Working away

Work has been keeping me very busy. I started a new contract last week, for a month working on the Ontario election website, moderating comments, posting Your View questions, choosing promos, adding photos and blogs to the site from reporters on the campaign trail, picking pieces from radio and TV and writing features, so far one on faith based schools and one on election promises.

It's been a really strange experience, because I'm working on something so focused. In the past, I've always had at least three or four things on the go during the day, while now I have more things, but they're all related. Election night should be interesting/stressful/crazy/exhilarating! Probably by the time it's over I'll need to sleep for a week. Hopefully I won't have that much time off between gigs though!

I'm still settling into the new apartment and learning to balance life without school, which oddly seems just as busy if not more so! I'm also back on the hockey girl beat, anxiously waiting for the season to begin!

I'm also still settling into this city. There's something incredibly anonymous about living in Toronto, you're one of tens of thousands of people who will sit in that seat on the subway, pass through that gate, hop on that bus and be served by that frantic barrista at starbucks. I miss some Nova Scotian things, like the smell of the salt water, the small squirrels (Ontario squirrels are freakishly large), driving on the twisty, and scary, roads and of course spending time with my friends and family who are still in the province.

Luckily, James, his family, and my friend from home Tyler, are all here and are helping me cope and get by. I keep telling myself that things will be a little easier when I get a permanent job, but I think certain things will always make me a little homesick, like Thanksgiving. I may not have lived full-time at home since I started university four years ago, but I always made it home for pie, turkey and birthday celebrations on Thanksgiving weekend. I'll definitely be working to keep myself busy and distracted that weekend, along with racking up some long distance with at least one call home.

Anyway, it's getting late, and I've been pretty tired recently, so I'm going to sign off for the night.

-J

I'm back...again!

My internet is finally hooked up, so I'm happy to be back online! It was a very long almost two weeks without it...

I'm settling into my new apartment nicely, and am also settling in to a month-long contract for the Ontario election. I'll be posting reporter submissions online, moderating the discussions and doing lots of research. Lots and lots of research.

Anyway, I need to run off to work, but I just wanted to assure you all that I am back online, with hopefully no more interruptions until the next move! And, with hockey season gearing up (Habs play their first exhibition game on the 17th), my hockey girl blog for the Herald is also back.

I'm back!

The last two weeks have been a little hectic, to say the least, and between working with the CBC at almost full time hours, my to-do list and two very full weekends, everything has kind of fallen to the wayside. But, today I feel accomplished.

I scratched one big to-do off my list yesterday when I signed my lease for a great one bedroom apartment--complete with laundry and a fireplace and walking distance from the subway. Finalizing it made the last three weeks--of frantic emails, phone calls and disappointment at walking 20 minutes to spend five in apartments that were a) much father away than advertised b) smelled like animals had the run of the place for a few years and c) were expensive dark, dank caverns--seem almost worthwhile. Almost. At least I feel like I'm starting to get my life back after hours on various rental websites, and I'm getting excited to move.

Also on my to-do list I've filed my first story for filly, though it's not posted yet, and am 3/4 of the way through another one. I may have also picked a wedding venue, I'll decide for sure this weekend, the one I'm leaning towards is a very pretty inn and restaurant that looks very Gilmore Girls, and the ceremony would be held in front of a gazebo.

As for my two packed weekends, the first was spent at a friend's cottage on a lake with no computers or cell phone reception. It was relaxing, but I can't say I was sorry to return to civilization and check my email come Monday night:). The second weekend was very Torontonian, as we hit up the annual Taste of the Danforth Greek festival. Basically, it means I spent two days stuffing my face and pushing through crowds.

Just to give you a "taste" (get it? I know I'm tired when I start using puns like that...) here's a sampling of my weekend menu:

- Corn on the cob
- Pork souvlaki on a pita
- Chicken souvlaki on a stick
- Pork souvlaki on a stick
- Handmade (white chocolate!) ice cream with strawberries
- Ribs
- Loukmades--which are deep fried balls of cinnamony dough soaked in honey
- Boneless chicken wings stuffed with rice
- Spring rolls (not very greek, but delicious!)
- Frozen yogurt

I'm still kind of full.

As a result of these eventful few weeks, my current home remains woefully neglected as dishes pile up and I rearrange the stacks of empty Ikea boxes that never made it out on trash day. If nothing else, I guess it'll be cleaned when we move in two weeks.

Now, I must sign off and get some sleep. Tomorrow I'm working out of the north, and have a feeling it may be a bit of a challenge, since I have no idea what's going on. But, it should be fun, and a nice break from missing Utah miners, cabinet shuffling and lead toys!

Almost two months in the city...

And I still don't feel settled. But, I did spend an hour writing about bread that won't go moldy.

I've spent the last two days working out of P.E.I. It was fun, but I also still feel a little awkward at work. I come in to do so many different things, at so many different times, with no regularity, that I don't feel settled. Also, because I'm new and young, I feel incredibly bad any time I screw up, for example when the copy editors call me over with a question or I don't know how to do something or I have a typo or a mistake in my story. It feels like one of the above happens every day, and I have no idea if I'm ever doing an ok job.

But, I know I'm doing ok at something else--my new project. I'm "freelancing" (I use the term loosely because it doesn't pay)for Filly, an online magazine about wedding stuff. So, I'll be filing a blog for them each week based on some wedding topic and be writing articles about wedding planning. I also get to review some wedding related books and the like, so it should be fun. Plus, I get to work towards my own wedding plans in the process.

I've also applied for an internship with the Toronto Star. I have no idea if it will come to anything, but it's a full-year, full-time position and would be a great experience, along with steady work and steady pay. I find out next week if I make it to the interview round, so I'm checking my email like mad, in case it comes in early, but also not trying to check my email because I know it will drive me nuts. It's an interesting paradox.

Luckily now I'm off the night shift, so I have a bit more time to have a life and get errands done.

My tasks for the next week or two?
1. Find an apartment for September
2. Find a wedding venue for July/August next year
3. Clean up the apartment, which has been sorely neglected the last two weeks
4. File my first story or two for Filly

Along with working at the CBC. Eep. Wish me luck:)

At least two cool things this week

Are two stories I worked on by myself, totally independently (we often use sources from TV and radio):

School burns down I'm kind of proud of this one, because it wasn't reported any where else (yet) and I really hope it can make a difference

And dual core chips because I knew nothing about this, but think I did enough research to pull it off convincingly.

Oh, and Harry Potter was brilliant. Still not sure how I feel about the end, but I thoroughly enjoyed the book.

Anyways, I've got to go get ready for work. I find that I don't have much spare time with this 12-8 shift because I keep sleeping in in the mornings, since I don't have to be up even though there are numerous things I could be doing (apartment hunting, wedding planning, cleaning) then, after rushing out the door for work, I don't get home until 8:30 ish, make supper, eat and then before I know it I'm heading to bed for the night.

So, for the next two days of my shift, I'm going to attempt to get up earlier and get things done in the morning. Then next week, I'm back to kind of schedule I'm more accustomed to, 8-4, which will leave me lots of time to do the aforementioned things as well as blog. I will also be posting pictures soon, once I find the cord to get them off the camera:)

Harry Potter day!

I am seven hours into the book.

100 more pages and I will know Harry's fate.

This is the highlight of an otherwise routine week (where I did get to work 4 days!)

I have no excuse...

I enjoy blogging. I try to keep people updated. Yet, I come home at night and make supper, eat a popsicle (blame the popsicle ad at work) and doze off. So, to recap what's happened since my last blogging effort...gasp...almost two weeks ago.

Work has been busy. There have been a lot of things blowing up and a lot of deaths and murders. It's depressing work some days, but I think it's also important.

The hardest story I had lately was the Chris Benoit murder-suicide--the wrestler who killed his wife and seven-year-old son then himself. I was covering it throughout the day, with constant updates, and the details just kept getting gorier. It almost makes you wonder whether we really should know these things. This guy was obviously not quite with it, and he still has two living children from a previous relationship, who had to hear all the details over and over. That day really bothered me.

Luckily, I've been getting three shifts a week, and doing lots of writing, mostly for Canada and World news. I'm finding it really challenging (thus the exhaustion), but also really rewarding. I love the thought that people turn to things that I write and are satisfied and feel informed afterwards. Well, at least some of them do. Many people appear to have nothing more to do during their day than to send criticisms into CBC.ca. Why can't any one submit praise?

James had his birthday on the 27th, and we had a good day, though I got called into work unexpectedly and thus James had to wait quite long for his special home-cooked birthday dinner.

We went to Belleville for the long weekend, and it was nice to get out of the city for a bit, even though the weather sucked! It had been crazy hot here right up until the long weekend, when all of a sudden the temperature dropped down below 20! That's not very summery.

This week, I'm in for three days again. It's been a weird news week, with the holiday on Monday and then the American holiday today. The stories tend to be quirkier at times like these, but there's also been some big stories breaking, like the journalist Alan Johnson being released--I'm so happy for him, it must have been a terrifying four months--and the very sad news of six Canadian soldiers being killed today.

Sometimes it's really hard not to let all the bad things get you down. There are so many terrible stories coming out each day, and they're the ones that are read the most, that sometimes it's hard to remember that there are good things in the world, like shoes and my latest Starbucks favourite--a tall lemonade ice tea made with black tea.

Today was a really different work day for me, I was on the consumer desk, as the regular consumer person was working on a feature on robots. And, as I said, it was kind of a quirky news day, so here are some quick hits to explain:

Tim Hortons' prices rise — but won't double-double

Oh Canada, D'oh Homer

Cirque du Soleil, Ski-Doo among Canada's top iconic brands

Second Life business sues for copyright infringement

No other day has been quite this bizarre, though I did write a story about a bear
but it was a rather nice change.

Well, James' birthday cake is finally done cooking (on my last attempt, my ingredients melted due to heat). I solemnly swear to be a better blogger, at least with short but frequent posts!