...but not according to me. That came straight from the mouth of Kurt Hochenauer, an English professor here at UCO and an award winning blogger.
Hochenauer was a journalist for multiple publication for quite a few years but got out of it because he felt it was a shallow profession. He worked at the Kansas City Star and the Oklahoman and then decided he needed to blog because the Oklahoman veered too much to the right side of thinking.
In 2004, Okie Funk was born on the interwebs under the idea of making it liberal progressive framing.
When asked if he thought blogs would be around forever he replied that he doesn't ever see them not being used by newspapers and people in school need to learn different tips and tricks with technology so they can stay ahead of the game.
Hochenauer has been threatened because of his blog and the views within not being in accordance with those reading it, but he has still been writing on the same subject for the last six years.He said that keeping a blog has forced him to write on a consistent basis and even led to him to writing for the Gazette.
Even though Hochenauer is no longer working for a newspaper he still considers himself to be a journalist with the writing for the Gazette and blogging.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Chocolate chips cookies suck.
Not the cookies themselves, I love them. Making them sucks. I still haven't found a good recipe that turns out consistently good results. They either spread to much or don't turn the right color or become too crispy.
So I frequently turn to the break and bakes when I need a chocolate chip cookie fix. They are good, I can eat the dough and people almost never know.
I will be baking chocolate chip cookies tonight for my derby sugar baby. Don't ask. It might take more explaining than it's worth. Wait, that's a lie. I have a sugar baby because I made her cookies once, and we've been tight ever since. The end.
Not the cookies themselves, I love them. Making them sucks. I still haven't found a good recipe that turns out consistently good results. They either spread to much or don't turn the right color or become too crispy.
So I frequently turn to the break and bakes when I need a chocolate chip cookie fix. They are good, I can eat the dough and people almost never know.
I will be baking chocolate chip cookies tonight for my derby sugar baby. Don't ask. It might take more explaining than it's worth. Wait, that's a lie. I have a sugar baby because I made her cookies once, and we've been tight ever since. The end.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
(Not really)Homemade Bownies
Last night I had a single ladies Valentines Day party. A friend was wanting to have a get together in her dorm room and I offered my apartment for the shindig since I had more room. I enjoy entertaining and having people over but don't do it often because I also like my alone time in my sweats on the sofa with a good book or foreign film.
The night before the party, I decided I wanted to make brownies but did not want to spend the 45 minutes on prep work that my homemade brownies take. So I grabbed a box of mix from my pantry. Some of the people who know me well would be shocked I used a box mix. I make homemade bread and english muffins and cookies, why in the world would I use a mix. For one it is easy.
The mix was a Betty Crocker dark chocolate brownie something or other. I also added dark and milk chocolate chips to it...the expensive kind. When it was good and cooled off, i made a chocolate glaze to pour on the top. Today, I brought the leftovers to my office on my way to class. When I got back a lady from the office over came by and proclaimed they were the best brownies she had ever eaten. The best brownies? They were from a box!
When people hear about the things I make and claim that they can't cook, I often see it as a crock. I made brownies from a box and they were promptly labeled"the best brownies ever." The inability to cook is often a crutch people use to not take the time to do so. The same crutch people use to get out of most things in life. If you take the time and try, and put your hear into something, you will usually come out with a half decent result. And if you don't, you can learn from the experience.
The night before the party, I decided I wanted to make brownies but did not want to spend the 45 minutes on prep work that my homemade brownies take. So I grabbed a box of mix from my pantry. Some of the people who know me well would be shocked I used a box mix. I make homemade bread and english muffins and cookies, why in the world would I use a mix. For one it is easy.
The mix was a Betty Crocker dark chocolate brownie something or other. I also added dark and milk chocolate chips to it...the expensive kind. When it was good and cooled off, i made a chocolate glaze to pour on the top. Today, I brought the leftovers to my office on my way to class. When I got back a lady from the office over came by and proclaimed they were the best brownies she had ever eaten. The best brownies? They were from a box!
When people hear about the things I make and claim that they can't cook, I often see it as a crock. I made brownies from a box and they were promptly labeled"the best brownies ever." The inability to cook is often a crutch people use to not take the time to do so. The same crutch people use to get out of most things in life. If you take the time and try, and put your hear into something, you will usually come out with a half decent result. And if you don't, you can learn from the experience.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
AOL and Huffington Post
The Huffington Post was recently bought by AOL for $315 million. I am not sure what to thin about this other than I hope that The Huffington Post doesn't change much because of it! Businesses buying each other has been around for centuries and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
AOL has been buying a lot recently in hopes of saving their own business by getting traffic to the site up. I personally have never used AOL but am sad they don't send free discs in the mail anymore...they were great for craft projects!
Ever evolving journalism...
We had a speaker in class the other day, and she was full of knowledge on the importance of blogging in journalism. Working in different cities for lots of newspapers, she gathered a lot of information on how to best deliver information to readers. When she came to Oklahoma in 2006 to work at The Oklahoman, she also brought with her the idea to begin blogging. And that is how the paper got its first blog.
Also discussed was the idea that blogs are a more personal way of expressing and delivering news and information to the audience. Journalists can have blogs that show their personal beliefs and aren't as restrictive on opinions like a newspaper would be.
Sometimes though, the line is forgotten and people get all bent out of shape over what they see and read in blogs. For example, one of my favorite blogs that I keep up with is Vixen Vintage. Recently she posted about how she doesn't like to see people wearing dirty pajamas to the grocery store. This opinion of hers was blasted by most people who commented on the post, a portion of them with the reason that the people who do so might in a hard time of life and might not have money to buy real clothes.
The blog is Solanah's and she is allowed to say whatever she pleases, but in doing so people get angry and don't remember this. Anytime you say something that is against someone else's thought process they can get bent out of shape and forget that not everyone thinks the same way they do. People can also get deterred from something when people voice negatively about it, but I hope Solanah continues to post because having an opinion is a lot more interesting to read than being a Barbie.
Also discussed was the idea that blogs are a more personal way of expressing and delivering news and information to the audience. Journalists can have blogs that show their personal beliefs and aren't as restrictive on opinions like a newspaper would be.
Sometimes though, the line is forgotten and people get all bent out of shape over what they see and read in blogs. For example, one of my favorite blogs that I keep up with is Vixen Vintage. Recently she posted about how she doesn't like to see people wearing dirty pajamas to the grocery store. This opinion of hers was blasted by most people who commented on the post, a portion of them with the reason that the people who do so might in a hard time of life and might not have money to buy real clothes.
The blog is Solanah's and she is allowed to say whatever she pleases, but in doing so people get angry and don't remember this. Anytime you say something that is against someone else's thought process they can get bent out of shape and forget that not everyone thinks the same way they do. People can also get deterred from something when people voice negatively about it, but I hope Solanah continues to post because having an opinion is a lot more interesting to read than being a Barbie.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Snow day version 2.1
A snowpocalypse has descended on parts of Oklahoma today. Northwestern Oklahoma City is part of it.
Currently I am writing this from the sofa, while curled up under my comforter. The smell of baked goods wafting through the air.
What baked good you may be asking? Cinnamon rolls with almond cream cheese icing and english muffins.
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