It has been roughly two and a half years since I last posted on this blog. Needless to say, everything has changed.

I reached a point where it became hard to write. I would sit and stare at my laptop for hours to find myself finish only one paragraph. I wanted to write — I had so much to share! But for whatever reason, I wasn’t able to translate my thoughts into words. I’m going to give this another shot though.

I’ve missed blogging. Sometimes I feel the need to write. I’m not always great at saying what I want, but I tend to be a little better at writing it. The contents of this blog will remain completely random, like my thoughts. I hope I can free your mind, spark your interest, and open you up for debate on certain topics. I also want to share entertainment and laughter through my writing.

I also wanted to give a quick update on life for those that I have not been in contact with much. 2014 was an incredible year. Me and my fiance, Natosha, were able to quit the jobs that we hated so much and move to Baton rouge for new jobs. We are enjoying the Cajun food and beautiful Baton Rouge scenery, tolerating LSU football, and preparing for our first Mardi Gras.

In September, we got engaged in Birmingham. We are both happily engaged and still working on wedding plans. We promise to keep everyone informed on all wedding updates.

I don’t know where 2015 will take us, but I hope you will join me on the journey through this blog. I’m looking forward to sharing more posts with you this year. I hope you will join me!

Hi, my name is Michael, and I’m addicted to twitter.

It’s a very safe and harmless addiction though. If I want to find the latest news quickly then I use twitter to do so. If I want updates on sports or even sports related news, I also turn to twitter. Politics, technology, movies, videos…it’s all on twitter!

Sometimes I find myself tweeting too much in a day (I’m sure those of you who follow me feel the same way too), but that’s not what made me decide to log out of my account for 12 days. I follow almost 600 people, and I spend way too much time reading all of the tweets. The “lists” function helps me navigate to what I’m looking for, but my eyes tend to get stuck to the screen and read much more than I had previously planned.

I just wanted to see how a life would be without twitter..

It was actually tough to stay off of twitter, because it was no longer as easy to find the things that I normally had right at my fingertips. During my time away from twitter I missed tweets about the battle between Viacom and DirecTV, the Colorado shooter at the Batman movie, and even tweets about Friday the 13th. Not staying up-to-date on my sports was the hardest part for me, and I couldn’t share my opinion about topics either (which I know you have all missed so badly). I missed the debate about the Dream Team vs. the current USA basketball team (I’m picking the Dream Team, of course), SEC Media Days, the great ending to the Open Championship this past weekend, and the removal of Joe Paterno’s statue.

I couldn’t even let you all know that I finally saw Sir Charles Barkley in person while I was at work last week, even though I’m probably the last person from Alabama to not see him before now.

Twitter has made it easy to quickly access anything that you want to find. I follow people that appeal to my interests, and by reading their tweets I can get instant access to almost anything. There is something on twitter for everybody, and that’s why it is so appealing to everyone of all ages.

I remember reading an article on The Atlantic’s website that said “Twitter is something we enjoy, not something we need.”

The last 12 days proved that I don’t need twitter, but it really does make life a little easier. It would also save me a little time If I would just use it to serve a purpose, but for now I’ll just enjoy being obsessive.

To keep it at 140 characters or less, It feels so good to be back.

I don’t care how poor a man is; if he has family, he’s rich.

I had this past summer all planned out — I was going to work my internship at the St. Clair Times and in my free time I would hang out with all of my friends that I haven’t seen or talked to over the past few years. If there is one thing I’ve learned in life it is that plans never work out.

I spent most of my summer working at The St. Clair Times. Some days I would come in early to get started on a story or to meet with someone…other days I would work late because I would have to attend city council meetings. I learned a lot that summer, and I put myself one step closer to a career in journalism. I didn’t make any money though, and my internship drained my bank account.

Since I wasn’t bringing in any money, I was unable to hang out with my friends as I had planned. I basically went to work and came home for the night. I still haven’t really been able to catch up with old friends, but I still plan on it! I found myself spending a lot of time with family though this summer.

I was able to see most every member of my family one way or the other. I went to two family reunions, family from out of state visited, and I was able to get closer to my immediate family. I know that it may not sound like the most interesting summer, but it turned out to be one of my favorite summers.

I see myself as a family person. I value the family that God chose for me, and I want to take every opportunity given to me to learn from them.

This past month I lost one of my uncles after an 11-year battle with cancer. My Uncle David was an amazing man who always made sure that he took the time to sit down with you to talk and find out what was going on in your life. He was an unselfish man, and express generosity towards everyone that he came into contact with.

My Uncle David and Aunt Becky, along with their two daughters (cousins) and their families, are all from Texas. It’s not very often that I get the chance to spend time with them. My aunt and uncle were able to make it down this summer for quite some time, and I was very thankful that I was able to spend time with them this past summer.

I can remember my uncle this last summer pulling me off to the side to get that one-on-one conversation that he was so good at. We talked about college, my future career, sports…we just talked about life. I always loved talking with him, because his conversations were always entertaining and humorous, but there was also so much knowledge to possess from him.

His funeral was held in Texas. I traveled with my dad, step-mom, sister, uncle, aunt, and cousin out to Texas for the services. It was good that we could all make it out there to be with my Aunt Becky and the rest of the family. I have been wanting to take a trip to visit them all, but I never wanted it to be this way.

The trip turned out to be good, because I feel like it brought all of the family closer together even through this tough time that everyone was going through. It was nice to reconnect with family members that I haven’t seen in years. It was a long ride there and back with my family in a crowded mini-van, but I don’t think that there could be anything that would make us get tired of each other — we always seem to be so happy around each other and get along like a family should.

Always take the opportunity to spend time with your family if the opportunity is presented to you — I guess that is the message that I’m trying to pass on. I thought I was going to be going out every night during the summer with old friends, but instead I was reunited with family members. I couldn’t have asked for anything more that summer.

Families are like fudge — mostly sweet with a few nuts. Just remember that your family is a gift to you from God. Sometimes we may find members of our family crazy, but you still love them because they are family! They have so much to teach us if we will just take the time to learn from them.

MDavidScott

After two months of working with The St. Clair Times, my internship has come to an end. It seemed like a very short two months, but I was able to accomplish a lot during that time.

In the last nine weeks, I had 36 articles published in 15 different papers. I also had around 10 photos with cut lines that did not include stories.The experienced I gained by working with them was far more than I could ever learn from journalism classes.

Since I was given the opportunity to work at a smaller paper that was only published weekly, I was able to work with all aspects of the newspaper. I wrote articles in the news, local, lifestyles, sports, religion, and school sections of the newspaper. I typed up police reports, edited news releases, updated the website and designed pages of the newspaper.

The Daily Home and The St. Clair Times taught me how to be a better journalist, and for that I am grateful. I am thankful that they took a chance on me this summer, and allowed me to work my internship at their agencies. I was a part of an incredible staff with years of experience — they never turned down an opportunity to show me something new. It was a humbling experience.

The people I met while reporting and writing articles were so generous and eager to help me in any way possible. I never met anyone that wasn’t nice to me from the county commissioners to the residents of Shoal Creek valley. The one thing I hoped to never cover was local politics. Then I found myself going to city council and county commission meetings covering local politics. Every councilman and commissioner was extremely nice and made my job a lot easier, and even enjoyable at times.

At times it felt like I was a little overwhelmed with work, but I knew the hard work had paid off when I was offered a job with The Daily Home. Unfortunately, they thought I was graduating in the summer, and I would have to accept the job in August. It was a good feeling knowing that I had what it takes to get the job though. After working with them, I now know that I am one step closer to starting a career, and for that I am thankful.

MDavidScott

Cursive writing is slowly being erased out of schools in America as schools set their focus towards keyboarding.

Cursive writing has become an ancient form of writing, while keyboarding, texting, and emailing are shaping the future for children.

The initiative to remove classes that teach cursive writing is headed by the Common Core standards, which is used in 45 states including the U.S. Virgin Island and the District of Columbia. Cursive is not apart of the standards, but keyboarding is.

Keyboarding has become the newest and most popular form of writing. Kids are using computers more than they are writing now.

Cursive is a form of writing that allows you to write more quickly and save time. Personally, I never enjoyed cursive and I do not use it today. I’m a journalist, and I find it quicker for me to write in print than cursive. They are both hard to read after I’m done writing, but I can understand the print much easier. Shouldn’t legible writing be more important than the speed of writing?

I think it is important for kids to learn keyboarding—much more important than cursive. Typing on a computer has become a necessity in life. You have to use it to type papers all throughout school, and you can find it being used in most careers.

Many people think that cursive should still be taught in our schools because it plays a major role in the way kids learn. “How will they know how to sign their name” has become the major question brought up during this. “How will they read old documents and writings?” But the real question should be “why cant both still be taught?”

Keyboarding has become part of the future, and cursive is just an ancient art now.

MDavidScott

The Rickwood Classic once again proved to be a win for the city of Birmingham. A crowd of 6,871 showed up to watch the Birmingham Barons play in temperatures just shy of 100 degrees on Wednesday, June 1. Center fielder Justin Greene hit a walk-off home run in the 11th inning to give the Barons a 4-3 win over the Chattanooga Lookouts.

The game turned out to be a win for the Barons, but it was also a win for the city of Birmingham. The Rickwood Classic is a chance for family and friends to gather to see a piece of the city’s history.

Rickwood Field is America’s Oldest Baseball Park and the first game was played at the park 100 years ago. It was once the home to The Birmingham Barons and the Birmingham Black Barons. Rickwood field even hosted football games for Samford, Alabama and Auburn before Legion Field was built.

Each Classic is setup to look like it was played back in the early years at Rickwood Field. Players wear jerseys that are replicas of a past team, and the umpires also dress the part. The billboards along the outfield wall feature companies ads that look like they are from 1930. You will also find old signs around the park like “No betting in this park”  that give that extra feel of living in the past. Between innings, even old songs like Chubby Checker’s The Twist can be heard playing over the intercom.

You can also see pieces of Birmingham from sitting in the stands at Rickwood. If you sit down the first base line, you can look over third base and see Legion Field peaking over the trees. Also, you can look out over the left field wall and see the Bimingham skyline. Airplanes flying into Birmingham-Shuttlesworth Airport fly over the stadium before reaching the airport, and a train runs behind the right field wall, which usually can be seen at least once during a Rickwood Classic.

The Rickwood Classic is a piece of history in Birmingham that we should appreciate. It’s also something that should help shape the future of Birmingham. As long as the Barons continue to play the Rickwood Classic, it will be another small piece of tourism that will attract visitors to our great city. I hope to one day see Birmingham make changes to bring more people to this city, but for now we need to preserve the history in Birmingham, and let it help shape the future.

MDavidScott

The last couple of days have been emotional in the state of Alabama for many residents as they salvage what they can from their demolished homes. Thousands of people have lost their homes and hundreds have died from the tornadoes that swept through the state on April 27th. Neighborhoods were wiped out, businesses were destroyed, and trees and power poles were toppled. It was a devastating day that we will never forget.

There have been over 200 fatalities in Alabama, according to state and local officials. As we have all seen, some of the most damaged areas have been Tuscaloosa, Cullman, Pratt City, and Pleasant Grove. The state Emergency Management Agency reported Thursday night there were 37 deaths in Tuscaloosa County, 18 deaths in Jefferson County, and 2 deaths in Cullman County. The areas around Tuscaloosa and Birmingham will receive plenty of help and funding over the next weeks, as they should. These areas have been heavily reported in the media, but please don’t forget about the many other smaller towns and counties that have been affected as well. Many towns such as Rainesville and Hackleburg were hit just as hard by the tornado, but they will not receive the funding as quick as other towns will.

The EMA reported fatalities in19 different counties throughout the state. The death toll in Dekalb County reached 32, while 27 deaths were confirmed in Franklin County. Walker and Lawrence Counties each had 14 deaths, and St. Clair County reported 13 fatalities. So many people from all over the state were affected by the tornadoes that hit our state. Most of the aide and help I have seen from people are going to Tuscaloosa. Tuscaloosa needs all of the help that they can get right now, but please remember all of the other towns affected as well.

I encourage you all to lend a helping hand to fellow Alabamians that are struggling. If you are not able to help, you can also make a donation to your local Red Cross by visiting www.redcross.org or text REDCROSS to 90999 to donate $10 to the American Red Cross. Also, you can click here to see a list of places to make donations.  It is amazing to see how the people of Alabama join together and help each other in times of need;  it truly makes you proud to live in Alabama. Please keep the victims and their families in your thoughts and prayers as we enter a rebuilding stage. We are Alabama, and we will recover.

MDavidScott