The Weather Really Needs to Make Up Its Mind

On Saturday I happily skipped around SUNY Cortland in flip flops.  Today it is flurrying outside my window.  Seriously?

Anyway, today I'm out of my intro to journalism class way early, because we're getting a little break after the craziness of the past two weeks, with the Tom Wolfe article and the election article.  I got an A- on the Wolfe article and an A on the election article.  I was totally psyched, because before he passed out the Wolfe article, Professor Loop kind of issued a disclaimer.  "Okay, it's a little rough, but don't just drop the major because of one grade."  

Well, I guess I don't have to.  Our next assignment is due December 18th, and it's a 1200 word "investigative profile" written in the Wall Street Journal style.  We're pitching ideas Wednesday, and I'm thinking I may want to go after Ithaca's absurd non-compliance with Title IX.  I want to be able to ask some not-so-nice questions.  Or maybe I'll look into how terrible our facilities are.  I was writing up my final field hockey article yesterday, in which I was kind of digging into reasons why the team was 1-8 on the road.  In my research, I discovered that Ithaca and Elmira are the only two Empire 8 teams that play on natural turf.  The single road game that Ithaca won? At Elmira.  It's a tough adjustment from natural to synthetic turf.  

This week should be busy, but I've just got to manage my time with getting a bunch of reading done.  Obviously, I'm off to a great start because I'm doing this instead of reading.  The last two weeks have been crazy, but Thursday will be amazing, because I will have TWO bylines in this week's Ithacan.  If they give me a feature assignment this weekend, I may want to kill my editor. But at the same time, I'm so happy to make the switch to mens swimming and diving totally.  They've got quite a few characters on that team, and I'm hoping I won't be at a loss for topics to look into. But I want a break. Just a little one.  Long enough for me to finish reading about kinship for cultural anthropology. 

How is it November 10th already? 

OH and by the way it took a lot of maturity (and time) for me to make myself go to the walk-in flu shot clinic today like a big girl would. And then they were out of stock.  WHYYYYY? WHY DOES THIS HAPPEN TO ME?! Now I have to make a special appointment for later. Hopefully they will get more. 

Pictures from a Great Game

Hopefully this weekend will be as fun as the last one was!

Foggy Morning

As you can tell by my creative title, it's very foggy this morning.  It's a Thursday, so that means I'm pretty busy today.  

My interview on the Bomber Nation podcast has been posted! It should be Season 3, episode 8, so click here and scroll down to the bottom of the page to find the episodes, and find the correct episode near the top.  That is, if you want to here me talk about people you probably don't know. Or care about. 

One exciting thing is I might be getting a ride with a diver to the swim meet at Cortland this saturday, which I was looking to do because I missed the first home meet and wanted to get a feel for the team before I do a profile and such.  And, Cortland is close.  So that would be really fun.  

I really, really, need to clean my half of the room.  I actually did laundry yesterday, which was extremely overdue. 

So I'm going to get on that.  Then I've got work, and class. Three weeks until Thanksgiving!

The World I Know

Yesterday Barack Obama was elected to be President of the United States. 

Just in case you haven't heard already.  

I watched in the Boothroyd lounge with about 30 other people.  We erupted in cheers with every state announced for Obama and the excitement was overwhelming throughout the night. The one or two Republicans in the dorm quickly left and chose to watch results in a dorm room instead. 

After it was finally announced that Obama had won, I could look out the window and see people pouring out of the dorms and sprinting to the quad, where about 500 people gathered and cheered and screamed together.  Police pulled up quickly just in case, but didn't have to act because the mass of people didn't get out of hand.  They dispersed quickly as news spread that Obama was about to speak.  The speech was incredible. I am proud to be an American. 

For the first time, at least in my experience, politics reflect the world I know.  I grew up being taught that it doesn't matter what your race is, what your religion is, what your gender is. There was never any distinction made as I grew up.  As I got older I realized that there were not unspoken rules, but there were unspoken barriers.  There were bridges yet to be crossed.  Who knew this would happen in my lifetime. 

I've been thinking a lot about the kids I babysit for, who will grow up with this being history.  Maybe it won't feel strange for them.  It will be something they'll read in textbooks.  That's amazing for me.  

I'm so glad I voted.

Election Day 2008

Uggghhhhh to the Redskins game. That's all I'm going to say about THAT. 

Ithaca is buzzing about the election.  No one can concentrate and everyone is counting down the hours until polls close and we can finally have a resolution after two years of anticipation. 

I'm so excited.  Anyone who says they aren't interested in politics obviously isn't paying any attention.  

My journalism teacher told me this stat, which is sad yet encouraging in some way.  I'm not sure where he got it, or whether it's true or not, but this is it:

When the Redskins play the weekend or monday before the election and LOSE, the challenging party is 7-0.  When the Redskins win the weekend before the election, the incumbent party is 9-0.  I don't really know how the statistics work on that or anything, but maybe, just maybe, something good will come from the Redskins' embarrassing performance last night.  

The excitement is overwhelming!

Buffalo

My visit to Buffalo was everything I wanted it to be and more: relaxing, exciting, and, well, delicious. I got to spend time with two of my favorite people in the whole entire world for a whole weekend and we had loads of fun. It involved lasagna, hot cider, a bathroom without  a stall in it, about five football games, my first visit to Ralph Wilson Stadium where we had amazing seats and a tour of the press box (!), a tour of Buffalo, multiple bathroom stops, and a gigantically huge bed. 

It was perfect.  Except the Bills lost.  That was one hiccup in a flawless weekend.  Papa amazingly finagled a press box tour, something they don't normally give out.  We were shown around by an intern (I seriously want her job) and we saw the spaces where John Clayton of ESPN, all the major newspapers, Phil Simms, and other broadcasters and media would be located. Oh yes, and Marv Levy happened to wander by.  Amazing! 

Tomorrow is obviously a very important day. It will undoubtedly change all of our lives, and go down in history regardless of the outcome. I've already voted, of course.  I'm proud to say I voted for Barack Obama. I respect both candidates greatly but made the choice that felt right.  I don't think American women have waited 323 years for Sarah Palin.  But that's just my opinion.

 

Anyway, the Redskins game isn't over, let's hope we can pull this one through! I'll try to put up some pictures of the game tomorrow.

Prepping for Buffalo

So right now I'm taking a small break from stuffing wool socks and spandex-y things into my suitcase, to say nothing very interesting at all. 

Yesterday I went to (and covered) the Tom Wolfe lecture.  He was pretty interesting, white suit and wing-tipped shoes and all.  He said a lot of things about journalism that I liked.  He made the point that a good fiction writer has to be a good reporter.  He said young writers are often told to "write what they know," and so they write a very good first novel, using up about all 20 years or so of their knowledge.  He said the problem, then, is the second book.  He said writers often make the mistake in thinking that a good story is 95% talent and 5% content.  In reality, there is no substitute for good content.  You have to be willing to do the reporting, to be forced into alien situations.  

I liked that.  

I think my article came out well.  One nice thing is that my mens swimming and diving preview actually got pushed back until next issue, so my deadline was extended.  Yay!  

I'm so excited to go to an actual house!  

I can't wait for the GAME! 

Oh and I just had to mention the stupidest headline I've ever seen.  It was on people.com.  Oh yes, I go there. I am not ashamed.  Anyway, it was:

"Marion Jones: Giving Medals Back 'Tarnished' Olympic Memories"

DUH

Really? REALLY? 

On a happier note, there's only a few hours until Buffalo!