Tiny blogging

NPR blares on as J reads aloud from the recent wiki leak page. A half-eaten peach lies near my copy of Lolita that I finally finished this morning. It's almost noon, I could use more coffee and I'm blogging from my phone. Who knew the 21st century would be so seemingly connected?

While the week has been lacking exciting bike adventures, it's been full of self realization related to work experiences. Friday night brought a beautiful drive to Powell's Crossroads for fireworks and a friend's birthday. Tomorrow I'm going to celebrate my birthday with my Mom to kick off the week of new year festivities.

Birthdays are always a time of reflection and thought for me; I like to set goals, look at how the past year unfolded and see how I've grown. A year ago, I was preparing to move into my first solo apartment. I had no furniture and a few boxes of belongings. J and I had only briefly crossed paths, unintentionally, and it would be another week or so till we were formally introduced at the farmer's market the Sunday after my birthday.

Today, while that apartment has proved to be not so wallet friendly or resorce efficient, it will do for now. The slow demise of my current living space, however, does not parallel my relationship. It's quite the opposite: I have a partner in cycling, travel, work foilbles, being lazy, discovering new aspects of my hometown. He's my best friend, my biggest fan and sometimes my toughest critic. And one year later, I wouldn't have it any other way.

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Coffee, newspaper, heat

Check out this sweet Bianchi trio spotted at Greenlife last week! Admittedly, two of those are mine and J's. But still! I went back the next day and saw the green one, as well as a '90s purple one.

Nine hours of sleep and I feel on top of my game again.

For a week that unfolded with startling discoveries on the work front, I think I fared pretty well: I decided to hold off on finding a new apartment. I got a super cute haircut. I talked to my sister (with the coolest blog!) for the first time in six months over Skype—what an amazing tool! I discussed my future at my company with some peers/mentors I highly respect.

And wait... it's finally LEO TIME! RRRAAAAARRRRR!!!!

Stepping Out of the "Public" Sphere

I've never been too good about writing articles with my name on them. They always seem to make me nervous—I don't want to get anything wrong, mess up a detail, turn in an article that's already been written...

Well, I had succesfully avoided the former two tasks (or at least errors that had been write-up worthy), but the latter I accomplished tonight. For an article about a new local coffee roaster who delivers beans by bicycle—great guy, great concept. But I apparently have neglected my Google reader this week, as the article was published on said local blog—last week!

Ugh. I blushed and was somewhat ashamed. I still struggle with the work in progress of being a neighborhood blogger, though, or shit, even blogging in my free time! And other people beat me to the punch (re: The Path Less Pedaled coming to town, Velo Coffee, etc.). This is a success for media blogs though! One step closer to up-to-the-minute news. I'm just not your girl.

Oh well. Does it help to cover my butt—I had my head happily in the clouds last weekend, I experienced a tough-as-shit week at work and on the homefront last week, and the figurative hangover from the doomed last week still lingers. Eff you, Monday. Now off with you!

The Fourth in Philly

I'll admit—I let my last blog get away from me and started plunking away about journalism techniques. But I realize those could be very valuable tools for any blogger, no matter what the topic of interest. My apologies, readers. Maybe my future will unfold with a blog about writing, too.

Since my Bici Reunion with a mass of new cyclists in Chattanooga, J and I spent the long holiday weekend in Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love. It was my second trip to Philly, and this time the weather was perfect—a few cool mornings, clear days with blue skies and a few puffy clouds.

After skipping out of work and a four-day week, J and I drove to Atlanta and stayed with his family there. The next morning we drove to the Georgia Aqarium early to park the car and take MARTA to the airport—my first MARTA experience! I always doubted the ability for Atlanta residents to get around without a car, especially if they were reliant on the bus system. But the train was effective and efficient, save for a five minute delay on the tracks.

We made it to the always busy Hartfield-Jackson Airport just in time to board our tiny plane to Philly. The ride was quick and painless, and, of course, it was sunny when we landed. J and I spent the afternoon lounging around and ate some of his mama's heavenly quiche—she had been on a Julia Child kick. Flakey crust, fluffy filling, perfect cheese. Another inspirational dish.

C had made reservations (read: reserved some dough!) for the whole gang to eat at Tacconelli's, a pizza joint in northeast that is known for its brick oven and tomato pies. Apparently it's best to call ahead to reserve your dough. After complying with the BYOB rule (my fave!) and our own salad, we devoured four heavenly pies—the spinach and garlic was my favorite. Nothing beats seeing customers walk in with their own cooler. I was impressed. Tacconelli's also had been recommended to J and I by our friend in Chattanooga, a former Philly resident.

The next day we ventured to New Brunswick on the train. For a mere $35 roundtrip, J and I left from 30th Street Station and made it to our destination in less than 2 hours. We had one quick transfer to NJ transit in Trenton but otherwise had a smooth, seamless and relaxing trip. I really dig trains, of course, and this was my first experience on regional rail in the Northeast. With about four or five tracks, the electric-powered (right?) trains are quite speedy. Nothing like the Acela trains that flew by us at about 50 mph through the station, of course, but still timely, convenient and (to me!) FUN!

After grilling weenies in the backyard, my aunt drove J and I past Johnson & Johnson and we spotted signs of Rutgers—and a Robert Wood Johnson facility, shoutout to work. The town was cute, flat and had ample public parks. We drove through the little town of Dunnellen where my mom was raised and had a delish iced coffee before heading back to the station.



Upon our arrival at 30th Street, J and I, feeling adventurous, hopped on the subway in search of a recommended coffee shop. Needless to say it took us a few blocks to find the place, but we were rewarded with a local brewery, Dock St., next door and a tasty shot of espresso. It was fun to explore without our hosts, for once, to parts of town we had never experienced. Later they picked us up and we headed to Standard Tap for more delicious brews and dinner on the patio.

For the 4th, we sleepily laid around the house, and Craig took me on a drive in his super cool old Jag! BBQ and brews followed that afternoon, and I fell asleep on the couch watching Dark Knight with J. Monday we gallavanted around town—Manayunk, where all the shops were closed for the holiday, and downtown, where we had cocktails at Rouge and people watched on Rittenhouse Square. J bought me a hardback copy of Lolita, and we headed for the airport.

Can't wait for more trains and big city adventures! In the mean time, I'll be cruising around the Chattanooga. Cheers!

Seven Tips for Successful Interviews

After three and a half years of journalism school, about a year of copy editing experience and a year working as a copywriter, I feel that I have made significant improvements in writing questions for and completing interviews. Whether writing for a community blog or healthcare publication, interviews can make or break a story.

Here are seven tips for pre-interivew preparation that I learned not only in school but (more importantly) in my field of work.

1. Accuracy, accuracy, ACCURACY! Ask each interview subject to verify the spelling of his or her name, title, credential information they'd like included, age and city in which they reside.

2. Do your damn research. While I've conducted multiple interviews about joint replacement with orthopedic surgeons all over the county, each one seems to have his or her own take on joint replacement, whether it's the new implants they use, their decades of experience or the process they created from the ground up. Many of these facts and facets could be lost without a little digging and the right questions. What can you find out about this person? How long has he or she been at this job or location? What is his or her specialty? Is there something that sets this person apart from others?

3. Be able to ask conversational questions. This follows tip No. 2. If you know a little bit about the Hudson Valley region, you'd know it's scenic and knows for its beauty and that you might want to ask about this during the interview. Listen to your interviewee, and engage yourself in the topic. If it means feigning interest in the topic to ellicit the subject's genunie interests, do it. Even if it means expressing serious concern about his or her grandma who wasn't able to manage his or her "diabeetus" or the potential research opportunities of microdialysis in patients who've experienced severe traumatic brain injury. Maybe that's a stretch... but even on a phone interview, you're talking with a person, not a computer.

4. Cover all the bases—including any historical or groundbreaking news about the topic. What's most relevant to your readers? The fact that a 9.6-magnitude earthquake hit Tokyo in early spring 2010 or the increase of robberies in your neighborhood? Why should your reader care? Create questions that will, hopefully, dig up more of the story from the interview subject.

5. Don't forget closing questions. In some interviews, this can be the raciest question that you've been saving till the end. In the healthcare marketing world, I encounter more "wrap-up" questions to ensure my notes/brain are on the same page as the interviewee. "What message would you most like readers to gain?" is the cheesy standby. But hey, it works.

6. Don't turn off your recorder or hang up...quite yet. Many times the juciest part of an interview happens after you've mentally ended the interview. Then your subject starts to spill about the real reason he or she got involved, or the impact such-and-such event has had on his or her family life, etc. etc. Since I often complete multiple phone interviews on a daily basis, I rely on my phone's record option and fast typing skills. It's become second nature to type whatever conversation or interivew I'm listening to.

7. MOST IMPORTANTLY... be polite. This person is taking time out of their day to speak with you. And they don't have to do that. Don't give them a reason to hang up on your or ask you to leave—and aim to leave that person feeling good about sharing his or her story with you.