On Life, Connect2Mason, and Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader Outfits…

Wow. Well it’s been a while hasn’t it?

.

So Life….

I’ve moved up to Fairfax at this point- I’m settled in at my townhouse off campus. I live in the basement in a room formerly known as a living room- through cleverly assembled bookshelves and curtains, I achieve a fair amount of privacy. My room also opens on to the backyard- something pretty awesome but annoying occasionally. The ants in the backyard don’t like me very much.

I’ve made a promise to myself that I will not be purchasing a parking permit for Mason this semester. They’re $225 at the cheapest -ouch- and it’s only going to be stressful trying to find a parking space on campus every morning. Instead, I plan on taking advantage of the short, beautiful, tree-lined walk to the bus stop from my house and ride the bus daily to school. Though I have to be a little more organized with my time schedule, I think ultimately I’ll be much less stressed. I’ve already begun to really appreciate the time I can spend listening to music or reading a book that otherwise would be spent cursing at other drivers. Plus, I get to feel all happy about taking a car off the road and saving some air for my future children.

The ultimate test run will be in the first few weeks of school. I’m a very busy person with a verryy full schedule this semester- so it should be interesting to see how it works. I’m not worried about the mornings so much. It’s more the afternoon/evenings that get me a little nervous- that’s when the buses stop running so often and only come by every hour or so. But again, planning should save me.

.

Connect2Mason Rockzors

This year, I’m serving as the Managing Director of Connect2Mason- an awesome news site covering the school with photos, videos, stories, and everything you can imagine.

I’m crazy excited about everything starting up with it- we have a small but ultra-committed team right now. I think we’re going to bring a lot of fun, passion and humor to the site. For example, today we posted up tons of fun content- including the start to a new photo series called “SPOTTED,” of snapshots from around campus of local Mason celebrities. Our first photo in the series features the Student Government President at the Catholic Campus Ministry Luau….so we named it, “SG Prez Dasgupta Gets Lei’ed.”

Heh. I might get in trouble for that one later, but hey, it was so worth it.

I’m enjoying getting back in the news groove- writing stories, putting together content, posting it online, etc. etc. I get such a rush from seeing a well-edited piece- my name online- a fun video. It gets me pumped up like nothing else ever does. Mmmm I just love my job. We have a whole lot of other stuff planned for the future, so get excited. : )

.

Working Out for Dallas Pride

Ever since I got in such good shape in London from just walking everywhere, I’ve wanted to work out more and get in an actual healthy shape. I worked out with a personal trainer a very few times during the summer (at which time, I also had a gym membership I used an embarrassingly few times…). This school year, I really want to recommit to it and really get into a healthy lifestyle.

Honestly, I’ve never had a time in my life that I worked out on a regular basis (except as a young gymnast and my time in high school marching band). I want to change that. My few workouts with my personal trainer got me much more motivated and excited about going to the gym. I plan to really use the Aquatics and Fitness Center at Mason as much as possible while I’m here. It’s a great facility, yet in my three years at Mason, I’ve barely set foot in it. How lame is that?

I made a deal with a buddy back at home that we’d have a workout competition while I’m away at school. Last I checked, he’d made arrangements to start working out with a personal trainer twice a week. Now, I’m a fairly competitive person, and I’m determined to work out better and more often than Ben does. (And no, we haven’t actually laid out terms for what defines the winner of the competition- since we have completely different body types, we haven’t come up with anything that makes sense)

As an additional motivation for me to work out, I’ve decided to state publicly here on my blog my plans to wear a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader outfit for Halloween this year. No clue where to yet- maybe a party or something. I think it’s a good goal though- have you seen exactly how little those uniforms cover? We’re talking completely exposed abs and thighs. It’s slightly terrifying to think of me in one of those outfits right now. However, I have two months to get in decent enough shape to be seen in public dressed as a Cowboy cheerleader.

It’s going to happen, no matter what I look like. That’s some SERIOUS motivation right there. I can already hear my muscles complaining from all the work I plan to make them do…

.

Anyways, that’s life. Wooo.

Professional Women’s Football: The Dallas Diamonds

I know- old football pictures seem to be a fairly random thing to post in August, especially for someone who has little to no interest in football- but this article on newspapers that may challenge restrictions of video at football games- made me remember the pictures and video I’d taken earlier in the summer.

My awesome boss at my internship this summer Ann Marie plays on the Dallas Diamonds- I went to a game in June to cheer her on.

The resulting pictures were pretty good- although I’m totally not a sports photographer. Keep in mind all these players are LADIES. Awesome, awesome LADIES.

Ann Marie is the tall one in the back- Number 83. : D

Honestly, even though I am not a sports girl in any way, shape or form, I LOVE what these women are doing and I support it completely. In fact, if I ever live in Dallas for a solid year again (maybe I’ll do law school here?) I plan on trying out for the team- see if they need any smart-aleck pipsqueak short girls to balance out the tall ones.

It’s a good day. Enjoy it! : D

A City Councilman Follows Me on Twitter…Awesome!

I have woefully neglected my blog lately. I’ve just been so busy hanging out with family and friends and sucking all the life I can out of my days in Dallas this summer. School’s starting soon- so I’m trying to get back into the groove of blogging regularly so that when the craziness REALLY starts, I’ll be able to write more than once or twice a month. This semester, I’m taking thirteen hours of high level classes, assisting with one class, acting as managing director at a news site, working with Lutheran Campus Ministry, being active with Society of Professional Journalists and joining the Ballroom Club, so…..it’ll be a challenge.

Here’s a blog I wrote a while ago and just haven’t posted yet!

I attended a Rowlett City Council meeting a couple weeks ago for the Rowlett Lakeshore Times. I brought my dad’s laptop along and used it to take notes, but also to tweet a little. Nothing really about the meeting- more just things like “I think I’m the only reporter here,” and “I hope none of them think I’m a teenager.”

The meeting went a bit into the evening. As I was packing everything up to go, one of the councilmen came up to me, asked if I was Rachael, said Hi, and told me he followed me on Twitter. Slightly taken aback, I was just like, “Oh really?” He told me he liked my tweets about cupcakes.

I was uh, surprised. I don’t know why I was so shocked by this. It’s not like I didn’t know anyone who wanted to could find me on Twitter- especially since I go by my real first and last name. I just never really thought one of my story subjects would run a search for me and follow me. I guess I just got the tables turned on me.

That’s one of the wonders of social networking- you have little control over who will read your work or follow your life. That used to scare me, but now I just find it an exciting adventure. I put out my thoughts there for anyone to read and I have to say, I’m really glad people are reading them! I’m humbled that people would find anything I say interesting.

Despite all that, I have to admit, that as I was driving home from the council meeting, I was frantically going through everything I could remember writing on Twitter in the past two weeks (since I’m assuming he started following me after my stories on city council showed up online). Did I write anything too childish? Offensive? Too silly?

When I got home, I did a thorough check. It was fine. I really do try to keep my public image pretty clear online- honest to who I am but suitable for all viewing- from my mother to my employers, from my friends to the people who read my articles and are curious about me. I try to refrain from writing about anything I think would reveal too much of my own opinion on news stories or topics I report on- I don’t want anyone to think I’m biased on a story. Also, though I love bragging about my family and my friends, I try to keep any personal problems from appearing online. That’s not the arena to deal with drama.

I know some people were a little alarmed when I told them about the councilman following me, but I happen to think it’s great. Who cares if a story subject or a politician reads about my love of Muppets and cupcakes? I really do love the Muppets and cupcakes. It’s part of who I am- and I don’t think that fact makes me any less qualified for my job as a journalist. I’m very much a professional.

I did make a few further conclusions about what I talk about online though- I have decided that it’s time to totally cut down on the OMGs! on Twitter. Reading through my blogs over the weekend made me think I was reverting to valley girl lolspeak.

And also, though I do want to address my depression and ADD fairly and publicly, as I do think they’re important and are disorders that are too often feared, repressed, and misunderstood, there is a line between addressing it positively and effectively and being self-indulgent. I don’t really want to go over that line, so I need to be smart about what I post online about my actual emotions.

Though I’ve always been pretty careful, I plan to be ten times more vigilant now.

And oh boy am I glad that I didn’t write on Twitter that after the length of that meeting I just wanted to go swim in a margarita…..oops. : )