Feb 9, 2023·edited Feb 9, 2023Liked by Paul Daugherty
Best choice for cards, M. Hopple & Company, 7920 Hosbrook in Kenwood. I go once a year and pick out a group of favorites and keep them in a drawer for the year for various occasions, usually BD. Very funny, cleverly written. Or you can go serious or sentimental. My favs are humorous. Every year I buy less...my group of friends are shrinking. Not sure if it's me...or just because some of them are dying. I'd say if you have to buy a valentine card, consider yourself lucky. Don't pout. Anything is better than the alternative.
Good music pick Doc. I'm not too familiar with George Thorogood, but really enjoyed this song. It is nice to hear a rocker whose words you can understand.
You really nailed my feelings toward buying cards. Valentine's Day and Sympathy cards are the most difficult. Luckily, we have a mutual agreement about no cards for Valentine's Day or my birthday on the following day (I've always been a lover a day late!). My sisters are both great at finding cards. Most involve dogs, humor, or both. There are also a lot more entertaining birthday cards for people like us who keep getting older.
It's really a shame about Kevin Necessary. I look forward to his cartoons more than any Enquire editorial. Perhaps he could get a job in the cards industry where his humor will generate more revenue.
That guy on the couch likes cards. He spends time picking them out. I like him so I do likewise. Many of them are simply worthless. We don't do husband/wife cards because we aren't that.
I usually go somewhere with Hallmark Cards. That isn't Kroger here. Wallgreens usually has something I like enough to buy.
Watched almost all of UK/Arkansas last night. My former niece is a happy camper. Lives in Fayetteville. Was a cheerleader there once upon a time. I keep thinking about how people used to make jello molds and sometimes they just didn't jell. Basketball teams are like that sometimes. If UK was going to jell it would have happened by now.
You’re a good writer, Doc. Why are you bent over peering into infinity for the right card? Get a blank with something on the front that Kelly loves; flowers, mountains, seascapes. Then write something inside that means something to her and to you! Valentines Day has become a commercial cluster but I always remember that it was intended to be a day to remember your love. Nothing better than that.
It's not the thought that counts when I give someone a card - it's the effort. Because the time spent finding one that I can give (or expect to be received) with a straight face is a genuine sacrifice. If not for the funny ones, I honestly don't know what I'd do. So thanks for the reminder that Valentine's day is around the corner. I wish the cards would go the way of Newspapers. I'd miss them a whole lot less.
So how come I hate the cards? You may have seen or you need to watch Stephen Colbert's First Draft Greeting Cards segment. It highlights just what you are describing, and they are hilarious!
I learned about a decade ago that cards were a waste of money, in my wife's eyes. Handwritten notes, for our special occasions, have done the trick instead. I still send out Christmas cards to family, and give birthday cards to the kids, but definitely go the paper-and-pen route with my wife. And when I do purchase cards, it's at Dollar Tree, Dollar General or, in the case of the Christmas cards, at Half Price Books after Christmas when they're marked down.
Regarding the state of journalism, what you describe is exactly why I got out of the daily grind of newspaper journalism. That's what my degree is in from UC -- journalism, with an additional BA in communication -- and I hit the streets running in 2012 after graduation, having cut my teeth at the UC News Record and internships at Cox Media Group Ohio and the Enquirer. None of my professors at UC spoke of the impending decline of journalism -- both in quality and pay -- or tried to dissuade us from entering the profession. It was all sunshine and rainbows.
I learned real quickly, as a 35-year-old man starting his life's dream career after a decade in the Army, that the world of journalism wasn't the hard-boiled investigative gumshoes, smoke-filled newsrooms, cantankerous editors and bottles of liquor in desk drawers that I had envisioned when reading the Post and Enquirer as a kid.
Instead, I learned that for $11.50 an hour, I could be an education reporter for the daily paper in Connersville, Indiana. I didn't stay at that long ... less than a year in, I was promoted to editor of the paper, then roughly three years after that, promoted to general manager of the paper -- in addition to still being editor and a reporter covering government meetings, putting in 12 hour days for a salary of less than $45k a year.
The grind was ridiculous -- do more with less, you don't need any more staff -- and the merging of design hubs with designers making barely above minimum wage and being tasked with designing 10 company newspapers in a six-hour window, the nickel and diming of paper carriers, the constant barrage from the publisher to tweak or slant stories to make advertisers look good and keep them advertising, declining subscription numbers due to the company raising the subscription costs and readers getting ticked off, etc., etc., etc., made me get out. I went from newspapers into retail management, which wasn't much better stress-wise but paid a little better and was closer to home.
Long story short is journalism is not journalism anymore -- it's advertorials, editorials, opinion and kowtowing to the predominant audience. The parent companies care less if it's quality content being put out, and care even less if their remaining staff make even half-hearted efforts to be impartial and simply conduct quality reporting on anything. Advertising, clicks, revenue ... wash, rinse and repeat.
Oh, and every couple of years, trim staff even more to save a few sawbucks and fill those column inches their local stories would have filled with canned wire content that folks in the community could care less about.
Nope, the idealistic thoughts of freedom of press and journalistic integrity have, for the most part, been thrown out with the baby and the bathwater.
I'm now back in writing/publishing, believe it or not ... working for a non-profit organization as the managing editor of their monthly trade magazine. As long as our advertising covers the cost of publishing, mailing and the freelance writer fees, my bosses are happy. And readers are happy, as I get to put out a quality trade publication they enjoy, empower my freelancers to write great stories without word count restraints, get paid more than ever before in writing and am not pulling my hair out.
Rant over. I'm glad you got to retire on your terms, Paul. You definitely deserved to.
Doc , Doc , Doc: I’m a retiree of the locally defunct Gibson Greeting Card Company. It was a truly magical place to work. Therefore I feel an obligation to present the following:
regarding your choice of a Valentine card for Mrs. D; chose one blank inside so you can write your own sentiment. You are gifted with the ability to express yourself with the written word. Make the effort.
Please disregard my grammar- I was in the Sales Department not Editorial.
Wow, A lot on your mind today. Proves you are not a one trick pony. Re: Cards: For irreverent, off color cards I suggest High on the Hill on 32 in Mt. Carmel. I think Mrs. Doc would like these just as well. They have a great selection and it won't cost any more the the stick-up at Kroger. I suggest buying a years worth of cards when going to ease the pain. Lebron: I've always been a Kareem man so it is sad to me that he is not the all time career scorer. Howevuh, I haven't seen more than 5 minutes of an NBA regular season game in several years. It's just not an interesting game to watch. Enquirer: I'm glad your friend is leaving. No professional, especially an artist should stand for that. How sad, When I got married (early 80's) I subscribed just as my mother did for 40+ years. Within 10 years the quality got so bad I switched to USA Today because I didn't have the time to read the articles and could blow through that in about half an hour, Plus they had out of town sports scores and coverage of Hockey. (ENKY had none) Finally I got Amazon Prime which included a subscription to Washington Post free. I still get it (and pay for it) but dropped the USA Today and took the the NYT. When I joined it was $10/month. Now $17 per and does not include everything it used too. Those are extras. I like the editorial writers at the Post (left leaningexcept for George Will (sanctimonious blowhard) but feel that the NYT is more evenly balanced with Bret Stephens, and Thomas Friedman versus their stable of left leaning writers. But. They've announce a price increase to $22 /per. Also, they've ceded their sports coverage to the Athletic. What is a reader to do stuck in the flyover zone. Can TML start a news dept? I'm going to drop one of these and maybe both as it getting to be $40 + a month. Not looking for free but looking for balanced coverage at a reasonable price. Which brings me back to my main point? How many Mobsters have encouraged their family and friends to subscribe to TML? C'mon let's keep this party rolling!!! Love the Thorogood btw.
Agree with you on Enquirer. I really wonder how much longer they will go with print edition. Its a sad state of afffairs. I really should dump my subscription.
My rule of thumb is to never, ever buy a greeting card of any kind with a message on the inside. You're severally limited in the 'blank inside' section, but similar to you, I hate the trite and generic stuff inside.
I did break that rule recently for my daughter's birthday, but that was because there was a card that looked like an Ewok and I know she's a sucker for that kind of thing. I crossed out the message inside - because in her 16 years she's learned I don't give cards with someone else's words in them - and oddly enough she made mention of that and it made it even more endearing. It's a weird looking card of an Ewok's face, but we're shopping for frames so she can hang it in her room.
I live in Athens and one perk is that movies are still 1990s era priced. I'm not joking. I moved here from Bethesda, MD and the first time I took my kids to a movie I felt like I had to remind them that there were three of us and we ordered popcorn.
NBA and "King James" - Simply do not care, not at all. Valentine's, or any other "card holiday"? I have to say I mostly agree with you Doc, but somehow my lovely bride always finds a card to give to me which matches my interests and expresses her genuine, (at least I believe them to be) feelings for me and the holiday. On the other hand, I never seem to find the right card and all the definitions you used apply here. As for going to the theater to see a film, I tend to enjoy the experience on occasion and on the Tuesday, or whatever "thinwallet" special day - never paying full price. Absolutely scratching my head at the thought "they" might charge premium seat prices when everyone, and I do mean every one of us knows they can't even get people to come - period! Hollywood has lost what little bit of its mind there may have been remaining. That's a NO to AMC for premium price theater seating.
Thinwallet Tip - I get cards at the Dollar Tree. Selection is terrible, quality not great, but 2/$1... who cares? (Coming from a long line of thinwallets, my family actually gets angry if they see a card that costs $5, $7 and up. Your results may vary.) I've also occasionally adopted a practice stolen from a buddy of mine - Give a Christmas card for a birthday, a Halloween for Christmas, a baptism for graduation, a graduation for wedding, Valentine for get well. The weirder the better (though maybe keep condolences in their own silo). Write whatever you want on the inside, which you were going to do anyway to make up for the insincerity of the chimp on the front.
Great song. This quickly became a forum on the state of journalism today. Interesting takes.
Best choice for cards, M. Hopple & Company, 7920 Hosbrook in Kenwood. I go once a year and pick out a group of favorites and keep them in a drawer for the year for various occasions, usually BD. Very funny, cleverly written. Or you can go serious or sentimental. My favs are humorous. Every year I buy less...my group of friends are shrinking. Not sure if it's me...or just because some of them are dying. I'd say if you have to buy a valentine card, consider yourself lucky. Don't pout. Anything is better than the alternative.
Good music pick Doc. I'm not too familiar with George Thorogood, but really enjoyed this song. It is nice to hear a rocker whose words you can understand.
You really nailed my feelings toward buying cards. Valentine's Day and Sympathy cards are the most difficult. Luckily, we have a mutual agreement about no cards for Valentine's Day or my birthday on the following day (I've always been a lover a day late!). My sisters are both great at finding cards. Most involve dogs, humor, or both. There are also a lot more entertaining birthday cards for people like us who keep getting older.
It's really a shame about Kevin Necessary. I look forward to his cartoons more than any Enquire editorial. Perhaps he could get a job in the cards industry where his humor will generate more revenue.
That guy on the couch likes cards. He spends time picking them out. I like him so I do likewise. Many of them are simply worthless. We don't do husband/wife cards because we aren't that.
I usually go somewhere with Hallmark Cards. That isn't Kroger here. Wallgreens usually has something I like enough to buy.
Watched almost all of UK/Arkansas last night. My former niece is a happy camper. Lives in Fayetteville. Was a cheerleader there once upon a time. I keep thinking about how people used to make jello molds and sometimes they just didn't jell. Basketball teams are like that sometimes. If UK was going to jell it would have happened by now.
My dad is a card master he will look forever to get just the right one. I on the other hand find it a waste of both time and money.
You’re a good writer, Doc. Why are you bent over peering into infinity for the right card? Get a blank with something on the front that Kelly loves; flowers, mountains, seascapes. Then write something inside that means something to her and to you! Valentines Day has become a commercial cluster but I always remember that it was intended to be a day to remember your love. Nothing better than that.
It's not the thought that counts when I give someone a card - it's the effort. Because the time spent finding one that I can give (or expect to be received) with a straight face is a genuine sacrifice. If not for the funny ones, I honestly don't know what I'd do. So thanks for the reminder that Valentine's day is around the corner. I wish the cards would go the way of Newspapers. I'd miss them a whole lot less.
So how come I hate the cards? You may have seen or you need to watch Stephen Colbert's First Draft Greeting Cards segment. It highlights just what you are describing, and they are hilarious!
I learned about a decade ago that cards were a waste of money, in my wife's eyes. Handwritten notes, for our special occasions, have done the trick instead. I still send out Christmas cards to family, and give birthday cards to the kids, but definitely go the paper-and-pen route with my wife. And when I do purchase cards, it's at Dollar Tree, Dollar General or, in the case of the Christmas cards, at Half Price Books after Christmas when they're marked down.
Regarding the state of journalism, what you describe is exactly why I got out of the daily grind of newspaper journalism. That's what my degree is in from UC -- journalism, with an additional BA in communication -- and I hit the streets running in 2012 after graduation, having cut my teeth at the UC News Record and internships at Cox Media Group Ohio and the Enquirer. None of my professors at UC spoke of the impending decline of journalism -- both in quality and pay -- or tried to dissuade us from entering the profession. It was all sunshine and rainbows.
I learned real quickly, as a 35-year-old man starting his life's dream career after a decade in the Army, that the world of journalism wasn't the hard-boiled investigative gumshoes, smoke-filled newsrooms, cantankerous editors and bottles of liquor in desk drawers that I had envisioned when reading the Post and Enquirer as a kid.
Instead, I learned that for $11.50 an hour, I could be an education reporter for the daily paper in Connersville, Indiana. I didn't stay at that long ... less than a year in, I was promoted to editor of the paper, then roughly three years after that, promoted to general manager of the paper -- in addition to still being editor and a reporter covering government meetings, putting in 12 hour days for a salary of less than $45k a year.
The grind was ridiculous -- do more with less, you don't need any more staff -- and the merging of design hubs with designers making barely above minimum wage and being tasked with designing 10 company newspapers in a six-hour window, the nickel and diming of paper carriers, the constant barrage from the publisher to tweak or slant stories to make advertisers look good and keep them advertising, declining subscription numbers due to the company raising the subscription costs and readers getting ticked off, etc., etc., etc., made me get out. I went from newspapers into retail management, which wasn't much better stress-wise but paid a little better and was closer to home.
Long story short is journalism is not journalism anymore -- it's advertorials, editorials, opinion and kowtowing to the predominant audience. The parent companies care less if it's quality content being put out, and care even less if their remaining staff make even half-hearted efforts to be impartial and simply conduct quality reporting on anything. Advertising, clicks, revenue ... wash, rinse and repeat.
Oh, and every couple of years, trim staff even more to save a few sawbucks and fill those column inches their local stories would have filled with canned wire content that folks in the community could care less about.
Nope, the idealistic thoughts of freedom of press and journalistic integrity have, for the most part, been thrown out with the baby and the bathwater.
I'm now back in writing/publishing, believe it or not ... working for a non-profit organization as the managing editor of their monthly trade magazine. As long as our advertising covers the cost of publishing, mailing and the freelance writer fees, my bosses are happy. And readers are happy, as I get to put out a quality trade publication they enjoy, empower my freelancers to write great stories without word count restraints, get paid more than ever before in writing and am not pulling my hair out.
Rant over. I'm glad you got to retire on your terms, Paul. You definitely deserved to.
Doc , Doc , Doc: I’m a retiree of the locally defunct Gibson Greeting Card Company. It was a truly magical place to work. Therefore I feel an obligation to present the following:
regarding your choice of a Valentine card for Mrs. D; chose one blank inside so you can write your own sentiment. You are gifted with the ability to express yourself with the written word. Make the effort.
Please disregard my grammar- I was in the Sales Department not Editorial.
D.N.
Wow, A lot on your mind today. Proves you are not a one trick pony. Re: Cards: For irreverent, off color cards I suggest High on the Hill on 32 in Mt. Carmel. I think Mrs. Doc would like these just as well. They have a great selection and it won't cost any more the the stick-up at Kroger. I suggest buying a years worth of cards when going to ease the pain. Lebron: I've always been a Kareem man so it is sad to me that he is not the all time career scorer. Howevuh, I haven't seen more than 5 minutes of an NBA regular season game in several years. It's just not an interesting game to watch. Enquirer: I'm glad your friend is leaving. No professional, especially an artist should stand for that. How sad, When I got married (early 80's) I subscribed just as my mother did for 40+ years. Within 10 years the quality got so bad I switched to USA Today because I didn't have the time to read the articles and could blow through that in about half an hour, Plus they had out of town sports scores and coverage of Hockey. (ENKY had none) Finally I got Amazon Prime which included a subscription to Washington Post free. I still get it (and pay for it) but dropped the USA Today and took the the NYT. When I joined it was $10/month. Now $17 per and does not include everything it used too. Those are extras. I like the editorial writers at the Post (left leaningexcept for George Will (sanctimonious blowhard) but feel that the NYT is more evenly balanced with Bret Stephens, and Thomas Friedman versus their stable of left leaning writers. But. They've announce a price increase to $22 /per. Also, they've ceded their sports coverage to the Athletic. What is a reader to do stuck in the flyover zone. Can TML start a news dept? I'm going to drop one of these and maybe both as it getting to be $40 + a month. Not looking for free but looking for balanced coverage at a reasonable price. Which brings me back to my main point? How many Mobsters have encouraged their family and friends to subscribe to TML? C'mon let's keep this party rolling!!! Love the Thorogood btw.
Agree with you on Enquirer. I really wonder how much longer they will go with print edition. Its a sad state of afffairs. I really should dump my subscription.
My rule of thumb is to never, ever buy a greeting card of any kind with a message on the inside. You're severally limited in the 'blank inside' section, but similar to you, I hate the trite and generic stuff inside.
I did break that rule recently for my daughter's birthday, but that was because there was a card that looked like an Ewok and I know she's a sucker for that kind of thing. I crossed out the message inside - because in her 16 years she's learned I don't give cards with someone else's words in them - and oddly enough she made mention of that and it made it even more endearing. It's a weird looking card of an Ewok's face, but we're shopping for frames so she can hang it in her room.
I live in Athens and one perk is that movies are still 1990s era priced. I'm not joking. I moved here from Bethesda, MD and the first time I took my kids to a movie I felt like I had to remind them that there were three of us and we ordered popcorn.
NBA and "King James" - Simply do not care, not at all. Valentine's, or any other "card holiday"? I have to say I mostly agree with you Doc, but somehow my lovely bride always finds a card to give to me which matches my interests and expresses her genuine, (at least I believe them to be) feelings for me and the holiday. On the other hand, I never seem to find the right card and all the definitions you used apply here. As for going to the theater to see a film, I tend to enjoy the experience on occasion and on the Tuesday, or whatever "thinwallet" special day - never paying full price. Absolutely scratching my head at the thought "they" might charge premium seat prices when everyone, and I do mean every one of us knows they can't even get people to come - period! Hollywood has lost what little bit of its mind there may have been remaining. That's a NO to AMC for premium price theater seating.
Thinwallet Tip - I get cards at the Dollar Tree. Selection is terrible, quality not great, but 2/$1... who cares? (Coming from a long line of thinwallets, my family actually gets angry if they see a card that costs $5, $7 and up. Your results may vary.) I've also occasionally adopted a practice stolen from a buddy of mine - Give a Christmas card for a birthday, a Halloween for Christmas, a baptism for graduation, a graduation for wedding, Valentine for get well. The weirder the better (though maybe keep condolences in their own silo). Write whatever you want on the inside, which you were going to do anyway to make up for the insincerity of the chimp on the front.