A wet news hound

Note the change of template. I don't know if made it clear before, but I am currently running with a dual template idea. I was originally going to use the dark template for my alternative diary, then I decided I'd just stick the darkness right in here and I could use the other template for my darker days. And so I have. It's a real quick way to judge my mood -- dark template means I am largely depressed, this one means things are good, or at least okay.

And things today are pretty much okay.

My feet are soaking wet, because the soles of my boots are coming off and it has been raining to beat the band all day. Why was I out in the rain? I've been looking for news. There was so much to being a journalist I didn't know about -- and making contacts and finding the news is one of them. I know that technically sounds like two things, but I say it's one. In small groups we are news gathering from various parts of the city, as I may have mentioned -- and my group has landed itself in the an area of urban redevelopment.

If I call it the ghetto you would probably get ideas of gang wars and drive by shootings -- and while this takes place in Leicester, I don't think it's there. But there are the houses with the steel barriers over the windows and doors, the vandalised security cameras, the broken traffic lights, the unsurfaced roads. There's the look people get when you tell them you are going to Beaumont, and the way they say "be careful...".

By Tuesday (I think) we all need to have two stories -- a main story, and a nib (news in brief). I might already have one or the other, from someone I was talking to the other day out there, but I need more contacts. So with one of classmates I headed out there today, in the pouring rain.

For one thing, the street signs that said it was three miles or however far were strange. They started off at three or so, and seemed to decrease gradually, until around one and a quarter miles when it went down to one, then back up to one and a quarter, before going back to one again. And then there was a sign that said the city centre was only one and three quarter miles back in the direction we had come -- it seems it was a shorter distance to travel back than to travel on. Maybe they just want to discourage people who aren't "local". All the same, some phone calls to the council will be made, asking if anyone has ever tried following these signs on foot.

Technically, I didn't really make any contacts. I pointed out to Dan a letter in the window of a neighbourhood centre, about localised flooding and the council's lack of action, so he talked to a contact of his about it and will be following it up. I've got some numbers for domestic violence groups and mediation services...but no real people. And did I mention I haven't eaten today and my feet are soaking wet?

All the same, I don't really mind. I need to go home, call a local paper or two and a news agency (still chasing work experience), and maybe call these groups I have numbers for. Oh, and eating would be a good idea.

I can't tell you why I am feeling better (if a little light headed, and tired), but I just am and it's probably best not to question it too closely.