First, let me give you the link because I can't seem to embed this video from the website to this blog:
TURTLES! RACE!
Second, it was raining.
Thankfully I brought a plastic bag to cover my camera.
Unthankfully there was a KOMU reporter standing in the MIDDLE of the turtle racing circle for most of the races.
Kids weren't even allowed inside of the circle.
She moved for the last two races so I was able to actually get overall time lapse shots.
Thirdly, the ONE computer that we have in the photo bubble with final cut express is horribly insufficient.
Also, I HATE FINAL CUT EXPRESS.
We're considered by some to be the -BEST- program in the country as far as photo-journalism and we have ONE computer set up for doing multimedia and it doesn't even have final cut pro????
Please, someone tell me what's wrong with this picture.
Three times during my editing of this movie, final cut express straight up quit. No "do you want to save," no "spinning wheel of death" no NOTHIN', just straight up cutting out.
Granted, I should have been saving more often (meaning, incessently, every five seconds, every time I blinked, but when you're a few hours into editing audio and photos and blah blah blah, you get the picture.
So, I had to re-do a bunch of work a few times over (cutting clips, rearranging them, etc etc) AND THEN-
Sometime in the afternoon, after having been working on the project since 8 that morning, Final Cut Express froze.
I tried to quit the program and open it back up, having made peace with the fact that I was now going to be set back even an hour in editing, but no, it's not that easy. Nothing is never that easy. Not for me.
Final Cut Express REFUSES TO QUIT.
I tried to force quit the program.
It won't be forced.
It is frozen and un-forceable and I have a mini-meltdown.
I don't have my external hard drive, so I realize that I may possibly end up losing the ENTIRE PROJECT.
You see, when you log out of a computer in the news room, you lose anything saved onto the hard drive.
I called my boyfriend and was fortunate to find out that he was home from work by that time and was able to drive my hard drive down to me while I hawked the computer like a gargoyle.
Thankfully I wasn't forced into the alternative situation:
Speeding home to retrieve my hard drive and then back to the newsroom, obsessing over every single thing that could go wrong/ could have gone wrong while I was gone.
By some tiny miracle, which on a positive note my life is also pretty familiar with, final cut express unfroze itself and I was able to finish working on the piece.
It's no masterpiece by any means, but it's my favorite thing that I've done for the Missourian so far because, well, I've never done time lapse photography before.
So this was a learning experience and I like those.
Well, sometimes.
Usually people use that term to put a positive spin on something really kind of crappy, or annoying, or uncomfortable that happened.
"Well you learned something, didn't you?"
"Yes, yes I did, but somehow that doesn't help the fact that I'm on fire."
(Or the fact that I tend to make the same mistakes four and five times)
Honestly, I hate having things being referred to as "learning experiences."
To me, they're just mistakes.
Learning is what you do in order to avoid making them.
This is a flaw of mine because I'm a perfectionist.
But I'm a perfectionist that does things to my standards.
Being a reporter is unfulfilling to me in that way.
I do everything to other peoples' standards.
I don't like it.
I don't know how to act or what to do because I am realizing that it doesn't -really- matter what -I- want to know or what questions I want to ask or what I want to write about.
It's about whether or not I can frame my ideas in a way that the person I am appealing to about my story will respond to- which is impossible to predict.
There's always a different person and their response to anything that has to do with me is made entirely in a matter of moments and has a ridiculous amount of variables- whether they're in a good mood, what their opinion of me (or my outfit) is, whether or not I spit out an answer to a question they have in a way that they can understand or appreciate.
This ties my tongue to my shoes.
"What's your story about" becomes, to me, the most difficult question in the world and the fact that I have, well, only seconds to say everything and anything that I need/want to makes it that much worse.
I feel insignificant, unappreciated- pretty much just like a huge fuck-up that nobody wants to deal with or talk to.
I know this is unwarranted, but I'm sensitive and I'm going through the weirdest, most stressful year of my life.
(and I'm far too honest for my own good. I don't laugh at jokes I don't think are funny. I don't lie about what I've been doing or plan on doing next, I don't lie, period. And I don't fake.)
I know that faking it till you make it is probably really really good advice- but it's not for me.
I am literally incapable without feeling sick inside.
I'm a journalist down to my bones, I guess.
Maybe that's what brought me to Mizzou in the first place.
(To quote myself, which is obnoxious, "There's so much truth in the world, why lie?"
I have wanted to be a journalist since I was a tyke, so it's honestly very sad to me to be that I now don't see myself going into it in the future.
I don't want to write on a seventh grade reading level and I don't want to feel like I'm a failure or mediocre or unimportant because that's how I feel.
This isn't the fault of anybody else. It is my flaw.
I talk too much, I think too much, I hate answering to anyone but myself, I am bi-polar and misunderstood. I either fly under the radar or I'm the only thing on the screen. I am difficult, though I do try really hard not to be.
And I'll keep trying, as long as I'm here, though the likelihood that I apply for a position at a newspaper are slim to none.
How do these people get jobs writing wittily or descriptively?
I can't even seem to get a word aside from "said" applied to a quote that I'm using in a story.
This is a big deal to me.
I will not be able to live happily if I am not allowed to say that someone responded this or quipped that.
I'm told that there is connotation to saying "according to" that it's official.
ACCORDING TO WHOM?
-Sigh-, anyway, let's not have a discussion about this.
I'm just being whiny and venting frustrations and who knows, I might just be a journalist one of these days- far in the future, once I've published a few books or I'm encouraged to.
Hopefully both.
That would be nice.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Part-time superman
I hoped to write a simple construction update about confusing and incorrectly painted bike lanes on Windsor Street, but this proved a more difficult task then I originally intended.
However, during the time that I slogged through getting my story published, I noticed that a meeting about the murals to be put up on windsor and east ash was scheduled on the city website for Thursday, July 16th.
Wait a minute, I thought, and truth be told, Thursday was the 15th!
When I met with Ted Curtis of GetAbout Columbia on Monday (the 12th) I mentioned this fact to him, asking when the meeting would be taking place, Thursday or Friday.
Talking to him on Tuesday I found out that the story would actually be taking place that night.
So, I wrote a brief that afternoon to let the public know that the meeting would actually be held that night, not that imaginary Thursday, the 16th.
(Unfortunately it didn't end up going up on the website until ten minutes before the meeting began. This is my fault because I put it in the ACE hold as being a 1 in importance because it would be happening later that evening, but I didn't notify an ACE to let them know the story was there.)
GetAbout Columbia to hold public meeting on murals Tuesday night
Tuesday, July 13, 2010 | 4:49 p.m. CDT; updated 8:16 p.m. CDT, Tuesday, July 13, 2010
BY GIANNA VOLPE
COLUMBIA — GetAbout Columbia will hold a public meeting to discuss the fall painting of murals on Windsor and East Ash streets at 5 p.m. Tuesday at the GetAbout Columbia office, on the corner of Seventh and Walnut streets.
Two of the six designs submitted by local artists are scheduled to be chosen to adorn the upcoming Bike Boulevard. The meeting will review the votes that have been collected thus far.
The designs will be drafted by the artists this fall. However, the community will be painting them. "It'll be like a paint by number," said Ted Curtis, head of GetAbout Columbia.
--------
Bike Boulevard stripes to be repainted
Thursday, July 15, 2010 | 2:49 p.m. CDT
BY GIANNA VOLPE
Here's the construction update that I ended up with days later:
COLUMBIA — Bike lane striping on Windsor Street will need to be repainted because the north side markings were misplaced by 4 feet when initially painted in May.
The company that was hired to paint the lines on Windsor and East Ash streets, Park Mark Inc., will pay for the mistake. The bike lanes are being installed for the Bike Boulevard project, which was approved by the Columbia City Council in October.
Ted Curtis, head of GetAbout Columbia and the Bike Boulevard project, said the repainting will occur within the next two weeks, depending on the weather. Park Mark will need to wait for the city's chip sealing of Windsor Street next Tuesday to settle and dry.
Both Curtis and Columbia Public Works spokeswoman Jill Stedem confirmed Park Mark will pay for the repainting. The $28,800 of federal grant money budgeting the project will not fund it.
Greg Rodgers, who has lived on Windsor Street for about 20 years, supports the project but said he is annoyed with the mistake.
“My frustration is that it has to be redone — that’s what upsets me,” Rodgers said.
Once the lines are repainted, sharrows — an icon depicting a bicyclist — will be put in place within the three dotted lines on the roads, making cyclist priority on the roads more clear.
The Bike Boulevard is planned to include the addition of a median on College Avenue, separating Windsor and East Ash streets. It is slated to be constructed by the city within the next month.
Rodgers called the proposed median, “a nice showpiece, more of a visual reminder.”
The median will provide an island for crossing pedestrians and bikers. It will also prevent northbound traffic on College Avenue from turning left onto Ash Street and southbound traffic from turning left onto Windsor Street.
Vehicles will still be welcome on the streets, but the median will reduce traffic from College Avenue to the two streets. The decrease in vehicular use coupled with the bike lanes will encourage bicyclists to travel more freely down the center of the roads. Although bicycles will have priority on the Bike Boulevard, courteous bicyclists should move to the side of the road to allow cars to pass them, Curtis said.
“I don’t expect high bike traffic in the near future,” Rodgers said. “But as people find out about it and realize that it’s there, my hope is that usage will increase.”
However, during the time that I slogged through getting my story published, I noticed that a meeting about the murals to be put up on windsor and east ash was scheduled on the city website for Thursday, July 16th.
Wait a minute, I thought, and truth be told, Thursday was the 15th!
When I met with Ted Curtis of GetAbout Columbia on Monday (the 12th) I mentioned this fact to him, asking when the meeting would be taking place, Thursday or Friday.
Talking to him on Tuesday I found out that the story would actually be taking place that night.
So, I wrote a brief that afternoon to let the public know that the meeting would actually be held that night, not that imaginary Thursday, the 16th.
(Unfortunately it didn't end up going up on the website until ten minutes before the meeting began. This is my fault because I put it in the ACE hold as being a 1 in importance because it would be happening later that evening, but I didn't notify an ACE to let them know the story was there.)
GetAbout Columbia to hold public meeting on murals Tuesday night
Tuesday, July 13, 2010 | 4:49 p.m. CDT; updated 8:16 p.m. CDT, Tuesday, July 13, 2010
BY GIANNA VOLPE
COLUMBIA — GetAbout Columbia will hold a public meeting to discuss the fall painting of murals on Windsor and East Ash streets at 5 p.m. Tuesday at the GetAbout Columbia office, on the corner of Seventh and Walnut streets.
Two of the six designs submitted by local artists are scheduled to be chosen to adorn the upcoming Bike Boulevard. The meeting will review the votes that have been collected thus far.
The designs will be drafted by the artists this fall. However, the community will be painting them. "It'll be like a paint by number," said Ted Curtis, head of GetAbout Columbia.
--------
Bike Boulevard stripes to be repainted
Thursday, July 15, 2010 | 2:49 p.m. CDT
BY GIANNA VOLPE
Here's the construction update that I ended up with days later:
COLUMBIA — Bike lane striping on Windsor Street will need to be repainted because the north side markings were misplaced by 4 feet when initially painted in May.
The company that was hired to paint the lines on Windsor and East Ash streets, Park Mark Inc., will pay for the mistake. The bike lanes are being installed for the Bike Boulevard project, which was approved by the Columbia City Council in October.
Ted Curtis, head of GetAbout Columbia and the Bike Boulevard project, said the repainting will occur within the next two weeks, depending on the weather. Park Mark will need to wait for the city's chip sealing of Windsor Street next Tuesday to settle and dry.
Both Curtis and Columbia Public Works spokeswoman Jill Stedem confirmed Park Mark will pay for the repainting. The $28,800 of federal grant money budgeting the project will not fund it.
Greg Rodgers, who has lived on Windsor Street for about 20 years, supports the project but said he is annoyed with the mistake.
“My frustration is that it has to be redone — that’s what upsets me,” Rodgers said.
Once the lines are repainted, sharrows — an icon depicting a bicyclist — will be put in place within the three dotted lines on the roads, making cyclist priority on the roads more clear.
The Bike Boulevard is planned to include the addition of a median on College Avenue, separating Windsor and East Ash streets. It is slated to be constructed by the city within the next month.
Rodgers called the proposed median, “a nice showpiece, more of a visual reminder.”
The median will provide an island for crossing pedestrians and bikers. It will also prevent northbound traffic on College Avenue from turning left onto Ash Street and southbound traffic from turning left onto Windsor Street.
Vehicles will still be welcome on the streets, but the median will reduce traffic from College Avenue to the two streets. The decrease in vehicular use coupled with the bike lanes will encourage bicyclists to travel more freely down the center of the roads. Although bicycles will have priority on the Bike Boulevard, courteous bicyclists should move to the side of the road to allow cars to pass them, Curtis said.
“I don’t expect high bike traffic in the near future,” Rodgers said. “But as people find out about it and realize that it’s there, my hope is that usage will increase.”
The Underground Cafe closes, reasons unknown
This was the first story of the semester that I wrote and I was able to get better acquainted with what I am told is 75% of trying to write a story- not getting called back.
I hunted down and attempted to contact all three of the current owners of The Underground Cafe several times to no avail. At one point I even tracked down Laurie's facebook trying to get a response.
I was told by three different former employees that I would probably not receive a call back.
They were right. Sigh.
The Underground Cafe closes, reasons unknown
Friday, July 2, 2010 | 6:12 p.m. CDT; updated 10:28 p.m. CDT, Saturday, July 3, 2010
BY GIANNA VOLPE
COLUMBIA — The Underground Cafe in downtown Columbia closed Wednesday night.
Jason Schrick, one employee, received the news of a need to close one week ago in a text message sent by the son of the cafe's owner, Laurie McAllister.
The remainder of the cafe’s lease for 111 S. Ninth St. might be to rent out the space for private events, Schrick said.
The reason why the Underground went under is unclear. It appears that financial issues might have been a contributing factor. Two benefits were arranged for June 26 and 29 to raise money for the cafe, which closed its doors the day after the second benefit.
Schrick, who was a sound technician at the Underground for about seven months, organized the benefits, which had more than 15 acts.
"(The artists) were excited to try to help out because the Underground had always treated them like gold whenever they had performed there," Schrick said.
McAllister and her two children, who have been helping run the business since September, did not returned calls about the nature of the close, the amount of money made by these benefits or how that money is going to be used.
Word about the closing of the business appears not yet to have leaked to the majority of the community. Thursday, four separate would-be patrons approached the door to the cafe within 15 minutes of one another, before asking if the place was closed.
Previously called The Cherry Street Artisan, the coffee shop was frequented by people looking for a place to study and hold small meetings.
Performance opportunities in the evenings encouraged start-up musicians and poets to get a feel for the stage on open mic nights, though some disliked becoming background noise to a distracted coffee-shop audience. Many patrons frequented the Artisan for the environment, coffee and food, rather than the acts themselves.
The business went through a metamorphosis in September when McAllister's son, Ryan, and daughter, Katelyn, began helping her run the business.
The result was The Underground Cafe, which included the expansion of both the cafe’s food menu and the business's operation as a musical venue.
According to Schrick, he was hired during the inception of The Underground, when a night staff was being sought. Hoping to change its previous image as a coffee shop and study area, The Underground Cafe sought to bolster its reputation as a venue to attract a night crowd.
The cafe increased the frequency of musical events and began charging cover at the door. This attracted bigger acts and music lovers, but it discouraged some other patrons.
The Underground also began carrying Intelligentsia, a pricier brand of espresso. However, former employee Katy Bauschke, said this decision was short-lived — the cafe stopped carrying Intelligentsia after two or three months.
Much of the cafe’s setup remained the same, including, but not limited to, the sizable metal tiger statue standing next to the cash register and counter space.
All that remained outside of the previous downtown landmark on Thursday was a few empty beer cans strewn about the gated patio and a plethora of cigarette butts leading down the concrete steps to a locked cafe entrance.
I hunted down and attempted to contact all three of the current owners of The Underground Cafe several times to no avail. At one point I even tracked down Laurie's facebook trying to get a response.
I was told by three different former employees that I would probably not receive a call back.
They were right. Sigh.
The Underground Cafe closes, reasons unknown
Friday, July 2, 2010 | 6:12 p.m. CDT; updated 10:28 p.m. CDT, Saturday, July 3, 2010
BY GIANNA VOLPE
COLUMBIA — The Underground Cafe in downtown Columbia closed Wednesday night.
Jason Schrick, one employee, received the news of a need to close one week ago in a text message sent by the son of the cafe's owner, Laurie McAllister.
The remainder of the cafe’s lease for 111 S. Ninth St. might be to rent out the space for private events, Schrick said.
The reason why the Underground went under is unclear. It appears that financial issues might have been a contributing factor. Two benefits were arranged for June 26 and 29 to raise money for the cafe, which closed its doors the day after the second benefit.
Schrick, who was a sound technician at the Underground for about seven months, organized the benefits, which had more than 15 acts.
"(The artists) were excited to try to help out because the Underground had always treated them like gold whenever they had performed there," Schrick said.
McAllister and her two children, who have been helping run the business since September, did not returned calls about the nature of the close, the amount of money made by these benefits or how that money is going to be used.
Word about the closing of the business appears not yet to have leaked to the majority of the community. Thursday, four separate would-be patrons approached the door to the cafe within 15 minutes of one another, before asking if the place was closed.
Previously called The Cherry Street Artisan, the coffee shop was frequented by people looking for a place to study and hold small meetings.
Performance opportunities in the evenings encouraged start-up musicians and poets to get a feel for the stage on open mic nights, though some disliked becoming background noise to a distracted coffee-shop audience. Many patrons frequented the Artisan for the environment, coffee and food, rather than the acts themselves.
The business went through a metamorphosis in September when McAllister's son, Ryan, and daughter, Katelyn, began helping her run the business.
The result was The Underground Cafe, which included the expansion of both the cafe’s food menu and the business's operation as a musical venue.
According to Schrick, he was hired during the inception of The Underground, when a night staff was being sought. Hoping to change its previous image as a coffee shop and study area, The Underground Cafe sought to bolster its reputation as a venue to attract a night crowd.
The cafe increased the frequency of musical events and began charging cover at the door. This attracted bigger acts and music lovers, but it discouraged some other patrons.
The Underground also began carrying Intelligentsia, a pricier brand of espresso. However, former employee Katy Bauschke, said this decision was short-lived — the cafe stopped carrying Intelligentsia after two or three months.
Much of the cafe’s setup remained the same, including, but not limited to, the sizable metal tiger statue standing next to the cash register and counter space.
All that remained outside of the previous downtown landmark on Thursday was a few empty beer cans strewn about the gated patio and a plethora of cigarette butts leading down the concrete steps to a locked cafe entrance.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Articles that I wrote for the Missourian before this summer
I am going to copy and paste the articles from the Missourian web-site, but create a hyper link between the titles of the articles and the article on the Columbia Missourian website. I heavily encourage you to visit the link for additional media (like photos!) Maybe I will update the blog with some of the photos that I took for the Missourian when I was a staff photo-journalist. That would be lovely, I think.
15-year-old assaulted by masked suspect
Saturday, December 27, 2008 | 6:00 p.m. CST
BY GIANNA VOLPE
COLUMBIA — Police responded Friday night to an assault reported in the 3100 block of Alpine Drive.
According to a Columbia Police Department news release, the victim, a 15-year-old male, said an unknown male wearing dark clothing and a dark ski mask entered his apartment before assaulting him.
The teen couldn't provide further information about the suspect’s description. He told police he was able to chase the suspect out of his residence, according to the news release.
Police think the suspect was able to enter the residence through an unlocked front door. Police found no signs of forced entry, and are asking those who might have any additional information concerning the incident to submit tips to the CrimeStoppers Web site, 875tips.com.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Flooding forces Humane Society to relocate eight dogs
Sunday, December 28, 2008 | 5:31 p.m. CST; updated 5:41 p.m. CST, Sunday, December 28, 2008
BY GIANNA VOLPE
COLUMBIA — Flooding forced the Central Missouri Humane Society to relocate eight dogs out of the stray dog wing Saturday.
Rainwater, aggravated by malfunctioning drains, began to flood the area at around 10 a.m. The wing consists of cages with small doors that lead to adjoining outdoor structures. Moving the dogs became necessary after flooding of the uncovered outdoor areas spread to the inside of the building.
Heather Duren Stubbs, the shelter’s relations coordinator, said staff began working at 10:30 a.m. to keep drains functioning and move water outside. The affected pups were later relocated to crates inside of the "puppy and kitty room," she said.
Duren Stubbs said the amount of water that flooded the building seemed unusual.
“Occasionally we’ll get a little bit, but in the three years I’ve worked here I’ve never seen it like this,” she said. Despite the increased amount of water in the building, Duren Stubbs said the situation had not escalated to the point of needing outside assistance.
However, the Columbia Fire Department visited the shelter in response to a call about the flooding — a visit that came as a surprise to the shelter. The call is believed to have been made by a concerned adopter who noticed the flooding during a visit to the shelter Saturday.
The outside kennels were under about a foot of water when firefighters arrived, according to a department news release. Firefighters set up a pump to drain the water into a ravine behind the shelter where it would run off into a nearby creek..
Duren Stubbs said she wasn't sure when the displaced dogs would be returned to their wing.
15-year-old assaulted by masked suspect
Saturday, December 27, 2008 | 6:00 p.m. CST
BY GIANNA VOLPE
COLUMBIA — Police responded Friday night to an assault reported in the 3100 block of Alpine Drive.
According to a Columbia Police Department news release, the victim, a 15-year-old male, said an unknown male wearing dark clothing and a dark ski mask entered his apartment before assaulting him.
The teen couldn't provide further information about the suspect’s description. He told police he was able to chase the suspect out of his residence, according to the news release.
Police think the suspect was able to enter the residence through an unlocked front door. Police found no signs of forced entry, and are asking those who might have any additional information concerning the incident to submit tips to the CrimeStoppers Web site, 875tips.com.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Flooding forces Humane Society to relocate eight dogs
Sunday, December 28, 2008 | 5:31 p.m. CST; updated 5:41 p.m. CST, Sunday, December 28, 2008
BY GIANNA VOLPE
COLUMBIA — Flooding forced the Central Missouri Humane Society to relocate eight dogs out of the stray dog wing Saturday.
Rainwater, aggravated by malfunctioning drains, began to flood the area at around 10 a.m. The wing consists of cages with small doors that lead to adjoining outdoor structures. Moving the dogs became necessary after flooding of the uncovered outdoor areas spread to the inside of the building.
Heather Duren Stubbs, the shelter’s relations coordinator, said staff began working at 10:30 a.m. to keep drains functioning and move water outside. The affected pups were later relocated to crates inside of the "puppy and kitty room," she said.
Duren Stubbs said the amount of water that flooded the building seemed unusual.
“Occasionally we’ll get a little bit, but in the three years I’ve worked here I’ve never seen it like this,” she said. Despite the increased amount of water in the building, Duren Stubbs said the situation had not escalated to the point of needing outside assistance.
However, the Columbia Fire Department visited the shelter in response to a call about the flooding — a visit that came as a surprise to the shelter. The call is believed to have been made by a concerned adopter who noticed the flooding during a visit to the shelter Saturday.
The outside kennels were under about a foot of water when firefighters arrived, according to a department news release. Firefighters set up a pump to drain the water into a ravine behind the shelter where it would run off into a nearby creek..
Duren Stubbs said she wasn't sure when the displaced dogs would be returned to their wing.
E-portfoliating
Hi, hello, how's it going? What's the word? What's the scoop? Who's on first? How did we get here? Why did you cut the line? When are the fireworks? Where have all the cowboys gone?
I know it's been a while since I've written in you, web log.
You know how scattered my energies are (I mean, don't you?)
You see, I haven't been writing on the internet lately, aside from on the Columbia Missourian website and in their printed publication as a newspaper reporter (which is connected to why I haven't been writing on the web), the occasional facebook post here and there, and even less occasionally on any number of the other blogs I have scattered across the cyber-universe.
I have been mostly pen and paper these days because I got into a vicious car accident in New Mexico in November of 2009 (It's actually the 8 month anniversary of the accident today).
Enter tangent
You see, I had driven down there with fellow Missouri University's School of Journalism student, Sean madden, in order to gather video interviews and the like at the International Drug Policy Reform Conference.
I have no memory of the accident and little of the conference (aside from the footage and journal entries that I have), but I do know the following things according to eye-witnesses:
I was driving and wearing a seatbelt, which saved my life because the driver's side of my car was demolished.
Apparently (I say this because I don't remember it) I received my very first speeding ticket on the drive home from the conference and the accident occurred in front of an upcoming speed trap.
I was traveling in the left lane with a smaller white SUV in my blind spot. When I slowed to move over to the right lane, I saw the car, jerking the wheel back into my lane.
The officer up ahead at the speed trap said that I fish-tailed for a while and he was hoping that I would pull out of it, however this was not to be- my car went to spin out and the white car (that instead of falling back, seeing me fishtail, attempted to speed ahead of me) t-boned mine. My car flipped over theirs and then six more times into the desert of Moriarty, New Mexico.
My guess is that the people in the other car were probably as distracted that I imagine I was at the upcoming speed trap.
I say this because I had never gotten a speeding ticket before the one I am told that I had received on that trip and knowing myself, this upset me incredibly and I was probably of the opinion that there "was no way I would get another one."
I also say this because apparently the people in the other car had a whole mess of clothes, but no suitcases?
They also tried to claim that Madden's ipod was theirs before my sister confirmed the fact that the phone was, in fact, his.
Whatever the case, a combat army medic named Rafael Garcia was happening through the area with friend, Danny Lopez, just after my accident and decided to turn back in order to see if assistance was needed.
Luckily, he did so because he assisted in locating me (apparently they didn't know that I was even in the vehicle at first).
My car was upside down, my passenger was wandering around obviously in shock, and the driver's side was so crunched that Garcia said the only reason that he could recognize that there was a person inside was from my brown cowboy boots sticking up in the wreckage.
Garcia aided in stabilizing my cervical neck (is that what they're called?) as they removed me from the car in order to keep me from becoming paralyzed.
This is incredible because I did sustain a fracture to the C2 of my neck.
I also broke all but one of the ribs on my left side, my scapula, lacerated my spleen and liver, and punctured my lungs, which collapsed.
Garcia performed CPR on me as I wasn't breathing and I began shallow breathing on my own, but the officer present provided me with critically needed oxygen.
I was helicoptered to the University of New Mexico hospital and would, days later, receive a tracheotomy for my repeatedly collapsing lungs.
Exit tangent
So, why is this important?
Aside from the fact that I almost died, my accident is the reason that brings me to "blog" (I will forever hate that word) to you today.
When I got into the wreck, I was getting ready to report for the Missourian over Thanksgiving Break and afterward, I needed to spend the next semester healing my ass up, which I think that I've been doing a great job of.
My bones healed like the Wolverine and I no longer have a hole in my throat (though I do have a gross scar) and I am on schedule to graduate this December from Mizzou with my photo-journalism bachelor's granted I pass all of my classes this upcoming semester and finish the four incompletes I have from this past falls' classes by November.
This brings me to what I am doing right now- Completing my newspaper reporting incomplete.
As part of the class, I will need to have an e-portfolio of the work/blogging that I do of/about my experience at the Columbia Missourian and THAT BRINGS ME VERY FINALLY -taking some big breaths- (those are important according to my editor, Liz Brixey......she is right) to my business here tonight. I am going to start officially on building that e-portfolio RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW.
I know it's been a while since I've written in you, web log.
You know how scattered my energies are (I mean, don't you?)
You see, I haven't been writing on the internet lately, aside from on the Columbia Missourian website and in their printed publication as a newspaper reporter (which is connected to why I haven't been writing on the web), the occasional facebook post here and there, and even less occasionally on any number of the other blogs I have scattered across the cyber-universe.
I have been mostly pen and paper these days because I got into a vicious car accident in New Mexico in November of 2009 (It's actually the 8 month anniversary of the accident today).
Enter tangent
You see, I had driven down there with fellow Missouri University's School of Journalism student, Sean madden, in order to gather video interviews and the like at the International Drug Policy Reform Conference.
I have no memory of the accident and little of the conference (aside from the footage and journal entries that I have), but I do know the following things according to eye-witnesses:
I was driving and wearing a seatbelt, which saved my life because the driver's side of my car was demolished.
Apparently (I say this because I don't remember it) I received my very first speeding ticket on the drive home from the conference and the accident occurred in front of an upcoming speed trap.
I was traveling in the left lane with a smaller white SUV in my blind spot. When I slowed to move over to the right lane, I saw the car, jerking the wheel back into my lane.
The officer up ahead at the speed trap said that I fish-tailed for a while and he was hoping that I would pull out of it, however this was not to be- my car went to spin out and the white car (that instead of falling back, seeing me fishtail, attempted to speed ahead of me) t-boned mine. My car flipped over theirs and then six more times into the desert of Moriarty, New Mexico.
My guess is that the people in the other car were probably as distracted that I imagine I was at the upcoming speed trap.
I say this because I had never gotten a speeding ticket before the one I am told that I had received on that trip and knowing myself, this upset me incredibly and I was probably of the opinion that there "was no way I would get another one."
I also say this because apparently the people in the other car had a whole mess of clothes, but no suitcases?
They also tried to claim that Madden's ipod was theirs before my sister confirmed the fact that the phone was, in fact, his.
Whatever the case, a combat army medic named Rafael Garcia was happening through the area with friend, Danny Lopez, just after my accident and decided to turn back in order to see if assistance was needed.
Luckily, he did so because he assisted in locating me (apparently they didn't know that I was even in the vehicle at first).
My car was upside down, my passenger was wandering around obviously in shock, and the driver's side was so crunched that Garcia said the only reason that he could recognize that there was a person inside was from my brown cowboy boots sticking up in the wreckage.
Garcia aided in stabilizing my cervical neck (is that what they're called?) as they removed me from the car in order to keep me from becoming paralyzed.
This is incredible because I did sustain a fracture to the C2 of my neck.
I also broke all but one of the ribs on my left side, my scapula, lacerated my spleen and liver, and punctured my lungs, which collapsed.
Garcia performed CPR on me as I wasn't breathing and I began shallow breathing on my own, but the officer present provided me with critically needed oxygen.
I was helicoptered to the University of New Mexico hospital and would, days later, receive a tracheotomy for my repeatedly collapsing lungs.
Exit tangent
So, why is this important?
Aside from the fact that I almost died, my accident is the reason that brings me to "blog" (I will forever hate that word) to you today.
When I got into the wreck, I was getting ready to report for the Missourian over Thanksgiving Break and afterward, I needed to spend the next semester healing my ass up, which I think that I've been doing a great job of.
My bones healed like the Wolverine and I no longer have a hole in my throat (though I do have a gross scar) and I am on schedule to graduate this December from Mizzou with my photo-journalism bachelor's granted I pass all of my classes this upcoming semester and finish the four incompletes I have from this past falls' classes by November.
This brings me to what I am doing right now- Completing my newspaper reporting incomplete.
As part of the class, I will need to have an e-portfolio of the work/blogging that I do of/about my experience at the Columbia Missourian and THAT BRINGS ME VERY FINALLY -taking some big breaths- (those are important according to my editor, Liz Brixey......she is right) to my business here tonight. I am going to start officially on building that e-portfolio RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Spring Break Remix, In Anticipation Of Summer
My spring break aka Missouri --> New Jersey---> Missouri
Remixed for more optimal enjoyment.
Remixed for more optimal enjoyment.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Don we never our straight apparel
I used to be a writer,
--
Frontlash:
I, for one, for many, am glad that Vermont overturned its ban on gay marriage.
I, for one, for many, am glad that my school has passed the measure to include transgender.
--
I went back home to New Jersey for the first time in a year.
When my older sister saw me, she cried.
A year is too long.
Grandma tossed birthday cake at her guests and she said that she was done, she's passing on the torch.
Aunt Karen had left and so had Keith.
I held Aunt Linda while she cried and knew that
a year is too long to go.
These people, they need me.
--
Neon is in, peasant shirts are out.
--
Trip-wired brain, get out get inside
find cover
ups from the shadow
puppets not for children
disappearing veal in the sewer system
--
My seatbelt
Grim ribbons on the breast,
handholding the wheel, I switch dials
and lanes through the ghost towns of Pennsylvania,
inverting their roofs in rebellion,
for sale signs sprinkle the yellow cake fields
and the cops watch us disappear from construction stretches and tunnel entrances.
--
I suppose the older I get, the less serious I become about the world.
Medicating myself to "normalcy,"
straying from my true frequency,
moaning subsequently,
blubbering sequentially,
falling into the only comfort of my arms where I see nothing will change because nobody else believes that it can.
We are the skeletons reaching for the prison cell door, slightly ajar,
and you refuse to move just because of your bones?
How quickly we forget the sixties.
--
Everyone wants to own me
or see me dead
--
Hail to the Mountain whore
a hole with irregular menstruation
magma seeping from the skin
--
Red Heathers- Hold me close
Hellowl, hold me back, if you said
to, I'd follow, give you my organs,
fried skin served as rare flambe, it's
no wonder I'm a mess, close to the skin
you hold me back from
--
Headless dog
--
As the ringleader of the backyard circus,
I trained you to jump through the pink hula hoop
and in the final act, I was a canary bird
that jumped knees to the dirt
and Mom watched with the cordless on the wooden steps
My mother, the human cordless phone,
join the brown and red candy cane circus
and don't let your man kill the ivy on the side of the garage.
He'll take the elves down with it and magic will never return to this place.
--
I am an angel, but spare me the connotations
and ask me a question.
I can help you and I will.
Tell me what you know and I'll tell you how it is.
Tell me how it is and I'll tell you how it will be.
But don't tell me a thing and you will stay where you are.
--
That's no bird, I should know.
--
I thought I saw you in a dream
the military was taking down the zombies
and I tucked a 9 milimeter in my ass crack
that took one down
splashing
--
Frontlash:
I, for one, for many, am glad that Vermont overturned its ban on gay marriage.
I, for one, for many, am glad that my school has passed the measure to include transgender.
--
I went back home to New Jersey for the first time in a year.
When my older sister saw me, she cried.
A year is too long.
Grandma tossed birthday cake at her guests and she said that she was done, she's passing on the torch.
Aunt Karen had left and so had Keith.
I held Aunt Linda while she cried and knew that
a year is too long to go.
These people, they need me.
--
Neon is in, peasant shirts are out.
--
Trip-wired brain, get out get inside
find cover
ups from the shadow
puppets not for children
disappearing veal in the sewer system
--
My seatbelt
Grim ribbons on the breast,
handholding the wheel, I switch dials
and lanes through the ghost towns of Pennsylvania,
inverting their roofs in rebellion,
for sale signs sprinkle the yellow cake fields
and the cops watch us disappear from construction stretches and tunnel entrances.
--
I suppose the older I get, the less serious I become about the world.
Medicating myself to "normalcy,"
straying from my true frequency,
moaning subsequently,
blubbering sequentially,
falling into the only comfort of my arms where I see nothing will change because nobody else believes that it can.
We are the skeletons reaching for the prison cell door, slightly ajar,
and you refuse to move just because of your bones?
How quickly we forget the sixties.
--
Everyone wants to own me
or see me dead
--
Hail to the Mountain whore
a hole with irregular menstruation
magma seeping from the skin
--
Red Heathers- Hold me close
Hellowl, hold me back, if you said
to, I'd follow, give you my organs,
fried skin served as rare flambe, it's
no wonder I'm a mess, close to the skin
you hold me back from
--
Headless dog
--
As the ringleader of the backyard circus,
I trained you to jump through the pink hula hoop
and in the final act, I was a canary bird
that jumped knees to the dirt
and Mom watched with the cordless on the wooden steps
My mother, the human cordless phone,
join the brown and red candy cane circus
and don't let your man kill the ivy on the side of the garage.
He'll take the elves down with it and magic will never return to this place.
--
I am an angel, but spare me the connotations
and ask me a question.
I can help you and I will.
Tell me what you know and I'll tell you how it is.
Tell me how it is and I'll tell you how it will be.
But don't tell me a thing and you will stay where you are.
--
That's no bird, I should know.
--
I thought I saw you in a dream
the military was taking down the zombies
and I tucked a 9 milimeter in my ass crack
that took one down
splashing
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