Late spring always brings dozens of pink and crimson blooms to my climbing roses but this year the vines are especially loaded, as you can see from the photo. And take a look at the first of the June-bearing strawberries. No more paying high prices at the grocery store for mediocre fruits for the next month as these babies continue to produce about a quart a day.

The sugar snap peas, pole beans and squash are all strong and healthy, but the peppers and tomatoes are looking a bit peaked. I think those temperature dips into the 30s a week ago did more harm than good, and if we don't get some sun soon they may not have enough time to recover.

Now if I could only get it to stop raining for one day. . .

One of the things that I really miss about being a newspaper photographer is the camaraderie between journalists at big news events. Standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Philadelphia and New York personalities, and actually having them talk to you as an equal, was one of the best job perks. It sure helped pass the time when we all had to wait several hours together in the the State Police parking lot for a perp walk that would take all of seven seconds to shoot.

That's not to say that the camaraderie with local journalists was not equally fun. There was nothing better than getting to a spot news scene and finding someone cool from the competing media like Bruce Winter or Bill Crumlic to chat with and get caught up on their lives. I guess we should have been more competitive with each other since we were all out to get our photos on the Web before the other guy, but I've learned over the years that you can get more information at the scene by being friendly to the competition than by acting all snooty and pushing your way in front of them.

When our jobs demanded that we shoot video as well as stills, the stakes got even higher. Now we were competing with the television guys, too. Nothing was more humbling than showing up at a news scene with my 8-inch Sony videocam—dwarfed as it was on a massive, sturdy tripod—and having to stand next to videographers with real TV news cameras, the big studio cams with shoulder mounts and external microphones and lenses that you could actually change the aperature on. It certainly brought me back down to earth in a hurry.

And then, of course, there was the bad side of news reporting, like having to slog up a half-mile hill with 20 pounds of camera gear on my back to get to a fire or accident scene only to be stopped by the local fire police because it's a fatal and the coroner's out of town and no, you can't go any further. Believe it or not, there were actually times when even I couldn't charm my way onto the field.

Working on a story with your own really cool Morning Call reporter always made for a great time. I loved to hang at the projects with Will "Dimples" Ford or drive an hour to the Poconos with Tom Coombe and talk about everything under the sun. And if I stop to think of how much I have learned from photographers like Fran Kittek and Pete Shaheen it makes the cruel reality of corporate downsizing amazingly clear. When a company (like Tribune) deliberately loses its' seasoned talent it is like cutting off their right hand to spite the left. Like Pete always said, the inmates are running the asylum. But don't worry, I'm not going to get up on my soapbox again. I just wanted to give a nod to all my creative and hardworking journalistic colleagues who have recently found themselves on the wrong side of a beancounter's list. Let's go take them out to lunch.

Shame on me for not posting anything in a while. Following The Morning Call's downfall has been psychologically draining, to say the least.

One of the many joys of being unemployed is a newfound fascination with social media sites. I used to think these sites were for losers who had way too much idle time. But suddenly it's all about the networking when you have no job and are looking to drum up some freelance business. I'm LinkedIn, Elanced and ready to Twitter at will, but not much thought is given to the unpleasant byproduct of putting lots of personal information out there for all the world to see. A blog is one thing, but social networking requires that you and your accomplishments become the primary focus. It almost demands a bit of narcissism in order to make yourself more appealing to the widest possible audience. After working at TMC for 23 years, touting my strengths does not come easily.

So far I have avoided Facebook and MySpace as being too juvenile, but I admit, I did get a bit of thrill the first time I "tweeted" on Twitter. And it was all about me—a link to a posting on my Web site.  Now I'm just wondering when will it be enough? When do you know that you're networked-out? I guess that answer will come when I start getting paid work out of it. Ahem. . . anybody out there need a photographer or writer?

For those of you who remember TMC "copy boy" Frank Kleinsorge, I had a nice visit with him yesterday. He is doing well but still trying to adjust to life without his wife of nearly 56 years, who died of breast cancer last month. If you have some time, give him a call at 610-868-8116. I know he'd love to hear from his TMC family.

Some 50 photographers, reporters, and other bylined journalists at The Morning Call's plucky sister-paper The Baltimore Sun held a one-day byline strike yesterday to protest the firing of 61 newsroom staffers last week. Here is today's no-byline front page.

The paper's newsroom has gone from 420 employees in 1999 when they were aquired by Tribune to 148 after last week's surpise downsizing. Those laid off included 18 top and mid-level editors, news photographers, critics, columnists, sports reporters, copy editors, page designers and graphic artists.

According to the Newspaper Guild, some "were fired while they were in the midst of writing and editing stories. Others were told to pack up their belongings immediately, and others were escorted out of the main newspaper building by security guards."

Orange County Register reporter Bill Plunkett blogged the Sun's layoffs during the eighth inning of an Orioles/Angels game last Wednesday: 

"Angels 3, Orioles 2.

(Tough times in the newspaper biz. Two writers for the Baltimore Sun in the press box here got the news — by phone during the game — that they had been laid off in the latest round of cost-cutting. Stay classy, Baltimore Sun management.)

(UPDATE: Make that three reporters and a photographer axed by the Sun during the game.)"

The next day, an inside source told dcrtv.com: "Greetings from inside the tomb, where you can hear the air conditioning running. There may be life on other planets, but I can safely report that there's no life at the Sun. Certain people are running around in a self-important way, giving orders and avoiding eye contact. Security guards - not the ones we know - pretend to be casually passing though the newsroom. A muffin and a Mountain Dew sit on Ray Frager's desk, just where he left them when he was called in to be fired Tuesday night. AME-level editors were writing cutlines and headlines last night because no one thought that you actually need people to do those jobs. Welcome to the Sun, where no one can hear you scream".....

What becomes of the Fourth Estate once it makes itself obsolete?

Tomorrow at dawn we will be treated to yet another streamlined, redesigned, leaner, (not necessarily meaner) Morning Call, in all of its fantastic four-column glory.

I'm a Sunday-only subscriber, so will one of you let me know what it's like?

Thanks, everybody, for the updates. I will make changes as they come in. This is the list by department as far as I know at this point. It gets longer every time I open an e-mail message. Editorial took the brunt of the 50-position layoff. NOTE: I have been informed that Bob Orenstein, Karen Phillips and Jacob Michaels were NOT laid off.

Also, for those of you wondering how former MCall staffer Ron Devlin made out in last week's layoffs at The Reading Eagle, he is still there. This from him: "Yeh, I'm here, but we lost 18 people in the news room. Some had 40 years experience. Sad."

ALLENTOWN NEWS

1. Kevin Duffy - news reporter (called while on his honeymoon, believe it or not)
  2. Dalondo Moultrie – news reporter
  3. Gen Marshall – news reporter
  4. Andrew Martel- news reporter
  5. William Ford – news reporter
  6. Jack Tobias – assistant city editor
  7. Ted Akers – copy desk
  8. Linda Doell – copy desk
  9. Tad Miller – copy desk
  10. Gary Andrews – copy desk
  11. Bob Wallace – copy desk
  12. Margie Peterson – copy desk
  13. Glenn Kranzley - Op/Ed Vice President (given one month)

FEATURES DEPT.

14. Geoff Gehman – art critic
  15. Tim Blangger – feature writer
  16. Kelly Suarez – feature writer
  17. Len Righi – music critic (35 years service)
  18. Joanna Poncavage – writer
  19. Laura Garger - features copy editor

PHOTO/VISUALS DEPT.

20. Cat Meredith - photographer
  21. Naomi Halperin – senior photographer    
  22. Fran Kittek – photo lab technician
  23. Martha Miller – graphic artist
  24. Eva Wong – graphic artist
  25. Kevin Beck – graphic artist (moved to Advertising--not laid off)

INTERACTIVE

26. Nancy Dougherty – part-time online producer

EASTON NEWS BUREAU

27. Joe McDonald – Easton news bureau reporter
  28. Tom Coombe – Easton news bureau reporter
  29. Gail Scudder – Easton news bureau editorial assistant 

SPORTS

30. Mark Perner
  31. Ben Reese
  32. Mandy Housenick (unconfirmed--may be another Housenick who was laid off) 

Staying, but 1 to 10 percent cut in pay:

Kathy Lauer-Williams, reporter
  Irene Kraft, demoted to reporter
  Jodi Duckett, demoted to reporter (unconfirmed)
  Diane Stoneback, reporter (no details)
  Frank Warner, from copy desk to night cops reporter
  Will Scheihing, from Easton bureau chief to reporter

STAFFING CHANGES

John Moser – news reporter to features writer
  Kelly Federico - no longer a reporter but still working in unknown capacity
  Jane White, demoted from management, to night desk
  Marion Callahan, features reporter, moved to Metro
  Karen Phillips, from copy chief to copy desk
  Liz Bartolai, new Deputy Online Editor
  Dan Hartzell, stays but job may change
  Dave Dawson, stays (working on new computer system)
  Dave Venditta, stays but job will change
  Mike Hirsch, Topics Manager, still in charge of Features

OTHER DEPARTMENTS

PACKAGING

Mark Adams – supervisor
  Rosalie Rodriguez 

RETAIL

Bob Burritt (due to retire 12/31/09) 

ADVERTISING

Donna Adamcyk

Gerald Braum

QUALITY CONTROL/COMPOSING

William Schraeder

CLASSIFIED

Barb Antanavage

Brenda Czwakiel

ADMINISTRATION

Marie Herb
 

I hate to be the constant bearer of sad tidings, but the following (from a reliable source) is the -30- List as it stands right now:

Some good friends are on that list. . .  The entire 2008 Easton Bureau staff (save Tracy Jordan and Bob Orenstein, so far) has been let go.

My heart goes out to you all. Don't lose your faith.