Tuesday, February 23, 2010

It's Finally Here!!!!!


So this is something I've been working on for a little while and it's finally ready. To expand on what I've been doing lately writing-wise, I decided to get involved with an online magazine, THINK CONTRA. I worked with a cool guy by the name of Trung on Contra's 7th issue, the Men's Issue. Here's how it all went down.

I got onto Contra via clicking on a random link on 1LoveTO's site and it took me to this online magazine/blog. I started flipping through the 6th issue and saw the name and picture of this girl I know from camp under the title "intern". I got super jealous that she was doing this while I was sitting on my butt watched the Tennessee Titans get stomped by the Indianapolis Colts (I have a clear memory sometimes). I started following Contra on Twitter and one day, I saw this:

I figured what the hell so I tweeted back and after a little persuasion, I snagged myself an interview at this cool loft downtown. I looked like such a fool walking around that place, having no idea what these creative types do with their time and just waiting patiently while Trung f-ed around with the coffee machine and ended up offering vodka instead (everyone declined).

When he got back to his desk, we started chatting a bit and exchanged ideas about what we were hoping this partnership would provide for each other. It was the best one question interview I've ever had as all of a sudden I had my first project. To my surprise and relief, I was asked to write a short bio on A-Trak, a DJ I really like and a profile that required little research; or so I thought. I ended up spending a good amount of time reading every article and interview I could find about A-Trak and actually wrote three versions of his profile because I had no idea what style Trung was looking for. He ended up choosing the last one I wrote (and the one my Mom didn't like - sorry Mom!). Over the course of the next month, I'd write three more profiles and edit a few other documents, including the Editor's Note, "10: A Decade in the Making".

And then, last night (Monday), it was all worth it when the issue dropped. So far the response I've received has been incredibly positive, but I'm open to anything so please share your thoughts. For now though, I'm riding this crazy high and only the fact that I have to hand in my 10-page essay tomorrow can bring me down. Thankfully, it's already printed.

So check out ThinkContra #007: The Men's Issue at http://thinkcontra.com/magazine/pdf/CONTRA%20007.pdf

Thanks to my "editors", Birnberg, Lyne and Mom, for keeping me on track, and to my real editor, Trung, for giving me this crazy opportunity! And thanks to all of you who read this, to those who have come up to me in the halls or sent me messages telling me they like what I'm doing, and to those who comment (although I wish you'd leave your names; please don't be shy). It's because of this positive feedback that I continue to find stuff that interests me and I think will interest others. So 2010=so far so good :)

P.S. I have another crazy project on the way so stay tuned...

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