December 2012
1 post
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WatchSeveral months after we returned from South Sudan and the Nuba Mountains in Sudan, Tim Hill and I were guests on Denver’s Studio 12 PBS show. We discussed the crisis in in South Kordofan, Sudan.
July 2012
8 posts
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A good listening album, released this past April.
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The old hobby, paying off
The last thing I expected was to stop running for six weeks, enter a race against hundreds of Africans, and actually beat all of the women except one.
Yesterday was South Sudan’s Independence Marathon, which I signed up for more as an excuse to get a run in than to attain any goal. It was a 10K and about half way through, I thought, “I wonder if there might actually be a prize purse...
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“Do you ever just look around and think, “Did I make a series of horribly...”
– A sarcastic comment by my new friend Nicki Kindersley, a Ph.D. history student from Cambridge who is here for an archive project, as she surveyed the scene on July 4th at “Talent Search South Sudan 2012.” We sat on the aisle stairs in what can only be described as a steamy auditorium,...
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June 2012
11 posts
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That happened?
When people imagine a crazy, adventurous tale of two journalists traipsing through Africa on a dime, they could easily be picturing our trip — give or take a few details.
I hate stereotypical portraitures of this continent, but our journey over the past three weeks has actually fit the image often visualized for what is involved in the African reporting process.
Our roundtrip voyage from...
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We're out
We are officially out of the Nuba Mountains after trying to fly under the radar for ten days. We were technically there illegally, as it is a part of Sudan and their government doesn’t allow any foreigners - especially journalists - to cross into the region. However, about 90 percent of the Nuba Mountains are controlled by the SPLA-North, so we were well-protected. We just spent two days in...
“On a bumpy dirt road, in the blackness of night, we were somewhere around the...”
– Tim Hill
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Juba, South Sudan
As we sat in a hotel restaurant for lunch yesterday, I was offered the chance to become the future First Lady of South Sudan, while Tim was on the verge of having to punch out the drunken government official who eventually crossed the line with his schmoozing, boozing breath and his outlandish offers.
We have now been gone one week, but in terms of experiences it’s been far more.
This just...
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May 2012
7 posts
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Well, we are off. My friend, Tim, and I are en route to the airport for our trip to South Sudan. We are flying through Uganda and will land in Kampala at 10:15 p.m. on May 31, which is 1:15 p.m. in Colorado.
Our flights are:
Denver —> Detroit —> Amsterdam —> Kigali, Rwanda —> Entebbe, Uganda
We will take a few days to stay in Uganda, catching up with some of...
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The release of Beach House’s new album...
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“Smart, mature people can disagree without taking it personally, I think. People...”
– Joey Bunch, in our email thread about political arguments via social media
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Back to East Africa
On June 1, 2010, I boarded a plane for Uganda. Almost 2 years later to the date — on May 30, 2012 — I will board another plane for Uganda. The only difference is that I am only passing through Uganda, on my way to South Sudan, and am doing it as a professional journalist instead of a graduate student. Why am I going? That post is coming. The basic details: -I’ll be gone...
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A week streak on the front-page politics beat
I don’t know what happened. Since my front-page centerpiece story ran in the paper 12 days ago, I have had three more politics stories assigned to me and put on the front-page.
The thing with politics stories, especially in a presidential election year, is that you always get at least one reader or politico who emails you to inform you of one aspect of the story you didn’t talk...
April 2012
4 posts
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Religion & Politics: Sunday front-pager
I’m just now coming up for air from the whirlwind that was last week and weekend. I was given the opportunity to have my words and thoughts showcased as the centerpiece on the front-page of The Sunday Denver Post, the most coveted placement in the print publication world of Colorado.
With religion and politics converging in one story, I expected a flurry of hate mail. The inverse was...
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Brought to you from the place that I call home,...
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“As I was driving in my car last night, leaving the city where I currently work...”
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The Wires
The wires.
If you ever step into a newsroom or speak to a newspaper journalist for any length of time about their job, you will likely hear this term thrown around as though it were common knowledge.
You may hear something along the lines of, “Did you check the wires to see if anyone else has written about it?” Or, you may hear, “Let’s throw this story up online,...
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March 2012
18 posts
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“I’ve got the U.S. Ambassador to Syria calling me at 1:20. Meet me for a...”
– Me, filed under: “Texts I never imagined I’d send.”
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The weather gods must have snapped their fingers
Runners, hikers, bikers, fly-fishers: the snow has melted and it is running season in Boulder Canyon once again.
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“There is nothing worth sharing like the love that let us share our name.”
– The Avett Brothers, Murder in the City
What a layered statement.
I’ve been listening to this band for years, but somehow I totally missed these lyrics up until a week ago. These are the song’s closing lyrics.
The idea completely resonates with me; I feel so lucky that this describes...
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And I thought I was going to write about baby...
I ended up spending three hours on Friday afternoon at the Denver County Courthouse listening to the trial testimony of a woman accused of being an accessory in a cold-blooded murder case. The murder and subsequent events are the stuff that bad movies are made of.
This was hands down the goriest story I’ve covered to date. It is the type of story that makes you simultaneously think about...
“Tragedy is just a joke that we haven’t figured out yet.”
– Garrison Keillor, as Guy Noir, comparing tragedy to a rutabaga
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“…people become their true selves when society and rules break down, like...”
– Joey Bunch, in his “Monday email” after watching The Walking Dead.
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For the love of your (Sudanese) countrymen
Kristen’s Klips: The story within the story is the real story. Being a regional publication, I had to, what the industry likes to call, “localize” this epic saga. That usually means slicing and dicing until much of the grit is gone. Regardless, it is an incredible tale even without all of the details and I’m thankful I had the chance to tell it.
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“Never get into a bar fight with a merman on your arm.”
– my friend & colleague, the wisely amusing Joey Bunch
Cat Show Enthusiast
Hairless, Sphynx Cat Owner: Welll, what is cuter than a sphynx??
Me: (silent pause)
Cat Owner: A sphynx kitten!!
Cat Owner: (laughs heartily)
February 2012
3 posts
