south boston little league.

Finally, this future sports reporter gets to do some real sports reporting. For the past few weeks, I've been working on a story and multimedia piece on South Boston's Little League. I covered one game on opening day at Moakley Park. This particular game was between the Thomas C. Foley Red Sox and the Fire Fighters Cardinals. It was an absolute blast; the parents were eager to talk about their adorable kids, and the adorable kids were happy to be playing despite the fact that it was freezing and a bit rainy.

My favorite part of the day? A toss up between a heavily bundled mom who sat down for five minutes and then declared (during warmups), "I've seen enough, it's cold. I'll be in the car," and the Red Sox catcher who (also during warmups) asked his pitcher, "Have you noticed that these cups don't really work?"

Both the print story and the multimedia can be found here, but more specifically here: click for print, or for multimedia.

Make sure to let me know how I did! :)

the kitschnettes

Okay, so I know I've been slacking again. And badly, at that. But if you'd like to check out an area where I actually have been writing, head over to my new blog, The Kitschnettes. I started it with my current roommate, Celeste. We're planning on writing on all sorts of things from crafty projects, to recipe reviews, and how-tos. We designed it ourselves, and after slaving away at the html template for several nights, we think it's pretty adorable. Check it out and don't hesitate to comment! :)

You can also follow The Kitschnettes on Twitter and email us at the.kitschnettes@gmail.com. We hope to hear from you soon!

covenant in cinnamon twigs.

Okay, so I've been feeling pretty guilty about not posting in, well, a really long time. Though, I'm not really sure who's reading this. Anyway, my next post is in the works and should be up in a week (or less!) In the mean time, I thought I'd share some poetry. Let me know what you think! :)


covenant in cinnamon twigs.

i am a phoenix.

my eyes, red-rimmed and
set aflame, only hinted at
my body’s temperature.
i was on fire.

after we had felt the water
rushing, flowing, changing--
defining boundaries and
borders with bed linens,
cooling the beat in my veins,

after we had felt the water
my kindled feathers crumbled,
nestling me within my own
ashes, knee-deep within
my own reincarnation.

our eyes burned shut-sealed
with (un)sweet dreams,
and our mouths crusted open in
unfulfilled, unfaltering expectation.

but your lips dried the water and
melted my bed of ashes and
fueled the fire that bled into my
fingertips--
you set a match within me.

i am traveling heavy with desire.
i am a phoenix.

trade deadline.

I don't know about all of you, but until 3:00 pm today, I'm going to be checking and rechecking and rechecking my blog list approximately every five minutes. Thanks for the extra anxiety during midterms, NHL trade deadline. I appreciate it. Anyway, I thought that I would take the chance to showcase a few of the blogs that I read almost every day and will be constantly refreshing during work/class today. (These blogs are also listed at the bottom right of my page, along with other non-hockey blogs.)

1. Puck Daddy is a Yahoo! Sports Blog that I absolutely love. Today they've promised to update every hour, so hopefully they keep that up.
2. I came across Broad Street Hockey just last week, and it quickly made its way into my daily blog reading. It's comprehensive, colorful, and informed.
3. If you need a good laugh, head over to Flyers Goal Scored By... I've been reading it since last year and it never fails to crack a smile.
4. The 700 Level is a Philadelphia sports blog that covers the Flyers, Phillies, Eagles, Sixers, and anything else they'd like. It's a well-done blog that I have to admit, I read more when the Phillies and Flyers seasons overlap.
5. She doesn't update quite as often as some of the other blogs (usually once every couple days) but Flyers Femme brings a female perspective to hockey. No, this blog isn't about how cute all of the players are. If you're not a Flyers fan but still want that female perspective, head over to hlog {Hockey's Ladies of Greatness} and find a blog following your team.
6. On The Fly, the official Philadelphia Flyers PR blog, is updated almost daily and usually always on game days.
7. I know this isn't a blog, but I love the Philadelphia Flyers page on Yahoo! Sports. It compiles news, features a team report almost daily, and keeps track of all the stats a girl could want.

Many of these blogs are also on Twitter (and so am I, since about midnight last night), so that you can follow them even closer. Happy blogging!

why i love photography.

Ed Clark, LIFE Photographer 1958
Senator John F. Kennedy playing peek-a-boo with his daughter Caroline in her crib.

Ed Clark, LIFE Photographer 1946
A farmer posing in his wheat field.

Ed Clark, LIFE Photographer 1954
World's youngest swimmer, Julie Sheldon, 9 weeks old, swimming underwater next to her grandmother Mrs. Jen Loven, a children's swimming instructor.

Ed Clark, LIFE Photographer 1946
Young artist paints Sacre-Coeur from the ancient Rue Narvins.

dark was the night.

I'm just going to say this bluntly: I hate most music reviews. I hate that people say that this new artist sounds like someone plus so and so with a hint of that person from twenty years ago. I hate when they breakdown every single track and label it as sensational or a deviation from their earlier stuff. If the music is good, it's good. And that's all there is to it, in my eyes.

That said, I gave this compilation a shot because I recognized some of my favorite names on the track list, and I wasn't disappointed. Dark Was the Night, a two disc, thirty-one track compilation produced by Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National, was released on February 17th. Its executive producer was John Carlin, founder of the Red Hot Organization. This organization has been producing albums for the sole purpose of raising funds and awareness for HIV and AIDS for twenty years. According to Wikipedia, they have donated more than seven million dollars so far.

Dark Was the Night is their latest compilation and features the following artists and many more: Sufjan Stevens, Feist, Bon Iver, Ben Gibbard, Iron & Wine, Cat Power, and Conor Oberst. If you'd like a preview, I got a snazzy little widget on the side with three of my favorites. Hopefully you'll like it as much as I do, and contribute to this worthwhile cause. Enjoy!

extremely loud & incredibly close.

When I finished this book, not only was I in tears, but I suddenly needed to let everyone in the entire world know exactly how much I loved them. I tried to refrain from the latter, seeing as it was a bit crazy, but I was still amazed at the strength of the emotions that I felt. Written by Jonathan Safran Foer, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is a book that if nothing else, will make you feel. You will feel happiness, triumph, depression, frustration, and heartache. You will cry. You will need someone near you to hug the moment that you finish. And if you're me, you will develop an extremely irrational fear of losing the people you love too early...

Find this book. Read it. You won't regret it.