By the way, my awesome friend Debra Michals will be on the Today Show on Monday morning. She is scheduled to be on between 8 and 9 a.m.
Here's the scoop, if you have not already read about it on Newburyport Biz:
Newburyport local Debra Michals, Ph.D., is heading for NYC to appear on the Today Show this Monday, April 12. A writer who teaches women's and gender studies at Merrimack College, Michals was invited to speak about her research for a book on female breadwinners -- a hot topic these days, especially given the economic recession. In fact, it's such a hot topic that Michals was quoted about it recently in The Boston Globe.
Showing posts with label freelance writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label freelance writing. Show all posts
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Steppin' out
OK, now I'm freaking out ...
I've been accepted as a North Boston Political Buzz "Examiner."
What the hell is that, you might ask?
Go to Examiner.com and find out!
I'm also the Boston editor for blognetnews.com; for the time being, at any rate.
Of course, neither of these positions involves any kind of guaranteed salary ... but thank you to Ari Herzog for putting me on to the blognetnews thing and to Shari Wilkinson of the Newburyport Farmers' Market (and the New Eden Collaborative garden) for doing the same for the Examiner gig.
The garden will soon have a blog up and running, and I'll be contributing to that, as a participant in the collaborative.
A blog, you say? I have my own blog?
Oh la, I'll think about that tomorrow.
I've been accepted as a North Boston Political Buzz "Examiner."
What the hell is that, you might ask?
Go to Examiner.com and find out!
I'm also the Boston editor for blognetnews.com; for the time being, at any rate.
Of course, neither of these positions involves any kind of guaranteed salary ... but thank you to Ari Herzog for putting me on to the blognetnews thing and to Shari Wilkinson of the Newburyport Farmers' Market (and the New Eden Collaborative garden) for doing the same for the Examiner gig.
The garden will soon have a blog up and running, and I'll be contributing to that, as a participant in the collaborative.
A blog, you say? I have my own blog?
Oh la, I'll think about that tomorrow.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Journalism in the crapper
Following up on comments made on my earlier post about journalists and cutthroats, here's an op-ed from Tuesday's Christian Science Monitor.
It is entitled "Why journalists deserve low pay." It was written by one Robert G. Picard, a professor of media economics in Sweden and a visiting fellow at Oxford.
I held back on posting it because ... well, because I didn't want to step on anyone's toes. But now the way is clear, I think, so here goes.
We can all see that for ourselves.
I look at old newspapers - ones from the early 20th century - and I see that the style back then was much more "homey" and included rich details and descriptive devices that are no longer in practice.
Perhaps because I did not go to journalism school, I am somewhat enriched in that it is a real struggle for me to strip down a news story to its bare bones.
For example, what are the implications of Mayor Moak seeking a job in another community? What effect would it have?
It's fine for a newspaper, or several newspapers, to quote someone saying the implications are far-reaching, but what are the implications?
How do people in Ward 3 feel about perhaps losing their ward councillor if all this goes down and City Council President James Shanley becomes mayor?
And why isn't this situation addressed in the city charter? The charter review people are short on signatures. Wow, this is one good case for charter review.
Perhaps the City Council should not elect Shanley but rather go for an At-Large person, like they did when Lisa Mead left.
Why is it up to us bloggers to try and analyze this?
But the fact is, we do. And therein lies the problem facing newspapers.
Get the news, report it in a timely fashion and most important, get it on line as quickly as possible. That's where people are looking for their news now.
That story, the one from the CSM? I got it off a Facebook status update. I don't have the time to surf the Net for relevant stories; I have to make money.
All that being said, I think Picard ignores one basic fact: you get what you pay for. Maybe journalists are tired of busting their hump for pennies.
It is entitled "Why journalists deserve low pay." It was written by one Robert G. Picard, a professor of media economics in Sweden and a visiting fellow at Oxford.
I held back on posting it because ... well, because I didn't want to step on anyone's toes. But now the way is clear, I think, so here goes.
Journalists like to think of their work in moral or even sacred terms. With each new layoff or paper closing, they tell themselves that no business model could adequately compensate the holy work of enriching democratic society, speaking truth to power, and comforting the afflicted.That's the beginning of the piece. This is the end:
Actually, journalists deserve low pay.
Wages are compensation for value creation. And journalists simply aren't creating much value these days.
Until they come to grips with that issue, no amount of blogging, twittering, or micropayments is going to solve their failing business models.
Finding the rights means to create and protect value will require collaboration throughout news enterprises. It is not something that journalists can leave to management. Journalists and managers alike will need to develop collaboration skills and create social relations that make it possible. Journalists will also need to acquire entrepreneurial and innovation skills that makes it possible for them to lead change rather than merely respond to it.Along the way, Picard says something I've been saying: people are tired of the same-old standardized style of reporting. Well, he doesn't say people are tired of it, he says it doesn't work anymore.
The demise of the news business can be halted, but only if journalists commit to creating value for consumers and become more involved in setting the course of their companies.
We can all see that for ourselves.
I look at old newspapers - ones from the early 20th century - and I see that the style back then was much more "homey" and included rich details and descriptive devices that are no longer in practice.
Perhaps because I did not go to journalism school, I am somewhat enriched in that it is a real struggle for me to strip down a news story to its bare bones.
For example, what are the implications of Mayor Moak seeking a job in another community? What effect would it have?
It's fine for a newspaper, or several newspapers, to quote someone saying the implications are far-reaching, but what are the implications?
How do people in Ward 3 feel about perhaps losing their ward councillor if all this goes down and City Council President James Shanley becomes mayor?
And why isn't this situation addressed in the city charter? The charter review people are short on signatures. Wow, this is one good case for charter review.
Perhaps the City Council should not elect Shanley but rather go for an At-Large person, like they did when Lisa Mead left.
Why is it up to us bloggers to try and analyze this?
But the fact is, we do. And therein lies the problem facing newspapers.
Get the news, report it in a timely fashion and most important, get it on line as quickly as possible. That's where people are looking for their news now.
That story, the one from the CSM? I got it off a Facebook status update. I don't have the time to surf the Net for relevant stories; I have to make money.
All that being said, I think Picard ignores one basic fact: you get what you pay for. Maybe journalists are tired of busting their hump for pennies.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Writers and debt
A reader (my faithful reader) sent me a link to this post on The Atlantic's website. I copied the salient points here.
Right now I can't imagine either of those trips happening again, ever.
I have been back and forth for a week with one of the "clients" for which I write over invoices submitted four weeks ago and which remain unpaid.
Anyway ... earlier I was talking to my friend Elizabeth, as we went to buy replacement lettuce plants for our garden plot, and we were wondering why writers are so undervalued.
So are teachers, but today we weren't talking about teachers.
There would be hardly a drop of knowledge about anything if not for writers. There wouldn't even be a Bible without some one or some people who wrote it all down.
So I just don't get it.
Debt: A Writer's LifeI don't think I lead the life of a profligate - I rarely drink alcohol, I don't take drugs - but I do shop at Tendercrop Farm! I used to go to England every year and Barbados every so often.
15 May 2009 11:04 am
This is the bravest thing I've read for a long, long time. For a reporter--an economic reporter--to admit that he's been in the hell of excess debt and unpaid bills that he reports on is a major statement in middle class America. There was a time when America tolerated a certain amount of this in its writers--one reads nearly approvingly of the repeated flirtations with bankruptcy undertaken by the likes of Dorothy Parker or F. Scott Fitzgerald. But these days, their profligacy, like their alcoholism, is no longer admired, or even tolerated, in the editorial world.
Yet writers are, as a class, extraordinarily at risk. They spend their twenties, and often their thirties, living paycheck to paycheck. They are extremely well educated, and all that education is not only expensive, but builds expensive habits. You end up with a lot of friends who make much more money than you--who don't even realize that a dinner with $10 entrees and a bottle of wine is an expensive treat, not a cheap outing to catch up on old times. Our business is in crisis, and we lose jobs often. When we do, it's catastrophic ...
And so the debts creep up, one happy hour or Colorado backpacking adventure at a time. They are confessed in moments of panic: the 420 credit score that requires a cosigner on a new lease, the $10,000 in credit card debt, the car loan that can't be paid off nor recouped in a sale of the sadly depreciated vehicle, the deliberately bounced checks and collection calls ...
Until we're comfortable with talking publicly about the fact that we don't make much money and likely never will, that our lives are risky, and that this has obvious impacts on our ability to consume on the level of our educational peers, writers will keep getting into trouble. Bravo to Andrews for leaning into the strike zone and taking one for the team.
Right now I can't imagine either of those trips happening again, ever.
I have been back and forth for a week with one of the "clients" for which I write over invoices submitted four weeks ago and which remain unpaid.
Anyway ... earlier I was talking to my friend Elizabeth, as we went to buy replacement lettuce plants for our garden plot, and we were wondering why writers are so undervalued.
So are teachers, but today we weren't talking about teachers.
There would be hardly a drop of knowledge about anything if not for writers. There wouldn't even be a Bible without some one or some people who wrote it all down.
So I just don't get it.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Lavish gifts are always acceptable
Hey, folks! Tomorrow is "Writers Worth Day."
The Second Annual Writers Worth Day has been scheduled for May 15, 2009. This online event, the brainchild of Lori Widmer, a Philadelphia-based writer and editor, is designed to promote the fair market value of writers through education, awareness, and ongoing support.Don't forget Tom and Ari and Mary ... to name just three others. We've got a lot of writers in this little town.
“Writers Worth Day was established in response to the increasing amount of job postings that offer little, if any, compensation for the amount of work expected,” says Widmer, a veteran writer and editor, who has seen a decline in market rates. “More beginning freelancers accept abominable rates. The message of Writers Worth Day is every writer has marketable skills, and those skills should be compensated fairly and within industry-acceptable standards.”
All this month, Widmer’s weblog – Words on the Page – is highlighting numerous career tips for new writers and extending into the blogging community to inspire other established writers to educate and offer guidance to their followers and all within the writing community. Numerous other bloggers have already joined Writers Worth Day and will be posting their own tips and inspirational posts to extend the reach of the Writers Worth Day message.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Another glossy
So my neighbor pranced over a while ago holding a promotional piece of paper for a new glossy magazine, Northshore Life.
To be published by CNC, the entity that owns the Current.
This is going to put me in double Dutch with Merrimack Valley Magazine, which already won't accept anything that any Eagle Tribune glossy ran.
Who knows what they ran? Not me ... and I was getting their mag delivered to me free, up through the last issue anyway.
(I'm not much on magazines, even the ones I write for. A real stumbling block, that.)
So much for my fabulous Marquand story.
Life sucks.
To be published by CNC, the entity that owns the Current.
This is going to put me in double Dutch with Merrimack Valley Magazine, which already won't accept anything that any Eagle Tribune glossy ran.
Who knows what they ran? Not me ... and I was getting their mag delivered to me free, up through the last issue anyway.
(I'm not much on magazines, even the ones I write for. A real stumbling block, that.)
So much for my fabulous Marquand story.
Life sucks.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Whatsamatta U
OK, I've been debating whether to write this or not, but it needs to be said.
As I reported earlier, I attended the ad hoc landfill advisory committee meeting on Thurs. evening. I was the only reporter there.
On Tuesday, I attended the Budget & Finance/Public Utilities joint committee meeting at which the proposed mods to the wastewater treatment facility were discussed. I was the only reporter there.
You can argue (I guess) that the landfill is a very localized issue, but believe me, it could (and probably will) blow up.
But $26 mil for mods to the wastewater treatment facility and no one from the Daily News shows up? Hello?
Some people were very surprised that I was the only reporter there and said so (and I'm hoping from now on, they'll give me the tips instead of the Daily News).
Not only that, but when I started on Globe North, I was told that the landfill was some editor's "pet project." Where was someone from the Globe at that landfill meeting?
No ... they rely on someone else being there and then reporting on it later, reporting based on a story another reporter broke.
Sometimes you have to do that ... you can't be everywhere, especially if you've only got one reporter on the beat - but the daily (the "paper of record") is a whole organization, with multiple reporters covering this city.
And, I might add, there were few people from the public at the WWTF meeting and no one from the public at the landfill meeting.
It frustrates the hell out of me.
As I reported earlier, I attended the ad hoc landfill advisory committee meeting on Thurs. evening. I was the only reporter there.
On Tuesday, I attended the Budget & Finance/Public Utilities joint committee meeting at which the proposed mods to the wastewater treatment facility were discussed. I was the only reporter there.
You can argue (I guess) that the landfill is a very localized issue, but believe me, it could (and probably will) blow up.
But $26 mil for mods to the wastewater treatment facility and no one from the Daily News shows up? Hello?
Some people were very surprised that I was the only reporter there and said so (and I'm hoping from now on, they'll give me the tips instead of the Daily News).
Not only that, but when I started on Globe North, I was told that the landfill was some editor's "pet project." Where was someone from the Globe at that landfill meeting?
No ... they rely on someone else being there and then reporting on it later, reporting based on a story another reporter broke.
Sometimes you have to do that ... you can't be everywhere, especially if you've only got one reporter on the beat - but the daily (the "paper of record") is a whole organization, with multiple reporters covering this city.
And, I might add, there were few people from the public at the WWTF meeting and no one from the public at the landfill meeting.
It frustrates the hell out of me.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Boston uber alles
There's something particularly heady about being in a crowded basement room with a bunch of writers, editors and people who may or may not want to hire same.
Snitching French fries off some kid who doesn't look old enough to be in a bar, trying to get the attention of a guy from Boston magazine ... living (sort of) large in a Boston nightspot.
As a networking event, the first Boston networking party of the year put on by the website MediaBistro.com got off to a rocky start. The basement room was populated not only with MediaBistro members but regular old bar patrons. It was packed. It was loud. It was Boston.
woo-hoo
Sometimes I miss Boston so much it almost hurts. Watching people walking home from work down Summer St. when we first arrived, I said, "That would have been me, a few years ago ..."
It's not the same as it was, now that the Big Dig is done, and I have to admit I held my breath for a bit as we went through the underground portions - but it was Boston in all its grimy glory.
I had a couple of drinks, met some people and got to know the people I went there with a little better. Thanks, friends from the Newburyport Writers & Journalists group.
I'm glad to be back on Plum Island - but I wish I visited Boston more often.
Snitching French fries off some kid who doesn't look old enough to be in a bar, trying to get the attention of a guy from Boston magazine ... living (sort of) large in a Boston nightspot.
As a networking event, the first Boston networking party of the year put on by the website MediaBistro.com got off to a rocky start. The basement room was populated not only with MediaBistro members but regular old bar patrons. It was packed. It was loud. It was Boston.
woo-hoo
Sometimes I miss Boston so much it almost hurts. Watching people walking home from work down Summer St. when we first arrived, I said, "That would have been me, a few years ago ..."
It's not the same as it was, now that the Big Dig is done, and I have to admit I held my breath for a bit as we went through the underground portions - but it was Boston in all its grimy glory.
I had a couple of drinks, met some people and got to know the people I went there with a little better. Thanks, friends from the Newburyport Writers & Journalists group.
I'm glad to be back on Plum Island - but I wish I visited Boston more often.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
I'm grilling chicken
Oh, sorry, I thought I was on Twitter or Facebook, where I'm supposed to report what I'm doing.
Back to reality - See, this is how it goes:
I goof off for the first two days of the week (see Gillian goof off), then I go into panic mode because I haven't got a story for SeaCoast Scene. Then I go into double panic because I realize everyone expects something from me by close of business Friday.
Want me to go with you to the garden center on a Monday? Sure thing, I'm right there.
Need me to tell you why you can't get Twitter to work on Thursday afternoon? Go away and call customer support, silly person.
It's a matter of on which day you catch me.
So I really don't have much upon which to comment. Except that the Patriots are looking mighty sucky right now.
Back to reality - See, this is how it goes:
I goof off for the first two days of the week (see Gillian goof off), then I go into panic mode because I haven't got a story for SeaCoast Scene. Then I go into double panic because I realize everyone expects something from me by close of business Friday.
Want me to go with you to the garden center on a Monday? Sure thing, I'm right there.
Need me to tell you why you can't get Twitter to work on Thursday afternoon? Go away and call customer support, silly person.
It's a matter of on which day you catch me.
So I really don't have much upon which to comment. Except that the Patriots are looking mighty sucky right now.
I'm pooped
Most days I barely need one of me - today I needed three. That one big lump o' me.
Not only have I got - what, 4? - stories in progress all at the same time, but I'm hosting a double birthday party here on Sunday.
This will include my family (mother, father, two sisters with a husband and 2 kids each, a brother) and my one brother-in-law's family (he's the birthday boy).
How am I dealing?
I'm pretending it's not Thursday and that I have all the time in the world. And that the person I called for information 3.5 hours ago did not return my call, and when I just reached him, he told me I have to speak with someone else. Tomorrow.
Couldn't he have called me back to tell me that? Huh, huh, huh?
I'd forgotten what a hassle this reporter thing can be! (I secretly love it.)
Not only have I got - what, 4? - stories in progress all at the same time, but I'm hosting a double birthday party here on Sunday.
This will include my family (mother, father, two sisters with a husband and 2 kids each, a brother) and my one brother-in-law's family (he's the birthday boy).
How am I dealing?
I'm pretending it's not Thursday and that I have all the time in the world. And that the person I called for information 3.5 hours ago did not return my call, and when I just reached him, he told me I have to speak with someone else. Tomorrow.
Couldn't he have called me back to tell me that? Huh, huh, huh?
I'd forgotten what a hassle this reporter thing can be! (I secretly love it.)
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Thank you!
A public "thank you" to the reader who sent me the names of potential interview subjects.
I'm meeting one of them later today, so check next week's SeaCoast Scene (unfortunately not on line) to see who I picked from the list.
I can tell already that this is going to be a good one!
Thanks again.
I'm meeting one of them later today, so check next week's SeaCoast Scene (unfortunately not on line) to see who I picked from the list.
I can tell already that this is going to be a good one!
Thanks again.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Read all about it (revisited)
I was interviewing Ann Ormond (prez of the local Chamber of Commerce) today, and before we got started on the interview, we were talking about the blog.
This blog. Which she says she reads, so I'd better mind my p's and q's (that's me talking, not her).
But it was not the substance of our conversation that got me thinking, it was how easy it was to write the subsequent story without expressing (I hope) therein any of my personal opinions.
It really is not difficult to be objective when writing a newsy story because if you just stick to the facts, there is no way it will spin away from you (unless the subject is doing the spinning, of course, which is a whole other cup of tea).
But what are the facts?
In my earlier post about the WPA and the stadium at Newburyport High School, I included a paragraph from a story I had written for the Current.
Doing a Google search today, I concluded that most of the background I used for the piece must have come from the website of the group trying to raise money to restore the stadium - or rebuild it, as the case may be.
There was a dearth of information on line about the stadium or the WPA. So now readers come along and sort of challenge what it says on the Restore our Stadium website. Not that they're against the restoration (or whatever), they just don't get why it's a war memorial stadium, when it was built in 1938.
I'm not going to debate the merits of the plan again, I just wonder if I should have trusted so much what it said on the website, as my source for background. Of course, I was not told to write a story debunking the whole project.
Actually, I'm not sure I was told anything. I think it was one of those cases where I said, "Here's a story," and the editor said, "Thanks!"
On the other hand, newspaper reporters are paid so little (especially around here, I think) that there is little to encourage them to scrounge around verifying facts ad infinitum. I once figured out that for a story with an average of 500 words, calculating the time it took me to interview persons or persons, do research, and write the story - it turned out I was making about $8 an hour.
Anyway, does this mean that these days, it's easier for people to get their own spin on things, because they said this or that with authority on their website? I'm not including blogs, because blogs are inherently slanted towards the writers' points of view.
Or does having something you said with authority appear on the Internet leave you wide open to questions about that authority? Macy Swain addresses this in a post on her blog, Night Blind.
She is quite surprised at some of the reaction to her piece about the newspaper industry that was published in The Christian Science Monitor. I must say, I was quite surprised that someone snarked about her writing that she and her husband read to each other from the newspaper!
What couple doesn't do that?
Again (as I'm so fond of saying lately), I don't know the answers to these questions. If people are going to rely on someone else to be their news feed, they need to find someone they can trust, at least most of the time.
But, as Ann kindly noted, we the people who live here and know the players involved in things, are at least fairly reliable. Even when we disagree ... now fancy that.
If you put all us news-type bloggers into one place, you'd get every angle - not only from us, but from our extremely astute readers.
If that's not the whole story, I don't know what is.
This blog. Which she says she reads, so I'd better mind my p's and q's (that's me talking, not her).
But it was not the substance of our conversation that got me thinking, it was how easy it was to write the subsequent story without expressing (I hope) therein any of my personal opinions.
It really is not difficult to be objective when writing a newsy story because if you just stick to the facts, there is no way it will spin away from you (unless the subject is doing the spinning, of course, which is a whole other cup of tea).
But what are the facts?
In my earlier post about the WPA and the stadium at Newburyport High School, I included a paragraph from a story I had written for the Current.
Doing a Google search today, I concluded that most of the background I used for the piece must have come from the website of the group trying to raise money to restore the stadium - or rebuild it, as the case may be.
There was a dearth of information on line about the stadium or the WPA. So now readers come along and sort of challenge what it says on the Restore our Stadium website. Not that they're against the restoration (or whatever), they just don't get why it's a war memorial stadium, when it was built in 1938.
I'm not going to debate the merits of the plan again, I just wonder if I should have trusted so much what it said on the website, as my source for background. Of course, I was not told to write a story debunking the whole project.
Actually, I'm not sure I was told anything. I think it was one of those cases where I said, "Here's a story," and the editor said, "Thanks!"
On the other hand, newspaper reporters are paid so little (especially around here, I think) that there is little to encourage them to scrounge around verifying facts ad infinitum. I once figured out that for a story with an average of 500 words, calculating the time it took me to interview persons or persons, do research, and write the story - it turned out I was making about $8 an hour.
Anyway, does this mean that these days, it's easier for people to get their own spin on things, because they said this or that with authority on their website? I'm not including blogs, because blogs are inherently slanted towards the writers' points of view.
Or does having something you said with authority appear on the Internet leave you wide open to questions about that authority? Macy Swain addresses this in a post on her blog, Night Blind.
She is quite surprised at some of the reaction to her piece about the newspaper industry that was published in The Christian Science Monitor. I must say, I was quite surprised that someone snarked about her writing that she and her husband read to each other from the newspaper!
What couple doesn't do that?
Again (as I'm so fond of saying lately), I don't know the answers to these questions. If people are going to rely on someone else to be their news feed, they need to find someone they can trust, at least most of the time.
But, as Ann kindly noted, we the people who live here and know the players involved in things, are at least fairly reliable. Even when we disagree ... now fancy that.
If you put all us news-type bloggers into one place, you'd get every angle - not only from us, but from our extremely astute readers.
If that's not the whole story, I don't know what is.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Busy day
I have a really busy schedule today so I'm out and about and in a panic about driving on the highway.
It's deadline day at Merrimack Valley Magazine and I am so not ready to file my last 2 stories.
So I'm off to Gloucester to visit Mum and then on to No. Billerica.
As John Lennon said, "I got blisters on my fingers!"
Later.
It's deadline day at Merrimack Valley Magazine and I am so not ready to file my last 2 stories.
So I'm off to Gloucester to visit Mum and then on to No. Billerica.
As John Lennon said, "I got blisters on my fingers!"
Later.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
All is bright
So now that I have my car back from the garage, Mary's blog is back and for now all is good with the world, let me say that tomorrow morning I am going into Boston to (hopefully) talk briefly with Gloria Steinem.
She is delivering the keynote address at a breakfast meeting of the Commonwealth Institute. I'm covering it for Applaud magazine.
And I think I did not give the City Council enough credit. We'll see.
She is delivering the keynote address at a breakfast meeting of the Commonwealth Institute. I'm covering it for Applaud magazine.
And I think I did not give the City Council enough credit. We'll see.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
My evening out
I headed off this evening to Tyngsboro/Tyngsborough to cover a fancy function for Merrimack Valley Magazine. Nothing really to report about the event (since I'm reporting on it in the magazine) but once again, it was me vs. The (Evil) City of Lowell.
Why, you ask, is it evil? Well, it's probably only evil to me. Every time I go there, I ... ah ... cough ... end up taking the scenic route. (That means I get lost.)
I only had to turn around once on the way to the Vesper Country Club, but coming home ... well, let's just say I forgot how lovely Boston looks in the early evening.
Actually, it wasn't that bad. After missing the exit to get back on I-495 (it was NOT clearly marked that you had to take the exit for Rte. 110), I decided that rather than turning around, I would just go to I-95/Rte. 128. I knew it was there somewhere.
And it was - just a tad more southerly than I wanted to be, of course. I had to go through all those "W" towns - Woburn, Winchester, WrongWay ... wait, that was me, not a town.
When I finally arrived at home, my neighbor (with who I had briefly discussed my anxiety about going anywhere near Lowell before leaving for this event) was outside and asked me how I made out.
"Oh," I replied, "I missed the exit for 495 off Rte. 3 and had to go all the way to 95."
"You mean 128."
I always forget that people who grew up here think of that piece of road as 128, as of course it has been for years, before it became also I-95. I remember when I first moved to Mass., being very confused about signs that alternately identified the highway as 95 and 128.
Since I frequently end up in Gloucester (staying on 128) and not Newburyport (exiting to 95), I tend to exit onto Rte. 1 at the earliest opportunity. Plus, there's a McDonald's on Rte. 1, in Rowley. It's almost a straight line to right where I want to be.
And that would be home. In Newburyport.
P.S. I did not drink that cosmo, I just photographed it.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
My Trek to Andover
See, that's funny cuz my Jetta is a Trek ...
Alrighty, then. As I said in the last post, I went today to the Andover Country Club. I Googled said location to ascertain the best route to take.
As always, Google maps gave me about 10 steps on how to get off the island and get to I-495 (I know, it doesn't know I live here) and provided me a route that involved nearly 20 miles on I-495, aka the Massachusetts Speedway.
There were a couple of steps involving getting off at this exit and traveling .8 miles down this route I'd never heard of, much less traveled. But it all ended with this: turn right at Lowell St./RT-133.
Route 133 - a road with which I was familiar. I figured it would take me much longer to go down Rte. 1 to 133 and drive across to Andover, but I was willing to spend the extra time.
It took me almost exactly the same amount of time as if I'd gone down 495. I think it was 5 minutes longer.
Of course, it took me longer to get home because of the scenic detour I took (I missed a turn and wound up somewhere, don't know where, but turned around and went back with only minimal loss of time). I stopped at the Market Basket in Rowley and then headed for the Dunkin' Donuts on the traffic circle for my latte.
After waiting in line for 10 minutes (forgot it was free iced coffee day), I was told the latte machine was out of order. So I drove over to the Nutcracker Cafe in The Tannery, filling David Hall's coffers even more. Oh, and I also remembered to picked up the book I'd ordered at Jabberwocky, so WOW, I'm on someone's shit list (like I'm not already).
And I also watched the needle on my gas level indicator (does that have a name?) go down, down, down as I drove all over the place. Not to mention the time I was idling in the heavy traffic from the YWCA event.
I gotta start charging more for these stories!
Or cut out drinking lattes and reading books. Or remember that I had to go to The Tannery anyway, to pick up the book, so I could have totally bypassed Dunkin' Donuts in the first place.
Alrighty, then. As I said in the last post, I went today to the Andover Country Club. I Googled said location to ascertain the best route to take.
As always, Google maps gave me about 10 steps on how to get off the island and get to I-495 (I know, it doesn't know I live here) and provided me a route that involved nearly 20 miles on I-495, aka the Massachusetts Speedway.
There were a couple of steps involving getting off at this exit and traveling .8 miles down this route I'd never heard of, much less traveled. But it all ended with this: turn right at Lowell St./RT-133.
Route 133 - a road with which I was familiar. I figured it would take me much longer to go down Rte. 1 to 133 and drive across to Andover, but I was willing to spend the extra time.
It took me almost exactly the same amount of time as if I'd gone down 495. I think it was 5 minutes longer.
Of course, it took me longer to get home because of the scenic detour I took (I missed a turn and wound up somewhere, don't know where, but turned around and went back with only minimal loss of time). I stopped at the Market Basket in Rowley and then headed for the Dunkin' Donuts on the traffic circle for my latte.
After waiting in line for 10 minutes (forgot it was free iced coffee day), I was told the latte machine was out of order. So I drove over to the Nutcracker Cafe in The Tannery, filling David Hall's coffers even more. Oh, and I also remembered to picked up the book I'd ordered at Jabberwocky, so WOW, I'm on someone's shit list (like I'm not already).
And I also watched the needle on my gas level indicator (does that have a name?) go down, down, down as I drove all over the place. Not to mention the time I was idling in the heavy traffic from the YWCA event.
I gotta start charging more for these stories!
Or cut out drinking lattes and reading books. Or remember that I had to go to The Tannery anyway, to pick up the book, so I could have totally bypassed Dunkin' Donuts in the first place.
Benefits to covering events
So, I've been in Andover most of the day, at the Andover Country Club, hobnobbing with - a guy from Andover and his daughter.
I'd love to be able to say I'd been hobnobbing with state Sen. Susan Tucker and Channel 5 anchor woman and consumer reporter Susan Wornick, who both spoke at the event I was covering for Merrimack Valley Magazine, but they had to run off after speaking to the assembly.
It was the 25th annual Celebration of Tribute to Women awards luncheon, put on by the YWCA of Greater Lawrence. I can't say more because I'm writing the story ...
But the guy from Andover and his daughter, who were the only other people at my table, were really pleasant. His wife/her mother was one of the honorees. We ate all the fruit bowls from the empty places and we got more dessert than anyone else because there were only 3 of us and the dessert plates were filled to suit 10 people.
I love these kind of assignments.
I'd love to be able to say I'd been hobnobbing with state Sen. Susan Tucker and Channel 5 anchor woman and consumer reporter Susan Wornick, who both spoke at the event I was covering for Merrimack Valley Magazine, but they had to run off after speaking to the assembly.
It was the 25th annual Celebration of Tribute to Women awards luncheon, put on by the YWCA of Greater Lawrence. I can't say more because I'm writing the story ...
But the guy from Andover and his daughter, who were the only other people at my table, were really pleasant. His wife/her mother was one of the honorees. We ate all the fruit bowls from the empty places and we got more dessert than anyone else because there were only 3 of us and the dessert plates were filled to suit 10 people.
I love these kind of assignments.
Monday, April 28, 2008
For the record
Just want to say that I think the selection of artisan and fine jewelry we have on offer here in exceptional. When I'm shopping for my mom, for instance, I'm more than willing to spring for a really nice piece from one of our local establishments. Well, I was when I had a real job, anyway.
And while I like Newburyport the way it is, I see that things are going to change. I think it's a shame, as I did when I lived in Boston and things changed. But the city has to go the way of the general trend and the general trend here now is upscale.
So I was thinking last night before I fell asleep about newspapers and blogs (the temptation to write, "bloggity, bloggity, blog" is too strong - sorry, Ari), promted by something a character said in the HBO series "Oz." I was watching it before I went to bed, on HBO on Demand.
"Journalists are supposed to be impartial," he said. And I thought, I've never really thought of myself as a journalist (even when I was one); I think of myself as an observer and chronicler of my observations. In other words, a simple writer. We are by nature observers and reporters.
Or, as author Lou Ureneck put it so well Sat. morning, "We always want to lay a narrative line over our life."
We write what we see and feel and then a lot of times feel bad about what we just wrote.
So having a blog suits me just fine, except for the low-paying aspect. The feeling bad comes with the job.
And while I like Newburyport the way it is, I see that things are going to change. I think it's a shame, as I did when I lived in Boston and things changed. But the city has to go the way of the general trend and the general trend here now is upscale.
So I was thinking last night before I fell asleep about newspapers and blogs (the temptation to write, "bloggity, bloggity, blog" is too strong - sorry, Ari), promted by something a character said in the HBO series "Oz." I was watching it before I went to bed, on HBO on Demand.
"Journalists are supposed to be impartial," he said. And I thought, I've never really thought of myself as a journalist (even when I was one); I think of myself as an observer and chronicler of my observations. In other words, a simple writer. We are by nature observers and reporters.
Or, as author Lou Ureneck put it so well Sat. morning, "We always want to lay a narrative line over our life."
We write what we see and feel and then a lot of times feel bad about what we just wrote.
So having a blog suits me just fine, except for the low-paying aspect. The feeling bad comes with the job.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
LinkedIn: what can it do for ME?
OK, so my neighbor woman convinced me to join LinkedIn, which in case you don't know is a website where you establish connections with people you don't know through people you do know. Like seven degrees of separation. By the time I'm done, I should be corresponding with Sidney Poitier.
I asked some people to be my connections, they agreed, and there we all are. I asked my neighbor today, "Now what?"
She assured me that through the 81,000+ connections I am just three degrees separated from (according to LinkedIn) is someone who will employ me to write for them or give me money to set up some sort of writing venture. Hmmm, is billionaire developer Stephen Karp on LinkedIn?
Well I'm off to a running start - my newest connection has graced me with his 305 connections (none of which is Karp). I have only 15 of my own, so far, including a fair number of family members. For a reporter, I sure haven't racked up those connections, have I? Stay tuned.
I asked some people to be my connections, they agreed, and there we all are. I asked my neighbor today, "Now what?"
She assured me that through the 81,000+ connections I am just three degrees separated from (according to LinkedIn) is someone who will employ me to write for them or give me money to set up some sort of writing venture. Hmmm, is billionaire developer Stephen Karp on LinkedIn?
Well I'm off to a running start - my newest connection has graced me with his 305 connections (none of which is Karp). I have only 15 of my own, so far, including a fair number of family members. For a reporter, I sure haven't racked up those connections, have I? Stay tuned.
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