The past 2 months in 10 photos

It's been a whirlwind two months...we've moved to Lexington, Kentucky! David has started a new job as a chemistry lecturer at Eastern Kentucky University, and we traveled to Florida to meet my new nephew, Judson. I'm still commuting to Knoxville a couple days a week to teach, but the drive is beautiful, and the fall leaves are changing colors.

I know I haven't posted a lot, but I'm trying to catch up. Here are 10 photos that represent what's been happening in our lives since August 13, the day David received a phone call about teaching. I'll write more soon about each experience, but this is a good recap.

If you're a Gator fan, you know football season hasn't been a great experience. Oh well. At least my adorable nephew Judson has a cute outfit to wear for basketball season. I found it online at the Disney Store. 

Cash and Sammie love the stairs in our new house. Although, Cash is more daring than I'd like. He tries to step outside the railing and walk down.

On our final day in Knoxville, David was packing up the car. Sammie didn't want to leave, so she hid in the green chair AFTER he folded it up. That's classic Sammie.

Her curiosity got the best of her, and she jumped up into the Jeep Liberty once David had packed it in the garage. Little did she know that she'd be riding inside a Honda a few hours later and wailing at the top of her lungs. I guess she prefers Limousines.

David lived in a temporary apartment for about a week that smelled like a combination of cigarette smoke, animal urine and mold, but look at those gorgeous hard wood floors. Lucky him!

During a moving trip to Kentucky, I managed to give Heidi Honda a flat tire when I tried to parallel park at the temporary apartment and hit the curb too hard. Where's the candidate for public office who wants to eliminate parallel parking? Let's focus on real issues!

David really likes his job teaching chemistry lecture and lab courses at Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond, Kentucky, about 20 miles south of Lexington. It's a beautiful campus, and this is the view from his office. 

In case he forgets where he is, there is a sign outside his door.

Speaking of chemistry, we also gave Judson his first Pooh Bear, but I think he was upset more about his own pooh in this photo. :)

My mom finally has her first grandson, but she's had an "adopted" granddaughter for a while who she adores. I think the feeling is mutual. :)

News Quiz

The start of the semester means the start of weekly news quizzes I give to my journalism students. I tell them on the first day that I give these quizzes, not to torture them as some may think, but to prepare them to enter the world of media. Yes, they should know what's going on in the world as future media professionals, however, there is a much more practical reason.

Often times when they are applying for jobs, potential employers will give them a news quiz. I've had colleagues who have moved to the middle of nowhere and took a news quiz about local government, politics, the educational system, etc. as part of the application process. Also, when I toured CNN in Atlanta last year with my students, they told us that people applying for internships and entry-level positions must take and perform well on a news quiz. AND, they keep giving those quizzes in order for folks to move up the promotion ladder at CNN.

Here's the first quiz I gave today.  I think it's fairly easy, and most quizzes will probably be a bit harder than this one throughout the semester.  What would your score be? No cheating! :)

1. What’s the status of the rescue efforts in Haiti?
2. Who is UT’s new football coach?
3. The U.S. celebrated the birthday of who yesterday?
4. What’s the latest on Jay Leno and Conan O’Brien on NBC?
5. According to an article on tnjn.com, is there a feral cat problem in Knoxville?
6. What's the capital of Tennessee?
7. Name one thing you want to learn this semester in this class. Be as specific as possible since this helps me plan your assignments and activities.

Happy Birthday TNJN!

Wow, two birthday posts in one week! I guess Columbus Day is a popular time for celebrations.

The Tennessee Journalist, the School of Journalism and Electronic Media's official news site, celebrated its third birthday earlier this week. The site is a great way for University of Tennessee students to gain experience as writers, reporters and photographers. They upload articles about a variety of campus and Knoxville events and topics and also take photos and provide audio and video clips.

Journalism is changing and so is the way we teach journalism. We encourage our students to learn a variety of skills so they will be prepared to enter the job market. Convergence is a concept we stress since many media organizations are hiring what they call multi-media journalists.

Dr. Jim Stovall, the faculty adviser to TNJN, has some great resources at jprof.com about many topics related to journalism and journalism education.

As part of the site, TNJN Radio has weekly shows and newscasts that students produce. Using talkshoe.com, the shows are archived so anyone can listen live but also listen to previous shows if they miss any. A list of weekly shows is updated on Mondays, and one of the student producers, Mark McNabb, had a live show during the birthday celebration and interviewed editor Ben Moser, Dr. Stovall and me.

Last Day of School

Today is the last day of the first summer session at UT, so it's my last day teaching Journalism and Electronic Media 200, the introduction to mass media writing course. We've met every day of the week (Monday-Friday) since June 2, but I don't mind.

I really enjoy teaching during the summer. Overall, the students perform better. I don't know if it's because we meet daily, and they are only taking my class and maybe one other, or what it is, but I really get to know them.

Sometimes I feel like an elementary school teacher who has to say good-bye on the last day. I'll actually miss seeing some of them and having vibrant class discussions. I might have some of these students again if they take the radio and television reporting class this fall that I'm teaching. Let's hope!

Happy Fourth of July!

You Can't Say That on Television!

Comedian George Carlin died Sunday of heart failure at age 71. He is most famously known for a monologue in 1972 about the seven dirty words that can't be said on television. The next year, he did a similar routine, but that version was broadcast uncensored on a New York radio station, which eventually lead to a U.S. Supreme Court case that defined acceptable free speech limits on U.S. broadcast television and radio.

Ironically, I had just talked to my class about him and the seven dirty words last week when we talked about what you can and can't say on television and how to handle interview subjects who like to drop a four-letter word in every sentence. There are more than 400,000 words in the English language, but these seven still remain off limits on broadcast television and radio. Cable is a different ball game, but that could be changing.

Regardless of how you feel about these "dirty words," Carlin was an entertaining comedian who joked about many topics other than these words, including children of yuppies, all the "stuff" we collect and don't really need, the uselessness of bottled water and writing his own obituary. If you're interested in watching his original monologue where he says the seven dirty words and variations of them, it's below. Warning: This video might not be suitable for children or those highly offended by profanity to hear.

Helicopter Parents

I don't know where this week has gone. Teaching every day means grading every day, and I also gave my students a midterm exam since we're halfway through our five-week summer session. Needless to say, I'll be grading all weekend, but I love teaching.

This week has also been trying since I had a student show up the first week of class and then miss all last week only to show up again this week with a series of excuses. I'll spare you the details, but it's amazing how so many college students today depend on their parents. We like to call them helicopter parents since they hover over their children, who are legal adults, and want to make their lives are as perfect as possible.

I have wonderful and supportive parents, but my parents never would have called a college professor to complain about a grade I earned. For those of us teaching now, we're facing a privileged generation that has been taught they are all winners and they are all special. In the eyes of parents, their children are special, but that doesn't mean they are the best at everything they do.

College is a time for young women and men, who are now adults, to find out about the world and how to live in it on their own for the most part. The family support network should still exist, but it can't help them from falling and failing each and every time they make a mistake. As one of my colleagues recently said, "The world isn't interested in your excuses, only your results."

A Fresh Start

I've had a blog since November 2006 when I created one as part of teaching an introduction to news writing class at the University of Tennessee, however I haven't been a regular blogger. I intend to change that since I'm a writer by profession, and it's a great way to let family and friends know what I'm up to on a regular basis. One way to be a better writer is to write and write and write.

Speaking of writing, I'm teaching a five-week summer class about writing for the mass media. We meet five days a week for an hour and a half. It's intense, but I really get to know my students. I started teaching Monday, after returning from Florida for the second time in two weeks. The first Florida trip was for my brother's wedding. I can't believe he is married. The second was to celebrate my parent's 40th wedding anniversary celebration. Both were wonderful occasions despite the long trips down there and back. We wouldn't have missed them for anything.