Journalism

43 Things I Have Covered:

  1. The really, really, really long line for a meet-and-greet with Frozen‘s Anna and Elsa at Disneyland. It wasn’t so bad. Really. (Yahoo!)
  2. Michael Jackson’s memorial service. In retrospect, I failed to rightly argue that the event couldn’t help but be like the star’s life: anything but normal. On the other hand, Staples Center was selling hot dogs. (E!)
  3. That time Jared Leto let reporters put their grubby hands on his Oscar. (Yahoo!)
  4. That time a Star Wars movie bummed out the parent in me. (Yahoo!)
  5. Opening day of Michael Jackson’s child-molestation trial. No hot dogs and popcorn, but plenty of circus. (E!)
  6. A royal red carpet, along with, as an added bonus, a royal polo match. (E!)
  7. My life as a youth baseball coach-slash-mom. (New York Times‘ Motherlode blog.)
  8. The ghosts of Hollywood. (Yahoo!)
  9. Jennifer Lawrence‘s Oscar-night stumble. (E!)
  10. The box-office weekend that wasn’t. (E!)
  11. An opening-night, midnight screening of a Twilight movie. (E!)
  12. The Robert Blake case, i.e. the celebrity trial that lacked for celebrity. (E!)
  13. The mall-i-zation of Glendale (with all apologies to Americana at Brand, which is technically a “lifestyle center”). (Marketplace)
  14. The story behind the first, worst Star Wars Christmas. (Yahoo!)
  15. The story behind the game-changing “Night Gwen Stacy Died” Spider-Man story. (Yahoo!)
  16. That time 81 California gubernatorial candidates appeared on The Tonight Show. The thing I most remember about this circus was watching Gary Coleman and adult-film star Mary Carey quietly chatting in the parking lot—and wondering what on Earth they were chatting about. (E!)
  17. The Emmys’ non-love of Jay Leno. (Variety)
  18. The comedy stylings of Steve Carell and Kathy Griffin. (Variety)
  19. Gary Coleman‘s death. I tried very hard to get this piece just right. I probably didn’t, but I tried. (E!)
  20. A “vanished” ex-child actor. (E!)
  21. The sad song of Whitney Houston. (E!)
  22. Amy Winehouse and the myth of the 27 Club. (E!)
  23. The aftermath and politics of Britney Spears‘ extreme haircut. (E!)
  24. The Oscars, from a parking lot, behind a building, across the street from the Oscars. (E!)
  25. The Emmys, from a Chinese restaurant. (E!)
  26. The Golden Globes, from a luggage room at the Beverly Hilton. (E!)
  27. Sundance without a Sundance credential, meaning I covered just about everything in Park City but Sundance, except for the times I stood outside of Sundance theaters. Long story. (Hollywood.com)
  28. The Grammys, while under the influence of A Million Little Pieces. (E!)
  29. The Museum of Menstruation. (E!)
  30. Arnold Schwarzenegger‘s victory night. (E!)
  31. An old-school Miss America pageant in Atlantic City. (E!)
  32. The rise of the fan-con industry. (Marketplace)
  33. The death of a daytime soap opera. (E!)
  34. Books about: Evel Knievel, John Hughes, Albert Maysles, African-American TV history and a guy who watched TV all day. (Los Angeles Times and San Francisco Chronicle)
  35. Books by: Candace Bushnell, Nicole Richie, Taboo and Carolyn Parkhurst. (Los Angeles Times)
  36. Stars who profess to hate fame. (Us Weekly)
  37. The Mary Tyler Moore Show character that inspired young, impressionable kids to go into journalism. (American Journalism Review)
  38. Grandpa Munster’s political aspirations. (E!)
  39. A Spice Girls concert. It was nice; when the crowd (i.e., the little kids) stood up, I could see the stage without having to stand myself. (E!)
  40. Onion Field killer Jimmy Lee Smith, after his booking on a solicitation charge. (Whittier Daily News)
  41. A fatal meat-grinder accident. (Whittier Daily News–and, no, never a dull moment in Whittier)
  42. A Barney concert. I thought it’d be funny; it wasn’t. (Long Beach Press-Telegram)
  43. A jar of celebrity air. (E!)