Monday, May 2, 2011

Blogathon Day Eight: Not Done Yet

So, before we dive into tonight's blogathon, I'd like to talk about the blogathon itself. While the Music City Half Marathon is over (and was a huge success at that), you can still donate money to Special Kids here, and it will still go to help a great cause. I'll also continue to honor any and all donations made in the blogathon. Currently, the blogathon is staying strong at 14 days of consecutive content due. Remember, you have the power to keep the streak of awesomeness going! A special thanks goes out to everyone who has made this possible. I don't want to spoil anything, but I can confirm that there will be YouTube humiliation/hilarity because of a generous donation. It'll be a while before it's up, but it will happen.

On the topic of the blogathon, my only regret is not having this idea sooner. It's been an excellent experience not only in raising money for a great cause, but also in holding me accountable for making regular updates to the oft-neglected English Muffin Power Hour. That, in turn, has led to me actually developing a following. I won't bore you with Google Stats, but I will say that I've already had over 100 unique visitors in May alone. You know, the month we are two days into. For frame of reference, I had 107 unique visitors for the entire month of March. So whether you're one of my loyal, patient readers who put up with countless "I'll update more frequently, pinky swear" posts or a new reader who has enjoyed this Golden Age of Blogging, I appreciate your patronage.

Anyways, onto today's news. Top headline is that the finish line photos from Saturday's run are finally up! There's also video of me finishing. I have to admit, I'm surprised at how I'm all business when it comes to crossing the finish line. The first thing I do as I cross the finish line is to check my watch for my time. Then I stop running altogether, because I agreed to run 13.1 miles and not one step further. Also, it's worth noting that I started that race with my name written on some packing tape so that strangers would know who the awesome guy was. I don't really know when that fell off. I suspect it might have happened some time during the haze that is miles 9.5 through 12.5. I can't remember exactly what I did during those miles, but I'm almost certain I ran them. Just don't ask for specifics like where I was or what I was wearing. My favorite picture would have to be the close up of right after crossing the finish line (3rd & 4th picture on the first full row). I did not think I could look that cool after running that over 13 miles. I have some other marathon thoughts, but I'll save them for tomorrow's blogathon. Just like in a real marathon, a blogathon is all about pacing.

But I've still got one more treat for you. After much frustration in the computer lab, I've managed to get the remastered version of my resume tape onto YouTube. A resume tape, for those of you new to the inner workings of the news industry, is my way of demonstrating that I could cut it on TV, by showing off my writing, speaking, and shooting abilities. My first few efforts were good, but there were two stand ups I couldn't tolerate any longer. The first stand up (the part of the news story where the reporter is on camera) was removed because I didn't own a microphone at the time of filming and the audio was absolutely terrible. The second stand up didn't have any technical problems, but it was shot on the morning of the midterm project and I was scrambling because my main story had fallen through. In my haste to film a stand up, I neglected to realize my zipper wasn't all the way up and my shirt was pulled through the zipper opening. It didn't matter how clever what I had to say was, that shirt/zipper thing was all people noticed! Anyways, I finally was able to reshoot and re-edit those stand ups and make a new, improved resume tape. Enjoy!

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