Wake up in the morning, feeling like P. Diddy...

By avkramer |

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

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I've done it. I've gone and done it!

I have made for myself a plan, a list of goals to get me through the next year. I guess this could be called a New Year's Resolution, but if I think of it in that context then it'll never happen.

But, I know some aspects of my life have fallen off wagons, and while I do plan on getting back on them, I am also aware of the fact that in another six months or so, the plan I've been working with for the past four years is over. So, I decided that I needed some direction, a new path to forge, and a new set of rules for myself.

But, in making these, guidelines, plans, etc, I realized that I needed a good mix. Of course there are big things like "get a job" and "become a celebrity" on the list, but a list with only big time goals on it just doesn't work. So, I thought it over, and I have compiled a list of five things I want to accomplish by next year.

In one year:

• I want to land 10 job interviews (it narrows down the "get a job") in radio. (Part time interviews don't count)
• I want a subscription to Cosmopolitan magazine. (Simple, but when I was at school, not possible with my changing address)
• I want a gym membership. (Ship has a great one, but I lose that in May. I hear the one my brother goes to is pretty nice though)
• I want to completely re-do my bedroom. (The plan is to make it a guest room/office for my parents when I finally do move out)
• I want to drop some incredibly unwanted pounds. It kind of goes hand in hand with the gym thing, but I guess this one is more of the whole "stick with some kind of diet" thing.
  

And, after I made that list, I decided I needed an even more upcoming set of goals. I graduate in May so...

In 7 months...

• I want to paint my room. Right now it's covered in horrible dollhouse wallpaper from when I was 5. That needs immediate changing.
• I want a new bookshelf. There's one on Ikea's website that I love.
• I want to replace the curtains in my room. The "dusty rose" I have now is terrible.
• I want to re-do my closet. I'm toying with the idea of putting a new system of organization in there, but I'm really not sure. See, I share the closet with my mom. She keeps her off season clothes in it. And, since I've made such a mess of my things, I have no idea how much room is actually in there. Must investigate.
  

Well, there it is. My New Year's...Plans. I only hope I can actually follow through with them, haha.

~AvK~

*Tik Tok--Ke$ha

Here I am, and I stand so tall, just the way I'm supposed to be

By avkramer |

Friday, December 18, 2009

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Well, here I am. There's just one semester left between me and graduation. It's almost surreal...almost.

You see, I used to be the kind of girl that reflected on every second of every day knowing it would be the last one...and then I realized that had "Waste of Time" stamped on it. So, while I'm probably more sentimental about things then most people, I've pulled back alot.

But, I'm not pulled back enough to fore go a "Semester In Review" hahaha.

Summer/August--It was the best and worst time of my life I think. I interned at a radio station and loved it. There was never a day I didn't want to go in. Part of me is still depressed that I'm not there anymore. I made some great connections and friends, and realized this is really where I want to be. I also lost my grandmother too, well, it all started with an open-heart surgery, and ended with I think pneumonia. I forgot about the little details by the end of it. We were really close, and I attribute a lot of my personality and way of life to her. Losing her was probably one of the hardest things I've had to grapple with.

September--I turned 21. And yes, like every college student, I went out and had lots to drink for the night. I think I enjoy being 21 now moreso than I did then. Now I know what I'm doing and know how to make nights fun and not a big mess. Wow, responsible adulthood? Thrilling. I also worked on this blog alot. I started alot of projects in September. This blog and my senior Capstone really. I also had to write a five page fiction story...and I've never written fiction before!

October--My fifteen page fiction story was due this month. I had never worked so hard on a story before. I do consider myself a writer...of non-fiction. I guess you could call me a storyteller more than anything. I tried so hard to keep on top of everything with my projects because I knew I wanted to be done everything before Thanksgiving.

November--Thanksgiving Marathon. A week before the break, I had to run the sound for Act V's shows, "Rabbit Hole" and "12th Night". I actually made some of the tracks for Rabbit Hole. It was so much fun, and I realized throughout the whole process, I never felt like I was working. I was just having fun and letting myself enjoy what I've been training to do for years already. It was such a liberating realization. And, once the shows were over, I needed to finish my portfolio for Capstone, a revision of a fiction story, and other various class projects (mostly for Internet Communication) allll before I left for break. I knew I wouldn't be working on them while I was away, especially since I was staying in Cape May with all 20 of my family members in a giant mansion by the bay. I spent most of my time with them...though one day I was mostly in a hot tub with a glass of wine watching movies on the Plasma. (I've never felt more luxurious).

December--Everything's done. I got an A on my portfolio...so as far as I'm aware, I could graduate tomorrow and be perfectly happy, haha. Finishing everything I busted my ass for feels incredibly rewarding, and lately I've been basking in that feeling. And, since I'm done, I did things like convince my roommate to watch the Lord of the Rings movies (I am an expert and I live with someone who hasn't seen them). I even downloaded an Italian tutor on my iTouch and started learning basic phrases. Some would call me bored, I'm leaning more towards cultured.

It has been a rewarding semester, and while I'm glad it's over, I'm nervous next semester won't turn out quite as well as this one.

Cheers to that

~AvK~

**Gravity--Sara Bareilles

Puttin' on the Ritz

By avkramer |

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

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I am from Philadelphia.

I know I have made this a widely known fact, but trust me, it ties into this.

I was asked to review podcasts for class, to go through and sample them, getting a feel for the podcast itself and later produce my own. So, I did. I listened to things like NPR, and The Onion. I listened to funny ones, news ones, art ones, science ones, money ones--I listened to one from every genre on iTunes.

If it was news, money, or science--I was bored. And, maybe that's just me. Science, money, and often news is boring to me. Don't get me wrong, I like news. I read Newsweek every week, and my roommate's a news freak. But, I don't like it read to me. I like to explore it for myself. And science and money? Oh no. I don't even have an interest in any of that. So, I moved on to the funny ones.

The Onion was funny. But maybe my expectations were a little high. I was looking forward to listening to a John Stewart kind of thing. And, it wasn't quite like that. I felt like the Onion, while funny, was very odd. I would have much preferred a Daily Show style podcast. I also listened to a random one called, "Yoda and Me". It was a guy who could mimic the Yoda voice, and had a conversation...basically with himself. He made Yoda, the Star Wars character, sample breath mints, and had him answer questions on Star Wars.

It was stupid, and I could not listen to more than two of the five minute podcast. Eeks.

But, ultimately, I think when it comes to podcasting--I am biased.

Being a radio person, and growing up in Philadelphia, I have listened to a show called "Preston and Steve" since I was about 10 years old. When I was a senior in high school, the show came out with podcasting. I didn't really look too much into it, because I was up listening in the morning on my way to school. But when I came to Shippensburg, I had no choice.

The Preston and Steve podcast is one of God's gifts to Philadelphia natives. It is the entire show, sans the music and the commercials. So, therefore, it's all of my favorite parts of the show. I get to listen to the hilarious jokes, the witty commentary on the world around them, and the huge guests they have on the air. They've had guests like the Hogans, Dave Attell, The Boondock Saints (Norman Reedus and Sean Patrick Flannery), and a huge list of other guests. It has everything you could ever want in a podcast. Sure it's a little long as podcasts go, but you can scan through and listen to whatever chunk of hilarious conversation you want.

I love Preston and Steve, and I love listening to them in the far away land of Shippensburg.

~AvK~

*Puttin on the Ritz--Shiny Toy Guns

The Trouble With Love Is...

By avkramer | 3 comments

Rupert Murdoch.

He recently wrote an article for the Wall Street Journal.

These are my thoughts:

When I first read this article, I thought back to my summer internship with a Philadelphia radio station, and Greater Media as a whole. For a time, I worked exclusively with Mr. Bill Shultz (affectionately called just Mr. Bill). He was the imaging director for two of the five Greater Media radio stations. And one afternoon, we stumbled upon the topic of radio's future. Now, I know Mr. Murdoch's article is mostly about Journalism as a whole, but stick with me. Mr. Bill told me that the initial mistake that radio stations made was to try and format themselves like an iPod. He told me that stations fell away from local content, and tried to play as much music as they could, hoping the listener liked what they were hearing. And the result of that was lower ratings and even shutting down of some stations ( ex: about a month after my internship was over, the station I primarily worked for was shut down.) According to Mr. Bill, and to some extent Mr. Murdoch as well, the only hope radio (and journalism) has is to get back to the reader/listener.

Local content is where your listeners, readers, and subscribers are. And, in the midst of all the new innovations in technology, alot of journalistic mediums forgot that.

Mr. Murdoch goes on to critizice the government for their outdated rules and regulations.
"Unfortunately, too many of the mechanisms government uses to regulate the news and information business in this new century are based on 20th-century assumptions and business models."
While I believe this to be true, I believe that simply writing about it for the Wall Street Journal does nothing. The only way the government changes things is when they are brought to the forefront of arenas such as the Supreme Court. There needs to be a monumental case in order for the government to change. And yet what I find contradictory in Mr. Murdoch's article is his claim further on that the U.S. Government helping the commercial journalism industry is chilling, and we can basically kiss our Freedom of Speech goodbye.

If you don't want their help, then don't ask for it.

We, as journalists, have the tools to save ourselves, and just because the government doesn't let us own radio stations and tv stations doesn't mean we can't pull ourselves out of the rut of innovation.

So, while I believe and agree with Mr. Murdoch that the future of journalism is writing for the reader and not the editor, I disagree with his claim that the government needs to help us.

Don't call us, we'll call you.

~AvK~

*The Trouble With Love is--Kelly Clarkson.