me: the ultimate dream job

I went through some of my email archives this afternoon and came across the following email reply from the National Geographic Society. I was 18 then and at one of the key crossroads in life. I had bravely asked them what does it take to be one of theirs as a writer or a photo-journalist.

Despite their detailed and good-willed advice, I now remain as far as I have even been in taking the necessary steps to be part of them. Yet till date, I still deeply respect this organisation for its ideals and the work it accomplishes. It will remain my deepest honour to one day work or contribute to its signature "yellow frame" in any smallest way -

As a by thought, do you think Michael Yamashita needs a companion/ assistant or something anytime soon?

********
December 27, 1999

[My name…]

[My name…]@hotmail.com

Thank you for contacting the National Geographic Society.

Vacancies on our editorial staff are few and usually filled by men and women who have had quite a few years of experience in the newspaper or magazine publishing fields. In preparation for such work, many of our writers have made a thorough study of the sciences, journalism, and English, and in some cases have knowledge of several languages. A solid academic background and a proven record of success in one's chosen field are most important. However, because we

Cannot know a person's particular talents nor assure employment after a Completed course, we do not encourage gearing a career or educational program specifically toward employment by the Society.

The Dow Jones Newspaper Fund publishes two booklets for aspiring writers: "Journalist's Road to Success" ($3), and "Newspapers, Diversity and You" (free). These outline college journalism programs, recommended courses of study for journalism majors and sources of scholarships and other financial aid.

They also offer advice on applying for media jobs and mapping out a career path. In addition, the Fund sponsors the Editing Internship Program for college juniors, seniors, and graduate students. The address for the Fund is Box 300, Princeton, New Jersey 08543; telephone 1-800-DOW-FUND or 1-609-452-2820; fax: 1-609-520-5804; e-mail: newsfund@wsj.dowjones.com; website:
www.dowjones.com/newsfund

Another good source of career information is the American Society of Magazine Editors, which each year sponsors forty to fifty summer internships for college juniors preparing to work in the field of journalism. Announcements concerning the program are sent to departments of journalism or English in schools throughout the United States. The address for the American Society of Magazine Editors is 919 Third Avenue, New York, New York 10022; the telephone number is 1-212-872-3700.

Our photographers have educational backgrounds in a variety of disciplines. Most majored in subjects other than photography, although all took photography courses along the way. Our editors and photographers agree that it is important to complete a degree in a discipline other than photography. The most common majors were journalism, anthropology, sociology or psychology, the fine arts, and the natural or life sciences.

From the magazine’s viewpoint, we seek balance and an eclectic blend of interest, abilities, and photographic styles in the freelance photographers we utilize. All of our photographers are driven by a curiosity and desire to share what they find with others. They are able to work comfortably and intimately with people in a variety of situations.

In a stylistic sense, the type of photography for which we most often look might be described as a classic Magnum style. That is, images which work on various levels; images which the viewer can study for a period of time, constantly discovering new insights.

We also desire photographers who possess an extraordinary ability to portray physical geography. What is most often overlooked by photographers submitting work to us is that we also value highly the ability to portray, in an extraordinary fashion, social geography as well.

It is also true that the difficulty for a photographer attempting to break into the Magazine is, quite simply, that the competition for our assignments is especially keen. Desire and drive count, but professional photography is a competitive business, and for every successful photographer there are dozens looking for work. Training can only help to fine-tune a natural eye, and although a prospective photographer may have a true passion for the art and craft, if he lacks that eye no amount of training or desire can compensate.

Many people must be content to be advanced amateurs rather than professionals. We are, I suppose, in the enviable position of being able to select from the world’s best photojournalists. The fact is that the majority of our assignments go to the relatively select cadre of staff, contract, and freelance photographers.

Normally, our freelance photographers have at least five to ten years’ experience as photographers with other publications before coming to us. Some come as photojournalists from newspapers or magazines. Others come out of different specializations such as wildlife, underwater, nature, or aerial photography.

We provide one internship in photography each year. The intern is chosen based on portfolios we receive. Portfolios may be in the form of slides, prints, clippings, or any combination, in color and/or black and white. The GEOGRAPHIC discourages sending large and elaborate packages or oversized prints.

Applicants should concentrate on content, professionalism, and journalism not salesmanship. Work should demonstrate technical proficiency, lighting skills, and ability to interact effectively with subjects. Send materials to: Susan Smith, Associate Director of Photography, National Geographic Society, 1145 17^th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036. Portfolios and supporting documents are only accepted between December 1st and January 31st. All applicants receive notification by early March.

You may be interested in taking a look at our August 1995 issue of National Geographic, which contains an article entitled “National Geographic Photographers.’ You also may be interested in our books on photography. Please visit our online index for a listing. (Use as your search term.) The index is at http://www.nationalgeographic.com/publications

Our website includes quite a bit of information on our photographers as well.
You can find it at http://www.nationalgeographic.com/media/photography

There is no academic affiliation that will guarantee you a job in either field at the Society, but I hope this information is helpful.

Sincerely,
CL Str0ud
Research Correspondence

me: 4 to 24 and now almost 25

Aside from the wind, puddles must be the next best thing during a rain pour.

There are some things which cannot be outgrown. Barefooted, in slippers and then now in ankle high stiletto boots, I enjoy them still. Splash, splash and SPLASH…

Just to share that it has been proven that if a large enough splash is made in a shallow puddle, one’s feet actually remain drier than your companion’s who was unfortunate to be walking right next to you.

Splash, splash and SPLASH…

me: Hostage

Held hostage by my client today.

I was just going about my daily grind and I required some information that is only retrievable from my client’s computers. And so off I went to their office. In consideration of the current tension between my managers, bosses and the client, I made it quite clear to all parties before leaving to the client's office that I am only an executor and not a decision-maker of the project today and till forever.

*********

Snippets of conversation with my client at their office -

Me: (hard at work; hunched in front of the computer screen)

Client: (slams phone down after heated discussion with my manager)… So… How is Mr. XYZ as your manager? Is he always like this?

Me: (dazed; mumbling] ... The time line is really tight now, we are focusing on getting as much of the […] done within this week as possible

Client: So what’s your schedule like tomorrow?

Me: (mumbling; non-committal) Well, I might have some […] to do tomorrow, but that I would have to confirm because these […] are very crucial to our project

Client: But there are no […] as far as you know now right? So you will available at 3pm tomorrow?

Me: (firm) No as I know of yet, but I will have to confirm when I return to the office later.

Client: (back on the phone with my manager) [My name] can make it for the meeting tomorrow. I do not care if any one else is coming but she is… That is good enough.

Me: (jaw drops) … …

*********

Should I even thank my lucky stars that my managers did not respond in the following manner:

“Sure thing! We will just send [My name] alone to face off your team of 4-6 tomorrow then. If possible, we would appreciate if you could at least send us back the larger remaining pieces of [my name] by the end of the day. Her parents will be greatly comforted.”

Lucky charms

Bought a four-leaf clover handphone pendent yesterday. At about US$16, I am trying to figure out the returns of every good luck event it brings about. If you had to pay for good luck, how much would you be willing and able to pay?

It took about a good 10 mins to buy the lucky charm yesterday. And we were already late for the movie then. Interestingly, the movie did not start until about 10 mins after we were settled into the cushy seats of the theatre. See - the charm works already. Talk about effective and immediate services!

So, what's your good luck charm?

Strength

Referenced from a distant friend's blog. He sometimes draw comfort and new strength from these verses. I relate perfectly to this for sometimes - and just sometimes - I just want to curl up in utter denial of reality. Sometimes I escape into artificial worlds, alcohol-laced-with-too-loud-music. Sometimes I just simply lose it. These verses say these sometimes are okay because "[we] are strong. We have proven that."

Strength
We don't always have to be strong to be strong.
Sometimes, our strength is expressed in being vulnerable.
Sometimes, we need to fall apart to regroup and stay on track.
We all have days when we cannot push any harder, cannot hold back self- doubt, cannot stop focusing on fear, cannot be strong.
There are days when we cannot focus on being responsible.
Occasionally, we don't want to get out of our pajamas.
Sometimes, we cry in front of people.
We expose our tiredness, irritability, or anger.
Those days are okay. They are just okay.
Part of taking care of ourselves means we give ourselves permission to "fall apart" when we need to. We do not have to be perpetual towers of strength. We are strong. We have proven that.
Our strength will continue if we allow ourselves the courage to feel scared, weak, and vulnerable when we need to experience those feelings.

Today, help me to know that it is okay to allow myself to be human.
Help me not to feel guilty or punish myself when I need to "fall apart."

Do these words reach you too?

me: Favourite weather

The wind just before the onset of a long storm is my favourite weather moment. The skies are usually a shade of mild grey – indicating a sudden tropical storm; or else a hue of angry reddish grey – a malicious storm which had been brewing and ready to unleash its worst.

My old house by the sea is a natural stage to watch a storm come in. We have a wide balcony along the whole length of the house which gives a panoramic view of the sea. I have had many moments in my old house but those involving the winds riding upon the oncoming storms are most impacting.

The storm sequence is always the same, but as the drama unfolds, the strong sense of awe never fails to overwhelm me every time.

The colour of the skies and seas changes from bright blue to an angry red over the course of the day and the temperature noticeably drops. These happen as quickly as in the wink of the eye or may sneak up unnoticed on lazy Sunday afternoons. Sometimes these warnings are just false alarms. But the onset of the storm winds is always indicative and heralds the incoming storm.

The storm winds are fierce and howling – forcing themselves into every nook and cranny of the old house. They are not meek at all and will fill the house with shrill whistles and howls. They are may be invisible to the naked eye, but their presence is not missed as they slam the doors hard and without warning or dance with stray papers in the middle of the living room. They can even hurt you if you have your fingers caught between the door and its frame.

Once there was a blackout in midst of a storm itself – the entire house was cast in darkness of a reddish hue and flashes of lighting lit the house periodically. The winds filled the house entirely and called it their own. A glimpse of what hell may be. I was home alone and huddled in the arms of our then domestic worker – both of us trying not to whimper out aloud. Two lost children. I was probably not of 8 years old then.

Anyway, it has been raining the whole weekend now.

If I am in my old house now, I would, as if I was in a theatre, snuggle up on the deck chair in the balcony, with a cup of piping milk tea and enjoy nature at her most primal.

On a side note: As much as I would like to keep every posting focused to one topic, I do have too many thoughts running amok in my mind.

I miss my old house very much. But can we handle the memories if we moved back? It carries the happiest and most painful moments for both entire my family and I.

Well, hello now 2006

It has only been about 72 hours into the new year and yet it has started differently than most others. 2005 slipped off in a rather quiet manner with some of my closest friends – New Year eve’s dinner was street-side chicken rice (I had Italian gourmet once); then it was into a smoke-free Irish pub –side note: ain’t that an oxymoron - (no carousing along the streets); then it was down to the beach for 15 minutes of countdown (no sparklers) and finally back at the hawker stores (no cab problems) again.

No hang over on the first day of the new year. I even managed to have a rather harmonious lunch with my family of four at a steak restaurant – 6 weeks of steak craving finally quieted. Did a bit of personal grooming and I think this advertisement applies pretty well to me now.

If you have to know, my hair is also a dark tinge of purple too!

Ran ~an hour on the second day of 2006 – it was a good run to the beach and it rained again. The rest of the day was filled with distractions. Unhealthy but enjoyable – like other vices in life to be taken in moderation and caution.

In a very non-usual manner, no new year resolutions have been set yet. There are some things which I would like to complete in one way or another. Perhaps that’s why we have another (Chinese) New Year coming up in 3 weeks time for procrastinators, like myself, to straighten out the rest of the year again.

Goodbye 2005 – though it has been eventful and fulfilling year, I am glad to be done with it finally.

On a side note, I would like to declare that relationships are complicated businesses. We ought to be married at birth. This would leave us as healthier and more functional adults now so that we are able to focus on winning the next Nobel peace prize or whatever else it takes to save the world.