News Wh... er, Hound

I have a new job, in Jersey City. I take the train to it. This is the perfect opportunity to read the morning paper, and when I am done with the paper I put it in the recycling bin at Hoboken Station. So much less paper to bundle up on recycling day--great!

Unfortunately, it only takes me about half the train ride to read the Star-Ledger. So now I am a news who... er, hound.

When I board the train, I scan the seats for commuters with large stacks of riffled newspapers beside them. I'm picky--I want the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal, not the Star-Ledger or the Daily News. "Oh, is this your paper?" I ask my seatmate.

"Sure, you can read it."

The Star-Ledger costs about 1/4 the price of the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal, so I don't expect as much. I know that the Ledger is having financial problems. They recently cut out Diesel Sweeties (don't miss it) and Miss Manners (do). What I don't get is why their national and international coverage is so much less readable than the Times's or the Journal's. I read for days about Russia's incursion into Ossetia before I thought I understood what was going on. (And for the record, I majored in economics and political science.)

Where the Star-Ledger excels is in covering New Jersey. Makes sense. Maybe the editors think that anyone really interested in life outside New Jersey will also read the bigger papers? But yesterday two of the big front page articles were about parks in western New Jersey, and the death of a Perth Amboy police officer. I had to go to page four to learn that President Bush and Nouri Al-Maliki were discussing a pullout of US troops from Iraq by 2011.

Now maybe the insignificant position of the article and the analysis were the editors' way of pointing out that whatever President Bush negotiates, our new president will likely renegotiate it in 2009. That's fine. But then shouldn't the editors say so on the op-ed page?

I'll keep looking for answers. Sometimes you may find me bereft of reading material, with the other gold-diggers at the recycling bin outside track 17.

Craigslist Boot Camp

I am always glad to meet polite, purposeful young men. I met a 14-year-old at the Craigslist Boot Camp for Non-Profits on Saturday. He waited patiently for his sister to finish her one-on-one consultation with an expert to learn about funding her start-up non-profit enterprise.

He and I discussed whether the boot camp would be suitable for other 14-year-olds. His opinion: yes. Especially if they were planning to be Eagle or Gold Scouts. As you might expect, though, most attendees were in their 20s and up.

At the boot camp I participated in three breakout sessions:

• Branding
• Low- and No-cost Technology for Non-profits (please check the podcast when it comes out; some of my suggestions are included)
• Social Networking

I am particularly happy to have made contact with grassroots.org. Their volunteers design websites for non-profits. I have the URL already for my choir website. I sure would be glad to let them take over the design.

Finally, it really is a small world. At the boot camp I was surprised to run into Ron, a co-worker at my brand-new job, and Lina, an alumna of my high school (Emma Willard).

At the Craigslist Foundation Boot Camp I learned and I networked. I'm glad I went; I hope next time I go I will meet some of you.

Labor Day Challenge

A challenge to writers: can you write a novel in three days? Over Labor Day weekend I plan to participate once again in the 3-day novel contest. Last year I wrote a 99-page double spaced novel. Perhaps it wasn't the most riveting of oeuvres, but I'm happy to say that I finished it and that it had a character arc.

Hope some of you will join me in this endeavor.

Avatar Voiceovers

Want to add video to your site at a fraction of the expense? Consider using avatars, animated GIF cartoon characters who move their mouths at the same time as your words (more or less). I had fun adding one to my website. Sometimes people tell me that I would do great voiceovers. After hearing myself on the recording, I'm not so sure.