JOURNEYMEN THEATER ENSEMBLE: Good piece in the 8/27 Washington City Paper about Deborah Kirby and her new theater troupe, which focuses on plays exploring religious faith. (Kirby is an evangelical Christian.) The troupe's first play was the medieval Everyman. Not all the performers are Christian; the company holds weekly fellowship meetings, but attendance is voluntary. Journeymen is struggling for cash. Sounds like a project that could use your support. Their website is here.
Tuesday, August 31, 2004
KITCHEN CHEMISTRY: Tried some weird stuff over the weekend. Recipes were heavily modified from a pasta cookbook I got for my birthday. The verdicts:
#1: Four-cheese sauce--which was really three-cheese, since I didn't have parmesan on hand. I think I was supposed to toss the pasta with chopped cheese, and add some sage leaves or something, but that sounded boring. So instead I chopped a tomato and sauteed it with thyme, oregano, basil, black pepper, and cayenne, then added the Gorgonzola, mozzarella, and Roquefort, ending up with a kind of fondue-y sauce. This wasn't bad, but the Gorgonzola overwhelmed all the other flavors. I'll try this again with parmesan and without Gorgonzola. The other drawback was that the pan was slightly harder to clean than usual, due to all the melty cheesiness. I'll be buying more mozzarella: I like cooking with it. I like how it rolls under the hand.
#2: Cannellini. I just dumped half a can of Goya habichuelas blancas (which I'm pretty sure are cheap cannellini) into my pan with a chopped tomato, some olive oil, and the same herbs as before, sauteed, and poured onto pasta topped with Sargento's Mexican four-cheese blend. (I adore this packaged blend, by the way. It's odd but it works wonderfully with Italian spices on pasta.) The resulting dish was homey and filling, but did not set off fireworks in my mouth. I'll eat this again to finish off the beans, but I don't think it was better than my usual sauce.
#3: Avocado, lemon, and jalapeno. I was nervous about this because I'd never dealt with an avocado before, and it intimidated me. But in the event it was exceptionally easy to cut and peel. (I don't own a peeler, but I didn't need it, as the skin came off easily once I'd cut into the flesh.) Again with the chopped tomato and the sauteeing and the herbs, this time with the jalapeno added in. Toss cooked pasta with avocado, squeeze half a lemon over it, top with sauteed sauce, top with Mex cheese. This was quite tasty, although the avocado and lemon flavors weren't aggressive enough to compete. The jalapeno was delectable. I've started adding a jalapeno to my standard sauce, mmm. I'll be buying more avocados: I think they'd work better as filling for grilled-cheese sandwiches, with tomato slices or maybe chopped onion.
#1: Four-cheese sauce--which was really three-cheese, since I didn't have parmesan on hand. I think I was supposed to toss the pasta with chopped cheese, and add some sage leaves or something, but that sounded boring. So instead I chopped a tomato and sauteed it with thyme, oregano, basil, black pepper, and cayenne, then added the Gorgonzola, mozzarella, and Roquefort, ending up with a kind of fondue-y sauce. This wasn't bad, but the Gorgonzola overwhelmed all the other flavors. I'll try this again with parmesan and without Gorgonzola. The other drawback was that the pan was slightly harder to clean than usual, due to all the melty cheesiness. I'll be buying more mozzarella: I like cooking with it. I like how it rolls under the hand.
#2: Cannellini. I just dumped half a can of Goya habichuelas blancas (which I'm pretty sure are cheap cannellini) into my pan with a chopped tomato, some olive oil, and the same herbs as before, sauteed, and poured onto pasta topped with Sargento's Mexican four-cheese blend. (I adore this packaged blend, by the way. It's odd but it works wonderfully with Italian spices on pasta.) The resulting dish was homey and filling, but did not set off fireworks in my mouth. I'll eat this again to finish off the beans, but I don't think it was better than my usual sauce.
#3: Avocado, lemon, and jalapeno. I was nervous about this because I'd never dealt with an avocado before, and it intimidated me. But in the event it was exceptionally easy to cut and peel. (I don't own a peeler, but I didn't need it, as the skin came off easily once I'd cut into the flesh.) Again with the chopped tomato and the sauteeing and the herbs, this time with the jalapeno added in. Toss cooked pasta with avocado, squeeze half a lemon over it, top with sauteed sauce, top with Mex cheese. This was quite tasty, although the avocado and lemon flavors weren't aggressive enough to compete. The jalapeno was delectable. I've started adding a jalapeno to my standard sauce, mmm. I'll be buying more avocados: I think they'd work better as filling for grilled-cheese sandwiches, with tomato slices or maybe chopped onion.
"VENGEANCE" SWIPES CAKE, EATS IT TOO: "A 6-foot-tall, 275-pound bearded man crashed a children's birthday party in Oak Forest, identified himself as 'vengeance,' then helped himself to a piece of cake, police said."
whole thing
whole thing
"He felt his moral nature falling to pieces."
--James Joyce, "A Painful Case"
Man, I hate it when that happens! ..."APC" is the first story in Dubliners so far that has been just horribly written. No humor, just the lowing of a sad, self-pitying cow. I'm enjoying the next story, "Ivy Day in the Committee Room," much better: Nothing has happened, but at least we are getting strong dialogue and basic descriptions of persons, places, and things.
--James Joyce, "A Painful Case"
Man, I hate it when that happens! ..."APC" is the first story in Dubliners so far that has been just horribly written. No humor, just the lowing of a sad, self-pitying cow. I'm enjoying the next story, "Ivy Day in the Committee Room," much better: Nothing has happened, but at least we are getting strong dialogue and basic descriptions of persons, places, and things.
Sunday, August 29, 2004
GOD, GREENE, AND GENRE: Provocative piece on Graham Greene. I definitely disagree several statements and turns of phrase, but it's still very much worth a read for Greene fans. Via Arts & Letters Daily.
"Her hair would grow back, but my watch was gone."
--from memory, and via The Rat; ultimately from The World's Shortest Stories of Love and Death.
--from memory, and via The Rat; ultimately from The World's Shortest Stories of Love and Death.
Saturday, August 28, 2004
AND THIS TIME I MEAN IT! I said, lo these many months ago, that I would add Hugo Schwyzer to the blogroll.
It happens tonight.
Hugo writes mostly about gender, masculinity, and similar stuff. By his own account he is, among other things, "a progressive, consistent-life ethic Anabaptist Democrat (but with a sense of humor), a community college history and gender studies professor."
It happens tonight.
Hugo writes mostly about gender, masculinity, and similar stuff. By his own account he is, among other things, "a progressive, consistent-life ethic Anabaptist Democrat (but with a sense of humor), a community college history and gender studies professor."
"A SEPARATED SOUL": AND DO YOU THINK YOU'VE MADE THE RIGHT DECISION, THIS TIME? Um. This is a vignette, a one-shot, and I expect a lot of people will hate it. On one level it's about a woman at a conference for people who used to work in the abortion industry before they found Christ. It's also about all the things conversion doesn't necessarily change.
I realize that the first level may prevent people from seeing the second. But this is the story as it presented itself to me. (PSA: If you want an actual group for people leaving the abortion industry, try the Centurions.)
I hate the title, by the way, so feel free to suggest a better one. Also, the tenses are a mess, and I still don't know what I'll do about that. Forewarned &c.
I realize that the first level may prevent people from seeing the second. But this is the story as it presented itself to me. (PSA: If you want an actual group for people leaving the abortion industry, try the Centurions.)
I hate the title, by the way, so feel free to suggest a better one. Also, the tenses are a mess, and I still don't know what I'll do about that. Forewarned &c.
Friday, August 27, 2004
With the blogwatch resting on your shoulders,
You're gonna need someone on your side...
Hit & Run has a highly interesting and useful post on a new Egyptian liberal party.
TAPPED (The American Prospect) has two good posts on Abu Ghraib-related matters: dogs and CACI, the private corrections firm that trained interrogators and just got its contract renewed.
Radley "The Agitator" Balko profiles Modest Needs, which helps people over the rough spots in life. Excerpt: "Modest Needs was conceived, built and still operates on simple concept--a small investment to help an individual or a family with a utility bill, rent check or health-care invoice reaps huge rewards if it keeps its recipient employed or prevents an eviction.
"So Modest Needs cuts small checks to people in short-term straits. The goal is to keep the recipient self-sufficient and off public assistance.
"The average Modest Needs grant is $180, and the organization won't give any single applicant more than $1,000. But Taylor estimates that the $234,000 Modest Needs has given out since its inception has saved its recipient families about $7.7 million in possible lost income.
"Modest Needs only accepts donations from private individuals. It won't take money from corporations, foundations or state or federal government."
whole thing
You're gonna need someone on your side...
Hit & Run has a highly interesting and useful post on a new Egyptian liberal party.
TAPPED (The American Prospect) has two good posts on Abu Ghraib-related matters: dogs and CACI, the private corrections firm that trained interrogators and just got its contract renewed.
Radley "The Agitator" Balko profiles Modest Needs, which helps people over the rough spots in life. Excerpt: "Modest Needs was conceived, built and still operates on simple concept--a small investment to help an individual or a family with a utility bill, rent check or health-care invoice reaps huge rewards if it keeps its recipient employed or prevents an eviction.
"So Modest Needs cuts small checks to people in short-term straits. The goal is to keep the recipient self-sufficient and off public assistance.
"The average Modest Needs grant is $180, and the organization won't give any single applicant more than $1,000. But Taylor estimates that the $234,000 Modest Needs has given out since its inception has saved its recipient families about $7.7 million in possible lost income.
"Modest Needs only accepts donations from private individuals. It won't take money from corporations, foundations or state or federal government."
whole thing
Wednesday, August 25, 2004
"SHIP COMES IN": POISON MOON, REDUX. This is the end of the rough draft of the Norse myths story.
Man, what a woolly, misshapen story. It has potential! But I didn't have enough of the mechanics and backstory--the rules of the fictional world--taped down in my head before I started. So I don't think the themes I was trying to explore came through very clearly. Plus, it's overwritten to the point that it's a tic rather than a stylistic choice. Your comments on these and any other matters are, of course, encouraged.
Still... I like it. It'll be good when I've had a chance to do some serious reworking of the clay.
Whole thing here, last scene here. I'll start the next story by Monday, but I'm not sure which one it will be yet.
I will laugh right in the face of the poison moon.
Man, what a woolly, misshapen story. It has potential! But I didn't have enough of the mechanics and backstory--the rules of the fictional world--taped down in my head before I started. So I don't think the themes I was trying to explore came through very clearly. Plus, it's overwritten to the point that it's a tic rather than a stylistic choice. Your comments on these and any other matters are, of course, encouraged.
Still... I like it. It'll be good when I've had a chance to do some serious reworking of the clay.
Whole thing here, last scene here. I'll start the next story by Monday, but I'm not sure which one it will be yet.
I will laugh right in the face of the poison moon.
ROBERT SAMUELSON VS. CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM: "But the truth cannot remain forever obscured. Campaign finance laws must fail at their larger aim of improving public confidence in politics and government. They breed disrespect for law, the Constitution or both. If the laws are aggressively expanded and enforced -- with more limits on contributions, spending and 'coordination' -- people will realize they're losing their rights of free speech and political association. But if the laws are laxly enforced, as they have been, they will inspire continuing evasions and harsh condemnations by 'reformers.' Public confidence suffers either way. Americans will ultimately have to choose between the Constitution and a mere law -- or watch both be damaged."
more
Via Hit & Run.
more
Via Hit & Run.
Tuesday, August 24, 2004
"SHIP COMES IN": LIFE INTIMIDATES ART. Second-to-last section of the Norse myths story. This is all Michael all the time. It's also possibly confusing, so please let me know if you read this section and think, "Ah who a what now?!" Any other comments, questions, and criticisms are, as always, not merely accepted but welcomed.
I also realized that I'd forgotten to write something without which Michael and Sigyn's actions make very little sense. So if you're reading, please do check out the end of the trial scene, since I've added the thing I forgot.
Click here for story so far, here for most recent section. This will be finished very soon.
I also realized that I'd forgotten to write something without which Michael and Sigyn's actions make very little sense. So if you're reading, please do check out the end of the trial scene, since I've added the thing I forgot.
Click here for story so far, here for most recent section. This will be finished very soon.
Monday, August 23, 2004
IT'S AN INTERVIEW WITH TELFORD WORK! excerpts: "...I don't know whether ['The Passion of the Christ'] will have helped or hindered knowledge of Christ in the wider culture. I have no idea what unchurched Christians' long-term reactions will be. However, within evangelicalism I am a little worried about it. After the film I spent a good deal of time explaining Catholic soteriology to some very confused and distressed Protestant students. Evangelical theology is a poor theological grid for interpreting passion plays, because passion plays presuppose a participatory rather than substitutionary doctrine of atonement. Evangelical students were liable to take the hypersuffering in the film (e.g., the traditional three falls of the Fourteen Stations of the Cross rather than the single fall in the gospels) as underlining their own guilt at making Jesus suffer instead of them.
"A friend of mine put his reaction to The Passion of the Christ beautifully: 'For the first third of the film I was mad at the Romans for inflicting all that punishment. For the second third, I was mad at myself for doing the sinning that had to be paid back this way. For the last third, I was mad at the Father.' This is a natural, if unusually candid, evangelical interpretation of the film. It was traumatic for my friend, and also for many of my students. They were greatly relieved to learn that Catholic soteriology reads the cross as human suffering appropriated by Jesus in solidarity with us, rather than as Calvin reads it. ...
"... How would you define 'postmodern Christian'? Does the term mean anything particularly helpful today?
"The term is variously construed, of course. As I define it, I consider it helpful.
"Modernity was a movement to dispense with the necessity of trusting others. It is located in the aftermath of the Wars of Religion when people tired of trusting either Catholics or Protestants. Getting beyond the anxiety, hubris, and false wisdom of that age is a good thing, because it means we are getting beyond our need to make Jesus jump through our epistemological hoops. 'An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign; but no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah' (Matt. 12:39). No wonder modernity failed!
"James Wm. McClendon, Jr. characterizes continental postmoderns (Derrida, Lyotard, Foucault) as 'most-moderns,' because while they have abandoned the Enlightenment Project they are still mesmerized by its agenda of certain knowledge, propositional solidity, cultural progress, and individual autonomy. They aren't really postmoderns, at least not as much as others. I call them modernists on the rebound; having been dumped by the girl they want, they still can't get her off their minds. These thinkers have things to teach us (for instance, Radical Orthodoxy uses them somewhat fruitfully), but I can't follow their program.
"McClendon distinguishes these most-moderns from true postmoderns such as Wittgenstein, John Austin, Michael Polanyi, Alasdair MacIntyre, Newbigin, Nancey Murphy, and himself because these 'Anglo-American postmoderns' really are over the girl. They are ready to go on in a world in which learning presupposes trust and offers confidence rather than airtight certainty. That's a world that is finally becoming hospitable again to the good news."
whole thing (which includes a lot of intra-Protestant talk that I, frankly, don't understand). I probably found this via Camassia.
"A friend of mine put his reaction to The Passion of the Christ beautifully: 'For the first third of the film I was mad at the Romans for inflicting all that punishment. For the second third, I was mad at myself for doing the sinning that had to be paid back this way. For the last third, I was mad at the Father.' This is a natural, if unusually candid, evangelical interpretation of the film. It was traumatic for my friend, and also for many of my students. They were greatly relieved to learn that Catholic soteriology reads the cross as human suffering appropriated by Jesus in solidarity with us, rather than as Calvin reads it. ...
"... How would you define 'postmodern Christian'? Does the term mean anything particularly helpful today?
"The term is variously construed, of course. As I define it, I consider it helpful.
"Modernity was a movement to dispense with the necessity of trusting others. It is located in the aftermath of the Wars of Religion when people tired of trusting either Catholics or Protestants. Getting beyond the anxiety, hubris, and false wisdom of that age is a good thing, because it means we are getting beyond our need to make Jesus jump through our epistemological hoops. 'An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign; but no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah' (Matt. 12:39). No wonder modernity failed!
"James Wm. McClendon, Jr. characterizes continental postmoderns (Derrida, Lyotard, Foucault) as 'most-moderns,' because while they have abandoned the Enlightenment Project they are still mesmerized by its agenda of certain knowledge, propositional solidity, cultural progress, and individual autonomy. They aren't really postmoderns, at least not as much as others. I call them modernists on the rebound; having been dumped by the girl they want, they still can't get her off their minds. These thinkers have things to teach us (for instance, Radical Orthodoxy uses them somewhat fruitfully), but I can't follow their program.
"McClendon distinguishes these most-moderns from true postmoderns such as Wittgenstein, John Austin, Michael Polanyi, Alasdair MacIntyre, Newbigin, Nancey Murphy, and himself because these 'Anglo-American postmoderns' really are over the girl. They are ready to go on in a world in which learning presupposes trust and offers confidence rather than airtight certainty. That's a world that is finally becoming hospitable again to the good news."
whole thing (which includes a lot of intra-Protestant talk that I, frankly, don't understand). I probably found this via Camassia.
THE FINAL FRONTIER: PLANETES v. 2 and 3. Just finished the second and third volumes of this ongoing, excellent sci-fi manga series. Scattered thoughts:
First of all, go read Planetes. It's a messy, character-focused space exploration story that manages to almost-successfully combine episodic drama and a strong plot arc. There are some beautiful moments (the books are worth it just for the drawings of space, or for static lovelinesses like the vol 3 image of the dragonfly against the moon) and you will root for the characters.
I have a couple caveats, especially about these two volumes. The first volume was divided about evenly between the three crewmembers of a ship that collects space debris--basically Garbage Truck To The Stars. I empathized with bereaved Yuri, adored fierce and down-to-earth smoker Fee, and felt embarrassed recognition when confronted with conflicted and angsty Hachimaki. The first volume is fantastic and you should go get it right now if you haven't already.
The later two volumes (I think there are three more coming) focus much more tightly on Hachimaki. Some of the subplots continue (especially a nicely-done storyline about anti-exploration terrorism, which simmers for a while before bursting into the main plot) but it's mostly the story of Hachimaki and the first mission to Jupiter. The first volume's themes of isolation and the need for human connection are repeated, but I thought they were overemphasized here, over-obvious. We're being leaned on in these volumes and I don't like it. Stuff gets spelled out much more explicitly than is healthy.
My other caveat is Tanabe, the love interest. 'Cause that's just about all she is. She is the Eternal Feminine, forgiving and compassionate and able to reconcile terrorist and victim with her abounding sweetness. Kill... me... NOW. Oy, but Tanabe is the kind of character I just cannot deal with, on a very basic philosophical and personal level. I think she's fake and wrong and kind of horrible. Tanabe is Nutrasweet personified.
But! It takes a lot for me to recommend a book with one of those Nutrafemme characters in it. But Planetes is so good it can get away with Tanabe. These two volumes have lovely portraits of family life; sweet, quick, confident vignettes; truly awe-inspiring pictures of space; a contemporary sense of tragedy combined with a Golden Age sense of wonder; and a very funny scene with a word game that overcame all my resistance to sentiment and cuteness.
Planetes is a deep and sometimes too-blatant testament to Eric Sevareid's statement, "Everything in space, von Braun said, obeys the laws of physics. If you know these laws and obey them, space will treat you kindly. The difficulty is that man brings the laws of his own nature into space. The issue is how man treats man. The problem does not lie in outer space, but where it's always been: on terra firma in inner man." The third volume is all about how you can only recover the wonder we feel at the vastness of space and the astonishing exploratory need of the human intellect once you've understood human love. There's a gorgeous scene of Tanabe and Hachimaki looking at a rocket as it sails into the night sky: Hachimaki can finally love space again, because he isn't alone. Planetes knows that this terrible human drive for the frontier, for the unknown, can be either a pathetic escape attempt or a transcendent submission to beauty.
For that alone you should be reading it. Even if it weren't cheaper than American comics!
First of all, go read Planetes. It's a messy, character-focused space exploration story that manages to almost-successfully combine episodic drama and a strong plot arc. There are some beautiful moments (the books are worth it just for the drawings of space, or for static lovelinesses like the vol 3 image of the dragonfly against the moon) and you will root for the characters.
I have a couple caveats, especially about these two volumes. The first volume was divided about evenly between the three crewmembers of a ship that collects space debris--basically Garbage Truck To The Stars. I empathized with bereaved Yuri, adored fierce and down-to-earth smoker Fee, and felt embarrassed recognition when confronted with conflicted and angsty Hachimaki. The first volume is fantastic and you should go get it right now if you haven't already.
The later two volumes (I think there are three more coming) focus much more tightly on Hachimaki. Some of the subplots continue (especially a nicely-done storyline about anti-exploration terrorism, which simmers for a while before bursting into the main plot) but it's mostly the story of Hachimaki and the first mission to Jupiter. The first volume's themes of isolation and the need for human connection are repeated, but I thought they were overemphasized here, over-obvious. We're being leaned on in these volumes and I don't like it. Stuff gets spelled out much more explicitly than is healthy.
My other caveat is Tanabe, the love interest. 'Cause that's just about all she is. She is the Eternal Feminine, forgiving and compassionate and able to reconcile terrorist and victim with her abounding sweetness. Kill... me... NOW. Oy, but Tanabe is the kind of character I just cannot deal with, on a very basic philosophical and personal level. I think she's fake and wrong and kind of horrible. Tanabe is Nutrasweet personified.
But! It takes a lot for me to recommend a book with one of those Nutrafemme characters in it. But Planetes is so good it can get away with Tanabe. These two volumes have lovely portraits of family life; sweet, quick, confident vignettes; truly awe-inspiring pictures of space; a contemporary sense of tragedy combined with a Golden Age sense of wonder; and a very funny scene with a word game that overcame all my resistance to sentiment and cuteness.
Planetes is a deep and sometimes too-blatant testament to Eric Sevareid's statement, "Everything in space, von Braun said, obeys the laws of physics. If you know these laws and obey them, space will treat you kindly. The difficulty is that man brings the laws of his own nature into space. The issue is how man treats man. The problem does not lie in outer space, but where it's always been: on terra firma in inner man." The third volume is all about how you can only recover the wonder we feel at the vastness of space and the astonishing exploratory need of the human intellect once you've understood human love. There's a gorgeous scene of Tanabe and Hachimaki looking at a rocket as it sails into the night sky: Hachimaki can finally love space again, because he isn't alone. Planetes knows that this terrible human drive for the frontier, for the unknown, can be either a pathetic escape attempt or a transcendent submission to beauty.
For that alone you should be reading it. Even if it weren't cheaper than American comics!
JOURNALCON!: It was fun. I was hugely busy and sleepless, and so I was only able to be there for my own personal panel, on the nexus of personal blogging and professional life. But the people were great and the questions were fun. A couple superbrief observations: 1) This is the first blog-oriented crowd I've ever been in that was about 80% women. Welcome to the wild world of things that aren't political blogging....
2) I was the bad girl: I did one journalism internship and one year-long reporting job, but I'm not sure I've ever sent a query letter, so my journalistic life has been sharply different from pretty much everyone else's. That makes my advice suspect, I should think.
I do have three pieces of advice that I think apply across the board: a) Do not bother going to j-school. Just get out there and report.
b) Google is smart and your pseudonym is probably not. Nobody on our panel had ever had a job, since starting their blogs, where no one had connected employee to blog. Someone will find you, so keep that in mind. Gossip is one of the most basic human currencies.
c) Relatedly, be aware that these days journalism is an intriguing, philosophically rich, but sometimes crude blend of personal and political life. Many employers will view your public persona as an icon. You need to be an icon they can justify keeping on payroll. Readers (or at least editors) these days seek out vivid characters who can show how their perspective colors every action, from music preferences to voting choices. I really like the way blog-influenced journalism emphasizes the personal touch, a kind of continuity in all aspects of the journalist's life. That seems to me a necessary corrective to the fake, plastic "objectivity" (which always seems to mean conformity and conventional wisdom) that journalism sometimes affects. However, if your public, online persona incorporates aspects of your personal life that will get your employer nasty letters, you are very likely to become a liability rather than an asset. So, you know, forewarned is half an octopus. It's weird how many people need to hear this: If you worry that somebody might find your blog, he already has.
3) Every single person on my panel was a comics fan! This was too awesome. I shared the Planetes love; of which more soon.
My deepest thanks to the people who finagled my spot at JournalCon--it was a great time and I wish I could have stayed.
2) I was the bad girl: I did one journalism internship and one year-long reporting job, but I'm not sure I've ever sent a query letter, so my journalistic life has been sharply different from pretty much everyone else's. That makes my advice suspect, I should think.
I do have three pieces of advice that I think apply across the board: a) Do not bother going to j-school. Just get out there and report.
b) Google is smart and your pseudonym is probably not. Nobody on our panel had ever had a job, since starting their blogs, where no one had connected employee to blog. Someone will find you, so keep that in mind. Gossip is one of the most basic human currencies.
c) Relatedly, be aware that these days journalism is an intriguing, philosophically rich, but sometimes crude blend of personal and political life. Many employers will view your public persona as an icon. You need to be an icon they can justify keeping on payroll. Readers (or at least editors) these days seek out vivid characters who can show how their perspective colors every action, from music preferences to voting choices. I really like the way blog-influenced journalism emphasizes the personal touch, a kind of continuity in all aspects of the journalist's life. That seems to me a necessary corrective to the fake, plastic "objectivity" (which always seems to mean conformity and conventional wisdom) that journalism sometimes affects. However, if your public, online persona incorporates aspects of your personal life that will get your employer nasty letters, you are very likely to become a liability rather than an asset. So, you know, forewarned is half an octopus. It's weird how many people need to hear this: If you worry that somebody might find your blog, he already has.
3) Every single person on my panel was a comics fan! This was too awesome. I shared the Planetes love; of which more soon.
My deepest thanks to the people who finagled my spot at JournalCon--it was a great time and I wish I could have stayed.
TOO OLD TO BE A CHILD STAR; TOO YOUNG TO TAKE LEADS...: Happy birthday to me! (Actually, Sunday was my birthday, aka the Feast of the Queenship of Mary, which entirely rocks.)
I'm feeling really, really happy about this birthday. It feels more significant than most. The year I was 25 was, honestly, kind of horrible, for reasons entirely under my control: I made a lot of bad decisions and in turn they made me miserable. And at Mass on Sunday I realized one of the biggest reasons why. I found myself praying, "Please help me love You above all else"--and I realized I hadn't prayed that, sincerely, in a long time. I've been putting all kinds of things (some good, some neutral, some actively bad) above my love of Christ. I've been withholding huge swathes of my life from Him. If you'll allow me this metaphor, I'd been using "protection" because I wanted to keep my life the way it was; and so I was not filled with new life.
So my birthday resolution is that I will change that. Let's try this again. There were some things about being 25 that were amazing (most notably the amount of writing I did), and I plan to keep those. But let's throw away this bizarre and self-damaging clinging to the old Adam, shall we? Let's do something bigger and better.
Because I want to do great things.
Fiat voluntas Tua.
I'm feeling really, really happy about this birthday. It feels more significant than most. The year I was 25 was, honestly, kind of horrible, for reasons entirely under my control: I made a lot of bad decisions and in turn they made me miserable. And at Mass on Sunday I realized one of the biggest reasons why. I found myself praying, "Please help me love You above all else"--and I realized I hadn't prayed that, sincerely, in a long time. I've been putting all kinds of things (some good, some neutral, some actively bad) above my love of Christ. I've been withholding huge swathes of my life from Him. If you'll allow me this metaphor, I'd been using "protection" because I wanted to keep my life the way it was; and so I was not filled with new life.
So my birthday resolution is that I will change that. Let's try this again. There were some things about being 25 that were amazing (most notably the amount of writing I did), and I plan to keep those. But let's throw away this bizarre and self-damaging clinging to the old Adam, shall we? Let's do something bigger and better.
Because I want to do great things.
Fiat voluntas Tua.
"THE TOWN THAT DIDN'T STARE": Moving piece on reconstructive surgery on WWII veterans. Via The Corner.
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