Fun With Foodies

I got an e-mail today from my editor at The Gazette, who has been working diligently to come up with new and exciting ideas for the county's beloved daily. The arts and entertainment section is therefore going to focus on food every Tuesday, and I was asked if I'd like to do a column. A column.

It isn't a real column, at least not in the way it's generally described. I don't get to rant about food or vegetable growing or how very aggravating it is to see the same chain restaurants everywhere. Instead, it appears that I'll be interviewing local people (including the occasional restaurant chef) about their cooking experiences and favorite recipes - my main contribution will be fun little intros to frame the pieces, as well as hunting down local types to interview. This will, of course, involve actual research - as much fun as it would be to leap out from behind endcaps at the local grocery store for ambush interviews ("CITIZEN! IN THE NAME OF JOURNALISM, DIVULGE THE COMPONENTS OF YOUR EVENING MEAL!") I'm not sure that technique would go over well with such a family-friendly publication. The local alt-weekly, maybe, but not our sweet little daily.

Of course, there's always the danger that my tenure with the food section may eventually involve me reviewing restaurants, which could indeed be the death of me. What with the day job keeping me literally tethered to my desk for eight hours, I'm not getting much exercise these days. I'm told I could get up early to work out, but I still have trouble with that. I'm very much a night owl (though it'll be a while before I can nerd by buying this car and naming it Archie¹), so I'd rather work out at 11:00 p.m. than 8:00 a.m. Of course, the way things are looking, I may well have to physically engage both early and late - I loathe the way I feel and look these days, and if my future involves rich meals on the cheap (or free!), I'm gonna have to pull out every stop I have. There's a real possibilty that they'll be rolling me in and out otherwise.

Maybe it's time to consider that non-fiction book idea I had. I call it, "Results Not Typical," and it'd follow me for a year as I tried every fad diet, trendy exercise routine and diet pill available. Hey, what's the worst that could happen?



¹I don't care what anyone says - to me, it looks like your friendly neighborhood owlship. It's also the closest I'll ever get to owning transport that awesome.

Though it's the sort of thing that may make people's eyes roll back into their skulls, my biggest thrill of the day was sending in my application for the Kiplinger Program in Public Affairs Journalism. I got some very fantastic letters of recommendation from former colleagues - one nearly made me cry - and did my best to explain why the program should sponsor my project idea. Hopefully the judging panel will be as enthusiastic about it as the post office patrons were; it's sort of gratifying to have a stranger tell you that "you seem to have it together" when you're standing in line wearing an old T-shirt, sweatpants and mud-caked sneakers, makeup-less and soaked after a speed gardening session. (Rain or no, some harvesting was vital - the recent rains around here have caused my plants to go a little crazy.)

Poor Big Mean Flash Gamer. I do hope he knows what he's getting himself into.

Now that the application is out of the way, it's time for me to start tackling other projects, including another story for the local paper and a follow-up with The Herb Companion to see if they'd like to use a story I pitched a while back. My recent freelancing course has really given me a kick in the pants when it comes to writing and pitching more, so I'd like to put that knowledge to use and get back in the game. As Big Mean Flash Gamer gently reminded me, the best way to be a writer is, well, to write. I've been freaking out way too much as of late about finding a new full time gig, and it won't do me any good to have an anemic portfolio if (when?) that big interview comes around. I've also got some ideas for a number of regional publications, including Ohio Magazine and Midwest Living, that need to get committed to paper at some point.

Just like those ideas I have for a steampunk novel. Or comic book. Or something. Whatever works, really. I'll have to see what shapes up for it.

But for now, bed. Never enough hours in a day, I tell you.

(Crossposted to Life on the Margins - LiveJournal Edition.)

Busy Busy

It's been a bit since I last updated, but I can at least say it's been due to busyness* and not apathy.

-I've started taking an online writing course. The latest assignment is to write five story pitches and, well, pitch them. It's due on Tuesday, but I'll have to let the teacher know I've run into a bit of a snag with regards to getting my sources lined up in advance. It seems that there's this "holiday weekend" thing that all the kids are wild about, so I haven't been able to speak with some of these people. Hopefully I'll have more luck next week, after which I can actually pitch the articles to actual editors who will accept my ideas and pay me actual money. Money's always fun.

-I'm working on another story for The Gazette, this one about a local teacher who was involved in Project Dragonfly. I interviewed the teacher today, and she was very enthusiastic. I look forward to writing the story and helping her educate the community about this program. More people should know about it.

-One of my friends is working on a website for our 10 Year High School Reunion, and he wants me to help him out by writing the copy for it. This is harder than it sounds, especially since my initial pitch for the splash page was rejected.^ I need to dedicate some part of my brain to coming up with acceptable content, though I have yet to determine which part.

So that, on top of the day job, is what's keeping me hopping now. Somewhere in all of this, I also need to get more job applications knocked out. Someone out there must need a writer, and I intend to find out who.


*No, it's not a typo.

^"Hey! Do you want to relive four years of teenage angst while drinking with people toward whom you feel either ambivalence or open hostility? Then come to the __________ High School Reunion for the Class of ______!"

RIP, Mr. Jackson, Ms. Fawcett...

There's really nothing I can say that hasn't already been said, so I'll instead direct you over to some posts at the All Movie Blog that were written by my friend Cammila Albertson. I don't know who will be covering obit duties over on the All Music Blog, but you can check them out tomorrow for a more extensive post about Michael Jackson. They have their work cut out for them - I don't think anyone over there thought they'd be tasked with writing this one.

Strange, strange day. And a tremendously sad one.

In Memoriam: Michael Jackson

In Memoriam: Farrah Fawcett

Tehran Calling - Mayday, Mayday

I will be the first to admit that I don't know the whole story of what's going on in Iran. I know there were elections, I know the results were disputed, I know some are saying the elections were rigged, and now it seems that the country is falling apart. You won't see much coverage on mainstream news sites, apparently - but there is a great aggregate post over at LiveJournal's "ontd_political" that includes coverage from The Huffington Post, as well as Twitters from eyewitnesses. More than anything, it would appear that the Iranians, and especially young Iranians, want the world to listen to their concerns that the election was stolen/rigged by the existing regime. The regime has responded with a brutal crackdown that includes beatings, intimidation, and the shutdown of cell phone service. Social networking sites have apparently been blocked, and foreign reporters are being told to leave or cease their broadcasts. It doesn't appear that things are going to get better for Iranian citizens any time soon.

I wish there was more I could do or say at this point, but I'm truly at a loss for words. I just hope that the reporters covering these events are able to get back home safely, and I also hope that no more protesters are injured or killed at the hands of their government. I don't know what those of us outside Iran can do, or even if we can do anything. Hopefully we'll learn more tomorrow.

If you know more about what's going on, how to help, or just want to talk about the situation, please feel free to comment.

They Tell Me I Have a Website

I've batted around the idea of getting a website for a while, but I never followed through with it. I was always worried about the cost, about how to design it, who would host it and all that. However, it looks like things may have changed.

Carl over at Geek Assault has offered to host my site, and several of my friends have also volunteered to design one for me. What's more, Carl has also offered to host a site for Big Mean Flash Gamer - no bad thing, especially if it leads to more opportunities for him.

So to sum up: a website is in the works, thanks to some great people who think that a site would be a great idea for me and mine. Watch this space for further developments, as well as new content. It's about time I started updating this thing on a semi-regular basis at least.

Current projects: New Website, freelance articles for The Gazette.

You Said to Go Back to the Beginning!

Had a loooong talk with Big Mean Flash Gamer about the whole job situation...thing. There's really nothing else to call it at this point - it's a big, ugly thing that sits in the middle of the room, leering and taunting us. Or maybe it's just me. As per usual, my love has done an excellent job of shaking off this disappointment and going on with his life while I spent the day having little fantasies about being rich enough to buy up the company that pulled the rug out from under him, firing all the decision-makers and installing him as head of the whole shebang. Hey, a girl can dream.

Anyway, the discussion turned at one point to Rich Dad, Poor Dad, the book I'm currently plowing through about finances, investing, and why no one should ever buy anything on credit, ever. There are several things I like about the book, but there are two things that I found most fascinating:

1) Intellectual property rights are an asset - that is, they can be like stocks if treated properly. Intellectual property is like a stock in the sense that you have ownership over an intangible (i.e. an idea), but that intangible will provide you with continuous revenue of managed correctly.

2) You're never just selling one thing. I'm a writer, but I don't just sell my writing - depending on the job, I sell emotions (advertising/marketing), illusions (advertising/marketing/PR), knowledge (arts/entertainment reviews, factual articles) and experiences (concert reviews, essays, crappy fiction). Learn how to market that, and you can drum up some decent business for yourself. Or so the logic goes.

That's how we got on the subject of websites. I've wanted to do a website for BMFG for a while so he'd have a place to showcase his reviews, videos, read-only PDFs of his scripts, an online resume and links to his LinkedIn, Twitter and so on. It isn't lack of desire that kept me from doing it, but rather a lack of time and knowledge. (And patience, yes. I've been told that I'm pretty good at page layout, but most graphics/page layout programs and I don't get along. Add to that the additional aggravation of coding everything in HTML and you've got a very stressed woman on your hands.) I mentioned the idea of a website to him and was pretty surprised to hear how enthusiastic he was about the prospect. He and his friend Mark had taken web design classes in college, and he seems eager to use this knowledge. He said that he would be happy to make me a website as well, but this presents a bit of a problem: as of now, there's nothing to put on it.

That's not to say that my writing isn't online in some capacity - heaven knows I did plenty during my tenure with AMG - but unlike people like The Rotund (who has a book out now - rock on, dude!) I don't have a set subject or area of expertise. I'm a writing mutt by experience and necessity; I started my career at a trade magazine company where I wrote about construction equipment and underground infrastructure, wrote freelance music and entertainment stories for an alt-weekly and then moved on to covering music. I didn't do much writing after being laid off, due to a crisis of confidence and some family tragedies, but I think I'm ready to get back to the swing of it. Which sounds good, until I realize that I have no idea what the hell to write about these days. I'm facing a quandary - if I even want to hope for a dream career, I need to get myself in gear and land some high-profile gigs, such as the aforementioned Rotund. (She has a column in The Guardian, which is something I envy to no end.) At the same time, I have no idea where to start or what to say. Sad but true. I also don't know if my words alone are going to compel anyone to visit my as-of-now hypothetical website, especially since the web is so thoroughly driven by multimedia these days. I'd take some pictures, if I wasn't such a crap photographer, but I lack the equipment to make things like films. I'll leave that to , since he does a great job anyway.

Perhaps the best course of action at this point is to help him get his website squared away before I worry about my own. It'll at least give me more time to figure out if a website would be a good option for me anyway - after all, I need to determine if there's a market for a writer like me. You know, the odd, yet average, scattered sort.


Music For This Post: Placebo - Running Up That Hill