Fall, fall, falling...

Whenever August rolls around, I seem to start itching for autumn, craving the crisp air, firey-colored leaves, and hot chocolate to warm me up in the mornings. I love summer and wish for it the majority of the year - but there comes a point when my bangs are plastered to my forehead that I just want it to end.

Does this not look yummy?

This past week has gotten me super excited for fall. I spent the weekend in lovely Chicago - which actually was not-so-lovely: cold temperatures, pouring rain and overcast skies. But it gave me a chance to whip out my sweaters, my close-toed shoes and prepare for what would eventually be coming in the next month or so.

There's something I love about walking around in fall - I'm sure a lot of it has to do with seeing leaves changing color or the fact that I absolutely love corduroy - and I simply can't wait to explore this season in a new city.

So, while summer may provide the opportunity for endless Corona nights at bars, free transit on super-hot days, and an influx of tourists from far and away, you can give me autumn any day.

Oh... and I should also mention the football - God bless fall and college football season! Go Blue! and happy tailgating!

Blogging the news

For the past two weeks I've been in an "intense" summer journalism program preparing me for my grad studies over the next year. A lot of our discussions have revolved around converging media - the combination of print, broadcast and online journalism - and the need to be fluent in everything to become the next wave of journalists.

A few days ago, one of our professors (a former White House correspondent for USA Today) introduced us to another WH correspondent for the Houston Chronicle. What made Julie Mason different was the fact that she writes a blog for the paper - and can actually claim to be the only blogger with White House press credentials.

Basically, this woman is my hero.

But she also reinforced the idea that journalists are starting to take blogs seriously. If you do a little research, you'll find that serious newspapers are enlisting journalists to cover the news blog-style.

Not all of the blogs are that fabulous - a lot of them just seem to be briefer forms of a news story simply placed on a cleverly titled blog. But I guess what makes them legit is that readers can have access to a reporter to comment and tell them what their stories are missing.

Some of my favorites are The Tribune's "The Swamp" and the NYT's "The Lede." However, if you want a good laugh and want to see a reporter refer to President Bush as "Bushie," please head to Beltway Confidential, where Munson blogs "Washington until it begs for mercy."

Living in a Digital World, 'cause I am a Digital Girl...

Today's Chicago Tribune had an interesting piece on presidential candidate Ron Paul and his popularity on the 'net.

The piece touches on the impact the Internet is having on presidential candidates - and hints on the impact it could have in future elections.

With the way elections are continuing to move, it will be interesting to see what will become the "Next Facebook" or "MySpace" in the 2012 election. With the CNN/YouTube debates, we saw everyday citizens asking the questions they wanted answers to - for once we didn't have to hear endless talking points about the War in Iraq, but could get honest answers in a more relaxed setting. Were those debates perfect? Of course not - but it's certainly better than listening to someone asking questions relating to their own - or their network's - agenda.

So what will be the next step in the presidential campaign? Hillary's people had supporters (and even non-supporters) send in YouTube videos of theme songs for the former First Lady. Soon will candidates air commercials created by their supporters on laptops and macs in the comfort of their homes?

For someone like Ron Paul, support on the Web is a huge step. Sure, others have supported candidates like Ralph Nader or Ross Perot - but, for once, Paul has stepped over the crucial line and won a tiny contingent of voters willing to work for him and what he stands for - in ways unlike the big candidates (such as Mitt Romney or John McCain).

So while he sports what the Tribune calls an "unimpressive" 2 percent ranking in the polls, he's certainly the candidate who has best put Internet support to use.

Yours is a tonic and mine is a gin...

Did anyone else see the Today Show this morning?

Maybe I was tired from the semi-all-nighter I pulled writing a news feature for my journalism course, but I swear Al Roker had to have been drinking during the segment they shot with the stars of the new film Superbad.

Unfortunately there are no videos of it on YouTube and NBC's version doesn't seem nearly as strange as is did on TV this morning... although you do see Al nearly take himself out on a pole.

Check it out here: http://video.msn.com/v/us/msnbc.htm?g=86ef9275-6566-4829-9e15-710b9af6de28&f=00&fg=