When I started the website MidwesternBoy.com almost four years ago, it was my gateway to publish my thoughts as I began my journalism and writing career. It was a home for the countless articles I popped out for class. It was a place for me to publish pure Gonzo journalism and other stuff I thought no one would want.

As I started writing for other publications including The Cap Times, Dane101.com and Muck Tech, I focused less on this site.  Still, it’s found new life with some of my more personal stuff, and I still enjoy popping articles I have no other place for here.  Thus, while this website will soon no longer be updated, that does not mean its content will die.

In a move to consolidate some of my webpages and – more importantly – make it easier for people to find my work, this blog will be moving to my main website The-Dean.com.  I am working on a new design for that site based on WordPress, and plan to import all the articles here as part of its relaunch.  Anything new will only appear on that website, not here. Thus, if you enjoy reading this site, you have been warned.

I will post again when the redesign to The-Dean is live.

Summer is over, and the days are getting shorter and colder.  Perfect weather to curl up by a fire with a good book.  Still, thanks to a series of entertaining reads, my summer productivity for at least two months was high. The lack of air conditioning and an extremely hot summer that made it just painful to do much other than read, which helped the cause as well.

Then I started reading Christopher Buckley’s ‘Boomsday.’ It’s amazing how a bad book can stop you cold from a great reading streak.

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Last year, I was invited by friends to participate in a “Day in the Life” photo blog.  It was a fun experiment that spurned my interest in photography.  The results are available here.

The offer was extended again this year, and initially I said no.  I have taken on a larger photo project in 2010 – a photo a day for the year.  A day where I just shoot everything I do just seemed like overkill.  Still, I found myself snapping a ton of pictures one day, and decided to give it a go.
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Winter is over and spring has arrived.  I admit I’m behind where I would like to be in regards to my New Years resolution to read 2 books per month, but not worried.

Then again, if I were where I wanted to be, I would have already read 24 books this year.
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One of my goals for 2010 is to read more.  Since receiving my masters, I can count the number of books I have read for pleasure on two hands.  This year I want to get back in the reading habit…partially as a way to break some of the other bad habits I’ve developed.

I am off to a good start so far.  It’s the midway point of January, and I have already completed three books.  My goal is to read 24 – or two per month.  I plan to post every book I read on the list below.
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As I began writing my first REAL New Years goals in about a decade, I came across a number of cool creative ideas for 2010.  Smashing Magazine was promoting their “Design Something Every Day!” challenge.  A couple friends decided to attempt Project365 photo-a-day on Flickr.  Plus there were my own personal goals to do more writing and web design in the new year.

Rather than focus on one of these challenges, I figured why not combine a bit of them all?  Therein lies my challenge for the new year.
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Yesterday morning I saw a graph showing the sharp employment decline in the newspaper industry.

By late afternoon I was part of the statistic.

Working in new media I assumed my job was safer than most.  With the changing nomenclature of the industry, journalists with a technological background are in high demand.  When the company decided to eliminate the entire multimedia team yesterday, I was a bit stunned.  Still, I worked for one of the few remaining newspapers that treats technology and the web as a  nuisance rather than embracing the potential.

That is why today I begin my life as an unemployed journalist.   Read more…

So A couple weeks ago I received the following from a friend via Facebook.  Unlike most of the crap on there, this actually interested me:

What: It’s as easy as 1-2-3

1. Copy & paste this note and tag friends you want to participate.
2. Create a 24-hour digital photo journal documenting an average weekday in your life. Share your photos through a FB album.
3. Enjoy getting to know your friends as you look through their pictures.

When: Monday, May 11 – Thursday, May 14

Why: This annual event is intended to help you really get to know your friends through an intimate peek into their “Normal Everyday Lives.” We challenge you to find beauty in the color of your office stapler or the pattern of chaos at your kitchen table after having lunch with your toddler.

It’s an exercise in taking notice of and appreciating the many small things that make up our lives through the eyes of creative photography.
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What is the one song — or couple songs that hit you right in the heart?

Songs about that “special feeling” of love are prominent in our culture.  Some are cheesy, some reflective, and others have memories associated with them.  They are the songs that shape and influance us.

As John Cusack’s character in High Fidelity points asks, “Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable, or was I miserable because I listened to pop music?”

So what are your favorite love songs?  Which ones move you — maybe bringing a tear to your eye or at least a warm feeling to your heart?  I’m looking for some favorites other than my own for a project I am working on which will eventually be revealed on this page. Please list your favorites in the comments.

The vehicle may look the same, but what’s under the hood has been improved.

MIdwesternBoy.com has successfully been moved to a new server, which means images and videos should work again.  Huzzah!  You may notice some other changes with the move:

• If you’ve bookmarked any storyies from this page, the links have changed.  I switched to smart URL’s which incorporate the date and post title.
• Upgrading to the latest version of WordPress gives me more options for the layout, which you should start seeing almost immediately.
• New categories as I venture into video game reviews and more.
• A new layout is on the way.  Really!  If nothing else I might just change to another completed template because I’m bored with this one.
• As previously mentioned, summer is at an end, which more articles are on the way.  Try to control your excitement.

Check back often or add the MidwesternBoy RSS feed to your favorite feed reader.

Summer. It’s the time in the Midwest when people forget anything indoors and flock outside for three months to enjoy the sun. It’s because of this migration outdoors that there have been very few posts on this blog (coupled with the back-end issues I’ve been having). Well, the end of summer and a new web host mean you will see more posts here starting almost immediately. I apologize for the lack of commentary, but plan to make up for it in a big way. Cheers – JD

Since I graduated with my journalism master’s three weeks ago, I’ve indulged my creative side by writing fiction.  Novels, short stories, and movie scripts have consumed my time recently.  I’ve enjoyed the break from blogging/journalism, but plan to get back to it within the next week.  Updates coming soon – I thank you for your patience – JD.

Since videotapes and DVD’s became popular, movies have played a more significant role in our lives. After a bad night at the bar, it’s easy to pop in a movie that relates to your current mode or to make you feel better. We each have movies that we relate to different life experiences. As I sit watching one movie from this list, I’ve created short list of some of mine:

“I quit/got fired from my job” – Reality Bites. When you feel a bit bummed about leaving a job (by choice or otherwise), the thought of Winona Rider losing her job, and Ethan Hawke being fired from 14 makes a person feel a bit better for some reason.

“Women make no sense” – High Fidelity. Yes, women are confusing as hell. What better way to celebrate this than by watching a movie where the man is actually the one with a few screws loose (or is completely sane depending on the day)?

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It was a cool winter day about a week ago when a friend got his new grill.  He invited a number of us over for breakfast to break it in.  I stopped by and enjoyed some grilled bacon and eggs.

After breakfast, my friend entered with a plate overflowing with meat.  Hamburgers, chicken breasts, and pork tenderloin teetered on the plate.  One false move and the mountain of meat would come crashing down.  He set it down and proudly proclaimed, “This should last about a week.”

As I laughed, I thought back to an article I read in the New York Times called Rethinking the Meat-Guzzler.  It was your typical article about how much meat people eat, where it all comes from, and how many resources it takes to produce.  It was the kind of article I would normally assume is written by some vegetarian hippie, and thus totally discredit in my mind.  However, that combined with the mammoth plate of meat my friend had just produced, got me thinking.

I hatched an idea so crazy, that it needed to be tried.  The unwilling victim of my experiment would be me.  I decided then that I would give up meat for lent.

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With the end of the semester fast approaching, some changes will be made on this website.  A new look will be a significant part, as will some new features and security to prevent comment spam.  If you have suggestions for the site (other than more content – that is coming as well). please feel free to post them in the comments section.