Still waiting...

For something to change. And for winter to end. But, in the meantime, here are some new links:

Squid beaks (Separately, I scientifically conclude that they're icky)

Bendable chips (Note the almost byline on the bottom, in tiny type!)

Deadly diseases (I've been self-diagnosing ever since)

Hyperactivity study

Smoking actually does stunt your growth!

While I have been working full time lately (huzzah!), I spend a lot of time dashing off stories pretty quickly, weaving together interviews, stuff from radio and tv, wire copy and press releases. And, while it certainly isn't easy, it doesn't always produce stuff you're necessarily proud of or attached to. So, it's nice to see a week where I had a few pieces I could pour a little more time into, doing more research and in all but the squid story -- because the press release quotes were priceless -- conducting my own interviews.

A busy, and tough week, but, as I head into Friday, I'm feeling tired but fairly satisfied with my output -- an unfortunately rare occurence of late.

Waiting makes me anxious...

So, last week, I had a first round interview with a fairly prominent national weekly magazine for a year-long, paid internship. Very exciting indeed.

Now, I'm waiting to see if I make it through to the next round, which will involve another interview. This should happen roughly within the next two weeks.

Then, by April 1st, the decisions will be made, and my plans for the next few months -- or really year -- will either alter dramatically, meaning I'll have some, or remain in limbo.

This, combined with an increasingly crazy work schedule in different department, performing different tasks at different hours every day, is driving me a little wonky.

Or, more accurately, staring at the ceiling as I wake up with a start every night (always with the questions: did I read the schedule right? Should I be up now? At work? What floor am I working on today?) wishing not only that time would pass but that I could secure some break that could grant me a routine and some degree of normalcy. A permanent, full-time position would make me unbelievably happy, as would a prestigious internship for any length of time, but as my anxiety levels reach such heights that normal functioning is becoming difficult, I'd jump at the chance for a normal, predictable schedule for even just a month.

I'm still here

I promise! It's been awhile since my last post, I apologize. Things have been hectic. There has been overtime work, a new project on Toronto's multiculturalism for which I'm responsible for content and promos, and a bunch of wedding-related progress, including getting a florist, choosing someone to bake the cake and proofreading several incarnations of our wedding invites. And working on an as-yet thoroughly incomplete wedding website. Oh, and picking a registry place (home outfitters) while trying to pick gifts -- which is way more difficult than one would expect -- and choosing wedding bands. Plus, job hunting, cleaning and the rest of life!

So, it's been busy. I have been sleeping better, and trying to worry less, but sadly the first of those resolutions means I have less time for blogging. I will try to be better when things -- hopefully -- calm down next week, as this project wraps us and I resume my regular tasks: filling in for people who are sick or on vacation.

Wish me luck! And I will update more in depth soon :)

On Kosovo

I worked yesterday morning at 5 a.m. on the Newsworld ticker, meaning I write the short, snappy and hopefully grammatically correct headlines that scroll across the bottom of the screen on CBC's 24-hour news channel. The cool thing about the job is that you're normally the first among all CBC platforms to report anything breaking -- TV, radio and online all need to write scripts or stories, change lineups and either broadcast or publish the results, while on the crawl, I write out my roughly 200 characters including spaces (which, by the way, is very short) and pow, it's on TV.

This was particularly exciting yesterday as breakaway Serbian province Kosovo prepared to declare its independence and become the world's newest country. And, because of the speed and ease of getting it up I was able to update with each minute step towards independence: first the fact that it was anticipated, then with the prime minister saying they would, then with parliament meeting, then with the reading of the independence document, then with parliament voting, signing and celebrating their new Republic of Kosovo.

And, of course, it didn't stop there. From that point on, it was a flurry of activity with revellers hitting the streets in Pristina, protesters throwing rocks at embassies and a speedy international response, including Serbia saying they would never recognize the 'illegal' declaration and Russia calling for a UN security council meeting to revoke the declaration. Later, Afghanistan became the first to recognize the new country -- an essential part of actually becoming independent for the Kosovars -- and several others are expected to follow suite today, including bigwigs like the U.S., Britain and France.

The whole thing was rather thrilling, and I watched every new report from Pristina, update on the BBC and newsflash on the wires breathlessly. To me it was an obvious embodiment of one of my favourite sayings about journalism -- that it's writing history on the run.

Now of course, my newsflashes along the bottom of the ticker won't go down in history like the news reports and various stories both online and in newspapers. Students writing papers on Kosovo from this week onward will be looking for those items, but my record may fade into oblivion. I do however, take heart that I got to watch every minute of it, livestreamed online and replayed on various news channels almost instantly and in my own little way feel like some small part of it.

Feb-brr-ary

Toronto is cold. Not just like "Ok, I'll bundle up and grab a hat cold" but the "If I stand outside for more than 10 minutes, I risk frostbite" cold.

Which has put a damper on my mood. I don't like being cold. And in Toronto, the cold seems to cut right through you. And stay.

Additionally, I'm only succeeding at one of my three resolutions -- sleeping more -- and am once again fending off some sort of illness.

But, with the fire place roaring and my blanket wrapped tightly around me, things are starting to look up. I'm thawing out, mourning the demise of the Halifax Daily News and the pall it casts on the future of newspapers in general, and watching Gilmore Girls.

I've been plugging away at the wedding list of to-dos, going to work and job hunting, and things are going well. I'll be anxiously watching the confidence motion being introduced tomorrow on Afghanistan, the ensuing debates and the unveiling of the budget on Feb. 26. Not that a winter election is a must, or even necessarily the best thing for the country, but my pocketbook and political interest will be well satisfied by the government's fall.

So, here's hoping that Stephane Dion takes the Conservatives to task and that I find the perfect shoes and accessories for my summer wedding (my next key to-do).

Now, to blog on the terrible Zednik hit and the arrests in Tampa of two of my Habs.

I will hopefully have some noteworthy things to report on my next update, until then, keep your fingers crossed on my behalf for a federal election -- it's almost as good as the playoffs!

U.S. space junk and other goodies

So, as promised, this will be a mishmash of 'junk' because life has been a little weird lately. I've been working a lot of awkward hours, including 5 a.m. starts and 9 p.m. ends, which has left me perpetually exhausted, confused and convinced I'm either late or supposed to be somewhere else. It's enough to make anyone a little crazy, and with a few other things keeping me busy, life lately has been a bit of a whirl -- but luckily it's not all bad. So, to keep you entertained and informed, here are some point form updates:

- I finally caved and bought glasses. And they're pink! Well, not entirely pink, they're brown with pink accents, but still -- PINK! The situation was getting too bad, I've been getting headaches from straining to see with my contacts (I purchased a batch a year and a half ago and I was trying to use them all up, unfortunately, my prescription has changed) and from wearing them way too long because all the tape in the world couldn't keep my old ones straight on my face. And, I think I've finally come to accept that a CBC job isn't forthcoming. I'd love it to be, but my life must go on. And any new job I take will have a three month probation period before proper health insurance, and I'm not waiting until April to see properly. So, I walked into the mall, the optometrist happened to have an opening, my lenses were in stock and I walked out with glasses an hour and a half later. I even got a deal, and James' insurance will help me out a bit with them.

- James bought rock band. I've been cultivating my rock star persona in my time off, to the point that guitarist Jen is way better dressed and much cooler than real Jen.

- We went to look at wedding invitations this weekend. There are a lot of options. And most of them are either a) flowery b) expensive c) unnecessarily complicated or d) all of the above. But, after a few fun hours, we narrowed it down to two very simple options that sort of call to our journalism nerd backgrounds and desire for cheap simplicity. I have until Saturday to decide.

- I've decided possums are cute. Case in point

- I worked the health section today, which is always fun. A highlight is pollution and heart health

- And, as for the promised space junk story, I encountered it while doing the Newsworld news ticker at 5 a.m. yesterday morning and decided it was arguably the coolest thing I read all morning. Though, admittedly, by that point I had not read very much. Either way, a U.S. spy satellite has lost power and will crash to Earth sometime in late February/early March. Government officials have no control over it, no idea where it will land and say it might contain hazardous materials. Crazy. What do you think the odds are that it will hit Canada?

Anyway, with my current crazy person schedule, it feels like bedtime. Let's hope my sleep cycles and meal times sort themselves back into normalcy soon.

I had a job interview!

Today, I had an interview for a real, full-time job that would give me health benefits, vacation and sick days. So please, dear readers, keep your fingers crossed for me.

I have now successfully broken both arms off my glasses, and a plan with proper optical coverage would be pretty darn awesome.

On the flip side, I have of course been thinking and worrying about what would happen if I got the job. It would mean giving up on the chance to work for the CBC during an election. And, I applied for a fabulous internship, where I would get paid (minimally) for a year at Macleans as an entry-level writer. Of course, it's very competitive, and it would be hard to give up on a real job for the possibility of an internship that I won't hear back about until April 1. But, if secured, it would be amazing.

Anyway, all these concerns are putting the cart before the horse, so to speak, as I only spoke with the interviewers a few hours ago. They were all very nice, and I think the interview went well. But, I should probably stop wrecking my worry less resolution and just cool my heels, and my concerns, until such problems actually approach reality.