I LOVE Fall

The leaves in the fall are something that I look forward to every year.




They are always so beautiful and amazing.


I never get tired of them and I never get disapointed year after year.



Each season brings a more glorious array of colors than the last.

topics

Sports topics:
NFL Draft - the 1st round QB's Matt Stafford going to detroit)and Mark Sanchez AND the follys of Andre Smith and what will happen b/c of them
New Stadiums and their expectations/ costs
the new costs of going to see pro baseball and football with the fam
cowboys v giants game
Athletes pay
coaches pay
NCAA recruiting rules
Mik Vick - what should he do after jail
injuries
runners injuries (my foot)
being a former athlete
after college b-ball - (Lindy's profile)
not everyone goes pro
Buddy - (tennis profile)


MY Life Topics:
my career aspirations- what is that really- do you have to have those?
school sucks! i am so sick of going to college
volunteer work - i get in ruts with philanthrophy - why can i not just be happy doing small things?
my husband - are we friends? will this last forever - really?
best friends are hard to find - and even harder to be
family is a complicated love affair
mothers of mothers are a gift from god
holidays rock - and so do furlogh days
facebook and twitter - i cant keep up
budgets- does anyone really stay on those? how!
i want to have more kids
why i am now happy living where i live.
erich needs a new job!
soccer coach - sure no problem - i got time
Baby showers - how many - what do you do - what is expected
thank you notes - still necessary - really?!
parenting styles are funny
crap - i broke my foot
spring cleaning
dislexia/disgraphia
when your child has issues at school it feels like hell

slacker

so I realize that this blog has been a bit haphazard so far and i think it's actually telling because it kinda reflects my life, my brain - pretty much the way i live, work, play.......

I am not really sure if the Blog is accomplishing what it needs to do in my life or in my class really - but i will assume that so far - it has done ok for what it needed to do for my class. In my life i don't believe i have yet learned how to harness the power and opportunity the art of blogging can provide to a person. I see so many people taking advantage of it in so many different ways - but for me I kinda feel like i have not given it a fair chance or dedicated enough time to its existance just yet for it to have impacted me and or my life the way that i had hoped.

Dedication, focus, desire, accountability - those are probably some of the things i need to consider and utilize when it comes to making this blog do and accomplish what i would like for it to do.

I have so many ideas of topics and drafts of topics that i have begun - but not much that i have actually published. I don't know if it is an insecurity thing or just ADD - but from this point forward i am committing to myself that i will post something - of quality - every week at a minimum.

if any of you have any tips or suggestions as to how i can be better at utilizing this blog please feel free to let me know your thoughts!

Election Project - Video The Vote!

Today, November 4th 2008, is an historic day no matter the outcome.

In order to ensure the moment is one of untarnished history and not questioned for its authenticity many organizations are out in full force all over the country working to protect the sancity of the vote and ensure every American has an equal opportunity to cast their ballot for their respective candidate.



Video the Vote is just one of the many organizations dedicated to working for this goal. According to their website www.videothevote.org they do this through a "national network of citizen journalists, independent filmmakers, and media professionals working together to document voter suppression and disenfranchisement".

As a member of a Digital Journalism class at Old Dominion University I chose to participate in Video the Vote for an election project. Our professor assigned this topic to us not only because I believe she feels passionately about protecting the vote and our political process as a whole, but also because she wanted to push us and our ability to think differently about the use of non-traditional types of media tools such as video and blogging.

It is important that we, as hopeful future members of the media, be able to utilize all types of media to report on an event and be able to tell a story. And not just be able to use them - but to also know how to converge them onto one platform - or to take the same information, event, topic and purpose it for different platforms such as print and online, using video, photos, words and sounds to tell a story in a way that was never possible before.

So often Blogs are personal and written in a casual and informal way. What many budding journalists need to learn and be aware of is the fact that the future of media is one that will require them to produce their content in a format that will be very similar to this social activity they know and love so much. That familiarity could potentially run the risk of their craft and their socializing tactics cross-pollinating one another. I guess what remains to be seen is weather or not that actually matters or if it is just the overall direction communications and media as a whole are going. Just as the market bears innovation and creates change based on society's wants and needs so will the course go for media and it's style, format and level of formality.

Old Dominion Women's Soccer Game #3

Norfolk - The Old Dominion Women's Soccer team defeated Virginia Commenwealth University on Sunday 3-0. This continued to hold their winning record for home games stable with only one goal scored at home all season (8-0-1).




More importantly is the fact that the Lady Monarchs win, along with the William & Mary loss to Christopher Newport University on the same day, has now pushed the women to the number one spot in the conference with a 6-1-1 record for the season.

Originally uploaded by mary.mcchesney

The day way cold and brisk so while the teams may have been warmed up and ready for a fast-paced game, the fans were hoping for a break from the wind and were bundled up and huddled down for the show.



At the end of the day both the Monarch fans and players left the stadium warm from the pride of winning.

Old Dominion Women's Soccer Game #2

Norfolk - The Old Dominion Women's Soccer team defeated Virginia Commenwealth University on Sunday 3-0. This continued to hold their winning record for home games stable with only one goal scored at home all season (8-0-1).

More importantly is the fact that the Lady Monarchs win, along with the William & Mary loss to Christopher Newport University on the same day, has now pushed the women to the number one spot in the conference with a 6-1-1 record for the season.

The day way cold and brisk so while the teams may have been warmed up and ready for a fast-paced game, the fans were hoping for a break from the wind and were bundled up and huddled down for the show.

At the end of the day both the Monarch fans and players left the stadium warm from the pride of winning.

Old Dominion Women's Soccer Game

Originally uploaded by mary.mcchesney

On The Brink of a Financial Breakdown

So I find it very interesting that in the current times of financial crisis - one that involves billions in bailouts and trillions in deficits for countries and companies far beyond my daily sphere of influence - I too am at a point of financial ruin. I mean really - what do they have to do with me?



Is this some kind of convenient merging of time lines between my life and our world economy?



Do they really go that hand in hand?



I mean if so - then wow - how naive have I been!!! I always thought that stuff was happening in some other far off land where the really really rich people lived and that as long as they worked it all out - all would be fine with me too. Heck - I figured that even if it did not work out - it would be quite awhile before it actually got to me and would only do so if something drastic happened (i.e my company went bankrupt or I got laid off or whatever - ya know - something BIG would have to happen - right?!?!).



But none of that has happened to me yet. So why am I feeling such a pinch and realizing that at any moment if one more little thing falls apart the whole house of cards will come crumbling down?!?!?



It feels like it has come on so fast - yet at the same time this mess had been glaring at me in the mirror like a killer standing behind the lead girl in a scary movie.



You know what I mean?



It's like this: I was fully aware of my status and all of the risky things that I was doing - but I figured I was smarter than the killer - and so I did nothing about it - I played the game - and pretty darn well I might add (comparably to many others right now).



So does that mean that - just like the lead girl who goes back into the house (after the power outage, and all of her friends inside die at the hands of a mass murder) because she thinks she hears something and wants to check it out - I too deserve the slashing I am about to get!??!



I want to be the one who gets out alive dammit! Don't you?!?

Welcome to Mary Mac - (not a soccer mom) on Flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/marymcchesney/

So I have begun to create "Sets" in Flickr which i have determined is just another name for "albums." I am not sure why they just did not say that , but nonetheless, i have gotten myself about 60% comfortable with yet antother new site!

It's wild to think that only two weeks ago I had not a clue about Blogger or Flickr and now here i am adding a link on my Blogger site to my Flickr page :) wow! I'm just like so cool man.....

Ha! I am sure that for anyone a decade younger than me this whole endeavor took them two episodes of The Hills - or maybe even less! While for me it is now 8:47 pm and i sat down at my dining room table around 2pm - no joke!

Now i must admit i departed this spot quite a few times to change up laundry, unload the groceries that my husband reappeared with after a 3 hour tour at Wall-Mart on a Sunday (Brave Man), and even a brief break to help my daughter and her buddy across the street come up with a new project to stay the boredom that hits about 4pm on Sunday afternoons when all possible outdoor games have been exausted (we made a "river" to float matchbox cars down the front porch and sidewalk with some papertowel rolls, tape, staples and aluminum foil - yeah - just call me McGuiver). We also fed Hannah and her two pals Chili and referreed a few games on the Wii between the loud little things.

Eventually i got some time to focus (post bathtime and bedtime), so now here i am hooking up the blog and sharing my photo journal with you from yesterday. The photos are about the Fall Soccer Fling for my daughter, Hannah's, soccer league. You may notice that there are very little pictures of Hannah or the girls actually playing soccer and that is not an accident. The games probably take the smallest portion of time of the entire day. So i thought it would be interesting to share what goes on and around the sidelines. Hope you enjoy them :)

overwhelmed

ok - so I really need to get up to speed on this damn blog - I always feel behind when I'm in class and then once I leave i totally have no memory of what I am suppossed to be doing.
i need to take some photos this week and record/document them. and they need to be related to my topic. fortunately im spending all day Saturday on the soccer field for the "Fall Fling Tournament" so i believe i will indeed have lots of topics and information and content to cover :)!

look for it Early next week!

Digital Journalism - Say What?

So another part of my requirements for this class was to go out and talk to people about how they gather their daily news and information.

Why you ask? Who cares you say? Well my professor does. As do a whole heck of a lot of other people who are trying their best to provide that information to 8 billion people when, how and where they want it each and everyday.

There are so many choices out there today it can be a bit maddening and yet also relieving at the same time.

How so? Well because - it's simple, but not easy.

I'll say it again.

It's simple, but not easy.

I love that saying!

You can apply it to so many things and it works every time!

I’ll get off track for a moment and give you 3 Examples:

Putting on shoes and socks. Simple in concept, not easy for anyone under the age of 8.

Changing a tire. Simple in concept, makes most women (and some men) curse, cry and throw things. You will get dirty, frusterated and be late no matter what you do. So therefore.... NOT EASY.

Providing all existing news, entertainment and general information to anyone in the world whenever, however and wherever they want it.
Hey - yeah - that sounds simple enough.
Ha! Kiss it! It ain’t easy.

So therefore, I would admit, it can be a relief that whenever you need information you know you can go find it. BUT it is absolutely maddening to try and be the ultimate provider of that information. And maybe even a little maddening for those who are receiving it too. Although they may not have enough self-awareness to realize that just yet! I mean anyone who gets pissed because the latest blog comments or video clip of “From G’s to Gents” has not uploaded to their IPHONE 30 seconds after the season 8 premier is over has got to be a little loose in the brain…..

Like it or not that mentality is a product of our own creation. So instead of complaining and criticizing, many have decided to man up and figure out exactly what you need as a consumer of information so that you can have it whenever, wherever and however you want it!

Hence – this is the long-winded version to the answer of the question at the beginning of this post.

Yes, It matters! And it matters because in order to intuit where the technology and the skills of those who gather and create products for the one’s who are taking in information need to be focused, you first have to know and understand those people’s current habits and their likes and dislikes of those habits.

Sounds simple, but it’s not easy.

Man – I love that – see – it worked again!

Ok – so why not start by using a bunch of “eager for an ‘A’” students to go out and begin canvassing as many people as they can on their media usage habits.

If it’s not going to be easy lets at least use free labor!

So here are some of my findings:

Respondent 1:
Age: 86
Sex: Female
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Media Used: TV, Radio, Newspaper, Mail
Frequency: All daily for all news and info

Respondent 2:
Age: 35
Sex: Male
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Media Used: TV, Radio, Internet, Mobile, Mail, Newspaper
Details of Media:
TV – Frequency: Daily. Format: on TV and on Computer and on Phone. Specific Locations: BBC, Cartoon Network, Comedy Central, Weather Channel, CNN. (Not every channel every day– but 2-3) Time Spent: 1 hr per day Purpose: News/info/entertainment/product awareness.

Radio – Frequency: few times a month Format: In the Car “when I forget my Ipod in the car” Specific Location: FM99 Time spent: 1hr per month Purpose: Entertainment and traffic.

Internet – Frequency: Daily Format: on computer on phone Specific Locations: EVERYWHERE cnn, bbc, myspace, woot, facebook, yahoo, amazon, video game sites, newsgroups, and many others. Time Spent: 12 hrs Purpose: News/shopping/ entertainment/ work/ communication/ research/ education.

Mobile – Frequency: Daily Format: on Phone. Specific locations: n/a Time spent: 1hr per day Purpose: communication / shopping (receiving offers).

Mail – Frequency: weekly Format: in Mail Box Specific Locations: n/a Time Spent: 10 minutes per week. Purpose: communication, education, shopping

Newspaper – Frequency: Weekly. Format: In Print Specific Sections: inserts, cartoons, lifestyles. Time Spent: 1 hr per week. Purpose: shopping, education, entertainment.


I HAVE 3 more – but I will post them later!

-till then…. Mary

Why should you read this blog?

Why Should You Read This Blog?

Hi There!

Thanks for joining in today!

I'm Mary.

I'm 33.

I'm a mother, wife, friend, woman, workaholic, playaholic, very loud and opinionated, extremely devoted, passionate about life, can't spell for _ _ _ _, (have a tendency to curse) love run on sentences…. and a whole lotta other things that we may get into later in this journey.

The reason I'm beginning a blog is simple. I have to.

What's funny is that at first I thought I had to do this simply because it is required for a class I am taking. Therefore, if I want to actually pass this class (one of the last of 4, 6, 10 or so classes - who really knows anymore - of my 15 year journey to get a undergrad degree) then I better do it and do it well!

Note that I started that last rambling statement with "At First."

As I began thinking about my class and the reasons why we had to create a blog I started thinking about what people used blogs for nowadays and then I realized: “OMG this is like so totally perfect for me!"

How ironic that only about a zillion other people have decided the same thing!

Our lovely narcissistic personalities have created this entire world of blogs that people think actually matter to someone other than themselves and a few of their friends. Oh - and the one weird guy that always posts somewhat cheesy or funny - but at the same time a bit creepy - comments on your page.

But alas, I have fallen into this phenom and I plan to embrace it with all the hope, excitement and vigor one can put into something that they are praying will allow them a small sliver of a chance of something new. Now I cannot guarantee that it will not also contain a good bit of sarcasm, pessimism and sometimes just some good ole fashioned ranting or raving!

Perhaps however this will be a way into another realm I have never before explored - maybe even another persona that I can own for just a little bit. And that is just intriguing enough to sound fun!

So it is with that in mind that – I HAVE to DO THIS.

Not for my class or my teacher or to be able to tell people about the mundane crap going on in my daily life – but because without it I am afraid that this is all that I am. And frankly – that is not O.K.!

If you have not decided I am a complete nutcase 2 paragraphs ago then great! I need you!

I want to learn from you and make this not just all about me but about anyone who is looking for a way to have an impact outside their own small little footprint in our world!

Come on in and share with me your hopes, your dreams, your desires (hey - nothin’ pervy sicko) for your life and for your family and friends and careers and yes – even the general mundane activities that surprise you by the way they motivate you to go out there and do it all again the next day!

Sometimes it’s scary how the most simple of things matter the most.

Truly, what I hope to uncover here is inspiration - wherever it may be. For anyone who will participate.