Harder Than You Think.

Drink up

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 15:15:05 -0500

Drink up

"An internship is an opportunity to learn something significant about an industry, not an unlimited..."

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 13:06:35 -0500

“An internship is an opportunity to learn something significant about an industry, not an unlimited and free source of work to do all the things you don’t want to pay someone to do. This is ethically indefensible, and to top it off is ruining the industry. By ensuring that the only people who can build up experience are those who can afford to pay for it, you’re essentially closing the door to anyone who can’t afford to pay for it. So the only people who can become photographers/artists/creative types of any stripe are those whose parents can set them up with a budget to live off of while they work their way through an expensive college and then unpaid position after unpaid position.”

- Working For Free | 12th Press via Ian Aleksander Adams (via lapuravidagallery) (via curdiogenes)

How I feel about my future.

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 13:02:13 -0500

How I feel about my future.

In 2010 I'd like to be...

Thu, 31 Dec 2009 19:28:01 -0500

Interning at IGN for spring semester Solidifying a job at ULM for design Applying for 4-year 2011 Smoke-free Working out 5 days a week.

These are goals that will be obtained.

Why I am tired of waiting

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 04:46:49 -0500

So, unfortuantley my tumblr has turned into a place to dump my random thoughts. I suppose this is what a blog is essentially used for, but I apologize if a majority of these blogs come off whiny (that is a word)

Today was relatively good. My internship at University Link is coming around nicely, with some odd changes taking place that have me both excited and nervous. The lack of a steady income (other than my writing income, which frankly is less than I am used to making) has taken quite a toll on my psyche. I imagine many other people in these times are facing this, and I sympathize and hope they make it through it all as well.

My career path is fruitful, though the fruits yielded are typically lemons. While I understand that dreams are not fulfilled instantly, I still feel disinfranchised due to the amount of work I put in and the rewards I recieve. On one hand I am gaining tons of valuable experience, but on the other I am performing work for little to no pay. This is something that has weighed heavy throughout the months and has seriously whittled at my self confidence and happiness.

Money means everything and nothing. It’s a odd paradox, which leaves me still trying to learn the lesson I imagine it is trying to teach me. Without money I feel unaccomplished and worthless, as if my talents mean little to nothing in the “real world.”

I do admit that I have put-off finding “normal work” because of my hope that my experience can point me otherwise. I have applied to a few places now, only to suddenly have other offers thrown to me that are, of course, non-paid. An example of this is an interest by an editor at IGN.com.

The day that I apply for a retail job, my internship inquiry at IGN comics is possibly anwsered. The problem is that it demands two to five days of my time during the spring semester. I am BOOKED during spring semester, with classes running monday through thursday and ending at 3 p.m.

The internship—if I was to take it—would take up two of those days, leaving the rest of the weekdays to working at another job. That other job might hopefully include a permenant position at the current publication I intern at, which would demand ALOT of my time throughout the week. So I am left with a impasse.

Do I take the IGN internship (a publication that I dream to work for) and try to work a steady job at a real publication. OR do I drop the publication I intern at now, take the IGN offer (if it comes to that), and then work a normal job on the weekends.

The way current events are unfolding, something tells me that something out there is hoping that I stick to my dreams, regardless if they pay. I just wish that “something” would speak a bit more clearly.

An early new year

Sat, 12 Dec 2009 04:02:01 -0500

It’s odd how a year ago I felt somewhat secure. My financials were relativley in order, I had a job that I held for four years, and I was going to school and achieving a stable 3.0 GPA.

Another lesson learned as I systematically dismantled that formula with a well practiced form of self-destruction. I quit my job out of frustration, without obtaining another job in advance. Then—not content with that—I dropped all of my fall semester classes as I struggled under the stress of NOT having a job and dealing with a wealth of other things.

There is no control now, and most—if not all—of it is a product of my doing. The result of this tumultuous three months has left me afloat, in a sort of purgatory as I try my best to find a way out of it.

Thankfully, there is a lesson learned in everything that we do.

I have learned to pick my battles.
I have learned to take responsibility for my actions, instead of running from them and blaming problems on outside forces that have nothing to do with it.
I have also learned that thinking you can do something is a lot different than actually doing it.
Most importantly: I have learned that in order to achieve what you want, you have to work hard for it. (you think I would have gotten that earlier in life)
And no matter how hard you try, you must accept that some dreams will not be reached.

There are good days, horrible days, and medicore days. But I look forward to my final year before transffering out, and look forward to working on my weakness while improving my strengths.

Charles Bukowski, How To Be A Great Writer

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:43:14 -0500

curdiogenes:

lapuravidagallery:

youmightfindyourself:

ha-nuh: thebarstoolromantic:

you’ve got to fuck a great many women
beautiful women
and write a few decent love poems.

and don’t worry about age
and/or freshly-arrived talents.

just drink more beer
more and more beer

and attend the racetrack at least once a

week

and win
if possible

learning to win is hard -
any slob can be a good loser.

and don’t forget your Brahms
and your Bach and your
beer.

don’t overexercise.

sleep until moon.

avoid paying credit cards
or paying for anything on
time.

remember that there isn’t a piece of ass
in this world over $50
(in 1977).

and if you have the ability to love
love yourself first
but always be aware of the possibility of
total defeat
whether the reason for that defeat
seems right or wrong -

an early taste of death is not necessarily
a bad thing.

stay out of churches and bars and museums,
and like the spider be
patient -
time is everybody’s cross,
plus
exile
defeat
treachery

all that dross.

stay with the beer.

beer is continuous blood.

a continuous lover.

get a large typewriter
and as the footsteps go up and down
outside your window

hit that thing
hit it hard

make it a heavyweight fight

make it the bull when he first charges in

and remember the old dogs
who fought so well:
Hemingway, Celine, Dostoevsky, Hamsun.

If you think they didn’t go crazy
in tiny rooms
just like you’re doing now

without women
without food
without hope

then you’re not ready.

drink more beer.
there’s time.
and if there’s not
that’s all right
too.

Went to Disneyland. Awesome day.

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:15:21 -0500

Went to Disneyland. Awesome day.

"City Editor: “I’m a journalist. It’s my job to stalk people on the internet."

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 01:33:17 -0500

“City Editor: “I’m a journalist. It’s my job to stalk people on the internet.””

- Overheard in the Newsroom

Ironic.

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 01:26:23 -0500

Ironic.

"Photographers should not use words"

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:18:06 -0500

“Photographers should not use words”

- Sports Editor after viewing captions

A first.

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 23:00:32 -0500

So I have offically entered the realm of paid writing, which is pretty damn exciting. I freelance for University Link Magazine, a publication geared towards college students. The Novemember issue just went out (no the one above isn’t the November issue) with Olivia Munn on the cover.

Technically I am their resident video game correspondent, which again is pretty sweet. I reviewed “G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra” (yes, it is an old game and yes it is horrible) and wrote an op-ed piece on the crowded realm of motion controllers.

As for the December issue, I have written a total of 10 pieces for that and I just recieved my assignments for January.

What am I most excited for? My review copy of “DJ Hero” to arrive, so I can get started on the comparision piece for Jan.

Keep an eye out, I’ll be excerpts of my articles on tumblr for some shameless plugging.

After a long day of making news

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:50:17 -0500

After a long day of making news

This is for anyone who thinks videogames do not inspire...

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:20:13 -0500

This is for anyone who thinks videogames do not inspire creativity.

Hopefully the game “DJ Hero” is just as fun as the real thing.

When zombies invade the newsroom, part 1.

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:55:48 -0500

When zombies invade the newsroom, part 1.

This is what we do on production day at a newspaper. We move...

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:08:11 -0500

This is what we do on production day at a newspaper. We move desks….”Roundup” moving service.

[FILM RANT] I’ll admit it. I’m not really a big fan...

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:30:00 -0500

[FILM RANT]

I’ll admit it. I’m not really a big fan of James Cameron. Yes, Alien and Terminator (please come back to the series James!) were phenomenal films, but it seems like Cameron likes to come out from hiding once in a blue moon.

So here I am again, slightly excited for Cameron’s next film Avatar. However, the previews have made me mildly cautious. This is due to the previews ability to pretty much reveal the whole plot; which is really not that original at all.

Humans invade a land that is not theirs, one human realizes it is wrong and then turns against his people to save the indigenous tribes. Sound familiar? Well, that’s because it is practically the film Fern Gully with assault weapons and special effects.

This is what disappoints me. Cameron’s films, while special effect heavy, where never marketed purely for their action sequences. Cameron’s films balance action and character development perfectly, creating a perfectly paced film.

Avatar does not look to capitalize on this talent. Instead, Cameron is giving me a re-telling of a story I’ve heard to many times. Don’t get me wrong, I will see the film just on the fact it is Cameron directing.

But I’ll be entering with far lower standards than I should.

[Freelance dread] Working 250 words

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 22:04:15 -0400

So I’m working on a 250 word piece on top five places to party New Years Eve 2010.

Hardest 250 I’ve ever typed. Is it bad that I want to put “My apatment” on the list?

"I like that boom boom pow, them chickens jackin’ my AP style, they try to copy edit my swagger, I’m..."

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 21:52:38 -0400

““I like that boom boom pow, them chickens jackin’ my AP style, they try to copy edit my swagger, I’m on that new sh*t””

- Overheard in the Newsroom

OMG I'm on Tumblr?!

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 15:52:35 -0400

Yes, another social media platform I will soon be addicted to. Hooray…