So long, I hardly got to know ya

So this is my last day at the Seattle Post Intelligencer. I'm sitting at my too-clean desk with nothing left to work on. Bob's on a plane somewhere between Omaha and Salt Lake City. Abby's slicing stuff at the deli, and Maddigan's probably playing in the kitchen.

I want to write a few lists.
First of all, what swag I've picked up since I've been here:

1. tons of free comics including "best of erotic comics 2008," "Sammy The Mouse," and "Epileptic."
2. A bright pink dress
3. The Dixie Cups "Going to the Chapel album," along with both Steve Martin's LP comedy recordings and his autobiography
4. Pages and pages of drawings
5. Free pie, free soup and free fried pig skin crackers. Yuuum.

Secondly, highlights of my stories and blogs:1. Naked bikers at the Solstice parade (Abby and Eileen, we should go next year????)
2. Naked men at Pride parade
3. Power tool races at Georgetown's "Artoipia."
4. Pinup girls at Fantagraphics.
5. Interviews with Nate Denver and Zak Sally
6. Interview with Chuck Palahniuk
7. Story on a 100 year old woman who still does beautiful oil paintings.
8. Six (count 'em six) pieces on "The Bachelorette"
9. A story on Robin Williams and Bobcat Goldthwait coming to town.
10. Two stories on different high school plays.

Lastly, a final "what I've learned."
1. Cities are never as big as they look.
2. Interns can kick paid reporters asses if we try hard enough.
3. Avoid the negative people at the office.
4. Always say hello to everyone at work.
5. Read stories over ONE more time before turning them in.
6. Don't trust whitey.
7. Naked people and high schoolers are always good for an interview.
8. Towns with competing papers have the best journalism.
9. Seattle isn't as stuck up as I thought (but still pretty stuck up).
10. Yes, it does rain here a lot.
11. Just because the forecast says high of 90, that doesn't mean it's true.
12. Just because it's free, doesn't mean you need it.
13. There is always money for ice cream.
14. There's always money in the banana stand.
15. Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog will change your life.
16. Comics are better if they're free.
17. If you have an opportunity for an interview, take it, even if it's not going to make a story.
18. Caffeine makes life look a little better.
19. Andrea James will win a Pulitzer someday.
20. Some people pretend to be busy, just to make you look bad for not being busy.
21. There is always something fun to cover.
22. Journalism is waaaay to cool for school, and I dread the thought of having to go from being a kick ass reporter back to a student.
23. Never let the restaurant know you're reviewing them.
24. Don't watch TV on your day off.
25. The Space Needle actually is worth it.
26. Copy editors are better than people give them credit for.
27. Drawing makes things better.
28. Covering an event gives me a reason to get out and meet people.
29. Wearing a fedora really does make you look like a newspaper man.
30. Working for the Daily Planet means I'm Lois Lane.
31. Always Mapquest everything.
32. Houses are better when they're tiny.
33. You're not supposed to swim in the Puget Sound.
34. Don't let people tell you journalism is dying.
35. Everyone is on Facebook when they should be working.
36. Stories are only lame if you let them be lame.
37. The Dark Knight is one movie EVERYONE can agree on.
38. Mary-Kate Olsen killed Heath Ledger.
39. Writing the celebrity gossip column can get addictive
40. Joss Whedon is the greatest living writer.
41. Writing stories about "The Bachelorette" can get a little tedious.
42. Women actually think they have a chance at love with the men they see on TV.
43. Work twice as hard as everyone else.
44. The 1987 Transformers pales in comparison to the 2007 live action version.
45. It turns out Shia LeBouf isn't all that bad.
46. Press packs are like Christmas presents.
47. Reporters' notebooks fill up fast.
48. Being an intern is hard.
49. Being a reporter is harder.
50. This is all I want to do for the rest of my life.

I saw Molly in the crowd, in the crowd

I saw Molly in the crowd, in the crowd
I saw Molly in the crowd and I hollered right out loud
I said Molly, ai't you proud? Well damn your eye.

SO that's the song Nate Denver was playing when I was taking video of him, and some other guy took the photo of me.

Snuff

So I called everyone I knew and told them I was going to get to interview Chuck Palahniuk, not knowing for sure if would or not. I went to his book signing and got my copy of his newest book "Snuff" signed (read my story on it here). It's a book about the snuff porn industry, where a pron star is trying to break the record of the world's largest gang bang. 600 men. Needless to say, this seemed to be a book right up my alley.

I wanted to wait to do this post until I finished it so I could say a few words about it. It was a little boring at the beginning, considering the subject matte.r It's told through the perspective of four people waiting in the green room, waiting to go on set and do their deed. But at the end of every chapter, the plot thickened, and in the Palahniuk style, it ended with a slam-bang plot twisted climax (pun intended).

It's a quick read, and it's worth it just to know the ending. Anywho, I went to the reading and got a call from his publicist the next day setting up an interview at the bookstore while he was signing a stack of books in the back. It went well, and I put my interview on line, "Sex, Guts and the Needle: Ten things you should know about Chuck Palahniuk" (read it here). He was super nice and we sat down together when he was done signing and he thought up answers to every question as if he hadn't been asked these questions before. So that was the highlight of my internship.

Lastly, the best story I've written to date: read it here.

Snuggletummy, you're the one, you make bath time lots of fun

So, for all you MCADians, Minneapolisites or just cool cats, you might be interested to know that I wrote teo things on the Nate Denver/ Zak Sally show coming up tomorrow.

First, I wrote a preview story that talked mostly about Zak and "Sammy the Mouse." I was happy that I could get their stuff both in print and online. I hope people show up because they're both very funny and great.

Next, I did a blog post for the P-I's Big Blog about Nate's book. I had a hard time in the story explaining what his book was, exactly, so in the blog I put two of his essays in. I figure I'd let his work speak for itself.

One last thing about Nate, I didn't have the opportunity to put a few of his good quotes in the story or the blog. I figure they'd only be relavent to the people who have read his book, so I'll write them down now. He said he has drawn over 2,000 elephants so far, and he continues to draw them every day on bits of scratch paper/

"I draw dozens a day, if not hundreds," Denver said. "It's the greatest part of my day. I've even bought a few books on elephants so I can get better at drawing them."

Eh. I figure everybody has a thing. His is elephants. Mine is girls. Abby's is tiny houses. To each his own.