CBS Tampa's Most Valuable Blogger 2011

Last week I was awarded with CBS Tampa's Most Valuable Blogger Award in the local affairs category.

I appreciate the inclusion and honor, even though I’ve lacked the time to write about it until now. I’ve been a little busy with life - doing good, enjoying havoc, entertaining myself and getting by. 

Thanks to Clark Brooks, fellow winner and creator of the blog Ridiculously Inconsistent Trickle of Consciousness, and a great cheerleader and friend.

Also big hug to another winner, Kate Robinson of Out in Left Field. I think we both got our start as Tampa writers as bloggers at Sticks of Fire, the best blog ever to ever grace Tampa but a few years before its time. (Can it come back now that the city is ripe & needs it more than ever?!)

Also many thanks to a very thoughtful advocate & blogger I don’t know, Benjamin Kirby of The Spencerian, who recently wrote that he can’t stop reading my blog. Might be the best compliment my writing has ever gotten.

I started this blog because I wanted to write regularly and have a reason (as if I needed one) to participate more in my community. I didn’t anticipate anyone making my words part of their daily routine, so thank you.

Now a few thoughts about doing good: I believe that everyone should, as they say at WEDU, be more. Do what you can, then see if you can take it up a notch (BAM!). It'll take some time to build, but after a while you'll have created a neat web of resources, friends and acquaintances. You'll meet your neighbors. You'll know what's going on around town before it ever makes the news.

There's no Brownie points for good intentions, for wanting to help, no life experience spending the evening’s prime time hours in front of the computer or TV. It’s human nature to need one another, and ridiculous that American society practically discourages togetherness. Think segregation, suburbs, polarized politics, gated communities, private clubs, and on and on.

Practice moderation. Helping others is not about taking on too much, after all helping others only works after you’ve helped yourself.

Focus on those who want to be helped, not the ones who don’t. Ask if your help is needed, and don’t get discouraged if your offer is rejected. Be resilient. Someone somewhere needs the skills and support you have to offer.

If you have a bad experience volunteering one place, move on. Gravitate towards places and people that make you feel appreciated. Don’t waste your energy or passion on people that make you feel bad.

Most importantly, though, is simply showing up.

WMNF's Birthday Bash

Happy (early) 32nd birthday WMNF!

Celebrate with us (and Bob Schneider, the Ditchflowers & Monica da Silva) at Skipper's Smokehouse Friday, September 16th.

Check out this show and a week full of birthday events on WMNF's events page (because who the heck celebrates for just one day?!).

Divorce Crazy

@Caitlinconstan's Sasha has better things to do

My friend Jenn, also a relatively recent & young divorcée, has a term she calls divorce crazy. 

The definition is self explanatory. And she was smart enough to foresee it before it occurred, so she planned for it.

It's poignant for me because in a marriage that didn't work, I found that my biggest enemy was not the partner who didn't fit me but my own wacky self.

Jenn is the queen of serial monogamy. I've always known her to be in a very long-term relationship. Or in long-term periods-of-abstaining-from-long-term-relationships. She's my model for the ideal mentally healthy & balanced person, which I fail up against time and again.
 
From a recent im chat:

Jennifer:  Ok....you need to be celibate for at LEAST the next six months for real!
me:  omg what if i die! (not from, you know, but like get hit by a bus?)
Jennifer:  What if you totally get your stuff together and work out all your issues? And go on to a happier healthier life??
me:  Right. I guess that would be fun too.
Jennifer:  LOL

Thus far I've made my divorce crazy work for me. One of the first things I did when I felt like I had my life back was contact every friend I had dropped or drifted away from, including a few ex's. 

Not in that wacky High Fidelity tell-me-what's-wrong-with-me kind of way. (I know that much about myself by now.) More like when-we-agreed-to-be-friends-I-meant-it-now-let's-get-beers-and-not-make-out.  

It's nice to be reminded that just because a romantic partnership didn't work out doesn't mean a friendship can't bloom. Something special still exists in that person who initially drew you close. 

WMNF's Future of Journalism Series

Fake journos O.K. too. With Rob Riggle in Largo, FL 2007 

Although I love talking to anyone about anything, my favorite people to interview are other journalists.

I want to know what they know, how they got started, what they're covering, what they'd rather be covering and when the book's coming out.

Maybe it's because I've always been a freelancer. I miss creative pow wows and staff meetings, opportunities to be a mentor & be mentored.

I'm still hungry for the knowledge and experience that will make my work better. So I live vicariously by asking the questioners lots of questions.

And as a media activist at heart, I'm also particularly fond of spreading my love of (good) media and journalism to those outside of the industry. I think everyone in any field should know how media works and how it can both bring benefits and do harm. 
  

Which brings me to my latest project: a Future of Journalism series on 88.5 WMNF. I started by making a list of all my journalism & media heroes, and then asked them for interviews.

©2007 NPR, by Stephen Voss

On Monday the first of these interviews aired. The premiere episode featured NPR's David Folkenflik, who talked about being editor of Page One, a book of essays on the New York Times and journalism, which he says picked up where the documentary of the same name left off. 

There's also an extended interview in which David talks about his early career in newspapers, making the switch to radio, and how after seven years at NPR he's still referred to as the "print guy".

It was exciting to hear how excited he is by the current state of journalism. While the news business has been gloomy since I entered it and suffered immensely this recession, Americans are consuming more news than ever.

  

Next week's interview is with Peter Osnos, who has my nomination for godfather of modern American journalism. He began his career as the lone assistant to independent journalist I.F. Stone (whom he calls one of the first bloggers), spent many years overseas with the Washington Post, gave my generation one of our finest journalists, founded PublicAffairs Books, and much more. 

Happy listening.

Why (Good) Media Makes Me a Better Person

Be honest: have you ever met or seen a person with some kind of disability and just stared? Or done the opposite - looked away so as not to be rude?

Five or so years ago while I was a shy (so not good for radio) co-host on the Saturday Asylum on WMNF, I briefly met a musician who brought up these insecure feelings in me.

Luckily I happened to have been recording the musician, Susie Ulrey, and her reunited 90's indie band Pogoh, with a video camera at the time of this occurrence.

That made it easy to look her right in the face without having to look her in the eyes. I admit I often hide behind media when real life is hard to handle.

Fast forward to this year, a few months ago, when Susie was playing a solo show at New World Brewery. No one could really tell me much about her story. 

I knew that she's around my age (thanks Facebook!) and that when I first met her she used a walker. Now she uses a scooter to get around.  

The place was not crowded and I hid behind a digital camera. I left that evening without even saying hello.

And felt crappy because of that. Although what would I have said? Hi, we met a long time ago and I want to know what it's like to be you?

Actually there is a career path that's a bit hard to come by these days but if you're lucky enough to snag it, you get paid to ask strangers these very questions.

So I pitched the story to the St. Petersburg Times, which I've been writing for every few months or so for the past year and a half, and my editor accepted (and polished) my idea. 

I spent a few hours with Susie and a microphone, from a coffee shop to her physical therapist's office to her home, asking the lamest questions. She was happy to have someone asking and was very open to all of it.

She used to hate the stares, now she hates the ladies who use handicapped stalls as their own personal dressing rooms. She had special business cards made up for the jerks who park in handicap-accessible parking spaces that thank them for making her day that much more difficult.

But the best story I found wasn't just hers, it was the story of her and her husband. A love story. You know, the good stuff.

The story is online today and, of course, in the paper. Go buy one. There's lots of other stories in there too, about this lively Tampa Bay community that you might be missing out on. It'll be the most valuable $.50 you've spent all week.

Hamell on Trial

The size of the crowd Sunday evening at Skipper's was modest, but the songs were the opposite. One-man band Hamell on Trial played three sets, rated G, R, and Triple X. 

This one, Halfway, was a part of the latter. (Thanks to my new YouTube pal Gordo73 for sharing this video, recorded in 2007 at the Etcetera Theatre in London.)

Yoga Babes (& Babies)

I can be a little hard on Tampa sometimes, wishing it were bigger, more cosmopolitan. Some place else. 

Though there's plenty of history, much of it has been paved over by fatter times. Luckily the future is all around and begs us to do right. 

Of course part of this city's appeal is that we who live here are busy making it what we want.

A couple of weekends ago I attended a yoga-themed baby shower (top that Seattle!). 

White sugar isn't bad if buried in a cupcake.

Jennifer Oppelt, the featured mommy-to-be (for the second time), is one of the most healthful and wellness-conscious ladies around. 

It helps that her mother is Denise O'Dunn, an Ayurvedic Practitioner and the owner of Balance & Bliss, a healing arts practice currently housed at the Lotus Pond. 

Denise led the all-ages group of gals in yoga and then the Motherhood Blessingway, a ceremony celebrating Jenn's new path.

We threw a ball of yarn (like girls) around the circle, gently wrapping the string around the wrist of one before sending it on to another. 

  

Finally we clipped the yarn and tied them into bracelets, to remind ourselves of Jenn and her journey.

Mine fell off a week later, but I no longer needed the reminder. 

Ties are often invisible and distant while still remaining strong.