Wrap-Up

The 11th Annual PRISM Awards in L.A. were awesome! The event took place at the Beverly Hills Hotel in the Crystal Ballroom, and I cannot believe how beautiful everything was. The entire building is pink on the outside and had a very “old Hollywood” feel to it.

I ended up running the green screen room, so I got to meet a lot of cool celebrities including:

• Maurice Benard – General Hospital
• Andrea Bowen – Desperate Housewives
• Jack Coleman – Heroes
• Ananda Lewis – Former MTV Veejay
• Ethan Suplee – My Name is Earl
• Michael Urie – Ugly Betty

The PRISM Awards were truly a one-of-a-kind experience, and it’s something I will never forget.

Click HERE for the list of winners.

Update

So that post I made a few weeks ago about possibly finding a townhouse in Fairfax...nix it.

That whole business didn't end up following through. It really was a major disappointment because it seemed so perfect at the time. For a while, my roomates and I weren't sure if we were going to find anything else.

But all of that is over now because we found something even better. We signed our lease yesterday and we all got our own sets of keys today :-)

I absolutely LOVE this townhouse. It's located in Centreville and it's part of the Sully Station II community. Click HERE for more information.

The townhouse is gorgeous. I'll be posting pictures some time in the near future.

In the meantime, there's still a lot more to be done. I have absolutlely no furniture! I'll be searching all over the place for (cheap but decent) furniture. I'll probably be looking at:

Ikea
Target
Bombay

for newer furniture, and:

Craigslist
Yesterday's Rose

for some hand-me-downs. Wish me luck!

April Showers Bring May Flowers...and then Some

What is with this crazy weather? All weekend it's been rainy, cold and windy. It's about time that some spring weather starts kicking in again...and stays around.

It was such a tease to go from beatiful and sunny weather two weeks ago, to nasty and depressing flood warnings and wind advisories.

Meteorologist Doug Hill from the WJLA Weather Center said normal temperatures for this time of the year are usually in the mid to upper 60s. That was definitely not the case for this past weekend, nor will it be for the next few days.

Weather.com predicts that Monday will have a high of 48 degrees and a low of 36 degrees.

We've had such unstable weather this past year, and it's really scary to think what next year could bring.

Check out this story I read on MSNBC.com about global warming and national security. This is SCARY stuff. Our country needs to start addressing this issue immediately.

Whatcha Gonna Do When They Come For You?

The GMU Police Blotter has got to be one of my favorite links off the George Mason University website. Every now and then it's fun to look at what people have been in getting in trouble for. Sounds terrible, I know, but once you read it you'll know what I'm talking about.

Plenty of people I know have their own issues with the GMU Police. Some say Mason cops are on a power trip. Others say they enjoy getting innocent people in trouble because they have nothing better to do with their time.

Take a look at the link and decide for yourself.

Los Angeles Trip a.k.a. The Spring Break I Never Had

It's official. I'll be in Los Angeles in less than TWO WEEKS for this year's PRISM Awards, which are scheduled for Tuesday, April 24.

Annualy presented by the Entertainment Industries Council, the PRISM Awards are designed to recognize the accurate depiction of health and social issues in feature film, television, video, comic book, music entertainment and interactive media. These issues include:

• drug, alchohol and tobacco use and addiction
• mental health issues including depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia

I bought a nonrefundable plane ticket this past Thursday, so there's really no more of a choice in the matter--which is fine by me :-) I'll be flying into LAX the Saturday before the event, which will give me that afternoon and evening, all day Sunday and some of Monday for free time. The awards will be held that Tuesday, and then I fly back into Dulles on Wednesday evening.

I was told to expect working about an 18-hour work day on the day of the event. Comfortable (but stylish) shoes are, of course, a MUST. Craziness is to be expected, but I cannot wait!

No need to say anything

Read.

Guess what...

I think we may have found a townhouse! Nothing is 100% definite YET, but I'm pretty sure we found one.

The entire process of searching for a place to live has been exhausting and frustrating, to say the least. I'm glad it's almost over.

The townhouse is located in Fairfax and the community it's in is called Fair Ridge. My roomates and I are really excited about this place for so many reasons:

• It's listed at a good price
• There are 4 decent-sized bedrooms
• It has two spacious living areas
• It's extremely close to Fair Oaks Mall
• The area is served by the Fairfax Connector and the Metro
• We have access to a community pool

I cannot wait to move off campus and start decorating :-) The one drawback is that it's a little bit on the older side. I'm not too worried about that though because I know my roomates and I will still be able to make the townhouse a nice and cozy environment.

Check out some of the pictures...

Blogging About a Blog

This past week was really productive at the Entertainment Industries Council. I started a new project in which I'll be keep an EIC blog.

It's still a work in progress, but click HERE for the link.

Brian Dyak, president and CEO of EIC was really excited about the project. I met with him on Wednesday to go over what he would like to see in the blog. Basically, he wants to use the EIC blog as a tool for dialogue. Because the entertainment industry plays a major role in shaping our culture, Brian wants our blog to show how EIC is contributing to the entertainment industry.

I plan on incorporating video clips of PRISM nominees through YouTube, photos from our events, and many links to informational pages and EIC partners.

The techniques I've been using in Comm 361 have been very handy. I've learned so much about online writing in such a short amount of time. It's really cool to demonstrate the things I've learned in this class into a real-life project.

Daily Show Addresses Viacom-YouTube Suit

You gotta love The Daily Show :-)

Media Bistro

If there's one thing anyone should do while looking for a job in the field of journalism, it's to sign up for a membership at Media Bistro.

One of my associates at the Entertainment Industries Council was kind enough to let me use his account for the meantime while I look for a job for after I graduate. I definitely plan on getting a membership of my own because Media Bistro is also a great resource for freelance writers.

Some of the cool things you do with Media Bistro are:

• Search for journalism jobs (writing, editing, publishing, etc.) throughout major U.S. cities
• Sign up for career-building courses and seminars
• Search the freelance market
• Learn how to pitch winning ideas and become a freelance writer
• Know the Ins and Outs of interviews

Here's what Media Bistro is all about, straight from the horse's mouth (ie: on the About Us Page, ha):

"Mediabistro.com is dedicated to anyone who creates or
works with content, or who is a non-creative professional working in a
content/creative industry. That includes editors, writers, producers, graphic designers, book publishers, and others in industries including magazines, television, film, radio, newspapers, book publishing, online media, advertising, PR, and design.

Our mission is to provide opportunities to meet, share
resources, become informed of job opportunities and interesting projects and news, improve career skills, and showcase your work."

The Search Has Begun

Today was quite overwhelming. I ended up driving all over northern Virginia to find a new place to live and I've realized that this is a very stressful process. This is the first time I've ever searched for housing and it's a pretty nerve-wracking thing.

Me and my future roomates' goal is to have a place by May 1st because GMU housing only lasts until the middle of May. This doesn't leave us much time. Some of our requirements include:

• Four bedrooms
• Near a metro or bus stop
• No more than $2400 per month

So far we've looked at houses and townhouses. There doesn't seem to be any apartments with four bedrooms, so this somewhat limits our choices. So far we've looked around Fairfax, Vienna, Reston and Alexandria.

The main source we've been using for housing information is Craigslist. While this does seem to provide the largest amount of postings, the postings come and go very quickly.

This week I plan on looking at the Washington Post classifieds and the City Paper for more information. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Try This!

I actually ventured out of my comfort zone yesterday and decided to cook something for myself. I figured I should probably get used to that since I won't be able to depend on the Johnson Center and SUB I for food very much longer.

Allen gave me a recipe for fideo, which is basically Spanish spaghetti. All the ingredients were pretty cheap and it was really easy to make.

Here's the recipe...

• Bring a two and a half cups of water to a boil. Add bouillon or vegetable stock


• In another pan, sauté green peppers and onions on medium heat with a little olive oil. Let them get nice and translucent, even a little browned.


• Add in finely chopped garlic, let cook for a couple more minutes.


• Add in finely chopped jalapeño half. (Don’t stand over the stove while this is cooking, it will make you cough.) Stir in for about a minute.


• Put the fideo pasta in with the onions, garlic, pepper, green pepper and stir. Turn up the heat a little bit. The noodles should start getting brown. This adds to the prettiness of the dish while providing the pasta with varied texture.


• Once most of the noodles are browned add a chopped up tomato and stir.


• Pour the hot stock or bouillon mixture into the pan with the fideo noodles. Bring to a simmer within the pan. No need to cover, at this point the noodles will absorb a lot of the moisture. Don’t let it boil, just bubble.


• Let the fideo cook until most of the liquid is gone, stirring occasionally.


• Serve with cilantro and a dollop of sour cream, if you like.

That's all it takes. Pretty good stuff if you ask me.