Poli-ticking everyone off

Underrepresentation. It's one of those things that's a Catch 22. You're not being represented in your legislation but, also, if you run, you won't win because you might be a representative of a jaded, disillusioned group of people.

How can you run and win to be a representative of said group? It's tough. Obama pulled something fantastic, whether you agree with his policies or not. (I'm not saying I do or don't, but being able to propel tons of new Americans to vote the way he did is admirable, I believe)

But there is hope.

The hope comes in increments, though. As a journalist -- which mainly means I'm a normal citizen with a Shield Law -- hearing the promise of change is like clockwork. New election, new faces, new promises.

I think the promise of radical change has become almost standard. And if someone doesn't, well, he or she sure tried his or her damndest to do it. It's not like they should be fully accountable if something fails -- I'm not that dumb -- but, if they're wrong about something, it's become fully acceptable. If anyone cares at all, at least.

It reminds me of the weather. It's good to know whether or not it will rain tomorrow. If it does, you knew about it, if not, fantastic. But if it rains when the forecast originally says it's supposed to be sunny, you're not going out to stab Al Roker with a sharpened toothbrush a la Oz.

I think it might take a stronger constitution to admit that you might not be able to complete everything you set out to do. To set the stage. To not be the person who rocks the boat but the person who buys the damn boat so it can be rocked.

I would run for SG, but I can't -- conflict of interest (in both journalistic and literal sense ha ha).

So for someone saying "under-represented people are that way because they don't run" is both ridiculous and largely untrue. This isn't a city or state where all you have to be is 18 to vote and can motivate your constituents to come to the polls by assuring them you're doing the best. This is a university. The entire demographic is different.

So please, before making another completely untrue and narrow-minded response, think it over.

OK, I've rambled, strayed, whatever, but it's been a ridiculously turbulent day. The Web site is getting up, and that's that. I talked to Rick VanMatre of CCM's jazz studies program. So it's not all that bad.

See you in the funny pages, jerks.

-Gin

The Two C's of my Sin

My life is kind of routine.

Wake up, go to school, go to work, do homework (sometimes) and repeat.

I'm glad, though, that there are some things that help me cope with it. I'm not necessarily saying anything is bad, it can just get a little repetitive at times.

Coffee and cigarettes help me a lot. More than sleep and running, at least.

Taking a "fresh air" break, though, is almost unheard of. I like getting that short break in the day where I can go outside, and just sit on the awkwardly placed concrete bench outside the office and clear my head.

Coffee, yes, I don't think I'll ever have too much. I love drinking coffee. Almost as much as I love a smooth, chocolaty Scotch.

But smoking takes precedent. For those of you who will complain about secondhand smoke I respond thus: Frankly, I don't think you deserve to be privy to my secondhand cool. (Kidding)

Which brings me to the actual point: If the smoking ban happens on campus, I'm completely screwed. Never mind the breach of student rights and how we pay tuition dollars and ultimately help pay for custodial staff, etc., etc. It's part of who I am, I think.

I guess I can always switch to an e-cigarette.

I wonder how I can get one of those for free...

It's a different mindset. Something you would have to understand. It doesn't make sense... I can agree with that. But why go through life doing nothing bad for you and feeling completely neutral than doing said bad things and guiltily feeling good for it?

My dad said he never wants to get old.

I agree.

-Gin

What I was thinking ...

... during my Digital Sights, Sound and Motion class

Professor: Someone tell me what the rule of thirds is.
Me (thinking): Fascinating. Back when I learned about it in third grade.

Fellow student: What is B-roll?
Me (thinking): Please, dear God, let this moronic mindless dither end.

*As a 5-minute conversation ensues about bars*
Me (thinking): I love being underage. Weee.

Epihany of the day: I despise half the people in this class.

Modal Newspaper

I realized something today.

I think a newspaper that has a staff like The News Record resembles a huge band playing modal jazz for eight hours and coming out with an album. Three times a week.

OK, so if you're not quite familiar with modal jazz, it goes something like this: Instead of basing a song off of a set of chord progressions, it uses scales. Listen to the song "So What" by Miles Davis off of the record "Kind of Blue." You might not like jazz. But be aware that those eight or nine minutes of music are all based off of ... maybe... 50 preconceived notes in three bars at the max. Still with me?

While that might not resonate with some people regarding the difficulty of being able to do all that for EACH song, think of it this way: you get a writing prompt. It's on the history of the Asia. You're with five other people, each writing a line and then passing it on to the next. And you do it for four or five pages.

Yeah, I think it's something close to that.

Trane, "Cannonball," Miles and Evans were all able to carve out careers on their own, but egos had no place in making an album hailed as "the greatest single session of jazz" ever recorded.

Today, it was great to see staff members work together in such a way that highlights their ability to work under pressure. We came out with a very pretty paper and no one will know the pains we put into it.

They might use it to leave on their floor for their dog. They might use it as a starter for a bonfire. Or you might just see Monday's issue on the concrete in front of Swift Hall deconstructed and not think twice about it.

It's really a beautiful thing, working at a newspaper. When someone picks it up and reads it, it's informative and they might even take something away from it just as someone who has never listened to jazz hears "So What" and thinks "This trumpet saxophone stuff isn't too bad."

I think they go together pretty well. There's a lot of impromptu action and decisions that come up around here and it's nice to see that where someone leaves off, another person on this staff can finish it seamlessly and even sometimes add a drop of grace.

-Gin

(For those of you who want to branch out to something besides Miles and Trane, I'd recommend "Cheesecake" by Dexter Gordon. What a tune.)

Please do not waste my time by responding

There are some things I will never understand.

Like, when you get an e-mail from an angry reader, who asks a lot of questions about content, lack of content, the presumed abduction of columnists, and then they say, "Please do not waste any more of my time by responding to this e-mail."

Like any good person, like any annoyed editor, I hit "reply" and began typing away. Why? Why would I do something a reader specifically requests that I do not do? Because, as I would say to said e-mailer, "You, sir, have just wasted my time. I feel it's only fair that I waste a little more of yours."

If you ask questions, expect answers. That's the nature of my business. I don't believe it not providing information to the public. That's what this is all about, right?

Let me save you a little of your time and a little of mine if you don't want me to respond to an e-mail: don't send one.

-- Taylor

Just a reminder

News Record staffers, News Record readers, Len, journalism students and anyone else, I just wanted to take the time to remind you guys how much... well, you need sleep.

Of course, we work long hours at TNR sometimes and then attend class the next day, but that's not really the point. The point is, some of us forget to sleep. Or eat. (Senior) designer Jamie Ritzer told James Sprague that I never ate. Which is kind of true, because sometimes I forget to eat.

So, remember, even though we are all awesome at being awesome, sometimes we have to take time out to eat, sleep and relax. I don't think people realize how blessed they are if they get off work at 8 p.m.

Stay good to yourselves, e'erybody.

-Gin

D'Oh!

Today, I learned that not everyone knows The Simpsons as well as some of us in the newsroom do.

I wrote a caption "My eyes! The goggles do nothing" on top of a photo for today's issue. Organic chemistry lab overseer/professor: not happy.

Not only do their goggles NOT do nothing, they are top-of-the-line, said she. (Later, EIC Taylor Dungjen's roommate Alyssa said they don't even allow students to use them -- unless they pay, but that's beside the point!)

So, it kind of made me reflect. I've always been able to remember obscure quotes. I used to be able to go through good amount of movie dialogue in my head when I should be studying.

It got so bad that I had a quote for everything at one point in my life. Well, relevant to everything. It wasn't so much "blah blah blah - Thoreau" kind of things, but more like "You get that way when you drink ginger ale, too? - The bartender guy in the movie Kingpin."

Alas, my then-girlfriend grew tired of it (which I inevitably connected with a movie quote).

All for the better, I say. A person needs to know their priorities.

And it just so happens that Radioactive Man > Real Problems In The World.

UP AND ATOM!

-Gin