My hair is drying as I write this.
Two days ago I let my hair dry under the sun of South America.
I miss Ecuador. I miss the friends I made there. I had an amazing time being there, and it ended too quickly. In a few hours, I'll get on a plane and leave again.
America, you have nice water. I'll miss that, but see you later.
-Kelly L.
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Monday, July 15, 2013
1000 pageviews!
After I had been blogging here for a little while, I set a goal for myself to reach 1,000 pageviews.
Yesterday I reached that goal, 36 posts later. **does some vague mathematics... who needs accuracy??-- it's summer** That's kind of close to 30 views on everything I write. If I subtract the views from my parents, that's probably more like 3 views on everything.
So, dear 3 readers, thank you.
I hope you want to keep reading and see more of my future adventures?
Unless things go drastically wrong, I should be going to Ecuador tomorrow. The plan is that I'll get back in two weeks, and then leave the next day for some more places.
Whenever I get back to the land of daily internet usage and computer screens and being inside more than is probably healthy for me, I will share stories with you.
Have a great time without me, internet!
-Kelly L.
Yesterday I reached that goal, 36 posts later. **does some vague mathematics... who needs accuracy??-- it's summer** That's kind of close to 30 views on everything I write. If I subtract the views from my parents, that's probably more like 3 views on everything.
So, dear 3 readers, thank you.
I hope you want to keep reading and see more of my future adventures?
Unless things go drastically wrong, I should be going to Ecuador tomorrow. The plan is that I'll get back in two weeks, and then leave the next day for some more places.
Whenever I get back to the land of daily internet usage and computer screens and being inside more than is probably healthy for me, I will share stories with you.
Have a great time without me, internet!
-Kelly L.
Sunday, July 14, 2013
"Can I touch your hair?"
I hear that question a lot.
It's not completely normal, but I'm used to it. Or what I mean to say is, I'm used to friends and new acquaintances asking me if they can touch my hair. I may just have weird friends, but then they do too, because they have me.
Since my friends are so...quirky... I'm reasonably accustomed to people asking me such questions about my hair. However, I don't really like when people go ahead and touch my hair without asking. It may just be vanity, but I'm still not a fan of uncalled-for hair-touching.
On my way to Washington, D. C. last week, I had to walk through one of those security body scanners which make you feel all kinds of violated. After that, I was gonna keep walking and get my shoes and backpack. I was feeling awkward after the scan dealio and just wanted to keep going right away---no such luck. The TSA agent has me stop so she can wait for the scan image to load---I can deal with that. Then she walks up to me and says she has to touch my hair. She proceeds to pat down my hair before letting me leave.
Well, that happened. As I collected my shoes and repacked my flight-friendly 3oz bottles of everything into my carry-on bag, I was thinking about the rules and regulations of airports. Sure, I'm happy to have my hair searched if it keeps people safe. But I just don't understand what about that keratinous rat's nest couldn't be seen by their scanner. I have super-hair.
That is all.
-Kelly L.
It's not completely normal, but I'm used to it. Or what I mean to say is, I'm used to friends and new acquaintances asking me if they can touch my hair. I may just have weird friends, but then they do too, because they have me.
Since my friends are so...quirky... I'm reasonably accustomed to people asking me such questions about my hair. However, I don't really like when people go ahead and touch my hair without asking. It may just be vanity, but I'm still not a fan of uncalled-for hair-touching.
On my way to Washington, D. C. last week, I had to walk through one of those security body scanners which make you feel all kinds of violated. After that, I was gonna keep walking and get my shoes and backpack. I was feeling awkward after the scan dealio and just wanted to keep going right away---no such luck. The TSA agent has me stop so she can wait for the scan image to load---I can deal with that. Then she walks up to me and says she has to touch my hair. She proceeds to pat down my hair before letting me leave.
Well, that happened. As I collected my shoes and repacked my flight-friendly 3oz bottles of everything into my carry-on bag, I was thinking about the rules and regulations of airports. Sure, I'm happy to have my hair searched if it keeps people safe. But I just don't understand what about that keratinous rat's nest couldn't be seen by their scanner. I have super-hair.
That is all.
-Kelly L.
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
fangirling happens
If you know me pretty well, you'd know that I'm a bit of a nat-geo magazine nerd. You know, one of those crazy people who carefully opens the plastic packaging and flips over the magazine to see the cover without any glare and distortion from the package. Then I read the geography quiz questions on the insert before I turn the first page. If someone else in my family starts reading the magazine before I do and opens it differently, it feels like a sacrilege.
For a while, I really wanted to be a photographer for Nat Geo "when I grew up." A few years ago, the question of what I want to be when I grow up changed to what I wanted to major in, etc. It got a lot more real-life at that point. I know that you have to be amazing to actually be a photographer for Nat Geo, and I understand that it's basically an unrealistic goal. Still, little-kid me still says that's what she wants to do. So for me it's just, "I wish..."
Even though I probably won't ever work for Nat Geo, I still envy people who do. Today I had the opportunity to listen to Meghan Reese, a producer who has worked on TV shows for Nat Geo (and other companies). Since I don't have TV at my house, I'm not really that into National Geographic's TV programming, due to not really having much exposure to it. But still, hearing her talk about what she does was incredible.
From her presentation and Q&A, she shared what she does as a producer and how she has gotten to where she is in the industry. She lives the life of a creative, working almost nonstop for months or years at a time, then being off for a few months in between job opportunities. I really enjoyed hearing her talk and answer all of our questions. So jealous of her for working for Nat Geo...so jealous.
-Kelly L.
For a while, I really wanted to be a photographer for Nat Geo "when I grew up." A few years ago, the question of what I want to be when I grow up changed to what I wanted to major in, etc. It got a lot more real-life at that point. I know that you have to be amazing to actually be a photographer for Nat Geo, and I understand that it's basically an unrealistic goal. Still, little-kid me still says that's what she wants to do. So for me it's just, "I wish..."
Even though I probably won't ever work for Nat Geo, I still envy people who do. Today I had the opportunity to listen to Meghan Reese, a producer who has worked on TV shows for Nat Geo (and other companies). Since I don't have TV at my house, I'm not really that into National Geographic's TV programming, due to not really having much exposure to it. But still, hearing her talk about what she does was incredible.
From her presentation and Q&A, she shared what she does as a producer and how she has gotten to where she is in the industry. She lives the life of a creative, working almost nonstop for months or years at a time, then being off for a few months in between job opportunities. I really enjoyed hearing her talk and answer all of our questions. So jealous of her for working for Nat Geo...so jealous.
-Kelly L.
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Newseum
Yesterday, I had the opportunity to visit the Newseum in Washington, D.C. It is a museum that displays the history and evolution of journalism and news media from the books of news in the 1560s to the instantaneous news medias of today. They had artifacts from important events, and original copies of newspapers and magazines from every time period since the dawn of print news.
An exhibit that impacted me personally was the room full of Pulitzer Prize-winning photographs. Each of the photos there was an iconic photo from its year, and they were full of so much emotion. Many of the photographs documented social injustices and awful occurrences that the world needed to know about. If each of these photographs had been chosen for symbolizing so much, imagine a room full of them. Everyone in the room was very sobered by what they saw, and many were crying. It was a real eye-opener for me to see so much of history all at once, in gruesome, unforgiving detail.
The Newseum also had an exhibit on the Berlin Wall. Videos about it were playing on the walls, people were scurrying around, the room was full of motion, but one thing was static. Four tall, graffitied, concrete segments of the wall stood lined up on one side of the room. They helped give an idea of what it would be like to be separated by the wall. You couldn't see over it, there was only an expanse of wall that was almost impossible to breach. This segment was from the free side, so that is why they were able to graffiti it.
The Newseum had many other exhibits showing important events in news and the spread of ideas and information. I am really glad I got to go there.
-Kelly L.
An exhibit that impacted me personally was the room full of Pulitzer Prize-winning photographs. Each of the photos there was an iconic photo from its year, and they were full of so much emotion. Many of the photographs documented social injustices and awful occurrences that the world needed to know about. If each of these photographs had been chosen for symbolizing so much, imagine a room full of them. Everyone in the room was very sobered by what they saw, and many were crying. It was a real eye-opener for me to see so much of history all at once, in gruesome, unforgiving detail.
The Newseum also had an exhibit on the Berlin Wall. Videos about it were playing on the walls, people were scurrying around, the room was full of motion, but one thing was static. Four tall, graffitied, concrete segments of the wall stood lined up on one side of the room. They helped give an idea of what it would be like to be separated by the wall. You couldn't see over it, there was only an expanse of wall that was almost impossible to breach. This segment was from the free side, so that is why they were able to graffiti it.
-Kelly L.
Monday, July 8, 2013
Thoughts En Route
It's kinda rough flying early in the morning. You never know how to act.
Some people are incredibly energetic, some people don't want to be talked to, and I don't care too much either way.
But if you're going to ask me how I'm doing, you are probably thinking that I will ask you the same question. I don't generally appreciate people spreading around their bad days (being sad is totally different, don't get me wrong), unless they can be funny about it, of course.
So when the shuttle driver asked me, "How are you?" of course I said the same back.
He responded with the brilliant answer, "I'm boring." No smile, just boring.
That really put a damper on the mood, since he gave a variation of that answer to everyone else, poisoning his shuttle-environment that he would have to be in all day with his own bad attitude.
I think that the other people who got on the bus after me felt a bit put off by what he said, too, and there was no friendly conversation on the ride. Everyone looking down at their hands, thinking about the boring life of the bus-driver. Maybe that's what he wanted; someone to think about him as who he was and not just where he could take them. Maybe he just really thought he was boring. Maybe he was having a rough day, I don't know.
As boring as he said he was, I still remember him. In that situation, being "boring" was being unique, in that he didn't use everyone else's canned response of, "I'm fine." His answer was typical for him, but not the rest of the people there. In a world where we see so many different people, it's easy to lose track and give less attention to people we deem "boring." How many "boring people" do I forget about every day?
-Kelly L.
Some people are incredibly energetic, some people don't want to be talked to, and I don't care too much either way.
But if you're going to ask me how I'm doing, you are probably thinking that I will ask you the same question. I don't generally appreciate people spreading around their bad days (being sad is totally different, don't get me wrong), unless they can be funny about it, of course.
So when the shuttle driver asked me, "How are you?" of course I said the same back.
He responded with the brilliant answer, "I'm boring." No smile, just boring.
That really put a damper on the mood, since he gave a variation of that answer to everyone else, poisoning his shuttle-environment that he would have to be in all day with his own bad attitude.
I think that the other people who got on the bus after me felt a bit put off by what he said, too, and there was no friendly conversation on the ride. Everyone looking down at their hands, thinking about the boring life of the bus-driver. Maybe that's what he wanted; someone to think about him as who he was and not just where he could take them. Maybe he just really thought he was boring. Maybe he was having a rough day, I don't know.
As boring as he said he was, I still remember him. In that situation, being "boring" was being unique, in that he didn't use everyone else's canned response of, "I'm fine." His answer was typical for him, but not the rest of the people there. In a world where we see so many different people, it's easy to lose track and give less attention to people we deem "boring." How many "boring people" do I forget about every day?
-Kelly L.
Sunday, July 7, 2013
The Week Ahead
#WJMC2013
Yes, I know that serves no purpose but to be obnoxious when used on my blog.
But it is the twitter hashtag for the Washington Journalism and Media Conference at George Mason University, which would be completely arbitrary information if I was not there. I may or may not (which means I will definitely) be blogging about that this week. So be prepared for a week of me writing about or using styles that are not necessarily typical for this humble blog of mine.
I have had 5 hours of sleep, been awake since 4:30 a.m. and it's about 11:30 p.m. ... so my mind is shutting down.
Hope you don't mind sharing my adventures!
-Kelly L.
Yes, I know that serves no purpose but to be obnoxious when used on my blog.
But it is the twitter hashtag for the Washington Journalism and Media Conference at George Mason University, which would be completely arbitrary information if I was not there. I may or may not (which means I will definitely) be blogging about that this week. So be prepared for a week of me writing about or using styles that are not necessarily typical for this humble blog of mine.
I have had 5 hours of sleep, been awake since 4:30 a.m. and it's about 11:30 p.m. ... so my mind is shutting down.
Hope you don't mind sharing my adventures!
-Kelly L.
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