My sister's fish died. Totally croaked. And you know what she did? She came into my room this morning GLEEFUL about the fact that he was dead. Dead...lying at the bottom of the bowl. And here's the bad part...he's still dead on the bottom of the bowl! So not only did he die a lonely death, but he hasn't even received a prompt and proper burial at sea yet! I tell you folks, it's terrible. Please...(hear me on this one) PLEASE, when I die, treat me better than my sister did the fish. Not that that's going to happen any time soon, but you know what I mean. Geez...the poor fish..no respect I tell you, no respect.
Life in my fish bowl has been a little on the murky side as well. Finals tend to do that to you. And interviews for jobs that are 4 months away. And moving to an unfamiliar city where you just want to live in the place you feel most comfortable and in safety and peace and quiet. But, the bright side is that I have pretty much all day tomorrow, all day Thursday, all day Friday and all day Saturday to study for finals and write a 6 page report (extra credit) that I haven't even started yet. Anyone know how to write a term paper with annotations? If so, feel free to let me know, cuz at this point I'm going to be searching through old English 101 textbooks for it. Spare me the time so I can read the information I need to have for the paper...
But at least I can have a little bit of time right now to collect my thoughts...and stare at the poor dead fish. Why did we put him on the computer desk anyway? What could be more depressing than that? Watching a bunch of college students yawn their way through paper after paper...no wonder he died. I'm surprised he didn't die sooner... of boredom!
And that's probably what I'm doing to you right now.
Okay, onward and upward, onto the more serious side...
Today I found out about a really cool opportunity. For the first time in the "J-school's" history, they're starting a program where one Depth Reporting class will enterprise story ideas, assign ideas, research and interview and then go down to Monterrey, Mexico for 7-10 days to meet with journalism students at Monterrey Tec University and do it all in Spanish while getting more info. Then, a magazine will be put together with all of the information, pictures from the photojournalism student, and a webpage put together and several TV packages. The magazine will be sent out nationwide! How cool is that? Anyway, I talked with the director today and she said she can only accept 6 print students, 4 TV people, 1 webpage person and 1 photog for the class. Only 12 people. And she said the trip will cost less than $500 and they're trying to get America West Airlines to fund our tickets down there. Then it would be really cheap. But this is such an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime experience that will add so much to a resume, not to mention provide some amazing clips. I talked with my journalism prof who is a mentor of sorts to me for journalism advice and she said it would be a great class for me. This lady knows the biz, so I trust her judgment there. She hasn't steered me wrong yet. So I have to go through an application process now and, wouldn't you know, just like everyone else, the due date is during finals. Whoohoo! I also have two interviews this week--one for the State Press newspaper (school newspaper) and the other for the weekly State Press Magazine. We'll see what happens with them. I'm hopeful though.
:sigh: phew...
Pray for me and this whole living thing in Tucson. I had it all pretty much sorted out in my head until now. Dang, I tried so hard and found a great deal...anyway, I need prayer for patience to deal with that situation and not do anything I regret. I just want to make some decisions on my own, you know? This really is a funny age. Such a tightrope.
Moving on...
I was reading in Matthew this morning...Mr. Matt 21 was pretty funny actually. I love the New Living Translation of the Bible because it just seems so much more true to life, you know? Okay, so what I got a kick out of was Jesus' conversation with the leading priests and others..
21:23-27
To paraphrase, the priests and the other guys confront Jesus, which i picture going like this...
Priests and homeboys: Dude, what's your problem? You think you're the boss of this Temple and can make people just leave because you want them gone?
Jesus: I'll tell you that IF you answer one question (:think Monty Python and the Holy Grail and the bridge scene) ...John's baptism was it from man or from God?
:Jeopardy music begins...:
:Priests huddle together like a bunch of football players, one every once-in-a-while stealing a look over his shoulder to glance at Jesus, who's calmly standing nearby with his hands clasped together in front of him)
:Priests in huddle: "Dude, we can't say it was from God or he'll ask us why we thought he was frontin'...and we can't say it's from man because then we'll get jacked up by this mob because they think he's the man"
:Silence...cricket chirp, cricket chirp:
:Priests and homeboys turn back to Jesus:
Priests and homeboys: "We don't know." :shrugs:
:Jesus, cocks head and smiles: "Then I won't answer your question either.
:Walks away:

I could totally see that happening in real life. The priests and men knowing they were caught and yet still trying to get out of it. Ooo, ephiphany! That totally reminds me of some of the kids I've done Bible studies with before on Sundays (quite a while ago, mind you). It's like they didn't want to mess up so rather than going one way or another, to save face, they'd say "I don't know." But it's just like Jesus did...he's not going to the answer the question until he gets a straight answer. I like that he doesn't beat around the bush with them or us for that matter. We need more of that, don't you think? I know I do...sorry, more stream of thought.
So that's my "deep thought" for the night. I'm pretty tired. And tomorrow I will begin my 5 day journey to understanding everything there is to know about Tianenmen Square in China, how to make a soundbite most appealing, why we use wallpaper footage, the role of news consultants in the global media and, your favorite and mine, how to conjugate a verb fifty million different ways. I bet you're jealous now. I'm sorry that I have made you stumble. Goodnight.