Tuesday, April 4, 2017

News and Things: March Favorites

Okay, okay... I realize this is coming to you all a little late. And I realize I haven't gotten the chance to update the blog in almost two weeks. However, lemme give you a really good excuse: I have been a busy, busy girl!

For starters, as I may have mentioned before, I've had the distinct pleasure of being a part of a UW Research Team project as an alumni, exploring how we communicate usability design in classroom settings, with the intention of publishing the article in a technology-oriented journal. Our rough drafts for the preliminary part of our article was due earlier this week, and it was a mad dash to get things finalized in a way that I liked.

I've also been absolutely stoked for the last week of March or so, to be a part of the Judging Panel for this year's Queen Coronation for the Daffodil Festival. Not only has it been a ton of fun for me to see another side of this organization that I love so much, but I've gotten the chance to know this year's participants fairly well (at the cost of an insane amount of sleep, sure... but it's worth it).

Additionally, I have been continuing my time as a Special News Correspondent for the Tacoma Weekly, and reporting on notable Daffodil events, like, say, the very Coronation for which I was judging. Oh, and there's going to be a special commemorative issue this year, where Daffodil is taking over the entire B section in anticipation of the Parade, so you'll be seeing my byline splashed all over those pages, too!

So in case you've been wondering why I couldn't muster up the motivation to write out a blog post or two, it's because I've been writing over 18 single-spaced pages of material for other important writing projects I'm working on. IN THE PAST WEEK AND A HALF.

But enough of me complaining.

I'm in Oregon now, for the Spring Break of my younger siblings, and Tacoma is far behind us for the next week. March is over, and you probably know the drill: there's been a lot of News. And there's been a lot of Things. So it's time for News and Things!



My teenage siblings recently threw me for a loop when they showed me how they write papers - here's a hint: it involves direct voice-to-text software and several layers of email - so this write-up by the Washington Post, on how today's kids are being raised with technological voice assistants like Siri and Alexa, was of special interest to me.

As I've moved back home and had to cope with greater distances between myself and some of my best friends, I've been feeling pretty alone out here in Tacoma. As it turns out, I'm not the only one: in fact, millenials are getting lonelier... and The Financial Diet has the breakdown. 

We often think of publishing being one of the more diverse hiring fields - due to the kinds of many different kinds of stories that get published - but Publishing Weekly's Industry Salary Survey of 2016 proves that we still have a ways to go.

I've been a vocal supporter of journaling for nearly my whole life, so I was pleased to see one of my favorite YouTubers, Lavendaire, discussing her own #journaljunkiehabits.

Okay, so it's not exactly news, but Out of Print Clothing has finally started selling pins! I'm desperate to add a few to my button-bedecked library bag... especially the library stamp and card set. 

'90s America's unofficial favorite teacher, William Daniels - aka, Mr. Feeny on Boy Meets World - published a memoir, called There I Go AgainBrooklyn Magazine gives us some of the highlights of Daniels' epic career... like that time he met Lin Manuel Miranda.

Ever wondered what the technical aspects behind staging the battle at Helm's Deep were? Nerdwriter put together this analytical love letter to one of the greatest fantasy battle scenes in cinematic history. 

And in recent headlines that make you look like you're chewing on a lemon news... the New York Times charts the rise of alt-righters who love Jane Austen. 




I've been a huge fan of Practical Folks' Drunk Disney segments for years now... but my sister and I have recently grown enamored with their Game of Thrones themed "Power Hour" segments, hosted by Cersei Lannister and Petyr Balish, to hilarious effect. Remember, power is power!

After years of begging, I finally convinced my game-crazy teenage brother to watch one of my favorite webseries: The Guild! Because the episodes are so short - and they're all strung together, easy to watch, on Netflix - he's already finished with Season 3. In his words: "Poor, crazy Codex."

It's always a weird feeling when one of your favorite skincare products grows up... I haven't repurchased The Body Shop's Tea Tree Foaming Cleanser since my Junior year of college, because it literally lasts forever, which is why I was quite surprised to see how it now is kind of packaged like a dude's product. Regardless, it still works great!

Wrong directions from my mother last month resulted in me showing up to pick her up from the bus about an hour early... luckily, there's a Trader Joes only about ten minutes away from the transit center! My despondent shelf-browsing resulted in picking up an old favorite again: Toblerone chocolate bars. Because nothing helps you forget you're sitting in a rainy parking lot with a bag of soggy groceries and a half an hour more to kill quite like a Toblerone.

When I'm don't feel like having a full lunch, I like to reach for Trader Joes' sliced organic apples and selection of sliced tapas cheeses. Both are require zero prep, and make for an excellent pairing together, but you can always build them out to a bigger, ploughman's style lunch if needed.

Good news, everyone: The Voice is finally back on television! However, last season, I became a Sundance Head superfan early on, and there's no one who's really catching my attention. Who are you already rooting for?

And did you really think I'd be closing out this post without mentioning the new Beauty and the Beast??? I know that it's drummed up a lot of polarizing reactions from fans, but I've got to tell you... I loved Emma Watson and Dan Stevens, I loved the new music and their variations on the old ones, and I had so much fun crying through it the first time, that I went back two days later to see it again with friends, and cried all over them too!

A bit of a personal favorite: my sister Delaney was on Spring Break for about two weeks of March! She blew us off for a weekend to hang out with a friend in San Diego - where she tried In and Out for the first time - but having her home was definitely a lot of fun.



What have been some of your favorite news headlines and products this month? Let me know, in the comments below!

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