Yesterday

Yesterday just happened to be the last day of school as well as my friend Rob's birthday. I had to do a final presentation in my mag class, which went relatively well despite what we had. I had an oral presentation in my Chinese class later and then I stayed around to help set up the banquet for our Communications department. I normally don't go to these things, mostly because I don't pay much attention to what goes on in the department.

I wasn't planning on going until a few days ago the chair sent out an email to a handful of people saying that we should be there because he might have some good news. I saw that a majority of the Pioneer staff was on it, so I thought hmm, maybe we're supposed to show up because they'll brag about the Pioneer.

After my professor got up there, I'm not even sure I remembered what he said, something about reporting everything except sports but she might have done it too if we told her to. I joined as a report in Spring quarter but they felt I did a good enough job to give me Report of the Year. :D I was super delighted because I haven't received an award in a really long time... well, I did get a PeopleSoft Overachiever (Outstanding Contributor) Award which made me feel uber special. My editor in chief, previous editor, the photo guy and a couple of other people all received awards too. The staff isn't very big, but I guess they like to honour the people who put time into the school newspaper each week.

So afterwards I had to rush home and get to Rob's birthday dinner. We went to a shabu shabu place in the city and he was totally wasted within like an hour. Two hours later, we're making sure he doesn't fall into the toilet head first, but everything he did ate, did come right back up again :p Way to go Rob, happy 26th.

Newspapers

So my big story of the quarter got published today. I put it in my other blog too. The web site version is available here.

I'm really happy with the story, and so is the teacher. I spent a lot of time meeting with him and contacting the various sources I needed to get the story across. It's difficult when lawyers, districts and unions won't talk to you but I did the best that I could.

I also asked the Hayward Daily Review if they'd like to run it, and I've submitted a shortened version for them. What sucks about news is that there are times where you're limited to 300-500 words and there is no way you can tell the whole story in so few words. You leave out vital information which either confuses the reader or gives them the wrong impression. They'd have to go out of their way to get the whole story, and even then, how many people would actually do that?

Anyway, it's kind of depressing that all Bay Area newspapers are owned by one media company. Except for the Chronicle, and they're losing a million dollars a week so it's only a matter of time before they disappear. So really, our news is being delivered the same way but under a different logo.

I've been slacking

The important part about owning a blog is to.. well, actually blog. My finals are next week, so really I have no excuse anymore. After my magazine proposal presentation Friday, I'll be a lot less stressed. It's been a great quarter and I'm proud of what I've achieved. I've had several great articles printed in the paper. I haven't been posting them in my soapbox blog, mostly because they're news articles. I guess I should post anyway, what's the point in reading a blog that's not updated?

I'll be interning at a gaming studio this summer to give game design a try. I never really thought I could contribute much as a designer, since I don't draw or program, but there are other things that I could do like research and writing. I hope that I will learn a lot and that my skills will be useful. Otherwise, I am still quite fond of writing and I'd like to continue doing it.

After taking this magazine publishing class, I feel like I could expand my writing and look for jobs in the mag industry. I still want to be in the video games industry for sure, but there are days where I feel like I want to write about things that really matter, like giving a voice to the voiceless. Not that games don't matter, but no one will be hurt if a review doesn't come out for a game.

We'll see. I had a lot of fun writing up some controversial topics. When people are really grateful of what you've written, that's what makes writing worth it.

Not much has changed..

Still buried under a lot of homework and constantly trying to reach my deadlines early. I'm doing okay so far, but I'm starting to burn out. Only 3 more weeks to go really, so it's almost over.

I got a chance to go to an EA summer preview event as well as the Halo 3 preview which was kind of cool. I'll be going to PLAY! next week too.

Meanwhile, without the Hayward teacher strike going on, it's been kind of hard finding some interesting story ideas. I could do features, but I've gotten so used to doing hard news stories it's a pain to switch back and forth.

Deadlines

I knew taking 24 units would be a bad idea... but hopefully it'll all pay off in the end. It's been hard to keep posting in my blog since I am constantly scrambling for new story ideas and then hunting down some sources. This is the life of the reporter I suppose, and I better get used to it.

I don't know if it's the workload or just the fact that I'm kind of tired after a long school year, but it's been hard keeping up with the reading and motivating myself to do things earlier. Granted, some stories can't be done ahead of time, but I find myself with the urge to nap a lot.

I hope that in the next few weeks there will be some positive changes, but until then it's just one day at a time.

Research

I had a talk with one of my professors today who will support me in doing an independent study in the fall about video games. I haven't exactly narrowed down the topic yet, but there are a wide range of questions that I wouldn't mind researching. I'm interested in the online aspect of games, why people get so involved (I already know off hand, but it would be interesting to do more research). I'm also curious about casual games, how that market is growing, and also interested in women and gaming. There are just so many aspects to the industry that I find fascinating, except what should I focus on?

The whole point for me to go back to school was to become a better writer. I'm gaining a lot of experience as a writer, editor, reporter, but I still want to write about games. I think I found that I like columns the most. Writing reviews is fun too, but I think to be able to comment on the industry on a regular basis would be a cool gig.

I don't need to think about getting a job yet, but it worries me that once I'm done with school, I'm not sure where I'll end up. This quarter is going to be hectic, but in a good way. I need to get used to last minute deadlines and things that pop up for no apparent reason. It's good training I guess, even though I don't need to add more stress to my life.

It's only the second week of school, and I either caught a mild cold or I have allergies or something. I feel sick enough to be annoyed, but not enough to be bed ridden. I just wish I had time for another vacation :)

300 was excellent!

I haven't seen a movie in a long time where I really thought the director knew exactly what he was doing. As gory as this movie is supposed to be, it was tastefully done and with a lot of style. The fighting is simply beautiful, even if there is blood flying at your face. The way the important colours stand out, like the Spartan capes, makes this movie a visual treat.

Spartan women are well portrayed, particularly the queen who delivers some great lines. She played Kitty from the Jungle Book, which I've seen numerous times. It's nice to see her in this role. The men are trained to kill from birth. As barbaric and testosterone filled as it seemed, it filled you with a sense of power, in a moving way like Braveheart. I can imagine for the guys they'd probably want to hit the gym and work on their six pack. I've never seen so many abs in my life.

It's hard to see that the guy who plays the King is Gerard Butler who plays the Phantom in Phantom of the Opera. Overall a fanastic movie, and worth seeing at the IMAX.