And if the elevator tries to bring you down....

April 21, 2016 Ashley Thompson

What a tough day for so many people, myself included. I grew up listening to Prince. He was on repeat at our house, mostly because my dad was obsessed with him. He made sure to let us know time and time again that Prince wrote, played, produced all of his music. He was a musical genius. So I grew up listening to all of his stuff…not just the popular stuff on the radio…but so many other tracks which were often (in my humble opinion) better than the singles released.

A childhood friend wrote this on my Facebook wall….

“Prince will always remind me of your family. Singing into the vacuum cleaner. Laughing to P.contol lol good time!!”

(note: listening to P control as kids was wildly inappropriate)

I find it so odd that Prince passed away today for a few reasons. He played in Atlanta last week. The tickets went on sale two weeks ago (to everyone’s surprise.) Of course, when I got around to looking up tickets online, there were none left. Take that back, I think there was an $800 ticket left on Ticketmaster. I checked Craigslist and people were selling one or two tickets at $400 a pop. “Not paying that,” I thought. But now (of course) I’m so upset I didn’t go to his very last show.

I have a long commute home, about an hour. So I listen to CDs, podcasts, etc…

Yesterday while driving, all I wanted to hear was a Prince song called “Style.” It’s one of my favorite songs of his. I listened to it over and over in high school. If you know anything about Prince, you know that he’s very strict with his music/material. You won’t find much, if anything, on YouTube or elsewhere online. While driving, I even checked the iTunes store to see if that one song was there to purchase. Nope. (We have the CD with Style, ‘Emancipation,’ somewhere at home. But who knows where)

So I ended up buying Emancipation again (Wednesday). Just because I wanted to hear the song so badly. It will come in the mail soon, yay.

I’m so glad I didn’t find out about Prince’s death online or from someone dumb. Instead, my dad texted me. Prince’s #1 fan let me know. I was in a store at the time so I wasn’t online or in the car listening to the radio.

These series of (little) events taught me a few things.

1. Buy/Do what you want. Who knows how long you’ve got on this earth. Seem like a foolish idea? Maybe – but I’m not a financial expert so I don’t care. Had I known Atlanta would be the last place Prince would play, I wouldn’t have thought twice about buying tickets.

2. Life is short. Nothing saves you in the end. Not money, not fame. To borrow a line from Prince’s song ‘Money don’t matter 2nite,’ "That's when you find out that you're better off makin sure your souls alright...cause money didn’t matter yesterday and it sure don’t matter tonight."

Things that pissed me off today:

1. Having to go BACK to work after hearing the news (I was on my lunch break)

2. People posting pictures that weren't of Prince on Instagram

3. Thinking about today's music 'artists.' What a bunch of crap we're left with

'Cause in this life,things are much harder than in the afterworld....'

+The death of former New Orleans Saint Will Smith has been on my mind. What a crazy story/tragedy. Smith, who was just 34, was shot eight times, seven in the back. His beautiful wife was also shot twice, but survived. It makes you think twice about road rage. I covered a similar story when I was in Phoenix. A woman rear-ended an exchange student...then got out of the car and shot and killed her. Pathetic. You can see the story here

+Switching gears - I had a minor, minor cameo on John Oliver's show. In case you didn't know, Alabama's governor is in the midst of a gross sex scandal. Check me out at 18 seconds grabbing a mic off the table. Basically #famous

+Disturbing video from Montgomery, Alabama - now going viral. A man, angry that a black woman jumped in front of him in the ATM line (because he was sitting in his car) spews a whole lotta racist hatred toward her. The bank is aware and may be closing his account. Check out the video here

+Did you know you can buy a gold donut? It'll cost you $100 a pop. But look how pretty

Also, new posts under the 'People' and 'OOTD' section of the blog. Check them out.

TV

April 7, 2016 Ashley Thompson

I've been "out the biz" for a few months now. The break I am taking has been so good for me mentally. News is VERY demanding. And in my biased opinion, being a reporter is the hardest job in the newsroom.

People are always asking me why I left TV. First, let me say - I don't think it is a permanent leave. There are many reasons for the break - but my reasons may not resonate with those who have never worked in the industry.

I love reporting (most days). I love meeting new people. I love that it's not a desk job. I love that I can go somewhere new every single day. I love having connections in high places. Those are all very cool aspects of the job. But for all the pros - there are many cons. Most days, it's not glamorous. You're going to horrible crime scenes, working outside in the cold/heat, working every holiday, stressed beyond belief everyday as you try to meet deadline after deadline. Say goodbye to lunch breaks and in most cases, a healthy social life. It's truly a job where you need a STIFF drink after you clock out for the day.

A young meteorologist, 27-years-old, recently took his life. I'm not sure if we'll ever know WHY he did it. But a piece of his life story is going viral.

I encourage you to read it HERE