Friday, February 2, 2007

The Scoop

Okay. We've got our assignments, and I have to say this is gonna be harder than I thought. We have to write in our online journals or blogs at least three times a week, and it must be a minimum of three paragraphs. And on Fridays, we have to write a report on something. And no, that report isn't included in the mandatory three posts per week. Our first report isn't due for two weeks, thank goodness, or mine would be late for sure. I have no idea what I'm going to write on, but I can just picture my reporting on some topic coming out like the report on "Why Asparagus Makes Your Pee Stink."

I asked the professor what would happen if we were hit by a truck and ended up in the hospital for a few weeks and missed writing our assignments in our blogs during that time. She said that as long as we have eighteen posts and six reports by the midterm exam and the other eighteen posts and six reports by the final we would be fine. We could do them all at once or wait until the last minute, as long as we made our quota by the halfway mark (midterm) and by the end (final exam). Whew! What a relief!

I've asked all my friends to IM me if they have any good ideas for me. What else are friends for but to help you out when you're in a jam?

Thursday, February 1, 2007

In The Beginning ...

I can't believe I let my friend talk me into taking a class with her. Journalism of all things! Like I want to write for a living, sitting in front of a computer all day. No way.

Sure. I'd like to write a book some day, but eventually I'd have to actually sit down and write it. I'm not sure that's ever going to happen.

Anyway, the professor tells us we have to start an online journal or blog or MySpace account if we don't already have one to write about our topics. Like I want MySpace blog clogged with school assignments. No way. That's why I created this one, incognito-like. Whatever I write for school stays at school, like the Las Vegas thing.

And what topics are we supposed to write about? "Find things to write about. Report on the news. Report on politics. Report on global warming. Report on anything you like, within good taste, because this will be on the Internet, and we want to keep it family friendly. And remember that if you put your names in your online journal or blog, once it's on the Internet anything embarassing you write could come back to haunt you, so there's another reason to keep it G- or PG-Rated." (I can see myself in a job interview five years from now with the interviewer asking me about my blog. "What was it with you and that fur-covered snake thing?" No. I do not want to have to explain anything embarrassing at a job interview. Answering "Why are you unemployed?" is hard enough.)

Report on the news? I wasn't there to see what happened, yet you want me to report on it? Like Jayson Blair did for the NY Times? I'd have to read what others report and then regurgitate it, and there's no guarantee it won't sound like the original author's writing. How about op-ed posts instead? Those I can do. Everyone is always telling me how right I am when I voice my opinion (hence this particular pseudonym). (What? You thought my parents named me Hugh R. Wright? No way. They aren't that cruel. Well, maybe they are. I had to endure sharing a bedroom with my little sister who farts all night long. That's torture.)