:)

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=

Hammer Time

I'm one who will sing the accolades of city life - easy access to public transportation, no need for a car, living in close proximity to bars, restaurants, jobs and all the normal hustle and bustle - yet, there are times when I ache for the easiness of life outside the city. This is perhaps most notably evidenced when you blow a fuse and need to find a hardware store within the city limits and close to public transportation. There aren't many times when I long for a car - but this, along with grocery shopping, is one of the few times I wish I could just hop into my Escape and ride into the sunset.

Perhaps what is most frustrating is when you discover a city gem - a full-service hardware store crammed into a narrow store front - only to find out their doors will be closing in a matter of months. That's what happened when my roommate found me Candey's Hardware close to Farragut North and right on my commute home from work.

When I wandered into Candey's, someone was there and willing to help me find the fuse I needed to replace my blown one (it was pretty obvious I was clueless). And while I was there, I got some spare keys made in a matter of seconds for a pretty low fee. Quick service and cheap costs - I thought I was in love (well, as much in love as a girl could be with a hardware store). It's safe to say that I was more than saddened when I read that their doors would be closing at the end of the summer.

Why is it that little stores like this - ones that focus on the family-owned and -operated feel, providing great customer service and have existed forever - can no longer make it in today's market? My economically-minded roommate would complain that it's the rise in minimum wage that harms these businesses, but I think there has to be more to it than that. There's obviously a need for stores like this by consumers like me who rely on businesses within the city because I don't have access to a car. Unfortunately, things like this happen all too often.

So, until I find another option to replace Candey's, I'll be praying that nothing else breaks in our Capitol Hill apartment.

My kind of town...

As I'm sitting here on my kitchen floor listening to the outdoor metropolitan noises, trying not to type too loud so I won't wake my mom, dad and cousin sleeping in the other room, I'm getting rather emotional. I remember this time last year I was excited to begin the "next big chapter" of my life in Chicago... Somehow, although it's only been a year, I feel a little older, not much wiser and a little more cynical.

The year I've spent in Chicago can only really be described as a roller coaster ride. I entered thinking I could settle for a PR job - only to find that my first job experience was horrendous and did little to help me learn the field. So, after a several-months long search, I found something else I thought would be better. And it wasn't.

Living here has been both wonderful and trying. Despite living n a city filled with diverse, talented, wonderful people, finding my own niche was difficult. I cherished the few friends I had here, but longed for relationships of substance (Don't fret KA - I will miss you terribly!).

Now that I'm moving yet again to start another adventure I put off for a year... I'm finding it more difficult than I thought it would be to leave a city I felt overwhelmed by constantly. I suppose that is because I can feel some satisfaction in knowing that I did accomplish something - I survived my first year out of college, working in a job (no matter how awful) somehow related to my degree, and made my own home in a big city miles away from my parents house - in today's age, some college graduates can't claim those facts.

So, Goodbye Chicago - you gave me a good year. A year of your best winter weather, a sweltering summer, too many cranberry and vodkas at Clark Street bars, some of the most heinous waits for the redline El... butabove all, you gave me the confidence I needed to move on.

I thank you for that.

Be it ever so humble

Oh, cute little two bedroom, two bath, plus den (!), affordable Capitol Hill townhouse apartment. How I love thee.

There are no words to express quite what I feel for you - I have yet to meet you, but I know that we were meant to be. I only hope your close-lipped owner with the world's best poker face will give you to us.

I admire your brightly painted walls, petite backyard, fireplace that we will fill with candles because we're girls and probably couldn't start a fire, your in-unit laundry machines and your included water and satellite fees. To me, you are perfect.

I have imagined my furniture housed against your walls, my dishes placed in your cabinets, my photos sitting on your shelves and candle-lit evenings by the fireplace (again - probably not a fire for fear of burning down said beautifully-painted walls).

So, please say that my credit score is high enough and let us know soon if your owner is willing to lease to us - the time we're currently apart is torture.

Until the time comes when we can finally be together, please stay away from anything that's creepy or crawly, beef-up your insulation and maybe clean up your bathroom.

Perhaps I may be a little too hopeful, but I can only hope that you feel the same way.

Yours truly,

Jodi