Magda Herzberger: Thoughts on a napkin

"Life without liberty is plain agony"

I've bee meaning to post this up for a while now, but I've just been too darn busy. I might as well do it now as a warm up to the next four or five stories I have to write. Last month Holocaust survivor Herzberger visited the ASU West campus.

Magda Herzberger signs Brandi Smith's book at ASU West campus

I started reading her book Survival, but school, assignments and my tendency to push deadlines have made it damn near impossible to finish. But what struck me the most about Magda is her fighting spirit and her kind words. After the book signing she went to eat.

I'm the most unprepared journalist. As Magda finished eating she told us her life's journey once more. Then she shared how writing served as a creative outlet. She began to say things that I couldn't ignore. I grabbed a napkin and started writing frantically all things I thought were insightful.

"I like freedom, I can get lost and give freedom to my creativity"

Applied computing junior William Dizon inside Darfur tent at ASU West campus.

Here are a couple of shots that I liked from the West campus Darfur exhibit.

While I was waiting for the ladies on the other tent to finish talking I saw organizer Tap Dak playing drums. He was urging the group to drum whatever they felt...I couldn't help it. I sat down and grabbed the nearest drums. I swung the camera over my right shoulder and started playing. By the time I was done, the ladies at the tent were gone.

These are the names I missed. Pity I like the picture. Well everything in life is a learning experience even when you are having fun.

A Catcher in the Rye

Please excuse my lack for a more creative title, but this inspiration just came to me and I don't want to lose it. I see my little 9-year-old sister scramble, counting her change trying to sum up all her saved coins. It dam near killed me. You see, she's trying to gather about $20 to buy all of us presents.

Now, the noble thing for me to do is to give her the money, but that's not the end of my story. She asked yesterday if I had any fundraising ideas. When I asked why, she was reluctant to tell me she wanted to raise the money for gifts. I then resorted to my innate journalistic instincts and got her to tell me.

"I want to use the money to buy people presents."

I reached for my wallet and gave her $20. She gently pushed my hand away. She told me she wanted to find a creative way to raise the money.

She's only 9-years old, but ever since she was very, very little she was always looking for ways to give people stuff. She loves Christmas not because she gets stuff, but because she gives stuff.

Every Christmas she hand-makes presents for all of us. And seeing her run around a month before anyone even thinks about toys, presents and gifts is unbelievable.

Then I remember...

When I was 12 I was with my family sitting in Shakey's Pizza. My mom and dad approached us with the age-old line, "We have something to tell you all, We are having another baby."

Everyone cheered and hugged.

SHIT!

I don't want another sibling.

But 9 months later my mom brought this foreign substance to the house. I asked if I could hold it.

My mom proceeded to handle this strange thing with care. She put her in my arms and as I sat there, I thought she was going to cry. But she didn't.

She didn't know what I felt. She just stared at me with the most innocent eyes you ever saw in your life.

I was stunned silent. Ever since that moment, I knew she was going to be different. All she wanted was to love and be loved. No prejudgment, no hatred. She let me wrap my arms around her without even crying.

And now...

She wants to give people the love that she gave me 9 years ago.

9-years ago I learned what Holden Caulfield felt when he saw the "Fuck You" sign on the bathroom stall.

Just like when I wrapped her in my arms for the first time. I want to shield her from all the violence and rudeness in the world. I want to be her catcher in the rye.

I can't!

"All the kids kept trying to grab for the gold ring, and so was old Phoebe, and I was sort of afraid she fall of the goddam horse, but I didn't say anything or do anything. The thing with kids is, if they want to grab for the gold ring, you have to let them do it... "(211)

Because somehow I know that she's something extraordinary.

Photographers and Visually Driven People I need your help

Here's a edited from Matt. It goes to show Post production is a completely different animal. I like it and I might use it. If and when I do, I intend to let the audience know it's an illustration.

The one in the bottom is my lame attempt to master PS3--Also b4 I forget Thanks Damien

I'm working on my audio-slideshow for my In-Depth Reporting class/Photojournalism II. My story is about the Code Talkers and the museum that is currently in the works.

My last bit of Voice Over says: "...Their place in American History." When I say that I want to put this picture but I'm having some doubts....please help.

Cons:

1. I took this picture from behind the glass so there are obvious cracks and creases seen in the shot.
2. I used flash so the strobe is seen on the Top right corner of the frame, I think you can also see it reflect of the subject's hat
3. There are some hard shadows behind him
4. He is a Vietnam Veteran but because we are talking about the Code Talker's place in "...American History," I figured it adds a touch

Pros:

1. I like the composition..
2. The dogtag....sorry I don't know another name for it
3. The flag
4. The helmet

Do I keep it or count my loses??

Much Thanks

Defiant 'til the end

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/146579

We sit in a beautiful building worth roughly $71 million while Journalism jobs continue to shrink at an alarming rate. 

Today the East Valley Tribune announced that come December 31 it will close down. 

I was sitting in class when Becca Dyer got on the phone only to realize no buyer had come forward. Now I'm not going to get all sappy and say "Why are we spending money on a major that is loosing more jobs than the Clippers lose games?" Believe me I was called out on my dramatics once and I don't want it to happen again. 

But!

I will say this:

Ed Taylor broke the story. He basically broke the story that will have him out of a job. Defiant 'til the end. And that's the way it should be. 

No citizen journalist can ever have the passion to know what journalism is about

Midlife Crisis at 22

Holy Crap!

I'm at mid-life crisis at 22. How did this happened? I know I'm living, but it seems like I'm killing myself without any sort of balance.

I went to the doctor two weeks ago. Before going, I typed all my symptoms and found my problem is quite common among men... that is.... men who are 55. I refuse to go quiet and die against the creeping night. At 22 I just scratched the surface.

So why do I feel old and eroded? Is it the fact that I'm hanging around with younger people or the fact that I gave up on having fun outside of school two years ago? Who knows all I know is I lost my vitality. And it doesn't help that I have a reseeding hairline either.

People always tell me, "Holy shit, you look tired. Have you been getting enough sleep?

Or my two favorite ones:

"You don't look 22." and "Did you know lefties live less?"

Shit. I'm not going quiet into the night, at 22 I just scratched the surface.

I've lived, but I'm not living

I'm not going quiet into the night.

The Touch

I want to write one day and this might be a page in one of my books.

I’ve been trying to write, but I can’t seem to fill the page up with meaningful words, you know the words that have a therapeutic effect, the ones that take your darkest secrets and twist fiction with reality.

 

I’ve been trying to read I have two books pending but the words jump from one page to the next. The meaning gets lost. Maybe because I just can’t concentrate. Or maybe I lost all my values.

 

I paid for a woman’s affection. Not out of loneliness or desperation. It was just curiosity. Would Hemingway have been a great writer if he had led a life of piety? Would my words have meaning if I didn’t make mistakes and get lost in the pressures of the world? The good the bad, a writer writes what he knows. I wanted to know life.

 

I sat there inside the nightclub. Just watching the dancers would have been worth the night’s entertainment. But my lust for a nightlife exploration did not end there. No, it ended in the back room with a stripper.  Drunk, tired, and with an eye for adventure I let myself be bought. My values, my plans, my Religion, my spirituality all shattered over $120.

 

“I’m not very experienced with this,” I said. “It’s my first time here.”

 

“I’m not going to tell you how to treat a woman,” she said. “But just relax, I'll take care of you”

 

This woman whose name left me as soon as I told her mine, let me into her world. A world filled with curves. —A body that despite being visited many times was still a body without blemishes. At first I was indifferent. After all this is this is her job. Her name fake, her feelings irrelevant but she was perfect. That night I touched a Goddess.

 

Where had her life gone wrong? What made her decide to throw away her life for this? Who was the man that broke her heart? What were the circumstances that led her to this?

 

I can’t stress about this anymore than what I am now. I’ve fallen to the pit of the crude and the crass. That night I met a random person. A person that had made her choices but someone who was still no doubt governed by emotion.

Don’t tell me you are indifferent to human contact.

Sex, sexuality and sensitivity, don’t tell me these things don’t matter. Marriage might be one thing. But the human touch is far more powerful. If words can scorn a person, how much more can a human touch affect us?

 

I don’t think any man—experienced or not—can ever suck in bed. The key is to explore every inch of her. Let her guide you on a journey, every soft touch, every nibble, every kiss opens one door to the next. Every touch means something.

 Appreciate her and forget about everything else. Her body is an amazing sanctuary. 

No one should ever buy human touch. It’s too beautiful a thing to take lightly. 

Inspirational Rant

I’ve dealt with self-esteem issues all my life. Shocking, I know right? But the truth is people find my sexiness too overbearing that the only way they can counter my unbelievable awesomeness is by making me feel unimportant.

 

But all jokes aside, this emotional rant, which I so fittingly titled: Inspirational Rant is not just to tell you that I’m incredibly good looking—believe me its got a theme. And it has to do with societal titles that are bestowed to people that are not always tied to a person’s character.

 

And so this story begins about yesterday around 3 in the morning. My fan is busted and its been broken for quite some time and my father, in his psychotic attempt to cut cost puts the AC very low so naturally I was tossing and turning trying desperately to find my body’s comfortable thermostat.

 

Lying on my bed, staring aimlessly onto the dark ceiling I had an epiphany: The fact that people think I’m insecure and have problems with confidence is not a character trait I have. I never had it and I don’t think I ever will.

 

I’ve always known I could do everything and anything I wanted, I just knew from very early on that everything I want to accomplish is going to take me two to three times longer to achieve than say…your average Joe. And this lesson came courtesy of my two siblings, especially the one that comes right after me.

 

I am more than willing to concede that both of them are far more talented, but they do very little to fully realize their potential. I on the other hand have far less skills, but I’ve always worked hard to make sure whatever little I have gets fully developed. Cocky? Maybe, but let me explain:

 

My brother learned to skate twenty minutes after he stepped into the rink. I learned a few months down the road. It’s been so long that I can’t skate anymore anyway but when I saw him at the rink I made a note to myself—no matter what happens I have to learn to skate.

 

It wasn’t sibling rivalry, it wasn’t bitterness, hell it wasn’t even jealousy. It was just the realization that some people are going to be flat out better than you in almost every conceivable aspect.

 

But the catch 22 of all this is that while they are gifted, some are lazy. Everything comes easy so why develop a strong work ethic?

 

Michael Jordan was born with certain physical attributes that gave him an advantage no doubt, but he did not become the greatest over night. To pass Detroit and to improve his skill set he would work hard in the off-season on areas that needed improvement. In fact, in high school I was told he used the acronym: GO APE. You set a Goal, analyze the Obstacles, Ask questions, Prepare then Execute.

 

Self-esteem? Gifts? Talents? These things mean nothing without work ethic.

 

-As always, I remain fresh and unbelievably sexy. Cheers. 

State Press (Arizona State University) Spring 2009 Portfolio

http://www.asuwebdevil.com/node/5936

http://www.asuwebdevil.com/node/5935

http://www.asuwebdevil.com/node/5739

http://www.asuwebdevil.com/node/5700

http://www.asuwebdevil.com/node/4992

http://www.asuwebdevil.com/node/4521

http://www.asuwebdevil.com/node/4110

http://www.asuwebdevil.com/node/3900

http://www.asuwebdevil.com/node/3811