The break begins!

As usual, December comes and we all get the school crazies. End of semester papers, documentary edits, internships, beer. Lots of beer.

But somehow we all make it through (mostly thanks to the beer) and now I'm pleasantly back at home in Kamloops, sipping a gingerbread latte that my Starbucks-trained sister lovingly prepared for me and enjoying two weeks sans classes and deadlines. Work? Sure... I've got a website to update/redesign, two proposals to write, and a tidy stack of books to devour... but no deadlines. Woo!

For the past two weeks, I interned at CBC Radio Music and was lucky enough to work with Amanda Putz on Bandwidth. Two weeks of interning bliss: researching and learning about Ontario indie bands, interviewing and producing segments, audio editing to my heart's desire-- I even got to produce this coming week's episode! And Amanda is fantastic, so much fun and a great person to learn from. If only I could sneak to the second floor of CBC Ottawa and live there forever... sigh.

And, of course, I wouldn't be a shameless self-promoting j-student if I didn't provide links...

This past week's episode of Bandwidth- the Chanukah/Holiday episode- can be found on the NXEW blog. Amanda mostly worked on this show, but I came in to help in announcing Christmas shows around Ontario and also made Amanda a special Chanukah gift, which I give to her on-air near the end of the show.

The week before was All Things Hamilton- at the NXEW blog by clicking here. On this show, I interviewed TO band Hamilton Trading Co-- my first radio feature on air, which is pretty exciting.

The episode I (mostly) produced-- The Not-Quite-Christmas Show-- will be on this Saturday on CBC Radio 1 across Ontario and Nunavut (not in the GTA though) at 5:05pm. And, of course, I'll link it when I can ;)

*edit: you can find the show here!*

The holidays may mean I blog more. Or they might mean I just eat more Christmas baking and shun my laptop in favour of the family's new big-screen TV and PVR. I guess we'll find out which one wins out in the next week or so...

I should probably learn to squeal less

This week, I've been hunting down MPs for a story I'm writing on politicians and social networking tools.

Clearly, I'm a bit of a political geek so I've gotten my fair share of kicks this week. There's something so magical about hearing Bob Rae's dulcet tones as he calls you on his lunch hour... or finding a voicemail from Preston Manning when you check your phone after class (I'm still debating whether to put the audio online. Yes, it was that good).

I was also reminded of how rude and self-important some MPs' staffers are. Isn't it funny that, the less important the MP, the more of a dick their Communications officer is?

On the upside, everyone else has been very lovely and helpful. In fact, one MP suggested I add her on Facebook so we could meet up at some point to talk about new media and youth engagement... It was when I added her on FB the next day that I realized my interview got a bit meta.

Now, to weave the insightful interviews into a tapestry of journalistic gold...

Journalism on my own terms

School and life and assignments continue to pretty much run my life. But last month I decided to strike a deal with j-school: I'll write its often-useless assignments and meet all of its mostly-arbitrary deadlines if I get do at least some of it on my own terms...

What are my terms, you ask?

1. Docs that are not umentary: if you're going to cause me so much stress and grief, I get a beautiful shiny new pair of red Docs. Because, even though my feet are in pain from breaking my Docs in, its going to be worth it in a couple of months (I tell myself this about the course, too, though I sometimes have my doubts).

2. Internships: if you're going to make me write multi-page analyses of your new programming, essentially using me for free consulting, then I'm going to submit it as a liveblog. And compare Evan Solomon to John Cusak.

3. Internships, part 2: if you're going to make me fulfill work requirements, then I'm going to do them at the Olympics. I've booked my flight for Vancouver and can't wait for February!

4. Editorializing: if you're going to require that I make non-reporting videos, then the reporter will need a helmet

5. Social life: if you're going to take over my life, I get to use you as inspiration for a brilliant April O'Neil Halloween costume (literally- check out the jumpsuit...)

Everyday is the weekend

I've had the last two weeks off of school, with few assignments and responsibilities. As is the end of any semester, it felt really weird.

Then it felt really, really good.

Janelle and Daniel were in town for Easter weekend and, in short, I spent the weekend eating, drinking, and generally being merry with two of my favourite people. Janelle came down a day early so we spent our Good Friday catching up, eating Korean fusion food, wandering the downtown and ending up at Oh So's. Saturday and Sunday was full of food, including an amazingly delicious Orphans' Easter Dinner with my bar coworkers in which everyone seemed to outdo each other on the cooking... impressive considering we work at a place where the kitchen consists of a microwave and an oven. There was lots of rye and Settlers of Catan (Wilcox House Rules) and good times.

I also gave Janelle and Daniel their wedding quilt— only about six months past their wedding!— which was pretty fantastic. It was actually a joint gift, I chose and paid for the fabric and my mother did the quilting. My mom is one of those crazy hardcore quilters, she's actually part of the Quilting Guild back at home, but she really outdid herself with this one, especially since she made it large enough that Daniel, who's well over 6 ft 3, can fit it comfortably.

Actually, as soon as he saw the quilt, Daniel wrapped himself in it and took a nap on my futon. If that isn't the sign of a great gift, I don't know what is.

This weekend, Tiffany came back to Ottawa and we did the "ultimate Ottawa in a weekend" tour-de-force, squeezing in a bit of shopping, ample Market wandering, drinking and socializing and hitting up the downtown's tastiest locales.

But alas, my glorious days of brunching and used book hunting and vintage shop browsing must come to an end as I start my internship tomorrow.

Yes, tomorrow I start at Canada's national broadcaster, radio side, for two weeks.

Which also means that I move to Toronto in two weeks for my next internship.

Am I mildly terrified? Hell yes.

Bulk Barn's best-kept secret

What started as a fun artsy project is quickly becoming my studying comfort food...

I am sitting on my couch, surrounded by empty fortune cookie wrappers. The fortunes lined in a neat, almost OCD row next to a pile of crumpled plastic.

When you think about it, fortune cookies are the best study food- they're lightly sweet, so you can eat lots of them and not feel sick; they're mostly air, so you can't feel like a total blob for consuming them in epic proportions; and the wise notes contained inside their crispy shells not only inspire deep thoughts but distract me from my mind-mangling articles on the feminist print media in Canada.

Of course, I acquired this large bag of these tasty not-quite-Asian confections from Bulk Barn (which is potentially the best thing about Ontario aside from their tradition of eating clementines during the holidays rather than mandarin oranges)... with BB charging by the pound, fortune cookies are one of the best investments one can make because of the fact that they're so light, they practically defy gravity. Indeed, by a deliciousness/entertainment/cost analysis, there's no more intelligent snacking option. At least, this is what I'm telling myself as I compulsively tear my way through a grocery bag of cookies.

If their sheer tastiness wasn't enough to keep me going back, the opportunity to pick and choose my fortunes is.

"Your smile will brighten someone else's day"

... Right.

"Someone is speaking well of you"

... Riiiiight.

"Others find your charm irresistible"

... Ok, I guess I can deal with that.

Oh, in case you haven't noticed, I've started a new blog. I could give all sorts of reasons for not continuing with my old one that I lovingly kept 2001-2007, but it isn't really that important. Or, as my last cookie just said:

"Look with favour upon a bold beginning."