December 2008
7 posts
Things I'll be doing on break
This is what I’ll more than likely be doing when the semester’s over, in no particular order…
- Sleeping
- Watching all of the movies that I’ve missed this semester
- Throwing a belated birthday party (the good kind…the kind where your brain is still fuzzy three days later)
- Working
- Working on photo projects (now that I’m not taking any more photo...
Another class down
So I finished my Digital I class today, and it’s photo class that I’ll be taking. I decided to drop my minor because I’d rather focus on writing - besides since I’m going to LA I wouldn’t be able to take anymore photo classes anyways.
I didn’t think that I’d be sad about leaving the Photo Dept. but I kinda am. I always felt like the odd one out because...
So I finally finished up my Advanced Magazine paper yesterday and I still can’t believe that it’s actually DONE and I don’t have to do another revision of it. At first, I thought I would be dreading that class, but once I finally got used to tracking people down for interviews, it wasn’t so bad. Well, that’s one more assignment I don’t have to worry about any...
I still can’t believe that the semester is almost over. I don’t think that I’ve ever seen a semester fly by so fast. Strangely enough, I’m not stressed out because most of the stuff that I’ve been working on I’ve been doing all semester long and now I’m just finishing them up. I’m done with two of my classes so far and I can actually focus on the...
CLTV decided to allow viewers to sound off about how Mayor Daley wants to cut costs by only plowing the city’s main streets this winter. This topic hit a nerve because the people who where calling in were completely beside themselves (and rightfully so). One caller mentioned that we pay the highest sales tax rate in the country, yet we’ll still have neccessary services cut. If Daley...
This is the first day that I was actually able to get out of class early which I was really happy about because I really didn’t feel like driving home in sleet. Normally I would be walking in the door about now but I was able to get home by five. It was kinda strange to be home so early because I was actually able to sit down and watch some tv and chill out for a little while instead jumping...
Looks like someone's got a case of the Mondays
I don’t typically like to rant online but today I’ll make an exception…
I’m not sure if it’s because today is Monday, if it’s because today is the first day back from a four day weekend or if it’s because the weather is crappy, but today completely sucked.
I’m not a fan of Mondays in the first place, but in a sense I’ve got it easy because I...
November 2008
6 posts
All I'm asking for is a cake shaped like a turkey
So my birthday is next week and I don’t usually make a big deal about it but my family does. I was born on Thanksgiving and because everyone is getting together anyways my birthday is usually celebrated by default.
It was cool when I was a kid because I would get Thanksgiving dinner AND a ton of presents but now that I’m in my mid-twenties I’m totally over it. My mom asked me...
Busy Busy
It’s been a busy week: I found out that I’m spending next semester in L.A., I’ve just gotten my second feature assignment with Alarm, so there is a lot to discuss… but right now I’m completely cross eyed from staying up so late and I have to be up early so I will continue this thought tomorrow…
… so anyways, it’s kinda funny how I’ve gone...
This morning I was watching the Today Show and Matt Lauer was interviewing a woman whose life was saved by her over stuffed handbag. Since I often carry EVERYTHING I own in my bag (and I am constantly made fun of for it), I was intrigued. Turns out this woman that he was interviewing was walking to her car after work and a guy tried to mug her. He tried taking her laptop, she refused to hand it...
Hello craft my name is...
I found out about a new podcast that Etsy started up last week called Hello Craft. Every week someone calls up and starts out with them saying ‘Hello craft, my name is ________”
So anyways, I listened to their first podcast a few days ago and this girl was talking about how she had learned to knit from her mom and grandma. She talked about how her grandmother eventually had to stop...
I was in Pilsen this weekend and I never really noticed just how many people in the neighborhood are avid bike riders. It’s nice to see that this is something that is really starting to take off in Chicago.
Holding My Breath
This is the second presidential election that I have voted in and I remember exactly how I felt that morning in 2004. There was this sense of excitement in the way so many people were able to mobilize politically and there was really no question that we were going to make it. We were going to defeat Bush, end the war, and change the world. We didn’t.
This time around, I woke up at 5:30 this...
October 2008
9 posts
Multimeda Journalism
Two weeks ago, when I was observing crafters “in the wild”, I was talking with one of the girls about all of the changes that are happening in the media. I realized that when I actually had to sit down and talk about this with someone who isn’t in the field, it’s really difficult for me to articulate what direction that Journalism is going in (which really freaks me out...
Runner's High
I’ve heard of something called a runner’s high (when an exausted athlete suddenly gets this burst of energy) but apparently the concept can be applied to homework too as I’ve learned this weekend. I had to write a 2,500 word first draft for my Advanced Magazine class and basically that was my only real homework that was due this weekend. Instead of just calling it a day, I...
This is a day for going back to sleep
I swear to God, I could not wake up this morning if my life depended on it. Now that the sun’s coming up later in the morning, it’s even tougher to get up at 6:30am…so I decided to hit the snooze button for about a half an hour. Since I’ve figured out the last minute that I can roll out of bed and still get to work by 9am, I was still running on time, but it just makes me...
Ok so far this week I’ve had: a 1,200 word magazine feature due, a 700 word assignment due for Visual Journalism, an 800 word assignment for Advanced Magazine (oh and a 2,500 word first draft that was bumped up to Friday at noon), a photo project due, a presentation, and another article. (I think that’s a personal record for how much I’ve written in the past week). I’m...
Maybe I should argue more often
This past weekend, I was showing my dad how I can get internet access from my IPod so of course he’s sitting there acting like it’s the greatest technological advancement since the invention of the wheel. Then I start waxing poetic about the IPhone. Being the CPA that he is, he’s sitting there telling me how I better not even think about spending money on that crap. So a debate...
This whole Twitter deal
Ok, so I think I’m starting to understand this whole Twitter concept. When I first found out about it a few months ago. I was really skeptical of how useful it actually was because honestly I really don’t need to know what everyone is doing at every second of the day. Besides I really didn’t understand the main purpose behind Twitter because it came across as some sort of...
So that's what a tiller is
So I was watching the debate and Mc Cain starts yammering about how are nation needs “a steady hand at the tiller” and I wondered hmm… what is that? Well the wonderful people at WIRED did the legwork for me.
It’s nice to see that he has added other words to his vocabulary besides maverick.
You know that the economy is in the toilet when the Today Show starts scrounging thrift stores for their style segment.
When One Door Closes, Another Two Open
So earlier this week I got a call from an editor at a local newspaper that I’ve been contributing to for the past year and a half. He wanted to know if I was still taking assignments this semester or if I was to busy with school and what not. Between school, work and homework, there’s no way that I could take on any assignments and stay on top of everything else that I do. So I had to...
Worst Group Ever
Honestly, I haven’t really had too many bad experiences working on group projects. Most of the people that I have worked with were usually pretty responsible about getting stuff done. So it took me a while to think of an example but then I realized that one of the worst group projects that I had to partake in was during my Media Ethics and Law class over the summer.
My teacher wanted us to...
September 2008
7 posts
The internet's ifluence on my life
I’ve grown up using the internet but it really doesn’t rule my life. Basically I’d use the internet for school, shopping, reading magazines that I don’t subscribe to and downloading music. I’ve never really been to keen on using the internet as a social network or to blog about my everyday life.
Now it’s not like I’ve got my head shoved under the sand...
Knit 1 Chicago
I stopped by Knit 1 on Monday to pick up some yarn for a scarf I want to make for when it starts getting cold out (even though I’ll probably finish this thing sometime in mid-March). This was the first time that I had been there and it’s a really cute store stocked that’s full of yarns in every color known to man.
The owner, Karen Clements, is really friendly and was telling me that she started...
Renegade Craft Fair
Apparently most events that I’ve been super excited about this summer have gotten rained out (Printer’s Row, Pitchfork, etc…). The Renegade Craft Fair this past weekend was no different. Despite the torrential downpours, the event still pulled a pretty decent crowd. Crafters and vendors braved the weather and successfully kept their wares from getting too soaked. Kathy Beymer of Merriment Craft...
The Future of Journalism
Being a journalism student who will be graduating in less than a year, it scares the bejesus out of me to think about what I’m going to be doing after graduation considering how unstable the newspaper/magazine business has become. But at the same time I think it’s amazing to think about how much more accessible independent publishing has become. Technology has completely turned the...
Welcome!
Ok, so I wanted to start (and actually keep up with) a blog about something very near and dear to me, crafting and DIY culture. It’s something that I’ve been a part of for years and because of school, work, etc, I’m not as involved with it as I used to be. For almost a year now, I’ve been kicking around the idea of starting a blog about the DIY scene in Chicago.
I’ve...