Blog

Trying My Hand at Data Visualization

A few weeks ago, I went to my first Hacks/Hackers meetup on Google Fusion tables. I sat there mostly overwhelmed while people walked us step-by-step through creating elaborate data visualizations. (See here, here and here.)

I created my own, albeit simple, map from my resume. I’m hoping to explore a little more with the special features and eventually move on to the shapes feature. I can’t embed it, but you can see it here.

I survived NaNoWriMo

Last month, I decided to start an undertaking that most people would consider ridiculous: writing a 50,000-word novel in one month. So, with thousands of other crazy people, I committed myself to writing 1666.66 words a day for 30 days. This challenge is known as NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month.

November is over, and I have something resembling a novel. (No, you can’t read it.) I didn’t write 1666.66 words every day. Some days I wrote nothing at all, and other days I would crank out 5,000 words.

The key to actually finishing the novel — or at least what all the pep talks told me — is to not edit, to just write. So that’s what I did. Even though I write thousands of words a day at work, coming home and writing for pure creativity was relaxing and, honestly, a lot of fun.

I can’t say I’ll do anything with the finished novel; I might not even read it again. But the experience reaffirmed my love of writing.

Writing About Veterans

I’m a few days late, but in honor of Veteran’s Day, I’m sharing a few articles I’ve written.

‘We missed the honor of combat’

For most Americans, Dec. 7, 1941, meant the attack on Pearl Harbor and the country’s entry into World War II.

For William Howard Chittenden, who’d been serving as a Marine in China for more than a year at that point, it meant the beginning of his time as a prisoner of war.
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Homeless vets shelter helps transform lives

Franklin Everett, 53, is a big man with a deep voice that resonates through the halls of the two-story, 100-year-old building that houses the Nicholas Larson Home for Veterans, the official name of the housing development at the Midwest Shelter for Homeless Veterans (MSHV).

Everett, originally from Chicago, had a steady job. But after going on a drug binge, he found himself unemployed with nowhere to go, “as the story goes so often,” he said.
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Memoirs of a World War II Buffalo Soldier

On his dining room table James “Pat” Daugherty had arranged some old faded photographs from his Army days, his Bronze Star, a copy of his recently published World War II memoir, The Buffalo Saga, and his olive-drab steel helmet, marred near the visor by a chunk of now-rusted iron.
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I am a Solution Journalist

Yesterday, I was lucky enough to be able to sneak out of the office for a few hours and attend the Social Entrepreneurship talk at Chicago Ideas Week.

All of the speakers were incredibly inspiring, but my personal favorite was David Bornstein—who, among other things, founded Dowser.org and wrote one of my favorite books on social entrepreneurship, “How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas.”

Bornstein also invented the term “solution journalism.” Essentially, the idea is for journalists to look objectively at social solutions instead of just assuming a project with good intentions is actually a good idea. The concept was explained in a series on the site. Writer Blair Hickman had this to say: Continue reading “I am a Solution Journalist” →

How Craigslist Finally Paid Off

My Craigslist trolling finally paid off last week in the form of a three-day conference gig. But, it gets better. Not only did I meet some great people (with some other freelancing opportunities), there’s also the opportunity to keep working for the guy that hired me in the first place.

My days were spent taking notes, writing blog posts and Tweeting—all from atop a perch on the stage. The setup was a little bizarre—as you can see to the left—but people seemed to enjoy it. It certainly started a lot of conversations with people who otherwise might not have bothered.

You can check out my coverage at Daily Deal Media, where my byline might appear quite frequently from now on.

Speaking to Emmett Till’s Cousin

Fifty-six years ago today, Emmett Till, a 14-year-old African-American visiting Mississippi from Chicago was kidnapped. He was brutally murdered, and the two men were acquitted. In 2009, after a cemetery scandal (in the Chicago area) resulted in finding Till’s casket rotting, Till’s family decided to donate his original, glass-topped casket to the Smithsonian. I spoke with Till’s cousin Simeon Wright who was with him the night he was taken. You can read the interview here.

Hearing Wright recount the events that led up to his murder was a chill-inducing experience even if it was a phone interview. One of the things that stuck with me from our conversation was Wright’s theory that if the men had been convicted, Till’s story would have been forgotten: Continue reading “Speaking to Emmett Till’s Cousin” →