Category: Personal Updates

My life

To Europe: I am gone for at least a month

Today, my good friend Sean Blanda and I are departing for London. I mentioned this trip last month.

He and I are beginning an open-ended European backpacking adventure. We have no return ticket, no definite plans or destinations: just a month long, 10-stop itinerary on the way to Hungary and vague plans of reassesing our funds to get down to Greece and circling all the way back to Spain.

We’ll be blogging and video podcasting the trip together, but more on that next week when the official rollout comes.

Stay posted for that, but don’t worry, ChristopherWink.com will remain fresh and posted – I know you’re concerned.

God bless America and wish us luck. Lots of exciting news to come next week.

10 books Philadelphians should have to read: The best Philly books

Updated: I have a longer list of books about Philadelphia with a good reputation here.

There is a lot of reading to be done about Philadelphia.

Let me show you the 10 books you have to read if you’re from, living in or going to the Philadelphia region, including a handful of which you should read regardless of geography.

Continue reading 10 books Philadelphians should have to read: The best Philly books

My Temple University commencement speech

Four months ago I graduated from Temple University in Philadelphia.

I was honored enough to be named student commencement speaker. Read text of the speech here.

Only now have I gotten video of my speech online. Have a watch below.

Continue reading My Temple University commencement speech

The Wire: Should I learn something from Season 5

I’ve been told relentlessly that The Wire is the best show that has been on TV in years. Aside from Slate magazine, I got that message no less than a dozen times from friend and journalist Chris Reber.

I watched the first episode for the first time yesterday and, instead, got caught up in reading about the background from creator and writer David Simon, a former reporter for the Baltimore Sun. He wrote a fascinating piece in a February issue of Esquire, focusing on his time and learning with the Sun – whose then editor, Bill Marrimow, now leads the ship at the Inquirer – to whom I recently offered advice.

Continue reading The Wire: Should I learn something from Season 5

My internship with the Philadelphia Business Journal

With the editorial staff of the Philadelphia Business Journal on May 5, 2008.

Last Thursday, during a week revisit to Philadelphia, I shared happy hour with a few friends from my internship with the Philadelphia Business Journal, with which I had a great six month-internship the last semester of my college career.

With a little work, I got tons of solid clips and great experience (detailed below) with the Journal, and so I thought it was worth pointing that out.

The primary responsibilities of editorial interns with PBJ, owned by American City Business Journals, are to keep up their pages that follow the region’s philanthropic community, profile business leaders and all managerial movements in and around the city. While I pitched other stories of greater size, these base-level jobs never offered anything more than a few hundred words. Still, I worked hard to make them worth reading – if only to keep me focused and interested.

The internship meant a lot more than all of that, though.

Continue reading My internship with the Philadelphia Business Journal

A post-graduate internship done: what comes next?

Working in the Capitol bureau of the Patriot-News in Harrisburg in August 2008.

My last day in Harrisburg for came at the end of last month, with the close of my lease with the International House Aug. 30 and the end of my post-graduate internship with the Pennsylvania Legislative Correspondents’ Association (PLCA).

I came home with lots of experience, dozens of great references, and a pile of clips. Browse my clips by publication here.

I pitched my own stories, was sent to dull and fascinating hearings, and got great clips, including front cover, A1 bylines for the Philadelphia Inquirer, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Patriot-News and the Morning Call – not too bad. Below are my best six clips of the summer:

Continue reading A post-graduate internship done: what comes next?

Harrisburg International House

Mostly foreign students and temporary workers living in the Harrisburg International House.

While in Harrisburg until last week, I lived at the International House at Third and Chestnut, right in its center city. I left Aug. 30 – leaving my recommendations about what to do in Harrisburg.

During the summer, most of its residents are foreign-born on temporary visas working at Hershey Park, nearby hotels or studying. That provided a fun experience in the hostel-like atmosphere: dancing with a bunch of young men from the United Arab Emirates, playing Uno with girls from the Dominican Republic and watching the NBA playoffs with a group from the Ukraine. I didn’t need a car, could walk to work and play basketball and the grocery store.

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Harvard University rejected me

Got an e-mail from Harvard University yesterday:

Thank you for your application to the following position at Harvard University. Although we are unable to further your candidacy for this specific position at this time, we appreciate your interest in Harvard.

I applied Aug. 15 for a full-time position I saw on Journalism Jobs, called the assistant editor of the Digital Journalism Project, part of the school’s Nieman Foundation.

The position appears to have been taken down from J-Jobs, so I’ll post the description here. Sounded like fun.

Continue reading Harvard University rejected me