The CP...and other things I learned about journalism yesterday.

So before I go into great detail about my journalistic exploits, I wanted to explain a few things about my blog that people have asked me (not via comments, as no one has commented which is sad...)

1. What does the name of your blog mean?

Just Like A Woman is my favorite song by the almighty Bob Dylan. I think it's a relevant title because not only am I just like a woman (okay, I am definitely a woman) but the song is about being like a woman in a lot of ways, but still being naïve and vulnerable sometimes. And also my good friend Bob went to the U of M.

2. Did you take that photo?

No, I stole it from Createblog.com's stock photos. I will eventually change it to a photograph of my own.

3. Who is this fabulous roommate you keep talking about?

My roommate, Janelle, is fabulous. We met at the beginning of last semester through mutual friends and started attending lots of Gophers After Dark events together to craft. Janelle had lots of problems with her roommate last semester so when mine moved out, I invited Janelle to our floor. And that's that.

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So, now for more important things: my journalism career.

Yesterday, I worked on a story (despite the frigid cold and the fact that I was wearing tights and fell on the ice and scraped my knee) but my hard day's work paid off because I got CP, or as what we like to call it at the Daily... the center piece!
That means: Front page with a huge photo!

I felt extremely proud and excited and so privileged to be working for the Minnesota Daily. I feel as though I'm a real (student) reporter and I'm doing real work instead of wasting my time just making money.

I learned yesterday that stories take a lot of patience and dedication. I started working on it Thursday, but somehow it all came together with interviews and writing and edits on Monday night.

I learned that the editing process isn't as cruel as I thought it would be. It's all meant to clarify and ultimately, make the story better. I felt it was very constructive and helpful.

I learned (once again) that I have a lot to learn and I can't wait to figure it all out.

So...that's all mushy...sorry...I just feel really good.

The First Weekend

My first week is finally over. I was very excited to check out all my new classes and start the internship but I was really busy. Next week will probably be even busier because I start my tutoring shifts and Gamma Phi activities next week. But I'm sure I can handle it all, especially if I get a head start on some applications this weekend and finish my homework.

So quite obviously the most important thing is, my story is finished! It ran yesterday in a small, Friday issue (The Minnesota Daily is usually online on Fridays) so I got to cut a little clip of my story and put it on the Wall of Fame which I am sure is soon to be filled with all of my work. :) So if you'd like the story, here it is: my story!

There's an error on the website, they forgot to put Taryn's name on the story. We actually wrote it together and she was a huge help and didn't make fun of me because I was nervous about calling the Hennepin County Commissioner. So, I'm not trying to take all of the credit.

So yesterday after class my roommate and I went over to Rosedale Mall because I needed a new pair of jeans. Every pair I own right now has holes bigger than golf balls on the inner thighs and my mom found this unacceptable and gave me some money for new jeans. We also ran by Target so I could find some hair dye. I meant to go back to my natural dark, dark blonde hair color but the color turned out more gold-strawberry blonde. It looks more natural than before so I'm quite pleased...


And last but certainly not least...our loft has finally arrived so we could put our room together just the way we like it!



The view from the door



Our wall of posters, my desk, the sofa



We're big fans of PDL--Public Displays of Literacy



Better view of the sofa and coffee-table-basket



Janelle's little cave



My new bed



Food central plus Janelle's Ferret shrine.

So finally, my dorm room looks a little more comfortable and we have space for guests. Hopefully, people will start hanging out in our room more instead of 3E.

First Day of Classes

This morning I reluctantly, albeit excitedly woke up at 6 a.m. for my first day of the semester (and my first of many 8 a.m. Spanish classes). I was actually very excited for school to start. My schedule for this semester is really great, I'm done every day at 11, with a creative writing lecture on Wednesday and a lab Thursday evening so I have a lot of spare time during the afternoon.

Unfortunately, this morning I realized that speaking Spanish at 8 a.m. is not one of my strong suits. I haven't been practicing my Spanish since Barcelona (and they were speaking Catalan anyway) so it was rather rough as I couldn't remember the preterite tense to tell my professor what I did over break and even forgot where I live... I meant to say, "Between Madison and Milwaukee" but I gave up on finding the words and just said, "Milwaukee." So not only am I unable to speak Spanish, but I'm also a liar.

After Spanish, I had an hour break so I read the Daily and asked Onestop for more money, they declined. Then I went to my first Gender/Feminism studies class: Women Write The World. It's a class for basically analyzing feminist literature: short stories, plays, poems etc. I think it's going to be awesome but once again I managed to sound like an idiot...

The professor asked us "Why write? Why do you read? What do you read? Where do you read?"

I raised my hand for all the questions, but she called on me for "What do you read?" Someone had already said magazines, newspapers, memoir so I said, "I have a really hard time reading fiction."

She told me that I should learn to deal with that because we would be reading novels and short stories in class. I had to explain myself. I didn't actually mean fiction. I like fiction, most of my favorite novels are fiction. I meant that I have a problem with science fiction, fantasy, with things that aren't real. I can't read something unless it's rooted in real life, a real time or place.
And I can't read fiction that's just too fictional, like I know it would never happen in real life that way....and this is why I can't fathom why people enjoy Nicholas Sparks.

My professor also asked if any of us were "writers." A tremendous amount of hand-raising and self-promoting ensued. Technically, I am a writer. I wrote a Christmas story that got published in 6th grade. I wish I would have been able to raise my hand and say, "I write for the Minnesota Daily," but as of yet, I am unpublished so that would have been unnecessary bragging.

So on the Daily front, I was supposed to bring story ideas to work on Saturday, work on my story this week, then get it published on Thursday but since I am void of all good story ideas, I'm day-desking on Thursday.

From what I understand, I go to the office...wait for breaking news to happen then report on it. So if any breaking news happens on Thursday, I might be a real reporter by Monday.
In any case, expect a fairly excited blog-post and link as soon as I get my first story finished.

The rest of the week is promising. Tomorrow I have my first journalism class and creative writing and I'm looking forward to a haircut (if I don't spend all of my $11 dollars on bus fare before the weekend).


And at the risk of this post running far too long to keep anyone interested, I just have to talk about my TV shows. My roommate and I started watching Dexter and I think I'm just as in love with Michael C. Hall as I am with Jon Hamm from Mad Men. If you didn't catch the Globes on Sunday, Hall beat out Hamm for Best Actor in a Drama Series but Mad Men took the Best Drama Series category. So I do have good taste in television, though last night I did watch the Bachelor shamelessly. I can't help it! Everything he says is scripted to make women like me swoon, and I do.



So expect an update from me shortly about the reporting or weekend fun or cute new hair.

I am young woman from Wisconsin and a first-year student at the University of Minnesota. I have decided to write a blog to document my life in the Twin Cities for my family and friends Elsewhere (oh, and for high school acquaintances to read with jealousy, of course) and also to entertain the Blogosphere with my wit. A great idea, of course, but there are two problems:
1. I have decided to write this after I have already completed one semester of college. I really should have got on the blog train in September.
2. As I sit here typing my first blog entry, I am not actually in the cities because starting a blog was one of the goals for Winter Break that I have saved for my last week at home.

Here you can learn all about me and my…
Academic, extra-curricular and social life
Relations with my new roommate
Attempts at entertaining
Crafts
Adventures in the kitchen
Endeavors as a Reporter Intern for the Minnesota Daily
TV binges

So, commence Cali’s attempt at a popular blog.