Paige Landsem's Blog

On NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday this morning, host Scott Simon interviewed Brooke Gladstone, host of NPR's On the Media program. She was there to plug a new comic book she wrote about the media called "The Influencing Machine." 

While the whole interview is worth a listen - she makes some interesting comments regarding transparency, objectivity and the idea of citizen journalism - I really loved what she said about Twitter as a curation device and a community. If you're already a Twitter devotee, it's preaching to the choir, but it's something I definitely want to share with my friends and family who are Twitter skeptics.

"People who don't understand Twitter, they think it's just people talking about what they had for dinner. But more and more, it serves a curation purpose. People are using...Twitter feeds and Twitter communities to deal with the problem of filtering that we have now with so many streams of communication coming directly at us, unmediated by huge institutions. If your friends send you a link, you'll open it, you'll pass it on, you can get really informed that way, just as well informed as you would be, far better informed than reading most daily papers, because it's coming from everywhere, all around the world."

This has played out so clearly in my own Twitter experience. Over the past two years or so, I've "curated" my own community, used lists to organize my followers who tweet about similar subjects, and crafted my own tweets to have a voice that (I hope) my followers want to hear. Since I love college football, I follow a slew of reporters and fans who tweet primarily about that sport. Since I'm not a huge NBA fan, I don't follow many basketball fans or reporters. I could find that news if I wanted it, but I've curated my Twitter experience to deliver exactly what I want, when I want it.

Twitter veterans, you probably know what I'm talking about. How have you seen this idea of curation and community-building play out in your own Twitter experience?

If you want to hear more, the whole segment titled, "'The Influence Machine' Traces Myths Of The Media."

Tomorrow, a group of us from Allen Hall PR is going on a PR tour in the city - can't wait to check out Microsoft, Starbucks, Swedish Medical, Publicis and Edelman.

To die for, no?

Sent from my iPhone

Next time you're in Eugene, eat at Pizza Research Institute. I'm not turning this into a food blog, but a good slice of pizza deserves its own post.

Reasons why it's great:

• The water pitchers on the table are actually these really cool milk jug-style bottles from IKEA.
• They had a live band playing (and thanks to my History of Jazz class, I could tell you that one song they played was "Moanin'").
• We didn't use any of them, but they had a shelf of board games and books you could use while you waited for your food.
• It may be vegetarian/vegan (you have the option to order with or without cheese) but it's DELISH. My slice had asparagus, garlic and fresh tomato.
• The chairs we sat in looked like they came straight out of the Brady Bunch's house - that wonderfully disgusting 70s orange.
• We were seated for optimal awkward-first-date spying. It was bad. She was really not into it.
• We were also seated for optimal crazy-Eugenian spying. While they ate, these people were literally stroking the heads of their rabbit stuffed animals, who had their own seat.

Only complaints? It was too warm inside and they don't serve Diet Coke.

Small matters. Still a great place.

(Our crew. A little grainy, but this is courtesy of Miranda Lee's phone.)

When it comes to her food, Liz Lemon likes to keep it simple. Why sample local fare in New York when you can go to Quiznos?

I'm meeting a book agent about writing a 'Deal Breakers' book. He's going to take me to lunch wherever I want to go. Do you know if there's a sit-down Quiznos in Midtown?

Don't forget: Tina Fey hosts SNL tomorrow night. Last night, she was a guest on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and it was pretty hilarious.

Happy Weekend!

Aside from the political/cultural/patriotic implications of the bin Laden news, I'm fascinated by how it has spread. One minute, I see a push notification from the Huffington Post app about how Obama's making an unusual Sunday-night address to the nation and the next minute, the whole world is freaking out. 

I asked my Facebook friends how they first heard the news. Names and photos have been removed here, obviously, but here's what they said. I thought the responses were interesting and insightful.

It occurred to me this afternoon, while doing homework at Starbucks, that on that little square table sat pretty much every basic survival tool I need.

Pictured:

• MacBook
• Grande unsweetened iced coffee with milk (I live comfortably in the world of people who need more than five words to place their Starbucks order)
• Moleskine planner
• AP Stylebook
• Glasses
• Headphones (used on this occasion to listen to the play-by-play broadcast of a Mariners loss)
• TweetDeck
• Wallet

I understand that none of these are actually necessary for survival (well, except maybe the coffee), but to live day-to-day as a college student, I'd be useless without this stuff.

What tools would you be useless without?

The Ducks' spring game was today, and the "green team" won, 16-0. Of course, this means nothing, but you just can't pass up the opportunity to go inside Autzen Stadium in April and get a look at some of the Ducks' up-and-coming stars.

(Above: the walk to Autzen. Noticeably less crowded than it would be on any given Saturday in the fall.)

This was the first spring game I've attended, and it was awesome to see how the team has made it more than just a football exhibition. The price of admission into the game was a donation of three cans of food for Food for Lane County - multiply that by the more than 43,000 in attendance and you've got a lot of support for a great cause. 

Also, Chip Kelly is a huge supporter of the U.S. military and military-related causes (he's gone on a USO tour), so the whole afternoon was dedicated to troops. An elaborate flag retreat ceremony was held at halftime and the flag was presented to the family of Chris Kilcullen, a Eugene police officer killed in the line of duty last week. After the game, each player gave his jersey to a military member on the field in exchange for a special military coin.

The jersey/coin exchange:

While it was fun to see the players in action, the game was weird for a number of reasons: Darron Thomas was sporting his new #5, and it took a few plays to adjust to not having #1 on the field.

Also, there are no seating assignments for the spring game, so we took the opportunity to see the game from the south side of the field (the student sections are on the north side).

The crowd was still pretty big, but the size and emotion of a regular-season Autzen crowd were just not there today. Cheers were halfhearted, concern for injured players was lower (most injuries were followed by a, "who is that guy?") and the temperature was warmer.

Can't wait for September.

(Look closely and you'll see Chip and DT being interviewed by ESPN2, who broadcasted the game.)

In honor of 30 Rock's 100th episode, I've decided to institute "Liz Lemon Fridays" on my blog. Despite the fact that she's a fictional character, I admire Liz and all of her quirks, so Fridays are now devoted to quotes from or about 30 Rock's protagonist.

Today's quote comes from last night's episode, in which Liz and her boss, Jack Donaghy, reassess their friend/mentor relationship. I love how, despite their arguments, Jack is always looking out for Liz. Last night, he considers what Liz's life would have become had he not encouraged her to break up with her deadbeat boyfriend, Dennis, five years earlier. He concludes that some business venture of Dennis' would have taken them to Jacksonville, Florida.

Jack's main concern, of course, was not for Liz's overall well-being, but for her hair:

"Jacksonville?! Her hair can't handle that humidity."

I take comfort knowing that my fictional hero also can't be out in humid conditions without looking like a mess. I'm a 30 Rock quotes junkie, so if you had a favorite from last night's show (or any episode), I'd love to know what it was.

Inspiration for this week (and for life) comes from former CNN sports anchor Nick Charles, who is currently making the most of his last days before terminal bladder cancer ends his life.

Honestly, until I read Joe Posnanski's column about him in Sports Illustrated a few weeks ago, I didn't know who Nick Charles was. But now, I find him to be a tremendous source of inspiration - not only as someone who's interested in sports media, but as someone who often does a pretty terrible job of remembering that life is largely determined by her attitude.

CNN did a terrific story on him - the whole thing is fantastic, but a quote he gives in the accompanying video is what really struck me. (Note: If you don't see the video embedded right away, refresh your page and it should show. Obnoxious, I know. Sorry. The video is worth it.)

"Never give up on life. We're gonna have our huge adversities, we're gonna have our little annoyances. But in terms of what happens to us is 20%, in terms of how I react to it is 80%. And that's what I have the ability...is my attitude, and the way I look at life. I just want to encourage people, and inspire them, to look at life that way; that they do have control about the way they view every day." 

I know we've all been told a jillion times to "embrace life," but that quote helped me understand the idea in a different way. It really is all about your attitude - whether that's as simple as deciding to ignore the annoying loud music your neighbors play on a Monday night, or as difficult as deciding to forgive a friend instead of letting an issue fester at the expense of your relationship. Nick Charles, thanks for the inspiration.

This post doesn't really have a point, but it's such a sunny, amazing Friday that I just had to write it out.

It's not even 70 degrees outside (according to my computer, it's 68), but it's so bright and pleasant that my friends and I all broke out our summer dresses, did homework outside and walked to Starbucks for iced coffee. Having no classes on Friday is just icing on the cake.

If that wasn't enough, it's finally BASEBALL SEASON. And my new favorite player (or at least one of my favorite players), Cubs second baseman Darwin Barney, had two hits and scored in the Cubs' 6-3 loss to the Pirates. (Although he was caught stealing and struck out.) Even though Barney is a former Oregon State player - he was on the Beavers' 2006 and 2007 College World Series-winning teams - I can put my Beaver hatred aside and root for him since he's a Portland-area native like myself. It's always cool to see hometown guys succeed in any professional sport.

The Duck men's basketball team also plays tonight in the finals of the CBI tournament. Small potatoes compared to the Final Four, I know, but it's a big improvement over our last season. I don't follow the team super closely, but I'm going to the game and think it would be pretty cool for the Ducks to win something. And, hey - they're the only Pac-10 team still playing in April.

Anyway, this is all to say that sunny Fridays are glorious. I hope you're listening to a baseball game and/or drinking iced coffee right now.