Catch-up March 29, 2006
Posted by irishmadness in Arts and Crafts, Basketblogging, Social Life, Work madness, Writing.4 comments
Sorry I’ve been rather silent lately – life’s been crazy. Since CE’s on vacation until April 5, it still is, actually. So this is kind of a news and notes-type post.
* WG’s still contemplating, so little is new there. *RME*
* Some of the training stuff I’m trying to get done at work is actually bearing fruit, which is encouraging.
* The crud that SE had last month is still running around the newsroom. The biggest issue is a fever that lasts four or five days, which has knocked out about a third of the staff at some point during the last six weeks. So far, I’ve avoided the illness, though not the side-effects on workload from people being sick.
* I wanted to try knitting with cotton yarn, so I’m making washcloths to coordinate with my bathroom. It’s different than acrylic and wool, that’s for sure, but I’m enjoying it.
* Writing for fun has been put on the backburner lately. I really need to at least spend 10-15 minutes free writing each day to get back in the habit, but with everything else that’s going on, I haven’t.
* Editing and revising my NaNo stories also is on my to-do list, but hasn’t gotten done. I think I need to start making an actual daily list like I do for work. It’s definitely helping there.
* There’s a new knitting club at the city library every other Saturday, but I have yet to make it. *sigh* This weekend it was because I needed to get my hair cut before the awards banquet, and the place I go has limited hours because it’s run by the local cosmetology school.
* Oh, and I’m in the doghouse with CE, so my task for the next few weeks is to get back in her good graces ASAP, then make sure I stay there so the item that ticked her off doesn’t take on undue importance in my annual review in late May. *sigh* (It happened last year, which is why I’m wary. I need to start ticking her off in the fall instead of the spring.)
* We had a church mission the last few nights, which was pretty cool. The speaker/liturgical composer – Grayson Warren Brown – had CDs, books and songbooks available, so I picked up two CDs and the accompanying songbooks. My liturgical collection in my iTunes is getting larger. 
* As usual, I got skunked in SE’s March Madness pool. On the plus side, I was still in the running after the first weekend, which is unusual.
We rock! March 26, 2006
Posted by irishmadness in Work madness.5 comments
Last night was the state press association awards dinner, and we walked away with 18 awards, six of them first place.
I was on teams that won five awards: first for spot news, second for special projects, second for investigative reporting and third for feature series and convergence (for the same project). One staff member who hasn’t won anything for three or four years was the top individual winner, with four awards. And one of our writers won for feature portfolio with the most wonderful judges’ comments.
There were some areas we would have liked to have done better in, but this was the most awards we’ve won in the time I’ve been with the paper. We also had several people winning awards for the first time, which was cool.
New story March 14, 2006
Posted by irishmadness in Fanfiction.add a comment
Today’s my turn to add to the Jix Six celebration. I posted a new Irish Eyes story called “Summer Nights and Autumn Afternoons,” and the link is at the Sun.
I’m such a geek March 11, 2006
Posted by irishmadness in Fun Times, Work madness.add a comment
With my conference almost over, I’m so wound up about what I can do when I get back and what the reporters who came with me can do. Yes, I’m a geek. (Just ask Mark and Angelique, who got to experience it first-hand last year.)
The trip’s been really fun outside the conference as well. We’re right near the Portugese/Brazilian/Spanish district, and there’s this amazing bakery we discovered Thursday morning that has wonderful pastries for unbelievably inexpensive prices. (The three of us had breakfast – five pastries total – plus espresso and two coffees for $8.10. Can’t beat that.)
It’s also been nice to just get away from the office and do some brainstorming and big picture thinking with the reporters without all the daily pressures.
Oh yes, and I stopped briefly in Easton, Pa., on the drive up and plan to stop for a longer visit on the way back. Why, you ask? Because it’s home to the Crayola Factory and they give tours. *BAG*
