Ten on Tuesday! Volume 3

As per usual, brought to you by the amazing Roots and Rings--if you choose to do this, remember to head on over to her site and click on Mr. Linky to link up your blog!  And lookit-me, doing this on an actual Tuesday!  I've grown up so fast...

1. What accomplishment are you most proud of?
In my senior year of high school, my journalism class nominated me as the Most Valuable Staffer/Editor, an award recognized and given by the San Diego Union Tribune (the city's official paper).  I got a plaque and certificate and everything.  I was completely stunned and floored (I wasn't even Editor-in-Chief), and it was awkwardly validating to know that I was among the 8 most valuable staffers in the county.  I was very honored that a class I loved and was absolutely devoted to recognized my dedication.  I can't say my choice to do journalism in college wasn't for a reason, I suppose.

2. How much did you weigh when you were born?
6 lbs, 9 oz. I think.  I haven't asked my mom that in awhile.

3. What is your favorite perfume?
I don't wear any perfume, but if I did, it would be Romance by Ralph Lauren.  Other than the annoyance of one more thing to add to a daily routine, I can't have the bottle in my house because it reminds me of the Men's Romance cologne by Ralph Lauren.  A very painful reminder of a man who hurt my spirit (first year in college-related).

4. How many siblings do you have?
One older brother, who I love and adore with all my heart.  He's my best friend.

5. How many children would you like to have? (Or how many do you have?)
If I decide to have them, 2.  I refuse to raise an only child (no offense), and I'd much prefer an even number of kids.  I don't know why.  Usually I feel as though I'm just trying to replicate my own family.

6. What’s the best class you took in college?
This is going to have be a tie between two of my journalism workshops I did.  The first I wrote about here, and it was Mike Sager's Creative Writing and Journalism class.  His class honestly saved my life, in all senses.  He rekindled my love for the craft, he helped me develop this skill, he guided me at a time I had no one else.  He's currently a Writer-at-Large for Esquire magazine (if you've ever read the "What I've Learned" featurette in that magazine, he's the creator of it), and I recently learned that the movie Boogie Nights (Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch!) was optioned from an article he wrote.  I am very lucky and honored to have him as my mentor.  The second class I wrote about here, and it was Amy Wilentz's Personal Essay narrative.  I credit much of this blog to her, because she forced me to figure out who I was and guide it into my writing.  I still struggle a bit today, but I'm working on it because of that class.  She is the only adviser I've ever had to sit me down, force me to read through my own piece, then flat tell me: "As well written as this is, I see zero of you in this.  You win the award for being able to mask your feelings in your writing.  The only writer I've had who can cover her own emotions so well."  Seeing as how I've always thought I was an emotional billboard, it was definitely a wake up call.

7. What was your favorite game to play when you were a child?
Is every other 20something with me when I say Oregon Trail?  i was all up in that bitch, naming my fellow travelers after people I hated so I could feel a sick twisted joy when they died from a snake bite.  That game taught me what the hell dysentery was.  And yeah, I'm with all those who felt outraged and cheated when my superior shotgun skills were exhibited by killing several ton of bison and birds, but then my party could only bring back 100 pounds.
Aside from that, I was always outside in the courtyard playing baseball with the other kids in my Parco.  And there was this super sweet game my mom let me play on the computer where you have to sneak into buildings and earn your way down this crime-infested street by solving different kinds of math problems in each building.  I hated math, but she tricked me with a pretty awesome game.

8. What character on Friends are you most like?
OH MY GOD IT'S MY DREAM QUESTION.  There is zero doubt in anyone's mind that I'm a Monica.  I can get pretty shrill, and I am freakish about being clean and having everything in its respective place.  I do have to say that I've calmed down a bit, but I'm still pretty anal-retentive about that kind of stuff.

9. Are you a phone person? (ie: Do you like talking on the phone?)
Not at all.  I hate talking on the phone, and only willingly do it with my 3 family members.  Not even my best friends get calls from me.  I'm very lucky that they understand.  And have unlimited texting plans.

10. What was the best vacation you ever took?
When I was 9, my family moved during the summer from Belgium to Italy--and we drove for two and a half months.  It was the best vacation ever, even though I was so, so sad about moving.  We drove from Belgium to Paris down to Spain (just outside Barcelona) to the South of France (St. Tropez and Marseille) to Northern Italy and Rome and finally down to the Amalfi Coast where we lived for the next three years.  It was so much fun living in those places for a few weeks.
A very close second is when we visited Florence and assorted other cities along the Eastern Italian coast.  Florence and Alberobello (in Bari - the heel of the boot) remain to be my two favorite cities in Italy.

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Best of '09 Blog Challenge: Workshop/Conference

Best of 2009 Blog Challenge, Day 6: Workshop/Conference

I'm kind of cheating on this one, since I didn't attend any. I'm not in any position, career or otherwise, to do so, but a few of our required classes in the Literary Journalism major are called workshops since they are done in that format. I only did two this year, but one of them does mean something to me.

I took Amy Wilentz's Personal Essay workshop, and it turned out to be one of the best experiences of my life. It wasn't your typical journalism class--it was so much more. It was creative writing, it was reflection, it was exposure, it was learning. I was forced to think about who I am and who I was and what made me. For all the pieces we worked on and the in-class writing, we had to talk about ourselves and what has happened to us personally (hence...personal essay...WOAHMAN).

One piece in particular came out of this class, and it forced me to go back to a place I never wanted to go. Since writing it, though, I've had the courage to show it to multiple people. Yes, the reactions have all been positive, but what mattered is that I actually showed it to people. It spoke of one of the darker times in my life, a time when I was hopeless and lost and searching for a way out. The piece made me explore what I was going through, why it affected me so much, and then let me tell how I was able to come back. It was a piece that, for me, had to be written.

At the same time, this class also exposed me to how I really felt about certain things. When we had to pitch our ideas, things that I thought were meaningful really weren't as important as they'd seemed. Or, likewise, things that I thought about in passing turned out to be major turning points in my life.

Taking the Personal Essay workshop was putting my life under the microscope, so to speak, and as painful and terrifying as it was...I'm so glad I did it.

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