Taking Big Steps

I know I said I was going to start blogging more often but then well life got crazy. I moved in with my boyfriend last week, after staying with him for two weeks straight. It is going really well, minus his little injury he sustained. He was skateboarding and fell directly on his ribs and broke his right ribs and has a collasped right lung. This being said, clearly things are rough around the house because he is so delicate right now. I love taking care of him but at the same time I am so lonely even though I am with him 24 hours a day. He isn't himself because he is medicated for pain. All my friends and family live like 20 minutes away and the other people I know up here are just not people I really want to hang out with all the time.
I have been looking for a job up here because then I'll meet more people in the area and well truthfully I hate my job and don't want to drive 30 minutes to work everyday. I know I should be thankful that I have a job at all, and I am. I just miss waitressing ( never thought I'd say that). But even though that is what I'd prefer to be doing, it just isn't possible at the time. I need to make better money and so I have been applying for administration positions that make 13-19 an hour. I am really hoping for some kind of response that isn't a scam -_-
It is so weird living with someone. You learn about them so much quicker than if you just hang out a couple days a week. This is total submersion with each other 24 hours a day 7 days a week. And while people think I am being wayyy too fast about this decision, I truly believe this is what I want. When I'm not here all I want to do is come home. Even when he isn't here I am just super comfortable being here. Even the cat, Mellow, is coming around and sleeps in bed with us from time to time - a total turn around from when she used to hide when I came in the door. This is her being adorable.

Other than that nothing is new in my life. Not a freaking thing.

Cheater Cheater ...

Well now that I have processed and made my decision -- I need to get this out. Yes my boyfriend cheated on me, yes we broke up, yes I am back with him. Now before we all go and FREAK OUT.. let me explain.

He has been groveling at my feet to be back in my life. I care about him as a person and he makes me happy for the most part. Even when he irritates me its in a funny way and so I am still smiling. We all make stupid decisions and I can't say I haven't made any of those. While we were not together, we were still talking almost daily and hanging out. I could see that he was jealous that I was going to move on without him. Then again I was beyond jealous that he was talking to another girl, the same girl he dumped me for nontheless. But when we were together it wasn't like either of us had anyone else. Now whether we are both REALLY good actors or what , the feelings were still there for me, and obviously for him too.

What really irks me is that my so called 'friends' are just so rude. I have lost a friend because of this. He has went out of his way to try to drive a wedge between us so that we don't get back together. Well clearly it worked just the opposite because boyfriend came to me and we talked about everything that the friend said. None of which was true ! And instead of driving us apart it brought us closer because then we had discussed how we were feeling and good stuff in the relationship world that is so important. But that is just the tip of the ice berg. Another friend said 'I care about you so much but you are setting yourself up for disappointment.'. Let me just point out only 2 of my friends have actually met boyfriend... two ! So it is just astounding that everyone can form an opinion on him when they don't know him ! It is freaking rediculous.

I think that if they were really my friend, then they would be happy and support me. Okay so maybe it isn't the best idea to be with him again, but I know what I am doing. I know what can happen and I know what I want to happen. So truthfully I think that some people just think that I need them to hold my hand through life. Which isn't true. I may make a lot of not so smart decisions but I also know how to deal with the after affects of my choices. So what's the worst that happens ? He cheats again , and I leave for good ? Or maybe just maybe we can be really happy together and then what ? Who knows ? That is part of the excitement of a relationship ... you don't know.

So I guess what I am trying to say is that friends sometimes think they know best and they don't. But trying to tell them that politley so they don't get their feelings hurt is the hardest part. Le sighhhhh.

Farewell Summer ..

Yet another summer is coming to an end, school is starting, the mornings are getting colder and everyone is falling back into the usual routine of their lives. Meanwhile, it's hard to not reflect on what we did over the last couple months. Me personally ? I've moved 6 hours away from my hometown to attend a state college I hate. (Obviously I am not going there anymore) I managed to get a new job and was only unemployed a couple weeks, and in this economy I think that in itself is a pretty astounding accomplishment. But even though I've been here since July, I still get painfully homesick. I crave the slower lifestyle, and everything I have become so accustomed to. It's fantastic to be closer to my high school friends and family, but I miss the friends I made at home. I don't think this place will ever be 'home'. Don't get me wrong, it's lovely up here, but it just doesn't suit me. It's cold, and different. But on a brighter note, I've reconnected with some old friends and made new ones as well. I guess like with all things I need to give myself more time to get setteled and start to find my groove in the crazy ways of these northerners.

SO here is to keeping my spirits up and plowing through the homesickness and making a name for myself up here. Because really it is just how you look at a situation, so I shall put on my happiest and confident face and show these northerners how real girls get down. Everyone knows southern girls are best ;)

Death Celebrated

Whitney Houston was laid to rest today after battling a long struggle with drugs. In the end the drugs and alcohol won. While it is understandable to be drawn to the celebrity lives, why is the society drawn to the deaths?

She was a talented artist, which goes without saying, but what did she REALLY do for the country? Provide entertainment? Plenty of people do that. Give to charity? Almost all celebrities do that as well.

As someone who has multiple members serving or already served in the military, it really gets under the skin when a celebrity gets lavish attention when they died -especially when their death is their own fault.

Hundreds of soldiers die every day just because they VOLUNTEERED to go over and protect the freedom of everyone else. They risk their lives every day just so that celebrities and the average person can live their lives. But when they fall at hands of enemies or explosives - no one gives each and every one of them a funeral that will be talked about for years. Instead society is glorifying drug use and other unhealthy habits that bring around death.

Death is a tragedy that affects every family at some point. But when the death is provoked through activities of the persons choosing it doesn't seem right to gloss over their choices. There are many that die for reasons beyond their control that don't get the attention they deserve. Clearly, society needs a reality check.

Liar Liar .. You Don't Win.. Ever.

As an aspiring journalist I have high hopes and goals set for me. But would I lie to get to the top? I think not. Not only would I be disappointing those around me, but I am almost 100% sure my grandpa would 'give me a whippin' as they say. As a child I was taught that lying was a 'no-no' and it hurts others. I took that in stride and told little lies here and there... "Yes I did my homework Dad". But to lie about the work I write, or to make something up completely?? That is just way out of my league. That takes more time to do than to actually write the story yourself.

Stephan Glass apparently thought it was the easy way out. After watching the movie Shattered Glass, I am amazed that someone would go to such lengths to make sure they are number one and to have people like them. It is obvious that Mr. Glass was (and maybe still is) a people pleaser. He needs constant reassurance that he isn't in trouble or to make sure no one is mad at him. He also undertakes going after a law degree because it is what his parents want.

While I can understand why Mr. Glass fabricated over 25 different stories while working for The New Republic, it does not make it morally right. As a journalist I think that you are taking an unspoken oath to “tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth”. Journalists are the eyes and ears of the people and it their job to make sure the people know what is really going on. The stories Stephan Glass made up not only damaged his credibility but the credibility of the magazine. Once you lose the peoples trust it is hard to gain it back. By lying and falsifying the things he did, Stephen Glass broke the oath of a journalist.

Set The Mood .. I Mean Tone

A recent chapter reading was presented to the students of En212. It was information pertaining to storytelling and techniques to use when writing a feature piece. In the section that was containing tips on narrative writing I found an interesting technique that I had never given much thought too - creating a 'tone' for your pieces. As a writer I have never thought too hard on the tone of my pieces, but in a way I think that it comes naturally to some. I reread several pieces I wrote in the past, and I think I did a good job on helping the reader 'see' the picture I was creating for them.

"She's the crazy one," Jeni said as all three sat bundled in coats and hats and wrapped in fleece blankets. Carolyn Smith cooked Thanksgiving dinner and delivered it to the three women."

"A row of brand-new tents along the sidewalk beyond the Smith encampment indicated that Walmart had won at least one round of early shopping sales."

Both of these quotes from an article about Black Friday customers creates a picture that readers can 'see'. This writer takes the tips that the textbook provides and intwines them within her article. Just by reading the short excerpts above, you can imagine how cold and the measure the customers were taking to make sure that they were first in line for the annual Black Friday deals.

Web Journalism : Helpful or Horrifying ?

“Interactivity can be as simple as providing a discussion question at the end of the story or as complex as creating searchable databases for school test scores or crime statistics.” (255)

While this textbook excerpt is true, there are also many downfalls to having an interactive news page/blog. Things can go wrong and decrease your credibility. Many users think the interactivity is a great thing because it allows the readers to become involved with the news that they are wanting. But at the same time, these users are the first to complain that something isn’t working correctly. And if one link isn’t working, someone has to use time to fix it; this time could be used in a different area to improve the site instead of repairing.

As En 212 quickly found out, interactive work is difficult. Though it was not interactive with the readers, we were working on the same documents at the same time. This quickly leads to frustrations and headaches. In the end our work came out pretty good. All of the pictures were added by photographers, the writers managed to get everything they wanted into the piece, and the videographers finally got their slideshows to work. So even though there is not a link for a discussion board, or a “searchable database”, there was a lot of interactive work involved.

This type of work is difficult and can lead to much more stress in the journalism field. However in the end, I think that having interactivity is worth it because you build bonds with your readers, or in En 212 case your classmates, and this makes a difference in the long run.

The finished product is available right here !