Many many thoughts

1. Not getting as much exposure on Youth Vote as I thought I would. I've turned in a story and a video that haven't gotten put up yet. I know it's editorial discretion and they have to make everything work- but it's really frustrating to work on something a long time and then not have it put up. Plus the kids covering youth vote in Denver keep getting put on like CBS and the Early Show and getting huge amounts of exposure- while I'm back here. Not even seeing my name show up for two weeks + at a time. Lame. I have a couple other stories in mind that'll be awesome though. Plus if nothing else, the video I made really made me push my way through iMovie- and now I know it well enough that I don't think the other videos I make will take nearly as long. So it's still a learning experience, even if I'm not necessarily getting my stuff up like I'd like it to be right now.

2. I'm helping live-blog the convention tonight from the JC Convention Watch Party! I'm way excited- planning on sending in pictures and stuff from the fun for the blog.

3. I've been wondering about something- every story I've been writing for this, I've been trying to seek out a variety of opinion for. A mix of liberal, conservative, and undecided. But the truth is- even just going around randomly asking people- I usually find 5 liberals to 1 conservative. (at least so far anyways)
Is it more ethical for me to portray the quote/political leanings percentages exactly as they are when I talk to people, or is it more ethical for me to even it out so there're the same amounts of opinions in there? What is the best way of showing opinions and expressing the political climate at Mason?
I haven't come to a decision yet. It's something I worry about- I know all us young'un reporters are seen as leaning liberal anyways- so I don't want to give people that idea when I'm just trying to show what I'm seeing and hearing out there from students.

4. A horrible textbook I have to read through for my Writing Across the Media class gave awesome tips on grammar and spelling today. But it gave me a really fun new fact to tell people.
It's from a little section on past efforts to reform spelling in the English language.

"One of the leaders of spelling reform was Robert McCormick, who in the 1930s ordered his newspaper, the Chicago Tribune to use shortened forms of words such as tho, iland, frate, thru, and jaz...In 1975, twenty years after McCormick died, the Tribune reverted to using generally accepted spellings. McCormick was not the only person to try. President Theodore Roosevelt and writer Mark Twain were also advocates of simplified spelling rules."

AWESOME.

5. I've gone vegetarian. At least for now. I read Skinny Bitch- an incredibly cool diet book about what foods are actually made of and the processes that make them- and now every time I think about eating meat, I think about how it was killed and formed and all the nasty things that might be in it. So I haven't eaten any meat since Sunday. (I actually really love fish, turkey, and beef, so this is a pretty big deal to me) I'm not certain if it's going to be permanent -I think so- but at the very least, I'm not going to make myself feel guilty if I eat meat occasionally. I'm Texan- the thought of giving up my daddy's brisket or my madre's homemade chili makes me very sad.

We'll see what happens.

<3-

Rachael


They put up my VIDEO!!!! : D

btw voiceovers are way harder than they sound. i kept rerecording it to try to sound more interesting and less pretentious. my goal was- npr sounding without the snobbiness and anti-semitism.

YAY I GET ATTENTION. : )



-EDIT-

Am I a horrible person if my favorite character on South Park is the devil? I just think he's so funny- his cute little need to have a loving relationship- his very 90's examination of his life and values- his cutely decorated house and his awesome 'my super-sweet sixteen' halloween party. Ever episode he's in just makes me really happy.



Yay Satan (in South park, not in real life).