It's a long way from [Pinedale] to Denver

Just a little update. Since I don’t have internet set up at my apartment yet, I haven’t been online much. I’ve spent so much time in coffeeshops…

It’s been three weeks since I started working for the AP here, and I love it. It’s really, really challenging. Everything I write is ripped apart by ruthless editors. I have to master a whole new writing voice. I have to abridge myself in ways I never had to at the Pinedale Roundup. It’s just really hard. I love it. I think I’m starting to get the knack of it. Well, I say that now, but I’m sure tomorrow I’ll learn something new that will blow my mind.

While the work is harder, the hours are easier, and I have way more time to myself. I can read books and watch TV and cook real meals that don’t involve cereal and milk. I can get a full eight hours of sleep, even if it’s on an air mattress. The rest has improved the quality of my writing and reporting exponentially. I even had a three-day weekend for President’s Day! I did nothing, and it was beautiful. As beautiful as a guitar solo from Benjamin Franklin– h/t Uniblog.

I’m also way more interested in my work. I loved the characters and strange happenings of Pinedale, but it’s nice to write about things that matter outside of a 50-mile radius of the published story. And for them to all be on the internet. I’ve developed a habit of googling my name really often. I’m so vain…

My first big story was about a Mexican drug kingpin‘s sentence. That was even translated into Spanish! And just a week into my time here, I covered the mid-air collision of two planes in Boulder, Colo. The story went national, and my by-line was everywhere.

So go ahead and google me in google news. Just make sure you spell my last name right. If you don’t you get this stripper in Arizona that left her kids at home alone, eating dog food.

Oh, and did I mention I got to see the president? Like, seriously, THE Barack Obama, exiting THE Air Force One. I’ll have a whole post on that with my pictures once I find my dang camera cord.