While reading Newsweek on the elliptical this morning, I had a laugh out loud moment at one of the letters to the editor.
"I am one of Sacha Baron Cohen's many victims ("Behind the Schemes, Oct. 16). Because his handlers told me he was Borat Sagdiyev, "a TV journalist from Kazakhstan," I booked him for a live studio interview on our morning news show in Jackson, Miss., thinking he was a legitimate reporter doing a documentary to be shown in his home country. I checked out his public-relations company's Web site and even met one of the publicists in person. They seemed genuine. But once the camera was on him, this man destroyed our credibility in very short order. Because of him, my boss lost faith in my abilities and second-guessed everything I did thereafter. I spiraled into depression, and before I could recover I was released from my contract early. It took me three months to find another job and now I'm thousands of dollars in debt and struggling to keep my house out of foreclosure. How upsetting that a man who leaves so much harm in his path is lauded as a comedic genius. Think of all the other people who've probably been fired because of his antics." - D. A. Arthur, Panama City, Fla.
Now come on. If you're such a bad journalist that 1. You aren't in touch with popular culture, and 2. You don't do any research on your guests, I'm sorry but...you're an idiot and you deserve to lose your job. That's like whining because you invited Wayne and Garth to your news show because you thought they were really teenage music fans who broadcast a show from their basement.
Monday, October 30, 2006
B-A-N-A-N-A-S, this shit is
Get drunker than you've ever gotten before? Check
Do it two nights in a row? Check
Walk around in the shortest shorts you've ever worn? Check
Show everyone your bra and/or tits because your shirt just won't stay on? Check
Discover gnarly wounds without any recollection of getting them? Check
See someone throw up in the middle of the street and/or pass out on a streetcorner? Check
Almost get run over by cops on horseback? Check
See all of your housemate's asses? Check
Kiss your girlfriends? Check
Dance in a cage? Check
Pound the handle? Check
Halloween 2006. Obligatory post. So much better than last year. And it's not even the 31st yet.
Do it two nights in a row? Check
Walk around in the shortest shorts you've ever worn? Check
Show everyone your bra and/or tits because your shirt just won't stay on? Check
Discover gnarly wounds without any recollection of getting them? Check
See someone throw up in the middle of the street and/or pass out on a streetcorner? Check
Almost get run over by cops on horseback? Check
See all of your housemate's asses? Check
Kiss your girlfriends? Check
Dance in a cage? Check
Pound the handle? Check
Halloween 2006. Obligatory post. So much better than last year. And it's not even the 31st yet.
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Does that make me crazy?
Just as I was about to begin my own memoir, "The Devil Wears Her Hair Pulled Back Too Often," I came across former journalism adviser Olaina Anderson's latest pet project. How's this for a tagline?
"I used to have a life: high school teacher, journalism adviser. Then I had a miscarriage and complications. Now I'm creating a new life--after school."
All this and more at Olaina After School. Can't wait for the movie version, but how will they ever find someone with a large enough... oh, well, you know.
Snide comments aside, I always knew she was a little crazy.
"I used to have a life: high school teacher, journalism adviser. Then I had a miscarriage and complications. Now I'm creating a new life--after school."
All this and more at Olaina After School. Can't wait for the movie version, but how will they ever find someone with a large enough... oh, well, you know.
Snide comments aside, I always knew she was a little crazy.
Friday, October 13, 2006
Melting down
It's a little terrifying when, all of the sudden, your future's brake lights go out and you slam right into it.
A few weeks ago I started working on my study abroad application. I scheduled a meeting with the chair of the Journalism department and quickly learned that, sorry, journalism isn't offered in Paris. SFSU Journalism is one of only 100 accredited programs in the US, and therefore to study journalism abroad I have to go to one of the countries they have specific arrangements with (Denmark, Wales, Australia). Well, okay then. She made it seem as if I was screwed, but after a few rounds of "are you sure, because the study abroad people said I could..." she finally told me that she thinks I should go and we outlined a class plan (that unfortunately involves summer school this and next summer) to make it happen.
Then she suggested graduate school. Finally, the answer I've been looking for. She told me that magazine writing, aside from being competitive, is tricky because very few magazines have a writing staff -- it's mostly done by freelance. So graduate school gives the edge. She suggest NYU. I light up because I've done the research and that was already my first pick. Columbia is good, too. Northwestern has some weird system and it very cliquey. She nixed USC -- good thing, too, cuz I'm not a fan. So how to best package myself for grad school? Great, I thought I put that behind me when I finished college applications. Anyway. Major in French, she says. They'll prefer someone who has immersed themselves in a subject. I understand, but I'm not quite ready to give up a BA in magazine journalism. Then it hits me: double major. With two classes in summer school and the two or three extra spaces in my schedule while I'm in Paris, I've got plenty of time to take the four upper division classes I need to turn my French minor into a French major. So there it is. I am a double major. After this study abroad business is squared away, I'll probably be in that office monthly. I'm hungry for advice. Plus, I'll need her as a recommendation on my grad school application. Yikes. I don't even want to know what those student loans are going to look like. And this time, unless my mom is feeling incredibly generous, I'll be on my own.
And as my luck would have it, I'm back to desperate need of a job. I found one for Fridays amazingly easily (answered the ad, called me back, interviewed and hired me all within 24 hours) but of course, I should've known it was too good to be true. Last Thursday night at 8 (while I was working out) I got a call saying that both parents had gotten telecommuting privileges on Fridays and so I was no longer needed. He called to tell me this 12 hours before I would've gone to their house. So I worked for them three times. Fucked up. I've had some interviews, it's going slowly. I have an interview for a real job on Wednesday. I can only pray at this point.
In other news, the darling baby kitten is officially testicle-free. I dropped him off at the SPCA Wednesday morning after 30 minutes of nasty traffic and him screaming in the carrier, then picked him up that evening. He was completely doped up on kitten Vicodin or what it was. My roommates still don't believe that he will be happier this way.
A few weeks ago I started working on my study abroad application. I scheduled a meeting with the chair of the Journalism department and quickly learned that, sorry, journalism isn't offered in Paris. SFSU Journalism is one of only 100 accredited programs in the US, and therefore to study journalism abroad I have to go to one of the countries they have specific arrangements with (Denmark, Wales, Australia). Well, okay then. She made it seem as if I was screwed, but after a few rounds of "are you sure, because the study abroad people said I could..." she finally told me that she thinks I should go and we outlined a class plan (that unfortunately involves summer school this and next summer) to make it happen.
Then she suggested graduate school. Finally, the answer I've been looking for. She told me that magazine writing, aside from being competitive, is tricky because very few magazines have a writing staff -- it's mostly done by freelance. So graduate school gives the edge. She suggest NYU. I light up because I've done the research and that was already my first pick. Columbia is good, too. Northwestern has some weird system and it very cliquey. She nixed USC -- good thing, too, cuz I'm not a fan. So how to best package myself for grad school? Great, I thought I put that behind me when I finished college applications. Anyway. Major in French, she says. They'll prefer someone who has immersed themselves in a subject. I understand, but I'm not quite ready to give up a BA in magazine journalism. Then it hits me: double major. With two classes in summer school and the two or three extra spaces in my schedule while I'm in Paris, I've got plenty of time to take the four upper division classes I need to turn my French minor into a French major. So there it is. I am a double major. After this study abroad business is squared away, I'll probably be in that office monthly. I'm hungry for advice. Plus, I'll need her as a recommendation on my grad school application. Yikes. I don't even want to know what those student loans are going to look like. And this time, unless my mom is feeling incredibly generous, I'll be on my own.
And as my luck would have it, I'm back to desperate need of a job. I found one for Fridays amazingly easily (answered the ad, called me back, interviewed and hired me all within 24 hours) but of course, I should've known it was too good to be true. Last Thursday night at 8 (while I was working out) I got a call saying that both parents had gotten telecommuting privileges on Fridays and so I was no longer needed. He called to tell me this 12 hours before I would've gone to their house. So I worked for them three times. Fucked up. I've had some interviews, it's going slowly. I have an interview for a real job on Wednesday. I can only pray at this point.
In other news, the darling baby kitten is officially testicle-free. I dropped him off at the SPCA Wednesday morning after 30 minutes of nasty traffic and him screaming in the carrier, then picked him up that evening. He was completely doped up on kitten Vicodin or what it was. My roommates still don't believe that he will be happier this way.
I'm seeing red
All things being equal, they are not.
As first world consumers, we have tremendous power. What we collectively choose to buy, or not to buy, can change the course of life and history on this planet.
A bit melodramatic, perhaps, but it's the concept behind (RED).
When you buy any of the products that support Product (RED), the parent company (Apple, GAP, American Express, and Motorola are just a few) will donate some of its profits to buy and distribute anti-retroviral medicine to people dying of AIDS in Africa.
(I've seen their stuff at the GAP and it looks pretty good.)
Check it out.
As first world consumers, we have tremendous power. What we collectively choose to buy, or not to buy, can change the course of life and history on this planet.
A bit melodramatic, perhaps, but it's the concept behind (RED).
When you buy any of the products that support Product (RED), the parent company (Apple, GAP, American Express, and Motorola are just a few) will donate some of its profits to buy and distribute anti-retroviral medicine to people dying of AIDS in Africa.
(I've seen their stuff at the GAP and it looks pretty good.)
Check it out.
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