Wow, it has been a long time since I last wrote here. When I originally planned this blog post, I was going to write it on December 1st so I wouldn't have to worry about it for a week after I landed in Vancouver today. But unless I'm mistaken, this is not Vancouver and my plans to blog over the past month have obviously taken the wrong path... but more on that later.
First, a quick update on my living situation for the past month. I moved out of the last place I was staying at in the beginning of November after some... tension with a roommate. It was a crazy time but I survived and all is well. I'm currently in my own apartment and it is nice to not have to worry about offending anyone, doing stuff right away, etc. Plus, I finally got internet (the lack of which I am blaming for the blog lag), so I am reconnected to the world after a month away.
My internship also ended last week, which was a bit sad since I had finally really got the hang of everything in the past month. Even though the internship wasn't exactly what I was expecting when I moved here in June, I did learn a lot and it also helped me to shape my goals. When I first came here, I had a plan laid out but as I spent more time here and experienced some things, that plan gradually changed.
In September, I took the job with Paulick Report and an internship with Three Chimneys, which changed everything. I still had my plan of grad school in England for Fall 2013 but it was pretty clear that I was going to be staying in Lexington for a while so that plan began to form with apartment hunting, etc.
Over the past few weeks, that plan has changed even more. I received an offer that I would have been stupid to refuse and here I am in Lexington, KY with my Christmas vacation plane safely landed in Portland, Oregon. Funny how just three weeks ago, I was looking forward to a month-long break before coming back to start my internship with Three Chimneys while working on the weekends with the Paulick Report. Now I spend this week taking a staycation in Kentucky before starting a full time job at America's Best Racing (part of The Jockey Club) next Wednesday. It is something that will farther my goals and I'm definitely ready to start that part of my career soon.
While Three Chimney's internship is still part of my plan with this new adventure, the Paulick Report unfortunately is not and I only have a few more days working with them before I move on. As for heading to Europe/England/Ireland, I'm still working that detail out (a vacation in Ireland sounds nice). But for now, my roots are pretty much firmly planted in Lexington and it's time to start actually making a life here with friends and all that jazz which was something I wasn't a big fan of doing when I didn't know if I would be packing up and leaving soon. But now that I am indeed a Bluegrass resident, the time has come to stop being a hermit. Now to learn how to do that and find a social life... it looks like Kentucky still has a few things to teach me.
But for now... it's onward and upward and this quote that I just saw on Twitter seems perfect for this blog.
"We don't know who we are until we see what we can do." - Martha Grimes
P.S. For those of you that think I am extremely blonde, I didn't miss my plane today, I just rescheduled it for a shorter vacation. I'll be driving up to Louisville for my flight in about 2 weeks.
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Thursday, November 8, 2012
What just happened?
If you are reading this, I am officially saying “Welcome
to my crazy life”. To say that this week has been full of ups and downs would be
an understatement. I didn’t blog last week due to the intense Breeders’ Cup
festives that had me working crazily on both normal duties and extra articles.
On top of that, Nano started so it was full of crazy but not nearly as crazy as
the weekend.
The
weekend started normal with my usual get up at 6:30ish for work on Saturday.
The night before I had spent some extra time out watching the first day of the Breeders’ Cup
after work at Keeneland and prepared for the next day of even more Championship races. Within 16 hours of waking up,
I was looking for place to move and by Sunday evening, I was out due to a
difference of opinions with a roommate.
18
hours after that, I was filling out an application for an apartment and here I
sit on Thurday, a little over 24 hours out from signing a lease on said
apartment. Yes, it has definitely been a crazy week.
But in
addition to the craziness, I have kept myself in the race side of things. On
Monday, I went to the Fasig-Tipton night session where I saw some of my
favorite racehorses of the last few years. The 2011 Horse of the Year Havre De
Grace sold for $10 million and my favorite little trier, Switch, sold for $4.3
million after running third in a Breeders’ Cup race just three days before.
Tuesday and Wednesday found me with limited internet and the Keeneland November
sale getting over hours before I got off work so I took sort of a “forced”
break but I’m back tonight (Thursday) for part of a Keeneland session after
work unless they continue going as fast as they are right now.
This
weekend continues the “busyness” that is my life between moving for the second
time in five days (and something like the fifth time this year) and work but
now that the stress has passed over, I’m finally able to focus again.
Now I
just need to find that part time job I told myself I’d get while I’m doing
Paulick Report and my new internship during the winter and I will be set!
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Hello Readers
Hello faithful readers! Welcome to another edition of my very lazy night off. I have a ton that I could/should be doing but instead, I am just sitting back and relaxing after a day at work. I haven't had one of these in a long time.
Let's give you a quick recap of the past month since I haven't had a ton of time to write on here. September was the Keeneland Fall Yearling Sale... that pretty much took up all my time until the last week of the month. I then joined the Paulick Report as a Weekend Editor, which took up the time that had been opened up with the Sale ending.
I flew to Texas the first weekend of October for a friend's wedding.... came back to get back to my seven day a week schedule. During all of that, I was putting the finishing touches on my Fulbright (yes, I was still working on that) and changed my research proposal literally a week before the application was due. That was a mess of double checking to make sure it all still fit in to my original proposal, but that is done and in the judges' hands. Thank God for that.
During all of this, I've been looking for an apartment that I can move into at the beginning of the year when I return from Washington. I've also been maintaining my other blog and writing for the Bleacher Report during the week. Add on top of that the Fasig-Tipton October Sale and my life has been insane. Now see why I'm taking a month off?
However, I am not complaining one bit. I LOVE the craziness and have adopted the motto "I'll sleep when I'm dead". Thankfully, that's not the truth as I will be able to sleep in December when I take my month break (minus the Paulick Report) which I'm excited for.
However, I have to survive November first (this is where we switch to the future).
November is a month full of big races, big sales, and Nanowrimo where I'll attempt to write a 50,000 word novel. I've done it in the past and it is a blast but a ton of work. Nano starts November 1 (next Thursday), which means that next week will be insane.
The first weekend of November is Breeders' Cup. I am only working the actual event on Saturday but Breeders' Cup week is insane. This is the first time in three years that I'll be missing the event and I'm pretty sure I'll be more busy here than I was at the last two (the Breeders' Cup is significant to me because it was the first "real" event I covered onsite when I had a press pass last year).
I literally have a day "off" where there are only a few stakes races that I'll be covering for PR. However, the next day starts the last big auction rush of the year. Monday night is Fasig-Tipton's night sale and it will be insane. Some huge mares, such as Havre De Grace will be selling there and I'm fully expecting to go both during my lunch break (F-T's grounds are 5 minutes from the Horse Park) so I can look at some mares then that night since it starts at 5pm.
F-T is only one night but the next day, Keeneland starts. Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be able to go look at the sales horses during the weekend (although, I'm trying to figure out how to on Sunday) but you can bet that I'll probably be out there every night both weeks of the Sale.
Because I like pretty colors, I took a picture of my calendar for the month minus packing days.
This may sound crazy... but I can't wait! No Sleep November starts in exactly seven days!
Until next time,
Mel
Let's give you a quick recap of the past month since I haven't had a ton of time to write on here. September was the Keeneland Fall Yearling Sale... that pretty much took up all my time until the last week of the month. I then joined the Paulick Report as a Weekend Editor, which took up the time that had been opened up with the Sale ending.
I flew to Texas the first weekend of October for a friend's wedding.... came back to get back to my seven day a week schedule. During all of that, I was putting the finishing touches on my Fulbright (yes, I was still working on that) and changed my research proposal literally a week before the application was due. That was a mess of double checking to make sure it all still fit in to my original proposal, but that is done and in the judges' hands. Thank God for that.
During all of this, I've been looking for an apartment that I can move into at the beginning of the year when I return from Washington. I've also been maintaining my other blog and writing for the Bleacher Report during the week. Add on top of that the Fasig-Tipton October Sale and my life has been insane. Now see why I'm taking a month off?
However, I am not complaining one bit. I LOVE the craziness and have adopted the motto "I'll sleep when I'm dead". Thankfully, that's not the truth as I will be able to sleep in December when I take my month break (minus the Paulick Report) which I'm excited for.
However, I have to survive November first (this is where we switch to the future).
November is a month full of big races, big sales, and Nanowrimo where I'll attempt to write a 50,000 word novel. I've done it in the past and it is a blast but a ton of work. Nano starts November 1 (next Thursday), which means that next week will be insane.
The first weekend of November is Breeders' Cup. I am only working the actual event on Saturday but Breeders' Cup week is insane. This is the first time in three years that I'll be missing the event and I'm pretty sure I'll be more busy here than I was at the last two (the Breeders' Cup is significant to me because it was the first "real" event I covered onsite when I had a press pass last year).
I literally have a day "off" where there are only a few stakes races that I'll be covering for PR. However, the next day starts the last big auction rush of the year. Monday night is Fasig-Tipton's night sale and it will be insane. Some huge mares, such as Havre De Grace will be selling there and I'm fully expecting to go both during my lunch break (F-T's grounds are 5 minutes from the Horse Park) so I can look at some mares then that night since it starts at 5pm.
F-T is only one night but the next day, Keeneland starts. Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be able to go look at the sales horses during the weekend (although, I'm trying to figure out how to on Sunday) but you can bet that I'll probably be out there every night both weeks of the Sale.
Because I like pretty colors, I took a picture of my calendar for the month minus packing days.
This may sound crazy... but I can't wait! No Sleep November starts in exactly seven days!
Until next time,
Mel
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
I've Been Brainwashed
Welcome back to my busy life (which will make for a short blog). I just returned from a five day trip home to Canyon where I got together with a bunch of friends for a wedding so I had a break for the first time in about a month. But crazily enough, it wasn't as relaxing as I thought.
While I loved being back with my friends and having my "social life" back, I couldn't wait to get back to Lexington. I knew I am attached to the city, but not that attached. However, unlike Canyon, where I knew I would leave eventually... I can't see myself leaving Lexington. It's the only place I've really considered staying, which is weird to me but kind of nice at the same time.
I am back here for 2 months then head to Washington for a month, we'll see how that changes my thought process, but I'm 100% coming back in January for at least 3 months so I have that going for me. We'll see what happens after that.
One thing for certain is that this is the right place for me right now and I'm kind of hoping it stays that way.
While I loved being back with my friends and having my "social life" back, I couldn't wait to get back to Lexington. I knew I am attached to the city, but not that attached. However, unlike Canyon, where I knew I would leave eventually... I can't see myself leaving Lexington. It's the only place I've really considered staying, which is weird to me but kind of nice at the same time.
I am back here for 2 months then head to Washington for a month, we'll see how that changes my thought process, but I'm 100% coming back in January for at least 3 months so I have that going for me. We'll see what happens after that.
One thing for certain is that this is the right place for me right now and I'm kind of hoping it stays that way.
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Big Announcement No. 2
Another week, another big announcement (that makes me sound so important so I love to say it).
As my USEF internship comes to a close, I've had to start wondering about my future once again. My ultimate goal is to stay in Lexington because I 100% love it here. So in came typical Melissa.
If you know me, you know that I get pretty crazy ideas and most of the time, I don't give them a second thought after looking over the "reality" of them. That's probably a good thing.
But last week, I got a crazy thought and when I couldn't find many cons for it, I stuck with it and let it build. I contacted Jen, laid out my plan and got her approval. Then I went to the Paulick Report and asked for their approval just in case it would be a conflict of interest. After a few nerve-racking hours, I received approval from that side.
I then e-mailed Jen back and told her that I had the necessary approval to go on with my plan. (If you're still with me here, congrats!)
So as of January, I will be working at the Paulick Report during the weekends and a marketing intern at Three Chimneys two afternoons a week.
My internship with the USEF ends December 7, although I may try to change that, and I'm planning on going home for a month to recharge my batteries as the few weeks I had between graduation and moving here were mostly spent running around.
I may also try to find a new apartment to move into as living in the dining room of a friend's isn't the best situation for long term. However, that one is still up in the air at this point.
So there you have it. As of January, I will be fully involved in the horse racing industry. I will also be taking more steps towards moving to Lexington permanently. Oh boy!
And just as an extra for those that know my joke about taking over the world...
As my USEF internship comes to a close, I've had to start wondering about my future once again. My ultimate goal is to stay in Lexington because I 100% love it here. So in came typical Melissa.
If you know me, you know that I get pretty crazy ideas and most of the time, I don't give them a second thought after looking over the "reality" of them. That's probably a good thing.
But last week, I got a crazy thought and when I couldn't find many cons for it, I stuck with it and let it build. I contacted Jen, laid out my plan and got her approval. Then I went to the Paulick Report and asked for their approval just in case it would be a conflict of interest. After a few nerve-racking hours, I received approval from that side.
I then e-mailed Jen back and told her that I had the necessary approval to go on with my plan. (If you're still with me here, congrats!)
So as of January, I will be working at the Paulick Report during the weekends and a marketing intern at Three Chimneys two afternoons a week.
My internship with the USEF ends December 7, although I may try to change that, and I'm planning on going home for a month to recharge my batteries as the few weeks I had between graduation and moving here were mostly spent running around.
I may also try to find a new apartment to move into as living in the dining room of a friend's isn't the best situation for long term. However, that one is still up in the air at this point.
So there you have it. As of January, I will be fully involved in the horse racing industry. I will also be taking more steps towards moving to Lexington permanently. Oh boy!
And just as an extra for those that know my joke about taking over the world...
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Welcome to My Life
I'm sneaking this post in a little late this week due to how busy I was with the second week of the Keeneland September Sale.
First off, last weekend in celebration of my big news (below), Jen Roytz invited me to Three Chimneys to "celebrate" with the horse that started it all, Point Given. While two bags of carrots were distributed among all the Three Chimney stallions currently present on the farm (some are vacationing in Australia), a whole bag (plus one) went to my main man.
Jen got pictures of me spending time with multiple stallions, but this one is definitely my favorite. I really can't describe how much I love this horse.
This week at the internship, I finally got a "big" project. The network is going through some changes so I get to go through all the videos on the server and put values in the metadata so searchers can find the riders, horses, events, etc that they want. I'm guessing it will be my final hurrah since it will take months to go through and I only have about 2 1/2 months left. There aren't really any big shows coming that we'll be working either so metadata will probably take over my life until December.
That brings me to my next piece of news. Almost two weeks ago, I was hired on as weekend editor at the Paulick Report. This weekend was my first weekend and I loved doing all the work. While being put in charge of the website with no one to hold my hand in person (phone and e-mail were my friends) was a little scary, I feel like I got it down for the most part with just a few "what am I supposed to do now" moments. Ray Paulick also gave me some tips on my writing and headlines so I'll be making a "cheat sheet" to refer to for years to come and I'm sure I'll be adding to it.
Next weekend is a pretty big stakes weekend with, I believe, 14 stakes in two days. Even more crazily, about 11 of those are on Saturday. This weekend was a little light on stakes races and news, which I'm thankful for since it was my first weekend, but I'm worried that next weekend I'll be a little overwhelmed.
However, at lunch with Jen after she dragged me away from the farm, she told me that she had breakfast with Brad Cummings of the Paulick Report earlier that week. While at first I was a little suspicious of them talking about me, he told her that I remind him of him when I was younger and she said that she thinks the same. That's a huge compliment to me and inspires me even more. It does add some pressure but I thrive under pressure so I'm okay with that.
On top of that pressure, when Brad and I met for my pre-work training, he told me that he's going to push me pretty hard because he knows that I'm not just here for a temporary job and that's 100% true. I want to make the racing industry my long term career (even more now that I have a weekend of racing journalism under my belt) so that was welcome music to my ears.
As I told Ray when he was putting me through a soft edition of writing boot camp yesterday as I posted articles, I'm learning every time he says something (it's all going on the cheat sheet) and I want be educated as much as I possibly can both about my mistakes and things to look out for in the future. I feel like PR is the perfect place for that because if this weekend is any indication, they are as eager to teach me as I am to learn.
I definitely feel like there are big things coming down the pike in coming months and can't wait to see what the future brings.
Jen got pictures of me spending time with multiple stallions, but this one is definitely my favorite. I really can't describe how much I love this horse.
This week at the internship, I finally got a "big" project. The network is going through some changes so I get to go through all the videos on the server and put values in the metadata so searchers can find the riders, horses, events, etc that they want. I'm guessing it will be my final hurrah since it will take months to go through and I only have about 2 1/2 months left. There aren't really any big shows coming that we'll be working either so metadata will probably take over my life until December.
That brings me to my next piece of news. Almost two weeks ago, I was hired on as weekend editor at the Paulick Report. This weekend was my first weekend and I loved doing all the work. While being put in charge of the website with no one to hold my hand in person (phone and e-mail were my friends) was a little scary, I feel like I got it down for the most part with just a few "what am I supposed to do now" moments. Ray Paulick also gave me some tips on my writing and headlines so I'll be making a "cheat sheet" to refer to for years to come and I'm sure I'll be adding to it.
Next weekend is a pretty big stakes weekend with, I believe, 14 stakes in two days. Even more crazily, about 11 of those are on Saturday. This weekend was a little light on stakes races and news, which I'm thankful for since it was my first weekend, but I'm worried that next weekend I'll be a little overwhelmed.
However, at lunch with Jen after she dragged me away from the farm, she told me that she had breakfast with Brad Cummings of the Paulick Report earlier that week. While at first I was a little suspicious of them talking about me, he told her that I remind him of him when I was younger and she said that she thinks the same. That's a huge compliment to me and inspires me even more. It does add some pressure but I thrive under pressure so I'm okay with that.
On top of that pressure, when Brad and I met for my pre-work training, he told me that he's going to push me pretty hard because he knows that I'm not just here for a temporary job and that's 100% true. I want to make the racing industry my long term career (even more now that I have a weekend of racing journalism under my belt) so that was welcome music to my ears.
As I told Ray when he was putting me through a soft edition of writing boot camp yesterday as I posted articles, I'm learning every time he says something (it's all going on the cheat sheet) and I want be educated as much as I possibly can both about my mistakes and things to look out for in the future. I feel like PR is the perfect place for that because if this weekend is any indication, they are as eager to teach me as I am to learn.
I definitely feel like there are big things coming down the pike in coming months and can't wait to see what the future brings.
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Yearlings, Fish... and Yoga
Welcome to the crazy first week of Fall for me. I started off the week in a yoga class and ended it at Keeneland. I told you it was crazy.
Last weekend, I went to my first yoga class in probably about three years. Unlucky for me, it was an "all levels" class so by the end of the warm up, I was exhausted. However, I went to the class two more times last week and it got a little better each time. After Thursday's class, I even added some extra activities in after class. Sadly, I probably won't be able to make it to the classes this week (however, I'm going to try) due to being super busy, which leads me to my next topic... Keeneland.
The two weeks I've been waiting for are here. Over the last two days, I've spent about 18 hours looking at all sorts of yearlings. From beauties to those that are "unfortunate", I've seen all different types. I've also gotten some good tips by hanging out with more "professional" types of photographers during the two days.
The highlights of the weekend were getting to shake Carl Nafzger's hand and have him tease me about my age; meet awesome people working the consignments, including my new "favorites" Mike at Mill Ridge and Charles at Lane's End of Zenyatta fame; chilling out within five feet of Bob Baffert as he looked at horses; and meeting the yearling half sister to the awesome Point Given (picture below).
I will be going back tomorrow for the first night of the sale and my first ever "live" thoroughbred auction, so I'm sure there will be some more highlights.
I took over 5,000 pictures during the weekend and am having to do a little shifting around on hard drives to get them to fit on my computer but I expect even more over the coming days. I am thinking about doing an "opinion" blog about my thoughts of who I find impressive and such but that has to wait until I get to actually look at all my pictures since I can't remember who is who right now other than a few big standouts (Hip No. 111 for one).
On the sad side of things, after a week long battle with trying to fix the effects that Lexington water had on my fish, he has traveled his last mile. "Eddie" was literally the traveling fish. I got him right before I moved to Moscow, Idaho in 2008 and he was the only "survivor" of their water (I went there with 3, I came back with one). He then went to Texas with me where he wintered with my friend in Houston while I went home for Christmas and did the Washington to Texas trip back and forth four times. His journey ended with Lexington so all in all, he may be the most traveled fish ever with over 10,000 miles. Pretty good for a fish that's only supposed to live a year or two. While other people live with cats and dogs, I lived with a fish... so I guess you could consider him my cat. RIP Eddie.
Last but not least, I *may* have a big announcement coming up but it's not confirmed and I don't want to jinx it so I'm just going to leave you with that. So stay tuned!
Last weekend, I went to my first yoga class in probably about three years. Unlucky for me, it was an "all levels" class so by the end of the warm up, I was exhausted. However, I went to the class two more times last week and it got a little better each time. After Thursday's class, I even added some extra activities in after class. Sadly, I probably won't be able to make it to the classes this week (however, I'm going to try) due to being super busy, which leads me to my next topic... Keeneland.
The two weeks I've been waiting for are here. Over the last two days, I've spent about 18 hours looking at all sorts of yearlings. From beauties to those that are "unfortunate", I've seen all different types. I've also gotten some good tips by hanging out with more "professional" types of photographers during the two days.
The highlights of the weekend were getting to shake Carl Nafzger's hand and have him tease me about my age; meet awesome people working the consignments, including my new "favorites" Mike at Mill Ridge and Charles at Lane's End of Zenyatta fame; chilling out within five feet of Bob Baffert as he looked at horses; and meeting the yearling half sister to the awesome Point Given (picture below).
I took over 5,000 pictures during the weekend and am having to do a little shifting around on hard drives to get them to fit on my computer but I expect even more over the coming days. I am thinking about doing an "opinion" blog about my thoughts of who I find impressive and such but that has to wait until I get to actually look at all my pictures since I can't remember who is who right now other than a few big standouts (Hip No. 111 for one).
On the sad side of things, after a week long battle with trying to fix the effects that Lexington water had on my fish, he has traveled his last mile. "Eddie" was literally the traveling fish. I got him right before I moved to Moscow, Idaho in 2008 and he was the only "survivor" of their water (I went there with 3, I came back with one). He then went to Texas with me where he wintered with my friend in Houston while I went home for Christmas and did the Washington to Texas trip back and forth four times. His journey ended with Lexington so all in all, he may be the most traveled fish ever with over 10,000 miles. Pretty good for a fish that's only supposed to live a year or two. While other people live with cats and dogs, I lived with a fish... so I guess you could consider him my cat. RIP Eddie.
Last but not least, I *may* have a big announcement coming up but it's not confirmed and I don't want to jinx it so I'm just going to leave you with that. So stay tuned!
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