Sunday, October 30, 2016

It's a busy time of year for the National Federation of Press Women - membership renewals will begin and the online Communications Contest will soon kick off. Stay tuned for more information!


But before we go there, this is my pitch/reminder/plea for everyone to go vote on Tuesday, Nov. 8.


I must admit that one area I don't miss about no longer working in the newspaper industry is the length of elections. As an Iowa resident, I can attest to the fact that elections last too long. Have Hillary and The Donald been at it for two years or three? OK, we've been down to those two major party candidates for only several months now, but before that, we had a plethora of potential presidents parading through our state.


In addition, there are always local and state races that deserve our attention. The election can't all be about the race for the White House.


Like me, you are probably ready for the election to be over and for America to move on, whether we have our first woman president or first millionaire reality TV competition show host as president. Either way, it's our duty and honor to vote. In the immortal words of Nike, Just Do It!

Monday, October 3, 2016

Every once in a while, something on Social Media will drive me crazy.


Case in point: while scanning my Twitter timeline, I noticed @SherryPollex was having to defend her tweets and social media promotions.


What has been Pollex's main focus the past two years? Fighting ovarian cancer for two years after her diagnosis at age 35.


I started following Pollex's fight because I was a fan of her boyfriend, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver .


They have fought ups and downs on and off the track, and have been an inspiration to almost everyone. I say almost everyone because a mean-spirited Twitter user accused Sherry of self-promotion.


What that person must not have been aware of is that Pollex and Truex have been longtime supporters of the fight against childhood cancers, which is the core of the Martin Truex Jr. Foundation, @MTJFoundation.


Pollex became even more of an inspiration to me after we thought my sister Julie had ovarian cancer. It was diagnosed a few days later as colon cancer that had spread to the ovaries. We were happy because colon cancer seemed far less scary (code for more survivable) than ovarian.


Then, just a few months ago, our only "girl" cousin in the Hoffman family, Becky, was diagnosed with stage 2 ovarian cancer. Like Pollex, she shaved her hair off before it inevitably would fall out.


Pollex recently revealed a short hairdo as her hair has begun growing back. I'm looking forward to seeing Becky with her hair back, too.


Thanks for being an inspiration by sharing your story on Twitter and Social Media. Don't let the haters ever stop you!