’s true: I’m moving to Boston to work for The Boston Globe.

Anyone who’s talked to me in the last 7 years has heard me rave about graphic storytelling, and pontificate about some of the great graphics people in the industry. Many of those people have worked at The Globe, and in the last four years, others I’ve raved about have moved to The Globe.

And anyone who’s talked to me in the last few years has within 0.003 seconds heard me mention my friends in Boston. That stable of friends has grown, and with that, my interest in the city. Each time I’ve visited, I’ve found more things to love about it.

So, I’m looking forward to all sorts of opportunities. I’ll be freelancing on my days off. (And if you need freelancing or know of anyone who will, let me know!)

That being said, it is not easy leaving Jacksonville. I was 24 when I got here, and I’m 29 now. In the four and a half years since I’ve been here, I’ve gone through many things through which the T-U family has been there for me. In addition to the “what does it all mean” phase of the mid-to-late 20s, I’ve lost loved ones, experienced family health scares and other big life experiences that tend to scare the shit out of you the first time you experience them. Having my friends at The Times-Union to support me meant the world to me, and to my family, who knew that as long as I was with there, I was OK.

Many journalists tend to throw themselves many miles (and states) away from “home” in order to work their way up the ladder, whether it be to get back “home” or to their dream papers. In pursuit of those goals, they sacrifice family time at holidays and the type of lives that our non-journalist friends might have taken for granted. In exchange, though, we develop these close “in the trenches” bonds that remind me of old war movies where people give their lives for each other.

But, as my mother has said, “We’ll be family no matter where we brush our teeth.” And so, I don’t worry that I will see these people many times again, in Jacksonville, Boston and beyond. And, I’ve been fortunate to experience the warmth and kindness of my new co-workers. (It helps that one of my best friends will sit spitting distance from my new desk).

So, from a hotel room in Fayetteville, N.C., en route to Boston, I’m signing off. Don’t worry, though; it won’t be this long until you hear from me again.

In Case You Missed It: Updated portfolio pieces

Posted on October 24, 2010 by Patrick Garvin

Just a heads up, friends, that I’ve updated some of the portfolio pages on this website:

Illustrations: I’ve added a few new illustrations and Jack covers, but you’ll have to scroll down past the Elton John and Jimmy Buffett pieces. Those are two of my favorites, so I’m keeping them at the top.
Interactives: There are a bunch of new ones on there:
Blond Ambition: Look at these blurry pictures and use the clues to identify country blondes.
Pipeline of Pain: A map of pill mills between Broward County and Kentucky, focusing on the role Jacksonville played in that pipeline.
Action Movie One-Liner Quiz: In time for “The Expendables,” an action movie starring the “who’s who” of ’80s action flicks, I compiled some of the best action movie one-liners.
Was it the 1980s, 2010s or both?: So many 1980s staples of pop culture have re-emerged, so I scoured entertainment news for items of new wave bands or 1980s franchises offering new releases to create this quiz.
Miscellaneous: I’ve added some new ones to the top and rearranged the order of the existing ones. Take a look to see what got shifted around.

Enjoy!

Patrick Garvin: Blog

Category Archives: In Case You Missed It

An open letter to Marc Cherry

How did your newspaper say, “Happy New Year”?

Christmas Drew

Today’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” fronts

Five-year-old’s monster drawings sold on Etsy help pay for chemo

The effects of bullying, and how school could be

In Case You Missed It: En route to Boston

In Case You Missed It: Updated portfolio pieces