Three years ago, I began a new chapter in my life when my college experience ended. On Aug. 1, 2005, I left Athens, Ga., to live with my mother in Ohio. It was a difficult change to make but it eventually led me to my new home, Visalia, Calif., where I began my career as a journalist, serving as copy editor at the Visalia Times-Delta newspaper. After over a year of work on the copy desk, I began to show an interest in multimedia, prompting my editors to create for me the position of multimedia reporter — a position which afforded me the opportunity to produce video content for our newspaper’s Web site. I have been in that position for over a year now, leading me to my next big change. It’s August 1 again and I’m going home — again.

It’s kind of a rush, to say the least. I find it rather ironic that this point of the year beckons me back to Ohio. Though it is true that I am moving to Columbia, Mo., to attend graduate school at the University of Missouri-Columbia, I am traveling to Ohio to pick up my mother, who will help me move into my apartment in Columbia. The journey begins at 5 p.m. August 1, when my employment with Gannett ends. I will drive to Las Vegas to see my college friends Padmini and Braniff. I will spend Saturday with them before embarking early Sunday morning for however far I can drive down Interstate 70 in one day. On Monday I assume I’ll be in Kansas, on my way to Ohio. I’ll drive past Columbia and into St. Louis, where I will pick up my sister. Together we will go to Brookville, Ohio, where we will rest and wait for my mother to finish her night shift at the hospital. Tuesday afternoon, the three of us will head back to Columbia, get a hotel room and rest before moving the things I packed this past weekend into my new apartment.

So, yeah, that’s the plan. It’s really ending. My time in California has come to an end. More experiences in this wonderful state are to come, I am certain, but this detour is necessary. Graduate school, the next chapter in my life, will afford me many opportunities that Gannett and the Times-Delta will not. I will have the opportunity to develop my new media skills beyond the editing prowess and content management understanding I’ve mastered at the Times-Delta. My dedication to coding and Web design will be re-invested and invigorated — at least I hope. I aim to be finishing up an internship at a major media or new media corporation or Web site by this time next year. I will be cultivating the connections necessary to acheive the career goals I have set for myself in the next 5 years. Hopefully, by the end of that time, I will have re-located to my dream location — Washington D.C. — covering politics and employing my skills for a company that values my skills, intelligence and experience.

That’s the dream. And it all starts today, August 1. I have been waiting for this day long before I knew it would come this day, this time, this year. I always knew I would be leaving the Times-Delta. I knew that the Central Valley was not the place for me. I love the mountains, I love the Sierra. I will miss Yosemite. I will miss the Central Coast. Los Angeles will alas quake without me. And I will continue to curse San Francisco, who not only litters my car window with parking tickets but exceeds in thwarting my flirtations with alternative transportation (translation: My bike was stolen last month on Market Street in San Francisco). But all of this is not enough to make me stay. I must move on. Finishing graduate school is something I have known I must do. Now the time has come.

As for my blog, big changes are coming. More on that when I make it a little further from California.

Thanks for reading. See you on the other side.

It’s funny, when the thought occurred to me to move to California (which happened shortly after the state of Georgia passed a blatant, inexcusable measure designed to denigrate gays and lesbians as second-class citizens forever), I figured I would be free from all of that in the bluest of the blue states. On the whole, that is very true. California is a great state and I live confident that even with a Republican governor I am respected and honored as a citizen. But even the blue states tend to have a red streak.

Visalia is a pretty conservative, family place. It’s a gorgeous, wonderful place to live, but there are also many Bible-thumping freakazoids that like to throw the good book around into people’s faces. Letters often appear in our paper that lash out at the “homosexual deviants,” and I place them, because I think it’s very healthy for people to speak their minds (even though I don’t necessarily agree with them). And, thankfully, there are people who respond to such nonsense. One such response in its entirety:

Homophobia is rampant in this community
Jim Mancini, Visalia

Why does the Times-Delta seem compelled to print so many letters from Visalia’s Christian, homophobic community?

I’ve lost count of the number of letters from Christian dogmatists who usually quote a passage in the bible that “clearly” condemns homosexuality. The latest, from Sam Lukes, quotes one of their favorite passages, (Romans 1:26:27). He says, “God is quite clear.”

Even as a high school student who studied the Bible (Roman Catholics’ version) for two years every day in religion class, I realized that it is a collection of writings by people of ancient times who were new and zealous converts. Furthermore, someone had to edit these writings and choose which ones to include. So today we have many versions that claim to be the true interpretation.

With all due respect to those who interpret the Bible literally, there are many of us who do not. The social context and language usage at the time that the stories in the Bible were collected, edited and published were much different than today. These writers were from different cultures quite limited in their scientific knowledge. Add to this the various language translations and the Bible is far from “quite clear.”

Many modern biblical scholars interpret that passage in Romans quite differently than Mr. Lukes. He might try to open his mind just a little and research other points of view. All the Bible thumpers out there who like to quote verses that justify their homosexual bigotry should also mention that the Bible condones genocide, mass murder and slavery.

God bless you.

Anyways, we have this wonderful “StoryChat” feature on our Web site that makes it very easy for those indoctrinated nutjob drones to instantly respond to a reasoned argument. You can only imagine what things were said, but I thought this response deserved the spotlight (but there are several worth mentioning):

If you don’t like the religious justification against homosexuality, how about this.

A lesson in basic plumbing explains it for me. The human body has “in” holes and “out” holes. When it comes to traditional love making, men do not have an “in” hole. Women do! Two men together or two women together have to break the laws of basic plumbing to attempt to make love. Using “out” holes as “in” holes is not a good idea. Seems simple to me.

How about from natures perspective. Natures goal for animals(including humans) is to promote survival and create offspring. man + man = no offspring… woman + woman = no offspring. Again… seems pretty simple!

— ForTheKIDS

You know, he’s got a point. I mean, nothing ever comes out of a vagina, ever! Only in. A special trap door must open when it’s time for babies or “that time of the month.”

And it’s a good thing God-fearing Christians NEVER use that other “hole” they must be speaking of (the anus), because they have so many other holes to choose from. And I guess if the vagina has that coveted “in-hole status,” the mouth must also be dubbed an “in hole” since things more frequently go in than out. And of course, no one has been impeached or sent to fiery damnation for sticking their dick in that, now have they.

Freaking psychos…

It’s hard to believe, but I have been a Californian for a year now. A year ago today I pulled my car up to my new apartment after a week of driving across America. I left my mother, grandmother and Joey in Miamisburg, Ohio and for four days made my way across Interstate 70 to the great state of California. It was an exhilarating experience, one I had been waiting on for so long. I wanted so much after graduation to go some place new and different. Fulfilling that goal was a terrific rush.

A year later, I’m still in the Valley. My apartment is so much more than just the exhumed contents of my packed car and the futon I assembled on my first night in my new apartment. I am so much more than that green, young copy editor from Georgia. I have accomplished so much since I’ve arrived here.

In just one year, I have bought furniture and things for my apartment, trained and completed a marathon, climbed the tallest mountain in the state and even fulfilled my promise to my good friend Nicole and made it all the way to France. I’m so thankful for the opportunities afforded to my since I got my job. I feel I have purpose and direction which a year ago were things I desperately sought. My life here is invigorating and I look forward to what the next year has to offer.

A year from now, I hope things will be very different. My goal is to apply to graduate school in the fall with an assistantship at a school in California or hopefully in Washington D.C. or New York (two places I have dreamed to have lived). Before I do that, though, I hope to achieve more in New Media at my newspaper. On the Saturday after Thanksgiving, I will begin training for my next marathon, the Georgia Marathon on March 25 in Atlanta, Ga., which I will be running with my friend Marilia. I am also ironing out the details of a trip to Las Vegas with my friend Jeremy to see our fabulous friend Padmini and visit the hallowed landmark The Cheetah, where they filmed the film classic “Showgirls.” I’m going back to Ohio early this January to see my mother and grandmother. I may also be going to see Jeremy in Ann Arbor, Mich., next year.

Apologies, setting goals like this keeps me motivated and keeps things interesting. Like I said, I accomplished so much this last year, and if I hadn’t laid out so much I probably would have just wasted away in the boring Central Valley.

Well, before I go, I thought it might be interesting to share my iTunes Top 25 Most Played playlist over the past year. Here it is:

Top 25 Most Played on my iPod

1. garbage – Run Baby Run
2. Amuro Namie – Come
3. Relient K – Who I Am Hates Who I’ve Been
4. Day by Day – Itazura Na Kiss
5. garbage – Happy Home
6. The Cure – Push
7. New Order – Turn
8. New Order – Regret
9. The Smiths – Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others
10. The Cure – Just Like Heaven
11. New Order – True Faith
12. Relient K – More Than Useless
13. New Order – Bizarre Love Triangle
14. Relient K – Be My Escape
15. Madonna – Forbidden Love
16. The All-American Rejects – Dirty Little Secret
17. Ayumi Hamasaki – Dearest
18. The Cure – Friday I’m In Love
19. Kelly Clarkson – Since U Been Gone
20. The Killers – Smile Like You Mean It
21. The Flaming Lips – The Wand
22. Nada Surf – Inside of Love
23. Tears For Fears – Head Over Heals / Broken [Live]
24. The Smiths – This Charming Man
25. garbage – Cup of Coffee

And, just for reminiscence sake, check out my letters from last year. I chronicled my whole trip from Ohio to California, reflecting on my three months with my mother as well as reflecting on my experience in Visalia a month after I had arrived. It’s pretty sweet, check it out.