“Keep It Simple, Stupid!”

Although harsh, the above quote is a popular acronym for designers and one I’ve been repeating often to my journalism class. After Googling the KISS Principle, I think I’ll start using the politically correct phrase: Keep It Simple, Sweetheart. This week, after going over story structure and how to write a lede for both hard and soft news stories, many of them struggled with the idea of outlining a story sitting in front of their blank Word document.

Remember, I told them, sometimes the simple things work the best.

Google blackout

At first, I gave the legislation little thought, not knowing how it would affect my internet freedoms and millions of others around the world. But, after reading this Poynter article on what the SOPA blackout really looks like, I understood. “The legislation’s intent is to capture websites that engage in criminal copyright infringement and counterfeiting as well as those that promote services or products to circumvent the legislation’s provisions.”

Even one of the colleges at Syracuse University took part in the blackout.

School of Information Studies at Syracuse University

Alas, the bills lost support yesterday, including 26 Senators who originally supported it. According to CNN.com, “The protest seemed to change the minds of lawmakers, including those that had strongly backed the bills in the past.”

And, good to hear Florida Senator Marco Rubio, a former co-sponsor, said he had “legitimate concerns” about the bill and the Senate should “avoid rushing through a bill that could have many unintended consequences,” including “a potentially unreasonable expansion of the federal government’s power to impact the Internet.”

The whole thing prompted a deep conversation for Journalism students yesterday. We talked about the first amendment and the five freedoms it awards.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

“Journalism is not creative writing”

That’s what I told my students when one of them asked me about the difference between creative writing and journalism. “Journalism has rules, standards,” I said. “Not everyone can be a journalist, but anyone can write a story.”

What a challenge to be teaching journalism! I’ve only dreamed this day would come…

On the first day of class, I gave the eight students who showed up – the roster listed 10 names –  a run down of my background and experiences. “I work three jobs and I still don’t have health insurance,” I said and they laughed, “But I’m really happy to be here and I want this class to be fun for you.”  Then, they went around the room and introduced themselves; most said they did not know what or how to write and I nodded encouragingly; it was par for the course. Most of them talked about transfering into the journalism school at UCF or UF, and I discovered my real job would be preparing them to succeed.

I told them not to worry about raising their hand if they had a question because they needed to get into the habit of speaking up without anyone’s acknowledgement; I’ve covered plenty of press conferences where no one waits for permission. I said, “Just don’t interrupt me. Wait for the natural pause in the conversation and then just go for it.”

They hung onto my every word, wanting to know more about why I chose to be a journalist. “Find a job you love and you’ll never work a day in your life,” I quoted, revealing how I’ve lead a life of adventure and have always wanted to give back. I told them I hoped my stories and lessons would gain their respect, which would make my class worth attending.

I felt bad about not having a syllabus ready on the first day, since this was one of my pet peeves as a student myself, but I explained how I only had a few days to prepare at all, and instead, I offered them a chance to interview me, which, looking back, did not go as planned since they do not know how to interview, yet.

On Wednesday, only four students showed up on time to class, which started at 9:30 a.m. To be fair, it rained all morning and cars packed the parking lots to capacity. I figured one or two decided to drop the course but when one of the outspoken students from the first group did not show up, a pang of insecurities flooded my conscience: Would I be respected as a journalism professor? Was I good enough to teach? After about an hour, the outspoken one showed up, claiming he stayed up too late and overslept, and I felt a little better before telling the class, “You all should consider this class your job and, just like in the real world, you get to be late once.”

That’s one of the requirements for my class, apart from purchasing the AP Stylebook - AKA The Journalist’s “Bible”. “You have got to be on time,” I told the class. “When you’re late, you disrupt my class and that doesn’t make me happy.”

Hopefully, next week, I’ll still have some students. The only question is what and how to teach it?

“The fact is, I wasn’t born a journalist. It took me years to learn to write the kind of story my students need to be able do on their first day on the job. Just like it’s taking me time to learn how to teach the reporting skills I worked so hard to master. I hope I finally get it right before I run out of teeth.” Joe Coleman

“You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment. Fools stand on their island opportunities and look toward another land. There is no other land, there is no other life but this” – Henry David Thoreau

Teaching, for me, will not only be about helping my students, who are freshman and sophomores, nurture their passion for journalism but it will also be about me getting more from my life. I’ve always wanted to teach, ever since I gave a lecture at the University of South Florida in front of my former undergraduate journalism class about the importance of following your passion, and my professor told me I was “a natural in front of the students.” That’s one of the reasons why I pursued a master’s degree, so I could go into teaching.

Lately, I’ve realized that it’s not only about teaching journalism to others; it’s also about teaching myself more than I already know. I’m hoping, too, and I will revisit this topic tomorrow after my first day standing in front of the students, that I will become fulfilled as a journalism teacher.

“You teach best what you most need to learn.” — Richard David Bach

For 2012, I’ve decided to do something I’ve never done: eat like a caveman. So, starting tomorrow – I already killed it today putting creamer/sugar in my coffee – I’m going to eat nothing but whole foods for 30 days, just to see how my body reacts. In the past, by cutting out bread and potatoes, I’ve noticed a significant difference in my attitude and appearance, and this Paleo diet, short for the Paleolithic diet, follows the way our ancestors used to eat and is “Centered on commonly available modern foods… mainly of fish, grass-fed pasture raised meats, vegetables, fruit, roots, and nuts, and excludes grains, legumes, dairy products, salt, refined sugar, and processed oils.”

So…here’s to nutritional offroading! Last night, I had my “last supper,” – a celebratory dinner consisting of orange (fried) chicken, rice and broccoli from Applebee’s. Sometimes, I just have to start this way!

I’m excited to go off sugar and flour because I believe it’s hard for the body to process, but I’m also looking forward to the self discovery that changing my eating habits will bring!

I will post before and after pictures, AFTER!

My 2011 Annual Report:

A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 5,300 times in 2011. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 4 trips to carry that many people.

In 2011, there were 101 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 392 posts. There were 164 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 211mb. That’s about 3 pictures per week.

• The busiest day of the year was May 31st with 69 views. The most popular post that day was Bio.

• Some visitors came searching, mostly for garrett edmisten, so others may live, that others may live, wes kain mafia, and quad.

• Your most commented on post in 2011 was Weekly Photo Challenge: Opportunity

…In the passenger’s seat on the way home from riding at Snowhill, typing away on my Android…

I took my boyfriend out to one of my most favorite mountain bike spots in Orlando, a trailhead off Snowhill Road in Chuluota. I started going there in the late ’90s when I was just beginning to ride with clipless pedals. I remember how hard it was learning how to clip out and, truth is, it hasn’t gotten any easier.
We took the VIP trail out of the parking lot – the one no one knows about that actually starts outside of the park – and snaked down the edge of the Econ. River. I was in the lead, standing up to balance while waiting for my boyfriend who, although he’s used to riding BMX bikes, was still getting used to the mountain bike terrain. We putzed around for a mile or two, appreciating the quiet stillness of the woods. At one point, he took the lead and as he was approaching an uphill, he parked it at the top, which caused me to run into him and, since I couldn’t get clipped out in time, I toppled over backward and flipped over into a tree. Thankfully, I had my Camelback on, which guarded my fall, but it was funny trying to explain why I didn’t “do anything” to stop myself. “Because I couldn’t get clipped out!” I protested, laughing through the pain that was shooting to my knee.
We took it easy the rest of the way – he actually asked me if I wanted to turn around and head back (“Are you kidding? Let’s ride!”) – and rode mostly in silence. 
Less than half a mile from the finish, with my boyfriend in the lead, he hit a patch of sugarsand and the next thing I know, he’s on the ground, laughing because he knows I have the GoPro recording.

To be continued…

“The slower you’re going, the more you can enjoy it,” he said.
“When you’re lookimg down at the trail you can’t really look around you and see where you’re at.”

More often than not, I find myself behind the camera but over the years, I have managed to make my way into a few shots, usually when I’m in my dirt bike gear at a race.

After a Hare Scrambles offroad race - 2009

At the KTM ATV Press Launch in Rhode Island with factory KTM - 2007

Racing in Yadkinville, N.C. - 2007

Photographing in Yadkinville, N.C. at the Grand National Cross Country offroad race- 2007

In the pits at the Yadkinville N.C. GNCC race - 2007 Photo by @jahoop

Sanibel Island Lighthouse - 2006