Lauren Orsini's blog

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Recently I went to speak to a journalism class at my alma mater about choosing to attend J-school and practicing journalism post-graduation. It was strange to be speaking in front of the class - Magazine Writing - that I had just taken last spring! It was great to see my former teacher, Professor McCarthy, who worked for the Wall Street Journal and has given me a lot of great advice in my journalism career.

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(Note: Almost all my links open to spoilers. If you haven't played, don't click!)

Read the original post on my personal blog here.

I've been working on redesigning my blog lately. Now that I talk mainly about anime, games, and fandom, I'm considering a design that reflects my status as an otaku journalist. One problem I've run into is that I really would like to use an 8-bit Space Invader icon on my logo, but I'm not sure if it's a fair use image.

Read this post in its original location on my blog.

If you're like me and your favorite team didn't make it, (we'll get it next year, right Redskins fans?) then the part of the Super Bowl you're probably gearing up for the most are the commercials. Surely CBS is hand picking them based on how funny or entertaining they are? Wrong.

Unfortunately, (but to be expected), they appear to have an agenda. Take a look at this rejected Super Bowl ad for Mancrunch, a gay dating Web site:

By Flickr user Thomas Hawk, attributed Creative CommonsSince 2002, State of the Union drinking games have become as much as an American staple as the speech itself. However, aside from being just a diversion, these games are also an important benchmarking system. Depending on how inebriated players become, it can be determined just how predictable the President's speech is.

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I'm back from filming at Anime USA with about an hour and ten minutes more footage than I came in with. As a beginner in documentary making (I only started working with film when I began grad school in July), I found the convention a fun and friendly place to get some practice.

(you can read this post in its original location, www.laurenraeorsini.com)

When I was 14, I once spent an entire day during the summer playing a game online. The goal of the game was to sneak through China, (carrying three illegal photos of the Dalai Lama, 1000 Chinese dollars, and zero karma) into Tibet, while at the same time doing good deeds in order to achieve Nirvana.

Is student journalism valid? Do their notes and sources deserve to be protected, just like those of a professional journalist? As a student journalist myself, I have been carefully following one case where this question has recently surfaced, outlined here in The New York Times and covered here in the Chicago Sun.