01.11.18 Central Florida Bureau Chief’s Desk

I have been working at Watermark for several years now, and words that I have pieced together into sentences and strung into readable stories have appeared hundreds of times in dozens and dozens of issues of this publication.

This is however the first time that I have been asked to write something that would appear on this page. It’s not an interview or a news article on an upcoming event. It’s words strung together from me to form an opinion. I wasn’t thrilled at first to be writing anything with my opinion in it.

It isn’t that I don’t have opinions. I have many of them. Anyone who knows me personally knows that having a strong opinion is not something I struggle with. For example, my favorite movie in 2017 was the weird, artsy mother! by director Darren Aronofsky, which most people hated. They even hated the way he wrote the title, lowercase and with an exclamation point. I made a friend of mine sit down and watch it with me because I told him how much I loved it. Now he doesn’t return my calls and I’m not entirely sure we are even friends anymore.

My least favorite movie of the year? The Greatest Showman. The dancing bugged me, the songs sounded like Taylor Swift and Fall Out Boy were their only inspiration and the overall tone left me bored. I’m aware that these are both unpopular opinions. I thank you if you have continued reading and haven’t already stopped and taken to social media to scold me.

The reason I wasn’t initially thrilled to write this column is because when I was going to school to be a journalist, the first rule of journalism we were taught is you report the facts, not your opinion. I was told that you can’t educate with an opinion. You can only learn with the facts, especially in today’s day and age where we are being governed by a Magic 8 Ball and are expected to accept terms like “alternative facts.”

I thought instead of looking at this as opinionated ramblings I would use this space every other issue to give you a chance to get to know me; and if you can be kind with the comments section, maybe I can learn something about some of you.

I watch a lot of YouTube. One of the things that occupies way too much of my time is these videos called unboxing videos. People take a box of random items or gifts, even thoughts and ideas, and reveal them to the viewer for the first time. I thought I would “unbox” a few things about myself.

I am a huge movie fan.

You may be rolling your eyes about that because of my above film recommendations, but I assure you I’m also a fan of movies a lot of people liked. In case you were looking for something to watch this week, you cannot go wrong with The Shape of Water, Molly’s Game, The Disaster Artist and I, Tonya.

I love lists.

It doesn’t matter what you are ranking or in what manner you are organizing them, if it is broken down into a Top 10 list then I am there. Hours of my life are wasted on YouTube watching people list things. I have a sickness.

I am an Air Force veteran.

I served six years in the United States Air Force, from February 2001 to January 2007, the entire time spent under the presidency of George W. Bush and the overbearing rules of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” Even with that, they were some of the best years of my life. I spent my time building munitions in northern Italy, South Korea and the state of Louisiana alongside people of different races, genders, religions and upbringings. The stories I heard from them showed me that there is more that binds us then separates. I’ll share a couple of them with you in some upcoming issues.

In this issue we have many stories about our community, both in Central Florida and in Tampa Bay, as well as across the country. Our Tampa Bay Bureau Chief, Ryan Williams-Jent, looks at President Trump’s first year in office and how it has affected the LGBTQ community. In our A&E section, we talk with Orlando’s openly gay wrestler Mike Parrow and St. Pete’s out author Eric Casaccio. In news, Hope & Help brings on the AIDS Walk a few months earlier and the Grand Central District and St. Pete Pride discuss the Pride festival location.

In 2018 and in every year before it, Watermark strives to bring you a variety of stories, your stories. I hope you enjoy this latest issue.