Internship

I began my internship and part of that was a trip to Culpeper in northern Virginia to attend a forum on education funding. It was a good experience and it resulted in an article!

I'll be focusing on the senator and delegate from the Culpeper area for the Culpeper Star-Exponent. Virginia General Assembly here I come!

Christmas Break

Christmas was great! We had our annual traditions of decorating the tree, handing out Christmas goodies, eating lots of awesome food and opening special Christmas pjs. Everyone got some awesome gifts and now we get to sit around, eat goodies and do a whole lot of nothing.

I love Christmas!

See photos from my trip so far here.

Me on TV again, kinda

I just found video of a panel discussion I participated in about activist alumnus Adnan Hajizada. The entire discussion was excellent and is worth watching. My part starts at 12:30 minutes -ish and I answer questions at the end.

Is it wrong that I'm proud of myself for this?

Blue Christmas Service puts me on PBS

I had the pleasure of playing guitar and singing for the University of Richmond Chaplaincy's Blue Christmas service that gives people a chance to mourn during the season that is suppose to be all about family and merriment. The PBS show Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly was there and they featured the service in a segment on Dec. 11.

I'm the one playing the guitar.

The End is Near

And now, the end is near and so I face the final bidding...

The semester is almost over! Tomorrow will be my last day on campus before I head to St. Louis for a few days and then home. I will be writing a paper until Dec. 15, but such is life. I finished my Spanish final in 45 minutes today (Woohoo!) and am now waiting around in the library for a dinner at a professor's house.

Since my last post about posting (which I have epically failed at) a little bit has happened.

Halloween was awesome! View pictures here. Chicken. Suit.

Josh came to visit and we had a great time at Homecoming. There was a reception for CSF alumni, a football game (that we lost, boo) and a lot of good lounging and relaxing time.

And, of course, Thanksgiving! Grandmama and I went over to Uncle Sandy and Aunt Gibby's house and had a great time hanging out with family. They are some pretty awesome people and I'm so glad I get the chance to get to know all the East Coasters. Although, I seriously miss going to Arizona and seeing all of my family there. All the cousins are turning into people. Not allowed!

The Saturday after Thanksgiving my maternal side of the family had a Christmas Party/Family Reunion. This year was great again. We have lots of little babies and kids and a soon-to-be addition, my cousin Will's fiance. Congratulations! I guess this officially puts me next in line. Did you hear that, Josh? No pressure or anything.

I also performed at our on-campus sports bar/restaurant as part of a jazz concert and it was awesome! I felt a lot more comfortable this time and I look forward to other chanced to perform.

There have been more Christmas celebrations, including the CSF Christmas Party. Viewed here. There was so much great food, people and presents! Everyone needs a plastic stegosaurus that sharpens pencils and walks. Duh.

And now, I sit and wait and try to find time to do laundry and pack between dinners, babysitting, paper writing and a few parties, all before Wednesday! I don't think I'll be sleeping much until I get back to San Diego on the 14th. Vacation, here I come!

Be prepared for more posts, if I can remember, about the whole, you know, graduating and future thing. Maybe.

Halloween in the 21st Century

You know you live in the 21st century when:

Drop the Halloween mask! It might scare someone.

If only I could get quotes like this one for every story and put it in a paper that the entire world reads...

“I’m not sure what is driving this memo,” Mr. Bishoff said. “But perhaps it is reaction to years past. Sometimes kids will have those ‘Scream’ masks, but usually not too blood and gutsy. I mean, can’t parents have discretion? The fact is, if parents are too stupid to not send kids to school with hockey masks as Jason, they are probably too stupid to read this memo.”

Excuses, excuses, excuses

Wow. I just looked at this and the last time I posted something was on July something.

Sorry about that...

It's made me think about why I haven't posted and there are the obvious reasons such as being busy, blah blah blah. But I think the main reason is that my life is so routine and not much exciting has happened since school started back up. I have the same schedule for the most part every week and nothing huge has happened in my social life. My dad did get a job, which is awesome.

But all of this is about to change because I am graduating from college in seven months. Ah! So I will do my best to keep everyone updated. And if I don't post pictures from Halloween then I should be severely punished. I have two words for you: Giant. Chicken.

Oh ya.

Collegian has been going well. You can check it all out at www.URCollegian.com and if you search my name all of the articles I have ever written will show up including my weekly news column. And check out this weeks front page. Elizabeth Ygartua, who is our design editor drew the main graphic and it is amazing. I am quite proud of her and this front page.

Now I have to get ready for AXIS, our annual fall conference for Christian Student Fellowship where I will reveal the chicken suit on Saturday. Be ready people.

Weddings, Weddings, Weddings

So many weddings!

Saturday my friends Nick and Kayla, now Mr. and Mrs. Burt, got married! It was a nice ceremony and Kayla looked gorgeous. Alicia even cried as Kayla walked down the aisle to the song from The Holiday. *sigh*

The food at the reception was delicious and even though the sound system wasn't working correctly, the dances were beautiful.

Congratulations Nick and Kayla!

And in less than a week I will be flying to San Fransisco to get ready for Kimi's wedding on August 8.

You people are making me feel old.

The Burts' first dance

The kiddos hanging out at the reception. From left, Alex Rice, Cierra Kierstead (I know I spelled that wrong), Alicia Bosse, me, Christian Turner

All of my pictures can be found here.

The Rev. Kocher Chosen as Chaplain

We have a new chaplain!

Kocher to be university's next chaplain

I was working on the story on Adnan Hajizada yesterday when I got a call: "They picked a chaplain." And we're off!

I called Rev. Kocher and he called me back not long after that. We were sent a press release and about 10 minutes later President Ayers sent out an e-mail. We were scooped! But it's OK. We had the interview with Kocher and the VERY large, spiffy picture on the homepage.

On a personal, opinion-section note, I am very pleased with the decision. As you know, I had a chance to interview both candidates and their colleagues and I felt Kocher would be an excellent fit at Richmond. He seems to connect with students. He has quite a trial in front of him, since this will be his first time serving as the chaplain, but I think Richmond and Rev. Kocher will benefit from this appointment.

Exclusive Interview with Hajizada's Girlfriend; Judge Rejects Appeal

Updated stories on Adnan Hajizada, arrested on charges of hooliganism in his native Azerbaijan, where he is a political activist.

Professors sign letter supporting Hajizada as pretrial hearing delayed to July 20

Girlfriend says injuries untreated as judge rejects detention appeal

Dan Petty and I worked on the story last night, with me sending him what I had at about 1:30 a.m. California time (he's in Denver). Then I got a text message saying Hajizada's girlfriend had sent him a very long message right about then. Apparently Dan stayed up until about 5 a.m. to finish and post this story. Go Dan! You are good at what you do.

Hajizada's Acitivism Began at Richmond, father says

We have an updated story on Adnan Hajizada.

I had the opportunity to interview his father, Hikmet Hajizada, for this story. It was difficult because the call was dropped about three times and my voice was echoing in my ear, but it was an amazing experience.

The story has been picked up by U-Wire, the Associated Press for college newspapers, the Richmond Times-Dispatch and the blog Near West End News.

UR Alum Turned Activist Arrested

A University of Richmond alumnus was arrested in Azerbaijan possibly for speaking out against the government. Story HERE.

I got a text message last night at 11:30 about this story and have been working on it since, with a few hours of sleep in between. It's pretty exciting and we will continue to update it.

And my body hates me more than I thought it would. It was just one kickboxing class and one spin class. I'm sorry!

Oh, and I got another tattoo. I will put up pictures when it's healed and looks prettier.

The Search for a New Chaplain

The Collegian has been covering the University of Richmond's search for a new chaplain. It has been great to be able to interview the candidates and their colleagues, even though I cannot be in Richmond. The Chaplaincy is hoping to have video up of the forums that were held with each candidate.

So here they are so far. There's one more article to go.

In forum, finalist for chaplain says he would welcome, support all in community

Experience of past exclusion drives chaplain finalist’s desire for inclusive campus

For Kocher, chaplaincy should gracefully engage questions of difference

Core

It will be interesting to see the student reaction to this (article by me), if there even is one.

Vanity Fair

Why They Hate Us

An article from Vanity Fair about why people seem to hate the media and how valid those arguments are. The comments are my favorite part. Especially those who make the complaints the author addresses.

Aid to the Rescue!

I was notified today that I will receive enough aid from the University of Richmond that I will only owe them about $750 for my entire senior year. Woohoo! Richmond may have a high price tag (estimated cost of attendance for next year is over $50,000) but they give 100% blind need-based aid and it is awesome.

Thank you Richmond and your extravagant endowment!

Guantanamo

This puts a little fact and perspective on the closing of Guantanamo. We'll have to wait and see what happens to those who are convicted for acts of terrorism and where they end up.

Politics. At least it's interesting

State Senator Beats McAuliffe in Va. Primary

To be honest, I hadn't been paying much attention to this election. Call it election burn out or just plain apathy, either way this will make for an interesting General Assembly session next year. After reporting on the last session, I have learned a few things about what will be presented at the next session and if Deeds becomes governor, a lot of things are going to change in Va., especially when it comes to gun laws and the death penalty. Both very interesting topics that people love to read about.

Now that I know a little bit more about politics, it's more interesting and I don't despise it as much. Notice I said, "as much."

Journalists Sentenced to 12 Years Hard Labor in North Korea

Two Paths, Same Fate for Reporters Facing Prison

If you've ever watched Oprah or various other news shows, you know who Lisa Ling is. One of the captured woman is her younger sister.

It's a dangerous time to be a journalist in many countries. I think I'll stick to print.

Delilah and the Snake

On Sunday Delilah came in to the house after her morning romp and seemed to be limping a bit. After a few days she seemed to be getting stiffer and stiffer and was not getting up on her own to eat. It looked like her back legs were giving her a lot of problems so we took her to a new vet.

While the vet was examining her, the vet technician found a red spot on Delilah's skin so they shaved the area and found out she had been bitten by a poisonous snake, probably a Copperhead, on her right shoulder. The vet also said that the hind paralysis was most likely due to a tick-borne disease. They kept her overnight to give her IV fluids and sent her blood to a lab for tests. They started her on antibiotics and pain medication.

The next day we were able to go pick her up and she seemed a little peppier. Since then we have been giving her the antibiotics and pain meds and a Pepcid twice a day and she seems to have most of her old energy back and is not having any problems getting up or down or walking.

Now the only problem is that we have to keep her locked up and out of trouble for another week and a half. Anyone who has met Delilah will tell you that that is nearly impossible. Now every time she wants to go outside we get the leash and walk around, which doesn't exactly make her happy, but she will get over it.

I am just glad that she is OK and getting back to her old self. She was pretty pitiful those first few days.

We still don't know if she has/had a tick-borne disease because the vet said the tests showed she had a little bit of all three and nothing was definitive. So we're just giving her the drugs and taking her back for a check up on Tuesday.

My baby is OK!