Tug of the leash. Groan from the dog. Daisy always wants to run up to these fine-feathered visitors at Lake Elizabeth. I try to point out to her that her floppy ears won’t help her fly across the water. Plus, she’s not a fan of the water.
According to her dog camps in Kansas and Sacramento, she won’t dive into a wading pool. I try to reason with her but Daisy keeps tugging at her leash. Poor dog.
The lake is also my favorite place to clear my head and take a break from my new life as the Newark Patch editor.
To other people – I am the Patch Girl.
When I introduce myself and my community news site to Newark peeps, I see their mouths form into an “Ah.” I see a light of recognition in their eyes. Then I hear the phrase: “You’re the Patch Girl.”
I suppose “Patch Girl” sums up my bachelor’s degree from Cal, my master’s degree from Northwestern, five years of TV news producing experience in Sacramento and Kansas, three years of tech support experience at the Haas School of Business, two weeks of journalism lecture experience at St. Petersburg State University in Russia and more than a decade of blogging and social media experience. Yeah, I had Friendster and Six Degrees accounts before MySpace made a blip.
During my broadcast news days, some people had no idea what I did for a living when I introduced myself as a TV news producer. I think my parents couldn’t understand why I blew so much money of my education in order to accept a position on the other side of the camera. I think it made more sense to them when they saw me operating in the control booth and calling the shots for a morning news show.
Now – when I introduce myself as the editor of Newark Patch, it’s quite nice to that light of recognition. Better yet, it’s nice to hear folks talk about the stories on the site. The best part, it’s nice to see them smile when they chat about our community news website.
This is all true for a small portion of Newark. We’re still introducing the site to more people. However, it feels like we’re making progress.
So – can I get a High-Five?
Here’s a shot of one of my working lunches at Tipanan in Newark. I go over email, pork adobo and sisig. Yum! Yes, I had leftovers.
Outside of my virtual newsroom, I am also happy to spend more time with our Bay Area friends. Scott and Catalina were the first to explore Fremont and Newark. Under cloudy skies, the boys sipped beer and adjusted the telescope that Scott brought over to our little house.
Mark: “Isn’t it cool to see Jupiter and its moons?”
Everyone – just nod and agree.
We also enjoyed steaks and lobster at Sinodino in Newark. It’s an adorable steakhouse inside a white farmhouse. Newark peeps tell me that’s what they used to call it, 30 years ago…the farmhouse.
On the first day of 2011 – we did tapas at Picaros in San Francisco. Tom’s sister, Hannia, needed to charge her phone. So we plugged her cellphone into the Christmas lights. It worked.
And it was pleasure to work on this super meaty oxtail soup. The meat fell off the bones and every slurp was heaven with that meat broth, infused with bones, vegetables and herbs.
And when Mark has time, he introduces me to food spots in Palo Alto. This is the $40 Foie Gras Burger. It was big enough to split between two people. Oh yah, I loved it!
Today – I need to run off all the damn calories gained from our eating adventures. Yes Daisy, more tugging on your leash.