30-day writing challenge: Day 10

11 Thursday Jun 2015

Posted by ejridener in Life, Uncategorized

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celebrity, challenge, College, equal rights, Imagine, inspiration, John Lennon, journalism, LGBTQ, Life, writing

Day 10. Write about something for which you feel strongly

As a journalism student it is important to begin removing yourself and your opinion from your writing. I guess you could say there is one thing I cannot remove myself from because frankly I don’t think I can let go and must stay true to myself.

Equal rights, particularly the rights of the LGBTQ community.

I’ve written quite a bit about the type of home I was raised in and how it’s shaped my life. I never knew there was supposedly something wrong with someone loving another person just because they happen to be the same gender. I’m not quite sure when I became aware that homosexuality was “wrong” or a “sin” but I would guess it was sometime between fifth and seventh grade.

I never caught on to it being “wrong” because it’s not wrong.

In a past post I talked about how I became aware of how judgmental the people in my town are. It made me angry knowing I was being raised next to so many small-minded people. Homophobia spreads like a disease in a town like this. There were many of us that shrugged and said “so what” if someone came out and never batted an eyelash when a celebrity came out.

One of the required courses for my degree is called Reporting on Race, Gender and Culture. The big project in the class is to get into teams and create a panel based on a particular group of people that you have been assigned. My team had the LGBTQ and one of our panelists was Jerry Peterson, the executive director of the Ruth Ellis Center in Detroit, a safe haven for at risk LGBTQ youth. He made the point that it’s difficult for people to come to terms with being born in the incorrect body but trying to tell your friends and family is one of the even larger hurdles.

Caitlyn Jenner’s Vanity Fair cover.

There are so many people, youth and beyond alike, who are afraid of being who they are because of the ridicule they will face. With Caitlyn Jenner’s recent Vanity Fair cover, we were able to see the horrific side of the connectivity the Internet has provided us.

My thoughts? Congratulations Caitlyn, you’re free.

Some people’s thoughts? That’s disgusting and some people even signed a petition trying to get Bruce Jenner’s Olympic medal revoked.

Why? Bruce may have always known he was Caitlyn but he won those with pure athletic talent. Not to get sappy but I’m pretty sure this is one of the many reasons John Lennon wrote “Imagine.”

30-day writing challenge: Day 9

10 Wednesday Jun 2015

Posted by ejridener in College, Life, Music, Uncategorized

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books, challenge, College, future, history, journalism, knowledge, nerd, past, present, technology, wisdom, writing

Day 9: Post some words of wisdom that speak to you

Way back when I was a freshman at Wayne State University, every journalism class required you to write a book report. Some professors found clever ways around it and others ignored it altogether. In my journalistic style and grammar class our professor told us to choose a book and review it similar to how The New York Times reviews books. The other catch was she wanted it to be a book about the area of journalism we were interested in. At the time, I wanted to get into magazine or newspaper publishing and the closest I found was a book by Jason Epstein call “Book Business: Publishing Past, Present and Future.” Yes, it was about book publishing but some of the words on the first page stayed with me.

“Without a vivid link to the past, the present is chaos and the future unreadable.”

I’m a history nerd. I’ve always loved looking at old things be it a book or a painting because they always tell a story. In my antique book collection I have “The Picture of Dorian Grey” with the previous owners name in it and I have walked through many art museums staring at paintings that likely once sat on a palace wall as historical kings and queens built or ruined empires.

Everything has a history. Billy Joel has a song called “We Didn’t Start the Fire” in reference to nothing we do is new when it comes to making history, we just build upon what already exists. It’s a catchy song with a message that likely flew over everyone’s perm when it came out.

Sometimes I feel like Moss from The IT Crowd as I watch Billy Joel's fire grow.

Using Billy Joel’s fire analogy, I feel like Moss from The IT Crowd when it comes to history.

A key part of understanding what’s happening in our world now is picking up the discarded history book. It’s funny to me how many people just don’t know…period. There are many people my age who don’t know when World War II was (as in the time frame), don’t know what Kennedy was known for, don’t know what the Berlin Wall was, don’t know who signed the Declaration of Independence, don’t know how the United States became involved in Vietnam and don’t know the original 13 colonies.

For the most part, I think people don’t care. They can Google the answer if they need to and put it on a flashcard if they need to know for a test. Seeing as my generation is what I call the “iGeneration,” understanding how to use our technology and make it better is more important to them.

Who cares how the technology got to us in the first place?

30-day writing challenge: Day 8

09 Tuesday Jun 2015

Posted by ejridener in Life, Uncategorized

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bucket list, challenge, College, craft, Doctor Who, fun, inspiration, Life, procrastination, read, summer, time, writing

Day 8: Share something you struggle with

Time is one of those things you take for granted when you have it and wish for more when you’re down to the wire. There have been times when I’ve joked about being the master of procrastination but strangely I’ve found some of my best work is done under the pressure of missing a deadline. The few times that I’ve taken my time with an article I have nearly pulled my hair out trying to find the right words and second guessing everything I put down.

Time and I just don’t see eye-to-eye.

Often times I find myself wanting to try things but realize I don’t have enough time. It’s sad because they few occasions when I have a day to myself with no worries of school or work I cannot justify moving from a resting position. It’s funny how time pays those tricks on you.

The Doctor got it right.

I sometimes realize I’ve taken a moment to reflect on the things I could have done so much better had I have had more time. Sometimes it’s a painting and sometimes it’s a paper. Sometimes it’s a semester and sometimes it’s a day. I have an ever-growing list of things to accomplish, some would call it a bucket list, and I think time will win the never-ending battle to finish the list. It’s unfortunate but it’s life.

If there were one thing I would want more of it’s time. Time to craft, time to listen, time to watch, time to read, time to spend with my family and friends, time to taste, time to rest and time to take a moment to breathe.