Stories that Count

This Washington Post article put a smile on my face--you only vaguely hear speechwriters mentioned. This story gives some great insight on the people behind Barack Obama's speeches.

Journalist Throws Shoes at President

I would never deny that I get angry. I do. As a journalist, it's part of the job. I just wish some of my fellow colleagues would find better, less embarrassing ways to deal with it. This guy decided to chuck his shoes at President Bush.

The Sixth Sense

Over Thanksgiving break, I really didn't do much. I ate. I slept. I read non-class related material.

I read mostly popular fiction, mass-marketed paperbacks and other fun, brainless stuff. And I found lots of mistakes. While I read, my brain went on autopilot and started honing in on things like subject-verb agreement, dangling modifiers, case and misused words. Surprisingly, there were a lot of those mistakes. When I read a sentence, I felt like my brain was picking it apart simultaneously, looking for the noun and verb.

But the effects of this class really didn't sink in until last night, when I decided to read for my history and Asian American studies class. I went a little crazy when I saw the word "however" used four times in a page from my journalism history text. And to further feed the flames of my ire, "however" appeared in two sentences in a row. I drowned in readings saturated with sentences in passive voice that could have easily been rewritten. My only relief was an essay written by Helen Zia, a journalist. Surprise, surprise!

Am I crazy? Was the lack of heat in my apartment addling my brain? I hope not. I kind of liked having this hypersensitivity and hope to put it to good use in the future.