The Secret Scotsman

I was recently asked if I was from Scotland. Needless to say, it was one of the best moments of my life. For those of you who do not know me very well or have never met me, I have a red beard (my regular hair is brown) and can do a pretty mean Scottish accent. Most of my ancestors were Scottish as well, but I doubt that has anything to do with my accent. Besides, I've never actually been to Scotland and know almost nothing about it. Anyway, I was recently asked to say something for a promotional video. The video was for a dear and talented friend of mine (who I'll call Bethany Dillon) who was playing a concert. Naturally, I agreed to do it and made a very awkward and bumbling attempt to persuade people to attend Bethany's concert. Then it occured to me to try using my accent. The second attempt was much better and very convincing, if I do say so myself. Even more misleading was the video's description, which read, "I interview some Americans (and a Scotsman) on why you should come to my show."
After the show, it just so happened that I met someone who had seen the promotional video and who didn't already know that I wasn't Scottish. Ironically enough, she happened to be from South Africa and had a real accent. I felt kind of like a fake. Regardless, I ended up doing my accent for quite a few people, which I kind of enjoyed. Since then, I've come up with quite a few ideas in case Bethany decides to do any more promotional videos, such as the Angry Scotsman, Singing Scotsman, and even one involving an Australian accent. Normally, I would post the video so you could see it for yourself, but since it mentions Bethany's real name, I've decided not to. Anyway, g'night, wee bairns.
S.D.G.

The Last Jones Semester

Yes, everyone, I'm still alive. Well, it's almost time to start my very last semester at good ol' Jones County Junior College. In the fall, if all goes well, I will be starting to attend Southern Miss as a Communications major with an emphasis on Editorial Journalism. That's a fancy way of saying I'll be learning how to write for a newspaper, just like I'm doing at Jones. As far as what I'm planning on doing after that, I've been thinking about checking in to writing for World magazine. World is a "specialty publication," so called because it is written from a Christian perspective. I love it because it's real news, yet it's also made relevant to me and other Christians.
Now for a quick summary of what's happened since last year. As history will attest, my article on Proposition 26 had little effect. It was overturned by an impressive amount, although I can't remember exactly how much. The girl who wrote an article opposing mine did a good job. I disagreed with her on almost every point, but she has obvious talent. Nothing else of particular significance has happened, or at least nothing that comes to mind. The classes I'm taking at Jones are all pretty enjoyable so far. I'm also taking online classes for the first time this semester, so we'll see how that works out. What I'm most anxious about are my new staff members. Last year they turned out fine, except for one who dropped out of school. This year I've got two new members, and I'm anxious to see how they'll turn out. I think that managing people is probably the hardest thing about being an editor, and it's also one of the most useful experiences I've had at Jones. It's difficult to try to balance authority and leniency.
My second favorite class this semester would have to be Ethics. The teacher is great, but he has a tendency to toot his own horn occasionally. I will probably vent a lot of my opinions on different ethical theories here in the future, so be forewarned. I think that if I weren't a journalism major, I would probably choose philosophy instead. I think I would really enjoy teaching philosophy classes. I like philosophy for much the same reason I do journalism: it's a search for truth. I suppose truth matters more to me than almost anything else. My mom is kind of like that. She says that truth people tend to be kind of insensitive and prone to legalism, which I guess is true of myself.
Anyway, that's what's going on right now. I'll keep you posted.
S.D.G.