The bag lady

by Catherine Mylinh
Aug. 25, 2008

The other night I stayed up late watching the 2008 Olympics. I had with me a bag of chips as I sat on the couch, inspired by all those amazing athletes in Beijing. (Don't think I don't recognize the irony of stuffing my face with crispy carbs while ogling sinewy hard bodies, but that is reserved for another post.)

Back to the subject: I fell asleep watching some diving competition and woke up a short time later. Tired and groggy, I hastily crumpled up my bag of chips and clumsily clipped it closed.

I stumbled into the bedroom to go to bed but all of a sudden I couldn't sleep. I lay awake for a half hour, thinking about that stupid bag of chips. I couldn't help but feel bothered that I had haphazardly sealed it. I debated whether I should get up to fix it, as if that paper sack of potato chips was a metaphor for my life. In the end, my Type-A obsessiveness got the best of me:

"Do you want to be the kind of person who goes around doing things half-assed? Are you someone who accepts 'good enough'? Is sloppy okay for you?"

So there I was, at 1:30 a.m., walking back into the living room to fix that bag of chips. I unclipped it, carefully folded it down and re-clipped it. Then it was really time for bed. And, after wasting a half hour of my life - a half hour I will never get back, mind you - contemplating this trivial task as a symbol of my integrity and work ethic, I was able to finally drift back to sleep.

I suppose this gives a whole new meaning to the term 'bag lady.'


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Achieving your childhood dreams

Catherine Mylinh at KNTV NBC11 Bay Area, San Francisco

by Catherine Mylinh
Aug. 2, 2008

When I was eight, I set up a snow cone stand to raise money for plane tickets to Boston. I had it planned: I was going to track down Jordan Knight (yes, Jordan Knight of New Kids on the Block fame) and convince him to marry me. It never did happen.

Fast forward 15 years, though, and I am face to face with the pop star in the makeup room at the NBC station in Fresno, Calif. If the adult Cat could travel back in time and tell the eight-year-old Cat that she was going to one day meet Jordan Knight, the younger Cat would have probably squealed hysterically. And then fainted.

It was such a cool moment. Not because I still had a crush on Knight, but because I'd fulfilled a childhood dream.

When I was eight, I also knew I wanted to be a reporter. I've done that too. But that wasn't it. I wanted to be working as a broadcaster in my home market, San Francisco, the sixth largest market in the country. This summer, I was able to fulfill that dream as well.

So here's to you and achieving your childhood dreams. May you be as fortunate as I have been.

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