Goodbye...for now...

This semester has been an adventure for me since day one. I can’t believe we are done with reporting, it was just yesterday our professor had us pick our neighborhood beat. At first I wanted to get the Mission because I speak Spanish fluently and my mother has lived in the neighborhood when she emigrated from Nicaragua. Although the Castro was also on my list I never expected our professor to pick it for me and to be honest I’m glad she did. As some of you already know I grew up in a very tight-knit Catholic family, which made the Castro appear more like a foreign country to me. After spending every week in the Castro I honestly wouldn’t mind living there (if I had the money), almost everyone had been extremely friendly, the restaurants were amazing, and I loved the old Victorian houses.

Since this is my final post for the class website I would like to get a couple things off my chest. First off, before transferring to SF State I had no idea what I wanted to major in. I took one journalism class from Contra Costa College and I was hooked. As strange as that sounds it was actually that simple, but I didn’t truly understand journalism until taking the reporting class. Lastly, I was so intimidated by my classmates because it seemed as though they were ahead of the game in terms of writing and reporting I almost lost sight of why I was there in the first place, to improve my skills. After the last couple articles I felt more comfortable with my writing and reporting ability.

I was told by someone that after you finish reporting class, the rest becomes easier. No offense to that person, but I think that’s a little white lie someone from the journalism department made up to ease other journalism students’ anxiety. There are going to be other classes that will probably drive us to tears, but in the end that “swift kick in the ass” will bring us success in the long run (at least that’s what my news writing professor told me).

Alright, enough of that long heart felt speech. I say we throw out our books and papers, go to a bar and drink to our hearts content. I’m not talking about beer either, I’m talking whiskey, rum, or tequila because god knows we deserve it after all the hard work we put in this semester (I know I do).

I’ll see you guys next semester, have a fun summer.

Mr. Watters

I had just finished Ethan Watters' book and I must say I was impressed with how he reinforced his arguments using different a couple different countries as models for his book. Although some parts sort of dragged a little, but I thought he did a fantastic job in terms of how he conducted his interviews and background information he used for his book. Psychology isn't exactly my cup of tea, but the fact that he was comparing Western psych methods with other cultures made his book all the more interesting.

Before attending Ethan Watters' talk I was a little weary about going to the event because I was completely exhausted from all the work I had to do for other classes and I was afraid of falling asleep in the middle of Watters' talk. Thankfully I stayed awake through the whole thing, writing down any relevant information for the "Crazy Like US" assignment.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that Mr. Watters was just as impressive in real life as he is in the book. He had done a great job answering most our questions and was able to eloquently explain some of the psychological terms he used in his book. My favorite part of the event was when he told us about the "Top 10 things you need to know before going on the Daily show" (obviously he was on the Daily Show), which I thought was hilarious.

I'm not sure if everyone realized this, but we literally have two or three weeks of school left, wasn't it just yesterday we were working on our "HOOD1" assignment? Is it just me or has time gone by a little too fast?

Story dilemma (Blog 11)

Last Tuesday was probably one of the longest days of my life. It wasn’t that the Chauncey Bailey trial was boring it was all the bureaucratic garbage being spilled in the courtroom. Obviously I didn’t go into the courtroom thinking it was going to be like Law & Order: SVU (one of my favorite shows) in which I would understand everything that is going on. Everything that was discussed in the courtroom such as the evidence and key witness testimonies sounded like Japanese, I couldn’t understand 50 percent of it. Although I jotted down copious amounts of notes, I should have gotten more background information before going to the trial, but to my dismay I had tons of work from other classes that I couldn’t ignore.

Fortunately I had received contact information from Melissa Krum (prosecutor) and Gary Sirbu (Mackey’s lawyer); I was amazed with how helpful they were. After talking to the lawyers and diving into a whole mess of research I was able to connect with what went on in the trial to Chauncey Bailey’s murder and presto story complete. I had no idea how complicated the case was going to be, who would have thought so much crime would come from a small little bakery of all places. The case is so complex if someone were to make a movie out of it, they would have to turn it into a mini-series just to get it right.

I’m not sure how our professor would feel about my article since it was my first time covering a trial, but at least I completed my story on time with the format she asked for. All I can do is hope for the best at this point.

As for my final story it seems that all arrows points at nude people in the Castro. I’ve done a little bit of research on the subject while I was working on my crime story and it seems like too many people have written about nudists in San Francisco. Some of them were positive others were negative, either way I have to go with a different angle. I would like to write a profile piece on one of the nudists I spoke with a couple weeks ago I don’t think anyone has used that angle yet (at least not to my knowledge).

I may consider writing about the Castro’s night life because I heard it can get a little wild after a certain, especially in the bars. But if you guys have any story ideas I could use please feel free to send some my way, I would really appreciate it.

Nude People and Pictures (blog8)

This spring break felt more like summer then spring, unlike the past couple of weeks when it was cold and wet from all the rain. I’m pleased to say before leaving the Castro I was able to wear a t-shirt, shorts, and a pair of light blue vans.

This time around at the Castro, I decided to use the nice weather as an opportunity to get an assignment done for my digital news gathering class. Our professor wanted us to pick an emotion and take 30 pictures of it, and then choose five or seven of the best ones. I choose seriousness as my subject because for some reason I find it fascinating when people have that serious look on their face, especially while they are working.

At first I felt a little skeptical about taking pictures of strangers because it would make me look like a stalker. As opposed to sneaking around taking pictures of random people, I ended up going to different shops in the neighborhood and asked the workers' permission to photograph them while they go about their business,

My first stop was at Cliff’s Variety so that I can confirm a couple details about my profile piece with one of the managers. While I was at Cliff’s I took pictures of some of the workers helping customers. I giggled when I noticed how serious they looked because I was so used to seeing them act silly and making jokes. I continued visiting other stores and restaurants including Sui Generis, The Bead Store, and Ixia, taking pictures of customers and clerks. I was in awe of some of the items The Bead Store had, especially with some of their Buddhist artifacts, I ended up taking pictures of they had to offer.

After leaving one of the stores I accidently walked into one of the nudists, instead of leaving I took the opportunity to talk to him. The nude man’s name was Bear, he was about 6’3, pot belly but not fat, wore a blue hat, and had white hair. We took around Church Street, where we met up with one of his nude friends, Lloyd, who was actually a lot thinner compared to Bear. Luckily I was able to avoid looking at their penises (yes that’s right I said it, ‘penis’) and have kept eye contact with them while talking to them. Both men had been nudists for 15 years and have been criticized for the ‘life style’. I may not be particularly fond of seeing old men walk around naked, but as a journalist I have to swallow my feelings and be objective. However, I have to give them credit for their boldness because not too many people I know have to guts to walk around naked in public.

The nude men were actually helpful and actually gave me their contact information, in case I decide to write a story about nude people in the Castro. Today made me realize that I’m not as shy or inhibited as I was in the beginning of this semester. In fact if you were to tell me back then that I would end up talking to nude men at the Castro, I probably would have just laughed it off.