Meta-Blog Whilst In Assignment (with casual references to The Wonder Years!)

Friends, you'll have to excuse the economy of words I'm using today, as I'm actually in the midst of reporting out a story for Boston Globe's Sunday Magazine -- obviously I can't get into it in detail 'till the album issue comes out, but it involves 1-2 days of extremely extensive note-taking, reporting, and use of my digital recorder, something I had been keeping in a Magner's Cider glass in my room, for probably six months. As per usual, when I haven't done something in a while I freak out, eat a ton of Christmas cookies, and complain... So I spent the early morning crying to my girlfriend about the potential disaster today could be, citing how I didn't understand how to do anything involving the use of longhand writing, why I was rusty and unsure of how this was going to turn into a story, and that I didn't even know how to report anymore.

"I'm sure you'll get back into it," she said, ignoring most of my yammering as she readied herself for work, annoyed that I was up during the normal breakfasting hours. "You know what they say-- It's like riding a bike."

When I pointed out that I'd last ridden a bike when The Wonder Years was just hitting its stride during its high school portion and therefore was totally unprepared to A) ride a bike or B) report, she rolled her eyes. "Shut up. Just go talk to people, record it, write it down or whatever, then think about it, and write up your story. Like you always do. Isn't that pretty much your job?"

Whatever. Either way, her words ended up ringing true. I did the first part of the reporting this morning and was enthused by the awesomeness: I learned a huge amount from some really smart people about something I previously had no recorded knowledge of, and which I will now pretend to have extensive knowledge of, and talk about in a broad scope if anyone even accidentally brings it up in passing. You lose, small talk!

But, alas, I have to return for part deux of my reporting phase, in which I will find the ending to my story and hopefully some sweet color that involves swears. Stay tuned for more vague and unhelpful information regarding stories I'm working on, the quality and scope of my reporting on said stories, and the time of my life when Kevin Arnold and Winnie (?) Cooper nearly tongue kissed.

With A Little Help,
From My Friends

Joe Cocker