Feel free to call me Master

It's been a whirlwind few days here with my parents and sister visiting and graduation festivities. We were so spoiled to have them here helping us cook and clean for the party, and it was such a nice treat to all be together.

Friday afternoon the journalism school had a reception for undergrad and graduate students who were graduating. Here are the girls in my cohort with our graduate adviser.

The Family - Mena, Chris, Me, Dad, Deb, Mom

Since Chris had to go to Vegas for work on Saturday, we had a party on Friday night. Here again are the girls in my cohort - Whitney, Ana, Me, Carlie, Heather and Megan

Na, Me, Julie and Erin

Graduation was on Saturday morning. Julie was shooting the ceremony for the paper, so she got some pictures for me - thank goodness because everyone else was sitting pretty far away.

The Cohort

It really was a fun weekend and I just have one assignment left to finish and I'm all done! My Dad and Deb left yesterday and my sister left this morning. We had such a nice time visiting with them and wish we could all be together more often.

Tomorrow morning I start a new job doing social media. I'm really excited about a new challenge, but a little nervous, too, for my first non-newspaper job in many years. Wish me luck!

Recruiting for the Pack

Last week, a friend from school who works for the University asked if I would be available for a practice shoot for a commercial they were shooting. Since I'm usually on campus working on my internship project anyway, I said sure. So, I went and, apparently, they liked me because they asked me back for the final shoot, which was this afternoon.

photo recreated after my shoot

Some people have asked me what the commercial will be used for, and I'm told it will serve as a recruiting tool online and at orientations and maybe even on TV and during athletic events. There are lots of other people that will be in it, and it will supposedly be done around the fall. To answer other questions that have been asked and will likely be asked again: I did not get paid (but I did receive a fun swag bag) and, no, I still don't know when/if the slot machine I modeled for last summer will come out. But it will be kind of fun if I see this commercial on TV or at a football game!

Even though I shoot video, this was a way higher quality shoot than what I do at the paper. It was cool to see the video set-up. They did light makeup, tested the sound, had me read my lines turned at different angles and with my hands in various places, and the main videographer showed me the program they use to edit with and how they will put many different people that were shot separately into one scene. It kinda makes me want to learn more about video and get better at it.

Go Pack!

Party People

Since my "cohort" and I were all done with classes for the semester (not counting finals, of course) we decided to have a little end-of-semester get together on Sunday evening at the new casa. It was nice to hang out with (almost) everyone and relax outside of school, and Chris and I were excited to be able to host a party and use some stuff we received for our wedding that has barely seen the light of day in almost two years. I hope we'll all be able to hang out more outside of school over the summer and during our last semester.

Megan, Me, Whitney and Carlie

(Carlie and her boyfriend Chris live just down the street from us!)

Six of eight in our cohort - Megan, Me, Will, Ana, Whitney and Carlie

Since Whitney lives in Tahoe, she stayed the night and brought Snickers, too. Him and Scoop had lots of fun playing together!

Another one?!

So, you may have noticed over on the right or seen on my Facebook that I've started another blog. As anticipated, I've already received some grief for this (Ernesto asked if I was trying to achieve a blog record). However, the EarthHomeHealth blog was a class assignment for this semester, a team project that likely will not continue too far into the future. (Although, keep reading at least through Sunday, please! Leave some comments, too!)

Anyway, the new blog is Natural Nevadan. While I haven't talked it over with my committee chair yet, I'm thinking this will be my project for my master's degree. The plan is to cover environmental stories in Northern Nevada, have some recurring features, and engage the community to participate by commenting, linking and providing content. As I've learned with EarthHomeHealth, this won't be an easy task to keep people engaged on a regular basis, but I think trying to put some of the theories we're learning into practice will be a good learning experience, and I'd like my project to be something I can continue past graduation.

So, go and check it out!

Rock Stars

Our game design teacher decided that we should partner with the computer science department and hold a Rock Band tournament at school last week. No, I am not kidding. So we helped to plan and promote the tournament, and I formed a band with three other grad students in my cohort.

We went with an '80s theme after deciding to play "White Wedding." Megan found some '80s looking dresses from friends and she and Whitney wore them. Scott decided to "wear" his wife's wedding dress. I was going to wear a tuxedo T-shirt, but I couldn't find one. Luckily, I did find a Billy Idol Tee. The three of us girls crimped our hair, I pegged my pants, and we rocked some side ponytails.
It was kind of obvious that we weren't as good as the younger, more skilled undergrad gamers ... but we had fun. And, we won fan favorite!
It was a good time, and I told Chris this afternoon that I'd like to have Rock Band at the house now ... so I can improve my drumming score ;-)

Update: My friend Will from school made a video from the tournament. It is pretty silly. Check it out here.

One down, two to go!

I just hit "send" on my last assignment of the semester. Yahoo! Now I can focus on holiday fun - santa pub crawls and snuggie parties, visiting family and holiday crafts ... I'm so excited!

Of course, I have to thank my helpers for proofreading my stories and helping me get through the semester ...

I'm looking forward to having some extra time to spend with you two for the next few weeks as well!

Now, time for some hot cocoa ...

Homework

Hey y'all, here's a little video I made for a school project ...

school days

I had two papers due today, so I've been pretty busy with school. (You might think that since I've been spending so much time on homework, Chris would keep the blog rolling for a few days ... but then if you thought that, you haven't been paying close attention around here. I'm not even sure he remembers his password anymore!) Anyway, even though I've been spending quite a bit of time at the library, we have managed to have a little fun since the last post.

Last weekend we went to a party at Erin's brother's house. This is the part of college Chris doesn't mind doing again. (Okay, he also proofread my papers. He is a good husband!)

Thursday night, Erin and Sandor had us over for a yummy fondue dinner.

And, on Saturday, my friend Katrina came up from Sacramento for her baby shower. I haven't seen her since she moved last winter and it was so great to see her - she looks so happy!

That about sums it up. Now, back to the books ...

Crossroads

This is me last night, getting in some reading in the Wolf Pack media room while I waited for the football game to end so I could shoot the post-game press conference for the RGJ. As I waited, I read about the Internet rendering newspapers obsolete. I thought it was a little ironic, but at the same time I thought about the press pass in my pocket. Soon, I will have to write a paper on how I think the Internet will ultimately effect journalism, and I think my theory is this (though it will obviously be fleshed out a little more): There is room for both professional journalists and "amateur" or "citizen" journalists to work together. Yes, a blogger sitting from home could easily write about the post-game press conference and generate a lot of hits and comments, but not just anyone can attend the press conference. Unless you are credentialed media, you have to wait for the press to report on the conference to write about it. Perhaps when we live stream on the Internet, or when TV broadcasts something live, we provide a shortcut to the "amateur journalist" - but in many cases they still look to us for the initial information. Last week, we read an example in a different book about the Trent Lott/Strom Thurmond debacle in 2002, which led to his resignation as senate majority leader, in which traditional media largely ignored his racist statement until became a huge deal in the blogosphere. The thing is, the first blogger to take it and run with it read the quote in an ABC story. Because all those bloggers weren't at Thurmond's birthday party to hear the quote in the first place. Yes, there are some instances where everyday citizens can report on things just as well or better - taking photos of breaking news before media arrives, for instance - but I think there is room for both, a way to work together, to complement each other. Obviously, I don't have all the answers. But that is what I'm in school to try to figure out.

Something's missing

Mom and Stony on their wedding day

This summer, I had some free time on my hands, and I made a few trips to Quincy. And each time, as I was on my way, I would think of my stepdad. All I wanted to do was go to our old house and sit with him on our old front porch, drink iced tea and talk. I miss those talks with him, and this year, maybe more than any since he died, I have thought about him so much.

When I was finishing the sixth grade, Stony was earning his associate's degree in hydrology and watershed management. This was a pretty big deal, as he'd never finished high school (though you'd have never known it) and hadn't been in school for decades. He graduated among the top in his class. I miss him for many reasons, but it's my area of study these days that has me wishing I could pick up the phone and call him. Right now, for instance, my homework is to re-write a brochure on hydromodification, something that I'm sure he could help me understand better. But also, sometimes I learn something that I think is really interesting and think it's something he'd want to know about, talk about, debate with me about.

His absence is always felt at big events - our college graduations, my wedding - but it's these little moments that meant so much that I miss the most.

First Day

The good thing about parking at Circus Circus and walking to campus: It's free, I get a little exercise and I see swans on my way back to my car.

The bad thing about parking at Circus Circus and walking to campus: Arriving to my first class at 9 a.m., hot and sweaty just as I'm about to meet six people who I will be spending a lot of time with over the next 16 months.

See y'all in December

This is what I will be doing until then ...