Tell Me a Story

Story Idea: How people are immersed with Christmas when it's still months and months away...

Let me tell you this story, not including print, in three different ways.

I'm imagining a radio broadcast where the host describes this story by highlighting three different subjects, each with their own story. The broadcast will offer most of the information through clips of interviews given by each subject. I want to offer this world only through audio.

Then I'm thinking about a visual representation, specifically in photography. I want the subjects to offer us into their homes and show us just how crazy they are with Christmas not in the month of December. I'm thinking these people have Christmas-themed rooms in their houses dedicated to the jolly holiday. In a perfect world, I would have these people simply sitting in their rooms while I snap these pictures. They would be from all different angles, offering many vantage points into how much they are dedicated to celebrating the holiday in the middle of the summer.

Another awesome possibility to telling this story could be from the subjects alone. I would hand them a blank sheet of paper with only a question at the top saying: "What does Christmas mean to you?" I would give them a box of art supplies and let them loose. I'm thinking I would be able to get some cool visuals from that as well. I would offer this project to them twice, once in the middle of summer and another during the actual Christmas season. I predict some changes to the drawings during that simple switch in time.

I'm starting to realize just how crazy this story idea may be. The story is there, it's just up to me to tell it, even if I just started thinking about it for this recent lab assignment. If I did this project in May, then decided to perform it again in December, the difference would be great, but that difference is something I'd be willing to tell.

Our 48-hour Magazine

What I've Learned

Cover:

It will be styled to look like a notebook with handwritten font.

Content:

Some smaller articles to begin coupled with essays about a wide range of topics dealing with lessons learned (ex: 'What I Learned in College?').

Classrooms

Teaching

Personal stories

Talents

Family/Traditions/Crafts

Feature Article (sponsored?) - an in-depth piece on the educational climate in Homewood, a neighborhood in Pittsburgh. It would include commentary on schools in Pittsburgh (Did you know there's a Barack Obama Elementary School in Homewood?)

Art: for an article such as the Homewood piece, it would be more aesthetically pleasing to have graphics of the neighborhood (gritty, raw photography). And for the lighter articles a mixture of cartoons, photography, and assorted quotes about what they have learned. These articles would round off our magazine.

Links on Links on Links

Longshot/RadioLab RT's

wendymac wendy macnaughton

by zjharr

The making of Longshot Magazine told through drawings and tweetsnewyorkmade.me

8 Aug Favorite Undo Retweet Reply

ExhibitionistSF SF Weekly Arts Blog

by zjharr

Three lessons learned from @longshotmag, that magazine whipped up in just 48 hours http://bit.ly/nEsyg8

9 Aug

wnycradiolab Radiolab

by zjharr

New short--a king in need of a miracle hires a clockmaker, & Jad heads to the Smithsonian to visit their creation: http://ow.ly/5iqEf

15 Jun

wnycradiolab Radiolab

by zjharr

New short--Ian Frazier on the joys of clobbering a 6-yr-old at tic tac toe, & listeners help us map the game's reaches: http://ow.ly/6nc7z

6 Sep Favorite Undo Retweet Reply

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the two RadioLab posts. Hearing a story is so much different than reading it. The sound, particularly the music in the background during certain aspects of the story, really kept me listening and focused. I'll be listening to more.

As for Longshot, it was pretty cool to see a magazine be built from start to finish in only a 48-hour period. I strongly suggest to check out the tweet from @wendymac. It's a very cool, modern way to illustrate the inside work done to complete such a feat.

Grantland Social Media Links:

Facebook

Twitter

Podcasts

RSS Feed

Slate Social Media Links:

Facebook

Twitter

Podcasts

Video

RSS Feed

Nonfiction Facebook Pages

The New Yorker

The Atlantic

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Pittsburgh City Paper

Nonfiction on Twitter... Too Much?

Lab Two:

When searching for particular sites and people in the nonfiction world on social media websites, I found some interesting discoveries. There seemed to be two different sides to my research. It was really easy finding nonfiction sites on Twitter and Facebook, but when it came down to searching actual authors, it wasn't so easy. I guess the reason for the speed bumps was that I was only looking for already established authors--there seemed to be tons and tons of local authors at smaller news sites/publications.

Anyways, through all of my debating with who to pick, I landed on Keith Law (@keithlaw), a national baseball writer. You can find his work almost anywhere, but mostly on ESPN. I am familiar with the topic that he mainly tweets about (baseball), and he does a great job responding to questions asked by his followers. He doesn't do much self-promoting, which is always nice. He can be a little sarcastic with his responses, but he does the one thing I think all famous writers should do: interact with us common folk looking to be just like him. Doing that simple thing proves to me he cares, at least a little bit, about the people that take the time to ask him questions and follow his work.

For the site, I chose CNN's breaking news account (@cnnbrk), my second official follow on Twitter. Seriously, they get the job done. It's short, sweet, and right to the point. I mean I just learned the death of Steve Jobs through this account. With breaking news accounts, you always have to wonder when/if they jump the gun with too much information. I have to tell you, this account has yet to make a mistake, at least since I've followed them. OK, I make this account seem like it's above and beyond all other accounts. Maybe it tweets a little too frequently throughout the day (i.e. I know Steve Jobs just passed away, however, I don't need a tweet linking me to Mark Zuckerberg's thoughts on the situation). That's it, though, the only complaint I have.

See you next time.

A Little Bit of History

Lab One:

1. William Faulner's Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech

"I feel that this award was not made to me as a man, but to my work..."

2. January 1, 1644 fell on a Friday. As for the weather, from the 1st to the 10th of the month, it was "cloudy and rainy weather, with occasional sunshine and somewhat warm."

(Source: The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography)

3. The five deadliest hurricanes in U.S. history:

1) Great Galveston Hurricane (TX)/1900/Category 4/8,000 deaths

2) FL (Lake Okeechobee)/1928/Category 4/2,500 deaths

3) Katrina (LA, MS, FL, GA, AL)/2005/Category 3/1,200 deaths

4) Cheniere Caminanda (LA)/1893/Category 4/1,100-1,400 deaths

5) Sea Islands (SC, GA)/1893/Category 3/1,000-2,000 deaths

(Source: Weather Underground)

4. Hey, look! It's Frank Lloyd Wright's "Fallingwater" blueprints!

5. Here's Hemingway's passport photo, along with some observations...

1) Is it just me or is he staring through my soul?

2) The sepia tone really dates the photograph, and even Hemingway himself. No beard in this photo.

3) Hemingway's silhouette is very straight; there seem to be no curves at all.

4) The picture could not be more precise, not a thing is messy or unkempt.

5) There is just something very ominous about the photo. This man is hiding something. Even though it's just a still image, I feel at any second there could be movement.

Sources Galore

Here are some more sources dealing with our topic:

1. AboveTheInfluence.com

A pretty cool website with a lot of information dealing with drinking. May need to be a little more focused.

2. NIAAA

A little more boring with its content, but valuable content nonetheless. If I need any facts, this would probably be my first choice, much more academic-based.

3. College Drinking -- Changing the Culture

More research and facts, with a little more interactive tools. It seems to be tied closely with NIAAA as well.

I've been looking broadly over the Internet about our topic, however, there isn't much interactive material. I think we will have to tape and record our own material to make it more visually appealing.

See you next time.