Hayley’s Comment

This is what I mean when I say I can’t ever quite put up blog posts. This was a finished blog post on July 4, and I didn’t publish it…why?

HONOLULU — Aloha!

Many of you have asked (in various mediums) for me to talk about Hawaii and what it’s like. Since today is Independence Day (Eds. note: it is no longer Independence Day) I thought I’d take the time to talk about my time in the nation’s youngest state.

I do think I have to say that visiting Hawaii is way different for me than it is for others I know who have gone. For one, we only go to Oahu. For two, if you say “Hawaii” to most people, they picture something like this:

(Hawaii Five-O is the property of composer Morton Stevens and, well, probably CBS, but certainly not me.)

And for a great many people who go to Hawaii, that is probably what they see. There are a whole lot of ways to be in Hawaii without ever seeing a non-planted local, and I’m not going to go off on that particular rant. People are on vacation! Hawaii runs on tourism. Go for it.

To me, though, Hawaii means this:

(That’s “the kids” after we went crabbing and generally got our butts kicked by stand-up paddling.) Just as most people can do Hawaii without seeing a local, we do our best to avoid seeing other tourists. We stay with family, go to neighborhood beaches (what a concept for a girl from MN, by the way. Neighborhood beaches, public PARK beaches!) and eat the amazing local food that’s tucked into strip malls and office buildings all over Oahu that you can’t get anywhere but Hawaii. And I get to practice my Japanese, which, let me tell you, is so rusty you can see through it. It means I can hang out with my grandparents and only worry about what we’re eating next and wonder idly where I put my shoes, cause I’ll need them in a few weeks.

I could give you a day-by-day breakdown of what we did, but it’s mostly seeing family and eating great food, often together, often on or near a beach. For three weeks.

God bless America.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — I ‘d keep apologizing for not posting, blogging, but it’d ring hollow. We both know it’s not our busy schedules that keep us apart. I’m just not that into you.

Look, I like you. Especially in politics/policy reporting, a blog is ideal to talk about what those wacky politicians are up to  (Yelling at constituents! Getting covered in pennies!) or what laws are actually being made. You’re great for posting follow-ups and other interesting tidbits; to highlight a good story that’s slipped off the front page; or to connect with your audience on a more personal level — truly a shocking idea. Sure, I have my problems with you, but you’ll work those out as you get older.

As I go on job interviews, I mean it when I say you’re a great addition to the traditional reporting arsenal — and not just because I’d be totally out of touch if I didn’t think so. But, still, I like you as a professional concept, which is like telling a boy that I like him as a friend.

Oh, blogging, it’s not you. It’s me. Really. It’s not your fault that I don’t cook and bake. Or that I don’t have aspirations toward better health. Or that I’m not blessed with a muse and a wicked sense of humor. (Seriously, though, go read all of those. My friends rock.) I’m plenty interesting, if I do say so myself, but when I try to blog, it just doesn’t work for me. Whenever I think I’ll post about a Twins trade or the agonizing fall of Don Draper, I find somebody else who’s posted exactly what I wanted to say instead.

Look, I’m not cutting you out of my life. I’m willing to keep trying. We can be better friends, you and I. I’ll try to stop avoiding you because you stink of failure on my part. I can be less of a jerk.

Just…don’t hold your breath.

–Hayley

Emerging from my serious case of the grumps can only do good things for my mental health and my job search, so I’ve started writing down at least one small thing every day for which I am thankful.

Today it’s “cats who crawl into your lap when you’ve been fighting with InDesign for an hour, purr and then fall asleep” — itself a sub-thankful item to “friends who let you crash at their place while you regain your hold on solid ground.”

I don’t know that I’ll blog one of these every day, but today’s seemed worth sharing.

As underemployment gets me down, I’ll just start singing this to the mirror.

Oh, Bobby Morse. So sweet here and now playing a lovably crabby old ad exec on Mad Men.

via YouTube – Robert Morse I Believe in You How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.

Note: I’m trying to get into writing non-journalism things again, so there’ll be a lot of random things coming up on the blog. Ostensibly, it’s an attempt to develop voice. Thanks for coming along for the ride.

I’m cleaning my room. Well, no. For that to be accurate,  I would be throwing things out. So, let’s say…I’m kicking up dust in my room right now.

What I’m really trying to do is clear a path for walking.

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Imagine my dismay when I read this today:

Democrat Matt Entenza Thursday released a television ad that said “If budget cuts were always the answer, then Mississippi would be a leader in this country.”

Burn! I’m glad I don’t know anyone in Mississ…oh. Wait. Uh-oh.

Seriously, Entenza. Was that necessary? Did you have a negative barbecue experience as a child? What has Mississippi done to you lately to deserve that? Export excellent food and music? Suffer horribly from natural and unnatural disasters?

I just spent a semester of political reporting and what I hated the most was the needless slams and empty disses that seem to pass for political discourse these days. And yes, Mississippi may be an easy punchline — but only if you like making fun of poor people, particularly as some of them struggle to survive thanks to the big, oily hand of disaster. According to the Economic Research Service, Mississippi had the highest poverty level in the country. Is that due to their budget policies? Quite possibly, yes. But is that fodder for your race? No.

Maybe you got confused because you decided skip the Democratic nominating convention, but you’re not running against Haley Barbour. If you want to attack the politics of Tim Pawlenty and, by extension, Tom Emmer, then concentrate on them. If you want to tell the people of Minnesota that your policies will help them, concentrate on that. Currently, you’re not standing up for the Minnesota way, you’re just being a bilious, snarky bully going for the easy joke.

Entenza said he was “run out of Greenwood, Miss.” when he was a U.S. Justice Department civil rights attorney. Well, I’ve been there, too. It was a lovely town: I had lunch, went antiquing, went to a great bookstore and bought a neat contraption for preparing avocados.

Terrifyin’ place, Greenwood.

Believe it or not, sir, some people are dismissive of our lovely home state as well. I’ve told people until I was blue in the face that we’re a really nice group of folks, kind, unassuming and polite. They think Minnesota’s a backwater where people have no culture and no class.

Thanks for helping with that image. You’re not getting my vote.

Check out the Hot Dish post here: Mississippi’s a little miffed at Entenza dis | StarTribune.com.

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As I mentioned in my last post, I had the opportunity to go to the White House Correspondent’s Dinner last month. It was my one night to mingle with the stars.

Me. Hayley Tsukayama of Bloomington, Minn., as announced by the presenter — well, close enough anyway. I meant to blog about it right away (good intentions, always) but every time I sat down to do it it kept slipping away from me like a dream. But I’m going to try. Right now.

By way of backstory, I was one of ten (10!) students selected from the University of Missouri for the White House Correspondent’s Association – Missouri Fellowship in Government Affairs Reporting. That came with $2500, a tuition waiver, the privilege of working with the Star Tribune again (this time in the Washington bureau) and a ticket to the coolest collection of nerds assembled every year.

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So, um, I successfully defended my master’s project. Which means that, barring some sort of unnecessary cruelty on the part of the Missouri School of Journalism, I will graduate with a Master’s of Arts in Journalism on May 15 in beautiful Columbia, Mo.

To cap it all off, one of the perks of my scholarship is that I get to attend the White House Correspondent’s Dinner tonight.  I’m so excited, and a blog post is definitely forthcoming about that.

In other news, today is May 1, 2010. It’s the first day of the first month when I’ve had absolutely no obligations. Sure, in elementary through high school I had summer vacations, but I was almost always doing something. But here I am, paid up through the end of May in DC with no schoolwork demanding my attention, no job to report to…nothing.

Which makes this either the best or most terrifying month of my life.

Now, I will, of course, be applying to jobs like mad starting tomorrow. But I’ve never had such an uninterrupted block of free time before. The unstructured month ahead of me frightens me. It will give me time to run around this beautiful city, catch up on my correspondence (which I’ve already started to do), maybe take a weekend trip or two. Maybe I’ll even blog regularly. (Fat chance.)

But. Any suggestions? What would you do with a free month in DC?

I know. I promised things about regular blogging that just didn’t happen. And here it is, week 7 of my work experience and I haven’t told anyone on the internet a single thing about my time here in DC so far.

My bad. But if you’re still interested…

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I’ve now lived in four states — Minnesota, New York, Missouri and, as of Sunday, Maryland. Not bad for a homebody. I can’t help but notice that three of those start with M’s, so look out Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi and Montana! I may be headed your way.

This is my first week living in Maryland, in the lovely city of Bethesda. It’s very close to “The District” — and I don’t mean downtown Columbia, Mo. when I say that. In fact, my bus stop is in D.C. As a result, I have walked into D.C. and back into Maryland a few times now. I swear the novelty of crossing a state border on foot will wear off soon. I don’t know why it amuses me so.

Next week, I’ll start orientation for Mizzou’s Washington Program and meet with the reporters I’ll be working with during my semester-long stint at the (Minneapolis) Star Tribune.

More on all that later, a.k.a., when I actually start working.

Random thoughts that have been floating through my mind, behind the cut. These would have made for reasonably coherent blog posts themselves, but I’m lazy.

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