Charles Apple

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A judge’s diary: Syracuse/2007
A detailed diary by SND’s longest-winded judge

by Charles Apple

—

AUGUST

My good friend Kris Kinkade approaches me at the opening reception in Orlando. He’s the contest coordinator this year, he tells me. He wants me to be a judge.

Aw, jeez. That again.

Every few years, I’m asked to be a judge. Every few years I search for a graceful way to beg off.

I have close friends who have served as judges. I’ve heard the stories about how grueling the judging can be. I’ve seen what I consider sub-par work earn high honors and I’ve sent what I consider to be rather groundbreaking pieces to Syracuse, only to have them sent packing. While I love what awards are framed on my wall, I’m not the biggest fan of the contest. So I’ve always said no.

But Kris really needs me, he says. And then he tells me that there is some concern within the committee about my health.

Um… What ABOUT my health?

The previous year, my blood-sugar numbers shot out of control. I had to cut back on the blogging at VisualEditors. For several months, I was able to do little more than eat, sleep and work. Once my new medication kicked in, I felt much better. When I blogged about the whole thing, apparently folks noticed.

For a moment, I consider just smiling and telling Kris: They’re right; I’m too sick to judge. But I just can’t do it. I tell Kris that my medication is working fine and I feel as well as I have in years. But, uh, I still don’t want to judge.

Then, Kris tells me that I may not be eligible anyway. They don’t like to invite judges back more often than once every seven years. Or something like that.

Again, I’m confused. How can I be on the committee’s list of former judges? I’ve never judged SND in my life. Hell, I’ve never even BEEN to Syracuse! I did judge the student SND contest in Missouri several years ago. That’s the only SND event I’ve ever judged.

Kris walks away, thankful for the information. I’m left wondering why I’m telling him all this if I don’t want to be a judge.

A couple days later, Kris approaches me again. Yes, I’m right: I am eligible to be a judge. So will I please help him out?

Damn. Damn, damn, damn.

A few years ago, I had turned down a request to be a judge. Another SND member had given me a piece of his mind for my refusal. He compared me to a Vietnam-era draft-dodger who moves to Canada, rather than heed the call of his country. Coming from a family of military people, this criticism stung.

And then, there is Kris himself. It’s one thing to politely decline a request from my pals who run SND. But Kris is a special guy. I met him and his wife and daughter years ago at a quickcourse in Kansas City. I’ve corresponded with him and met him again over and over as the years passed. I feel like I’ve practically watched Baylee grow up. During casino night in Orlando, Jan grew bored as Kris became immersed in blackjack, so she amused herself by entertaining me for hours.

If it were anybody other than Kris…

But I’ve never been a coordinator, I tell him. I thought you had to be a coordinator before you can be a judge.

Nope, Kris tells me. It might help. But there is no such rule.

Damn, damn, damn.

I tell him I’ll do it. Kris seems unnaturally delighted. I realize how hard it must be to find judges. I console myself by hoping I lifted at least one small load from his shoulders.

I’ll worry later about this mess I’ve gotten myself into.

————-

DECEMBER

It’s time to start worrying.

I make my plane reservations. Knowing it’ll be snowing in February, I pad the hell out of my schedule. Judges need to be there by 6 p.m. Friday, Feb. 16. I fight the urge to fly up Thursday. My plane arrives at 12:22 p.m. Friday. That should be good enough.

I mean, how much can it snow? Right?

Kris carefully asks me not to tell anyone I’m a judge. My family knows, my bosses know and my staff knows. I tell only two or three close friends. I also fight the urge to call my friends who have been judges — Teresa Kriegsman, Kevin Hand — or facilitators — Paul Wallen, Meg Lavey, a host of others — and ask for tips. I’ll be going in about as blind as I can be.

———–

JANUARY

Is there a rule that says judges can’t help prepare their papers’ entries? Unfortunately for me, no. I carefully pick out my department’s finest work. The Pilot traditionally does well as a paper, but not necessarily in the graphics categories.

I’m entering several of my own pieces this year, including a non-breaking news graphics portfolio. I deliver about a dozen and a half pieces to Lori Kelley, who is handling our submissions. I wonder what our work will look like, laid out on the tables. I wonder how we’ll deal with the conflict of interest when I come to those pages. I wonder about how many more things I can wonder about.

————-

FEBRUARY

They’re already calling it the Blizzard of 2007. Tons of snow fall just north of Syracuse. I’m horrified. What will this trip be like?

As I pack, I decide to travel as lightly as possible. Because I’ll be on my feet all day, I decided against taking snow boots. I’ll wear only my best walking sneakers. We diabetics have to be extra-careful with our feet. I take only a few shirts. I’ll get by with one pair of jeans and one pair of dockers. If I fall down in the mud or snow, I’ll be toast.

Most of the snow seems to have fallen north of town. Syracuse gets nearly 30 inches the days before my trip. The big concern is: How are the airlines dealing with the storm? Oodles of flights are canceled Tuesday and Wednesday. I’m connecting in LaGuardia. Thursday is only marginally better. I watch the news and I sweat.
(NEXT: FRIDAY, FEB. 16)

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 22nd, 2007 at 9:08 pm and is filed under Charles Apple, Newspapers, snd28. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.