ConVirgins Journalists

Shawn Lost in America: A Tribute to Where's Waldo

2006-08-13T19:35:00.001-07:00

My life has consisted of many crazy journey’s, but none will ever compare to my trip this week coming back to Columbia from my internship in D.C.. When I woke at 8 a.m. I had no idea what this day, which was a Saturday by the way, would involve. Let alone, the crazy characters I would meet. I am going to attempt to summarize the events as they occurred and will ignore any unnecessary details. Remember, all of this is true and nothing is embellished, which is something Iam known for doing.

The drive from Washington D.C. to my apartment in Columbia, MO is approx: 990 miles which translates into 16 to 17 hours of driving based on speed, bathroom breaks, food breaks and how many times I decide to stop and observe the beautiful American landscape.
A week before I left D.C. I had my car checked because it had been overheating during drives to Baltimore. So, the shop had a look at it and made a few changes. I know, nothing too exciting so far.

Everything was going great on my drive until I approached a town about 90 miles from D.C. called Cumberland. That is where my car began to overheat and this journey of epic proportions began. First off, let me explain something about Cumberland, MD. Cumberland is sort of like Pleasantville in the movie with the same name except it's in color and the women don’t look nearly as hot as Reese Weatherspoon. In Cumberland, I had my car looked at a local gas station while I ate at Wendy’s (their new Wendy’s melt is delicious, I recommend it). By the way, there probably wasn’t a Wendy’s in Pleasantville but there should’ve been. Thinking my troubles were over, I continued on and got 20 miles when my car started to smoke like a NYC waitress on her lunch break (insert laugh track here).

I pulled to the side of the road and noticed green radiator fluid was splashed all over my car. The engine had burnt out, and the worst part was I had no idea where I was. In fact, I didn’t even know what state I was in.

Luckily, before I had left for college my Mom had given me her AAA card and said, “Shawn, you will need this one day.” Mom’s are always right. I gave the company a call and found out I was located in Maryland and that a tow-truck would pick me up in 30 minutes. So there I sat on the side of interstate 68, which among other things consisted of large beetle-like butterflies, rattle snakeskin’s, rude passerby’s and afternoon heat. The only thing keeping me from running into the highway and getting struck by a vehicle to prematurely end my life was listening to the audiobook version of Chuck Klosterman’s Sex, Drugs, and Coco Puffs on my ipod.

After three and a half hours (yes that was 3 and half hours, no typo) of waiting for the tow truck to pick me and my dilapidated car up, they finally came. I don’t want to talk too much about what those three and half hours consisted of because I would just assume forget about it and never bring it up again.

The tow-truck guy was named Eric. He had the largest Adam’s apple I had ever seen.
Words don’t do this thing justice. It was as if a bee was stuck in his throat and consistently stinging him to inflate this thing. Anyway, Eric was so skinny he looked malnourished, smoked Marlboro reds, was wearing a T-shirt that had an American Flag and bald eagle on it, talked with a back-woods southern accent, and wore a trucker hat (since he was an actual trucker this means he wasn’t going for the KFed-Britney Spears look.)

Eric told me I had two options. Option 1 was to backtrack to Cumberland, MD and wait for them to look at my car while option 2 was to head 30 miles to Morgantown,VA. Going to Morgantown was the logical choice since it was in the direction I was going in. So, Eric loaded up my car lit up a cigarette and we were off. On the way, Eric told me about his band, which he said, “sounds like Metallica, but in the early years man.”

Eventually we reached Morganstown, home of the University of West Virginia, basketball legend Jerry West, and a lot of students who like to burn couches (see new Cingular commercial to see what I mean.) We went to the Honda dealership, but since it took so long for the towing service to find me it was now 6 p.m. and the service mechanics were gone. The only person at the dealership, in fact, was J.B.. J.B. is a salesman, maybe in his 40’s or 50’s, uses a strong scented hand-lotion and listens to modern pop music such as Taylor Hicks and every other musician that makes my ears bleed.

J.B. offered to give me a ride to find a hotel in his burnt orange Honda Element. Don’t you think if you were a salesman at a Honda dealership and could have your choice of vehicle you would chose something better than an Element? On the way to finding a hotel, he told me about how he used to be in law enforcement until some amateur photographer took a picture of a buddy of his throwing cash and drugs into his patrol car one evening. To say the least, I thought this was a weird thing to say to a stranger, but then again it was West Virginia and J.B. was the type of guy who loved to tell stories, and he told me loads of them. In a span of 20 minutes, J.B. told me his life. How he went to WVU during the “crazy hippie years”, how one of his roommates had a girlfriend who was a hooker and the money she made paid for their parties, how he became the first man to teach woman’s studies at WVU, how he has two adopted kids and one is “flamboyant” and gets weird looks outside of Morganstown, and how his team of salesman each made over 75K last year and spend their Sunday’s out on the lake drinking beer. He asked if I wanted to go. I firmly declined.

Finally, after getting severely tired of J.B.’s stories and his music, I checked in at a room at the Econo Lodge for two nights since the dealership was closed on Sunday. By the way, I should mention that the receptionist at the EL had a mustache thicker than mine, and that they still used keys, not card keys. This means anyone could make a copy of the key to come into my room and steal all of my shit or kill me. This probably was not the best place to stay, but like I said it was this or J.B. and I chose the EL.

I am hoping my car will be fixed by tomorrow and I can continue my trip back to CMO. But something tells me this epic journey has just begun and that this won’t be the last blog entry of Shawn Lost in America. Until next time, keep fighting the good fight.

OH MY GOD!!!!

2006-08-10T05:53:00.000-07:00

Hello all! I'm currently sitting safely in my grandparents house in Michigan. I left London a week early and am very glad I did given all of the troubles that are going on now. My friend who is still is London told me about the arrests, so I turned on FOX News. I then heard about an intern trying to go through security and I knew it was our Jenn Jarvis! She was just doing a live over the phone report! That's so awesome! Congratulations Jenn!

Stanley Cup!

2006-07-25T14:08:00.000-07:00

No, I didn't meet any ambassadors. But I did take my picture with THE Stanley Cup (or one of the 3 that they have out there) last weekend. If I ever get it developed, I'll post it.

But in the meantime, I'd love to call your attention to this:
Anderson Cooper, the man with really white hair!

This is the Anderson Cooper 360 blog. I kinda feel like the guys is overrated, but reading this blog (I'm sure Nikki would agree) brings back this feeling of being haunted by Katrina. Cooper and his producers and other correspondents in the field post here, and it seems like they are using this blog the same way Nikki and I did-- to bring a different level of perspective and emotion to the conflict at hand.

Its still interesting to me to read about what is happening over there from a not-news-package viewpoint-- it feels like the real news is whats posted on the blog, rather than the carefully scripted news stories in the papers and on TV.

And, I also bring it to your attention because Mizzou Con-Virgins did it first. CNN is a bunch of copy-cats!!

Margaritas, Ambassador's, and Marketing Oh My!

2006-07-25T08:58:00.000-07:00

Have you ever been in the position to meet one of the most influential people in the world and made a complete ass out of yourself (sort of like when Forrest Gump pulled down his pants in front of Nixon to show he had been shot in the butt.) Because I have. Here is the set-up:

Last night I got home to my humble basement at around 9 p.m.. After I got off work I had decided to go to the gym and workout. Following my chase for that never possible six pack, I had a craving for some pita bread and hummus (my new food of choice.) So, as I walk into my house my focus is on the pita bread and hummus and nothing else. To my surprise, the family I live with was not asleep, but instead the husband, Homer, was dressed in a tux and his wife Zeyneb was in a party dress. There was another couple sitting on the couch enjoying some fine wine and were probably shocked to see a 21-year-old kid who had his tie half-way undone and smelled like he hadn't taken a shower in two weeks (hey, I have!) walk into their friend's home acting like he owned the place.
Obviously surprised at what I saw, and still focused on that pita and hummus (oh and now an ice cold frosty beer), I turned to Homer and said, "Oh I didn't get the invite to the party." (I thought it was funny and charming but the look on everyone else's faces indicated otherwise).
Homer then preceded to turn to me and tell me the man sitting on the couch was the ambassador of Turkey and the woman his wife.
"Ah," I said. I then shook hands with the ambassador and his wife and feeling like an ass went down to the basement and had a Corona Lite with my pita bread and hummus and watched two episodes of The Office.

By the way, if you haven't seen the following PSA announcements from The Office click the link. The Office Clips

Currently, I am spending some time in the marketing dept. at USATODAY.com and would tell you what I've been doing except I haven't done anything yet.

Going out for margaritas tonight for a farewell party for one my fellow interns. If you ever wanted to know who invented the margarita click the link. My Margarita

Before I leave here are some more words of wisdom from yours truly.
"In order to go forward you have to comeback to where you started."
Read that, taste it, chew it, enjoy it.

2006-07-25T06:41:00.000-07:00

Greetings!

I am now officially published! In last week's issue of Retail Week, I designed five layouts, one of which was the main story. I didn't even realize that until my boss told me. My boss has been working on a special feature for this week's issue, so I've been laying out some of the pages for this week. I'm looking forward to all of the clips I will be getting.

I can't believe my last day is next Thursday. It seems like my time here at Retail Week has gone by quicker than I could have expected. I have enjoyed most of my time here and have learned a lot. I just wish I'd had more time so my boss could teach me more. He's great a what he does and has been a great teacher. Everyone at Retail Week has been great and I'm going to miss everyone here. However, I will be heading back to the US soon, so I won't be too sad about the whole thing.

Hope everyone else is doing well!

coming to a close...

2006-07-24T13:39:00.000-07:00

So I'm down to about 10 days left in Toronto!! My mom comes Thursday with her 3 friends (its going to be like Ya-Ya sisterhood invades Canada, I think)- we're goin to Niagara Falls Saturday, then by the time she leaves, I have 3 days left!

Its been a wild experience to say the least- definitely a realization that the rest of the world DOES hate the U.S., but I'm still holding strong to my midwest values :)

And while there is nothing cooler than a thunderstorm in the heart of a city (it echoes off the buildings and sounds like things are falling down around you!), I've really missed the feeling of summer, be it sitting outside at Shiloh (sigh. I miss CoMo!), sweating your brains out and then going into A/C and feeling the relief of cold air (its been in the 70's and low 80's for the most part here), or smelling grass and things not being warm sewage on the street corners. I'm just ready to get back home.

I'm kinda surprised with myself-- I thought I'd enjoy the hustle and bustle of a city more than I have. And I thought I'd enjoy my time in the newsroom more than I have, as well-- its a totally different world working with adults who are indifferent about journalism! I have REALLY missed the passionate work ethic (even if we may fall asleep on the floor of the C-Lab from time to tome!) of the students in J-School...

which is bringing me to think that maybe I need to be reconsidering my direction in a year... at the moment, its heading to grad school, getting my Masters in Eductation and teaching HS Journalism!! (yep. here I go, changing my mind again!)

It has been too long my dear friends

2006-07-21T12:42:00.000-07:00

Like my mother always said "home is where the heart is" and my heart is stuck in the convergence lab under the table near the server where people go to sleep when they are hungover. Although I am starting to get excited to return to CMO, I will miss USATODAY.com because I have learned an incredible amount and made some great relationships. I know its been awhile since I have blogged, but I have been extremely busy. Here are some samples of what I have been working on here at USAT (that's short for USATODAY.com...just to clarify). Injured Quarterbacks IsraelvHezbollah

Here is a rundown of other events that have occured since the last time I posted anything.

- Ate at the restaurant where JFK proposed to Jackie. Martin's

- Observed six five-star generals drink seven rounds of Scotch at a Chinese Restaurant located in a strip mall of a Virginia suburb. True story. In fact, one of them was General Tommy Franks (see the pic above.) I thought it was funny and ironic since it was day five of the Israel v. Hezbollah crisis.

- Lost my sister on the metro. Don't worry, we found her.

- Drank with all sorts of people at USATODAY.com including top editors. That was a blasty.

- Almost died of heat stroke while playing tennis with no water.

- Wore the same clothes to work two days in a row. I took a shower though so that counts, right?

- Watched a lot of TV at work to gather and edit Emmy clips. Life is good.

I think that about wraps it up. I am off to go see a Washington Nationals game with some fellow interns. Hopefully nothing too crazy occurs, but then again it's my life and there certainly will be a good story that will come out of this evening. Before I bid this post a proper adieu I want all of you to read these lyrics from Pocohontas and remember them because they will undoubtly change your life forever.

Have you ever heard the wolf cry to the blue corn moon
Or asked the grinning bobcat why he grinned?
Can you sing with all the voices of the mountains?
Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?

Peace.

2nd times the charm

2006-07-10T16:06:00.000-07:00

Hello! I started my new internship today and it was awesome! I started designing right off the bat. I did two designs that will be published and then fooled around with a couple of others just to play around. I've learned so much and it's only been one day! My supervisor is really talented and showed me a lot with photoshop and he has so much more he wants to teach me. I want to absorb everything I can since I only have 4 weeks.

I've been told the stuff I've been working on is for a supplement. A supplement I will design entirely on my own. Including the front cover! I'm going to get so much out of this! Michael says I'll be an InDesign expert by the time I leave since I'll be using it everyday. I'm finally excited to go to work everyday!

Germany was fabulous this weekend. It is so beautiful and it was awesome to finally put my German to good use. I just wish I could have been there longer to use it even more! It was so great to hear them speak it and actually understand! There were a few hiccups in our travelling, but all in all it was great.

I'm talking to Mike right now. He says Australia is great. Sounds like everyone is having a fairly good summer. That's good to hear. Now if I could just get my butt in gear and post my photos...

new internship

2006-07-06T13:06:00.000-07:00

Hello all!

I have a new internship. I start Monday as a designer for Retail Week. I'm going to be doing everything I hoped I'd be doing while I was here. I'm so excited to jump in and get going. I only have 4 weeks left and I have 4 weeks of experience to make up for! No more telemarketing or ironing shirts! I can't wait!

I hope everyone is enjoying their internships! The 4th was a little boring here. We all missed home a lot. Tomorrow is the anniversary of the train bombings. A few people are a little nervous terrorists will attack again. I think we'll be fine, but you never know.

Anyways, I'm going to get going. I have to pack for Germany.

Later!

4th of July in the Nation's Capitol

2006-07-06T08:46:00.000-07:00

Celebrating the 4th of July in D.C. is like a giant citywide party where people who are usually fighting with one another, i.e. Republicans and Democrats, can put aside their differences and drink beers together and light off fireworks. If you ever get the chance to celebrate the 4th in D.C., I recommend it. Here is a chronicle of my day, which was pretty crazy actually.
8 a.m.-10 a.m.-- Went for a nice little run around G-town where people were already starting to barbeque and kids were running around with American flags. I even ran by a parade which was kind of strange because I think some of the people thought I was in the parade and they started to cheer me on as I ran. I sort of gave them that half parade wave back like you see Homecoming Queen's give as they ride in a Mustang down the street. I felt special.
10:15 a.m.-- Took a shower. That's Hot!
11:00 a.m.-- Went to Best Buy and bought a keyboard. That's right I am going to relearn how to play the piano and since I can't pay for a piano (I have an unpaid internship people) I decided on getting a keyboard. Actually, I still remember how to play Mary Had a Little Lamb and O Christmas Tree, which I thought was pretty good since I haven't played since I was 12.
2:00 p.m.-- Headed down to the National Mall with one of my fellow interns where we were supposed to meet up with other interns until it started pouring --again. Apparently the apocalypse is going down because I've never seen this much rain in my life. I am so sick of rain that now I know how Noah felt.
2:25 or something like that-- Escaped the rain and found a bar that had the Germany vs. Italy match on. Drank a few beers and pop pop called it day once my team Italy, (I am half Italian which might explain my love for garlic cheese bread and The Godfather movies) came out victorious. I will be rooting for the Italians when they take on those dirty Frenchmen on Sunday.
5:00 p.m.-- Bought some Miller Lite at a local convenience store where some Arabic guy said “enjoy your 4th of July” and then winked at me. I thought that was sort of strange at the time.
6:00 p.m.-- Went to a fellow interns casa where we ate fajitas and ate cheeps and cheese dip. Yes, true Americans. Nothing says red, white and blue like Mexican food. OK, I’m from California where that would make more sense.
6:30 p.m.-- Took two Tequila shots
6:31 p.m.-- Felt like throwing up
6:35 p.m.-- Took another Tequila shot
6:38 p.m -- Sat down and stared at the television for the next hour
8:00 p.m.-- Went to the National Mall to watch the fireworks. Ran into people wearing George Bush masks who were trying to light themselves on fire. They were not successful.
9:00 p.m.-- Fireworks start. Best fireworks show I have ever seen. During the show there was a full orchestra playing famous American songs. It was also great because the tequila shots started to wear off.
9:45 p.m.-- Tried to find funnel cake. Was not successful.
10:30 p.m.-- Went to random intern party. Drank 4 Miller Lites on a roof that overlooked the city while lighting off sparklers. That was cool!
11:30 p.m.-- Took the metro home which was filled with drunk people, or passed out people. Felt like eating funnel cake once again. Couldn't find any.
12:00 a.m.-- ????

The next day at work was not very fun. I was hung-over all day which made it very difficult to create a timeline on Kenneth Lay's life. Did you know that Lay is a proud grad of Missouri? I am sure glad that MU has had such proud alumni as Lay and Sam Walton. Why don't we just give the CEO of Starbucks an honorary degree to complete the triefecta of corporate greed? Well until next time, enjoy life and don't let the man get you down. Peace.

England Update

2006-07-05T11:10:00.000-07:00

Greetings from the internet free building in London. Our internet went out last week and will be out for at least another week, maybe two. I usually go over to the other IE building, but currently, I'm sitting outside on the porch stealing someone else's wireless.

My current internship is not going to be able to give me what I need, so I have an interview with a new one. I might actually get some magazine design experience. I'm really excited.

To update you all quickly, I was in Rome this weekend. It was the weekend from hell and cost way too much money to get in/out of the city. I can tell you all more when I get back if you want to know, but there is just too much to type here.

Although I might get a new internship, I think I will be coming home early. Europe is great, but 3 months is far too long to be here. I'm finding my heart isn't in it and I'm just going through the motions. I've had a lot of fun here, but I need the time to adjust at home and begin to be myself again. There is another intern who shares my feelings, so I feel much better knowing I'm not alone.

I'll be in Germany this weekend. I'll be there during the last game of the World Cup. It should be interesting. I hope you all are having a great time.

Cheers.

Just for the summer...

2006-07-04T15:51:00.000-07:00

Well, I would normally never advocate this...but if you think about it watch Fox News this summer.

Especially this week. It's the one year anniversary of the London bombings. For some reason Fox is going all out with their coverage, which is odd because they are so America-centric. Anyway, starting Wednesday night with Greta through Friday's Greta, anytime they go to London, I will probably be right behind the camera. So just for the rest of the week, if you turn on the TV, maybe stop by Fox and think of me.

Or, if you really miss me...anytime there is coverage from Europe, the Middle East or Northern Africa, our office is involved. But after the summer is over, never watch Fox again. I love working for Fox here, but still can't stand the network.

Okay, one more thing I'm excited about, then I'm done. I am officially listed as the Field Producer for Fox News Radio for all their London bombing coverage. And I talked my bureau chief into asking if I can do all the web coverage. So, if the web producers agree, I get to do all the online content too. Which isn't saying much because the Fox website just started limited podcasts a couple months ago. Ahhh! And I found typos on the front page of their website three times last week. That should make Curt and Jen feel better about digmo and komu.com!

Anyway, I'm so excited about it all and no one here really cares. So I'm bursting at the seams! But I'm kinda nervous too. I hope I can follow through on all this.

So, that's my exciting news! I love you all! I'm so proud of all of you...sniffle...tear.

Swimming in D.C.

2006-06-28T05:08:00.000-07:00

For four straight days there has been rain of biblical porportions here in the Washington area, and yours truly has been caught in the eye of the storm. On Sunday, when the rains started, I was in Baltimore visiting a friend watching the Orioles game at Camden Yards when darkeness struck and rain began to fall. By the time I got back to my basement in D.C. there was 2-3 inches of water covering the ground.
Luckily, none of my stuff got ruined but to say the least everything was a mess and outside it was continuing to rain. So, I ditched the D.C. metro area for Mclean, VA, or as I like to call it the classic Leave It to Beaver suburbs. This is where I have been living the past four days while my basement is being dryed out, and I have attempted to adapt to surburban life as best as possible. In honor of USATODAY and making easy to read lists, here are some things I have noticed about surburban life.

- The mall is where the action is. Like any true suburbanite I ate at the mall the first night I was living in Beaver land. The mall is where everyone hangs out, buys trendy clothing that costs more than my life and apparently eats at. I mean where else can you choose between Chinesse, Pizza, Mexican, American (i.e. Hot Dog on a Stick)and get Cinnabon's at all times of the day and night besides the American Mall Food Court. Plus watching stupid high school kids act, like well high school kids, is entertaining. It's great!
- People take themselves seriously in the burbs. It is very stuffy in the suburbs I must say. People are very concerned about maintaining an existence that is quite and calm. So any outsider is not welcome, especially when they are driving a beat up Honda Civic with a Missouri license plate and blastng Nelly. Country Gramma baby!
- Finally, everyone has pets in the suburbs. And the best part is these dogs and cats are treated better than 80 percent of humans across the globe. I mean there are people in India who eat sticks and the dogs here are eating a four course meal from Morton's Steakhouse. Blows my mind.

Well, I am getting my scuba diving outfit on to prepare to swim to the office. I hope everyone is enjoying their sunny summer, I know I would be if I could remember what the sun looked like. Peace out Seacrest!

Had a great time in D.C.

2006-06-26T19:22:00.000-07:00

Shawn Brouwer and me in Georgetown right before it rained
Originally uploaded by amandahi.

I saw Shawn this weekend in Washington. It rained like crazy [story], and I hit a deer on the way home. We went to the Smithsonian and walked to Georgetown. I'm going back in August and will hopefully tour USA TODAY.
Roanoke is busy, and I'm staying a week longer than expected. Is anyone else planning to do the D.C. program in winter 2007? I'm considering it, but I may need some Convirgins support.

Which complex?

2006-06-26T06:12:00.000-07:00

Well, today is my first day on the job.
I started a little later than planned because I had a few issues with my internship and then had to find a new one.
Sooooo, now I am officially interning with FOX News in London/Sky News. I'm based in the FOX News bureau, which is a total of 8 people. But it is housed in Sky News, which is a major cable news network every where in the world except the U.S. So, I'm mostly working with FOX, but on the slow days I'm going to pitch in at Sky a bit.
In fact, I just found out when I showed up today that I may get to do some radio work for Sky because they are in the process of hiring a new reporter. I'm excited!

So far today, all I've done is get my ID badge and sit in on a conference call.
The ID badge was quite a trip. In the main Sky complex, each channel/department has its own building. Each building is about 3 times the size of KOMU. The complex has about ten buildings and its own road. I was overwhelmed. Then when I went out to get my ID badge today, I discovered there are two more complexes that are equally as big. So basically, this entire part of town belongs to the Sky Network. I really couldn't believe it. I'm sure you've all seen stuff like this before, but I'm a little starstruck.

Then the radio guy, I forget his name, took me on a tour of the studios. They have a really interesting setup. It's very flexible and they can change the look easily. He also showed me the bathroom and food situation (both crucial to my performance).

He also seemed impressed I was from Mizzou. He could remember who the Mizzou grads were at every station he had ever worked at. I think that says a lot. Puts a lot of pressure on me though. And the bureau chief here, my boss, is a Mizzou grad.

Then I got to sit in on the morning conference call. It was another moment where I had to take a deep breath. The main FOX studio checks in with every FOX bureau they have in the world and goes over the days stories. I was so excited just to be listening. (I'm such a nerd!)

I also found out I get to be one of the reporters for the July 7 memorial coverage. Just grabbing bites and nat sound, but I'm still psyched.

So, that's the news for now. Oh, the radio guys name is David, not that you guys care. But I need to remember this!

Right now we're all having a discussion about who Anderson Cooper should be dating. He's gay BTW. I already love it here.

I'll try to post some pictures on my own blog, but I'm terribly behind.
We finally got the wireless working in our flat, so I'll be online from time to time.

Cheers!

Where did I put that tie?

2006-06-20T13:57:00.000-07:00

So apparently, I majored in the wrong thing. I should have majored in ironing and then minored in folding. My internship has been one big disappointment. I haven't done any design and each week it looks like I'm not going to. I spend my time locating photos, sending clothes back to their companies, hanging clothes up, and ironing. I don't mind doing crap work as long as I get the experience I was promised. I'm not pleased and have gone to IE to find a new one. I'm hoping to get some design experience with a Methodist weekly newspaper. I'm really excited about the prospect and hope they get back to me tomorrow.

Other than that, things here are great. My roommate and I are going to Wales and Stonehenge this weekend. We're looking into Rome for the weekend after that. I'm looking forward to travelling and even making it to Germany at some point. I want to see my birth country even if I can't see where I was born. Is it bad that I can't even spell it? (Ashaffenburg I think...) It isn't often that I have to spell it out, so I often don't worry. Germany is usually satisfactory. Anyway, I'm also looking forward to returning home in around 6.5 weeks. It doesn't seem like that much time has gone by, but it has. I'm worried I won't get everything in that I want to, but I guess it leaves more for me to do when I come back. I'm sure this won't be the last time I visit England.

I hope all of you are enjoying your internships and having a great time wherever you are. I miss the convergence team!

Cheers!

Hicks on the TimesCast

2006-06-20T13:23:00.000-07:00

I made it to the small screen, everyone:

TimesCast for June 20

Hope everyone is having as much fun as I am! Word.

Washington Post Article That Sums Up the New Age of Journalism

2006-06-19T17:33:00.000-07:00

Full Article>

Patricia Sullivan of the Washington Post has summed up the impact of the internet on news media and where the future of journalism is headed in her article "As the Internet Grows Up the News Industry Changes Forever". This is the most concise, exciting (for convergence people), petrifying (for print people) article on the force of new media I have seen. Coincidently, a group of interns and I had lunch today with Kinsey Wilson, who is Deputy Editor of the new converged newsroom at USATODAY. For your reading benefit, I have sliced up this article -since it is long- and taken the best parts while adding commentary from Wilson and myself. Hopefully, this will serve as an open forum for everyone to comment on this issue facing our industry. Sorry for the length of this blog but it is pouring rain here in D.C. and I am sort of bored.

"News consumption has fractured and fragmented in the United States over the past 30 years, but the demand for news is strong. Network morning, evening and news magazine shows, cable news and public broadcasting audiences, combined with the explosion of growth in the digital media, are bathing consumers in more news and information than ever before."
-- True, but the question is what medium will lead the future of the industry or will it be a combination of all these forms. In my opinion it is a combination but Wilson was insistent that each medium will serve its own purpose and it is up to online folks to give the audience something unique. See Sullivan's opinions later on.

"Newspapers, the biggest and oldest segment of the mainstream media, are built on the work of creative, contentious and quick-witted people, but also of curmudgeons who resist change."
-- Couldn't have said it better myself. When Wilson was speaking with us this afternoon he had to whisper when certain "print" folks were around. He said he has to watch what he says because there are still traditionalists who like a good sea-faring captain plan on going down with their ship. Except in this case the ship may be an entire industry as we know it.

"Newsrooms shrunk by layoffs and battered by bloggers, are seeing their traditional audiences shrink. Daily newspapers lost 1.2 million readers in the six months that ended in March, down to 45.5 million. Online newspaper readership grew to 56 million."
-- No surprise here. At a USATODAY meeting headed by President and Publisher Craig Moon, the question was asked by a print person to Moon about how they could increase circulation on the print side. Moon shrugged off the question saying that the company's focus was not on increasing circulation for print but to increase viewer ship online. The revolution is in full swing, and the people at the top know it.

"So, barring a genius who creates a new revenue stream, the online news business is left to rely on advertising."
-- Maybe the geniuses are the students in the media convergence sequence. We are already way ahead of the game. Cocky, no, just confident.

"While print advertising revenue is nearly flat, advertising spending for newspapers' online editions in the same time frame shot up 35 percent. The actual revenue, at $613 million, is just a fraction of what the print version collects, but that fraction has been increasing steadily over time."
-- According to the rumor mill in my department at USATODAY.com, the USATODAY print edition will be abandoned in two to five years. That's correct, the largest circulated print newspaper in the country may no longer be in existence in two to five years. These figures are the reason why.

"Thirty percent of Americans say they are spending less time with newspapers and magazines because of the time they're spending online; 13 percent watch less TV and 19 percent listen to less radio."
-- Interesting numbers, but I think more research needs to be done. For example, how many people are watching video/TV online, through phone or on their ipod?

“For now, newsrooms are trying to find the ideal balance between providing the instant and interactive news that readers clearly crave and the serious, in-depth journalism that makes a difference in society. Business managers are trying to increase online advertising revenue without cannibalizing the ad income for the original publication. Executives are trying to foresee the shape of the industry and calculate how to beat everyone else there. And consumers, for the moment, have the best of all worlds.”
-- That sums it up.

Please feel free to respond to this. I am hoping this results in a free forum or ideas and thoughts. Peace.

Multimedia studio at TRT

2006-06-15T07:11:00.000-07:00

Because The Roanoke Times is progressive and embraces multimedia, they've turned an old locker room into a studio where we are filming the TimesCast and other fun projects. [Read more about it.]
Some of you may know Bernie Dorrough, a grad student from Mizzou who graduates in August. Monday, he came to Roanoke to interview for an online producer job. I think he probably has a pretty good shot. The Mizzou mafia is officially at work when you let a fellow student sleep on an air mattress in your apartment.
Things are still going well in Virginia. The budget meetings at the Times are incredibly short. The editors run through a lot of stories and make decisions quickly. I've gone to several budget meetings and, in going along with the rapid-fire style, I spit out things we can do for online (message boards, polls) but never really pitch anything fantastic. I'm glad the paper gives consideration to online and gives us a chance to talk at buget, but the news cycle is pretty short. So we end up putting up polls and photo galleries without pushing much harder -- unless we know about a great online feature days or weeks in advance. Does anyone else have this problem?

Tired. Very Very Tired.

2006-06-14T19:02:00.000-07:00

I thought summer in CoMO was supposed to be slow. Yeah. Whoever told me that lied.

But before I get into what crazy things are going on at KOMU, let me just say how insanely jealous I am of all you kids who have internships at amazing places like ESPN and USAToday and ABCNews Now and The Star. You guys rock. Seriously. And I've loved reading about your different experiences--it makes me feel involved. =)

Anyways, for Jen's Advanced Internet Applications class, heretofore to be called "internet bootcamp," we're required to take on a project dealing with the website. I decided to tackle creating a new series, "Window to the Web," for on-air and online. It would be a weekly pkg that looks at new technology and how KOMU.com uses it. It sounded so easy. I was wrong. Maybe working dotcom shifts and TAing the broadcast lab, on top of two classes wasn't such a good idea. But, it's keeping me busy and I'm learning a lot--I'm still not sure how to write a pkg about RSS feeds though. Many hours of thinking are gonna need to go into that one. My head already hurts. =).

For those of you in CoMO for the summer - the series makes its debut Thursday at 5 p.m. For all of you lucky enough to be at a fabulous intership somewhere on the globe, look for it on KOMU.com! Lance is the face of convergence!

Hope all is well in the convergence world. Love you guys!

Toronto nightlife hurts the next morning....

2006-06-14T18:45:00.000-07:00

So, this past weekend one of our city reporters turned old, and decided to invite everyone out for his birthday. Got into the clubs for FREE (old people know other old people who own bars apparently and get in free-- i cant wait to be old!), had guys buy me drinks because i sounded american (i'll take it!), and then took a cab home at 4am, and i was one of the first to go home.

And then Sunday morning (by morning I mean about noon) rolled around...and I paid for all those free drinks another way. Whoops.

But, it was crazy. Just like the clubs you see on Sex & the City.

Now Steve, you will be proud-- they have me working with the sports editor here! So I am doing graphics on the Stanley Cup (poor Oilers didnt make it too well it appears... Canada just hopes it'll all be over tonight!), the US Open, and the season openers for the CFL (Woot Canadian Football League....!).

Its been fun so far- I get a LOT more stuff to do, because sports are excited to have someone to do graphics, so thats cool.

Alas, my cubicle is quite bare as well. I stole some brightly colored post-its from the supply closet and jotted down the things I forget, and other than the chart of column measures and department codes, all i haev is a map of canada. Because I can never freakin remember what is where. Yep. I am THE dumb american. :)

And the World Cup here is out of control-- Toronto has little italy, little poland, little india, little china, little korea, little canada.. i mean, you get the point. So every day there is a riot SOMEWHERE with police getting beat up and people going crazy. ALL over town you can tell who is winning by the cars driving around honking with the respective flags flying and middle aged men screaming and hanging out the windows. yay downtown Toronto!

My top 3--
1. Keeping a tally of how many times my computer crashes a day. I have been working for almost 5 hours now and it has crashed at least 6 times, and 2 hours of that 5 was spent in newsmeetings. Piece of crap.
2. Free food here is SAFE and GOOD. People in the city try to buy out the Star to get articles written, so we get all kinds of cool stuff to eat every day.
3. I know more about the news process than most of the editors. And I don't know as much as people from MU do, either. Mizzou really is the best Journalism School in the world. (The canuck kids from their "best J-Schools" can't write for crap, its crazy! We rock!)

Officer Chatter

2006-06-13T13:00:00.000-07:00

NY Times Article
In honor of my nearly three week anniversary of starting my internship at USATODAY.com, I have decided to compile a list of Top 5 things all future office workers should know before their new wing tip shoes step in their cubicle. If you would like to add to this list feel free.

5.) Always look like you are doing something important. The key to an office job is to look like you are always working even if you are at ebaumsworld.com or flipping through day-time soap's on your cube T.V.. Always have a document open on your computer that you can go back to just in case your supervisor happens to walk by. And remember the key words... "Yeah this project is tough... it's taking me forever," or have a stupid question ready, "Should I decompress this file into a gif or jpg." This last question doesn't work for text documents, but if you use it anyway your boss will just look at you like your crazy and walk away.

4.) You get ahead –and live- by who you know not what you know. Talk to EVERYONE. And when I mean EVERYONE, I mean EVERYONE, even if it is that co-worker who you know goes home at night and plays with his "figurines" while watching the History channels special on the AK-47 and wears his pants up to his belly button. Because as my good friend Dane Cook says, when this guy decides to go on a killing rampage at the office because everyone made fun of his toupee and lack of hygiene, he will remember you. And when he passes you by, you will thank your lucky stars you chatted with him.

3.) Watch out for the free food! Usually when people bring in baked goods from home there is a reason why their significant other or children didn't eat it. So, don't be the idiot who tries the cookies sitting out on the floor pantry because you might spend the next 24 hours being best friends with the porcelain god. Trust me; paying the 50 cents for a bag of Doritos is worth it if it's a matter of life and death.

2.) Dress Appropriately. This isn't college and a shirt that says, "Daddy's Little Girl" or "I Got Drunk on (insert frat or sorority her) Hayride 06'" isn't going to cut it. But remember, you don't have to wear a suit either. Unless of course you work at a company with three names in it (ex. Cohen, Cohen and Cohen). Also, be aware of the basics in fashion and wear the same colored belt as shoes and darker socks than your pants. Oh, and when you leave the bathroom make sure you don't have toilet paper stuck to the bottom of your shoe. It's really embarrassing.

1.) Don't get caught blogging.

Having a pint and cursing London

2006-06-12T10:46:00.000-07:00

Why is London in the Stoneage? Haven't they heard of AC? I smell badly, but there is comfort in knowing everyone else smells just as badly. I just got home from my first day as a Drapers intern. I spend most of my time opening boxes and sorting clothes. I hung them up while Clint, my fellow Missouri intern, wrote everything down so we can be ready to send them back in a few weeks. I met more of the Drapers team, and they all seem very nice. I found out they don't care if I ask for more than two days off (I won't abuse this privilege though) and that I will be helping at the photos shoots by working with the clothes as well as coming up with ways to lay out accessories.

After we finished with the cupboard, Clint and I went upstairs to do some other work during our last hour. I called around to find a few photos and then sorted mail. Apparently, Clint and I are also the secretaries for the fashion dept. I also will be working on a story about Milla Jovovich's line coming to the UK. While I don't want to write, it'll still be pretty cool.

I talked to my supervisor and I will be getting to design!!!! I'm so excited!

Clint and I met up with another of our interns and all went to the tube together. After the entrance, I lost them. I have no idea where they went, but I hopped on the train for the route I wanted to take home (I have 3 options) and am now happily sitting in my apartment. Why happy? Because now I can sit in front of my fan and not feeling like it's 200 degrees outside. OOH! I hear the ice cream man!!!

Oh well, time for dinner and a pint.

Cheers!

One Crazy Weekend

2006-06-12T07:34:00.000-07:00

OK, to start off with I just got done reading Steve's post of the top 10 at ESPN and to say the least I am quite jealous. Steve, do me a favor and drop my name because it sounds like you have the coolest internship ever.

Yet, I shouldn't complain too much. This was the first weekend where I went out and enjoyed the night life of D.C.. A group of interns from USATODAY and me went out to a Mexican restaurant in a place called Adams Morgan. After enjoying margaritas and burritos, we went back to a dorm on the George Washington campus which in the summer is used as housing for interns. To say the least, the place was hopping. Imagine being able to drink in the dorms, anytime and anywhere. There were trash can parties on every floor and beer pong was set-up in the hallway. Good times.

Most of the interns work on "The Hill", a.k.a. the Capitol, and are political types -so for the first time in college my poly sci minor can actually be used. We partied with some guys from Duke and I made fun of them the whole time about the lacrosse scandal.

After crashing in someone's apartment Friday night, the sports guys from USATODAY and myself went to a local soccer bar and watched the World Cup from 9:30 until 5 p.m.. To say the least, it was a long day of drinking Guinness with England fans who were excited about their 1-0 victory over Paraguay. Jenn, this is as close as I can get to being in London and am jealous that you are in Europe for the WC.

Well, I am getting ready to watch the U.S. Czech Republic game in my cube. Which, like Steve I don't know what to do with. My cube is so plain compared to everyone else's, except for the fact that old computers are tossed around everywhere. Anyway, I am going to try and recover from a weekend of fun by actually doing work this week. In a later post I will let everyone know what I have been doing at USATODAY.com but since I got only 2 hrs of sleep last night I am a little too tired to write about important stuff. Hope all is well with everyone. Peace.

Time is flying by!

2006-06-09T15:58:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I've been here for three weeks already, and what a crazy three weeks it has been!

I've been mostly running the wires for now, just waiting to start work on an annual column of sorts. Guilty Pleasures is its title, and I think it is right up my alley. I won't be writing it so much as making it a multi-media extravaganza. You'd be surprised how amateur this newsroom can be - I think we might "experiment" with a video podcast. Funny.

I've also become addicted to celeb gossip blogs and I am starting to talk in blog lingo(can we call that blingo?). One of my stories was linked to pinkisthenewblog.com today. I feel like I've finally made it in the world of entertainment news.

Also, there was a big meeting last week to discuss goals and whatnot with the whole company. Apparently MSNBC.com plans on hiring 34 new people in a year...

news comes to US!

2006-06-06T09:36:00.000-07:00

So remember back in our reporting days where we would pitch stories that were often far-fetched and extremely boring and we'd struggle all week to find the right spin on it, usually not getting it 100% right? And how stories of 50+ softball leagues, moms with multiples, and dumpster men finding dildos were what we reported on?

Yeah, there are no stories like that here. In fact, theres not even a hint of that stuff here. The Star typically runs around 92 pages or so everyday, and the paper is CHOCK FULL of news every day. The GA reporting interns here dont really get to pitch anything-- actually, the regular staff dont do a lot of pitching either-- its a lot of ambulance chasing and courts reporting and, oh yeah, terrorism raids. :)

If anyone heard, they arrested 17 people this weekend that were planning on bombing downtown Toronto (about 1 block from where the Star resides!) with 3x more stuff than they used to blow up the Fed building in OKCity.

So needless to say, most of Canada is really freaking out right now! Who knew another country than the US could have terrorism threats?!

I mean, its been SUPER exciting the past few days-- by now (tuesday) the reporters and photogs have their zombie faces on-- a lot of them have been sleeping in the washrooms on couches for a few days now. We pretty much run about 20-30 pages each day (sat-tues so far) on the bomb plot.

Woot big news, Eh? :) Its finally starting to slow down a bit-- BUT, the NYTimes did write an article praising The Star for scooping the story-- no other paper in the country had anything about it Sat. morning, and we had PAGES of stuff on it all. So check it out. :)

Anyway, keep me posted on stuff-- I think we need to arrange a souvineir swap so we can get stuff from DC, ESPN, London, etc. at the end of the summer. :) Like a secret santa souvineir?! lol whatev. I just want presents when I come home :)

6-6-06, end of the world signing out....
Stef

I'm in the fashion business

2006-06-05T13:57:00.001-07:00

So I went today for my interview or more accurately, my introduction. Another student and I will be working at Drapers together. He's a nice guy and I look forward to a friendly face during my first few days there. Our responsibilities will include the fashion cupboard (or closet for us Americans), writing a few blurbs now and then, conducting over the phone interviews with subscribers, and loads of other tasks for photo shoots and stuff. Out job for the closet is to take the new clothes as they come in and then send them back out when we are finished. While I don't know much about fashion, I'm eager to learn.

Apparently, we will be here during the fashion season, so we will be kept busy. I'm hoping to travel to a few photo shoots out of London, but that might be a dream. We'll see. I'm excited for my internship. My supervisor is very laid back and so is the dress code. I'll be sending my suits home with mom and dad and having them bring out more casual clothes for me to wear. Thank the Lord I don't have to wear heels every day!

I am a little nervous about the writing part. I specifically said I don't want to report. What was funny is I asked my supervisor if I would get to design at all during my time at the company. He said he didn't even know I was a designer and that there should be plenty for me to do. I just have to show them my samples (THANK YOU ROB AND eMprint!) and prove myself. I was ready to do this anyway, so I'm looking forward to next Monday. I'm excited about the job and look forward to learning more about fashion. Who knows, maybe there will be a new me come fall.

Hope you're all having a great summer!

London

2006-06-04T08:43:00.000-07:00

Okay, after Traci's urging, I will post something on here. I haven't really done much in London yet. Mostly the touristy stuff.

My internship is at a fashion trade magazine called Drapers. I'm not sure what they do just yet, but I will interview tomorrow. I should be doing magazine design at some point for them, but it could be a few weeks before they'll trust me to do anything. I appreciate that because I'd like to get to know their style and system before I get anything big to do. The location is right next to a pub, so that should be fun for lunch and after work gatherings.

I'll try and update more often once the internship starts.

Good news from Roanoke

2006-06-03T22:55:00.000-07:00

Boy, howdy, time has flown by at The Roanoke Times! I've been able to put my coding skills to work and have daily duties and get to sit in on budget. By interning at a paper this size, I feel like if I have a great idea, I can pitch it, and they might actually publish it. One of the best things I get to do is publish the TimesCast. You guys should check it out (here). This particular episode is really funny. The paper also just won an EPpy award. Hoorah! This is really the place to be if you're interested in super-techie, fun, online work. We also just finished a new studio, complete with greenroom/wall and lots of bright lights. Fortunately, I fit in well here. The staff is all male, and they're a lot of fun. Perks of working at The Roanoke Times include:

paid home Internet service

free company meals fairly often

margarita tasting night!

paid gym membership (not for interns, though)

They're heavily recruiting for an online producer, but they've had trouble finding competent applicants. They keep asking me if I known anyone who is qualified for a job like this. I do know a lot of people, but they all have a year of school left. Wink, wink. This is great news, though, because it means we won't have trouble finding jobs.

stop the presses...

2006-06-01T18:37:00.000-07:00

the results are in.
they FINALLY announced our internships today!

i'm working at CNBC!

not quite sure exactly what i'm doing yet. i have my interview with them tomorrow afternoon. i'll update you when i get more details.

for all the juicy details of my trip, check my blog.
it's too tiring to post it twice.

i love you all!
i miss the convergence fam!

STRIKE!

2006-06-01T13:24:00.000-07:00

Exciting times in Toronto, eh? :)

So Monday morning, the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) woke up to find that the streetcars, busses, and subways were not working because the transit workers were on an illegal wildcat strike. So, 800,000 people in the city were without a ride to work. Exciting! :) (For anyone who was at the Missourian the night of the tornados, remember Schneller running around squealing, "isn't this exciting?!!?!") Long day in the newsroom, though. But good times- the entire city was royally pissed off. (Did I mention that on that day, not only were 800,000 people walking/biking/driving to work, but it was also 90 degrees here, and there was heavy smog? YES!)

Also, in a town a bit down the road in Ontario (thats the province Toronto is in-- i.e. the state, for you un-informed Americans...) there is a group of natives from a reserve that has claimed some land as its own and have barracaded off a huge area of land--blocking off one major HIGHWAY, have torn down the big electrical towers to use as the barricades- and, the best part-- this has been going on since FEBRUARY. They burnt down a bridge, have put homes in the area on house arrest, and the govt. and police are doing nothing about it. Its totally crazy, and is keeping me entertained to say the least.

Oh Canada. How fun you have been so far!

And on the personal news side of things-- got the first paycheck today FINALLY, after nearly 3 weeks w/o money! SOO, Stefanie is goin grocery shopping, then to H&M and Urban Outfitters tonight! :) Woot.

Kick It Up A Notch!

2006-06-01T06:46:00.000-07:00

6.6.06 Article

Good day ladies and gents, I hope everyone is having a great start to the hurricane season. I am enjoying my first week here at USATODAY.com and am already starting to see what a converging newsroom looks like.
Here at USATODAY -which by the way is pretty much the coolest building ever, I need to take pics and show everyone- the print and .com sides joined forces about a month ago and are now both located on the second floor of the USATODAY building. That brings me to the link above.
Yesterday, my second day here, I was approached by Laura Petrecca, a reporter for the Money section on the print side. She needed help with a story she was working on about marketing ploys being used by Hollywood and others for 6.6.06. So, I made a few calls -one to the Church of Satan which was probably the creepiest phone call I have ever made as a journalist- and did some research into the topic and wrote up a report and sent it to her. If you look at both of today's print and online editions you will see Laura's article -with a contribution line from yours truly. I also helped build an infographic about a Toyota recall that occurred yesterday that can be seen in the Money secion on USATODAY.com.
In other convergence related news, I edited audio from U.S. World Cup players we will use for a .com Flash project due out next week.
Now to the fun stuff. On Saturday, I played tourist and walked around to all of the D.C. Memorials which was fun except for all of the bikers who were there for Memorial Day. I then ate at this place called Ciora (need to check the spelling on that) which was like the East Coast version of Panera. The interesting part of this visit to Ciora though was as I was sitting at my table enjoying my Turkey Bacon Pannini I noticed a family of four sitting at a table across the aisle. Remember the scene in “Old School” where Luke Wilson is in the airport riding down the escalator and sees the dad scolding his kid and hitting him upside the head? Well, this Dad was recreating that scene. He was scolding his son for some unknown reason and then knocked him on the head. The Mom then got mad at the Dad and they started having one of those great we’ve been married too long and I’m sick of you you’re sick of me why are we even on a family vacation kind of fights. It was great! It made all those great fond family vacation memories come rushing back.
On Monday (i.e. Memorial Day), I had a BBQ with the family I am living with and some of their friends which included Jodie Allen, a former reporter for the Washington Post and US News and World Report. Allen now works for the Pew Polling Research Center, which was neat because she told me all about this political research the center has done on college-aged persons and their attitudes to news and politics -which not surprisingly is apathetic.
Overall, Washington D.C. is great except for the traffic. To get to work I have a 15 mile drive, which correlates into an hour of being in the car. But, I get to pass Langley – home of the CIA- every day which gives me dreams of one day becoming a CIA agent and saving the world from terrorists who want to steal deadly nerve gas and release it on U.S. soil.
OK, enough of watching "24". Hope everyone is enjoying their summers and I look forward to speaking with all of you. Good day and stay righteous.

Not quite London, but fab nonetheless!

2006-05-29T23:30:00.000-07:00

I figure I had better post something about my first week, before I forget it all.

I did software training all week. Being a badass company that is connected to Microsoft, MSNBC has it's own publishing tool. It's kind of like the Wohlebertron of the future. It isn't on the web and you can pretty much do anything. I learned a hundred things over the week, and I'm pretty sure I remember most of it. I can edit the cover, section fronts, and subsections fronts, as well as any other parts of the website. Online polls, check. Top story modules, check. Breaking news posted in 12 seconds or less, CHECK!

So I think I'm ready for this week. I will actually be running the desk for the Entertainment section. That means whatever you see online is me. Any changes made between 9am and 1pm ET (7am-11am CST) are all mine!

I think Thursday I will be working on my column and whatever stories I feel like pursuing. Let me know if you have any good story ideas. My column will be about guilty pleasures, so if you have any big ones this summer (i.e. addiction to a lame reality show) let me know.

P.S. Jenn, I don't think I caught what your internship is yet!

Stuck in Florida

2006-05-29T07:18:00.000-07:00

I know there are worse places to be stuck in than sunny FL. At least I've been working on my tan. I am getting ready to leave for NYC next Saturday to start at ABC on Monday. In the midst of my brothers graduation shindigs I have found time to start up my blog so check it out MizzouNYC.wordpress.com. My goal is to post at least daily during the week...and don't be afraid to comment :-D Hope everyone is having a fantastic summer.

Welcome to D.C. Jerk!

2006-05-25T14:22:00.000-07:00

Fast Food Article

Sometimes an idea just strikes you like a bolt of lightning but in my case epiphany's come when a woman who looks like she could be on the "Golden Years" throws my grocery cart halfway across the aisle in a fit of rage. Since weird things always seem to happen to me -most of you can attest to this- I have decided that for the summer I will write a column every three or four days and post it on this blog and my home blog midwestsky.blogspot.com. I will also be posting pics at my home site, just click the flickr badge if you would like to view them. You assuredly will laugh, cry and maybe want to punch me in the face by the dog days of summer but frankly my dears I don't give a damn.

I arrived in our nation's capitol yesterday after a 15-hour trek that included an evening’s stop in Springfield, OH which is located just outside Columbus (by the way Columbus is just like Columbia except with more drug problems... from what I hear.) As some of you know I am staying in the basement of the home of a Turkish family in Georgetown, which is great! The area is awesome, the family is great but to be honest I feel a little awkward when I drive around. Apparently there are more rich kids here than from an episode of the "O.C." and EVERYONE drives a BMW, Audi or a Benz and my Honda Civic with red paint all over it courtesy of those renting bastards REMI just doesn't cut it. People look at me when I drive around like I should be headed to the Ghetto instead of G-Town. So, I decided to play the part and am now sporting a gold chain necklace that says "Thug Life" on it and wear a Washington Nationals hat with the sticker still on it while bumping Nelly's "Ride Wit Me". Represent Straight up Gangsta Style.

After getting a good night's sleep, I decided to play tourist for the day. My first stop was Wisconsin Ave. to do a little shopping. You know how they say small town kids can never make it in the big city. Well, let me tell you they are correctamundo. Or, maybe I'm just an idiot because I got played harder than the new senior at bingo night dealing with parking officials in GTown. It cost me $13 for 2 hrs. of parking when down the street near the harbor it was $5. To say the least, I was pissed off. So, in my fit of rage I bought a Yoga tape at Barnes and Noble and plan on meditating tonight about the entire situation.

Following shopping, I headed to see the President and Tony Blair at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.. Blair was in town for the day to talk to Bush about how they fucked up so bad with the Iraq War and how they can avoid ending up like their Enron buddies.(P.S. Ken Lay nice one... way to make your University proud). I drove around for a while and then started to notice something, as I got further down this one street called G. buildings became uglier and I started to see Jamaican flags everywhere. But, instead of friendly Rastafarian people everywhere there were just angry guys looking to sell/score drugs. I knew I had to get out of this hood, so I took a turn where it said Howard University, bad idea. Apparently, Howard University is in the ghetto of D.C. because I was the only white person in a 10 block radius, and since I was dressed all "gangsta" I didn't want to be mistaken for that turd Jamie Kennedy from "Malibu's Most Wanted" so I got the hell out of there.

That leads me to the crazy old woman at the grocery store. While shopping for the essentials at this place called Safeway I decided to pick up some grapes -a delicious snack that is also filled with nutritious vitamins that will help you grow into a strapping young lad. This woman, who was around 65 and sporting one of those old gray-haired afros, turned to me and told me I cut her off. Well, obviously I was confused since I didn't realize our carts were "vehicles". I turned to the woman and said in a smug tone "Sorry I'm new here." It was the only thing I could think of to say. And then in a fit of grocery rage, granny grabbed my cart -which was filled with delicious yet healthy food items- and flung it out of her way down the aisle. Luckily, the cart didn't hit anyone, heaven forbid a small innocent child who just got finished with Lacrosse practice or a chess club meeting and just wanted to stop at the store for an AbbaZabba or a Rice Krispie Snack. Frazzled, I got my cart and didn't say a word to the woman and just decided to pay for my stuff and leave this place.

Well, now it's time for Yoga with my boy Rodney Yee. It has been a long day and this kid needs some herbal tea and a clear mind. Have a Righteous Day.

it's all too fabulous

2006-05-25T04:03:00.000-07:00

words cannot describe how wonderful the last week has been.
i think if they offered me a job here i would drop out of school and stay.
not that i don't love all of you, but seriously, i'm in love with this city.
i had a londoner tell me that those who tire of london, tire of life. i agree.
my flat is in a great part of town, but small. still it's nicer than everyone else's.
i've been to most of the touristy places already, a million pubs and some amazing night spots like the absolut ice bar.
but i've just finished writing a small novel about my trip thus far, so just check out my blog about it.

http://jennjarvis.blogspot.com

i love and miss you all.
ps, london is the place for convergence. it's everywhere here. i love it, i love it, i love it!

Patiently Waiting

2006-05-22T18:09:00.000-07:00

Good day my fellow convergence lovers. I hope all is well and everyone is enjoying the start to summer.
I am getting ready to leave for Washington D.C. tomorrow after spending a week in sunny Cali. I have some good stories about my mini-vacation including one that involves losing my cell phone, which is sad. So, if everyone could please send me their cell phone numbers via e-mail that would be awesome!
Currently, I am downloading a ton of music since I have seven hours of driving tomorrow to Dayton, OH were I hope to find some sleazy Motel to sleep in. Then it is off to D.C. to party with crazy interns working for the President and convince them to leak secret info. (Ah, a boy can dream.)
Well, I will keep everyone informed on what I am doing at USATODAY.com when I start next week. Good luck to everyone and enjoy life!

Day 1.5

2006-05-22T15:50:00.000-07:00

I made it to Seattle. I love it here already. My house is fantastic, even though it isn't cheap like Amanda's.

This morning I made my way on the bus to the Microsoft Campus. I came in and did a couple paperwork things, and then I was sent to the newsroom to hang out the rest of the day. I love it here. My coworkers are cool, and it seemed like half the time I was introduced to someone here, I was informed that they used to be an intern here. There are a few Mizzou alums here too. Yay for mafia!

So for the first time in my life, I am working in a newsroom that is just dying to be more converged. Like Stefanie, I feel like the people here have a lot of confidence in my abilities. My editor is so excited to have me help come up with new exciting CONVERGENCE ideas. I get my own column, which I won't write completely by myself, but it is up to me to come up with multimedia content.

The budget meeting was interesting today. They aregue about what goes on the site front page. That's about it.

Tomorrow I start the publishing tool training for the rest of the week - but I will be around for American Idol Finale frenzy.

P.S. - Rumor has it that Brangelina is giving birth right now, but it has not been confirmed. We're on pins and needles waiting to pounce on the delivery.

Gidget's threatening me...

2006-05-21T14:00:00.000-07:00

Okay, not really. But she did ask why I hadn't posted in here yet. The answer is quite simple: I'm doing at KOMU what we all did at KOMU during our shifts. So instead of blogging about anything to do with convergence, I'll blog about the NBA Playoffs and the stupid team that won't die.

So, most people that know me know that I hate the Pistons. It's actually quite kind of me to refer to them as the Pistons, because typically I call them "The Devil's Team." I have a special hatred for Ben Wallace, but all of them in general are arrogant jerks. They're in the middle of the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals, playing the Cavaliers, and I'm hoping upon hope that the David beats Goliath today. It would make me a very happy Nikki.

Hope things are well in the convergence family.

Happy Gidget? ;-)

Ok... I'm here...

2006-05-19T23:07:00.000-07:00

I'm still in CoMO right now... My car broke down a few days ago, causing me to push my departure to Virginia back. I've got the car back, but I have to take it back to the shop today (in just a few hours actually) because there is still a problem. Oh well. Anyway, for my convergence news, I got an internship at the PBS affiliate in Charlottesville (my home town). While I am there, I will be helping them improve their website, hopefully through conducting a survey of online viewers of the website. I will also be helping them create a web newsletter format they can use. So this is a TV station embracing the web. As far as I know at this point, they do not have the technology or software to put video or audio online so I may be fiddling about with a few ideas about that. Haven't decided yet. I'll keep you guys up on what is going on! I'm really excited about this! And I hope everyone has a great summer! Take care all!

Its freakin COLD in Canada!!

2006-05-19T13:01:00.000-07:00

Not lying, either. Its been in the low 50's since I got here.

But I have learned a lot-- i.e. how to measure temperature in Celsius, not Fahernheit, that 4 liters go in a gallon, and that Canada sees themselves as the know-all-end-all experts on the US, especially the politics there.

Convergence does NOT exist here. So I have decided that the Toronto Star will at least become aware of the concept come mid-August when I leave.

But I have to say- its a blast being in a huge newsroom! And, for the first time in my life, I feel SMART here. Now, that may seem strange, but despite my lowly intern status, they are impress/surprised that I am competent in the news process-- its weird to them that I already understand what to do. Its weird to me having the reigns cut loose and being able to just do my work. AND-- I don't get graded on anything I do here. My GPA is no longer in jeopardy! WOOT.

I miss the US though-- they don't have target here-- instead of dunkin donuts, they have a place called Tim Horton's, and I swear they put crack in that coffee-- these canadians are freakin addicted. And, Canadians really do say "aboot" and "oot" and "eh" goes after EVERYTHING.

So, please, convergence family-- if I come home saying anything sorta canadian, harass me until i sound like I'm from missourah again. :)

Why I'm FINALLY excited about convergence.

2006-05-18T17:47:00.000-07:00

Tucker Max.

Has anyone ever heard of him? He's hilarious, and has this wonderful little website chronicling all the drunken-debaucheries of his life- just the type of asshole I could see myself falling for.

But why I really love him is for this site. Not only does it contain his funny stories, but also his personal blog, videos of his antics, pictures of his ex-girlfriends and links to their blogs, a discussion board, and so much more. I could browse through this site for hours and never get bored-- pathetic I know.

This guy is so smart. He went to law school and then made a career out of getting drunk and converging media. I think I finally figured out what I want to do with my life!

So while most of you are off in exotic places doing important convergence things, I'll be holding it down in COMO doing my own convergence things!

Convergence at the Missourian

2006-05-18T09:37:00.000-07:00

I heard recently that the Missourian is going to go paper-less soon. That means that digmo will be a lot bigger than it was. Next semester, if this is implemented, then the convergence editors will have a lot more work to do, and will probably be viewed as more valuable (than we were) since they have the skills that the rest of the Missourian staff members are expected to have soon. (Not that we didn't, they just didn't really need our skills much when we had our shifts. Oh well.)

Why am I in Roanoke?

2006-05-14T17:22:00.000-07:00

Well, I start my first day of work at the Roanoke Times tomorrow. Roanoke is pretty hickish. I can't understand what a lot of these people are saying. They're really nice, but most of them look like they crawled out of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Tonight, two other interns and I went out to dinner at a Mexican restaurant -- not TexMex like I'm used to. Anyway, they were a business writer from Lynchburg, Va. and a features writer from Philadelphia who goes to UNC. They were talking about how excited they were to get in the newsroom and find some stories. I felt sort of bad because I wasn't really excited about reporting -- just editing and doing techie stuff. They didn't quite understand convergence. Like what could I get out of a journalism job if it didn't involve reporting? Anyway, I guess I'm the oddball. But I do have an awesome apartment that is only $250 a month. Sweet!

Your Personal Blogs

2006-05-08T16:27:00.000-07:00

By the way, if you have personal blogs (like Stefanie), just post the URL here and I'll add a link to your blog from this Convirgins blog. Thanks!

Haha

2006-05-08T15:59:00.000-07:00

Hey Stefanie, of course not, post as you please. Actually, because it's not a requirement, I will probably be more inclined to say something :) Have a safe trip!

OMG

2006-05-08T15:55:00.000-07:00

So wait, are we required to post weekly on this? Because lets be honest, I can't even do that when its required for school...

by the way... started a canada blog. Yet to be updated, but its there when I choose to do it, since I leave SUNDAY. oh god.

www.hooraycanada.blogspot.com

Convirginity

2006-05-08T15:52:00.000-07:00

Gidget!

Nice idea! I'm sure we'll all have plenty of stories over the summer to tell each other about...I'm also hoping we get the blog equivalent of Lance's drunk dialing....one can only hope...

Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3...

2006-05-08T15:04:00.000-07:00

Just testing to see if our blog is up and running...