A day in the life of a reporter

Friday, Aug. 31, 2007: Woke up around 7 a.m., did some quick e-mails to people I wanted to connect with. Went into work around 8:30 a.m. to make a 9 a.m. meeting that was rescheduled from the day before. Interview goes well and story will be published for Agriculture feature next Wednesday.

Head home for a couple hours around 9:30 a.m. before heading to Granite Falls at 12:30 p.m. for a court appearance dealing with a story I’ve been following for a few years now. Watch some TiVo and e-mail with a friend to pass the time before the scheduled hearing at 1:30 p.m.

The hearing is pushed back to 2:30 p.m.

Head back to Marshall around 3:30 p.m., make it to the office to find another story broke and needed to get some quick comments for local reaction. By 4:30 p.m. had interviews done and story in the can. Short story, but it got the information out there. Write the court story and head home around 5:30 p.m.

Weekend coverage includes an evening event, head back into work at 7 p.m. for a big event at 8 p.m. that will be written about in the Tuesday edition of the paper. Get photos, interviews and listen to some music. Back home by 9:45 p.m.

Head to bed around midnight, can’t fall asleep so I write a quick blog post about my day. Reporters lead an interesting life don’t they?

Through Any Window

Wisely has a new video out staring the lovely Jenna Fischer. You should check it out.

I feel really smart right now

I’ve been working on a Web page for a friend of mine who is setting up a photography business. One of the key aspects of the Web site is a gallery management system that will allow him to password protect the photos, label them with easy to identify numbers and upload batch photos in one easy step.

I found the solution tonight after working with a few other options. I’ve implemented it on this site to try it out and I have to say I’m really happy. It’s called “Gallery 2,” an open source system that has a pretty good following. I’ve tried it in the past but shied away from it because it seemed a little daunting to play with. I got brave tonight.

I was able to do everything, including password protect the galleries which will allow Alex to just let the Bride and Groom check out the snaps he’s taken. I’m pretty happy with the solution and I look forward to his reaction.

Welcome to the world Cooper Swindle

My cousin Stephanie and her husband Brandon welcomed their second child Cooper into the world this morning. Big sister Summer looks proud in the photos Brandon posted. Meet Cooper and the family and check out more photos.

Vick’s Jury

Via Alex, Cartoon by Gary Varvel.

Thinking about First Ave.

I’ve seen a lot of concerts over the years. From Jimmy Eat Wold with the Promise Ring to The White Stripes and a historic Coldplay show, I’ve seen a lot of concerts. And all those were at the historic First Avenue and the 7th Street Entry.

First Ave is an important place to us music fans in Minnesota. The Replacements, The Jayhawks, Semisonic, and even Prince all got their starts at the dark, star studded night club. Price even used First Ave as the back drop of his Purple Rain film.

In 2004 the unthinkable happened. First Ave shut its doors for what we thought might be forever. Like many venues the place was facing some financial issues and entered bankruptcy. It quickly reopened though, with Gwar (of all bands) taking the stage on opening night.

Like I said, I’ve had some amazing experiences at First Ave. I saw Coldplay performe there just days before “A Rush of Blood to the Head” was released. Chris Martin played four encores and the venue had to kick him off stage. I had a drink in the balcony while watching The Promise Ring play one of their last shows. Stood two feet away from Jack White of the White Stripes before they went on stage.

A few years ago First Ave released a “Bootleg” to celebrate its 35th anniversery. There is a Joe Jackson performance of “Is She Really Going Out with Him?” that reminds me why I love music.

I don’t have any shows on the docket right now, but I’m looking forward to the next time I step foot in the dark, scuzzy hole that is First Ave.

Things I would rather be doing right now

I’m feeling a bit lethargic at the moment, sitting on my couch staring at my MacBook thinking about things I would rather be doing right now. Here’s a run down of some things I’d like to be doing right now but I’m not:

• Golfing
• Hanging out with friends
• Going to a good concert
• Going for a drive
• Not being lazy

Of course there are ways of making this happen, but in the end I’m being really lazy right now. I might take up the fourth task though as it seems the easiest to accomplish (besides the final one. OK, maybe the final one is hard to do too).

Katrina, 2 years later

Two years ago today we witnessed one of the worst disasters to hit this country in centuries as many southern communities were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. We watched as the storm pounded the region, apparently leaving little damage. We were horrified when the levies broke and the true breadth of the event came into view.

Over the last two years I have talked with many people who have traveled to the hardest hit areas, inspired by their work and proud of this region and its response to the disaster.

It’s hard to believe it has been two years. I remember vividly watching the news a few days before the storm hit land. The discussion of how New Orleans would come out of the storm. At the time it was hard to imagine exactly what could happen.

We of course now know that a major city can be decimated. With a poor response from areas within the government, it also highlighted problems we have hopefully started to fix.

My thoughts and prayers continue to be with those effected by Katrina.

So fresh and so clean

I’ve been tinkering with the theme for this blog for a few days now, doing small pieces at a time until I could get it to a place that I felt represented me in a relatively original way, using what I had at my disposal. Instead of codeing a design from the ground up, I ended up taking the POOL theme that I’ve been using for a while now and just bending it till it did what I wanted.

I think I’ve done a pretty good job of making it look original and different from the original theme. Borja Fernandez has done a wonderful job with the original POOL theme that this site is based on. I just wanted to take it to a little more original levels.

I can’t promise I’m done tinkering with this thing, but I think this is a direction I can live with. I really like the blues I’ve come up with. We’ll see how long I can live with it. Feedback is welcomed and I’d appreciate any suggestions people might have.

And yes I realize it has a “Web 2.0″ feel. I’m not sure how I feel about that. Oh well.

Tinkering with the blog

Just a note to regular readers, I am in the midst of trying out new things with the theme (design) of the blog, making it a little more personal. There are a few things I’ll be adding in the near future, including a better header and some other tricks. I recently added my Twitter updates on the side, not sure if I’ll stick with that or not, let me know what you think.

It’s late and I am still awake. I’m going to bed now. G’nite.