job perks

Today I met a Broadway star, and a television star.

Pretty good day, I must say.


And not only that, we all had a full on conversation. Grandpa Gilmore (Edward Herrmann) chatted about the fact that his on-air daughter would soon be starring on Broadway as Adelaid in the new revival of Guys and Dolls. And the amazingly talented Brian Stokes Mitchell joked that Deseret Book should distribute the DVD of Ragtime (I complained that I never got to see him on stage in that show).

Tony Award winner Brian Stokes Mitchell is in town as the featured artist in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's Christmas concert. Ed Herrmann is the narrator. I was lucky enough to go to a VIP reception this afternoon with my colleagues, and had the chance to meet these fine fellows. We chatted, snapped a few photos, and Stokes (as the choir guys tell me he likes to be called) even signed a few things my friend Arron sent along to have autographed (he was flattered I had a Playbill from his concert at Carnegie Hall).

Tomorrow night (Friday) I'm going to the concert with a few friends, and then working the CD signing in our store after. Then on Saturday, Arron is flying all the way from Washington, D.C. to go to the concert with me. A few friends went and saw it tonight and said it was amazing. I'm looking forward to it.

Here's a clip of Brian Stokes Mitchell's concert with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir back in September:

that's ... different

So my name is in the Deseret News today. No, not as a reporter, but as a "spokeswoman for Deseret Book." Yeah, that feels weird.

Update on the job: I love it. It's a total change of pace. It's amazing to see how stressed I was in the newspaper world. Now, not so much. I'm lucky enough to have some amazing people at work mentoring me and teaching me the ropes of the PR world. I've already made what I believe will be lifelong friends in just a few short weeks.

The Joseph Smith Papers (and the fact they are flying off the shelves) kept me busy all day today. A lot of my time lately is spent working on getting publicity for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. They are such a great group to work with. I was fortunate enough to finally meet the director, Mack Wilberg, the other day and he was such a kind man. I'm so excited for the big concert this weekend with one of my favorite Broadway stars, Brian Stokes Mitchell.

Other than that, I'm just busy planning things for our spring books. Its sure nice not to have to worry about daily deadlines and instead focus on the big picture. Looking back, after more than two months on the new job, I definitely feel like I made the right decision.

defection

Some of you have been asking me how my superiors at the D'News have been taking my pending departure.

Here's from an all-staff e-mail from a boss:

"Friends of City Desk...Just to let you know that (Mr. Cool New Unnamed on Leigh's Blog Guy) has agreed to join us full time in the wake of Leigh Dethman’s defection to God’s Bookstore, where she will be undertaking the Devil’s mission of publicity."

Ah yes, I'm on a mission. The Devil's mission of publicity.


I'm sure going to miss the witty banter of reporters and editors.

In all reality, everyone has been really nice. It's been a hard week saying goodbye to sources, and I'm sure Friday will be rough saying goodbye to everyone else. At least I'll only be working a block away.

two weeks notice

I quit my job today.

I can't believe I just wrote those words. I always imagined myself as a career woman at the Deseret News. I figured I'd work there for life, or at least until I got married and hopefully didn't have to work anymore.

But life changes, goals shift and I found myself feeling like I needed to try something new. The newspaper industry is a scary business right now, and I felt like I had to go out there and learn a new skill.

Luckily, another company decided to let me develop these new skills. I am now the newest publicist at Deseret Book. I got the job offer yesterday, and officially accepted the position today. I never imagined this life change, but I welcome it. It feels right.

I'm excited for for something new, yet hesitant to leave a company and co-workers who have become a second family to me. I've been at the Deseret News for five-and-a-half years now. They hired me as an intern two months before I graduated from BYU. I quickly signed on in a full-time role a few months later.

I was quickly thrown into some big stories, like this one below, when a local girl was murdered by her husband and the national media came in throngs. (Can you spot me?)

I've done a little bit of everything in my time at the News. I've experienced things most people will never get to do. I'll never forget the sight of those tired, weary people lined up outside the New Orleans airport seeking shelter from Hurricane Katrina. Or the people lined up with one injury after another in the baggage claim area (which was transformed into a triage area).

I'll never forget meeting Iraqi Marines in the middle of the Persian Gulf. Majad, who waved incessantly at me whenever saw each other. Or the other guy, who swore I spoke and read Arabic, and finally started writing in my notebook to get me to understand (sorry, still can't read Arabic). Oh and I can't forget the one who insisted I was Martina Hingis.

I'll never forget the thrill of watching an F-15 land on the USS Teddy Roosevelt while I stood on the deck, or the uncertainty of sitting in a plane actually landing on the aircraft carrier (and hoping the hook attached to the wire).


And who can say they stood next to the head of the famous toppled Saddam Hussein statue.


But really I'll never forget the many people, friends, sources and co-workers I have met in my time at the Deseret News. I hope I won't lose that going into this new adventure.

My official start date at Deseret Book is Sept. 22. I will relish my last two weeks at the Deseret News.

white trash lunch

Normally I spend my Friday lunch at a nice downtown eatery, or even at the Church Office Building cafeteria.

Oh no, not today. I had lunch in the projects (don't deny it, Tiff). OK it's not really the projects. More like "the other side of the tracks."

Highlights:
- crossing the railroad tracks
- the crazy neighbor wearing an over-sized T-shirt (and no pants), carrying a chihuahua and gardening.
- said crazy neighbor then bending over to do something, and showing her large behind (including crack) for all to see. (I'm not sure she was wearing undies)
- ducking for cover during a drive by. ... OK this really didn't happen, but how cool would that make my white trash lunch story.

The best highlight, however, was Wendy using a push lawnmower in Tiffany's neighbors yard. On her lunch break. In nice clothes. And flip flops.


Wendy will hereafter be known as Duchess Green Toe (thanks for the duchess tip, Tiff).

(word to the wise, don't mow the lawn -- especially with a push mower -- in flip flops and then return to work the rest of your afternoon).

layoffs

The boss announced layoffs today. Needless to say, I'm nervous, along with most of my co-workers. In total, 35 people must go. We won't find out who for another few weeks. Talk about fun.


To read the full story of the melee, click here.

potus

I got this close to the president:



I should've been even closer. But like a wise 80s band once said, blame it on the rain. President George W. Bush was supposed to get out of his fancy armored limosine and shake hands with those airmen you see in the picture above you. As luck would have it, big drops of rain started pouring from the sky, and Bush didn't want to get his hair wet. (OK I don't really know that, but several Air Force brass told me the president generally doesn't like to greet folks in the rain). So instead of coming within feet of moi, he bolted the other way and went directly up the stairs into Air Force One.



Yep, that's all the big man in charge gave me.

Rewind. So President Bush came to town on Wednesday to raise some money for Sen. McCain. In addition to a $10,000 per person luncheon, Bush hung out at Mitt Romney's Park City vacation home and invited others to join if they could afford it. And I definitely don't have the money to go to an event like that: $30,000 per person or $70,000 per couple.

The newspaper assigned me to hang out at the Utah Air National Guard base to welcome the commander in chief to the Beehive State. Wednesday was a beautiful, sunny day. It's funny how I had to spend hours going through secret service security checks just to see President Bush get off a plane and wave. But it was fun.

It's funny. The first thing that came to my mind when I saw the president step out of the plane was to criticize his wave. No, he didn't have the beauty queen "elbow, elbow, wrist, wrist, wrist" thing going on. I thought it looked like he wanted to give me a high five.



The president didn't stay long. He shook hands, gave an award to this 24-year-old guy who's logged a ton of volunteer hours and then headed out to take people's money for McCain.

After he left, I was able to interview Julie Beck, president of the General Relief Society. The White House invited her to be part of the greeting committee when President Bush got off the plane. She had a comical exchange with the president. When he shook her hand, he asked who she was. After she told him she served in the Relief Society, the president asked, "Who do you relieve?" (ba dum bum). "Just about everyone," she answered. After the president left, Sister Beck joined President Monson and President Uchtdorf for a personal tour of Air Force One.



A few hours later (and after writing another controversial story on a completely different topic) I rushed up to Park City for the Bush Bash Barbecue. About 130 folks hung out a park near Romney's home for the "bash." Organizers insisted it was a "celebration" that the president was in town, not a bash Bush fest (despite the name of the event). One organizer reminded me that bash means party. But I didn't buy it.

The following is from one of my stories in today's paper:

But the majority of the folks on the lawn at Park City Park were anti-Bush, with some of them carrying signs protesting his presidency.

One attendee even went so far to say she wished somebody would "knock (Bush) off already."

Carol Silverman said she had a fantasy that Bush was assassinated, then Vice President Dick Cheney died of a heart attack, then former House Speaker Dennis Hastert died, clearing the path for Colin Powell to become president.

"With all the crazy people with guns, I can't believe nobody got to him," said Silverman, who lives in Scarsdale, N.Y., but owns a condo in Park City. "It's just too bad he's still president.

I logged 12 hours of work on Wednesday, and then had to get up at the crack of dawn to be at the airport for the president's departure. It was a lot of sitting around and waiting, but it was cool to be that close to the president and Air Force One. It's amazing the preparation done for every detail of his trip.

Here's my favorite guy, who used a feather duster to wipe down the president's limo minutes before he arrived:



Here's some pics of the president's entourage. The first is Marine One, Bush's official helicopter. The other pic is of these ginormous choppers that carried his staff and the national press pool.


Here's his motorcade pulling up Thursday morning, just before Bush got on Air Force One.



And finally, here is me, cheesing it up in front of that mammoth of an airplane.

elections with the stars

I'm back, and slogging through a long day of work at the Utah Republican Convention at UVSC today. I arrived back in the Beehive State last night after an amazing trip to Florida this past week (I'll post more on that when I get some time).

I'm loving wandering around my old stomping grounds (UVSC) and seeing how much it's changed. The Hall of Flags is still the same. Lots of flags, and lots of chairs to sit and people watch.



The cafeteria is totally different. It's fancy. Nothing like when I was there (1999-2001). There are a ton of new buildings either completed or under construction. It's like a whole new school.



But perhaps the most exciting part of the day is the many "stars" I've encountered at today's convention. Carmen Rasmussen, of American Idol fame, sang the national anthem, and I met Bruce Hough, papa of Julianne and Derek of "Dancing With the Stars" fame. Love it. Gotta love Utah reality stars. Here is Hough giving his speech for national committeeman.



UPDATE: I can't believe I forgot the biggest star of the day. LAVELL. He only needs one name, but for those of you who don't know who he is, go check out a BYU football game at LaVell Edwards Stadium. The former Cougar coach is a life-long Republican, and he was here today supporting his daughter-in-law, Becky Edwards. She had a pretty good day, pushing incumbent Rep. Paul Neuenschwander, R-Bountiful, to a primary election in June.

Oh, and make sure to check out Joe Pyrah's blog at the Daily Herald, where he gave me a shout-out for naming Chris Cannon's election booth.

we're all in this together ...

Today I came as close as I'll likely ever get to Zac Efron.



Yes, Troy Bolton and I shared the front page of the Deseret News. We really are all in this together.

Zaqueisha (AKA Zac and his girlfriend, Vanessa) will be in Utah for the next little while filming High School Musical 3 down the street at East High. Maybe I should go into stalker mode to catch a glimpse of Zac. I was hoping he could do that nice hip move he did in Hairspray.

mccain in the beehive state

John McCain, the likely Republican nominee for president, was in Utah on Thursday peddling for campaign cash. Utah's favorite son Mitt Romney was also in tow.

No, I didn't get to meet any of these national political figures. I stood outside, in the freezing cold, with about 15 protesters hoping to catch a glimpse of McCain driving by.



Of course, he took a side entrance and avoided us. So instead, I interviewed a few of the protesters for tomorrow's paper and quickly headed to 7-11 for a hot chocolate. Seriously, it was 60 and warm yesterday and the day I have to spend hours outside it snows and is like 30 degrees out. Awesome.

warning at the legislature

My cousin Bryce's wife, Camille, paid me a visit at the state Capitol today.



OK, she didn't come to visit me, per say. She was up here with a load of 5th graders for a tour while the Legislature is in session. I can't imagine the chaos she deals with. It was fun to watch her interact with her kids. I told her she seemed like a flight attendant.

democracy in action

I've been spending most of my time here the past month:



The Utah State Legislature is in session until March 5. This is the first year legislators have been back at work at the "people's house" in four years. The building is gorgeous both inside and out. Check out this pic I took of just one section of the rotunda:



I'm having a lot of fun covering all the action up here. It's been really busy, and I'm not getting much sleep, but I'm loving it.

**UPDATE: A few hours after writing this post, I returned home and immediately crawled in bed for a "nap." I slept for four hours. And now it's nearly midnight and I think I can go for another eight.

** UPDATE: SUCCESS! Eight full hours. Boo yeah.

voices in my head

I'm on the night shift tonight. While my friends are gallivanting around the state, I'm stuck at a desk until 1 a.m. listening to the police scanners.



The paper bought a slew of new scanners recently, to make sure we don't miss a thing. I think all the extra noise is making me miss more. There are too many voices in my head now, and I have a head ache.

So far, I've heard a call about a mom in an argument with her son because he wouldn't turn the TV off and a rollover accident on the freeway. Oh and some guy just got busted by the police at the Utah Jazz game and is being transported to the county jail. Exciting news, huh. Just what you want to read in your newspaper.

To pass the time, I'm reading a riveting issue of Sports Illustrated.



If you pick up a copy, there is a fascinating story about a dad who forced his kid to take steroids. It's called "Sins of a Father." The other one I can't put down is "The Life and Times of Rick Majerus." He's the lightning-rod former coach of the University of Utah. Ch-check it out.

Although I have enjoyed reading the articles thus far, I am still mourning the loss of Rick Reilly at SI. I used to flip right to the page before the back cover to read Reilly's column before checking out anything else in the issue. Now, I find the columns on that page rather boring.

Thanks for entertaining me on the night shift. Only 4 more hours to go!