October 2009
3 posts
Loopy on Wednesday
There are so many times I’m sitting at my desk at work and something happens or I have an idea, and I wish I could blog right there but I’m at work and I can’t.
Since I last checked in, I’ve talked to candidates (I’m still crazy, heeeyy), went to a high school tailgate, met my 5-year-old self at fire prevention night and went to a school board meeting. The features...
I have a love affair with Doylestown, PA. They have a great main street, an awesome farmers market aaannnd you can go tubing down the Delaware River and stop halfway to grab a hot dog from a man who allegedly has an illegal riverside business.
My new condition
Scoliosis can cause rib prominence on one side and leg length discrepancy, which often results in gait dysfunction. Pain, difficulty sitting or standing, stiffness, and spinal rigidity are often associated with scoliosis. Rarely does adult scoliosis adversely affect cardiopulmonary (heart and lung) function or cause neurologic complaints. However, a complete medical and...
Deadline day
One of the things I like about my job is that I get to run around town one day and the next I get to write in the newsroom. Monday night I had a borough council meeting, Tuesday morning two preliminary court hearings, Tuesday afternoon I went on a hawk watch and Tuesday night visited the home of a 5th place world champion in the Agility World Championship in Austria the weekend of Sept. 18. I saw...
September 2009
13 posts
2 tags
Happy 8 a.m.
This is such a bad decision: going to spin class on a day when I head to my best friends’ new apartment to play all night. It’s 8 a.m. I need to take a nap when I get home, but I’m planning on stopping off at the township library to grab a book or two about the history of intriguing Horsham, PA. I’m writing an article about a real estate firm making renovations on a...
Friday
Had a really nice day today. Started with a 3 a.m. phone call from someone saying he missed me, went to the gym then went to work. Wrote awhile and then covered a visiting author at the middle school, Pseudonymous Bosch. He’s apparently a secret author. He didn’t take off his sunglasses at all during his presentation, which is certainly odd, but intriguing. I made friends with some...
Achoooink
Paging Dr. Gupta…
http://pagingdrgupta.blogs.cnn.com/2009/09/23/i-went-to-afghanistan-and-all-i-got-was-h1n1/
CNN’s medical correspondent (the guy who was almost the Obama surgeon general) reports about his experience contracting swine flu while reporting from Afghanistan.
“I am not someone who gets sick, really ever. And this was the sickest I have ever been,” he...
The church fair
My editor sent me out to cover a church fair tonight, one of those carnivals that normally take place during the summer. “Be creative with it, don’t feel like you have to stick to the standard news article layout,” he said.
Hello, paintball.
I was hanging out waiting for the reverind to finish dinner and speak with me, so I took a little walk around. Saw the standard carnival...
Obama is on all the network morning talk shows
Yup.
Life
I’m going to give this another shot.
Amanda post three week blog hiatis, a summary:
I got a job. I just finished my first week as a REAL reporter. Yes, it’s amazing. Answering a phone saying “Newsroom, this is Amanda” is really surreal.
I went on somewhere between half-a-dozen and a dozen meetings with people in Philadelphia. I went to KYW, the Philadelphia Inquirer,...
Scale
Cool: Getting text messages and e-mails from a rockstar presidential candidate during the campaign season.
Not: Mitch Stewart, I do not want your post-election Obama propaganda.
Today I saw a few people with the same Fbook status:
No one should die because they cannot afford healthcare, and no one should go broke because they are sick. If you agree, please post this as your status for the rest...
August 2009
25 posts
Phone/skype [not sitting in front of you]...
On Wednesday I have a skype interview for a position in D.C. Not sure how I feel about interviews not in person. I like them because I don’t have to dress up (but I will wear perfume to feel pretty). But, phone interviews are less personal.
I had a phone interview this spring (note: economy ruined any opportunity), and completely rocked it because I had made all of these notes on a word doc...
Bronzer
It always seems that I finally realize I have a nice base tan just as I’m packing to leave the beach.
Beachin book review
I just spent 40 minutes trying to synch a running playlist to my ipod. Unfortunatly, all of the sidewalks down here at the beach are made with sea shells = bumpy = blisters = my feet may just explode after the first song. Bye bye 40 minutes of my life I will never, ever get back.
Currently been occupied with some light beach reading: The Battle for America 2008: The Story of an Extraordinary...
Dreaming at the beach
Beach > first day of school
College was the absolute best time in my life, so far. Four years ago I was sitting in my first class, Understanding Mass Media, sitting in the middle of a small theater and listening to my professor. I really miss it. Freshman year was so carefree. I made friends I’ve grown closer to every year and I met the boyfriend I’ve been with for practically four...
Based on your experience...I call bullshit
That was the subject line to e-mail Cristen sent me with a link to a Washington Bizjournal article: Easy to find work in D.C. area
“D.C. is the easiest metro area in the U.S. to find a job, according to jobs search engine Indeed.com.”
So many people posted it to Facebook followed by “yeah right” etc. etc. Agreed. Indeed.com covers all sorts of jobs, so I’m assuming...
The 100 Most Beautiful Words in English →
(via id0be1ieve)
Had to go there because I’ll always remember my 10th grade English teacher saying that gonorrhea is one of the most beautiful words in the English language:
“Gonorrhea, according to Willard R. Espy, is the most beautiful word in the English language. Other words on the list are gossamer, lullaby, meandering, mellifluous, murmuring, onomatopoeia, Shenandoah, summer...
1 tag
Health care
Health care: a short, sweet feature for my local paper about a thousand-page House bill that nobody really understands, but everyone has something to argue say about…
Health care reform is the story this August. Energetic town hall meetings, the debate over a public option and “pulling the plug on grandma” are all over the air waves. Often we compare our system to others in the world.
My...
Ridin the rails with Dr. Phil
At first glance, I thought this was a marketing ploy and I couldn’t decide if it was strategic or desperate. But then, I re-read the last paragraph saying you have to apply to be on the show. Boo, Dr. Phil. You’re defeating the purpose of taking your show to the streets if it’s all going to be preplanned. Can’t you just make your set look like a train?
“Dear Amanda,...
Weekend update
The professional I cited in my last post contacted me and offered to try to hook me up with a bunch of his media contacts. I love when opportunities pop up when you least expect them. I showed up for the margaritas and met someone willing to go out on such a limb for me. People can be so great.
I can’t help but feel guilty when people that I just met help me like this. All of the career...
A foot in the [wrong] door
My wonderful friends have been passing on writing-related positions to me that they get through various list-servs. A little while back I received two different e-mails about the same job: an administrative assistant position at the D.C. bureau for one of Spain’s largest newspapers, El Pais. Both friends urged me to apply because it would be a foot in the door and might lead to opportunities...
Roadside resume
Grads who hawked resumes curbside get jobs
Too bad I don’t like fast cars.
Me: Hi, I wanted to check in to see if you received my application. My name is Amanda.
Hopeful potential supervisor: Let me check...oh, are you the one with the Web site?
Me: Yes!
HPS: It's very impressive
This made my day. Make yourself a Web site, it's a great way to market yourself -- especially if you're into communications. I used Wordpress as a host and bought the domain name. I have to say...I'm pleased with myself.
Monday night
Applied for three positions today — one fellowship, one internship and one job. All of which would be pretty cool. Cross your fingers for me?
Tomorrow I’m prepared to send out a few more and make a phone call or two. Not too much networking to be done from my couch in the Philadelphia suburbs, but I’m doing the best with what I have. I’m considering a move back to D.C....
2 tags
Reevaluate
I’m expanding my job search. Maybe I can get a specialization in a particular topic and then after the national unemployment average peaks at 10% and begins a steady decline maybe I’ll pick up journalism again.
Plus, I can always take on freelance articles and continue rack up published clips.
Options.
On my Facebook homepage I saw someone’s status said his job is resume...
“Happy girls are the prettiest.”
– Audrey Hepburn (via iamblessed)
Bitter news
Downturn in Economy Depresses Job Market for Journalism and Mass Communication Graduates ( U of Georgia)
Your basic summary:
- Economic model of media has collapsed
- 2008 journalism and comm grads had it bad. 2009ers have it worse.
This journalism degree-holder needs a new specialty.
Women and minorities encouraged to apply
Just a quickie for now, but I had to comment:
I have seen quite a few job descriptions with a little “women and minorities encouraged to apply” tag at the bottom.
Really?
Women have been voting for about 90 years. Women are editors-in-cheif, CEOs and top executives. Some choose not to get married and some forgo pot roasts and casseroles for take out. And that’s ok.
I think...
Bread and anxiety
I’m currently baking a loaf of bread — my second in a week!
I picked up the book “French women don’t get fat” at an old book sale about a month ago because it was ridiculously cheap and I remembered all of the interest about it a few years ago. Plus, after two trips to Spain (amor), I’m pretty intrigued by the European manner of eating. They have more of a...
Had a job interview and never got a response?
http://www.emailyourinterviewer.com/
Just click on it…it’s amazing. Brought to you by “Ask a Manager” the blog of a manager who takes readers’ questions on HR and other office concerns. She also has a column on U.S. News and World Report.
Do it!! Click!!
Second [tweet tweet] nature
Today my mom went to a seminar for a women in business group about using social networks. She came home and asked:
“So, how did you learn how to blog and stuff online? Did you learn it in school?”
No. I just kind of started to play around with it.
I just started my tumblr account this week (!), but for the past year I’ve been working on an online portfolio using Wordpress....
Sensationalism: wash it down with a bud light
I’m not going to deny that there are white-black racial tensions. And on a positive note, the Gates-Crowley- Obama saga has brought these particular tensions — plus the possible irresponsibilty of the police force — to the forefront. No doubt that these issues deserve attention.
But, didn’t it seem like the whole story was unnecessarily sensational?
Sure, President Obama...
Facebook news feed highlight of the morning
The headlines captivating the 20-something crowd today, courtesy of Facebook.
Disclaimer: Most of my Facebook friends are from college, an extremely politically active D.C. university. Thank you to them for sharing:
Students Find $100 Textbooks Cost $50, Purchased Overseas (NYT 8.3.09) The details: American textbooks sell for less overseas than they do in America, so college book stores and...
2 tags
'09 grad sues alma mater, wants a job
Trina Thompson is suing Monroe College for $70,000. She graduated in April, but doesn’t have a job.
Shocking, given the flourishing state of the economy:
“They have not tried hard enough to help me,” the frustrated Bronx resident wrote about the school in her lawsuit.
“She’s angry,” said Thompson’s mother, Carol. “She’s very angry at her...