My name in print!

Last night was one of those nights… one of those “didn’t really sleep because I was up so obnoxiously late working on school” nights. (Quiet, you, I don’t want to hear about it. )

But one good thing did come of my all-nighter: I got to hear the paper delivered. Normally, this depresses me, because it reminds me of how late has become early and how I’m now closer to leaving for school than I am to the time when I should have gone to bed. But today, I didn’t mind at all! In fact, I stood there with my face pressed against the peephole on the front door, watching “paper delivery man with baseball cap” saunter up to our house and lay his precious cargo on the doorstep. I waited until his car headlights had faded out of view before I slipped out into the cold, grabbed the paper, and slipped back inside.

I did all this because today was the day—the day that my very first 20Below column was published in the newspaper:

(Yes, this is that column; the one that I almost killed myself to write.) Ironically, I wrote about blogging. Seems like I can’t get away from talking about that these days; but I felt that with the launch of the new 20Below blog the Register Guard could do with an infusion of goodwill towards blogging. So that’s what I tried to accomplish.

As a writer, I have mixed feelings about seeing my work in the paper. On the one hand, I am just pleased as punch—especially after so many years of wanting to be on 20Below! But on the other hand, this means that suddenly people are going to read it… all across Eugene, in fact, people are beginning to get up and look at the paper—somebody might be reading my article right this minute! That is a thrilling and terrifying idea.

(On a rather nitpicky side note, I was a little disappointed that the Register Guard did not show me any of the grammatical or content changes they were going to make to my column before they published it. Is that standard newspaper practice, or are they just giving us teenagers “special” treatment? :-/ I don’t know, but although they did a good job editing it, I have to admit I winced a little bit every time they took out a comma where I would not have or every time they called a website “Web site.” GAH. Oh well. )

Oh… there is one more thing. The most exciting and terrifying part of the whole article, I think, is the second line of the second paragraph. That is where that tiny, unassuming little phrase, “Lylium.org,” was slipped in between two commas and PUBLISHED IN THE NEWSPAPER. It is not emphasized, by any means. But it is there, for any curious souls who feel like bringing up their web browsers after reading my column.

I know this is a weird thing for a blogger who writes, ostensibly, to the entire world to say… but I feel exposed. Like suddenly this haven that is Lylium is exposed to all manner of people who may have HATED my column and feel like coming to give me a piece of their mind. But, what can I say? I asked for it. I totally and completely asked for it.

So, if you are here from the Register Guard, welcome! I really am glad you’ve stopped by. Please leave me a comment saying hello! I hope you like what you see, and that you’ll come again to read more stories and see more pictures.

(Update: My article is up now! check it out.)

Posted on Monday, October 23rd, 2006 at 5:25 am.
Belongs with: Happening Things.
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