I’ve been writing for The Aggie for a little over two years now, and I have a confession to make: I’ve always wanted to be the weather(wo)man.
Really, though, Aggie weatherman Jon Gold’s got a pretty sweet deal. He gets his own space every Monday through Thursday to comment on anything he wants – and on the front page, to boot!
Having my own column, I suppose I get the same perks. But they say that brevity is the soul of wit, so 20 column inches of “well-focused” text sometimes makes writing feel like a burden more than a blessing.
And over the past couple of months writing “Variations on a Theme,” I’ve accumulated a lot of half-baked column ideas – things unsuitable for a full-fledged column but still worthy of print.
That being said, I give to you my baby columns turned wannabe weathers.
During a recent car ride to Arden Fair mall and back, I heard “Just Dance” by Lady GaGa three times, “Halo” by Beyonce five times and both “Kiss Me Thru the Phone” by Soulja Boy and “Blame It On the Alcohol” six times each – all from three different radio stations. Thank God for KDVS. And mixtapes.
One exception to my current radio rap exhaustion? “Birthday Sex” by Jeremih. It’s too damn catchy not to like.
The most inspirational thing I’ve encountered recently: “Learning to Love You More” by Harrell Fletcher and Miranda July. The creators created simple assignments and gathered individual submissions online to prove that originality exists even in instruction. My favorite assignments: Number 60: Write a press release about an everyday event, number 14: write your life story in less than a day and number 55: photograph a significant outfit.
Speaking of inspiration, a majority of my column writing is spent on my bed in my pajamas.
Journalism is not a field for people pleasers. As a reporter, it’s hard to keep an objective voice when you know people are going to take articles you do on them personally. It’s even harder when articles result in people sending you admittedly drunken Facebook messages.
For album reviews: AV Club > Pitchfork, any day.
After a visit to the optometrist revealed that my red, perpetually teary and pained right eye was due to a corneal ulcer and not simple allergies, I was condemned to a straight week of glasses wearing. I’ve always been the black sheep of my bespectacled family, opting for contact lenses over frames. I have a very impractical approach to wearing glasses: times when I feel the need to disguise myself, as an accessory when I felt the need to spice up my outfit or times when I felt like it could help me be more productive. (It didn’t.)
While I’m on the topic of glasses: For the near-sighted, try walking around campus for a day without the assistance of corrected lenses. It’s disorienting yet strangely liberating. Plus, it effectively solves the problem of having to awkwardly acknowledge people you’d rather not make small talk with.
Thinking about getting a tattoo? Check out loltatz.com. Then think about it some more.
True story: A friend and I were in line at a bar on a Saturday night when a guy sidled up behind her, got close and whispered in her ear. She turned around, he “realized” that he didn’t know her and claimed that he thought she was his friend Sheila. Then he asked if she wanted to add a Miller Lite to her tab. Elaborate move or legitimate, albeit convenient, mistake?
RACHEL FILIPINAS will leave the weather writings to her colleague for one more week, but if you’d like to hear more from her, send a little sum-sumthing to rmfilipinas@ucdavis.edu.
