Tarabytes - The (Mis)adventures of a Newsroom Assistant

Tonight, The Chronicle Crushers participated in a really fun, cool fundraising event for Centralia College.


Catch the Buzz was a spelling bee fundraiser for Centralia College Foundation, a group that provides tuition scholarships for those in need. A lot of key community members showed up to show their support for the foundation. It was truly heartwarming!


Besides the spelling bee, there were both silent and dessert auctions, food, wine and beer. Heymann Whinery was there with their tasty, tasty cranberry wine, of which I had a glass.


Twelve groups of four members each competed for the top prize — four $300 vouchers for Shilo Inn. Our group was comprised of The Chronicle Assistant Editor Brian Mittge, reporters Adam Pearson and Chris Brewer, and me. Brewer had to check out early for a prior engagement, and someone from the community filled in. I regret that I don't remember her name because she had quite a lovely personality. :)


Good-natured laughter filled the air constantly, and I didn't see a single person there without a smile on their face.


I hope the foundation raised a good chunk of money. As a former college student myself, I know well the rising costs of gaining an education.


I'm quite tired as I have been up since 5:30 a.m. this morning, so I apologize for any disconnects in my writing. :D I think it's time for me to retire.


Oh, and the word that finally knocked us out of the competition?


Bayamo.

It's a "violent wind blowing from the land on the south coast of Cuba, especially near the Bight of Bayamo" according to Wikipedia.

Hello dear readers.

If you check out the front page of The Chronicle today, you'll see my design work. I'm still a design noob, but hey, I'm pretty proud of my work. :)

I'm really excited for something that's coming out soon, too! Eeeeeeee!

Alas, my day of happiness ended when it appeared that I was coming down with a horrid cold. My eyeballs are achy and hot, my nose decided to change its occupation to "faucet," and I ache.

Boo.

At least the bosses were nice enough to let me limp home early. I took my editor's advice and slept for a good few hours, so I feel a tiny bit better, but my eyes still burn.

Booooo. Boo at you, body!

Now that I'm not commuting 80 minutes a day, I have some extra time on my hands! And, being the absolute geek that I am, I've been spending it reading about journostuff.

Yep. My new word of the day: journostuff. I had to bold, underline and italicize that bad boy for the optimal effect.

News University, a Poynter project, has recently revamped their Web site, and I must say that I'm quite pleased with what they have done.

The old Web site was OK, but at times the navigation felt a bit clunky and awkward. I had problems finding courses, and the pages loaded somewhat slowly.

The new and improved Web site is indeed new and improved. I like it.

I like it a lot.

The pages don't make me feel claustrophobic anymore, and searching for courses is much easier now.

I will really enjoy going through the courses and discovering more about the world of journalism. I'll keep you guys posted!

Check out this page to see what course I'm going through and a link to my comments on the course.

From "Killed: Great Journalism Too Hot to Print" edited by David Wallis

The title of this article was very effective. When I first started reading, I was under the impression that the author was asking whether or not women should even bother with college. I was a bit astounded at this question since Friedan is more famously known for her book, "The Feminine Mystique," which heavily advocates education for women.

By the end of the article, I realized that I was reading the title wrong.

Friedan wrote this article after conducting a survey of her 1942 college class. She conducted a survey and received some rather unsurprising results.The women weren't fulfilled by doing housework and found they could not live through their husband or children.

What the housewives did figure out, however, is that their children would not be with them forever. The recognition of this fact resulted in several outcomes.

Some regretted not trying harder in college or taking more difficult classes, so they took classes part-time or one at a time. Others engaged in volunteer work while the children were small, used that one hour alone each day to read, paint, or write, and utilized time doing housework as time to pleasantly spend in their minds, in their own world.

The common thread between that college class of women?

They kept their minds active and kept mindful of remaining an individual.

In today's times, I boggle that a woman would be afraid of being called "smart." The one thing I fear most is being accused of stupidity and thoughtlessness.

Ladies, just a hint. The men that don't want their women to have a brain aren't the ones you even want to use for a one-night stand.

Fellas, you may want a lady that will take care of your children, but you'll also want a companion for when your children are grown and gone. Trust me on this one.

And why do I feel like I have to make this point even now, years after women suffrage, years after women have made leaps and bounds in their societal position?

Because I have lived on both sides of the motherhood coin (living for one's self and living for the child/husband), so I imagine there are other young mothers out there, still having to figure out the hard way that losing sight of individuality during wife/motherhood equates to losing yourself completely.

Before I had my baby, I was told about how to change a diaper, how to combat colic, and how to fight cradle cap.

I wasn't taught about loneliness, the delicate balance of individuality vs. motherhood (which isn't to say the two can't combine — on the contrary, that is a lesson I took far too long to learn), and simply how not to lose your mind.

To put this blog post train back on its tracks, I found this killed article to be relevant even in today's world.

I went to college and dropped out to raise a child. I understand the women polled in that article and would greatly encourage the latest generation of women to finish their education and work hard at improving their minds.

It was horrifying for me to wake up one day and realize that I'd lost myself. I panicked for a few months and tried to bury myself in being housewifey.

Boy, was my brain not fooled.

Then I signed up for classes at a local community college. I studied writing and I studied the Russian language, but the one thing I studied the most were the people.

I had been so isolated for so long that I really had no idea how to talk to anybody. The only time I felt comfortable was in Russian class where everybody was literally speaking another language.

My writing classes brought me such joy that I eventually made the decision to major in it.

And while I have not finished a degree, I am working in an industry that allows me to do what I love — read, write, be around some amazingly-talented, supremely-intelligent people, and love my life.

This career choice does not mean that I have given up on rearing my child, however. My daughter, who is in first grade, goes to school down the street from my work. She gets home a few hours before I do, but I think she rather enjoys the quality time she gets with my boyfriend (a full-time student). They play video games and read books together while waiting for me to get home.

When I get home, we cuddle on the couch and write together. I think she enjoys writing almost more than I do! She makes these cute little books with stories of what she did that day.

My boyfriend and I share the housework equally. He appreciates my brain and encourages me to improve myself. There's no friction over my working, and he's proud of me.

I'm proud of me.

I'm glad I found a balance.

It's possible.

Honestly, my blog post title makes no sense. Just ignore it. ;)

Valentine's Day has rolled around, and I totally pulled off the "I didn't forget Valentine's Day ... I'm totally surprising you!" bit. Although now that this is posted on here, that illusion is probably killed now.

The kidlet is at her gramma's for the weekend, the apartment is (mostly) unpacked, and steaks are marinating in the fridge. 

Tonight's dinner will be steak marinaded in fig balsamic vinegar, fresh bread lightly toasted in a frying pan with herbs and olive oil, long-grain brown rice and a tossed spinach salad with carrots, cauliflower and broccoli.

Photos to follow!

What are Zach and I doing on our kidless day together? Watching "Sexiest Men Ever" on the TV Guide channel, of course. We seriously need some help.

Tomorrow is a No Newspaper Day, which means it's a Tara Sits on Her Duff and Does Nothing Day. Yaaaaaaay!

Actually, I finally got the book "Killed: Great Journalism Too Hot to Print," so I'll be digging into that gem tomorrow. I've got "Libertarianism: A Primer" by David Boaz on the back burner. I'm pretty stoked about that book, too.

When I heard a few months ago that Coach was putting in an outlet store at the Centralia Outlet Mall, I was kinda excited. Hopeful, even.

When the time came for The Chronicle to write a preview story about Coach, something odd happened: Coach would not talk.

On Friday, the opening day, I wandered over to the Coach Outlet to see what all the mystery was about. There must be something awesome there, right?

Well, it was a store. With bags and stuff.

Don't get me wrong. I love Coach bags. I used to go to Coach stores in Portland, Ore., and marvel over the shoes and bags. I just didn't get the same feeling here.

After pausing a moment to take in the atmosphere of the store, it felt like people were lining up to buy $250 handbags in a cafeteria. The magic of the typical Coach store just was not present. 

What was there, however, was a crapload of customers, as evidenced by my photo above. I really hope that the addition of "higher-end" outlets to the Centralia Outlet Mall will give people outside of our community a reason to stop by and see us.

That's right folks. It's still deadline in this newsroom, and I'm blogging from the front lines of the war.

The reporters are busy typing away at their stories, hoping to squeeze that last bit of information into their story. 

The editors are going over photos for the day, murmuring words of approval or disapproval.

The page designers are working as fast as they can to produce the beautiful copy they produce.

The newsroom assistant is blogging.

Oops.

But seriously, a dear friend of mine made me realize that most people don't really know what happens in the morning at a local daily newspaper. It's really busy here in the mornings!

Some days are busier than others, of course. On days that I have stuff to turn in, I'm busy running over the copy I've written, fixing any errors ...

(Pause while laying out pages)

...and then there's mornings like today where I get to hop on the design desk and make pretties.

I'm still waiting on Sirens so I can put it on Records. ;)

It's in. Gotta go!

This weekend I took a trip down to Portland, Ore., to go to my sister's engagement party.

She looked so happy and glowing and beautiful! She'll make a beautiful bride. I wish them many years of happiness and luck.

I stayed at The Nines hotel, and I really, really, really loved it there. If I had eleventy billion dollars, I would totally move in there. It's pretty friggin sweet.

I ate at Brasserie Montmarte, a super hip jazz club. The charcuterie was a big thumbs up, and it was charming that they offered Voodoo Doughnuts. The jazz quartet there was amazing. I wish I would have caught their name.

I thought I was going to die last night in an elevator. This makes two near-death (okay, one) experiences this week!

Note to self: Find out why the Grim Reaper has taken an interest in me.

This time it was taking an elevator from the 9th floor to the lobby. Now that may seem pretty innocent, but last night there was a winter gala happenin' on the 6th floor of the hotel. A crapload of very inebriated guys got on to the elevator (you could totally smell the liquor). A crapload in this case = about 12.

The elevator lurched. So did my stomach. Rinse and repeat about four times.

That's the point when I started screaming not-so-polite phrases at them about opening the doors. 

Most people say when they think they're going die that their life flashes before their eyes.

All I could think of was "I don't want to die in an elevator full of drunk guys. My family might think something was off about the circumstances."

I'm not quite sure what that says about me, but *shrugs*.

I picked up some pastrami, bialies and knish from  Kenny & Zuke's Delicatessen for the boys at work. I hope they enjoy them. :)

Now it's time for me to rest. I'm tired from my mini-vaca.

Ate out today with the editors. It was like I was almost cool for a second.

Then I realized I was eating a free Grand Slam at Denny's, and there's no way to be cool at Denny's when you're over 21 or aren't nursing a hangover.

The newsroom is full of reporters again since we hired two new guys in the past few weeks. I actually had to say "Excuse me" to get by someone yesterday. It's awesome!

I'm finally moving today! I'll be four blocks from work, which means I can stay up later and get up later. I'm quite happy about that. I'll also have cable internet which means I can go back to playing some games again.

Hello, World of Warcraft. You've been away for a while. What's that you say? New stuff?

Don't mind if I do.