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.
Read more…
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.
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)?
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.
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.
Maybe it is just an addiction, like so many other things.
That is the only logical answer. As November changes into December, we scramble; trying to finish, trying to complete. Some will finish satisfied, while others give up hope early. Come December, there are those that swear they will never do it again. I was one of those people.
Eleven months is a long time, making it easy to forget the pain and heartbreak. As the first of November nears, we become giddy with anticipation and hope. Maybe this year will be different. The pain wasn’t too bad last year. Just one more try…
The famous last words of an addict.
Starting at 12 a.m., thousands of repeat offenders joined by fresh blood kicked off National Novel Writing Month (or NaNoWriMo to those that compete. Participants will attempt to write a 50,000-word novel during the month of November averaging roughly six pages or 1,700 words per day.
The event began in 1999 with 21 participants and six winners. This year, over 90,000 have signed up to try their hand at a rapid-paced novel.
“Most really good fiction is compelled into being,” says author Tom Robbins in an email sent to participants. “It comes from a kind of uncalculated innocence. You need not have your ending in mind before you commence. Indeed, you need not be certain of exactly what’s going to transpire on page 2. If you know the whole story in advance, your novel is probably dead before you begin it.”
To find out more about my experience with NaNoWriMo, click “Read the full story.” Please note, I will post experiences from this year’s competition in the comments of this article.
Read more…
My goals were simple when I was young. Be a starting defender on the soccer team. Save up the money to buy a cool car. Talk to women in hopes of a date. Most goals were relatively short term, and easily achieved or forgotten.
As we get older, setting goals becomes more important in shaping our lives. We each have a set of goals or a list of things in our mind we want to do in life. About five years ago, a friend sent me a link about writing goals and discussing with friends. The objective of the exercise was to vocalize goals, allowing friends to help you achieve them. Not surprisingly I was the only one in my group to make the list.
I was reminded of this Sunday, as the New York Times had an article about life lists. These goal lists are the new fad among baby boomers and Generation X’ers alike. It had been a while since I examined mine, so I decided to pull it out.
My mind races to my childhood, and my grandmother’s farm. During the summer, I would often help with chores. As a reward she would make dinner, or at least offer a treat. A glass canister shaped like an oversized perfume bottle contained my favorite. The name Orange Slices implies these sugar-covered candies shaped like an orange segment had some redeeming characteristics to them.
“You realize there are no natural ingredients in those things,” a classmate pointed out as we sampled various foods, including my beloved Orange Slices.
Like a child that knew in the back of his mind that Santa didn’t exist, I was probably aware that these fixtures of my youth were a creation of chemicals melded together. Like a child, I was not ready to believe it.
“It’s not that I don’t like you; ok, it is that I don’t like you.” A normal conversation I had with a stranger during a night out.
I call it being blunt or overly honest. Most people call it being an asshole. Rather than fight over terminology with these bastards, I simply smile and say, “Yea, that’s me.” I embrace my inner asshole, because I enjoy it, and well, I’m good at it.
Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert has a wonderful post on his blog explaing his formula for success:
If you want an average successful life, it doesn’t take much planning. Just stay out of trouble, go to school, and apply for jobs you might like. But if you want something extraordinary, you have two paths:
1. Become the best at one specific thing.
2. Become very good (top 25%) at two or more things.The first strategy is difficult to the point of near impossibility. Few people will ever play in the NBA or make a platinum album. I don’t recommend anyone even try.
The second strategy is fairly easy. Everyone has at least a few areas in which they could be in the top 25% with some effort. In my case, I can draw better than most people, but I’m hardly an artist. And I’m not any funnier than the average standup comedian who never makes it big, but I’m funnier than most people.
The more you can be good at, the more marketable you are. Read the entire article.