okay i promise this is my last eve carson post for a long time... i actually meant to post this video on monday when i was writing about her but i forgot...so technically, this does not count as a separate post...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5s0JT9_Jzbo&NR=1

this is her welcoming UNC students back to campus after summer break. from :01-:08 you'll see some tall looking boards that have been painted on over her right shoulder (screen left) with campus annoucement messages.

know what's freaky about this?

those are the exact same boards that people painted over to write their goodbye messages to her after she was murdered....and they are right behind her in this video. gives me the chills.

ah, i just remembered i'm covering a hearing on monday as to whether the DA will pursue the death penalty for the suspects...*that* will be my last eve carson post for a while.

i found out today that grocery shopping on a Monday night is a fantastic idea. there were about 8 people at the store...it was awesome.

i also found out that grocery shopping when you're hungry is NEVER a fantastic idea! okay, i didn't really buy junk food or anything, but i bought a whole pineapple. lol who goes out an buys an entire pineapple for themselves?! seriously... i'm not going to eat an entire pineapple on my own!! (and how many times do you think i can use the word pineapple in one post?! haha)

hm, it sure looked good at the time though! yum ;)

do you ever have one of those moments where you laugh out loud in public...and you're by yourself? (okay, maybe that's just me!) anyway, i had one of those today. i was texting a friend of mine about how one of me cell phone's was broken (it fell off a shelf after i hit it...not kidding). i wrote something to the effect of "yeah, that's why they call me smooth." he texted me back, "right...like a bull in a china shop." i'm not sure why, but i found that pretty hilarious and definitely had one of those laugh out loud moments by yourself with lots of people around.

let me sum it up for you:

Awk-ward! lol

here is another short video tribute to eve carson i just found...it's only about :55 so it's short (My favorite picture is at :35).

http://youtube.com/watch?v=YEQ3y_hLVXU&feature=related

i can't believe it's already been almost 2 months since this happend.

i was off today so i didn't cover this, but a local newspaper filed a court order to have some of the search warrants in the case unsealed. there are about 5 search warrants that police have kept sealed...of course, if they get unsealed they will then be public record. the newspaper says the public has the right to know (by public, the only thing the really care about is media...just in case you couldn't see right through that one). the DA said today that there is some info in those warrants that came from confidential sources that have been talking to police...and that the informants have already been threatened by people that if more info on the case comes out, they'll get hurt. DA wants the warrants to be sealed for 60 more days..police are still doing interviews so this is still a very active investigation.

on the 5th, there's a hearing that i'll be covering where the DA will file to have this case be a death penalty case for one of the accused, demario atwater. it's been a very long time since NC has had a death penalty case so we'll see what happens.

even now, i still think about eve carson all the time...everytime i see that memorial board on campus (it's now been painted over) and everytime i hear someone talking about the sky being carolina blue. i wonder a lot how her mom and dad are doing...i can't even wrap my mind around how they must be feeling.

when i covered her memorial service at UNC, they handed out some cards (basically programs) that had list of speakers on the inside and a picture of her on the front standing in front of the Old Well on campus with a huge smile on her face. i ended up taking on of the cards home with me and setting on my bookshelf...didn't really intend to keep it there.

but ya know what...i just can't seem to bring myself to throw it out.

i am in love with the fact that one of my good friends from college e-mailed me and 4 of our best girl friends from college to plan a weekend for all of us to get together! all of us havent been together at the same time in three years...we went on a trip to myrtle beach after we graduated from UF and i would honestly put that trip in my top 10 favorite moments of my entire life.

it's been hard to stay in touch since graduation...we're all living in different places, some married, some not, so everyone's kind of in different phases of their lives. and there's just something about your girl friends you've known since college or high school. they "get" you because they grew up with you and have known you throughout so many phases of your life.

i will probably start crying to see everyone all together...ah, my eyes are watering just thinking about it! lol

and you know what...i could care less where we end up going for this trip. as long as everyone's together, i'd sleep in a freaking tent under a bridge (and you all know i'm a girly little princess sometimes so for me to say that and mean it, is pretty impressive!)

here's the e-mail lindzee sent out...


Hello Lovely Ladies--

So Erik and I were once again talking last night on where we think we will be after I graduate in two months (WOO HOO), and we still do not feel like we have a clear idea on where God wants us. And then I was thinking, "Oh how I would love to live near my best friends," but yet again, we are all in so many different geographic areas and different phases of our lives, that it would be hard at this moment to do that as well. Unless you all want to be crazy and move somewhere totally different this year (NY, NC, Boston, etc) then we are up for that?!?.
But then I started reminiscing on old times that we used to have, and the good times we share when we are together, and I thought, "why in the world have I not seen these girls in SO LONG?" And that needs to change!!! So I am not proposing a Friends Weekend (which needs to happen as well), but I am proposing a GIRLS WEEKEND.
So come on girls, give me some ideas and we can all save our dollars and make this happen. A cruise, a trip to the mountains, a trip to NY, a trip across the world! Brainstorm and lets make it happen. I MISS YOU ALL! And trust me, I need my girlfriends in my life, you guys make up such a big part of me.

I love you girls! Thanks for making me a better person by being in my life. And let me know what is going on in your lives and what I can be in prayer for?!?

Love
Lindz

story from today...

http://www.nbc17.com/content/midatlantic/ncn/news.apx.-content-articles-NCN-2008-04-25-0013.html

pockets in basketball shorts?!?

i had a baskektball game tonight (and we won by about 25!) and i was wearing some new bball shorts i bought about a week ago. and for the first time tonight (during the game) i noticed these athletic shorts had pockets in them.

i find this very strange.

granted, they were men's shorts i was wearing, but what man has ever had keys or a wallet in his pockets while he's running, playing basketball, etc...

i may have been thinking about this too much. i can remember at least 4 or 5 times during the game when i thought about it.

maybe i should get a life!! lol ;)

stop the presses!!!!

Bret Michaels will be in Raleigh tonight!!! OMG!!!

lol

i'm actually kidding with that reaction...a lot of girls around here are really excited about it though. lol he's going to be at some bar called High 5 which is downtown.

hmmm...

maybe he is recruting for his next show...Rock of Love 3: Bret-Wants-A-Girl-Who-Doesn't- Look-Like-A-Stripper-Or-Prostitute.

um, doubt it!! i don't think bret michaels is exactly on the look out for nice girls...lol

i've been slacking on posting my stories..here's from today. bill clinton came to the area so i was at that...it's always pretty cool to cover these political campain rally's, whether you like the person or not. i should rephrase, it's interesting to cover the rally's one or two times...after that, they get really old really fast (much in part because the politicians are NEVER on time). bill showed up more than an hour late...and it was his FIRST stop! no excuse for being late to the first place you're visiting for the day...especially when it's not scheduled until 1:45 pm! granted, i know he was in Pennsylvania last night for their election, but still. can't his "people" get him there on time? apparently...no. lol

http://www.nbc17.com/midatlantic/ncn/news.apx.-content-articles-NCN-2008-04-23-0023.html

ask me how bad i want to visit this!!

http://www.newseum.org/

it's called the Newseum and it just opened in Washington DC on April 11. basically, it's anything and everything related to media and journalism. i would love to be there!

you may have heard about this already...red heads will be extinct within the next 100 years:

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/220229/

how do i feel about this? DEVASTATED. hmm...maybe one day after i die someone will put me in a museum with a few other red heads...then when people go visit the museum they can look at us and say to each other, "i can't believe there used to be people with THAT color hair...so strange" (and they have no souls! sorry...couldn't resist a south park reference there! lol)

i'll admit that i'm always a sucker for the latest pop "top 40" type song...however, i think this might be the best song ever made...they dont make 'em like this anymore and his voice is incredible.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrT0gAbRqyw

i always forget how much i love this song, but i heard in the store today for the first time in a long time.

this song alone makes me want to visit memphis

pizza and mariah

there's just something about cold, leftover pizza that i love. i don't know why either because i used to HATE it. isn't that weird how certain foods you hated a few years ago you can just randomly start loving? how does that happen? lol

it's been a while since i actually bought a CD, but today i bought the new mariah carey CD, E=MC2. (what does that title mean?). it was funny because when the cashier saw me put it down to buy it, she goes everyone has been buying this cd...and i now know why: it's really, really good! it's amazing though how much her style of music has changed within the last 10 years. i have to say, i think i might like her old school music the best...ya know, fantasy, emotions, dreamlover, vision of love...the REAL good stuff. and she was more reserved and tasteful back then which i really appreciate. either way, her new cd is very catchy so i'm sure the sales will be huge for the first week of its release.

a blog entry from Frank Graff (one of our reporters) who was in DC covering the pope...this is so awesome!! i wish i was there!


"Some quick notes at the end of the papal mass:

I didn’t see a dry eye anywhere around when Placido Domingo sang Panis Angelicus. When he finished singing he knelt in front of the Pope.

The roar of the crowd was amazing when the Popemobile entered and circled the stadium. If it was during a baseball game, the way the cheers circled the stadium in front of the Pope, you’d think people were doing the wave.

The procession with the Pope entered the stadium for the mass from the Nationals dugout. I keptwanting to hear the announcer say: “now batting…”

Heard from a teenager as she left… “I’m on such a God and Jesus high right now”

There aren’t enough adjectives to describe how people told me they felt after the Mass.
Awesome, incredible, amazing, uplifted, blessed, don’t the do justice to what you saw on people’s faces.

The lines at the souvenir stands were longer than the lines for the bathroom.
Best sellers: rosaries, pope t-shirts, photos of the pope. Nobody is buying the black, property of Benedict XVI athletic look alike shirts.

The guy standing next to me brought a disposable camera. You heard a loud click when he snapped the photo, then the grinding crank sound when he wound the camera to the next shot. You just don’t hear that anymore.

I’m a lector at my parish. I also sing in the choir. As I was watching and listening to the people read and sing during the mass, I can’t imagine how nervous they were, but they did great.
Frank Graff — April 17, 2008?"

the pope!

one last quick post...about the pope!

one our veteran reporters, frank graff, was the lucky one to get sent to dc to cover the pope's visit. i'm extremely jealous! he is also blogging about it and his blog is awesome.

frank is an amazing reporter...story teller, really...he should be at the networks somewhere. ill put it this way, if by the end of my career i could had half as good as him, that would be quite an accomplishment.

his blogging is really good and interesting too so you should check it out:

http://blogs.wncn.info/pope/

check out these gorgeous flowers i shot some video of today! this is on UNC's campus near the Old Well. lots of people were just randomly coming over to take pictures because it was so pretty!

http://orange.mync.com/site/orange/news/story/1221/spring_in_bloom_at_unc

remember this? she was so sweet...and i wont lie...i have about 4 of her cd's! (probably shouldn't be admiting that, should i? haha)

http://youtube.com/watch?v=eNgXcenGjTo

ya know, for someone who's never owned a pet (yeah, i'm not counting the bird and goldfish i had when i was about 11...and i wont even get into the trauma is caused me to find my little bird, Sam, lying on the bottom of his bird cage one morning! :(

i sure do a lot of stories that involve animals....lol go figure!

http://orange.mync.com/site/orange/news/story/1167/new_partnership_helps_animals_become_more_adoptable

story today...weird to see me live in the studio, huh?

http://www.nbc17.com/midatlantic/ncn/news.apx.-content-articles-NCN-2008-04-14-0019.html

this is seriously hilarious! i got an e-mail in my work account from a lady wanting some coverage for something and i'd like you to see how she spelled my name:

"Hi Lluryn"

ohmygosh, when i read that, i honestly laughed out loud!!!! i think id like to get the spelling of my name officially changed to that! kidding...however, even though i love my name and how it's spelled, i always thought it would be kind of cool if my name was spelled "Lauryn." kinda sassy, right? and im kinda sassy sometimes so i think i could work it! then again, the "Lauren" spelling seems to fit me better...so lets keep it simple and sweet!

i decided that this would be the weekend i would stop checking my work email when im off. i have such a bad habit of doing that...and it makes me feel like im always working in some capacity, so i decided no more work e-mail unless im working! by the way,i actually havent even opened my lap top since friday until right now. it's been amazing. i think from now on, im not getting online on the weekends...at least not until sunday night. i think that's a good plan!

last night one of my friends from work had a housewarming party so i went to her place for a bit. she bought a townhouse all on her own for the first time so she was really excited...and shes done a really good job decorating!

tonight, went out to dinner with one of my closest friends from work, jackie. went to olive garden and chowed down. since she and i dont cover the same area and since we dont have to report to the office everyday, we havent seen each other in, geez, forever. i think the last time we hung was a good month and a half ago so we were long over due! i love her...always good conversation and lots of laughs!! she's married, but her husband, nick, is a teacher and had to finish out the school year in georgia (where they're from) so they've had to be apart from each other since december...he'll be here for good in june though! and they really get to see each other a lot...but still not easy for her (and im sure him too). i think they're making the best of the situation and im excited to meet him when he gets here.

hope everyone had a good weekend! :)

pens

i would like to share something with those of you reading those who are not in the news business (and that would be most of you)...and that is the fact that newsrooms eat pens. im not kidding. i have never lost more pens in my life then in a newsroom. literally, i could bring about 12 pens in with me and by the end of the day, ill end up leaving with about 3. im not sure how this happens, but it does. oh, and news cars eat pens too...ive lost a lot in those too!

my birthday is coming up in may...if someone could please get me a lifetime supply of pens, i would really appreciate it. ;) lol

ugh. crappy day.

is it friday yet?!

size me up!

this is a neat story about some UNC grads who came up with a cool idea....and yes, that is my closet in the stand up and yes, i am brave for basically announcing what size i wear on the air lol

http://chapelhill.mync.com/site/chapelhill/news/story/895/unc_grads_solve_clothes_sizing_hassels

nice try, guys

so much for UNC playing in the championship game! i didnt get to watch the game becaue i was out of town, but i was told UNC was only down by about 6 with four mins left...i think they ended up losing by 10 or 15. bummer! i was hoping they would have won because then i would have got to cover the game from chapel hill as everyone was watching the game on Franklin Street...and then if they would have won the championship, it would have been so awesome to be there! maybe next year!

it was a pretty busy weekend. friday night i went out with a couple people in Chapel Hill...we went to a place called the West End Wine Bar which was very nice. that was actually first time going out in chapel hill because pretty much everyone i know lives in Raleigh...which is a good 30 mins away. so everytime people go out or get together, it's always in raleigh which is a pain to have to drive that far so this was a really nice change!

saturday morning i drove to roanoke to vist megan (one of my best friends from UF) because it was her bday. we went to a comedy club to watch some improv which was really funny! i feel like improv is really hard to do because it's not rehearsed and everything's off the cuff so there's not really a lot of time for the comedians to think about it...thats why its even more hilarious when they're funny! after that, we went out dancing at some club in roankoe which was a blast and got home around 1:30 am or so. i left this morning at about 11 and just got back a little bit ago.

well, time to move on to some cleaning, laundry, gym and grocery shopping (riveting, huh? lol)

basketball

me and one of our assignment editors spent some of the day trying to track down one of two things:

1. a former UNC basketball player who's still in town

or

2. a few UNC fans who might who are just a little more unique than the typical crazy fine...for example in Morgantown, we did a story about a group of WVU fans who bought this old van and painted it gold and blue were just more into the Mountaineers then most

as you might know, UNC is playing Kansas on Saturday night in the Final Four. my station's doing a special show tomorrow on it so my part is trying to track down either 1 or 2 above.

you'd think that would be easy, right? um, not so much.

we contacted the alumni association, atheltic department, carolina fever (student fan organization), and UNC news services, and got no where.

the president of the alumni association sent me an e-mail with a few former players who still live in town, but we couldnt track any of them down today. a few of them we left messages but havent heard back from yet so maybe not all hope is lost. apparently, a lot of the people with the really good contacts are already in San Antonio where the Final Four game is being played. just great...wish me luck on this tomorrow as i will be making some more calls on this and hoping for a miracle!

tonight im going to play some basketball so i'm pretty excited...this is turning into a weekly occurence...i can live with that! :)

final four, baby!

UNC FINAL FOUR! story from today :)

http://chapelhill.mync.com/site/chapelhill/news/story/769/retailers_bank_on_final_four_sales

dumb stuff

something dumb that for some reason makes me smile is people who have an aol account as an email address. lol im not sure why i think it's funny (in a cute way though!), but i think it's because hardly anyone has aol as e-mail anymore so it's just kind of funny. i sent out about 3 e-mails this morning to people who have aol accounts...old school!