One thing I tried to do more of this semester was read. I hadn't done any actual personal reading in a long time. I have found that as we grow up, and as we get busier, adults don't have the time to read. For me, it was trying to find the time between school and work and any amount of a social life. It was nearly impossible.
This summer we went to Texas to visit my brother and his girlfriend. On the trip, there wasn't much to do other than read. I read something like 3 books throughout the week. I read so much that I had to download the Kindle app on my phone, because I ran out of books.
At first, nothing was mind-blowingly amazing. And then there was the Hunger Games series. Justine had been bugging me to read them, but I had so many other books that I wanted to read, and I was afraid I wouldn't like them. She finally convinced me, and the first book was like $6 on the Kindle- I couldn't pass up that deal.
I don't read very quickly; I never have. At that point, I was forcing myself to read at least one chapter of whatever book I was reading per night. I needed a way to turn my brain off and just relax. It took less than a week to read the first book (that is good when you're usually only devoting an hour to reading every night). It's one of those series where you have to start the next book right away; so I did. In the end, I read the series in about two and a half weeks. I read the third book in about two days. It was an accident. I had read about 30 percent, and then I sat down to read and next thing I knew- it was done!
I've read the series twice, and each time I finish I have this moment of, "what now?" I get so incredibly lost when I finish; not to mention the emotional destruction the book causes (yes, it is the book's fault).
I've recommended the series to so many people, and I have yet to find someone who didn't like it. The movie comes out in March. In fact, the movie comes out three months from today. I don't have that kind of patience. I want to see it now. One song came out from the soundtrack today. I about died. Literally, It was the most incredible thing I've heard. It's actually probably not even that good, but the Hunger Games association makes it 100000x greater.
I would love to go into all the intricacies of the book; I have found so many, but I don't want to give anything away. Maybe when I read the book again I will keep a whole blog series on it (ohh that might actually be a really good idea). I have to finish the Harry Potter series first, though. I've never read it before. I know, I know. I just never cared to read them until recently. I'm almost done, though. I might read Hunger Games again next. I just can't help myself.
23 December 2011
17 December 2011
Look who's back!
Wow! It has been quite a while since I have had time to do any amount of personal writing. I write so much for the paper, and design so much, and edit so much, that when I get home I have no desire to write for myself. Plus, most of the time my life isn't that exciting that it needs to be put on the Internet for everyone to see (can I mention how much I loathe the fact that AP Style says that Internet be capitalized? What kind of shit is that??).
The semester is over- finally! I feel like this whole semester went so slow, and yet so fast at the same time. It was a whirlwind of hard work, and I hope it paid off. I mean, I'm certain it did. The paper this semester was a whole new experience for me. Instead of just being a lab writer and taking random stories, I started the semester as a page designer for the opinion section. At some point things got twisted and I was taking on more work than was actually necessary, and the editor wasn't communicating with me what he wanted on the page. So, thanks to some awesome people (read- David) a discussion was had and I walked into the newsroom a few days later and became the opinion editor.
I know what you're thinking- I don't want to be an opinion writer. I mean, sure I can write opinion well. At least, I can write it well now. It's just not my thing. I want to write sports. I grew up playing sports. I grew up around sports. It's what I love.
Actually, though, I became really good friends with our sports editor. I just happened to grab the computer next to her on the first night of production, and it just stuck. Throughout the semester we discovered how much we truly had in common. The biggest thing for me was that she is a Christian. Her faith goes beyond what I have imagined to find within my chosen industry. I knew going into the media that it is, in fact, a very liberal industry. I have worried about that so much. I realize that not believing in God does not necessitate a liberal bias, but for some reason I have always made that connection in my head. I know I am strong enough in my own faith that I can handle the naysayers. I just didn't want to go into a newsroom full of people who were going to attack me from every direction. Finding someone with very similar life goals to mine who also has a very strong faith is exactly what I prayed for, and He obviously saw the need.
Remember that conference I posted about a few months ago? I went to the SoCal conference this past October. That could have been an entire post all on its own. Suffice it to say, I am the number 2 copy editor in SoCal (Please don't judge anything I do on here as being worthy of that. My personal writing has a very different tone to it than my professional writing).
I'm getting ready to apply to UT Arlington. I want my grades to be posted before I do that. There are a few other schools that I may consider, but I do want to go to Texas. I need to get out of California. There isn't much here for me anymore. I've been in a bit of a rut for a while now. It's getting a little better, but I spent the bulk of my semester locked up in my house, or at work, or at school. My social life was abysmal. I think my parents were actually getting worried about how little I actually went out. I didn't even get to see my best friends as much as I would have liked to see them. Actually, as I think about it, I didn't do anything this semester. That's probably not a good thing. I have every intention of working on it, even though next semester is going to be very intense.
I did go to some incredible concerts throughout the summer and this fall. I saw Miranda Lambert thanks to my amazing grandma who knows how much I adore country, and Ashley and Jeremy went with us. I went to a few more with those two as well: Eric Church, Toby Keith, Tim McGraw, Luke Bryan, and a one day festival that featured Montgomery Gentry. I also saw Gary Allan and went to a private concert thanks to my mom. I went to Taylor Swift with Ashley... that is a story in-and-of itself. We won't be reliving it, because I don't need to incriminate myself further.
Sorry, that was quite the mundane list. And this was quite the mundane post. I should really try to get back into this thing...
The semester is over- finally! I feel like this whole semester went so slow, and yet so fast at the same time. It was a whirlwind of hard work, and I hope it paid off. I mean, I'm certain it did. The paper this semester was a whole new experience for me. Instead of just being a lab writer and taking random stories, I started the semester as a page designer for the opinion section. At some point things got twisted and I was taking on more work than was actually necessary, and the editor wasn't communicating with me what he wanted on the page. So, thanks to some awesome people (read- David) a discussion was had and I walked into the newsroom a few days later and became the opinion editor.
I know what you're thinking- I don't want to be an opinion writer. I mean, sure I can write opinion well. At least, I can write it well now. It's just not my thing. I want to write sports. I grew up playing sports. I grew up around sports. It's what I love.
Actually, though, I became really good friends with our sports editor. I just happened to grab the computer next to her on the first night of production, and it just stuck. Throughout the semester we discovered how much we truly had in common. The biggest thing for me was that she is a Christian. Her faith goes beyond what I have imagined to find within my chosen industry. I knew going into the media that it is, in fact, a very liberal industry. I have worried about that so much. I realize that not believing in God does not necessitate a liberal bias, but for some reason I have always made that connection in my head. I know I am strong enough in my own faith that I can handle the naysayers. I just didn't want to go into a newsroom full of people who were going to attack me from every direction. Finding someone with very similar life goals to mine who also has a very strong faith is exactly what I prayed for, and He obviously saw the need.
Remember that conference I posted about a few months ago? I went to the SoCal conference this past October. That could have been an entire post all on its own. Suffice it to say, I am the number 2 copy editor in SoCal (Please don't judge anything I do on here as being worthy of that. My personal writing has a very different tone to it than my professional writing).
I'm getting ready to apply to UT Arlington. I want my grades to be posted before I do that. There are a few other schools that I may consider, but I do want to go to Texas. I need to get out of California. There isn't much here for me anymore. I've been in a bit of a rut for a while now. It's getting a little better, but I spent the bulk of my semester locked up in my house, or at work, or at school. My social life was abysmal. I think my parents were actually getting worried about how little I actually went out. I didn't even get to see my best friends as much as I would have liked to see them. Actually, as I think about it, I didn't do anything this semester. That's probably not a good thing. I have every intention of working on it, even though next semester is going to be very intense.
I did go to some incredible concerts throughout the summer and this fall. I saw Miranda Lambert thanks to my amazing grandma who knows how much I adore country, and Ashley and Jeremy went with us. I went to a few more with those two as well: Eric Church, Toby Keith, Tim McGraw, Luke Bryan, and a one day festival that featured Montgomery Gentry. I also saw Gary Allan and went to a private concert thanks to my mom. I went to Taylor Swift with Ashley... that is a story in-and-of itself. We won't be reliving it, because I don't need to incriminate myself further.
Sorry, that was quite the mundane list. And this was quite the mundane post. I should really try to get back into this thing...
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