A life in the day

The Skagway News hit newsstands today, so the world will finally be able to read my beautiful beautiful words. I'd link to the stories here, but my editor doesn't put stories online until like a week after the paper comes out. Makes people buy the paper, he says. I laughed when he told me that, but the more I thought about it the more sense it made, and kind of made me wonder if The New York Times and Washington Post would still be struggling to survive if they had just completely ignored the Internet 15 years ago.

Anyway, in celebration of my first issue, I'd like to take you through a busy summer day in the life of Mark Abadi.

8:12 a.m. — Wake up sweating in a room that is roughly 450,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

9 a.m. — Walk to work by opening bedroom door, traversing doorway.

9:07 a.m. — Look out window from second floor as thousands of tourists stroll the sidewalk and patronize jewelry stores with the word "Alaska" somewhere in the business name.

10:24 a.m. — Deliver daily fax to downstairs book store where they sell cruise packages. Take candy from candy dish, make small talk with cashier as excuse to stay longer and consume more candy.

10:35 a.m. — Brainstorm ideas for stories.

11:02 a.m. — Dominate some noobs in iPhone word games.

12 p.m. — Prepare lunch, which depending on the day could be a tuna sandwich, PB & J or half a box of Cheez-Its.

12:45 p.m. — Walk around the block for no particular reason.

1:29 p.m. — Make phone calls, conduct interviews for stories.

2:15 p.m. — Wonder what I'm going to do with the rest of my life.

2:16 p.m. — Check Facebook again.

3:47 p.m. — Stare at my beard in the reflection from my computer screen.

4:59 p.m. — Make more phone calls, write stories.

5:30 p.m. — Say goodbye to coworkers as they go home, close the newsroom door, pick up my guitar and play the blues while staring at my beard in the reflection from my computer screen.

6:14 p.m. — Walk outside, sit down on bench and read a book of Stroller White's old Alaska newspaper columns about Ham Grease Jimmy, Paddy the Pig and the Burn-'Em-Up Kid while wondering what my old-timey bad-guy nickname would have been.

7:52 p.m. — Prepare dinner, which depending on the day could be a salmon fillet with grilled vegetables, or if I'm really lazy, just an entire sleeve of saltine crackers.

9:36 p.m. — Stare out the window at the sky, still perfectly illuminated, and realize that like the Alaska sun, I too will never stop shining.

10:13 p.m. — Cry as the sun sets.

11:28 p.m. — Contemplate writing an article, but think, "No, you've done so much today."

11:51 p.m. — Say good night to the newsroom, turn off the lights and take the Long Walk Home.

I could get used to this.