The Keys to my Success

It's been a while since I posted a blog entry. It's summer, so I have a lot of time on my hands. I think I'll just write something every day for one year. The date is May 21.

To start the day I wake up. Now for some people this might seem an easy task. It merely....

You know, I started out wanting to write this. I have decided to give it a royal f-you.

Goodnight.

Fridays

I just don't know what I think about Fridays.

See the sad things is that as you get older you realize that Saturdays, which come directly after Fridays, aren't really as amazing as once you thought.

Yet somewhere in your head you can't shake that child like whimsy you feel for Fridays simply because they will be followed by Saturdays.

Then there's the true ominousness in knowing that your weekend will be followed by another week.

What a strange world.

To make me feel better, Here's a picture of a puppy:



He's really really cute. He's so cute that it's making me forget about the ominous nature of the weekend.

Damn, now I'm thinking about it again.

Ooh, look the puppy's back.

Time to end this before the endless cycle continues.

Something to make you smile....

Logorama from Marc Altshuler - Human Music on Vimeo.

I thought this was super creative.

Tweeting SOS

We've come a long way since the field coverage of the Vietnam war. We used to live in a world where people gave a touching performance before a camera bigger than all of their heads. These days, the way events are covered is very different. We have a multitude of mediums to cover any kind of event imaginable. We live in a world where news is as easily caught as the flu. You needn't look any further than Twitter to see a developing trend. We have become a nation of reporters. Through a passive system we’ve all become active interpreters of today’s big events. One of the most pertinent examples of mass and diverse coverage came in 2010 with the Earthquake in Haiti.
When the Earthquake hit Haiti in January 2010, the world was quick to begin aid. Everyone jumped on the opportunity to aid this developing and impoverished country. News spread quickly. Death tolls and figures on the starving began to take front seat with figures on the war in Iraq. This kind of rapid news coverage would not have been possible without the internet. When looking at any news story it’s impossible not take into account the ever growing popularity of social networking sites and their growing use as news media.
Twitter allows a user to make a quick blurb in regards to any given situation in 140 characters. In the case of Haiti, those working on the ground could use Twitter to give updates as they arose about the situation and its progress. It’s not hard to see why this is becoming one of the fastest growing sources of news for a generation. This is a generation of chipmunks; at least we have the attention span of chipmunks. For those without the attention span to watch the 6 o’clock news every night this is the next best option. Twitter is everywhere. If the user has an iPhone than they can receive constant updates about events, celebrities, and even the president.
It would be fun to sit here and argue that the existence of twitter is destroying a generation of news watchers. While fun it would also be impossible. I personally don’t use Twitter. However I can see that what Twitter is creating is a great opportunity for those with tight schedules to get their quick news updates. It’s good to see that those without “the time” for news or world events are finally choosing to be aware of the changing world around them. In time, many other forms of news program will be outsourced and Twitter and the like will take over. Twitter is hardly to blame. We are looking at a future where news has to be quick or else it will be ill attended. In this case, the quick bird gets the tweet.

Goin' To a Meetin'

This Monday I missed the meeting I always go to. That meeting was for Umaine Paranormal Investigation Club. In a moment of curiosity I wondered what I was going to do. I thought and thought and finally came to the realization that I had another engagement that I could write about.
On Wednesday I had a rehearsal for the acapella singing group which I'm part of. It's called Mixed Nuts. Mixed Nuts is a mixed part singing group that performs in the area. We perform a mix of songs which include such rousing hits as Love Stoned by Justin Timberlake and Happy Ending by Mika.

Most people don't know what acapella is. Acapella is a form of choral singing that relies on no accompanying instruments. Any of the instrumental sound you hear comes from a member of the group called the vocal percussionist.

This week we started the rehearsal by doing warm-ups and then led into learning a song by Dispatch called The General. A few of our members were absent but we still managed to breeze through most of the song in the hour and a half alotted to us. Overall a very productive meeting.

Hmm...

I look around each day with a clean-slate on my mind. I force myself to look at things, regardless of whether I have learned a lesson about such situations, with a tinted lens of newness.

I don't really know if there's more to that thought than that. I think it was just a thought and now it's gone. Thoughts tend to flee like that.

All That's Known....

It's impossible to ever really know what we're doing. Usually we're sitting, carefully perched on one leg, sitting on a couch looking out at the world and challenging it to look back, or endlessly moving without a real knowledge of what we're doing but that it will bring us new meaning. That is, in the end, the summation of our friendship.

Peter Rimkunas is a product of Gorham, Maine. His family consists of five of the most rambunctious people that you'll ever meet. Never having met his parents, instead hearing tales of jumpsuits and singing, to name a few, I have had the pleasure of meeting only his siblings. Peter is unlike either of his siblings but instead a summation of their parts. His brother Jonas is an outgoing and outrageous guy who pounces around a lot with no worry or care. His sister, Miriam, is much more on the quiet and reserved side. Her power stems from her ability to wield words like a finely honed blade. Peter on the other hand is much like Winnie the Pooh in that he is always jumpy and fun but when the situation calls for it he can be serious and extremely thoughtful, saying nothing but really saying everything. Peter is one of those people who you can't help but like. His aura is always colorful. He is always willing to say something that will cheer you up. Most of the time he does it unintentionally.

Sean Edwards is a very different ball of wax. To meet Sean is to meet your everyman. Sean too was born in Gorham, Maine. His parents are divorced and live in two very different worlds. To listen to him talk is almost to see the shots of a finely aimed rifle. He never keeps a thought to himself but saves the really good ones for just the right moment. A scholar of letters, typed no less but still letters, who reads life like an old book. The best thing about Sean is that he knows how to speak. Not really speak in the general but to speak eloquently and know what to say. It could easily be said that his word and personality are comforting in their simplicity but always hide more than you expect them to.

Then there's me. I am only me. I can be nothing else. Peter, Sean and I compliment each other so that you can only hope to say nothing and say more. I have been forever changed by my relationship with these two guys.

The goal of this assignment was to write a character profile. Character profiles are usually about one person but at the same time sometimes you get the inkling to write wildly about that giant pink elephant in the room. In my life I've had the pleasure of meeting so many people . Yet rarely do I feel the urge to do things by the book. I chose to do this assignment not on one person, that's too normal, instead. I opted for a profile of a friendship. That's what life is. To deny such a fact is to deny life itself. I never feel like doing things by the book. This assignment is no different. If I should fail, I accept such a fact. Failure too is part of life. In the end I had to do a profile of the most important thing in my life: my friendship with two of the best people I've ever met. In the end, the air in any room that we inhabit is a character unto itself.

Poetry from my mind place....

This post will be short and sweet. I've decided that I'll start posting poetry on here from my little black notebook.

~Voluntary Imprisonment~

Looking out from the display case,
people looking in,
I wonder, wander, waddle
through the recesses of humankind,
my own but more theirs,
writing stories about their
lives.

They see me
but what they really see
is a wandering pair
of interstellar eyes
searching desperately,
but knowing plainly,
that truly we
are both
lost.

Sometimes a passerby
will happen into my case.
Glimpsing out they see
as I see.
Yet even for but on
moment
they can't hope to know
true vision.
They leave, not obtusely,
but without knowing that
vision, hidden wisdom
some might say
that I experience
within.

So here I sit.
I watch people pass by
and silently I tumble
their realities about in
a grand jar.
They see me,
only seeing
what they want to see
and me,
silently sculpting
an immoreality.

Just a glimpse into the future poetic endeavors and decided to start now.

Thoughts On The End Of January

It's February 5th. I've been alive for nearly 21 years. I've never felt so old.

That having been said, I feel as though it's crazy how quickly time seems to be passing. I went to sleep some Mondays in January and would wake up on Friday morning. It was nutty. I am starting to believe that one of two things are happening:

1) I'm getting senile.

2) I'm beginning to lose my conception of a time based system.

Frighteningly there's a final option that could be taking place.

3) Both of the above.

I know I'm not getting senile because I don't stand on my porch in my skivvies screaming at kids for stepping on my ungroomed yard. I can be sure that I losing my conception of a time based system. I don't worry about time anymore. It's just not an issue. I spend hours sitting in a semi-circle of wing backed chairs with my friends without realizing it's the wee hours of the morning. I should be concerned. Yet a little piece of me is finally relieved.

I've been waiting years for this. I lost my watch, almost on purpose, and haven't looked back. Sure, when I'm sitting in class I watch the clock religiously praying to the gods that I can just get out. I find that in recreation terms I adore the concept of not watching the clock. I spend my time wasting it.

I think that the reason for all this concern and foresightedness is that January went by so quickly. I realized on the 31st that 2010 was here with a vengeance. I had been alive for little more then two decades and suddenly time was just speeding right by. I have to say that, while I should be angry, I kind of dig it.

Guess I realize the fear that some people feel toward turning thirty and then sixty. Sounds exhilarating to me.

Today....

...is February 2nd. I really don't know how I feel about February. Besides the impending and obligatory holiday known as Saint Valentine's Day, I live in Maine. I live in a town in Maine that you only would have heard of if you had applied to the local state school, University of Maine. Here's the other thing about Maine: It is always cold. Maine is not just cold either, it's a special kind of cold that makes you curse the trees for being able to withstand freezing up and falling apart. There's about one month in the summer when you're all "YAY, IT'S TOALLY SUNNY AND NOT BAKING ME ALIVE" and then, POOF!!, back to cold. Therefore I have made the decision that in true style and pizzaz, I will be boycotting this state. You may ask how a poor college kid with no money to charter his own plane out to Key West plans to boycott the neverending snowy.

Step 1) Refuse to ever acknowledge that winter is even here. I will do this by wearing tropical shirts and bermuda shorts at anytime that won't endanger my well-being. I will also fill my coffee cup in the morning with a new and colorful tropical drink.
Step 2) Whenever someone asks the temperature outside I will respond thusly: "Oh you know, sunny with a cool tropical breeze." In this way I will convince all my fellow Mainahs that I am neither sane nor reliable
Step 3) I will enforce on all of my peers the policy of positive thinking. Therefore, if I hear one of my buds saying "Boy, it's a real chilly one out there bub!" I will swiftly smack them across the face or hit them with the nearest loaf of crusty Italian bread. I'm hoping that after a short amount of time this will have a Pavlovian effect on all of my friends. They will begin to think of it as summer or find themselves in A WORLD OF CRUSTY HURT.
Final Step) I will refer to Maine, here on out, as Bermuda. Maybe, if I hope and try, it will work and we'll transform from snoozeville to Palmsville.

It's a fourfold plan with no space for failure. Has anyone seen my Bermuda shorts?

I know that love exists because...

With Valentine's Day approaching quite quickly it's no surprise that I'm looking for little signs of love everywhere.

Today, as I was walking to my Journalism class, I noticed two people walking away from each other. They were both wearing a huge smiles on their face. Every few seconds the young woman, who I'll call Sally, kept glancing over her shoulder at the young man, I'll call him Joe. Everytime that Sally would look back from Joe she would plaster yet another smile on her face. Joe, in the meantime, would look back at Sally as she was looking away. Each time it would be when the other was looking away. Finally, at one small moment they both looked back at each other at the same exact second. For a brief moment I saw a view into what love should be. I haven't got any idea who either of these people were but I do know that joy can come in any form.

I find it so endearing that little moments like this still exist. There are so many instances today when people are bleak and narrow minded. We've entered into a day of sorrow. If people can take little moments to notice the small things on a day to day basis then we'll easily find ourselves inhabiting a much sunnier world. Yes, disasters will keep happening and there's no way to stop that; our responsibility is simply to change the circumstances in our miniature world through little steps. When you're walking along the sidewalk and you see those windswept dunes in the snow, smile knowing that that is natures Blue Period. We can not control all things. We can control the smile on our face.

I want to thank Joe and Sally. Today you've given me something to smile about. Now to just find myself some snow dunes.

Felt Like My Blog Would Feel Left Out.

Dear Blog,

I am posting things on another site. I am sorry. You understand though. It's ok, I told it I loved it but that's a lie. Here's a cute picture to cheer you up.

It's squirrels kissing. Isn't that adorable?

I think the one on the right is named Bertram and the one on the left is named Lily. They've been married for 4 years. (In squirrel years that's a lot.) They're so happy. It's their anniversary. What Bertram doesn't know is that Lily is seeing a different squirrel named Javier. It's all very dramatic.

Here's the posting that you'll be missing out on. I'll be back next week with less filler and more substance.

Yours Faithfully,
Zaq

Food Wrapped in Newspaper

In all my years of eating, twenty to be precise, I have always found those who have the power to weave the spoken word with the overwhelming power of food to be of the highest standing. The New York Times is no exception to that rule. Not only do they have the power of reputation behind them but they also possess a great deal of skill in weaving a picture for their readers that allows us to see into exactly what they are reporting on.

In the January 19th edition of the Times, Julia Moskin reported on a recent uproar of an alien food called the pljeskavica. The non-traditional burger has taken off in popularity in Queens and has taken off wildly with the European population in the surrounding area. But why choose this article? Better yet, what makes it an interesting article? It’s hard for me to look at an article that follows current events, such as the earthquake in Haiti or the war in Afghanistan, because I find that often times the articles covering current events are written with a sense of urgency and lack the intimacy that articles written about smaller events and occurrences possess.

This article is no exception to the rule. Moskin weaves an interesting picture of a cultural phenomenon that is sweeping a small area and penetrating our view on something so American and boxed up. Moskin not only looks at something under the radar but through that reporting allows us to think of something that otherwise we might not have. The New York Times usually writes stories that capture the attention of its readers. In the writing Moskin brings a small aspect of the New York landscape to a forefront and allows readers to have a new piece of information and think about a whole topic, hamburgers and how we eat and look at them, it can change people and their opinions.

The article is well written, usually the New York Times is, and allows us to think differently about news. The story won't find itself on the cover story, it's not that kind of news. What the story is is a chance to look at news, from the viewpoint of the everyman.

The article, in its original form, can be found at the following link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/20/dining/20balk.html?ref=dining

Purple

I would recommend that more people wear purple. I suggest that we have a day in class where people wear purple. All of us as a matter of fact. Maybe we could start some kind of movement where everyone wears purple. What a grand movement that would be. After a while people would begin to feel united by their foolishness and we would find ourselves inexplicably drawn to one another. Over time people would just give up the outlandish principles to which they had so religiously subscribed and we would just fade into wonder and joy. By principles I don't really mean religion or values but more the dividing ideals keeping us from feeling unified. Just a thought really.

Boy....It sure is nice to have a brain with which to ramble wildly like this.

Network: A film that could change your whole mind.

This is something that many of you may have already heard or seen something about. I feel like it's your job as a journalist to look at it and think....think with wild abandon.

Objectivity and Why The Media Doesn't Have It

Every aspect of life has many facets. Complexity can comes from anywhere. Journalism is no exception. If we can learn as much from each of the different aspects as we do from the topic itself then we'll be better journalists overall. Likewise, We as journalists face a series of obstacles when writing about a topic.

Most of us are unlikely to find ourselves in a situation to report on world changing events in our career. If we are so lucky as to find ourselves covering a history changing event then we find ourselves in a pedigree with the likes of Walter Cronkite, Dan Rather, and Edward R. Morrow. However, even though we are not in the same position that the greats, like Cronkite, find themselves in we are still held to many of the same standards. One of these standards is based entirely in the morals of the writer. Our goal as a journalist should always be to maintain an air of neutrality so as to allow the reader to the reader to form their own opinions.

The sad reality is that, while this should be the goal of journalism, it is a near impossibility to expect an author of any piece of writing to be entirely objective. We find ourselves at a standstill in the world of journalism, as Melvin Mencher says in his book on news writing and reporting, because we are in a situation to cover stories which we may not always agree with and therefore must decide what we are obligated to print. The objectivity aspect of journalism comes from the voice of the journalist and how that voice manifests itself in the writing, particularly in dealing with issues where the author will face opposition and conflict from their readers.

Let's take, for example, the case of Charles Manson and the Family. Charles Manson and his cult following known as The Family were in the process of going on a killing spree and taking down a number of prominent individuals that they considered to be "pigs". One of the prominent figures was then wife of director Roman Polanski, Sharon Tate. The story gained speed quickly as more and more details came to light. Eventually the Family, and it's leader Charles Manson, were placed on trial for the murder and the murders and their leader were brought to justice. Why look at this particular case? What makes it so special? It is a classic example of reporting on the fringe. If we, as the reporter, are going to cover stories that involve controversial issues and usually universally recognized wrong, then it is our responsibility to maintain that neutrality.

The Manson case is a perfect example to look at when examining objectivity in the media because we're dealing with something that most people would consider to have been completely outrageous and completely unacceptable. The case was gruesome, very few will will dispute that, and as well most people were disgusted by Manson and his following. As a reporter we must put no spin on the case.

It is not our job, as a journalist, to impact the opinions of people. We give information to people, in the form of reporting and allow people to formulate their own opinions. If we should put a dash of our opinion on the story, no matter what it is, we risk becoming less professional and begin to stray into the realm of soapbox journalists like Bill O'Reilly and Glenn Beck. Thus the importance lies in allowing ourselves to remain neutral. It is very difficult but the less opinion you attempt to insert into a story allows you to gain more respect. There will always be a little of your opinion but the less the better.