One down, four to go

I started this blog to chronicle my path to a journalism career. Today (or yesterday, by now) may have marked a crucial date in that journey, or, it may prove to be completely insignificant; I'm not really sure yet. That's because today (or yesterday) I mailed in my first journalism application. The letters have been sent, the sites have been clicked and my credit card has been charged so it's done for good or ill.

Overall I think my application is solid. My background is a bit of a smorgasboard and I'm not certain if that's to my detriment. Some programs seem to prefer "dedicated" students who have already cut their teeth in a journalism capacity while others apparently welcome students of all backgrounds. My education should help and my test scores were neither spectacular nor embarrassing. My statement of purpose didn't take shape until two days before my deadline (isn't that always the case?) but thanks to a mentor and an old college friend I sharpened it up considerably right up until a half hour before the deadline. The writing samples I submitted, three in total, are big question marks for me. Obviously, my portfolio (and I use quotation marks when I say that) is comprised almost entirely of opinion pieces; all I write about are my opinions on television shows, movies, sports, my life, etc. I could have dusted off some old college papers but when I read those I could actually hear all the words being stretched out to meet length requirements. I could have edited those bad boys for a slimmer fit, but even then they would still sound like academic papers. In the end I went with my opinions and we'll see how far they take me.

Now that my application is submitted I feel like I can catch my breath for the first time in weeks. I think I almost lost it once or twice during the last month. I've been trying to make headway on my internship, but it has oftentimes taken a backseat to my night job, my applications, and, certainly not least, my visiting parents. Plus I got sick so that sucked too.

The problem with the whole scenario is that writing application essays isn't like normal work. You can't say "I need four more hours on this and then I'll be done." You have to stick with that bastard until you get that burst of inspiration and smack the hell out of it until it says exactly what you want. I've never had an easy time writing about myself and as much as I like myself, it's super hard making yourself sound qualified and certain when you're anything but.

Poor me.


My parents flew home on Monday but I get to see them again for New Year's. We all have tickets to see UH at the Sugar Bowl (Go Warriors!) and my brother and I will fly down to New Orleans for a few days to soak in the sights, the game, and most likely some alcohol. Seriously though, I am such a lightweight that I may regret this trip. Okay, probably not.

Take everyone and I'll keep you all posted. Literally.

Leave it to Korea to make internets addiction sound like a bad thing

Well, not exactly. Rising levels of internets access in South Korea has allegedly led to rising levels of internets addiction cases. The problem has become so severe, with millions of young people - most of them boys - spending up to 17 hours online every day, that the New York Times is reporting that the South Korean government is funding a boot-camp style rehab center to wean the pasty fellows off the virtual teat.

I was going to write a 10 page rebuttal to the preposterous notion that the internets is addicting but I'm still working on my "Why Babies Need More Asbestos in their Diet" paper.

The article provides further entertainment at the expense of South Korea's image with this sparkling exchange between a Boot Camp instructor and an internets addicted waif-boy.

“Do you have anything to tell your mother?” the drill instructor shouted from below.

“No!” he yelled back.

“Tell your mother you love her!” ordered the instructor.

“I love you, my parents!” he replied.

I have no doubt that some major network is already turning this into a reality television show.

I'm Smart and also not so Smart

I have no idea what the criteria is for this evaluation but my site was rated College level for the Blog Readability Test. You must be this intelligent [--------------------------------] to read My New York Times. The Spoon also rated at a College level while my sports page, The Athlete's Footnotes, scored at a High School level. Dumb jocks.

Get a Cash Advance

New internets, job, filthy conversations

The internets is up and running in my apartment and what was the first thing I did? Immediately interrupt my busy schedule of practicing the GREs (verbal stuff is getting there, quantitative stuff not so much) to watch television shows!

In other news...

I got hired the other day by an advertising research company. Apparently advertising research is conducted in survey "game" formats to measure people's recall/recognition of advertised products (either in commercials or within the programs themselves). Writing these survey questions requires knowledge of the programming, grammar, and a little creative flair. I guess I have enough of all three and I'll also be trained to write questions for sports programming (because that pays even better!). It's not the sexiest job in the world, but it pays pretty well.

In an unrelated note, I was at the library a couple days ago. I was on the phone so I paused before entering. Besides me was a well-dressed African-American man also talking on the phone. I was listening to his conversation with half an ear when I realized that he was quietly spewing the nastiest sequence of words I have ever heard. Pure, straight-up nastiness. The amazing thing was that even though I was certain he was berating the person on the other end of the line, they moved on to holding a natural, normal conversation just a few minutes later.

New York people are weird.

Bright days ahead

I was all set to post an extremely caustic (yet hilarious) rant on apartment managers/landlords and the various and myriad ways they cause me distress, but then I actually got a place and lost my ranting mood (although I might post it later). Please join me in a great sigh of relief. Uggggggghhhhh.

I don't live right here, but my new abode isn't too far away

My new place is in Queens so it's safer and cleaner than much of Brooklyn. It's near tons of restaurants, a movie theater (I think), and it's on a direct 10-15 minute route to the Manhattan offices I'm working in. Included in my deal are complete furnishings, closet space, windows... oh yes, and a second room! I won't say how much it all costs, but it's a pretty sweet deal and I'm lucky to have walked in on it when I did because I'm basically sharing a three bedroom apartment with one other person. So I also get access to a complete kitchen (because sandwiches and cereal making requires plenty of space) and a bathroom that does not look like it's been used to test America's next generation of biological weapons.

Of course, with my new apartment will come new responsibilities. I'll almost certainly have to work full time (possibly no weekends for me) and the next couple of months will be full on nose to the grindstone with respect to my journalism applications. I move in to my new place November 1st but now that I have my living situation arranged (with some more money and paperwork to be completed in the next few days), I can return my focus to getting into grad school. Although this coming week I also have my first interview for a paid position. My fingers are officially crossed.