So today was an interesting experience.. maybe the title is a giveaway, but I got fired.
O.K., maybe that is being a little dramatic. But I'll let you decide..
The Technician's budget meeting, where the editorial staff decides its content for the day happens at 3:30. For whatever reason, despite the fact that I have been listed as the writer of the editorial for the last two weeks and have been helping edit for almost a month now I was not listed on our "budget."
I thought this was kind of odd, but didn't really put too much thought into it. Things became clear about 15 minutes after the meeting ended when I was called into the Editor-in-Chief's office by the Viewpoint Editor, Jane.
Jane and Saja then informed me that they thought I should work on my writing and interviewing skills more. In reality, what they really decided was that they chose someone else.
This was after they had told me that the admission process was just a formality.
I feel slightly bruised by it all, but maybe it is for the best. I am busy and stressed almost constantly and perhaps it is a good thing to take something off my plate... at least for this semester.
I still have my weekly column, but it seems that for now, my days of editing are over.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Monday, March 9, 2009
Day 1
I should be working on two article rewrites for my Eng 417 class right now. But I feel exceptionally lazy as I sit here listening to Death Cab for Cutie; so today I'm going to try something new. Feedback would be nice...
This may constitute starting a new blog, I don't know yet (basically I'll have to see how pathetic it is), but I want to try a new concept which hopefully will get me on here every night... despite my work load.
Short paragraphs of my daily random thoughts that I for the most part cannot put in my articles bc they are rhetorical questions.
Here goes nothing.
****
When was the last time you were kissed? Do you remember what it felt like? Were his or her lips soft, moist, a combination of the two? How did you feel ten minutes later? How did you feel ten minutes before? Was your chest thumping? Was it love, emotion, pure physicality, or are they even distinct?
Wouldn't you like to know...
This may constitute starting a new blog, I don't know yet (basically I'll have to see how pathetic it is), but I want to try a new concept which hopefully will get me on here every night... despite my work load.
Short paragraphs of my daily random thoughts that I for the most part cannot put in my articles bc they are rhetorical questions.
Here goes nothing.
****
When was the last time you were kissed? Do you remember what it felt like? Were his or her lips soft, moist, a combination of the two? How did you feel ten minutes later? How did you feel ten minutes before? Was your chest thumping? Was it love, emotion, pure physicality, or are they even distinct?
Wouldn't you like to know...
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Thinking Movies
I generally don't talk about very personal things in my blog.
For starters, it makes me very uncomfortable to tell personal things to anyone, even my own family. No less, divulge the privileged for anyone to read.
Sometimes though, I will admit, it is a good idea to let some things go instead of letting them stew within your own mind.
This evening, my father and I went to see Slumdog Millionaire at the venerable Cinema Arts in Fairfax, VA.
I thought the movie was a little over-hyped after the Academy Awards, but nonetheless, it was very good and well worth the price of a ticket.
If you have seen the movie, the main setting is no secret, but if you haven't -- the film is set (maybe this is obvious) in the slums of Mumbai (Bombay).
I thought little of it. But as I was leaving the theater I noticed that my Dad was being unusually silent.
Not that my father is ever particularly loud, but he was being particularly quiet.
As a point of understanding I should note the relationship my father and I generally share and the prevailing unusual circumstances. For the most part, my Dad and I act more like good friends than father son. I'm not saying there is any loss of love, but we do not have a very informative relationship. Speaking generally, less is more and no news is good news. This is perhaps more a sign of our introverted natures than anything else, but in any case, emotional feelings are not something we typically share.
This week though, my grandfather (my Dad's father) developed a horrible blood clot in an artery in his leg. Thankfully, he is in stable condition and his leg tissue is still alive, but it seems he will never walk the same again. While I had not noticed any prior signs of it weighing on my dad, it showed tonight.
When in the car on the ride home, my Dad said that he thought it was good but it made him uncomfortable. When I asked why, he said that he got flashbacks of the desert. He said that when he was in the Middle East he saw some atrocious living conditions, things which the sight of the movies slums brought back to him. It was interesting, as it was the first time in 6 years my Dad had talked about anything from his time in Iraq.
I still have never asked about what he did, apart from where he was, the classified version of which he has never been able to tell.
In any case, I thought it was very unusual that it was a movie that gave my Dad an opportunity to open up to me (even in a little way). The power of art perhaps..
For starters, it makes me very uncomfortable to tell personal things to anyone, even my own family. No less, divulge the privileged for anyone to read.
Sometimes though, I will admit, it is a good idea to let some things go instead of letting them stew within your own mind.
This evening, my father and I went to see Slumdog Millionaire at the venerable Cinema Arts in Fairfax, VA.
I thought the movie was a little over-hyped after the Academy Awards, but nonetheless, it was very good and well worth the price of a ticket.
If you have seen the movie, the main setting is no secret, but if you haven't -- the film is set (maybe this is obvious) in the slums of Mumbai (Bombay).
I thought little of it. But as I was leaving the theater I noticed that my Dad was being unusually silent.
Not that my father is ever particularly loud, but he was being particularly quiet.
As a point of understanding I should note the relationship my father and I generally share and the prevailing unusual circumstances. For the most part, my Dad and I act more like good friends than father son. I'm not saying there is any loss of love, but we do not have a very informative relationship. Speaking generally, less is more and no news is good news. This is perhaps more a sign of our introverted natures than anything else, but in any case, emotional feelings are not something we typically share.
This week though, my grandfather (my Dad's father) developed a horrible blood clot in an artery in his leg. Thankfully, he is in stable condition and his leg tissue is still alive, but it seems he will never walk the same again. While I had not noticed any prior signs of it weighing on my dad, it showed tonight.
When in the car on the ride home, my Dad said that he thought it was good but it made him uncomfortable. When I asked why, he said that he got flashbacks of the desert. He said that when he was in the Middle East he saw some atrocious living conditions, things which the sight of the movies slums brought back to him. It was interesting, as it was the first time in 6 years my Dad had talked about anything from his time in Iraq.
I still have never asked about what he did, apart from where he was, the classified version of which he has never been able to tell.
In any case, I thought it was very unusual that it was a movie that gave my Dad an opportunity to open up to me (even in a little way). The power of art perhaps..
Saturday, February 28, 2009
My sore bum
My first experience skiing was well... painful.
I'm pretty confident that every single muscle in my legs and back are sore, and yes I spent a lot of the morning on my bum.
But surprisingly, or maybe not so surprisingly (I'll leave that one to you), I was alright at it by the afternoon. In the evening, despite being pretty tired, I was actually not half bad. Can I go down a black diamond.. no.. But I can now glide down a green slope pretty easily.. Attaining some decent speed? Yes.
With that I'll take a little pride.. And despite being sore, it was a lot of fun. Definitely a do again.
As to flying. I ended up not going today, the ceiling came down too low and instead I'm going to be doing it tomorrow morning. We'll see how that goes.. : )
But tonight, I am absolutely exhausted and don't have too much else to say. See you later alligators..
I'm pretty confident that every single muscle in my legs and back are sore, and yes I spent a lot of the morning on my bum.
But surprisingly, or maybe not so surprisingly (I'll leave that one to you), I was alright at it by the afternoon. In the evening, despite being pretty tired, I was actually not half bad. Can I go down a black diamond.. no.. But I can now glide down a green slope pretty easily.. Attaining some decent speed? Yes.
With that I'll take a little pride.. And despite being sore, it was a lot of fun. Definitely a do again.
As to flying. I ended up not going today, the ceiling came down too low and instead I'm going to be doing it tomorrow morning. We'll see how that goes.. : )
But tonight, I am absolutely exhausted and don't have too much else to say. See you later alligators..
Friday, February 27, 2009
Break.. oddities..
For the first time in what seems like a month, I have a little bit of free time on my hands.
Therefore I feel obliged to reacquaint myself with the art of blogging.
Perhaps, over this next week I can post more than once or twice. That would be pretty darn sweet.
Updates:
This Sunday, Nick (roommate) thought he would play a joke on me and pushed a couch in front of me. Instead of tripping me up like he intended, the base of the couch slid into my big toe and took off the entirety of the nail on my big toe. Besides missing the nail (merely a minor annoyance), the toe has caused me a lot of pain this week and has made it very difficult to move about normally. Oh well.. life is life. And it is getting better, well enough in fact that I am currently at Wisp, MD, attempting to ski for the first time in my life.
I am now editing one night a week at the Technician. Mostly this just involves eating lots of free popcorn and copy editing my section. The only real challenge is writing the unsigned editorial I don't believe in. Unlike regular columns where I have artistic freedom, I am forced into writing the opinion of the editorial board. Which means rewriting the "edit" five or six times until I've made it sufficiently neutral and bland. blah...
I'm on Spring Break right now through next weekend. Originally I was just going to go down to Florida for a couple days in addition to hanging out at home.
But somehow, the break has rapidly evolved. Late this week, my mother (in the midst of a mid-life crisis) decided that she hadn't been skiing in a long time. In reality, its at least 20 years since we've never been in my lifetime.
Regardless, of the physical ailments we are all struggling with right now.. dad - back, mom - knee, me - cold + toe. We are spending the weekend in Wisp, MD and getting a crash course in skiing. (To me, this simply means I will spend a lot of the weekend on my ass, but it seems like it will be fun).
The super cool thing that developed this evening... tomorrow I will be flying a multi-million dollar stunt airplane. Long story short, my Dad (totally randomly) ran into an old friend of his while we were at dinner. He used to fly at American with my Dad and my Dad helped his son get hired at the D.C. Air National Guard. After a couple beers, he asked if I flew like my daddy. I told him that I had never been behind the stick. His response, thats no good son, why don't we fix that tomorrow afternoon.
So tomorrow, after a day of skiing, I will be up in the skies above Maryland doing flips and barrel rolls. And then, this Wed I will be going down to Naples, FL with my grandparents to work on my tan.
I would say this break is shaping up nicely.
Updates will ensue.
And, for those that would like more..
My last two articles from the Technician.. Personally I think they are two of the best I have written thus far.
The first, a satirical letter from Obama, here.
And the second, which oddly is not the exact same as the print version. It would seem as though a copy editor got to this one, making some bad edits in my opinion. But in any case, it keeps with the spirit of the real one, so I'll post it here.
Therefore I feel obliged to reacquaint myself with the art of blogging.
Perhaps, over this next week I can post more than once or twice. That would be pretty darn sweet.
Updates:
This Sunday, Nick (roommate) thought he would play a joke on me and pushed a couch in front of me. Instead of tripping me up like he intended, the base of the couch slid into my big toe and took off the entirety of the nail on my big toe. Besides missing the nail (merely a minor annoyance), the toe has caused me a lot of pain this week and has made it very difficult to move about normally. Oh well.. life is life. And it is getting better, well enough in fact that I am currently at Wisp, MD, attempting to ski for the first time in my life.
I am now editing one night a week at the Technician. Mostly this just involves eating lots of free popcorn and copy editing my section. The only real challenge is writing the unsigned editorial I don't believe in. Unlike regular columns where I have artistic freedom, I am forced into writing the opinion of the editorial board. Which means rewriting the "edit" five or six times until I've made it sufficiently neutral and bland. blah...
I'm on Spring Break right now through next weekend. Originally I was just going to go down to Florida for a couple days in addition to hanging out at home.
But somehow, the break has rapidly evolved. Late this week, my mother (in the midst of a mid-life crisis) decided that she hadn't been skiing in a long time. In reality, its at least 20 years since we've never been in my lifetime.
Regardless, of the physical ailments we are all struggling with right now.. dad - back, mom - knee, me - cold + toe. We are spending the weekend in Wisp, MD and getting a crash course in skiing. (To me, this simply means I will spend a lot of the weekend on my ass, but it seems like it will be fun).
The super cool thing that developed this evening... tomorrow I will be flying a multi-million dollar stunt airplane. Long story short, my Dad (totally randomly) ran into an old friend of his while we were at dinner. He used to fly at American with my Dad and my Dad helped his son get hired at the D.C. Air National Guard. After a couple beers, he asked if I flew like my daddy. I told him that I had never been behind the stick. His response, thats no good son, why don't we fix that tomorrow afternoon.
So tomorrow, after a day of skiing, I will be up in the skies above Maryland doing flips and barrel rolls. And then, this Wed I will be going down to Naples, FL with my grandparents to work on my tan.
I would say this break is shaping up nicely.
Updates will ensue.
And, for those that would like more..
My last two articles from the Technician.. Personally I think they are two of the best I have written thus far.
The first, a satirical letter from Obama, here.
And the second, which oddly is not the exact same as the print version. It would seem as though a copy editor got to this one, making some bad edits in my opinion. But in any case, it keeps with the spirit of the real one, so I'll post it here.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
The Beach
There are a lot of good things you can say about the beach. Its warm, its serene, the pace of life is slower..
But for me, the single greatest thing about Emerald Isle, N.C. is the peace and quiet. My days can consist of "nature walks", playing the Wii and lounging.
To me, this is heaven. My life at school is so hectic that I rarely have time to kick back and relax. Do things like... I don't know.. WRITE IN THIS BLOG.
Because the vast majority of my free time at school gets tied up with one of two activities: the Technician and the New York Times. One I work for, the other I read religiously.
There are pros and cons to excessively reading all the news that's fit to print. The pro is that I feel very well informed in just about every situation imaginable, the obvious con, that I rarely have to be informed because I spend all my time with Engineers who don't care.
Honestly, the vast majority of my fellow mech's would probably struggle to tell you the date. No less, give you information on the political climate in Zimbabwe, pirates off of Sudan and the stimulus package.
Now, before i sound stuck up. I want to make it clear that I'm not. One of the things I love about my engineering friends is that they don't care. But every once in awhile it is nice to engage in a little intellectual thought.
(I'm quickly realizing this post will have nothing to do with the beach, perhaps I should throw in a nice quip).
The wake at the beach was 1 to 2 feet today... Mission Accomplished. Get r' done. Yee-haw..
(Also quickly realizing how random I get at 1 in the morning).
In any case, it feels good to pound away at the keys on something that I know 5000 people won't read (perhaps 1 or 2 is really all a person needs). It is really liberating in that regard.. Because I can say things like.. fuck the police or Provost Nielsen is a tool and not get fired.
My movie on Netflix has loaded a little now.. I think it is time to watch..
No worries, I will write again soon.. Adieu..
But for me, the single greatest thing about Emerald Isle, N.C. is the peace and quiet. My days can consist of "nature walks", playing the Wii and lounging.
To me, this is heaven. My life at school is so hectic that I rarely have time to kick back and relax. Do things like... I don't know.. WRITE IN THIS BLOG.
Because the vast majority of my free time at school gets tied up with one of two activities: the Technician and the New York Times. One I work for, the other I read religiously.
There are pros and cons to excessively reading all the news that's fit to print. The pro is that I feel very well informed in just about every situation imaginable, the obvious con, that I rarely have to be informed because I spend all my time with Engineers who don't care.
Honestly, the vast majority of my fellow mech's would probably struggle to tell you the date. No less, give you information on the political climate in Zimbabwe, pirates off of Sudan and the stimulus package.
Now, before i sound stuck up. I want to make it clear that I'm not. One of the things I love about my engineering friends is that they don't care. But every once in awhile it is nice to engage in a little intellectual thought.
(I'm quickly realizing this post will have nothing to do with the beach, perhaps I should throw in a nice quip).
The wake at the beach was 1 to 2 feet today... Mission Accomplished. Get r' done. Yee-haw..
(Also quickly realizing how random I get at 1 in the morning).
In any case, it feels good to pound away at the keys on something that I know 5000 people won't read (perhaps 1 or 2 is really all a person needs). It is really liberating in that regard.. Because I can say things like.. fuck the police or Provost Nielsen is a tool and not get fired.
My movie on Netflix has loaded a little now.. I think it is time to watch..
No worries, I will write again soon.. Adieu..
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Recent Work
Yes.. I know I know.. I will catch up when I can.
But for today, I would like to share the most recent article I have been working on (in tomorrow's Technician).
Preface*
Generally when my Editor's change my article, I fume and call them idiots. I mean.. I wrote it.
But today, I make an exception. While in several spots, the sentence structure becomes a little awkward (notably in paragraph 1 and 2) -- the article as a whole was significantly improved. Not by changing any one word in the article, but by altering the sentence positioning. Hats off Jane, you one up-ed my own article.
I hope you enjoy.. the article.
But for today, I would like to share the most recent article I have been working on (in tomorrow's Technician).
Preface*
Generally when my Editor's change my article, I fume and call them idiots. I mean.. I wrote it.
But today, I make an exception. While in several spots, the sentence structure becomes a little awkward (notably in paragraph 1 and 2) -- the article as a whole was significantly improved. Not by changing any one word in the article, but by altering the sentence positioning. Hats off Jane, you one up-ed my own article.
I hope you enjoy.. the article.
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