Quote of the Day 3

“It’s hard to find a smoking gun in a town where shooting someone is legal.”

Darnell Little, on investigative reporting in Chicago

How to… referee a basketball game

Whether it’s a youth league or the NBA, keeping order on the court is a tough job. But it can also be a lot of fun, says Mike Sitkowski, who has been an intramural basketball referee at Northwestern University for five years.

Here’s the next video in the How To Series: Refereeing a basketball game.

Quote of the Day – recap

Some fun things happen at journalism school and outside of it (especially outside of it). Some fun things are said, too.
While this one happened a good while ago, I still think it’s funny enough…

Newsroom discussion, while putting together a presentation:

S.: “You can’t use that picture of my car!”

C.: “You can’t even tell it’s yours.”

S.: “I’M IN IT!”

This exchange is especially funny considering the car in question is a very recognizable race-car-style vehicle that would make any man jealous.

How to… do your make-up

For an exercise in our video storytelling class we had to produce a sequence of an action taking place. Even though it was just an exercise, I think what came of it is a funny, cute little piece so I wanted to share it with you!

Also, Vivi is my go-to expert now for any questions related to make-up.

How to… Vivi’s make-up routine from Jessica B on Vimeo.

New Year’s resolution: Stay organized!

It’s pretty much symbolic that my new year’s resolution post comes a week into 2010. Therefore, it’s all the more important that I stick with this plan!

I have to become better at doing things when I still have enough time to do them well, not when this little monster called deadline is staring me in the face. Otherwise, my next quarter of journalism school isn’t going to be very fun, because it’s packed with classes that require careful planning and thinking ahead. I’ve moved on from daily reporting to more in-depth, long form projects – which, of course, need a better organization!

Organization is everything. Let's hope my desk stays this tidy for at least another week.

I’m already thinking about all kinds of cues from poster-sized planners to finding a work space at the newsroom or library so I can get everything done.

Another New Year’s resolution: Blog more often! Hopefully, this post is a start to putting that into action.

And finally, a resolution straight from my book-loving little heart: read more. I’m planning to read at least a couple pages every night of a book that has nothing to do with school, or keeping up with the news, or anything I “should” be doing. Just reading. Just for fun. Just because that’s what got me into journalism in the first place.

I’ll start with “Beyond the Green Zone – Dispatches from an unembedded journalist in occupied Iraq” by Dahr Jamail. The coverage of the Iraq war is one of the turning points in my life. It was a catalyst for me in wanting to become a reporter, wanting to tell stories better and include all sides. I’m already excited. Hopefully, my other resolutions will go into action just as well.

Quote of the day

Some inspiration and thoughtfulness from Medill instructors to start off my first week of the new quarter.

“The first draft is like vomiting.”

Josh Karp, journalist and book author, who teaches our magazine writing class, lowers the threshold for the next article to write. You just have to get it out and then you’ll feel better, he added.

“You should be failing at times. If you’re not failing, you’re playing it safe.”

Alec Kline, AOL investigator, former Washington Post journalist and author, tells us to keep challenging ourselves.

The big picture: Christmas

Inspired by the Boston Globe’s The Big Picture, I thought I would treat this blog to a little more imagery. After all, I’ve shot over than 2,500 pictures in the last half year, and I’m really starting to love photography (and hopefully, getting a little better at it?). As they say, a picture says more than a thousand words.

So for startes, I’ll give you a little look at my Christmas in Germany with my wonderful family.

Small changes

Small changes are happening in my social media presence. I’m now officially with my own Twitter account, taken over from tapmag’s account that I’ve been playing around with lately.

Announcing a change on Twitter: I'm taking over

But before there’s any rumors: The tapmag team is going strong! We just met in Berlin for a wonderful pre-Christmas endulgence. Thanks again to Dirk for his time spent in the kitchen to prepare a delicious meal.

The tapmag gang are still great friends, and it’s been so fun dabbling with the blog and all that has come from it. We’ve now been dispersed to Zurich, Chicago and Berlin and all been working on our own projects and degrees, so tapmag will continue it’s downtime for a little longer. I’m excited to see what we’ll all be doing and how we will work together in the future. So, as usual, this isn’t an end but a new beginning!

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This post is to say I’m still here. It’s the last week of the quarter, and that means a lot of work. I feel like I’ve been “almost done” for weeks now. I finally want to be done, finished, over. I want to grab some Glühwein (German christmas market in Chicago!) ride the holiday train, go ice skating and buy Christmas presents.

Happy Thanksgiving!