Sittin' Outside @ 3AM

Quick update since it's nearly 4:30 a.m., but we got together to wish a close friend of ours off to Lake Jackson (and the same paper as listed below).

Went to Miguel's apartment and essentially hung outside on his walkway with me drinking from a 2-liter Big Red.

Matt, Kirsten and Chris just left my place after moving it over here once Miggy went nighty-night.

I'll post some more when this weekend begins, but to Chris Robinson... Godspeed, use what I gave you before you left and give us some good words once we start applying for jobs.

See ya in a few weeks.

Ketchup & Corn Chips

First off, I need to say Happy Birthday to my friend Kelly. It's her 20th today.

She's a real sweetheart who's going to be outstanding at whatever she ends up doing; she's doing the journalism thing right now. I like to say I swiped her from Trends (the entertainment section at The Star) to News, but she came on her own.

She's applied for assistant news editor and senior reporter this semester, but whatever happens, she'll be great.

By the way, this is Kelly and I at the graduation party last weekend.



So I helped my friend David load his stuff in a big-ass U-Haul today - yes, it was big-ass... they rented an 18-footer and were given a 24-footer. Anyway, he's off to Lake Jackson to work as a general assignments reporter at the Brazosport Facts. He was one of the first in a long time from The Star to get an internship at the Austin American-Statesman. He gives a lot of us that want to make this a career just another idea that we can actually go somewhere by doing things the right way.

Props to David Doerr.

Now, as to the title of this post. I was hungry earlier, so I went to Wendy's for some food and realized that I really dislike the ketchup I had at home. So I walked into HEB and picked up some Heinz and some Julio's tortilla chips, hence the post title.

You think that was weird... the guy in front of me had some ranch dressing, a can of peanuts and a bag of peanut M&Ms.

Yeah...

Hey There Sleepy Boy

Man, you ever have one of those nights of decent sleep after busting your ass the day before?

I helped a friend move yesterday and put together some furniture and stuff, bonked my head more than a few times and still kept going.

Once I got home, I watched the first half of the Spurs-Sonics game and took the longest shower I could when halftime came. Watched the Spurs wax that ass clean as a whistle and feeling better.

By the way, any Sonics fan that cheered when Tim Duncan was on the ground injured needs to be slapped, then shot. How in the hell can you cheer when anybody is injured.

You all can go to hell.



How do you like them apples?!?



Get used to seeing that picture in your newspapers very soon.



I hope Manu haunts Seattle's dreams for months.

Anyway, I'm pulling for the Mavs tonight for two reasons... the first, if the Mavs win, it extends the series another game which gives the Spurs a little more rest and second, the Mavs can still win.

It'd be fun to see a Spurs-Suns series and finally put this "best team in the NBA" talk to rest, but the Spurs match up with the Mavs a little better.

Two Words: Manu Ginobili

Go Spurs Go

You know, I really hate that cheer.

Regardless, the Spurs take on the Sonics in about 30 minutes. It's time to put Ray Allen on his ass, work our way into the paint and stop turning over the ball so damned much.

Sigh...Go Spurs Go.

I've Been Working On A Web Site

So I started working for my Dad at his auto repair business in Austin today.

I'm doing stuff like accounting, gophering, stuff like that. What he also wants me to do is get him an online presence for his barbecue pit-building business.

I finally got around to setting up a host and getting him a domain. I'm in no way skilled at Web site building, so I'm going to use a service that they have at the hosting company called SiteBuilder.

So if anybody needs a barbecue pit, go to LonghornJoes.com... when it's set up.

Why I Hate Sweeps...

I always used to think the world of broadcast journalism was pretty cool - even after I worked in a TV sports/news department for a year-and-a-half.

I just completed my broadcast media sequence at Texas State, but only because I was so far along in it when I thought of switching to print that I figured I'd just finish it and use my time at The Star to show my worth as a print/web journalist.

This is what pisses me off about sweeps (and broadcast outlets in general).



Now... here's what pisses me off.

1. Today is Tuesday, what if my child goes to that school using that bus route with that driver before Thursday? A hell of a lot of good that information does me the next three days I put my kid on that bus. Think about that.

2. Why is he back driving a bus? Because he was accused! At least that's what I know from the banner. If he was simply accused without any prosecution/evidence that confirms he did it, it might have simply been some kid mouthing off trying to get the "mean, ol' bus driver" in trouble.

3. These "Troubleshooters" (the name of the WOAI-TV crew used in the banner) are journalists, right? I'm pretty sure we're supposed to be objective to our subjects. Now, this third reason is more along the lines of a promo I saw for last night's news. They were calling people "cheapskates." Isn't that for the viewer/listener to decide for themselves after you provide them with the information?

A rant is just a rant, but man I hate sweeps months. Maybe one day I'll tell you the story of the sweeps incident at the station I worked for. Let's just say it involved oral sex on the ten o'clock news.

I Wish I Knew How...

I wish I knew how to make my latest posts appear first.

Although since I'm the only one that knows about this right now, I think I might be stuck for a bit.

If anybody knows how, please fill me in. Thanks.

EDIT: Okay, now this is REALLY weird. My third post is listed as my second and my second is my last. My head hurts.

SECOND EDIT: Nevermind, I'm an idiot.

Links Exposed

Okay, they're not really exposed, but I will explain them as I go along and add more.

InsideThePark.com is the Web site I write for. We cover the Seattle Mariners and their minor-league organization. Since I live/work in San Antonio, I cover the San Antonio Missions (the Double-A affiliate). I did the same job last summer and it was one of the best I've ever had. In fact, I just finished covering the Tacoma Rainiers (the Triple-A affiliate) when they came to Round Rock, Tex. (a few miles north of Austin) for a four-game series.

SpursTalk.com is a San Antonio Spurs message board I frequent both on and offline. I used to write columns for their parent site (FullSportPress.com), but have slacked off as of last season. Met many fun people and had many a good time watching basketball with them.

The University Star is the campus newspaper for Texas State University-San Marcos (I hate that San Marcos thing, what's next... Texas State University-Sabinal). I'm the managing editor of the newspaper after being news editor this past semester (I'm also the acting sports editor this summer - needed the extra paycheck). We are the finest media outlet in the city of San Marcos because we bust our collective asses to put out the best product possible. A lot of my postings will be related to The Star (local style calls for a shortened second reference) and journalism-related stuff in general because that's just the guy I am.

Man, talk about your long paragraphs... my journalism professors are twitching right now and muttering stuff about "one-sentence paragraphs... maybe two."

Yikes.

So You've Finally Got A Blog

Well, I guess I finally got around to setting up my own blog.

What will this be about? Nothing in particular, just whatever the hell I feel like saying.

For anybody browsing, I'm a 24-year-old from Texas in my senior year at Texas State Univ. (though it will almost always be SWT in my heart). I'm already working as a journalist - which is what I've wanted to do for as long as I can remember.

I'm primarily focused on print/web journalism and I always enjoy a good media ethics discussion.

I'm a big sports guy - baseball, football, basketball. I get to cover the Seattle Mariners minor-league organization right now and this has to be the craziest work for no pay, but it's some of the most fun I have.

I really don't know what else to say, so I figure the answers will come as the questions are asked.

Enjoy.