A Couple of Quick Updates

My piece on homelessness is up on my work's homepage. It won't be there for long because we are trying to keep the homepage current and we have a new story coming in today, I think. If you want to see my piece and don't have my work website, or you don't see my piece when you get there, email me and I'll send you the link.

My first radio show, featuring "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" by Lewis Carroll, Chapters 1 & 2, will air on Saturday. Unfortunately, I don't think any of you are in the listening area but I will try to put it online somewhere and let you know.

Another First for Me!

Yesterday, I conducted my first phone interview. As you know, my background is not in journalism. My new job description, however, includes providing up to date content on our website. When we don't have new videos, I sometimes need to create them. In an effort to provide more topical coverage I am getting my reporting feet wet and covering the issue of homelessness in our town. The manager of a nearby shelter agreed to a short interview but I didn't have time to drive out of town to conduct it. Instead I went into our radio studio and did the interview there. I got a chance to practice with new, to me, technology and hone my communication skills. It was scary but, in the end, satisfying.

In other news, I wrote an essay based on my previous blog post and plan on submitting it to a friend's blog. I'll let you know if it's accepted.

A Sad, Sad Day for Massachusetts.

Wow. I'm still stunned. Not to mention upset. I've been following some of the news coverage of what happened in yesterday's election, to fill the late Senator Edward Kennedy's seat in Congress, and I think that many of the people who voted for Scott Brown are going to realize they made a mistake. I predict that, within the next six months, "Don't blame me, I voted for Coakley" bumper stickers are going to start appearing on cars around the Bay State. If this one vote really means that the entire nation heads back down into the awful mess we were in under the prior administration, Massachusetts voters for Brown will feel even worse. It will be interesting to see where we go from here once the election hoopla has subsided. Stay tuned.

Help with the relief efforts in Haiti

I heard a great interview this morning on my favorite public radio station that prompted me to post this. There is an NGO already on the ground in Haiti, that has not been incapacitated by the earthquake, and it can use lots of help as it aids people. The organization is Partners in Health and its website is www.pih.org. It is not strictly a disaster relief organization but it is, and has done so in the past, functioning as one for the moment because it has the infrastructure in place to do so. If you've been looking for a way to help, this one comes highly recommended.

Ok Go's new music video

For all my fellow music nerds out there!

Click on this link to watch the Youtube video (I think Capitol Records refused to allow embedding so you can't watch it without leaving my blog. Sorry.):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJKythlXAIY

Photos I've been meaning to post.

(In no particular order)

Christmas 2009 at Steve's mom's house:

Me on my snowboard last weekend (I hope to post a slideshow of this soon!):

Hannukah 2009 at my house:

Hannukah 2009 with a good chunk of my family:

Me on a date! Psych! Me on the set of my friend's parody of "The Bridges of Madison County", not coming soon to a theatre near you (my acting skills are pretty rusty):

Wire wrapped pendant (my first!) that I made today with a stone an acquaintance gave me as a New Year's present:

My second (and awesome, in my opinion) wire wrapping project. These were stones that Susan's aunt picked up on a beach and tumbled, that Susan asked me to turn into earrings. Thanks to some terrific tutelage at my local bead store, this is the result:

Happy New Year!

Sorry this is late. I had fun at a party and then an awesome time snowboarding over the weekend. Susan took pictures of the latter and I will be posting them shortly. I hope you all are experiencing a wonderful start to this decade.