the GMT

Oh, man. I'm sitting in terminal 8 of the internet cafe around the corner, contemplating whether I should get a sim card now or later and how much I really need to use my cell phone. Scattered around me are my newest acquisitions from IKEA, my second trip ever. And what a journey to IKEA it has been. Let me put it this way. QMUL is in the east part of London. The IKEA we went to is in Neasden, which in northwest part of London. The Tube ride was fine, but the walking reminded me of freshman year at USC without a car and having to walk or take the metro everywhere. Especially memorable is the trip to Bed, Bath and Beyond at the Beverly Center, lugging pots and pans, knives, flatware .... basically everything I ever could need for my sophomore year apartment.

This time, I'm smarter. I leave IKEA with one bag and a bright green hamper with a pink flower lid!!! :) Oh, you know there will be pictures soon of my awesome amazing hamper.

But. The prize buy of the day is my clip-on alarm clock with 5-minute interval rings in increasing volume. It's gonna be awesome terrific.

I come away with no winter clothes (we were too pooped to even stop by the grocery store for provisions), but the weather today was OK. There was a bit a drizzle when we left the Tube on the way there, but otherwise, it's just really, really gray.

It looks like I won't be getting my own Internet for at least a week, after we register.

Anyway, hope all is well back home!

here I am ...

but I'm definitely not torn to pieces. :)

The first indication that things are going to be a little different was on the flight when we were descending into Heathrow. The captain, over the PA, said that we were descending, blah blah blah, and the weather outside is clear, London is reporting a temperature of about 22 degrees Celsius, which, he tells us, translates to about 42 degrees Fahrenheit (something like that). You can hear the people in the cabin twittering.

It is kinda chilly outside, but it's really quite beautiful. There's a light breeze, the sun is out, and the air is clear. So all is good.

The plane had to "remotely" land, so we had to descend our Boeing 777 onto the tarmak. That's a new experience. There were buses waiting to take us into the the terminal. It wasn't until we were deep within the bowels of Heathrow Airport that it hit me.

The bus is driving on the left side of the street. Holy crap. I'm in London.

Immigration, customs, baggage reclaim and all that went well.

On the way to Queen Mary, University of London (that's where I'm studying), the bus -- excuse me, coach -- passed Westminster Abbey, the Tower of London, Tower Bridge, the phallic building in Central London and snaked along part of the River Thames.

It's amazing.

I just moved into my room in the dorms, and my room is gorgeous. I love it. It's so clean and new and beautiful. Small ... about half the size of my room at USC -- just big enough to fit a built-in bed, a built-in desk, built-in closets and a REALLY tiny bathroom. There's one way in and out and really nowehere to turn with all my luggage in there.

Right now, I'm in an internet cafe just outside the campus gates. USC was telling us that East End -- where QMUL is -- is like South LA but less gritty. I guess ... but it's much better than I expected it be. It's not a "nice" area by any means, but it ain't South Central.

There seems to be quite a bit of international students. Just in the bus group I came in with were people from Boston College, Duke, University of Richmond, University of Virginia, Swarthmore and Ohio University.

I haven't met any of my flatmates, yet, but hopefully it will happen soon. :)

here we go!

The time is 6:17 a.m. I'm leaving Florence in about 4 hours. I have not finished packing, so I am going to go do that.

Otherwise, hope all is well with you all out there in cyberspace. :)

Turning off the computer now....

booooo

ETS is the ruiner of dreams. >: (

oh, dear

gasp. 2 more days until takeoff. you know NASA wants me to work for them. totally.

resolution

I finally figured out what was wrong with me the last couple of days. I was going through medication withdrawal. Whatever hydrocodone is -- I think it's either an opiate or narcotic -- it was screwing me up. Panic attacks, near-nervous breakdowns (hence, apparently, the hiding under the desk), etc. At least I know I won't be doing drugs ... ever. It sucked.

Now I am mentally preparing (haha) for my second stab at the GRE. The first time didn't go so well. You'd think that being a journalism major I would have some sort of grasp on the English language. HA! scoffs ETS, that's what YOU think, you liberal arts nothingness.

Man. I should've been pre-med or pre-law or something. Bleh.

But after the GRE, I will begin to earnestly pack for London and make sense of the piles on my floor.

And once again, another shameless plug.

Ciao. :)

a mess

Sorry, guys, for the lack of real news or updates. My life is a chaotic mess right now and needs fixing. I think it's a combo of GRE and London anxiety and a lot of other shit. I literally hid under my desk for some solitude about 15 minutes ago... :*( My stomach is in knots... and I don't really know why. : (

At this exact time next week (Saturday, 3:32 a.m. eastern), I will be in London. There is a lot to think about and plan.

I don't cry often; in fact, I can't remember the last time I did, but during all this Katrina stuff over the past 2 weeks or so, I've been really angry. Now -- yesterday, today -- when I watch or read the news, all I feel is incredible sadness and utter hopelessness. I went to a quasi-job interview the other day, and the talk came to the self-preservation of copy editors and how we tend to have a passion outside of work because we need to. Well, I think I've found mine. I've always had a passion, but these few days made me feel that I should do something that really makes a contribution to others.

I want to be a Big Sister, but apparently they want you to be able to stay in one place -- impossible for college 3,000 miles away.

But I think when I get back to LA, I'm going to get on board with USC's Habitat for Humanity ... it feels right, for some reason....

more diagrams!

This time, it's interactive! From The New York Times.

Rome/EastEnders

I tried watching the highly advertised "Rome: Engineering An Empire" on the History Channel. I really did, but I just can't get past the ridiculous sound effects of bellowing tubas and trumpets and whatever the hell else brass instruments they decide to throw in. I could barely hear the narration. : (

Also, last night, I watched two episodes of EastEnders, and it started out OK, I kind of got the relationships among the characters, but the women are so bitchy and mean! What's going on? : (

more from Slate

This is from Slate. A response to writer's complaints about TV news.

In 10 minutes of watching Telemundo, three of which covered New Orleans, I really got a better depiction of being there than I did on all the major U.S. networks that I had been watching for several hours, and I don't speak any Spanish.
— Jonathan Kyle

For the record, I like World News Tonight, before and after Peter Jennings.

New Orleans diagram/world press

The BBC has a good group of graphics to explain what happened in New Orleans and the general geographic stuff of the city. It's really helpful, since I've never been there and have only vaguely grasped what people are calling this cereal bowl.... click on and scroll to bottom:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4214504.stm

The BBC also has gathered a list of reactions from media around the world.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4216142.stm

I have seats!

Today, I called United Airlines and claimed one of the last two seats on my flight to London. Yay! It's not what I've hoped for, but the other option wasn't much better. Eh, I'll take it.

Also, have seats to the LA Philharmonic's Beethoven Ninth performance at the Disney Concert Hall the night before graduation! More yay! :) Life is looking up.

Now, if I can just get this graduate school/GRE stuff together.... :/

TV news

Was reading about why one Slate writer hates TV news. Hey, from my time at school having to learn the medium at the expense of my own major, I'm not exactly unbiased on this topic. In fact, I abhor TV news, but that's another entry in itself. I watch it because they have video. But. I don't watch Fox News.

Apart from the conservative bias, there is so much graphic, so much useless music and makeup and plastic surgeries(look at a before/after photo of Greta van Susteren), I don't know where they hide the old b-rolls and uninformative CGs (chyrons, supers).

Here she is. On the left is the pre-plastic surgery. On the right is the post-plastic surgery. And a side-by-side comparison.







Anyway, the article is an interesting read. I used to like watching TV news. : (

Rehnquist dies

Chief Justice William Rehnquist died tonight.

This obit is from the Washington Post.

random part 2

Many companies are matching employee donations to the hurricane relief efforts. Does your company do the same?

*

Watching "Forrest Gump" always makes me cry, especially toward the end. :*(

*

USC prevails against Hawaii. 63-17. Yes! (does little dance)

random

Rita Cosby from MSNBC sounds like she's been smoking three packs a day since the day she was born. : /

Nothing new to report. Still reading a lot of newspapers and watching a lot of TV broadcasts.

USC vs. Hawaii. Fight on!

voices from across the pond and abroad

BBC News' Web site lets readers respond to stories they report. This is what the people of Britain (and some in the U.S.) have to say about the way the U.S. is handling the Katrina situation.

LA Times reports on reactions around the world.

comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable

I think I've calmed down enough about this to write without less fury, but please bear with me if bottled-up anger spills over.

I was reading fark.com this morning, and I come across a posting that the Poynter Institute is asking people living within 30 miles of the Baton Rouge to take journalists into their homes while the journalists work away from their newsrooms, etc. The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune's managing editor spokes to Poynter about the difficulties of covering Katrina. The newspaper also has a number of reporters still unaccounted for.

Out of curiosity, I click on the link that would lead me to the forum/discussion postings, and what I read infuriated me.

The journalist's role is to cover the news. We feel for the people affected by Hurricane Katrina. Despite what these posters think and write, we're humans, too, and we are incredibly sad and emotionally affected by the plight of Lousiana and Mississippi and Alabama. But we're professionals, and we're doing our jobs, and to do that effectively, we can't let emotions get in the way. We need to stand away from it all (as well as we can). Scott Gold from the Los Angeles Times have been covering Katrina and recently wrote down what he saw for the paper's Column One. He, too, mentioned the need to build a wall between the situation.

When we're covering a story and we see desperation all around us, we can't stop and help. We have to keep moving and get as much of the people's stories as we can to tell the world what is happening. The humanity in all of us wants to help by providing shelter or food or water or clothes. These journalists are helping by disseminating information. Blasting what they do will not work. A lot of the journalists who are based in the Gulf coast cities have lost family members, most have lost their homes, and yet they're working -- without showers, bathrooms, places to sleep -- to bring the news so people know that help is coming.

These reporters and editors and producers aren't living in luxury. It doesn't matter that some are living in the Hyatt in downtown New Orleans. The hotel doesn't have plumbing, either. One side of the hotel was ripped apart by the hurricane. It's surrounded by flood waters.

The Gulf coast journalists who didn't evacuate aren't doing it because they're stupid. They know they have work to do.

No one involved in the hurricane stories is thinking about winning awards right now. The job at hand is to do the best we can. No one was thinking about awards when they were covering Sept. 11. Because it doesn't matter. Doing the news as good as possible is the priority. Pulitzers and Emmys and press associations and the "best of" accolades can wait. The public needs help now.

*

People are saying that the federal government is too slow in getting aid to the people affected by the hurricane. I agree. I agree with the outrage felt by Mayor Nagin, and I agree with the frustration felt by the governors.

People are also saying that the help is slow in coming because of race -- because the majority of those in need are black ... I just don't get it. Why is everything about race? Why can't it just be that the federal government are being jerks (again) and screwing those people who need its help the most? But I'm a minority myself, and maybe they have an argument, maybe not. I really don't know.

The aid is slow to get to people because of a lot of reasons and a lot of excuses, but think about it. When New Orleans is as out of control as it is right now and for the past days, rescuers and aid workers had to feel threatened by the violence (and some have). There are looters. Morally, in this kind of survival situation, I don't have a big problem with taking the necessities -- water, food, clothes, diapers, formula, medicine. But when people are blatanly taking things that can be left alone -- DVDs, CDs, etc. -- then that is a moral and value threshold that I cannot cross and cannot reconcile with. There were (are?) people taking jewelry from houses and stealing guns and ammunition from gun shops. I wonder if the people who are taking advantage of the situation -- unncessary looters, price gougers, insurance frauds -- would be able to look themselves in the mirror years from now and be able to live with the knowledge that they took things not pertinent to survival from others who lost their stores or their homes.

People are shooting at relief helicopters, aid workers and police officers. Patients stuck in Charity Hospital in New Orleans were going to get evacuated and get proper medical care, but the helicopter coming to get them had to turn back because of gunfire.

Why? People aren't going to come to help if they're having to dodge bullets. These people -- a lot of whom are affected themselves -- are trying to provide the aid that others are lambasting for being too slow and not enough. How about not threaten their lives so they can try to better the horrific situation?

A CNN reporter was with a group of police officers at their station when the station came under gunfire attack. These are police officers, and they had to fire back to citizens to protect their turf. The situation in the Louisiana police forces are so bad that the media is reporting officers simply turning in their badges and walking off the job.

The desperation I read in the newspapers and see on the news is heartrenching, and it is this type of situation that shows true human nature. Whether human nature is inherently good or bad is one of the questions that eastern philosophers -- especially Chinese -- sought to answer. It seems that, in the past couple of days, I see what can happen if people's survival instincts kick in to Lord-of-the-Flies proportions, but I also feel better to know that there are others who are willing to help. Maybe human nature is inherently good, but crises make it evil.

The Times-Picayune has been working out of Baton Rouge and posting stories online in blogform and in pdf. Tomorrow, I think, they're putting out their first printed stories in a couple of days. They're doing an incredible job.

The Sun-Herald covers Gulfport/Biloxi in Mississippi and other Gulf coast towns. They're operating out of the Columbus, Ga., paper and have been putting out limited newsprint copies.

The two reporters from the Sun-Herald are still blogging. Check them out.

gas supply/National Guard/comment spam

This is a repost from earlier. I got comment spam, so comments now need to pass through word verification -- not that I'm getting much legit comments anyway... :)

According to my dad, who talked somebody who works at a gas station in town, when the station runs out of gas, there is no more gas. The same, the rumor is, for the state (4th graf). When the gasoline supply runs out, there won't be any more until Monday, at the earliest.

Gas prices in Florence are up to $2.79 as of this afternoon. I got mine for $2.72, which still sucks. Word is out around town that gas prices in Florence is going to hit $3 today, and gas stations and residents are responding likewise.

CNN reported that some gas stations in Chicago are charging $3.69 for a gallon, and other places around the country are listing more than $4 per gallon.

Some National Guard reservists at my dad's work was at work this morning, but received their summons to the Gulf coast and were gone by the afternoon.

uh oh

Late last night/early this morning I was looking up "crash" on Wikipedia, as in, computer crash. Well, guess what. I found out (hey, I'm no computer genius here. I just know enough to function) that the blue-and-white screen my computer keeps showing me is also known as the "blue screen of death." Well, this is obviously not good. The name portends some sort of quick end to my poor, limping laptop, and as much as I hate it, I need it to function for at least 7 more months. Or longer. But in case you're wondering, this is what is looks like. Scroll down to the first big image. Apparently, it's called a STOP error. Whatever. It's bad.

I read the medication instructions sheet that came with the cough syrup and it said something about being partly narcotics and partly codeine. I don't think giving me narcotics is a good thing. I'm already weird enough as it is.