A couple of months ago, the articles I wrote for my local paper stopped getting edited and I began to worry about the quality of my work.

If ever I doubted the importance of connections in the media industry, I’m now a believer. I’m a week and a half from being back on the job market, and after months of sending out applications with little to no response, an opportunity may have reared its shiny head. I had a successful interview yesterday for an associate editor position at a magazine whose name I won’t mention as to not jinx myself. It ended with an invitation back next week to meet the publisher. Before jumping up and down and giving myself a big pat on the back, I need to pay credit where credit is due: to an editor.

It just so happens that this editor works at VIA (where I’m finishing up a six-month internship) and she’s a friend and former colleague of the editor-in-chief at this anonymous magazine. In fact, she’s a big part of why I applied to this magazine in the first place, and she was kind enough to phone the editor early on to sing my praises. This scenario reminds me a lot of my application process for VIA–where my former

Serena’s finally got her hands on a new camera all her own!

I’m happy with the video learning experience, considering it was a quick-and-dirty interview in a noisy lab that was really just a glorified closet full of fish tanks.

I’ve mentioned before that shooting video during still photo assignments has become a habit of mine. During a roller derby bout I had plenty of time to take some clips, so without further ado, here is Battle on the Bank III featuring the San Diego Derby Dolls vs. Team Legit.