about this sitesee Meranda's resumesee clips and work sampleskeep in touch
home

Archive for January 24th, 2007

QOTD: A job on a newspaper is a special thing…

Wednesday, January 24th, 2007

As a nod to my previous post:

“A job on a newspaper is a special thing. Every day you take something that you found out about, and you put it down and in a matter of hours it becomes a product. Not just a product like a can or something. It is a personal product that people, a lot of people, take the time to sit down and read.”
— Jimmy Breslin

“So, you like know everything that’s going on?”

Wednesday, January 24th, 2007

That’s what my roommate asked me today.

I told her that yes, in a way, I know most of what’s going on before other people. That’s my job. I know when an accident occurs or a robbery is reported, I know what stories will run in the next day’s paper, and I usually know what they’ll say before I read them.

Reporters are definitely more in-tune with a community than probably any other people — including probably people like the mayor and police chief. You’re on the ground level talking to people making news and others affected by news. You see the good and bad in people. And part of your job is making connections between the different events and people and analyzing what you find.

Plus, knowing eveything that’s going on is afterall one of the best things about being a reporter. You know things nobody else does. It’s one of those things we take for granted. But my roommate was seriously like, “Wow. Do you ever just sit there and listen to everything that’s going on.” My answer was, I pretty much hear it all even if I’m not paying attention. You know, like the mom who knows when you’re fighting with your sibling even though she’s across the house on another level. But I told her, I’m usually too busy to sit there and just listen. I’d rather be finding out something new. :)

Times reader not ‘Apple’ of my eye

Wednesday, January 24th, 2007

I was excited when I heard about the new Times Reader. It sounds like it’s a pretty novel and awesome concept. It’s only in beta now, but I wanted to give it a spin. Unfortunately, it’s not available for Mac, just Windows. :(

When I was younger my family used Windows computers. (Everyone else still does.) One of our barriers for switching was the perception that a lot of software was unavailable for Macs. (Granted, that was once the case.) That hasn’t been my experience, at least not in terms of software I want. All the Microsoft Office, Adobe, Macromedia, etc. products I actually use are very much available for my MacBook. I haven’t run into more than a handful of applications I wanted to try but couldn’t get for my OS.

I hope when this comes out of beta, it comes with a OS X version.

QOTD: Here’s some simple advice…

Wednesday, January 24th, 2007

“Here’s some simple advice: Always be yourself. Never take yourself too seriously. And beware of advice from experts, pigs and members of parliament.”
— Kermit the frog