I have some good news to share with all of you. For the past 4 months, on and off, I've been applying to television stations around the country looking for my first, what I'm considering, real job. Well this past Thursday I got my first interview request from a television station in Redding, CA.
I've been working for the past year and a half as both a production assistant (teleprompter operator) and a weekend news writer at KNTV/NBC11 in San Jose. It's been a great experience working with some of the most talented journalists in the Bay Area, but sticking around here waiting for my "big break" isn't what I want to do.
I applied for the full-time morning anchor/reporter position at KRCR (ABC affiliate) ... about 4-5 hours north of San Jose.
Most likely the interview will be this upcoming Thursday, December 27th, barring any extraneous delays/circumstances. I have an idea of what to expect, but not really.
Supposedly I'm going to be doing some test-runs in front of the camera with one of the station's meteorologists. I'm guessing just to see if I have the chops for the anchor job, which makes sense. Most of the news team, I was told, is around my age. That should make the transition, if I end up getting the job, a bit easier (I hope).
I'm also going to be taking a writing test while I'm there and should be sitting down with the boss again for another Q/A session.
Honestly, I feel pretty confident I can do the job, but I always have my doubts. I just don't want my nerves to get the best of me. When it comes right down to it, I think I'll be alright, but I'm not going to go into this interview unprepared. I have some work to do the next couple of days, primarily just brushing off my speaking voice and being comfortable in front of the camera. Just keep it loose, keep it fun, and make the most of it.
I'll keep you guys posted.
C
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Heroes
Heroism struck a chord with me tonight at work.
It started with me having to write about this memorial dedicated to the victims of United Airlines Flight 93 that crashed in Pennsylvania September 11th. The memorial was built in Union City so it was a story we'd been covering all day.
I needed to do a bit of background research on the event so I hit up Wikipedia and read some of the detailed accounts of what transpired that tragic day. I read about some of the people who decided to try and take back the aircraft from their switchblade-equipped assailants.
Several passengers/crew were killed even before the plane hit the ground.
One man had apparently gotten a phone call through to an emergency dispatch operator and had told him a group of passengers on board Flight 93 had decided they weren't going to die without a fight.
The last thing the operator heard on the phone was "Are you guys ready? Let's roll."
Six years later, it makes me very sad to know that while I was sound asleep the time the hijackings were taking place, there were people tens of thousand of feet above me literally fighting for their lives...and their families knowing about it.
I can't even fathom what happened on board that plane. Sometimes not knowing is even worse than the truth.
When we, average folk, hear about those events retold we consider them acts of bravery...because they are. They are heroes in our eyes. They attempted to not only save their own lives, but the lives of countless others with families of their own.
They weren't expecting that their flight bound for the Bay Area would have such an unexpected ending. Most probably had family just chomping at the bit waiting to hug and kiss them at the airport.
You know...the kind of stuff you see in the movies.
Reading about it 6 years later, it almost does seem like a movie (too bad someone had to make it into one).
If you were on that flight, how much would you have cared about the person next to you if it were just another routine flight from point A to point B? You probably wouldn't have even talked to them except for maybe a few words. You might have passed a cup of ice and a ginger ale to the person at the window seat, but nothing more. No conversation. Why would you spend time trying to know someone you'd probably never see ever again?
But if it was the only person you'd ever see again...now THAT would be a different story.
Yet in extreme circumstances is where you sometimes see the humanity in us all...where you see the people who care...and honestly...where we all care.
This was one of those situations.
United Airlines Flight 93 may one day become lost in the annals of time along with so much before it.
Tragedy is something we've all come to take as a commonality in our culture anyways.
Heroism, however, is transcendent...resonating well beyond the pages where it was written about...and the voices that spoke of it.
Only you can decide whether heroism or the preservation of life are different. Isn't that what heroism is?
To be selfless is a heroic attribute...and heroism is the selfless preservation of life.
Those people aboard that flight were heroes. Sure we can all wish to be the hero that saves the day ...the one who everyone adores and admires. A happy ending, however, is not something we can all count on.
Life is not like the movies, no matter how many people make it out to be.
Yet there are moments when fiction...and reality...do seem awfully similar.
Something to chew on...
C
It started with me having to write about this memorial dedicated to the victims of United Airlines Flight 93 that crashed in Pennsylvania September 11th. The memorial was built in Union City so it was a story we'd been covering all day.
I needed to do a bit of background research on the event so I hit up Wikipedia and read some of the detailed accounts of what transpired that tragic day. I read about some of the people who decided to try and take back the aircraft from their switchblade-equipped assailants.
Several passengers/crew were killed even before the plane hit the ground.
One man had apparently gotten a phone call through to an emergency dispatch operator and had told him a group of passengers on board Flight 93 had decided they weren't going to die without a fight.
The last thing the operator heard on the phone was "Are you guys ready? Let's roll."
Six years later, it makes me very sad to know that while I was sound asleep the time the hijackings were taking place, there were people tens of thousand of feet above me literally fighting for their lives...and their families knowing about it.
I can't even fathom what happened on board that plane. Sometimes not knowing is even worse than the truth.
When we, average folk, hear about those events retold we consider them acts of bravery...because they are. They are heroes in our eyes. They attempted to not only save their own lives, but the lives of countless others with families of their own.
They weren't expecting that their flight bound for the Bay Area would have such an unexpected ending. Most probably had family just chomping at the bit waiting to hug and kiss them at the airport.
You know...the kind of stuff you see in the movies.
Reading about it 6 years later, it almost does seem like a movie (too bad someone had to make it into one).
If you were on that flight, how much would you have cared about the person next to you if it were just another routine flight from point A to point B? You probably wouldn't have even talked to them except for maybe a few words. You might have passed a cup of ice and a ginger ale to the person at the window seat, but nothing more. No conversation. Why would you spend time trying to know someone you'd probably never see ever again?
But if it was the only person you'd ever see again...now THAT would be a different story.
Yet in extreme circumstances is where you sometimes see the humanity in us all...where you see the people who care...and honestly...where we all care.
This was one of those situations.
United Airlines Flight 93 may one day become lost in the annals of time along with so much before it.
Tragedy is something we've all come to take as a commonality in our culture anyways.
Heroism, however, is transcendent...resonating well beyond the pages where it was written about...and the voices that spoke of it.
Only you can decide whether heroism or the preservation of life are different. Isn't that what heroism is?
To be selfless is a heroic attribute...and heroism is the selfless preservation of life.
Those people aboard that flight were heroes. Sure we can all wish to be the hero that saves the day ...the one who everyone adores and admires. A happy ending, however, is not something we can all count on.
Life is not like the movies, no matter how many people make it out to be.
Yet there are moments when fiction...and reality...do seem awfully similar.
Something to chew on...
C
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Time Machine Pt. 2
One woman was the subject of my last blog...and another extremely important woman is the subject of this one.
I usually try not to bring others that are close to me into these blogs strictly because they might not want to be the subject of so many prying eyes. That may only be the case if someone actually read these blogs, and I know a few of you out there do, but there certainly isn't a ton of "Midnight Show" fans.
Nonetheless, I've known my friend Aly for years now. I think now it's been more than a decade. We met as bright-eyed 14 year olds in high school, living two different lives, exclusive of any influence from the other up to that point.
I've had the opportunity to meet several amazing people in my lifetime that are now very close friends of mine, but never have I met anyone else besides Alyson that has made such a profound impact on my life.
Turns out she was going to ask me to our first Sadie Hawkins dance our freshman year in high school, but didn't have the guts to ask. I never went to a single dance with her in all of high school. My brother went with her to one, but I never had the pleasure. Senior year, being without a date for my prom, I decided I'd ask her. She was my first choice so I decided to bank my hopes of a memorable final hurrah on her shoulders.
Unfortunately for me, she said no. Now it wasn't that cut and dry, however, for all of those who may be jumping to conclusions right about now. There were some extraneous factors at the time that would have made the situation more difficult. In reality she actually did want to be my date, but that story doesn't belong here. To keep it brief, I ended up going with someone to my senior prom, and while my date was great, the prom experience in general, fairly shitty.
Now I would have my day in court, thank you very much. Approximately a year and a half later, Aly and I started dating. Turns out it would be like that for the next 4+ years. I'm a one-woman man, and she was all I could ever ask for.
Yet there did come a time when I felt like our time had come to a close, or more specifically my time with her had come to a close. I broke it off, March 20th, 2006.
Halloween of that same year we got back together, much to my relief. Little did I know our bond would break once again August 30th of this year. Never will I forget breaking the heart of the same amazing girl, twice. No one will ever understand the guilt I've harbored for doing that.
I have been through every sort of situation with Aly, and in turn have put her through the same. Extremes of all kinds, all of which I will NOT go into detail about. There isn't any range of emotion I haven't experienced by being with her.
To bring you up to our current situation ... frayed. We are both living our own lives, in many ways once again exclusive of the other's influence...almost as if we've gone full circle.
I fear I've broken our time machine. Any opportunity to regain what existed in the past is gone, most likely. Still despite my feelings of abandonment, she is someone I think about every day. We have tried reconciling some of our past, but I know I may have sealed my fate with words spoken in days gone by. Regardless of what the future holds for myself, I am truly thankful and blessed to have had the rare opportunity to not only be loved by someone else, but to love back as well.
We still have the blueprint...and the parts to build it again, but now is not the time to try and revisit the past. She deserves to live her life without me in it, and I need to try and do the same. It was a once-in-a-lifetime journey, one that I am honored to have been a part of. A new journey, for both of us, is starting.
...and who knows, maybe one day one of us might stop and pick the other up along the way.
Little did I know when I was 14, the girl with the braces sitting across from me in typing class would change my life forever. I am forever thankful, Al. You'll never know how much.
C
I usually try not to bring others that are close to me into these blogs strictly because they might not want to be the subject of so many prying eyes. That may only be the case if someone actually read these blogs, and I know a few of you out there do, but there certainly isn't a ton of "Midnight Show" fans.
Nonetheless, I've known my friend Aly for years now. I think now it's been more than a decade. We met as bright-eyed 14 year olds in high school, living two different lives, exclusive of any influence from the other up to that point.
I've had the opportunity to meet several amazing people in my lifetime that are now very close friends of mine, but never have I met anyone else besides Alyson that has made such a profound impact on my life.
Turns out she was going to ask me to our first Sadie Hawkins dance our freshman year in high school, but didn't have the guts to ask. I never went to a single dance with her in all of high school. My brother went with her to one, but I never had the pleasure. Senior year, being without a date for my prom, I decided I'd ask her. She was my first choice so I decided to bank my hopes of a memorable final hurrah on her shoulders.
Unfortunately for me, she said no. Now it wasn't that cut and dry, however, for all of those who may be jumping to conclusions right about now. There were some extraneous factors at the time that would have made the situation more difficult. In reality she actually did want to be my date, but that story doesn't belong here. To keep it brief, I ended up going with someone to my senior prom, and while my date was great, the prom experience in general, fairly shitty.
Now I would have my day in court, thank you very much. Approximately a year and a half later, Aly and I started dating. Turns out it would be like that for the next 4+ years. I'm a one-woman man, and she was all I could ever ask for.
Yet there did come a time when I felt like our time had come to a close, or more specifically my time with her had come to a close. I broke it off, March 20th, 2006.
Halloween of that same year we got back together, much to my relief. Little did I know our bond would break once again August 30th of this year. Never will I forget breaking the heart of the same amazing girl, twice. No one will ever understand the guilt I've harbored for doing that.
I have been through every sort of situation with Aly, and in turn have put her through the same. Extremes of all kinds, all of which I will NOT go into detail about. There isn't any range of emotion I haven't experienced by being with her.
To bring you up to our current situation ... frayed. We are both living our own lives, in many ways once again exclusive of the other's influence...almost as if we've gone full circle.
I fear I've broken our time machine. Any opportunity to regain what existed in the past is gone, most likely. Still despite my feelings of abandonment, she is someone I think about every day. We have tried reconciling some of our past, but I know I may have sealed my fate with words spoken in days gone by. Regardless of what the future holds for myself, I am truly thankful and blessed to have had the rare opportunity to not only be loved by someone else, but to love back as well.
We still have the blueprint...and the parts to build it again, but now is not the time to try and revisit the past. She deserves to live her life without me in it, and I need to try and do the same. It was a once-in-a-lifetime journey, one that I am honored to have been a part of. A new journey, for both of us, is starting.
...and who knows, maybe one day one of us might stop and pick the other up along the way.
Little did I know when I was 14, the girl with the braces sitting across from me in typing class would change my life forever. I am forever thankful, Al. You'll never know how much.
C
Time Machine
Don't live in the past, people say.
What's done is done, people say.
Everything works out in the end, people say.
Society is in a constant state of progression...albeit in some areas more than others...but that's the way we've programmed ourselves. We're constantly looking for the next best thing whether it be material or superficial or technological. Was there ever a time when people thought "I like this place in time just the way it is"? How many people dwell on the past and how many people wonder about the future? If you were to survey every adult in the world and ask them this question, where would the majority lie? In the past or the future? Or maybe just in the moment?
We've all had times in our lives when things were going just right. Not exactly perfect, no one can honestly say they've experienced perfection, but that almost every aspect of our life all synched up pretty closely. Job was secure and paying well...family is healthy...love life promising...
Maybe not those exact things, but to a varying degree, I'd like to think many of us have had the opportunity to experience bliss. Not a care in the world to be had.
What would you give to go back to that point in time, if just for 5 minutes?
I know I'd like to go back in time and see a point in my life when my mother was truly happy.
She has done so much for everyone else besides herself for far too long. She has made endless trips to Santa Barbara every month to make sure my grandparents are taken care of, calling them every night just to see how they're doing. Sure she does it out of love, but she shouldn't have to carry the majority of the weight on her shoulders any longer.
Helping to raise two fraternal twins, I'm sure, wasn't the easiest job in the world either, far from it, but what if we were never in the picture to begin with? What would her life have been like? I wonder if she has ever thought about that.
Honestly, she still has so much to live for, but it shouldn't be spent worrying about other people. She has toiled for years trying to ensure she raised her boys the best she could, and she has done a fine job, may I say. But now that we are full-grown, her job still isn't over.
I'm amazed at the will-power and determination my Mom has every single day not only to still work full-time, but spend her days off on the road traveling to take care of my grandparents. I know her resiliency has been passed down to my brother and I, but I don't ever think I could ever compare myself to her in that respect. She is a one-of-a-kind woman, a selfless human being who always puts others before herself.
Time machine...take me back to the time when my mother's life wasn't what it is. When she was able to enjoy the bliss of life, and have time for herself to do what she's always wanted.
We all have a time machine...you just need to figure out how to operate it. Our blessings in the past can still be our blessings in the present or future.
I will continue this thought in my next post. Until then...
C
What's done is done, people say.
Everything works out in the end, people say.
Society is in a constant state of progression...albeit in some areas more than others...but that's the way we've programmed ourselves. We're constantly looking for the next best thing whether it be material or superficial or technological. Was there ever a time when people thought "I like this place in time just the way it is"? How many people dwell on the past and how many people wonder about the future? If you were to survey every adult in the world and ask them this question, where would the majority lie? In the past or the future? Or maybe just in the moment?
We've all had times in our lives when things were going just right. Not exactly perfect, no one can honestly say they've experienced perfection, but that almost every aspect of our life all synched up pretty closely. Job was secure and paying well...family is healthy...love life promising...
Maybe not those exact things, but to a varying degree, I'd like to think many of us have had the opportunity to experience bliss. Not a care in the world to be had.
What would you give to go back to that point in time, if just for 5 minutes?
I know I'd like to go back in time and see a point in my life when my mother was truly happy.
She has done so much for everyone else besides herself for far too long. She has made endless trips to Santa Barbara every month to make sure my grandparents are taken care of, calling them every night just to see how they're doing. Sure she does it out of love, but she shouldn't have to carry the majority of the weight on her shoulders any longer.
Helping to raise two fraternal twins, I'm sure, wasn't the easiest job in the world either, far from it, but what if we were never in the picture to begin with? What would her life have been like? I wonder if she has ever thought about that.
Honestly, she still has so much to live for, but it shouldn't be spent worrying about other people. She has toiled for years trying to ensure she raised her boys the best she could, and she has done a fine job, may I say. But now that we are full-grown, her job still isn't over.
I'm amazed at the will-power and determination my Mom has every single day not only to still work full-time, but spend her days off on the road traveling to take care of my grandparents. I know her resiliency has been passed down to my brother and I, but I don't ever think I could ever compare myself to her in that respect. She is a one-of-a-kind woman, a selfless human being who always puts others before herself.
Time machine...take me back to the time when my mother's life wasn't what it is. When she was able to enjoy the bliss of life, and have time for herself to do what she's always wanted.
We all have a time machine...you just need to figure out how to operate it. Our blessings in the past can still be our blessings in the present or future.
I will continue this thought in my next post. Until then...
C
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