Back to Blogging

After a two-week break, I'm back to the ol' blog. I didn't plan to go on blog-vacation -- it just sort of happened. It's not that my well of inspiration dried up, either.

 In fact, I've had plenty of ideas that excited me over the last couple of weeks. I'd think, "Hey, that would be a great post!" Then I would start writing and get distracted before I could finish.

So what caused my distraction? Well, that's the funny part. I've been concentrating on class assignments and freelance work lately, so I haven't had the time for blogging.

Ironic that I hail blogging as the future of media, only to become "distracted" by classic print journalism. 

Ignorance In Motion

Here's a link to a post by John Robinson. Read the post for a little background, and then read the comments. Pay attention to the back-and-forth between Robinson and the reader named "Skeet Club Savage."

This is what happens when ignorant people try to debate informed people.

Big Words

Why do some people like to use big words? Well, it's probably because they think big words say "I'm smart. Don't believe me? Just listen to the big words I say."

It's funny to note, then, that some very small words can garner the respect of one's peers. Like the word "garner." Is anybody impressed with me for using it? If so, it's not for the word's length. After all, the word is only six letters long.

I believe that it's the infrequency of a word's usage that makes it impressive. Here's an example from the other side of the spectrum. The word "interesting" is eleven letters long and has a whopping four syllables. And yet, no one would ever think twice about my using it. That's because everyone uses it. It's an overused pat word.

Bet you're impressed with me for saying "pat." And it's three letters.

The Good Life

At the moment, I'm sitting in a coffee shop. I've been here for almost three hours. I just finished my mocha with caramel, and I had to plug my laptop charger into the wall because my trusty computer is about to run out of juice.

I'm spending the day in the coffee shop with my laptop because I have a story to write, and my deadline is lurking around the corner. Needless to say (but as always I'll say it anyway), I'm pretty stressed.

The thought occurs to me: I want to do this for the rest of my life.

My First Real Interview

Tuesday afternoon  I did my first real interview. I botched it. I've had a couple of days to think about it, and I think I've identified the main culprits in the killing of my interview.

The location was all wrong. When I first approached my interviewees (there were three of them), I was thinking maybe we could chat over coffee. We ended up talking in a waiting room of sorts -- a pretty distracting environment -- outside a youth pastor's office. Strike one.

There were too many people. This wouldn't really have been a problem -- but they all knew the people I was interviewing, and they were all curious. Strike two.

I didn't prepare. I had two days to write down questions, but when Tuesday rolled around I didn't know what to ask. Also, I forgot to bring a tape recorder. Had I brought one, I could have focused on having a real conversation without frantically scribbling notes. Strike three.

In the end, it was a great learning experience. And years from now, I'll have a great story to tell a new crop of journalists.