Piss People Off Friday

As I said in the photo meeting Thursday night...I know I'm abrasive, I know I'm an asshole, but damned if I don't just want to bust my ass for what I believe in.

Anyway, that said, I'm used to making some people angry, but I usually like to know when I'm doing it.

After (hopefully) averting a mutiny within a department of The Star on Thursday evening, I came home to unwind from the week and finish up all my paperwork for an internship that I was pointed to by one of my old profs. It's a scholars program for "journalists of color."

And screw you, Manny...it ain't yellow.

Well, I get started on everything - and mind you, this complete package has to be in Arlington, VA by today (15 Oct) - and I don't get to sleep until 6 a.m. Friday morning. I had to type an essay, fill out an application in my best penmanship (which required more than a few reprints), choose six of my best clips and some other stuff.

Well, other than my standard wake-up call, I sleep until just before noon.

I wake up and realize I don't have one more signature on the application and I need to go to campus to get it. So I pack up all the papers in this nice binder I got for it all and get ready to leave when...I can't find my truck keys.

It's not like I live in a huge place. It's not like I have a lot of stuff, but I still lost my keys. I was going to lose a chance at a damn good internship opportunity (and have you ever had a word in which the spelling just kicks your ass time and again and you have to literally go letter-by-letter to get it right, well, "opportunity" is mine) because I couldn't find my damn keys.

Twenty surprisingly expletive-free minutes later, I realize I was nearly done in by a bag of sunflower seeds. The keys were under the bag right next to my laptop.

Bolt to campus and go the wrong way on a one-way street to not have to fight for a parking space and just park at the office, take care of what I need to and such, but right before I leave, I get a call from Christina (yeah, the one over there ------>). Apparently, part of her class was dedicated to one column I ran on Thursday.

Let's just say it has a line about performing a celebratory jig regarding the death of a certain Chief Justice and his return to Hades while the rest of the column talks about the author's perception of a certain political party.

I already knew that was coming, though, since I'd already recieved about five e-mails responding to the column.

So let's go to the scorecard...

1. I've pissed off republicans.

I proceed to New Braunfels and the FedEx shipping center to get my package out the door and on a desk in Virginia by today. $42.45 later, I'm back on the road to San Marcos. After a brief stop for some new jeans, I decide to go back to the office since I figure I'd rather read hate mail from the office than from home.

Get a call from Mom. She's found a Spanish tutor for me. I accept, but tell her that I'll probably still have to drop it. Well, that goes into a discussion of how I pay my bills and such. I gently inform her that her apparent beliefs that I don't want to graduate are incorrect and we hang up angry.

2. I've pissed off Mom.

Friday was supposed to be the day I unwound, maybe read The Star in a non-work capacity and prepare for my fantasy football and basketball leagues...nope, I had to make a short, Hispanic woman angry and a significant amount of College GOP'ers angry.

Next week's going to be fun, but then again, aren't they all.

Actually, though, I'm good. Almost none of the complaints sent to me have been particularly harsh towards the paper or questioning the existance of my soul and the like. They've all been very cordial and directed their comments towards the columnist - which is exactly what I'd hoped for when I took the job and knew this issue would come up someday.

It's not my job to censor. It's my job to facilitate the publication of their thoughts. I've accepted guest columns on many subjects, openly sought a diversified bunch of political commentators and tried to steer away from simply being a "Bush sucks, Dems suck" section.

And damnit, I think I'm doing a good job so far.

By Semi-Popular Request OR "It's A Fucking Pumpkin!"

First off, here are the photos from A&M and my laps in a NASCAR ride.


Obviously, that's me in the middle flashing the Texas State sign and our illustrious design editor Matt to the right. The whole Kyle Field experience was fun, I only wish the damned hurricane could have not screwed up the scheduling so I could have gone to yell practice on Friday (the game itself was moved to Thursday from Saturday) and we could have stayed in College Station for the night after the game to party Aggie-style (without the sheep).

Next pic.



NASCAR held a Grand National race in Kyle a few weeks back. Their big marketing push is bringing in a younger audience, so they were very helpful and very interested in gaining coverage in The Star. I can't blame them, but neither can you when I got to do five laps at over 100 miles per hour around a short track.

As for the other part of the title, all I'll say is search the University Star Web site and look for a picture of a pumpkin in today's (12 Oct) news section. Well, just imagine that said picture of said pumpkin is said dominant image on said newspaper's first color front page in nearly a month. Also, said picture essentially killed said issue's chances of ever being selected for competition; which sucks even more because the rest of the issue was pretty killer.

I'm very peculiar about the issues I like to take to competition. There needs to be a very strong front page (stories and dominant art), a killer back page (which is usually sports) without a 'national' column (a column that one of our columnists writes about something national, which is essentially a rant about steroids or the playoffs or something...it's basically something that anybody can get elsewhere and it doesn't necessarily hit our audience), a strong opinions section that displays the leadership quality of a newspaper (local Staff Editorial and preferably local columns with editorial cartoons done in-house) and a graphically appealing newspaper overall.

Today's issue had most of that and would have been a legitimate contender for future competition...but there's a damn pumpkin running dominant.

Guess Who's Back

Well, the new ethics policy hasn't gone into effect yet, so I'm going to stop making excuses and (hopefully) return to frequent blogging.

Random thoughts from the day.

1. Whoever the anonymous poster who brought me back tonight...thanks. Also, Manny for probing me about a return to the Chaos.

2. How in the bloody hell do the Yankees keep coming back? I stopped at Dairy Queen at about 8 p.m. and it was 6-0 Angels. I get home and it's 7-6 Angels. What the hell?

3. I've still got my health, some friends, her, the paper and a chance at some good internships. I can't complain in the least.

4. If you have a Hollywood Video nearby, hit them up! I walked in to rent one DVD (Open Water for my step-dad) and a game for myself and instead, walk out with a pre-order for Madden 2006 for Xbox 360 (even though I don't have a pre-order for launch on the system, but I'm planning on waiting at a Best Buy or something) and eight DVDs purchased (The Shield-Season Three, Closer, Open Water, Collateral and Sin City). They have some damn good deals right now.

5. In a week's span (two weeks ago), I walked and covered a college football game at Kyle Field and rode in a NASCAR vehicle for five laps. Not bad for a managing editor. Great experiences which I'll post pics of later.

6. God, I hate the Yankees.

7. Damn...a fastball hitting you on the elbow must feel pretty below average. Bengie Molina's still on the ground getting attention. Damn Yankees!

8. Like I said, back again soon and more frequently with some posts. Stay tuned.