Day 2: College Media Conference

Monday was the only full day of the convention and it was packed with exciting and informative sessions. My morning started with a session led by an editor at The Paris Review, one of the most respected and long standing literary journals in the country. They were apparently innovators of the long form interview and I made a note of the fact that they actually accept and read unsolicited manuscripts.
The Keynote speaker Monday was Terry Moran of "Nightline". Apparently Wikipedia lies about him, he did not appear in The Heartbreak Kid, his nieces and nephews posted that as a joke. Though Moran told light hearted tales of being called Terry "Moron" in a press conference and making his famous blunder on Twitter, the most poignant was the story of his experiences in Nicaragua. He challenged the young journalists to avoid the sea of noise that engulfs the media today; to resist the temptation of "the shouters, posers, mountebanks," and seek out facts about what the world is really like. I recorded part of his speech, it was probably my favorite session of the whole conference.
After that I heard Lauren Collins, a staff writer at The New Yorker who previously worked at Vogue. In the afternoon I went to hear Toni Albertson and Elena Jarvis, two music journalists that have written for Rolling Stone and a variety of other major publications, even having what sounds like Almost Famous comparable experiences back in the 80's. They offered great interview tips and educated us about intellectual property.
Though I did see some of the conference on Sunday, today really felt like the meat of everything was reached. The offerings were very colorful and the speakers more experience professionals that have been living in the journalism/media world for years.
After the sessions, some friends and I took advantage of the remaining daylight and took the subway downtown where we wandered around Soho for a while. Later, we met a friend of a friend attending Columbia University and picked up some amazing cheesecake for dessert. I'll post about the final day of the conference (today) tomorrow night. Tonight, I actually have to work on some articles for the paper.

Day 1: College Media Conference

I'm sitting in a hotel in Times Square after the first day of the College Media Conference. The Key Note speech of the day was delivered by Brian Stelter of the New York Times, a 24 year old journalist that started out as a media blogger. He was of the youngest people at the Times, living the dream of basically every student at the conferance- hired straightout of college to one of the most prestigious newspapers in existence.
After a few sessions, some of us went on an adventure and got some Thai food for dinner. I'm excited for tomorrow's session and another adventure in New York City. Not only is it a conference about college newspapers, but radio, television, and yearbooks as well. Some students are very job-hunting aggressive at these conferences, but I'm not at that point yet, mostly those that are graduating this spring are being proactive about this. So, I have some time before I start arriving here with my resume and portfolio.
More updates Tuesday.

Script Frenzy Approaches!

Everything on the Frenzy website has been reset for the new season of writing adventures. There aren't as many participants as in NaNo, so the boards don't appear to be as ridiculously active. However, there is the Plot Device Machine on the home page that produces wonderful "plots" such as these I collected over the past few months:
During a summer lightning storm -a Parisian fishmonger -invents the cure for a broken heart
After a harsh break-up -a hot-headed public defender -finds and rears abandoned adult triplets
Dressed like Liberace -a talking lobster -wreaks Godzilla-style havoc
After reading a coworker's email -a toddler with a smoking problem -must kill the president to save the country
After eating some bad cheese -a talking lobster-receives dating advice from the afterlife

If these aren't inspirational ideas... check your pulse please. It's a very good procrastination tool at any rate.
My current plot would break down to: In a world where no one cares about theatre any more- a group of broke students- try to produce artistic integrity from themselves and the possibly clinically insane. I'm excited about it, though it may seem a bit lame. I've been reading back over journals I kept at drama school and backstage during plays, writing down truly bizarre incidents friends have told me about, etc. I want to capture the chaotic energy and stress of creating theatre as well as the inexplicable way things sometimes come together, the story-telling and bonding, randomness and tantrums. Overall, what makes working in the theatre and going to the theatre an experience unlike any other. Hmm... this may be harder than I thought.
Also, last night I broke the 'O' key off my laptop. I can still use it, I just have to press the little pad where the key used to be. It still made me sad, I've kept this machine pretty pristine for almost a year.

Where the Wild Things Are

I finally saw this movie on Monday (finally!). When I was a little girl, I loved the book very much and I think the film makers wanted to make a film, not just for children reading the book now, but the past two or three generations of children that loved it growing up.
Of course, the story is greatly expanded and dramatized, but I don't think they do anything out of line. It sticks with the themes from the original book and shows Max seeing his own flaws reflected in some of the creatures and growing as a person through this experience.
The Creatures were all fantastic,combing costumed actors with animatronics and CGI. Jim Henson's Creature Shop made the costumes. The soundtrack was also really impressive, not just background music, but actually sometimes combining sounds of almost ferral screaming.
There's not much I can say about the film as a critic. It gave me a feeling of reminiscent sadness that was very pleasant, if that makes any sense. I did love that it opens with a scene of Max chasing the dog with a fork just like the in the book.

2010 Reading Challenge Neglect

So far I only have 2/5 for my Bronte reading and watching challenge, 2/6 for my What's in a Name? challenge. Next month I will (gleefully) be moving into Script Frenzy month, so I really should get some of my reading done before that insanity begins.
Here's the problem: I have been accumulating a very extensive TBR shelf, so large that I'm a little scared of it. There also have been so many other things to read and do cropping up. Work on the newspaper has been very time consuming, I always end up doing about 3 articles per week as well as all the reading and writing for the classes I'm taking. Fortunately, one of the novels for my literature class fits one of the categories for What's in a Name? Since I won't be taking any classes for the next week (spring break on the campus) I will have more spare time and I've accumulated a small stack of books to get through. Of course friends and family keep popping up with other ways for me to spend my extra time. I really don't want to completely isolate myself from everyone but the employees at the local library, and sometimes you have to live a life worth writing about (or at least meet people who are).

Sonnet Sunday: Rossetti 2

I thought I would post my Sonnet Sunday entry a day early, I'll be very busy tomorrow and am afraid I'll forget. I've been reading more Christina Rossetti lately, so I thought I'd post another of her sonnets. This one is not about romantic love/torment as many sonnets are, but rather about love between a mother and child:

Sonnets are full of love, and this my tome
Has many sonnets: so here now shall be
One sonnet more, a love sonnet, from me
To her whose heart is my heart's quiet home,
To my first Love, my Mother, on whose knee
I learnt love-lore that is not troublesome;
Whose service is my special dignity,
And she my loadstar while I go and come
And so because you love me, and because
I love you, Mother, I have woven a wreath
Of rhymes wherewith to crown your honored name:
In you not fourscore years can dim the flame
Of love, whose blessed glow transcends the laws
Of time and change and mortal life and death.

On the Tube Update

Sorry for the neglect, my attention has been fixed on Hamlet and handbags all week and I highly suggest browsing Etsy as a procrastination technique.
The 39 Steps on Sunday night was delightful, Rupert Penry Jones seemed a very comfortable fit for the role, more so than his turn as Captain Wentworth in Persusion few years back.
On the 28th Masterpiece comes back with two new Sharpe adventures, I must call up my father, he'll be very pleased having read all the books.
Of course, the big news is....Series 5 of Doctor Who premieres on BBC America April 17th. Once again proving that there is no reason why the US must wait almost a year to get most series from the UK. The new teaser is up for viewing on BBCA's site, but I must warn you, it made me sort of nervous for the next season. Stick to the trailer in my opinion, the teaser is very bizarre and stilted.