December 25, 2009 • 9:53 pm
What a wonderful season of gift-giving it is! Here’s a run-down of what I received this year:
From my parents:
Three journalism books:
• City Room by Arthur Gelb of the NYT
• Bias by Bernard Goldberg
• Arrogance by Bernard Goldberg
That makes four books I’ve received since August that decry (and detail the decline of) the media industry. I wonder if people are trying to tell me something?
• A spiffy new wallet and smallet.
• A hypo-allergenic comforter.
• Blessed financial assistance.
• The Pearl Harbor soundtrack (perhaps the most beautiful music in the world)
• A fan.
• Two sets of fine sleepwear.
From my brother:
• The Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince DVD
From my sister:
• Cable Caddy
From my grandparents:
• Blessed financial assistance.
From Shele and Bobby:
• Blessed financial assistance.
From David Layfield and Debbi Ann:
• A Persian bookmark
Filed under: Uncategorized
December 23, 2009 • 5:41 am
In just a few hours my blog went from an average of 20 views a day to more than 5,000. And it was all because of one link.
Two days ago I wrote this post because I was curious about who was on the most TIME magazine covers in history.
I figured another news site, Gawker.com, might find the information I found intriguing, especially because the post was somewhat relevant (the end of the year, Obama’s record-breaking pace, etcetera).
I submitted my link to Gawker’s tips inbox, and a few hours later it was published on Gawker.com.
Later that day I was surprised to get an e-mail from a producer with the NBC Nightly News who asked me to call right away to verify that it was I who had researched the numbers and created the chart. He said he wanted to include a short blurb about it that evening.
And, sure enough, just a few hours later, my blog Teqnolog was mentioned by Brian Williams in this primetime clip. It was after watching that clip that I first realized I had multiple personalities.
By the end of the day traffic to my blog had skyrocketed far beyond the norm. In fact, Teqnolog was listed as #1 on WordPress.com’s list of the fastest growing blogs. The post was listed in WordPress.com’s top 50 posts of the day.
It wasn’t until the next day that I realized the story had been spread online.
I found the same story on Yahoo! News, Asian News International, The New Nixon, and even USA Today and the New York Post. Those, and quite a few other blogs and online news sites.
Now that’s what I call a viral post.
Here’s a look at the difference in Teqnolog’s traffic: Read the rest of this entry »
Filed under: News & Journalism, Observation
December 22, 2009 • 6:31 am
I don’t think I’ve ever received a higher honor as a journalist than being named before Clark Kent.
Filed under: News & Journalism
August 15, 2009 • 4:37 pm
The following is the transcript of the speech I gave to the Lee University student body in April 2009 at Senior Reflections Chapel:
Who knew that when I got my acceptance letter from Lee University I would end up writing front page stories for a daily metropolitan newspaper, climbing Mount Sinai, and perhaps most importantly of all, getting my hands on a Paul Conn bobble-head.
So when I was asked to speak tonight, my initial reaction was one of thrilled excitement. And then I read what we were supposed to speak about: our story. The story of our experience at Lee University – what we learned, how we changed, etcetera.
And this slightly scared me. I was prepared to make three points and give a speech that you might hopefully remember years down the line.
But… instead, it’s my story. I don’t know how to talk about myself. In fact, I feel like I’m equipped to talk about anything but myself. And so I’ve labored for days trying to pinpoint those key memories that might provide just a five-minute glimpse into the last four years.
So here it is, the most concise graduation speech you’ll ever hear:
Read the rest of this entry »
Filed under: In Retrospect
The following is the transcript of the speech I gave to the Lee University student body in April 2009 at Senior Reflections Chapel:
Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, oh Lord, my strength and my redeemer.
When you’re searching for something, anything, to talk about at chapel and all that comes to mind is the college benediction, you might feel at a loss.
But in fact, I think our benediction, shorter than a Twitter message at 123 characters, deserves a message all its own.
Let the words of my mouth… be acceptable in thy sight.
As a journalism major, I’ve found that the words we speak: in print, on camera, and especially online, have tremendous impact across continents, and decades.
Read the rest of this entry »
Filed under: In Retrospect
I walked into my Spanish class at Lee University last week and was the last person to sit down and grab a copy of the second test in the course from the professor, Dr. Carmen Guerrero.
It’s never quite natural that every eye in the room is focused on you when you sit down to take a test, and that’s exactly how I felt.
And then I saw why.
Every student received a test that was about a student at Lee named Harrison:
“Harrison is a student at Lee,” read the first box on the test. “He is taking Spanish classes and now he is learning about love relationships, people personalities, and finances. Help him solve all the situations he has to go through.”
How flattered I was!
All eight word questions included Harrison in some new predicament needing help from other classmates in the class.
It was a test I’ll not soon forget. It’s quite an honor, you know, when everyone else’s grade depends on you 
Filed under: All in good fun
I’m always flattered by the various renderings of me produced by various artists I’ve come across.
Here are my favorites from throughout the years:
1. This was a comic produced of me and my friend Rachel for our high school newspaper. Unfortunately, because the full comic was so big, it was never printed. See the full strip here.
2. This skillfully-mastered image of my head was produced by graphic designer Chris Sirico for use as an illustrated headshot in my college newspaper.
3. This colorful comic was made by Jordan Holt as part of his Blackfox Comics series. See the full strip here.
4. This door decoration of my head and antennas was created by a mysterious Lee Clarion editor. When I returned to my office I found it etched on the glass with magic marker.
5. This illustration was crafted by Kevin Puett, a high school friend. It shows me in the classic “Mud & Guts” shirt given to every runner on our cross country team by our late coach, Buck Carney.
6. This spud’s for me. Lee Clarion designer Daniel Diffenderfer drew this Mr. Potato Head image that looks strangely like me.
Filed under: All in good fun
February 13, 2009 • 11:57 pm
I left the Student Media Lab in the student union slightly before 2 a.m., ensuring the doors were locked before climbing onto my bike with three copies of the newest Lee Clarion along for the ride.
What would happen, I wondered, if for some odd reason I was abducted on my way home and all I had left was the three Lee Clarion newspapers? Perhaps, as I was sailing along the highway, I would throw pages of the papers out the car window, hints of my trail left behind for police to one day find.
As I turned off of Church Street, how little did I know that my fears would soon seem truer than I could ever believe.
While I passed the public library on my bike, I noticed a white car slowly pulling toward me, and as I came nearer, a window rolled down and a man gestured toward me. Read the rest of this entry »
Filed under: Sudden Scenario
February 6, 2009 • 11:56 pm
Isn’t it nice to walk into a room and see a picture you took hanging on the wall?
I just spotted one such framed photograph on a quick excursion to the Lee University Office of Publications on the third floor of the Higginbotham Administration Building.
Granted, it’s not a thirty-inch gold frame displaying my shot exclusively, but it is an honor to have a piece of history up on that wall.
The picture, as you can see below, was a shot I took of my roommate in October 2007.
Filed under: Observation
Three journalism books:
If you don’t know Amy Beth Bullard, you need to know her.
