Stalking the Indiana Jones Dude: NCMC Day Two

Today started off better than yesterday, if only because I wasn't freaking out about what size containers I could bring my liquids in and if I had everything. (Not that it mattered.) Even though April and I managed to get some sleep, we were still tired when we went to register for the conference. We got reporter's notebooks and these really cool eco-friendly pens. I really liked my pen and used it all day. Luckily, the hotel has a place to get coffee so I didn't fall asleep during the first session.

After registering, we split up to go to our first sessions. I went to "Thinking Like an Editor," which was something April had suggested because she went to it last year. Bill Elsen, who worked for The Washington Post before retiring, suggested many different ways for editors to work with their staffs and how to be organized.

Somehow, I ended up in an advertising session next, and I'm not sure how. I learned that Iowa State has a really large staff and has about six thousand other mini-websites. The guy in front of me kept blowing his nose, which made me want to use a lot of Germ-X.

April and I both went to a session called "Chicken Salad" where crappy college designs were redesigned by the guy who led the session. I was proud when none of The Reflector's designs appeared — not that the Michael Koretzky, the speaker, even knows who we are. But I can dream that he's in awe of our fabulous designs.

After "Chicken Salad" ended, we went to lunch. While at lunch, I made the discovery that the guy who wrote some of the Indiana Jones novels was going to speak at today. So, because I felt that going to a session that had anything to remotely do with Indiana Jones would enhance my journalistic qualities, I ended up going to something called "You Should Write a Novel." The room it was located in was away from everything else, and when I asked a hotel employee directions she told me to follow a group of guys headed to the same place.

Big mistake. They didn't know their way around at all, and it took us fifteen minutes to find the room. And, because we went in circles for ten of the fifteen minutes, I had no idea on how to get back to where I should be. So, after stalking Max McCoy, the author, and gaining some tips on how to get a novel published, I truly had no idea what to do with myself.

So I decided to try to find my way back to the main convention area. When that didn't work, I found elevators that I thought would take me to my room because I knew I could find my way back from there. Nope. They had glass backs and creaked and took me to the office and business part of the hotel. I eventually made it to the east tower, somehow, even though it said west tower from where I was standing. So I did the smart thing. I told April I was lost. After walking out into the cold, discovering I was in the east tower instead of the west and getting directions from someone, she managed to find me.

We ended up taking a nap after sessions ended to catch-up on the sleep we lost because Delta didn't inform us they had canceled our flight. (Yes, I'm still mad about that.) It was the best nap ever, though I managed to sleep through several phone calls and text messages. Oops.

After we both woke up, April and I decided to get food. Then we walked out of the hotel and discovered it was really cold. So we went to buy jackets from a mall. After purchasing our clothes, we went to go find something to eat and ended up at a Mexican restaurant that had pretty good nachos. When we got done eating, we headed back to the hotel to do homework.

Once I got tired of my French homework, I decided that blogging would be a better use of my time. And oddly enough, I'm still really tired.

Random Things That Happened Today:
*We officially have traveled to five states because we went to Indiana to go to the mall.
*April and I both like Canons better than Nikons, and April has been asking random people which they prefer.
*I ordered my lunch just so I could get sherbet.
*We were originally going to eat dinner at Panera Bread, but they closed at 7 p.m. Dinner isn't even over then. And this is a big city, not Starkville.
*I once again gave bad driving advice. Seriously, why does April keep asking me?

Oh, and I can still hear airplanes out my hotel window.

By the way, you should read April's blog post to see how her day went.

Thanks, Delta: NCMC Day One

Because April and I are attending the National College Media Convention in Kentucky from tomorrow until Sunday morning, we were supposed to fly out of Columbus this afternoon and catch a flight to Louisville and arrive around 8 p.m. Supposed being the key word. When we showed up at the airport, we found out our flight had been canceled and had been pushed to tomorrow afternoon and no one had told us. And Julia, who had dropped us off, had already left, so we were stuck at the airport. So, thanks, Delta. For everything. Really.

April tried to find out if we could get a flight out of another airport, but one of the desk guys — who I am officially dubbing Mr. Grumpypants (yes, I know I sound about five) — thought she was stupid. I just don't think he understood her questions. After trying, and failing, to get another flight to Louisville today, we just decided to drive.

Which is why I spent eight hours in a car driving across four states. Well, April did the driving. Luckily, Julia was able to come get us and drop of off at April's car. We took the Nachez Trace even though we didn't have to — that was my fault by giving bad driving advice — and got to see pretty leaves while following a really slow moving silver van. I learned I should never give anyone any opinion on directions, ever and that people drive really slow.

I also have a list of popular songs like "Teenage Dream" by Katy Perry and how many times they were played on the pop station of April's satellite radio (eight, for the record). I tried to take pictures of the moon with my camera, but even with the shutter speed at 4000 and the aperture at 36, all I got was a black picture.

I spent the first half of the trip staring at my computer and occasionally writing things down for an opinion article for Friday's edition of The Reflector. Like always, I'm sure everyone will love my take and write me tons of fan mail. That, or call for my immediate resignation. I finally was able to finish it in time for a really annoying smart car to pull in front of us and drive really slow. I'm pretty sure April's land rover could have taken it out.

Eventually, after a gas station stop, a late night meal at Wendy's and getting off at the wrong exit, we made it to the hotel. Just in time for a plane either land or take off every two minutes outside our window. Literally. I still don't understand how every flight to Louisville was booked. But now we're here, with a car and ready to go on another adventure after catching a couple of hours of sleep.

But the worst part of all this is the fact that I went out and bought travel sized bottles to take on the plane. And now I don't even need them.

Wanted: Morris Cohen - The Reflector - News

Wanted: Morris Cohen - The Reflector - News

This is the second part in my series about the "Super Bad Dawgs" of Mississippi State University. I actually thought it was much cooler that we had a Russian spy attend State than a gangster, so this article was more interesting to write. It's actually shocking how much he and his wife did throughout their lifetime, it's fascinating to think of why they did it.

Of course, everyone who read, "Communism holds merits we may not have seen", my opinion article last Friday, may think I was cheering them on. Of course, they also probably read too much into the article if they think that. I mean, does anyone really think I would choose my form of government based on a cartoon?

WANTED: Super Bad Dawgs - The Reflector - News

WANTED: Super Bad Dawgs - The Reflector - News

I haven't really had time to update between homework and everything else. Lately, I've been spending all my free time in Mississippi State's archives to research notorious students for a series of articles called Super Bad Dawgs. I also found a lot of other interesting, random stuff that doesn't apply to the articles whatsoever, but now I feel smarter.

I Don't Have Homework ... Shocking

In between duties for The Reflector and ranting over the Emmys, I've had quite a bit of homework over the past week and a half. Not that I mind doing it, of course, because I'm at Mississippi State to learn — but it is exciting to have a day, every once in a while, that doesn't require much responsibility. Sadly, I do have a weirdly place night class on Tuesdays, but it's only for fifty minutes and then I'm free. (For the record, I don't like night class at all. Thank goodness it's only once a week.)

I got my "Lost" Blu-rays in the mail on Friday and have only gotten to enjoy bits and pieces of them. But I did watch the twelve minute epilogue to the series. It's a great way to wrap up some of the story lines and mysteries that weren't mentioned in the finale, and I really loved how they brought at certain original character back. I really recommend anyone who watched the show to check out the new footage. Or just buy the Blu-rays. I'm really enjoying what I have been able to watch and look through.

Last Tuesday I also didn't have much homework and managed to tear through the last book in The Hunger Games Trilogy. I really liked it a lot better than the last book (of course, I'd really have to because "Catching Fire" wasn't good at all) and wrote a review of it for The Reflector. You can find it here. Sadly, I don't have a book to read this Tuesday, but hopefully I can come up with something constructive (yet fun and slightly lazy) to do. I'm just so excited to have free time, even if it's only for a day.

Guess What I Bought?

Yesterday, I became the proud purchaser of "Lost: The Complete Collection." I still can't believe the series is over, and I don't think it will really hit me until Tuesday night spring television begins. It was the most original, exciting and frustrating television series of the twenty-first century and the first show I bothered to follow and watch live and, no matter how weird it got, I never gave up on it.

I can't wait until when the show is actually released on Blu-Ray, so that I can own it and force all of my friends to watch it with me. Get ready, guys. You're about to be converted ... whether you like it or not.

Summer Reading: How I Discovered My New Favorite Book

This week, my sister went back to school on Thursday. On Monday, I realized I had few plans after Wednesday, so I needed something to do. I decided instead of calling my friends at home and forcing them to do stuff with me or doing something constructive (like packing) I would go to the library and pick-up a few books to read.

Somehow, I stumbled upon "Good Omens" by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman — a humorous take on the Apocalypse foretold in the Bible. The book follows Aziraphale, an angel, and Crowley, a demon, who have both become accustomed to life on Earth and each other. After having bonded over their love for classical music, sushi and slight disinterest in their sides' agendas for thousands of years, the two supernatural beings have become closer to being friends than enemies.

After living his life happily for thousands of years, Crowley receives a wake-up call when he discovers the Anti-Christ will rise and begin the end of the world. He doesn't like this because Hell doesn't have the pleasures Earth holds. So, with the help of Aziraphale (who will also miss doing something other than strumming the harp for eternity), Crowley sets out to convince the Anti-Christ to be a force for good so the world will never end. Which means he can eat sushi for eternity. Not that their plans pan out, of course...

I've always admired Neil Gaiman and have been dying to read "The Graveyard Book" since it first was published (I'm in the middle of it now), and I hoped this book would be just as hilarious as the review on its jacket promised (not that those reviews mean much, after all, the publisher picks them out). The reviews did not overrate the book, and I found myself reading until one a.m. in the morning and snickering as a character delivered a particularly snarky remark.

During the moments when Crowley and Aziraphale were on the page together, the book truly became alive and the fast moving dialogue snapped with life. I loved every minute I spent with the demon and angel and when the book focused on the other characters (who were likable as well and actually were fleshed out), I sometimes felt myself wondering when I could get back to the unlikely duo's antics.

And, even though the book was extremely funny, it carried weight with the implications Gaiman and Pratchett left at the end of their story. It lets the reader question who is good, who is evil, what destiny means and how one becomes the way one is. I was captivated and fascinated by each part of the book, and when I closed the pages of the novel I was left with the impression that I could read it again and again and still not catch all of the subtle details the authors layered in their story.

My only regret? That I didn't discover this book earlier. It was published a little over twenty years ago, though it is so oddly relevant it could have been published today.