2008: The Most Amazing Year of my Life

In 2008, I took a lot of chances and found out what I was capable of. I never have “lived” so much in a short period of time, made so many friends, and seen so much.

I started out the year living in an old, rusty trailer in the middle of a Redwood forest in the Santa Cruz Mountains. I had accepted a job as a Naturalist at the San Joaquin Outdoor School, and for the next five months I would be living in the woods.

I was scared shitless. My job involved teaching 5th and 6th graders science for one week at a time. I had never worked with kids, didn’t know much about the outdoors, and sure as hell didn’t know crap about science.

A few months earlier, I had left my desk job in Chicago for the brighter pastures of California. I hated Chicago and, especially, my job. I told all my friends there that I liked Chicago, but had to leave. That was bullshit. Chicago wasn’t the city for me.

As time went on at SJOE, I found I loved working with kids, and from what I could tell, they really liked me. I also loved living in the redwoods. And, I wasn’t far from San Francisco either.

I took the nature name, Squirrel, because growing up in Suburban Detroit they were the main animal around. I loved to climb early on and identified with the animal.

I played guitar and sang to groups of 100-130 kids every week. Not exactly the crowd I imagined when I first picked up a guitar, but I loved it. Playing hits like “The Banana Slug Song” drove those kids into a frenzy. With my two best friends at SJOE, Cirrus and Dragonfly, we put on an amazing show of skits and songs.

My favorite things to do with the kids were a salamander hunt (four different species!), hiking to Worley Flat, and practicing survival skills.

Also during my time there I met a girl. I was very happy...it was pure bliss.

Throughout those five months I was also applying for journalism grad schools. It was a plan I had long before coming to the San Joaquin Valley. I had been writing freelance for three years and felt it was time to get serious. In early March I was accepted to my top pick, NYU.

In May, I was sad to leave the Valley. I had made so many friends and it was, quite possibly, the happiest I had ever been in my life. I said my goodbyes and drove my Chevy Nova, with my gf, across the country.

We stayed in a hotel in Salt Lake City, visited my friend Robin in Denver, stayed with some of my gf’s family friends in St. Louis, stayed with my cousin and friend in Chicago, and eventually ended up in Holland, MI. After dropping my gf off, I stayed with my brother in East Lansing and then went home to St. Clair Shores. It was an amazing trip.

I planned to stay for two months in SCS and just get ready for NYU. Well, two days after arriving in Detroit, I hit a pothole with the Nova and it was totaled. That signaled some rough times. Unfortunately, no matter what I do in my life, I am still a kid to my parents and they weren’t the easiest to live with either.


I applied at every restaurant in SCS’s Nautical Mile. No one would hire me. Eventually, I got the idea to see if my old company from a few years ago, Brogan & Partners, would hire me. Well, they did and it was an amazing time. I got to brush up on my writing skills working on their blog and made a ton of new friends. It really made the rest of my summer great.

After writing letters back and forth to my gf throughout the summer, she dumped me a week before I left for NYU. I was crushed.

I left for New York with my cousin, Nathan, and dad two weeks before classes started. Nathan and I stayed with my Aunt and Uncle in Hoboken, NJ for two weeks while we searched for an apartment.

After a very hard search we eventually found a five-floor walk-up in the East Village that was in our price range and actually in Manhattan! It was cheaper than the places we were looking at in Brooklyn and only a little more expensive than a place in Harlem we almost took.

When NYU classes started, I had mixed feelings. I was expecting to meet people that had been journalists before that were there to get some extra training, or people like me that took some soul-searching after undergrad to find out what they wanted out of life. Well, my whole class was 21-22 year old girls straight from undergrad.

Eventually, I got off my high horse and became really good friends with some people in the class, especially Kate and Andrea (both from WI). I grew to like everyone in my program, even if I didn’t see eye-to-eye with them. In our sister program, Reporting the Nation, I met some other great friends too. We would meet at least once a week for drinks.


I still didn’t like New York City though. I was heartbroken, and my mind would often drift back to the San Joaquin Valley. I was filled with uncertainty and sadness; I was happy in California, should I have stayed? Also, the Big Apple was overwhelming. Screw defeating stereotypes, the majority of people her ARE assholes and it makes for a very hard place to move too.

I found some kindred spirits in the NYU student group, Bags N’ Boards. We met every Thursday and discussed comic books. It was a huge stress relief. Most meetings, even though we were supposed to be working on a publication, involved us laughing, geeking out, and making fun of Jeph Loeb.

I threw myself into my studies. I worked night and day to prove myself. In hindsight, I probably didn’t need to work as hard as I did. But, it all paid off in the end. I was running to every borough, interviewing people, taking pictures, and writing the best stories I could.

I finally started to make some friends too. I got a job my first week at NYU in the journalism equipment room and met some amazing people. My two co-workers, James and Will, were a riot. I actually sort of liked coming to work. We started hanging out outside of work and it was cool to have some non-NYU friends.

By the end of the semester, I was able to sit back be really proud of what I did. Graduate school was way harder than what I thought it would be. But, I was very successful (at least by my standards), and it felt great. Some of the highlights were being asked if I want to be a grad assistant next semester, getting five stories published on NYC Pavement Pieces, and drawing two comics in the NYU Comic Book Review.

I still am unsure about New York. But, I hear it takes a while to really start to like it. So, I’m hopeful for the future. I can’t imagine 2009 will be better than this year - ’08 would be a hard year to top. And if things really suck next year, all I need to remember is places like the San Joaquin Valley exist and things can always get better.

Bob Ross Wikipedia Article

I love Bob Ross. Recently, I have been working my way through season 15 and I love his calm voice and caring nature. After a stressful day in the Big Apple, nothing chills me out like watching "The Joy of Painting."

I decided to look up a little information on the man and found this hilarious description on Wikipedia. I've been laughing for about 15 minutes...

Wikipedia: "In 1995, Ross received his widest exposure when he created what many of his critics claimed to be the greatest painting of all time. This painting would not only be the greatest of his career, but the greatest in the history of the universe. It was, in fact, so realistic in nature that it was more real than reality itself. This painting was said to have bridged the void between the dimensions and, consequently, Bob Ross painted himself into another dimension where he resided until 2001. Despite this, however, Ross has made contact multiple times to this plane of existence."


Visit the Midwest Review blog for TV reviews: TMR: The Midwest Review

Ed Shaw Interview

I wrote a story recently about the aging HIV community, and an amazing man, Ed Shaw.

The story is currently on the front page of NYC Pavement Pieces.

This was my first time conducting an interview using video and I made some mistakes. Regardless, I know for next time and was able to use the audio on Pavement Pieces.

Music was provided by Paul Karam. He is a Detroit musician and I really dig his stuff. Hopefully, I can use his music again when I get better at video.

Cheers!

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City Island, The Bronx

Hello there dear reader,

Kick off your shoes, grab a cup of coffee, and relax as I weave a tale of tranquility, beauty, and adventure from the "Seaport of the Bronx"

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A Dream Fulfilled

When Jeremy Bridgman moved to the Big Apple he had one dream: to run the New York marathon. He completed his mission yesterday. All it took was four years, four months of training, and waking up at 6:30 a.m. on a frigid fall morning.

“This is the quintessential New York experience,” said 26-year-old Bridgman about the 38th annual ING New York City Marathon.

“For some people, that [New York] experience it is going to the Empire State Building or Statue of Liberty. For me, this is it.”

Bridgman moved here four years ago from Cincinnati, Ohio. He ran one marathon in his home state, but that was nothing compared to this.

The New York Marathon is the largest in the world, with 37,000 participants, and runs through all five boroughs.

The race is so popular that potential participants must enter a draft. After three years of not being selected in the draft, Bridgman was granted entry.

On marathon morning, Bridgman stared off across the water as he rode the Staten Island ferry. He wore his favorite yellow “where’s the beef?” t-shirt, checked his iPod’s classic rock playlist, and anxiously drank blue Gatorade.

He was chatty and excited.

Once the ferry docked, he took a 20-minute bus ride to the starting line. His usual talkative nature was replaced by silence.

Hundreds of runners piled out of buses into Arthur von Briesen Park.

Bridgman’s nervousness took hold. He began frantically wandering around the park looking for where to put his clothes, struggled to tie his ChampionChip (penny-sized device that tracks his time), and talked mainly in fragments: “stay loose”, “that’s not it.”

It was four months ago he began training. Running 5-7 miles each weekend, one or two short runs during the week, and not going out on Halloween had all led to this. At 9 a.m., he left for the starting line.

As Bridgman ran, his girlfriend, Lauren Buller, 24, went to Central Park. She would often run with him over the past months. Now she struggled through the thick crowd to find him. Bridgman’s friend Scott Iwata, 30, was also there.

“I’m excited to see him…and hear all his stories,” said Iwata.

The spectators were in the thousands. “I think the crowd appreciates seeing someone push themselves to an obscene limit,” said Iwata.

Ingrid Edwards, a 50-year-old volunteer and former marathon runner, understood the attraction: “It’s that New York feeling – so exciting.”

Iwata and Buller waited for a half hour. Buller was concerned she had missed him. Then, out of the crowd of tired runners, came Bridgman stumbling over. His face was blood red, his eyes watery, and shoulders were wrapped in a blanket.

Buller and Bridgman passionately kissed.

“I’m just happy to be done,” said Bridgman who finished in four 4 hours and 33 minutes.

The hardest part for him was running by his apartment in Harlem: “I knew I had my keys on me. I could have just run in there. I had cold beer in the fridge.”

With his goal of completing the marathon over, he thought ahead to his future: “Now I drink.”

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Obama: New York's President

Last night Barack Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States. In New York City, the residents surged with excitement.

After Obama was projected winner at 11 p.m., the streets and bars filled with smiling, excited faces. Shouts of "Obama!" could be heard late into the night all over the East Village.

The state of New York had one of the biggest gaps in percentages: Obama had %62 of the vote to McCain's 37%.

Long lines could be seen all over the Big Apple in the early election morning.

“This is fantastic, incredible,” said 62-year-old polling volunteer Milagros Vendimo about the long line at 7:00 a.m.

Vendimo has been polling sites for 25 years. But, this one was different: “The other [presidential elections] were slower…no one was interested.”

The Village View Housing Co-Op had been opening as a polling site since 5:30 a.m. Vendemio, bound to a wheelchair, helped direct voters to the correct booths. She said in the first two and half hours there were at least 250 people.

“It’s important to vote because of the state of the country,” said 26-year-old Attorney Joanna Lucashak in line at 7 a.m.

Lucashak thought Obama was going to win: “He has really energized people.”

Nora Pelizzari, 27, also woke up early to vote: “I said to myself, this has to be the first thing I do today.”

Pelizzari was so nervous that she wasn't going to watch the polls until the evening. She planned on having an election party after work.

As the day went on, nervousness continued to grow.

Will Healey, a 24-year-old NYU employee, had been a huge Obama fan since 2004. He first saw him speak at the Democratic National Convention that year and wondered why it wasn't him who was running for president.

"I'm nervous, very nervous," said Healey."I think it's going to be a lot tighter than people are anticipating."

Today, Healey woke up to a new America.

He was still bursting with excitement at 3 p.m.: "I feel freaking awesome."

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Marriage Equality Keeps Gays from Boisterous Support of Either Candidate

This story also appears here: NYU Pavement Pieces


The presidential candidates opposition to full-fledged marriage equality has kept many gay and lesbian New Yorkers from wholeheartedly jumping on the Obama or McCain bandwagon.

“You won’t get it with either one. I feel bad saying this, but I’m still undecided,” said Michael Cooper, 28, at Stonewall Inn in the West Village where a smattering of gays gathered to watch the third and final debate between Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) and Sen. John McCain (D-AZ).

“For the most part, they sound the same,” said Cooper as he sipped some liquor at the famed bar.

Stonewall Inn has been a political focal point for decades. In the late 1960’s, when gay bars were often terrorized by police officers with nightly raids, the patrons of Stonewall fought back.

It was on June 28, 1969, when eight police officers attempted to raid the bar, the ensuing “Stonewall riots” ignited the modern gay rights movement.

Throughout the debate Cooper would criticize Obama and McCain equally.

He said Obama’s “pay as you go” plan for new budgeting rules in spending sounded like he was ignorant of the rest of America already living paycheck to paycheck.

He said McCain’s policies sounded like the Bush Administration’s and derided him as “McSame.”

“They are just as silly as the rest of them,” said 48-year-old bartender Chuck Streeper about both of the senators’ policy toward marriage equality.

Both candidates have said they support civil unions, but refused to support marriage, much to the dismay of many in the LGBT community.

Streeper acknowledged that most people that came into the bar were voting for Obama, but he had to follow his own heart: “I’m voting for Nader.”

Rick Street, 50, who was visiting from Washington the bar with his partner, felt marriage for gays would be legalized under an Obama presidency.

His friends and PFLAG (Parents, Families & Friends of Lesbians & Gays) parents, Kathy and Robert Reim, didn’t agree. “We think [civil unions] are serious head roads.”

As the debate drew to a close, Michael Cooper got closer to a decision: “I’ve flip-flopped so many times, but I think I’m actually leaning towards McCain.”

Citing McCain’s plan to drill in Alaska, Cooper summed up his feeling: “The guy just makes more sense.”

Demand for Child Care Reaches City Hall

Mayor Michael Bloomberg has closed 17 child care centers since coming to office, and according to the union protesting outside City Hall three weeks ago, he doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon.

“We want Bloomberg to know we are frustrated,” said 72-yeor-old District Council 1707 Executive Director, Raglan George Jr.



George, speaking with four children surrounding him, told the packed crowd of Local 95 Head Start employees, Local 205 day care employees, and supporters that it was time for The Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) to give the union what it wants.

Both locals were together in protest against ACS, who has not given either union a contract in almost three years, and better healthcare for them and their children.

“[We are together] for unity. We can make a bigger difference together,” said Linda Gomez, 39-year old director of administration for DC 1707.

They have introduced a plan for better heathcare coverage to the ACS, which is posted on their website (www.dc1707.net), that they feel will keep health care costs low, even with child care centers staying open and providing better coverage.

In 2006 ACS tried to close 13 more centers because of, what they claim, is under-enrollment.

Suzy Bonny, a 27-year member of DC 1707 and Head Start, said she is concerned about parents not getting child care they need.

“Without child care, parents get up-tight. They need that three, four, six hours away from the children. Parents can’t get anything done when they are up-tight,” said Bonny, who has raised seven children.

George also felt parents who didn’t have child care would have to stay home and miss work, thus leading them to welfare.

Several other unions, SCIU and UAW, were also there to show solidarity. “It’s a good turnout, but we were expecting more,” said Vickie Littlejohn, 54-year-old DC1707 staff organizer, referring to the 70-80 protesters outside City Hall.

This was the second demonstration by the DC 1707 this year. According to George, “we will be out here everyday if we have to.”