Ahh.. the therapy of blogging.

[WARNING: this post may a get a little sentimental.]

 I am a pretty big advocate of the blogging-is-separate-from-journalism camp, but over the past few days, I have realized one way in which blogging may be better, believe it or not.

 Now, I do not quite know how to preface this, because an outpouring of sympathy is by no means what I want or need. This past weekend wasn’t the best. A close friend of mine from the University of Chicago died in a car accident Saturday night. Seems unrelated, but here’s what it made me realize about BLOGS:

 1. They are supportive and therapeutic: whether it is through supportive comments or just going on the site to read everyone else’s posts (which I have done about 29583723 times in the past few days). I would absolutely not go to a highly journalistic news website to cheer me up or find support.

2.  They let you express how you feel. I can’t pretend that I am giddy and hyper and happy right now, so I can’t right a post that sounds giddy and hyper and happy (which, unfortunately, I think I usually do—yikes). Blogs can be about anything and express whatever emotion they want at the time. News cannot.           

So, while I still stand that blogging and journalism are completely separate entities, I have a new respect for blogging. I feel like in all our discussions we have felt a need to make one ‘good’ and the other ‘bad,’ but really, that is not the case. Blogging and journalism serve different social functions, and right now, I’ve turned to blogging.

 Thanks for keeping this so entertaining, everybody!                                             

Another great form of multimedia

I accidentally discovered another kind of multimedia this week, all thanks to my Dad.

I wasn’t sure anyone still used snail-mail until I moved into my own apartment at school and started receiving—literally—weekly (sometimes bi-weekly) letters from my dad. They rarely have any real message in them, but just one or two newspaper clippings that reminded him of me. (I’m not sure my dad knows how to go online yet actually, but hey, he’s supporting print newspapers!)

One of the articles he sends every week is a Sunday New York Times fashion column by Bill Cunningham. Cunningham is actually a photographer, but, as we know will be required of us when we find jobs, is multi-tasking by writing the column that is surrounded by his photos.

It was just this week that I realized there was a URL and keyword at the bottom. I checked it out, and every week, Cunningham produces a ‘narrated slideshow’ of his photos. So here, a fashion photographer is still doing what he loves, but also writing the column and narrating a compilation of his photos. So don’t give up hope!

The slideshows are pretty interesting, if you like fashion. If not, I’m sure theTimes online uses this feature in other areas of interest. Here is a link to one I just watched: Cunningham talks about how fashions changes in direct relation to how the economy changes.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/01/10/fashion/20090110-street-feature/index.html

Here’s what it looks like in print, courtesy of my dad, possibly the only snail-mailing newspaper reader left:

The Future of Journalism

Newspapers, magazines, Web, photo, video, graphics, slideshow, TV, advertising, multimedia, blogs. If you thought the world of communications was limited to print, TV and Web, think again.

 In an interesting series of discussion in my Online Journalism class (the class for which I created this blog about fashion at DePaul), we have pulled apart the different forms of media and what they mean to a journalism student contemplating her future career. The ultimate conclusion we have come to is this: to transition into today’s journalistic world, we better figure out how to combine two or more of those forms into one big package of talent.

 Many journalists today are doing more than one thing: photographers are taking video, reporters are making feature photo albums. A few weeks ago, we had a speaker named Chris Booker come to our class. His website is linked below. Booker refers to himself as a multimedia journalist, and has created kinds of journalism totally unlike what we are used to.

cgbooker.com

 Everyone has a different opinion about what journalism is becoming. Some people love the prospect of creating new projects; others value traditional print papers. What do you think? 

Favorite Sports

Note: Sports may seem a little unfitting to be on this blog, but I will stray from my normal topics for awhile to fulfill requirements for another class. This could be interesting!


Although it may not seem like it, I am actually quite a sports fan. I played lots of different sports in high school, and my favorites by far were soccer and cross-country. I still love to run (although my awkward knees and lots of physical therapy have practically ruined it for me!).

I love to watch soccer and especially baseball. Recently, though, I have been forced into loving to watch football, as I have a lot of friends on the University of Chicago team. I never watched it before (and still don't fully understand it) but I'm slowly starting to like it. (I hope those friends don't read this!)

My roommate bought me a Snuggie for Christmas this year. As soon as they come out in maroon (right now only sea-green, royal blue and (I think) purple are offered--I'm sorry I know that), I can't wait to show up to UofC football games in it! I'm sure that will be a big hit. (See, I knew I could incorporate great fashion into this post!)

Interview with a Student Fashionista II

I interviewed sophomore Anna Marie Pemberton about her classy sense of style:

How would you describe your style?

It is a little bit of everything, I have some expensive clothes but a lot of really cheap clothes. I really like to wear skirts and dresses. Not even to dress up, but because I like to look really feminine. I like feeling like a girl.

Where do you shop?

Urban outfitters and Forever 21 are big staples, but I am a big window-shopper, so if I see something I like I go in; so I end up shopping at lots of random places.

Has your style changed since high school?

No, I’ve always really liked to dress up. The biggest change is probably practical shoes, because we have to walk a lot at school.

Summer or winter clothes?

Summer, for sure. I like being able to throw things on and go out the door. In the summer it is easier to look put together without actually being put together.

Costume Design and Technology

Interview with a Costume Technology student at DePaul's Theater School




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jx7bbYDl5Ak

Photo Essay

Katrina Kopeck, a sophomore at DePaul, washes her 'colors load' at the Coin Laundromat Thursday. The laundromat is on Lincoln Avenue, not far from Kopeck's apartment, but far enough to warrant the use of a wheeled cart (foreground). The cart fell over only once during this trek, which Kopeck said is good.
Even with clean laundry, Kopeck finds it difficult to decide on an outfit to wear Friday evening. Kopeck was preparing for a date: dinner and a movie. When the decision was finally made, her bedroom floor was covered with rejected options.  Choosing her outfit put her behind schedule on getting ready, and she still had to prepare conversation topics for dinner!
Kopeck employed the help of friend and roommate Mary Nolan, also a sophomore, to style her hair. Here, Kopeck explains to Nolan what she would like done to her hair: straight, but with a little more volume. The girls' makeshift 'salon' is the bathroom of their apartment, located on Lincoln Avenue.The sink in Kopeck's bathroom is littered with the supplies she and roommate Nolan are using to get her date-ready. Make-up, various brushes and Ben and Jerry's ice cream. Kopeck said the ice cream was essential to calming her nerves, the make-up and brushes only secondary.
Outfit chosen and hair styled, Kopeck adds a scarf from Anthropologie, her favorite place to shop, and  leaves her apartment for her date Friday night. She was meeting her date at the AMC Theater on East Illinois Avenue downtown. The two saw "Grand Torino," Clint Eastwood's latest movie.