Tagged With: Writing
Black tie and a fuckup
Last night I went to an anniversary event for a local charity. I get assigned a lot of these stories (profile pieces, human interest), so I mostly knew what to expect. Or so I thought. The event started at 7:00, so I showed up at 7:20, having learned from experience that if you get to … Continue reading
Fear and Joking in Dolores Park
I’m writing an article about the SFPD’s K-9 unit, which means Wednesday found me standing in Dolores Park taking pictures of a couple of cops and three dogs that are trained to kill me where I stand. I don’t know whether you’ve spent a lot of time around cops. I haven’t myself, and frankly they … Continue reading
My first recalcitrant source!
I called an unnamed large university today in search of a quote about a pending lawsuit against them. When the PR guy heard the subject of my call, he…hung up on me. He kind of snorted first. Now, I might have expected such scorn after he heard the name of the paper I work for, … Continue reading
Fuck with me and I will wallpaper your bathroom.
I’ve been applying for more gigs recently, seeking to fill those lonely hours that are currently filled with teaching Link how to fish in the Nintendo 64 Zelda. (That is the lamest puzzle, closely followed by the one where you have to capture all the escaped chickens in the village to get your lousy heart … Continue reading
Still smarting (off)
I went to a party for gay black people on Friday night. Everyone was so nice to me, but I still felt like a sore thumb. (Willow: But do they really? Stick out? I mean, have you ever seen a thumb and thought, “Whoa, that baby is sore”? Xander: You have too many thoughts.) Later … Continue reading
I don’t want to alarm you, but I’m pretty sure the Mayor is in love with me.
Yesterday I went to a press conference in Chinatown (forget it, Jake) where the Mayor was speaking. I sat up front, against the advice of my fourteen year old back-of-the-class brain, to try and let my tape recorder hear what was going on.* Anyway, I was basically face to face with him and I swear … Continue reading
Gli accenti
In Italian there is no silent e: all vowels are pronounced. Think about what kind of a culture produces such an upfront language, where no letter hides itself behind another. Then again, there are the accents. Sometimes an accent will indicate that a vowel is open or closed; sometimes there is no accent, and then … Continue reading
I win
From The Art and Craft of Feature Writing: My own selective list of what readers like, in descending order of preference: 1. Dogs Score!
Exposing journalism’s seedy underbelly
I had my first press conference today. (“Why are you holding a press conference?” a confused friend asked, but no. Attended my first press conference.) Here are some of the things I learned: Your word is good enough for us. All I had to do to score a press kit was to walk up and … Continue reading
I don’t have time to fool around with you circus animals
I’ve got my first assignment for the new paper. (Which will not replace the old paper, never fear. Dogz 4 Lyfe!) I’ll need to do three interviews for this article, which of course scares the hell out of me. All interviews scare the hell out of me. Seriously, journalism is maybe the worst idea you … Continue reading