Assimilation

     I've been back in good ol' Missourah for four days now; classes start tomorrow and I'm all settled back in. My first 36 hours back felt unnecessarily hectic! I had a million things to do, it took longer than expected to get back than I'd planned, my car was dead from being in the garage all summer long, the house was hot, I had to unpack, do laundry, clean--blah. But I made sure to get Jimmy Johns as I'd been craving it for about a month and a half, and a Sonic slush for the same reason. The last four nights were spent winding down and being locked away in my room. I knew I'd be happy to be back in my own room, in my own bed, with all of my own things, but I didn't realize how happy I'd be. My room is the most serene place I know, and on top of that, I often times genuinely enjoy hanging out with myself more than with others (because I make myself laugh and don't talk too much), so that was just the icing on the cake.
     It was weird waking up Thursday morning. The view out my window, a big, green, open field bore a starkly contrasting from the view I had just the morning before of a laundry mat, ice cream house, and one of those old school silo-looking Brooklyn water towers. And the night before I'd fallen asleep to a muffled hum of distant traffic rather than the overbearing zipping of continuous traffic and horns and sirens. And I've been more aware of how slow life seems to move, as well as how much space there is. Actually, when I was driving down Broadway to Jimmy Johns, I saw the cars parked at angles in the spaces, and so many more cars could've fit if the parking spaces weren't oversized. I was taken aback by how large they were. Also, one day while I was driving I accidentally knocked on my brights, and could not, for the life of me, figure out how to turn them off! 
     At this point, finally being back to the regular ins and outs of my life, the last 3 months feel like an elaborate dream--completely unreal. But I can't much dwell on that because tomorrow it's back to work, AND it's my last first day of school EVER! wahoo! So, below is a link tomy summer condensed into approximately 6 minutes and 30 odd seconds. The video isn't an ode to my video editing skills, or anything new I learned, I just used iMovie to put music and pictures together, but it has some funny clips that I never shared in zee blog! I think the video is too big to put in the blog, but the link works! Enjoy! And blogging this summer made me remember how much I enjoy writing about whatever crossed my dirty little mind, so I'm pretty sure that I'll have another just-because blog that I'll update occasionally, so look out for that: " Sophisticated Ignorance" :)



And lastly, I don't know exactly who indulged in reading my blog over the summer, but thank you.

Summer in NYC Video

Blessings

The Island of Manhattan     

    I'm mid-flight typing this; finally headed back to the Midwest. But before I sum up this entire experience, there's some mild catching up that needs to be done. Emily came to visit the weekend that Kevin and I saw Nicki Minaj on GMA. That was an intense weekend. We had a lot of fun, went to First Saturdays at the Brooklyn Museum, hung out with a friend of mine from school and his friends. Em and I had a good time--all of the pictures will be in the video in the next post. I decided some time ago that I wanted to make a video montage of my summer in New York, so I've been working on it in installments, and finally finished it last night!
     After Emily left, I only had 7 more days of work. I spent a majority of that time working with sports, but a few days I shadowed one of the dayside producers and editors. They're responsible for the content of the packages, and then actually cutting it. It was interesting watching the editor because he was so quick with the Avid. I actually was able to meet Linsey Davis, an ABC correspondent during my days shadowing. Also during those 7 days, we had an intern event with a lady from the News Talent Recruitment and Development department, and before she started talking, she said she had two special guests and in walk Katie Couric and Ben Sherwood, the President of ABC News. I was in awe! It was so cool. I also never mentioned at anytime earlier that I met Robin Roberts a few weeks ago. After she was on WNT after interviewing the DSK accuser, I was on the phone with Rian coming back from break one night and ran into her in the lobby. She's so tall, but she was so nice!
     That's most of the catching up. Aside from that, as my days in New York City were drawing to a close, I was beginning to get more sad than I'd anticipated being. Yesterday after work I decided to get Shake Shack--this mad fatty burger place that's as delicious as it is bad for your cholesterol. I figured that would be my last meal since it's unique-ish to NYC and the east coast. I ended up eating it on the subway on my way home. Yuck, I know. But I was idling riding along musing, and reflecting on the chapter I was closing, while feeling like I'd still only just began writing it. The summer flew by! But as I sit there, part of me sad that my time in the city was up, while the other part was ecstatic to be that much closer to feeling a sense of normalcy, I was also silently reflecting on a big victory. 

         

     A friend from home wrote me on facebook the other day and she said something to the effect of, "I can't believe you're interning at ABC. Well, I can, but that's so awesome." And when I first saw it I just kind of laughed because, to me, it seemed odd to make such a statement at the conclusion of the internship versus upon first finding out or something. Lol, obviously it was from a goofy friend, and she was just being sweet, but then I started thinking. In retrospect, it's almost seems more crazy to fathom than it was initially. I just spent 3 months interning with ABC News in New York City. I saw Diane Sawyer on a nearly weekly basis in the hallway or bathroom. I was at an event, and Katie Couric walks in the door. Brian Ross frequented the same elevators, and George Stephanopoulous would pop out of random corners. (He's small and capable of such things. lol jk-ish) How many people can say those things. I can't believe that I interned at ABC. 
      I remember during the countless phone interviews before being accepted, I had my list of key points; what I want to do, why ABC, why me, why New York City, etc, etc. I was driven to get an internship in NYC because I'd fallen in love with the city months before and wanted to be back. I wanted to move to New York City because, aside from the glitz, glamour and bright lights of NEW YORK CITY, and aside from it being the central hub for news and news distribution across the country, I wanted to move there because I didn't have shit there. Not a pot to piss in, or window to throw it out of. I had no family to depend on, no close friends (initially) to keep me sane, nothing; I wanted to be completely out of my element, across the country from any and everything that I know and am used to, and I want to make it work. I remember telling my would-be-manager that I wanted to be given all the room in the world to fail, and then succeed. And as I sat stoically assessing the last 3 months, I was overwhelmingly emotionless. I couldn't cry (I was in public and sure as shit wasn't gonna cry on the subway anyway), I couldn't laugh, I didn't sigh in relief, I was just kind of in awe of the entire experience. I'd done everything I'd set out to do. And the feeling of victory--honest victory, it sweeter than anything.

View from Dirty Jerz

   Anywho, back to this flight. I already have a laundry list of things to do upon my return to CoMo. But, I'll bang out one more blog post on all of this, closing arguments and all that, ya dig? And the video I made! Stay tuned. 

Pink Friday

This morning Nicki Minaj performed for the Good Morning America Summer Concert Series and Kevin and I had VIP wristbands. Since the beginning of the summer we’d joked about our desire to see her when she came, and we ended up making that happen. It was a bit of an adventure though. First off, Kevin is from Jersey—the real Jersey Shore, and he commutes an ungodly 2.5 hours each way to work, so I let him crash on our couch in BK so we could get up and go early. INTERN SLUUUUMBER PARRTYYY!! So we got up at 3:30, left by about 4:15, made the exceptionally long early morning trek to Lincoln Center, dropped our stuff off at work, and then taxi’d over to E 72^nd and 5^th Ave on the east side of the park to head in by 5:45.



                Since we had the VIP wristbands, we were able to go in right away and didn’t have any lines to wait in at all, and we had an awesome view, like right in the front. So we just kind of stood around waiting. There were these two ladies next to us (and I use the term “ladies” extremely loosely in this case) that were super dressed up and stuff—nails done, hair done, everything done, they were fancy. But I’m pretty sure at some point in their lives, despite their cleavage, they’d been men. And at one point Kevin and I were whispering back and forth about some interview questions or something, and this woman behind me taps me and goes “yeah, they’re men.” Lol, and I was like, “…that is nootttt what we were talking about..but are you sure?” and I think they were. Which is fine, but this is key for later in the story.





 

"RIIIGHT HERE!"

                So at about 7:30 the band and dancers came out to start running through stuff, and then Nicki came out. It was pretty cool to see her interacting with her people and doing a sound check and stuff. Check out her outfit in the pictures—the boots she was wearing had the same print. She kind of looked like she was wrapped in wall paper. But OMG, her ass is ridiculous. And that’s all I’m gonna say about it because that is absolutely all that can be sad—RIDICULOUS! So after the sound check wrapped up, there was this guy that was in charge of like getting the  crowd all hyped up, but he was corny and annoying. But at about 8:15 before Nicki came back out to actually perform, he was talking to the crowd and some people in the crowd were wearing off-the-wall wigs in true Nicki Minaj fashion, I guess someone even had like a cotton candy wig. So the guy yells out, “WHO DO YOU THINK HAS THE BEST WIG HERE?!?”

    

                And Kevin, without the slightest ill intentions, points to the blonde-wigged tranny next to us and goes, “RIGHT HERE! RIIIIGHT HERE!!!” LMAO, when I tell you I died, I mean I legitimately.dropped.dead!! Lol some of the people around us looked on in horror, some snickered, some ”oooohhh’d” and the tranny ladies were NOT happy lol. I crack up into pieces every time I think about Kev yelling that out because he legit didn’t mean any harm by it, but was just being honest, and it was HEEEEE-LAR-IOUS!

                Shortly after that Nicki and the GMA crew came out. And so did Nicki’s nipple. Complete Janet Jackson-esque nip slip…well, this was more of a Slip-N-Slide because her nipple was out for a substantial amount of time. And because it was taped live, viewers in the Eastern market saw it on tv—it was cleaned up before any other areas got that cut of the show. But it was pretty funny. They fixed her up with some double-stick tape after the first song to prevent it from happening again. Then there was the interview with Robin, and then two more songs. At the end of the show, before she left, Nicki came back out, and did like part of one more song. I’m not a big Nicki Minaj fan, so I don’t know the names of most of her songs. But the crowd was in love with her, and it was an electric atmosphere.

                I had a lot of fun, but was tired after having to then find our way through the park and go to work. But it was a good morning.

             

 

 



Complacency & Contentment

During the time that I spent manning a shift that I hated for longer than I wanted, I fell into a rut and began focusing more on the perceived negatives than the actual positives. I was growingly more and more unhappy with how I was spending my time, not only at work because of the amount of time that I had to just dick around on the internet, but also displeased with my time outside of work. During that time as I said in “Catch-Up,” an 8-hour work day was easily turned into much longer than that, and the rest of the time I was tired. I was a grump. As I’ve said before, and continually tell myself, I can’t be upset while I’m here and I need to focus on the positive; always, no exceptions. Four months ago all I wanted was to be exactly where I am today, doing exactly what I’m doing. It’s crazy to me that it’s possible to get exactly what you want, and still be unsatisfied.          In the free time that I have to wandering aimlessly through cyber space, I was catching up on some celebrity gossip, and in the wake of the pending Jay-Z & Kanye collabo “Watch the Thrown,” there were rumors of a falling out between the two. Long story short, Jay-Z stopped by Hot 97 and addressed it saying:

"Yes, we get on each other's nerves, but that's part of pushing each other. We push each other. The people who have a problem with Kanye or myself are the people that are complacent in life."

                So, I began thinking about the notion of complacency. I’d become discontent with what I was doing work-wise, but I wasn’t striving to become complacent. In other words, I was bored at work and wanted to be doing more challenging work, but at the same time, I don’t ever want to be in a position where I become too comfortable and overly assured in the work that I’m doing. I don’t think it’s okay to ever become too content; it’s like a fine line. Set a goal, reach it, become content with the results, and then set another—always striving for more. I think if you set a goal and consider the work done once it’s reached, you’re likely to become content and those are the kind of people (in my opinion) that Jay-Z was referring to; people that reach a goal and then are done. He and Kanye West are two of the best at what they do, yet they continue to challenge themselves to be better and do greater. I want to have the same drive, especially professionally. And oddly enough, I’m not alone in that desire.

                Also in my spare time at work I like to read psychology articles and journals. It’s my inner nerd that comes out to play. Anywho, lately I really get my rocks off reading about studies done on Millennials—people born between 1979 & 1994. Note that the years vary slightly depending on the source, but it’s just like Generation X or Baby Boomers, and as Millennials are beginning to enter and take over the work force, more and more research is being done and I love it. Granted the results are typically generalizations applied to a group ranging in age <15 yrs, race, sex, religion, etc. But I think I really like it because I feel like it’s loosely describing me—like a horoscope. Some interesting things I read in “New Generation, Great Expectations: A Field Study of the Millennial Generation” are below:

"Millennials have low tolerance for less-than challenging work, and often perform poorly in high-volume and non-stimulating work."

“The Millennials also considered people and work-related attributes to be important in their job choice. The emphasis on people supports the contention that Millennials are interested in more than just the job, and emphasizing the social aspect of work. This may also suggest that Millennials may be more loyal to their colleagues and supervisors than to their organizations (Lancaster and Stillman 2002). For example, a manager may leave a firm and very shortly after, others may join the manager, because they [Millennials] will say, ‘‘It’s my team that I am working with’’ (cf. Pooley 2006). Myers (2007) suggested that the secret to successfully managing the Millennials may lie in using the same strategies their parents used to raise them. This may mean providing them with lots of support, coddling, and giving them a sense of belonging, but without turning the workplace into a ‘‘daycare.’’ Another suggestion is to give the Millennials responsibilities fairly quickly, allowing them the flexibility to do the job their own way, but to expect results and show them how their contributions fit.”

  

                More than almost anything, I hate having my time wasted and that’s how I feel like I’ve spent a lot of time clocked in. However, in trying to see the silver lining, my sports intern counterpart Kevin told me that other interns throughout the company that work for tv shows often are just in charge of crowd control, and monitoring lines, and getting people to their seats and stuff. At least I’m doing practical work, and it’s actually helped my video editing skills, plus I’ve become fairly proficient with news programs. I had a pow wow with my manager a few days ago and we talked about my feelings about my internship as whole. And I was honest with her, as far as my likes and dislikes and things I’d do differently if I had to do again. But she praised me and my work performance, telling me that I was just as good as any Production Assistant she’d hired, and she said that I ended up doing so much of that work because they were able to just let me go on my own and work because I caught on quickly. Sounds good, I just know, as I told her, that starting as a production assistant at the network isn’t the route I’d chose to take to get my foot in the door. And luckily, having a fulltime job lined up back in Columbia, that won’t be the route I need to take.

                But some good advice I got this summer was something to the effect of “sometimes you need to do something that you don’t like, to realize that it’s not for you.” I can check that off my list. BUT, I’m still grateful for the experience.

**But that study I read was realllly good, so go read it: http://proquest.umi.com.proxy.mul.missouri.edu/pqdlink?Ver=1&Exp=08-02-2016&FMT=7&DID=2033951221&RQT=309  (if that link works)

Catch-Up

I’m on my Wayne “Sorry 4 the Wait” flow J I’ve been terrible about blogging lately. It’s been nearly 2 and a half weeks, and my mind has been elsewhere wandering. First, I focused on a 10-day binge that came right as my mom and brother left. I had to work for 10 days straight—no weekend off, and it was miserable. And to make matters worse, I was working 3-11, which generally isn’t too bad—when you’re able to hop in the car and make the 7-10 minute drive into work and after finishing up for the day, make the same 7-10 minute drive back home. But that isn’t the case in the Big Apple where a significant percentage of the general population doesn’t even own a car. And living in Brooklyn was the cherry on top for those 10 days. An 8-hour work day was easily turned into a 10-11 hour day with the commute alone. Getting on the subway at 11pm to head to Brooklyn is borderline torture as the subways slow down, and the typically 45-minute commute slows and drags into an hour and a half long commute. And that’s all worsened some nights by the lunatics that use the New York subway system, but I’ll get into that later. Complaints aside, needless to say, I was absolutely exhausted after that marathon. However, in a Fortunately/Unfortunately manner, those 10 work days were juxtaposed with a relaxing 4-day weekend. In my head, I’d planned to do some catch-up blogging during my 4-day couch-ride, but that didn’t happen. Nor did the 4-day couch-ride actually happen, as I did spend some time out and about.

                Actually, let’s rewind. In the midst of the long work run, I found myself this club SL one night. I’ve been a pretty big homebody for the last year and a half, and I don’t go out like I used to. But you know how sometimes you get the urge to have one of those Lady Gaga-esque “Just Dance” nights? Lol a night narrated by the lyrics “What’s goin on on the floor? I love this record baby but I can’t see straight anymore. Keep it cool, what’s the name of this club? I can’t remember but it’s alright, a-alright. Just dance.” Yeeeah, I had a craving for a blurry-visioned night with bass loud enough to make my heart beat in sync with whatever was playing. And I lost my phone. And foolishly paid an outlandish amount of a money for an unnecessary late night/early morning cab-ride to Brooklyn, all for the sake of driving over the Brooklyn Bridge. It was stupid.

                Last weekend, a friend from work took me to some places around Brooklyn that I hadn’t been. We went to Brooklyn Bridge Park and down around the DUMBO area. DUMBO is one of the coolest acronyms I know; Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass. The Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges are pretty close to each other, so in that area I had cool views of both, as well as the financial district skyline, views of the upper east side, and Govna’s Island.

                So that’s the expedited game of Catch-Up!



Anyone seen "The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3?" Denzel shoots John Travolta here!



Family Business: Part II

     Saturday a fairly chill day for us. We all slept in, and Monteil and I weren't feelin too hot; and I grumpy gills for most of the day because Monteil had broken my camera. Perfect! So we went into Manhattan and walked around the Financial District more and went to see Ground Zero. That was on Monteil's Must-See List, so we fit that in, and then we were able to talk my mom into making dinner. It's been a while since I've had a homecooked meal--probably since about February when she came to visit me when I had wrist surgery. So anytime I can get my mom to cook, then I'm pleased. 

Because we'd played it cool Saturday, we had to make the most of the Sunday. It was also their last full day in the city, so we got up early and I made pancakes! Then we made the long trek up to Harlem. Also on Monteil's Must-See List was Rucker Park, which wasn't far from Yankee Stadium, so we were able to see both of those. Then we headed back about 40 blocks and stopped at Harlem Tavern to have a few drinks and relax. We then walked around that area a bit and saw the Apollo Theater before heading back downtown. We saw the big flagship Macy's Store, and the Empire State Building and Madison Square Garden and all of that.

 

    After that, we walked around West Village and stopped at some little cafe where I finally filled with my soul with some long-sought after delicious guacamole! Oh, my little heart was so content. After walking around for a few more hours, we headed home to Brooklyn, changed, and then back into Manhattan for dinner. Standard night. 

   By the end of the night, I was DEAD tired. I'm not used to being nearly as active as I had been in those few days, and I was ready to sleep and get back to the normal work grind. So I passed out as soon as we got back to my place.
   The next morning, I slept while they prepared for the travels back to DeKalb. Hah, I can't say that I was terribly sad to see them go. Perhaps because I'm well-accustomed to the goodbyes by now, or perhaps because I was overdue for some quiet Janai Time. Either way, I had a blast while they were here. My brother actually warmed my heart a couple times during the visit. And by that, I basically mean that he complimented me, which isn't exactly his norm. At one point, he was like, "I don't know how you just moved here without knowing anyone or anything," and by that I know he was at the very least, slightly impressed with how I'd adjusted to life in New York City. And the second time came at dinner, I started this little self-absorbed game I like to play sometimes when out of nowhere I'll just ask someone to name their 3 favorite things about me. I generally get really sarcastic, insulting responses. My mom decided that she wasn't going to play because I was getting on her nerves, and Monteil said, "your mental strength; it amazes me." 
    To be quite frank, I've done some downright dumb shit in my 22 years, and I've had some moments when I disappointed a lot of people. But at the same time, I've done and am doing some pretty awesome things, and it feels good being on the opposite end of that spectrum, knowing that I'm making at least a few people proud--especially when it's these two. 

Family Business: Part I

  

Mom & Brother in Time Square

Monteil & Diddy

  Thursday morning, Mom and Monteil arrived. I had Thursday and Friday off of work so that I could spend as much time with them as possible. I'd decided early on that we'd try to get all of the touristy stuff out of the way on Thursday in hopes of avoiding as many crowds as possible. My mom had been to the city once before when she accompanied me for a career workshop I went to last November, but this was my brother's first time. Naturally, he had his own little list of things and places that he wanted to see. So Thursday we started with the basics: Time Square, Central Park, Columbus Circle, Financial District, skyline, etc...all that stuff. We rode the subway a lot, so they were able to experience all of the craziness that is the New York Subway system. Thank god we did ride the subway a lot because my mom's high-maintenance self was not up for doing too much walking. Often times, like when we were here before, I had to kind of trick her to milk her for as many blocks as I could. "Don't worry mom, we're almost there," ten blocks later, "only a little further." Haha, but she did well.

     So we walked around Time Square and made our way towards Columbus Circle and the Upper West Side. We stopped for Pizza before lolly-gagging through Central Park. The park is so gigantic that I feel like it's nearly impossible to navigate through. Fun Fact: Did you know that Central Park accounts for approximately 6% of all of Manhattan? So, we did that and continued down 5th Ave past all of the Pradas and Guccis. Most importantly, we passed Harry Winston. I'd been down 5th Ave before, but I guess I never paid attention, but oh my gosh. In the window, there were some of THEE most beeeeauuutiful diamond rings I've ever seen. And it was then that I decided, undoubtedly, if I am to be expected to marry someone and share the rest of my life with them...it will come at a cost no less than the finest of Harry Winston's most recent collection. Emerald Cut. Anyway, then we headed way downtown to the Financial District and I took them on the Staten Island Ferry. Mom loved that because we were able to sit most of the time, and it was a pretty warm day, so the breeze felt great. So we road over to Staten Island and then headed right back.

      By the time we finished on the Ferry, we were all pretty tired, so we headed back to Brooklyn and chilled there for the remainder of the night. We'd also planned to wake up early to go to Coney Island the next day, so we were able to restore our energy for that.

     Friday morning, we got a bit later of a start than originally planned, but were still able to make the most of the day. We took the subway to Coney Island, and it was a gorgeously sunny and warm day. As I am a firm believer than I am vitamin D-deprived in comparison to summers spent in the Midwest, I really just wanted to lay out and get my extra dark on. But they weren't really in agreeance--so they sat under the umbrella. There were people walking around on the beach selling "nutcrackers," and we had no idea what they were. So, I inquired; vodka (or a variety of liquors) and juice. Monteil and I figured it'd be a good idea to start drinking, so we bought some. We'd each get 2, and my mom would have 1. We did this like 3 times, but I only recall the first 2.







      

Harry Potter NYC Premiere

     Monday was the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 Premiere in New York, and it just so happened to be at Lincoln Center, just a block over from ABC. I am not a Harry Potter fan in the least; tried to read a book once and failed miserably, had to go to the first film for a 7th grade field trip and fell asleep, and never managed to see another film or get into it at all. However, my compadre and fell intern/partner-in-crime Kevin is a fanatic. And I was excited for the premiere because it was so close, and it's still exciting. So Monday we took a few minutes to run over to Lincoln Center to see all of the madness. 

   Some people had been lined up for six days! People had signs and were screaming and all excited hours before any of the cast even arrived. It was kind of cool to see everyone so pumped about the movie. We even ran into a man dressed as Lord Voldemort and took a picture with him (above). 
     So we went back to the office and as Kevin follows some Harry Potter info thing on twitter, he got the update when Dan Radcliffe  (Harry) arrived and stuff. He gets off work at 6:30, so I took my break then and we decided to walk back over to see how the madness had progressed throughout the afternoon.

     
  As we got there, we started to walk to the left of the building in the picture and then we heard people screaming and running. So Kevin takes off running right along with the rest of the herd, and at first, my extra cool ass was like, I will NOT run at this Harry Potter nonsense. But then Kevin was getting really far away, so I had to run after him. Turns out, all the screaming was because Emma Watson was on the red carpet.

Kevin was in love.

And then we saw Rupert Grint.

   And then I went back to work.

Newsroom Perspective: Casey Anthony

    Is the dust beginning to settle yet? This has been a completely standard week at work with the exception of the madness that was the Casey Anthony verdict on Tuesday afternoon. Like the rest of the world, I am not without strong opinions. However, unlike everyone else, I'm not a "regular news viewer." This idea of being a "regular news viewer" versus not being one was brought to my attention by the World News floor director when she stopped by the newsroom Monday (to guilt me into sitting on the set.) But having affiliations with news, working in news, etc, we--news heads, watch the news differently. And it's kind of funny because I briefly caught the beginning of a WABC (the local ABC affiliate) newscast, and I noticed when the camera angle was just slightly changed and focus was altered on the shot--stupid things that most people wouldn't notice. And I remember in March, I was in Tulsa with a fellow production assistant to visit a former director and anchor, and  Ryan, Jake and I were watching clips from Fox 23 and it was so nerdy because the conversation was all about camera angles and differences in equipment and stuff. I think that was the first time that I realized we absorb news different, and kind of television for that matter. I remember watching the NFL Draft this year and wishing so badly to be in the newsroom behind the whole event because it would be madness; the number of cameras, the last minute changes, all of the graphics, oh my gosh. I'm way off subject. Anyway, Casey Anthony!
     I've been just as captivated by the story. Since I've been here interning, we've had live feed from our affiliate station in Orlando of all of the courtroom drama that I was glued to, I read nearly every story, and every update, on the ABC website, and I've engaged in each conversation about the trial that's come my way--needless to say, I was addicted. And like nearly everyone out there, and I feel fairly safe saying and meaning "nearly everyone," I wanted Casey Anthony to get that Monopoly treatment: Go straight to jail, do not pass go, do not collect $200. But I hoped for that outcome more for the sake of a good ending to an even better story. And I was "shocked" by the verdict, but not shoooocked by it, and I say this without hindsight bias. By that I mean, I was shocked that as a result of the verdict, Casey Anthony will be a free bird in a matter of days, but not shocked that she was found not guilty of the charge of first degree murder.
      Regardless of how you feel about the story, the outcome, and it's main character, the Nancy Grace-coined "Tot Mom," I think there are a few important things to consider. First, is the role of the media in the villification of Casey Anthony; one of a handful of ugly sides I'm growing increasingly aware of. I almost guarantee that the first time you heard this story: doe-eyed two-year-old missing, and her party animal young mother failed to tell anyone for an entire month, right away, it preys on your emotions and already you had negative opinions about Casey Anthony. She didn't stand a chance against the opinions formed by the nation by way of the media.

 Stuart Chase said, "for those who believe, no proof is necessary. For those who don't believe, no proof is enough."

    Regardless of how the trial played out, opinions had been formed, and many minds were made. Then there's the anger and hard feelings towards the jury. Juror #3 that ABC had an exclusive interview with said that it had come down to the cause of death, and without a definitive cause, they couldn't define a punishment. Sure, with chloroform and duct tape, it seems nearly "common-sensical " to attribute those to murder. But imagine potentially having someone else's life in your hands, or even worse, your life in someone else's hands. Now imagine the reluctance associated with that, and relying on what someone else deems "common sense." I don't care how many people categorize an idea of common sense, if you're gonna take me out, I'd rather facts. 
     Most importantly, it's unfortunate that Casey Anthony has become the main character in this story and that the media and nation's fixation on her, and her outlandish lies and manipulations have taken centerstage. This story originally captivated the hearts of Americans because it was a story about a missing little girl, but it's been spun into a psychological thriller taken right from the set of Criminal Minds. SHOUT OUT TO CRIMINAL MINDS, MY FAVORITE SHOW EVER! But the focus should have remained on Caylee Anthony, and there were points when it didn't, and she was seemingly as invisible as Zanny the Nanny and the other make-believe characters.
     Either way, I don't want to play Nancy Grace, nor receive any death threats myself. But I support the verdict reached because it was based on the evidence presented. And I think Casey Anthony is bat-shit crazy, but was unfairly portrayed from the beginning. And the media was largely, if not unproportionately to blame. But, I have a funny story.
     So, Wednesday, the day that ABC scored the exclusive interview with juror #3, I got a phone call at work from a verrrry angry woman.

 

Me: NewsOne.

Her: Is this ABC, the affiliate..uhh, the network?

Me: Yes, NewsOne.

Her: Well, uhh, I heard that you all had an exclusive interview with the third juror in the Casey Anthony trial, and uhhh, I heard that you all offered her free trips to DisneyWorld and all expenses paid and everything! And I am OUTRAGED! I will NOT be watching ABC anymore, and I'm sure there are others that feel the same! So could you just pass that message along?!

     I wonder if she'll also stop watching ESPN, Disney Channel, Disney movies, ABC Family, and any other affiliations that ABC has. Baahah. That's all I'll say about that.

Knee-High by the Fourth of July

   I remember reading "Knee-High by the Fourth of July" on the front page of the Daily Chronicle a few years ago, and I don't know why that's something that's stuck with me. It's a saying that farmers use to anticipate a good season or the crops growing well--if the corn is knee-high by the fourth of July, then you're doing pretty well. 1,000+ miles away from the cornfields, my fourth of July wasn't set to be very exciting--I had to work. Surprise: news takes no holidays!
    I didn't have to work until 3pm, so I'd planned to wake up early and go layout in Central Park--but that was NOT happening. No matter how hard I try, I'm always sleeping right until I HAVE to get up for work. So, work started out pretty standard, exceeeepppttt!! The night manager and lineups person brought in hot dogs in like a crock pot, and we had a George Foreman grill, and homemade chocolate chip cookies--the GOOD kind, without too many chocolate chips! So, the day started out perfectly..I began with 2 hot dogs and some cookies. By the end I consumed 5 hot dogs in total and 6 cookies :-O baahaha, few people have seen me go to town with my fat girl binges. It was delicious though. Next year maybe I'll enter the infamous Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest out at Coney Island.

First Time I'm Proud to be The Creep in back

     Then, later I was basically forced to sit on the World News set. I didn't really want to because I didn't feel like sitting still for that long, and it was David Muir as Diane is still gone, and I just didn't feel like it. But since it's a holiday, they were extra short on people, so I did. It wasn't too bad, and I was actually on TV alot this time!

Something Made Me Laugh...

     So, then my friend and I went to scope out whether or not we could gain access to ABC's roof on the 47 side. (Sn: that's where we work, ABC basically owns all of 66th & 67th street between Central Park W and Columbus, there's WABC, 147, 77, and 47 where we work.) So we made our way through this secret little way to the roof. You have to take one elevator to the top floor, then get off, and go up again on the only elevator that goes to PH (penthouse) and then climb a flight of stairs, and blah blah all this stuff, but finally we made it to the roof! OOOH MYY WORD!! I wish I'd taken my phone and camera with on our maiden voyage to the top because it was still daylight and the views were absolutely breathtaking! Handsdown THEEE BEST views of Manhattan I've had. Off to the left, we could see the park and itty bitty people laying out and past it over to the east side, and straight ahead we could see to the CNN clock in Columbus Circle, and to the right the Hudson River and Hoboken, NJ, and behind us the upper west side. Oh my gosh, it was beeaautiful! I'm gonna snoop back up there and get some pictures in the daylight before I leave because it was amazing!

     So we ended up watching the fireworks from there, and we weren't the only ones with the idea. There were quite a few people on the roof for the show, so we were in good company. It was pretty dope. The firework show itself wasn't quite as impressive as I would've expected, but the view, from the roof, and the excitement made it the best Independence Day I've had in some years.