Photography One-Doh-One

Jeff Jarvis once told a crowd of prospective CUNY Journalism students (including me) that the best preparation for graduate studies in journalism is to read actively, write frequently, and develop the technological skills that all reporters are expected to know. Since I'm currently unencumbered with employment, I decided to follow his advice and learn how to take pictures.

My dad is an avid photographer so it wasn't long before I was armed and outfitted with thousands of dollars worth of equipment that I was hopeless unqualified to use. Still, I shambled my way through some beaches and awkwardly pushed some buttons and it soon dawned on me that golfing and photograph-ing have a lot in common.

I didn't take this picture, but I do tie it together (that's me in the center)

Both activities make me very uncomfortable; in golf, trailing teams like to enjoy the spectacle of me hacking at my ball like a butcher cutting up a slab of meat. When I pretend to be a photographer, I can feel passer-bys's eyes measuring my dad's huge camera clutched in my hands, then judging my pained expression, and finally concluding that I am waiting in the bushes because I'm trying to snap a primo shot of twelve-year-old flanking.

The biggest similarity, however, lies in the aching promise of semi-adequacy. Whacking your way through a golf course and snapping a photo that doesn't incorporate your thumb requires suffering through a hundred bad shots before a hint of mediocrity will excite you beyond rational thought and convince you that your next photo of a perfectly composed sparkling landscape, or primo twelve-year-old flanking, is one more button click away.

The one photo without my thumb

Fortunately, my dad has enough toys to make even the most amateur photographer (me) look like I know what I'm doing, so roughly one photo turned out okay. Here it is. And before you ask, Hawaii does not normally look like Mars except when viewed through an infrared lens.

Job Hunting in Hawaii

Now that I'm back in Hawaii and free of the drudgery that is paying rent and wearing pants around the house, I can instead focus on preparing myself for a journalism career by reading a lot, writing a lot, and (failing at) job hunting a lot.

I nabbed my New York job and apartment through Craigslist, but so far locating a decent paying job that's tangentially related to writing has been more painful than that time in elementary school when some guy parked his 20 lbs. backpack atop my gonads. At least I've unearthed a few chuckles from the steamy crapshoot of Craigslist job listings.

Here are some of my favorites:

• Get in Now or Slap Yourself Later! $1000 Daily - As far as I know, slapping myself shouldn't cost me a thousand bucks.
  
  
• Don't not try this unless you need money! - I need money... so I shouldn't try this?
  
  
• My 8 year old daughter makes more money than you! - The sad thing about this ad is that it's probably true.
  
  
• Lazy guy makes $1500 a day. He'll show you how - I found this listing tempting, but I couldn't muster the energy to investigate further. I'm holding out for $2000 daily.
  
  
• It's literally raining money at my house! Want some? - This actually sounds legitimate. Literally.

So which listing do you think I should look into?

Things I Learned in New York

I lived in New York for nearly seven months. Here are a few things I learned during that time.

• New Yorkers follow the Yankees and Knicks no matter their respective levels of douchebaggery
  
  
• People dress much better on the East Coast than the West Coast
  
  
• I still can't dance
  
  
• Alcohol does not make me a better dancer

• Plenty of jobs exist in NY if you're not afraid to be creative and/or freaky
  
  
• Finding a good apartment and reasonable roommates is a lifetime goal
  
  
• Subways are awesome
  
  
• Always have a plan for yourself. Don't just live for the weekends
  
  
• Nobody can support you like family

Good lessons all.

The Journey Continues

In the last two weeks, I've mailed my $500 check to Medill to reserve my enrollment, turned down the other programs I was considering, and, oh yeah, quit my job and moved back to Hawaii.

It's been a busy two weeks.

I debated for a long, long time between staying in New York and studying at CUNY versus moving to Chicago and attending Medill at Northwestern. I've seen CUNY up close and their program would have given me the training, connections, and support to get into a journalism career but, despite not having visited Medill, my research convinced me their program would give me a better edge in the long run thanks to their established network and first-rate faculty.

Both programs offered me full tuition scholarships, so even though I didn't have to weigh costs when comparing the programs, financial considerations still played a major role in my return to Hawaii.

Staying in New York was a no-brainer if I planned to attend CUNY, but when I decided to attend Medill I realized I had a new option. When I first moved out to New York I purchased a round trip ticket that included an April 29th return flight that made me look damn near prescient.

I don't recommend quitting your job and moving across the country in less than two weeks but I'm living proof that it's possible.

I gave my bosses a five-day notice and spent my last week in NY packing and giving away my belongings. Fortunately, my brother, my landlord, and a very generous friend in Chicago were on-board with my efforts and played huge roles in my not breaking down into a whimpering ball of tears.

Yesterday I went to the beach and found myself more than little surprised at my sudden change in surroundings. I'm here in Hawaii to save money and half of that plan is getting rent-free accommodations from my folks and the other half involves actually making more money. I haven't quite figured out how to do that yet.

However, I will be writing and updating this site more frequently, which is ironic since the next few months will most likely be less interesting than the previous seven. Classes don't start until the end of September but I'm planning to use the intervening months to hone my writing and practice this thing called "reporting."

I think this summer will be fun and busy. Just not as busy as the last two weeks.