catch up

Yesterday was the first time I missed a blog, but it was for a good reason! I got to work early and edited my reptile video. It was annoying when I forgot to save at one point and it deleted everything, but I learned my lesson really quickly and was happy with the final product. I started working on my next assignments and then left to pick up Tina at the airport! I was so happy to see her, it was like a piece of home. We talked the whole drive back to Bremerton and she got to meet my summer family. We got dinner and then went to the movie theater to watch Eclipse at midnight, don't judge us. The movie was so good, but we were dead tired when we got home. This morning I went to the newspaper office and started working on an article about tattoo and body regulations. I called every tattoo shop in Bremerton but only one would talk to me. I also talked to the state representative and the senator that worked to pass the bill. During my lunch break I picked Tina up and dropped her at the ferry to Seattle so she could site-see. I went back to work and actually went to the tattoo shop that would talk to me and watched as the owner tattooed a customers forearm. After I was done for the day I picked Tina up and now we're deciding what to do for the rest of the night.


Reptile man video
http://www.kitsapsun.com/videos/detail/reptile-man/

snakes

Since there wasn't too much going on in the newsroom today, my editor told me to grab a video camera and go shoot something so that I could practice editing. She told me I could more or less film whatever I wanted so I started looking up events and found one that sounded cool. I went to a park to see "Reptile Man" give his presentation as part of a library program. I didn't think there would be a huge turnout, so I was surprised to see about 200 people sitting in a giant circle. I filmed the whole presentation and watched as he pulled out different lizards, snakes, a tortoise and an alligator! After he talked about each one, he invited all the kids to come touch all the animals. I'm not the biggest reptile fan, especially when it comes to snakes and lizards, but I knew I had to film them. I walked through the crowd of people and filmed kids hesitantly touching the animals and asked some of them a few questions. I interviewed the reptile man and mentioned that I had never held a snake, so of course, he grabbed one and put it in my hand. I was really scared at first, but it was actually really awesome! I pet the alligator and headed back to upload all the footage. Tomorrow I'll edit everything and post it for your viewing pleasure.

tube

Nothing too great happened today. I went to the mall for the first time, but I think I was in and out in 30 minutes. I've had a headache for most of the day, so I spent a lot of time on the couch watching Man Vs. Food. It's so funny watching the guy eat the most ridiculous things, but I was especially excited when the San Antonio episode came on! Earlier I was texting one of my friends and he asked me if I had been doing all this stuff, like playing with the starfish, alone. He felt bad when the answer was yes, but I've been having fun occasionally doing things by myself. At first I was really hesitant to go do things alone in an unfamiliar area, but I figured it didn't matter and it's been exciting so far.

exploring

Today I went to look for the Poulsbo Marine Science Center. I met the aquarium director on Monday at the library program I was writing about, PMSC sponsored the touch-tank! When I finally found it I walked in and saw a way cooler, way bigger touch-tank that was filled with a bunch of different kinds of starfish. I couldn't believe that I was allowed to just pick them up, but I wasted no time rolling up my sleeves and sticking my hands in the freezing water! I was probably the oldest person at the touch-tank though, ha ha, there were lots of kids. After my starfish fix I walked around the rest of the building and watched a giant pacific octopus take a nap. He was really pretty too, it was the first time I'd seen an octopus! I liked it so much that I left with a volunteer application, so that I can hopefully play with the starfish on a regular basis. After the animals, I went to the waterfront park that I visited on my first day of work. This time I found a cool boat dock and hung out there for a while. I had fun looking at the water and the mountains at the same time, and the sun made it even better! I've been hanging at the house for a little while now. My aunt Lora called me earlier to say hi and it was fun to talk with her for a while. She told me how much she likes the blog and that she and my uncle read it every night.

photo-less friday

Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures to document my day, but it was still a good one! I interviewed Miss Alaska, Abby Hancock. She is originally from Kitsap County and will be competing for Miss America in January! We talked for more than an hour and she answered all the questions on my long list. She was so enthusiastic about the Miss America program and her personal platform, which focuses on being global learners. After spending the day talking to her and reading about her and the organization online, I finished the article and it will run this Sunday. I came home and updated the daily log I'm required to keep and submitted it to my professor. Week 2 is officially done!

funny thing

This morning I got an out of the blue assignment to write the preview article for the Fathoms O' Fun festival, an annual summer festival that happens in Port Orchard. I knew absolutely nothing about it and I think I called the director 9 or 10 times today asking a million different questions, but he thankfully didn't mind. The festival has events that start tomorrow and lead up to what is supposed to be a great fireworks show for 4th of July. I had a lot of fun writing the article and learning about the festival, so I might check out some of the events this weekend. After I left for the day I stopped at Walgreens on my way home and was surprised to see my article on the newsstand. I'd seen it this morning, but seeing it outside of the office surprised me for some reason. When I came home the family was out running errands and the "other intern" as I like to think of her, even though she's actually doing an 8-week clinical rotation, asked if I wanted to have dinner with her. She's only a few years older than me and we had a good time hanging out.

festival article
http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2010/jun/24/fathoms-parade-weekend-a-warm-up-to-fourth-of/

llamas and roblox

I spent all day focused on llamas, unfortunately I didn't get to play with them like I did yesterday. Today I made lots and lots of edits to my llama story and was a little frustrated when asked to include outside information that didn't seem so relevant to the story. In the end, all of that information got cut anyways and I was happy with the final product. Aside from the article, I got to put together my first video today which was very cool. There are a lot of different components to it and I definitely need to learn the ins and outs of final cut pro. When I came home I read for a while and the boys told me all about the Roblox account they made me and wrote down my username and password so I won't forget it. I've never played Roblox but all 3 of them are pros. They were so funny today, asking me what time I woke up, and if they could wake me up at 6 a.m. so that I could play Roblox before I have to go to work, unless I have the day off. Ha ha, I asked them to please not wake me up that early, and promised that since I definitely don't have the day off, that they can teach me all about the game when I get home tomorrow.


llama article!
http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2010/jun/23/llamas-a-labor-of-love-for-seabeck-woman/

llamas

Today was another fun assignment! I went to a llama sanctuary in Seabeck with the photographer. I interviewed the founder about her 32 llamas, all the care they require, how she's got more animals than she was planning on and why she loves llamas so much. She was so nice and showed me around the land. She let me pet some of them and meet the newest baby to be born. I also took some video that should be posted online on Thursday after I "edit it to hell," as one of my advisors says. When I got back to the office I wrote up the article and started researching my next assignment. Every assignment gets more and more interesting! Anyways, while all of this is going on in Washington, there's another paper that required some attention in Texas! The Island Waves sent the second issue of the summer to press today, thanks to the wonderful editorial staff I left behind, especially Rob! I got to look at PDFs of all the pages and give things a final look before poor Rob sent the paper to press a little before 10 p.m.

perfect assignment

Today while working on an assignment my supervisor asked if I wanted to go with the photographer and the new photography intern to a water exhibit that kicked off a summer reading program. I said yes and we were on our way. When we got there there were a bunch of tables with different things for kids. Some stations were about boat safety, others were about the journey of a water molecule, but my favorite was the touch-tank! It had a bunch of different kinds of starfish, crabs and a sea cucumber! The man in charge of it had no problem letting me touch the starfish and even let me hold a few. I was so, so excited! Starfish are probably my favorite sea creature and these ones were so different from the ones in Corpus! On the ride back to the office I got to talk with the new intern and I was so excited to have finally met someone around my age! It'll be nice to have another intern around the office for the summer. When I got home from work my article was already online, so take a peek! For the rest of the day I hung around the house again, ate some enchiladas and did the dishes. I also sent my brother and sister some lovely pictures of myself and they quickly returned with some great pictures. James also sent me a funny picture this morning and said I should post it on my blog, so it's here too. I am definitely missing both of them, so much.

http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2010/jun/21/summer-library-program-aims-to-keep-up-kids-for/

father's day

Today is the first Father's Day I've spent without my dad. I missed him a lot today and was a little bummed I didn't get to talk to him. He's recovering from a horrible sunburn so he was asleep the couple times I called. The picture of us I'm posting was taken last Saturday on the ferry to Seattle. He was so excited to be up here and I was so grateful to have a dad who could drop his entire life for almost a week and drive 2,200 miles to drop me off in Washington. My dad always has the perfect advice and the best hugs and has continuously reminded me to take advantage of all the opportunities I'm presented with. He is truly an amazing dad and I'll keep missing him every single day of the next 9 weeks. So since I was without my dad today, I hung around the house, ran some errands and did my laundry. I finally found Target and went to Barnes & Noble, again. I wouldn't let myself buy anymore books though, until I finish the others that I bought last week. Since it's Sunday, I was reminded of Post Secret and went to look at the books. I found one with a secret inside, which was very cool, but the secret was a little sad.

lazy

All I did today was alternate between upstairs and downstairs and read this book. I always love when I can start and finish a book, it makes me feel more engrossed in the story.

quiet friday

This morning was too quiet. I went to the newspaper office assuming that I'd be put to work, since the only thing that I had to do today wasn't until 7 p.m., but I was wrong and was instead asked why I came in so early, ha ha! So I read the newspaper, read it online, read other papers online, checked out yahoo and google news, read comments, did more research for my interview, and the interview I have next week, took a long lunch, wrote in my planner, I hope you're getting the picture. Everyone even had to leave the office for a little while to take their staff photo, so I manned the empty newsroom too. Around 4:30 p.m. we got some excitement, although I would have preferred staying bored instead of crowding around the police scanner to hear that a woman shot and killed her husband. After they said the address of the location, the staff went into a frenzy and the photographer was running out the door, followed by a reporter, followed by an editor with an extra camera. The rest of us continued to listen to the scanner. It was very sad to hear that the man was not breathing and had no pulse. When things quieted down I left for the day and came home to grab my laptop for my interview. I interviewed a really nice man today, along with 3 friends/board members he is starting a non-profit organization with. He has started working with rural schools in the Philippines to get them necessary school supplies so that they can receive a better education. He talked about people in America taking things like textbooks and computers for granted and showed me pictures of the children and their schools. He and his board members told me all about the work they've done so far and all the work they have left and it was very inspiring. They were all so nice and the time flew as we talked. I left the interview very eager to write the story. When I got home I hung out with my summer family and some of their friends and turned in my first weekly log to my professor of everything I did each day. The first week is down, only 9 left!

interviews

This morning I got to interview two really sweet boys who have attended different ballet schools in Seattle and Washington D.C. and are now preparing to move to Europe to dance with different ballet companies. Their mom is a well-known pianist and music teacher in the area and was so nice as she welcomed me into their home. The boys were so sweet and fun to talk to and I was excited about writing the story. I went back to the newspaper office after finishing the interview and taking a few pictures of them and started writing. After I finished I got to write more crime briefs and called it a day. When I came home I hung out with everyone at the house and we watched the Lakers and Celtics game. It was a pretty quiet day, it was also pretty cloudy. Hopefully the sun comes out tomorrow!

byline

One of the greatest satisfactions I have found in journalism has been seeing your story in print for the first time. It's always exciting to work on an assignment, track down people and information and then figure out a way to somehow convey everything you've learned and been told to your audience, but it's a little more exciting to hold the finished product in your hand and know that others are holding it too. That's how I felt this morning when I walked in the newspaper office and saw my article on the front page! Of course, the excitement was short-lived as I began working on my next assignments. After lots of research and phone calls, I set up interviews for 2 of my 3 assignments. The first one is tomorrow morning and I'll be visiting the home of a local pianist to talk to her sons about being hired by ballet companies in Paris and Germany! Next Tuesday I'm going to a llama sanctuary! My assignments are exciting so far and I'm anxious to start writing. Today I was also able to play around with some cameras and take a few practice shots, since I'll be taking pictures of the boys I'm interviewing tomorrow. The coolest thing I got to do today was visit the police station with the crime reporter and go through a stack of police reports. We looked for things that caught our attention and I wrote 2 briefs for the Thursday paper. When I came home today I was thinking that despite living with a really cool family and working with a really great staff, I haven't actually met anyone to hang out with yet. So, I'm going to start finding things to do in my spare time and hopefully make a friend!

First assignment

I wasn't expecting to be writing so soon, but I got my first assignment today! A few months ago the city received a grant to place art in one specific area. They put several pieces in a park and have plans to place more pieces along a street that will connect to another park. The latest sculptures being installed cost $250,000 and there was a lot of controversy over that, as well as the art not being created by local artists. All controversy aside, the first sculptures along the street were installed today and it was my job to get opinions about them! The sculptures stand on opposite corners and are a fish reeling in a fisherman. It's pretty funny, and I think it makes an interesting addition to the street. Even though they were at a high cost, had the city not used the money, it probably would have been spent on something similar somewhere else. I was nervous to go find people to talk to, but I was more excited about starting my first assignment. After I gathered my quotes and took a few of my own pictures, I headed back to start writing! It didn't take very long to finish and my editor was happy with it, so that was a relief! After I was done I started researching my next 3 (!!!) assignments! Each one of them is pretty unique and I'm excited about all them! My supervisor said that the staff usually gets caught up with their regular beats and assignments, so the more interesting stories go to interns. I'm happy that I'm the only intern! I got to leave around 7 p.m. and when I walked outside it was raining! It had been pretty dark this afternoon, so it may be time to start carrying my poncho around, ha ha!

First day at the paper

Today was the first day of my 10-week internship at the Kitsap Sun. I didn't have to be there until 11 a.m., so I finally unpacked this morning! When I got to the office I was greeted by the assistant local news editor, who is in charge of both myself and the paper until the editor and my supervisor get back from vacation. He introduced me to the staff and gave me a tour of the building and I also took the picture for my ID badge! After learning about my computer and the different programs they use, they sent me to get drug tested! It was the first time I had to pee in a cup, ha ha! The news editor said that after I took my test I should go explore the city and surrounding areas and some of the staff suggested a couple of spots I should check out. The first was the Silverdale Waterfront Park. It was a little overcast today, but still had pretty views! The beaches and the smell of the saltwater of course reminded me of Corpus. The second place was Samudra, a yoga studio/coffee shop. It was really neat and so close to the house, so I think I may have found a new spot to hang out. After my exploring I went back to the newspaper to learn about a few other programs on my computer and to read through online archives. I also got to sit in on a budget meeting where the editors decided what articles would be in the paper tomorrow. I came home and had some pizza with my summer family and after this post I'll start working on the assignments I have that allow me to get credit for the internship. Today was such a good day and the staff is so sweet and welcoming. I am so excited for the next 10 weeks and to finally start writing!

first weekend

The last two days have been very interesting. On Saturday morning dad and I attempted to look for Mexican food, but got pancakes after 3 failed attempts. We ran some errands to get a few things I'd forgotten and then took the ferry to Seattle! The ferry was so different from any other ferry dad or I had been on. We got to walk around the different levels and had the choice of sitting inside or outside while we made the hour-long trip. The water was so gorgeous, especially with the mountains in the background. Dad kept reminding me how lucky I was to be spending the summer in such awesome scenery. Once we got into Seattle we headed for the Space Needle and waited in line to go more than 600 ft up. Even though dad is afraid of heights, he really liked it once we got to the top and looked over the entire city. After we rode the elevator down, we started walking to a Jimmy John's that was supposed to be a few blocks up. Of course, after way more than a few blocks it wasn't there, and when we finally found one on the next block over, it was closed! So we walked back to the car and stopped at Wendy's. Dad laughed about our last meal together being in the car, just like most of the meals on our drive up here. After getting lost a few times, we eventually made it out of Seattle and got back in time to take a short nap before it was time to drop dad off at the airport shuttle. I dropped dad off around 2:30 a.m. and managed to hug him goodbye and promise I'd be alright without crying. Of course, I cried as soon as a I drove away. I fell asleep pretty quickly and by the time I woke up dad was already boarding his second plane home. So I'm officially alone today and wasn't really sure what to do with myself. I drove around the city, got some lunch and found a Barnes & Noble. I bought 2 books and went to a park around the corner to read for a little while. The park was so busy with so many people! But I read my books and looked at the water, which has the same comforting smell as Corpus. I came back to the house and fell asleep for a little while and now I'm not sure what to do, again. I still haven't unpacked, so I guess I'll do that and get ready for my first day of work! I'm feeling a little homesick and I'm really missing my parents and siblings, but hopefully working at the newspaper will alleviate some of that.

Monster Blog!

Finally, after weeks of planning and days of driving I am in Washington, a few days away from beginning my newspaper internship! My last two weeks in Texas flew by and were full of wrapping things up at the Island Waves office, packing up my apartment, and spending as much time as possible with my friends and family. I attempted to organize the house, watched my baby sister graduate from high school, hung out with my best friends and spent time with my siblings. I am already missing lots of people very, very much. The 2,200-mile drive up here is something I'm sure I'll remember forever, with just my dad and I driving through 7 states in 3 days. We laughed about the same 5 CDs replaying over and over, about the ridiculous amount of time we'd spent in the car and about the funny people we saw on the road. Dad would say the weirdest things like, "I'll just sit here like I'm pregnant," and "You could have the IQ of a plant to write good country lyrics," while I drove. When we finally got to Washington, we met the family I'm staying with and realized that they were eerily similar to our own family. They have a million things going on in their house and have the same "go with the flow" mentality. All the nervousness I felt disappeared after only being here a few minutes. I don't start working until Monday, so I'll have the weekend to hang out with my dad before he flies back home on Sunday and explore the town I'll be spending my summer in!