An unwanted new perspective

I’m almost done with my Journalism 420 class, which is News Editing. If there’s one thing I’m leaving this class with, it’s with a new perspective on how I read the news. And it’s not a new perspective I wished I got.

I was just reading a breaking news story in the Chicago Tribune about police using a taser on a troublesome fan at The Player’s Championship on Friday, and I wasn’t reading it for the news. I wanted to. I wanted to know what happened, but my focus was on questioning the truths of the facts. If saying that the man was “charged with disorderly intoxication and resisting arrest without violence” was the right way to word things. Was that  wording even correct? How can you “resist without violence”? What actions constitute something to be violent? Oh! Now I’m thinking like a lawyer, in a way, and I blame my Journalism 4110 Law and Communications class for the new perspective. Thanks!

I don’t know if I’m happy with thinking like an editor every single time I read a news story. I’m looking at the mistakes and asking myself “what’s wrong” with everything I read in the news. That’s not a good mentality to have whenever you read the news. In my Creative Writings 104 Intro to Narrative Writing, we workshop short stories from other students in our class. One of my professor’s rules is to not go into the story thinking “what’s wrong with this.” That’s a really important rule to have because it helps you focus and appreciate others’ creativity and works. I realized that I think my works are always better than others’. I’m so prideful. So self-centered. My ego is out of control, and I’m always competitive. If someone else’s works are better than mine, I hate it. I appreciate news editors who take note of my strengths and try to help me out in my weaknesses.

But having to think like an editor is torture. It’s hard to appreciate or even get the main ideas out of a story when you take a class or train how to edit. It’s beneficial, but captive at the same time.

My Oreo Quest

Here’s another one of my food quests/cravings.

As you may know, there are different species of Oreos. Cool Mint, double stuff, Halloween orange special, peppermint special, etc.

So I wanted to try the peanut butter creme Oreo. I wasn’t expecting it to be GREAT or AMAZING or anything like that. I was just expecting it to taste good, interesting, and innovative. But it fell short in my expectations.

First, peanut butter has a very oily consistency. Thus, the cookie part of the Oreo was soaked in oil/it absorbed the oil from the peanut butter. That wasn’t attractive.

Second, with Oreos, you kind of expect the filling part to be lickable. Peanut butter: not lickable. But do you know what  I mean by lickable? It’s simple. It’s that feeling when you take the Oreo apart and lick the cream side. Peanut butter is not lickable. Nabisco would have to add a lot of special chemicals that they usually use in the original filling to turn that peanut butter into a lickable feeling.

Last but not least, chocolate and peanut butter just don’t work. Just cause chocolate and peanut butter compliment each other in ice cream doesn’t mean they do in cookies, especially Oreos.

(Disclaimer: Currently distracted by the women’s moguls.)

I need a lunch break form all this blogging about food

I got behind on a lot of  work that I wanted to get done today. Blame the US Figure Skating Championships. The Olympics. That’s my second weakness, next to sweets.

They only air once every four years (assuming I only get to watch them twice every ten years of my life), I would only get to watch about 14 Olympics in my entire life time. That’s  one of the reasons why I put aside a lot of my work just to watch the games. Not only that, but you get to watch legends triumph, unfold, fall, and just all the emotions they have to battle through because they only get a shot at the gold at least twice.

And when you’re at your third try, your name has kind of faded by then. You battle it out to at least make that US team. (FYI I’m mostly referring to figure skating). But you’re 25 years old. Many adults wish they were still 25. But in figure skating world, that’s old. Super old. And while you’re competing for that US Olympic team spot, you watch your other competitors (who are about 10 years younger than you) move with such grace, speed, youth, and ambition that you had when you first tried for the team. Just watching all this makes you feel old. Like a grandma. But they don’t use that term in the media. The media uses ‘veteran,’ ‘familiar,’ anything else.

Finally, it’s over. And all you can do it hug your competitors and pass on that torch of hope and luck as they compete in the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.

Thanks for everything Sasha Cohen.

“Pencil! Pencil! I need a Pencil!” -The Brain (Arthur)

“Stories continue to be built by exploring those images and obsession …”

-Quote taken from textbook reading in CW 104.

So here’s just a random blog.

The image I see right now is of the cherry frosted pop tart I ate this morning. Its sugary filled frosting and filling. Sugar. Processed. Sugar molecules. Accumulating inside my body. My body hates me for eating it. But my tongue loves it. Yes. The indulgence of this sin is my obsession. But the more I begin to explore the image of this tasty obsession, I being to realize how ugly it really looks. I can’t bare the site of it’s true self.

M&M Pancakes?

Yes. Made M&M pancakes.

I coined that recipe! Copyright Ros Dumlao 2010.

The idea originated when I was staying with family over winter break in LA. My aunt make chocolate chip pancakes one morning, and the next morning she just made plain pancakes. I was saddened when she said she ran out of chocolate chips.

My aunt’s family is pretty big. Three growing son and one daughter. They had a Cosco-size bag of M&M’s, and I’m just not a big fan of M&M’s. They’re OK, but I wouldn’t have the urge to buy them. So I thought to myself, what else could we do with this Jumbo-sized bag of M&M’s? Then it hit me, rainbow pancakes!

It’s deliciously chocolaty because the M&M’s are a lot bigger than chocolate chips; it’s just fun to eat and look at, especially since the batter turns into a rainbow color once you stir in the M&M’s. Think of it like funfetti pancakes.

Check out Metromix’s List of Best Foods and YOU Can Vote

Wake up in the morning feeling…. HUNGRY.

Yes, that is what gets me out of my bed and moving almost every morning. FOOD.

I get excited thinking about the options I have on what I can eat for breakfast.

As a quote from Hannster, “My mind is so obese.”

Chapter 2: Actually Blogging

It’s kind of late, and I used up all my willpower blogging my last two blogs in the past hour or so. I have no stamina for blogging, but I’m slowly working to build it up. I am afraid that once I begin classes, my stamina will go down, but let’s hope that is not the case.