Last week I went on work experience to the Teesdale Mercury, you'll see your Suns and your Times and your Guardians all lined up neatly, a new issue everyday. Once a week though, in the Teesdale area, this is the paper that matters, anything and everything that's going on in the area, birthdays, deaths. It's basically the fuel that drives the gossip in the town.
Before doing work experience on the paper, I hadn't a care for 'news' as such, at least not news in the generic sense of the word. I'd look at the news, but most of the time, it would only be to see if I could find something funny, or see what new film has been announced.
The week opened my eyes to some genuinely interesting people. I interviewed a man named Alan Fentiman, he moved himself and his family to Barnard Castle from London, he's a film maker and has been creating films for the Barnard Castle Vision. I went down to meet him and spent an hour talking about anything and everything, somewhat off topic half the time, which i'm sure i'll learn better as time goes on, but I felt thoroughly pleased to be writing a piece about this man and putting the word out about himself and his business.
Pushing away my nervousness was also something I had to do. Going along to a summer school event. Speaking to the lady running it, and then having to take a picture for the paper of roughly 60 kids all gathered together, trying to bunch them all up into the picture, in the middle of the main hall, with parents and teachers alike around. Generally i'm confident, but with people I don't know, it's entirely different.
Somehow talking to people I don't know as a job doesn't seem nearly as scary as when it's simply idle conversation to pass the time. When there's a point, it matters all the more and you have something to aim for.
Oh and things seem to be getting brighter and brighter every day.
(I realise this post doesn't have much point, but it's nearly 2 in the morning and I felt the need to vent.)
