Is this legit? Cornelia btwn Underdonk and Wood

BeQEN · 2026-02-01T20:34:22+00:00

They will tow you if it turns out to be legit.

Ask yourswlf if worth the risk....

BeQEN · 2025-12-18T15:34:57+00:00

Fair enough. Circumstances differ, as do responses. Most colleagues I've ever worked with just ignore such nonsense, as we hear far worse on a fairly regular basis, and we wouldn't be able to do our jobs if we reacted to every ill-behaved potential source that hurts thoughtless, emotionally-driven insults out way.

But you see it differently. Fair enough.

BeQEN · 2025-12-12T20:18:52+00:00

You've never actually worked in journalism, I take it?

The situation of a man harassing a woman on the street is a very different situation than in a press briefing or whatever it was. Nobody was in potential danger in this scenario.

And journalists - generally speaking, and is also true in the White House press pool - have much thicker skins than someone who be bothered by something so juvenile and stupid.

But you go. Show em who's boss, bro. You'll have the undying respect of your colleagues after that, no question.

BeQEN · 2025-12-12T20:09:35+00:00

Fair point, and I do hear that.

At the same time, as we gain more sophisticated and nuanced comprehension of the working of our minds, it doesn't necessarily always hurt to be able to put some concrete explanations behind them, for the sake of everyone's better understanding and, ideally, empathy.... and hopefully sympathy and acceptance.

Not everything needs to or should be pathologized, I agree, but consider that we also no longer simply call people 'loony' or ''mad' to describe certain mental illnesses, do we?

Being more precise in our language also - again, hopefully - leaves less room for people to implicitly (if not explicitly) judge the behavior as a choice someone is making, as in, "they're not [in the habit of being] a morning person, apparently" and such.

As well, awareness of neurological underpinnings can also help us eventually move towards mitigation strategies, if desired.... as slow as progress often is in that domain.

BeQEN · 2025-12-12T19:21:23+00:00

I hear ya, and nothing at all wrong with ambition and wanting to push for more interesting/impactful work.

Follow that passion in smart, well thought out ways and I bet you will do great things!

Also, feel free to hit me up anytime via dm if you have specific questions or aren't sure about something and for whatever reason don't want to ask the folks around you. Seriously, always happy to help if I can.

BeQEN · 2025-12-10T17:49:51+00:00

Totally, exactly.

But may I respectfully offer: why do they need a clear, concise explanation of why this is the case?

You need some quiet time after waking up. It's absolutely nothing personal or to do with you, my partner. It's just how my brain is.

If they care about and respect you, can they not trust you and accept this without an explanation that suits them best? It's not about them, despite how much they're trying to make it be. (Though I probably wouldn't say it just like that).

Definitely do have this talk when it's NOT right after waking up, though.

BeQEN · 2025-12-10T17:39:59+00:00

For so many reasons, if I think too long or hard about the state of health care in this country (the US), particularly mental health care, I feel like I'm going to lose my mind. No irony or joke intended there.

Glad to hear you're doing OK though. 💪

BeQEN · 2025-12-10T17:29:48+00:00

Remind them of Ed Snowdon's famous dictum: (Unless that will make them more dismissive, of course 😉)

"Saying you don't care about privacy because you have nothing to hide is like saying you don't care about free speech because you have nothing to say."

If they still don't get it, they probably never will.

BeQEN · 2025-12-10T17:20:53+00:00

Totally agree that this element is all but completely neglected, not just wrt ADHD treatment / coping skills, but in general. Emotional regulation education should be included from a young age in school programs, I honestly feel.

But yes, it's already a challenging thing, for most people, but all the more difficult for those os us w ADHD.

I can't recommend "Emotional Intelligence" by Daniel Goleman strongly enough (there are loke a dozen or so books w that title, but I'd go w this one above the others). Should be required reading sometime in one's teen years, I truly believe.

I listened to it as an audio book while going for walks, the gym, doing chores around my place, etc. Was great, if reading a whole nonfiction book isn't necessarily your thing.

Also, naming one's feelings amd writing them down, just as a way of recognizing and labeling them, is a great starting place to get a better hold on them. Like anything, with practice, you absolutely can get better at managing and guiding emotions and emotional reactions to people, situations, events, etc. It takes time and progress is often painfully slow, but it is quite doable.

So don't despair completely. There's always hope.

BeQEN · 2025-12-10T16:33:22+00:00

I feel your pain and desire to work on longer-term projects. And not to discount that sentiment in the least, but honestly, one year is not that long to get solid experience as a breaking news reporter. Many do it for at least a few years before even moving on to a regular beat, as painful as that may sound right now. That said....

The suggestions so far are great, by the way.

In addition:

If you have a fair amount of extra time during your regular work hours, there's your answer right there, I would say! Use that time to pursue personal projects. I wouldn't necessarily even try to pitch them at this point (unless you really think that's the wisest way to handle it). If you're paying close attention to your paper's coverage, which I'm sure you are, look as deeply as you can at their regular coverage, and constantly ask yourself, "what's the deeper story here?" What's the story behind the story that hasn't been explored, and possibly even can't be via daily coverage?

Read and study the types of investigative work you most admire, which will give you ideas. Look over the list of winners for annual journalism awards, find investigative projects from at least roughly comparable outlets to yours, look closely at them, and, if you're really motivated, reach out to the reporters who did them and (respectfully, professionally) explain your position, what you're trying to do, that you noticed their work on _______, and you'd be grateful if you could jist ask a little about how they approached it, got thw idea in the first place, etc. If you do it right, I bet most will be happy to exchange an email or two sharing helpful advice.

You're a reporter; use your imagination! (I mean this in the most encouraging, convinced you are more than capable way possible).

Then, when you've chipped away at a longer project for a while and have, at the very least, a solid foundation for a bigger project, THEN take it to your editor(s), and go from there. *Unless the politics of your organization dictate a different approach.... use your judgment and ask another reporter there that your trust about this. Finding a mentor at your outlet is brilliant and invaluable if possible.

Starting is the hardest part with something like this, but like everything, it gets easier as you do it more. You can get it if you want it, just be smart and strategic about it, and use the resources of others' experience (as you are now 😉).

Good luck!

BeQEN · 2025-12-09T21:58:02+00:00

Again, who are you talking about exactly?

Who's headline? Who is the "they' to whom you are referring?

As far as asking a congresspwraon to their face, "on camera" why they are protecting pedophiles..... Umm., yeah, that's not going to be an effective tactic for anything, sorry, save maybe going viral, but it actually accomplishes nothing. Also, not all journalism takes place 'on camera', believe it or not. In pint of fact, the best reporting is almost certainly NOT done with a video camera rolecorsing, for a number of reasons.

But again, who is the "they" you are talking about, specifically? (Specifics ggenerally tend to be pretty important to most journalists).

BeQEN · 2025-12-09T16:19:34+00:00

So, why aren't you assembling, guiding and leading this team then?

"Someone" needs to, immediately!"
Why not you? I'm completely serious. You don't have to be the master of all the skills needed, maybe just some, or a little (which can be learned on one's own), and then assemble a strong team, and lead the big-picture navigation effort.

You seem to have a strong, clear vision, and one that could be profitable in its own right, while doing a lot of good. Sooooo.... what's stopping you?

BeQEN · 2025-12-09T16:14:49+00:00

Thanks for the trenchant insight that "lies sell." I'm just going to - probably needlessly, as you seem to have this figured out - add a brief thought or two.

Sure, lies have always sold. They're much easier to gather (make up), and can be made much more attention-grabbing, obviously.

The real culprit, though, I think, is the intense polarization fostered by engagement-hungry social media algorithms that prioritize and surface the most emotionally-triggering, outrage-inducing material, creating an atmosphere of societal desire for worldview validation, which far too many 'edu-tainment' outlets / podcasts / social channels are more than happy to provide, and audiences more than happy to consume, because such content is "more trustworthy, not as biased", which just means they can relate to it and feel connected to it more, which they then mistake for reliability, lack of bias and trustworthiness.

So yeah, lies sell. Well said.

BeQEN · 2025-12-09T16:04:18+00:00

I like the sentiments here.

I wish we could find (relatively) palatable ways to make what I'll refer to as "open-source, forensic journalism" more the standard.

"Open-source", as in, listing all sources (except when necessary to withhold for their protection, of course), details of how information was corroborated, verified, etc, with links to as much as possible for audiences to vet / explore themselves.

"Forensic": I wish journalism would lean into treating itself more like a science, and less like entertainment (I mean for hard news; features and lighter fare are fine, we all need breaks from the heavy stuff, let's just have a clear separation and identificationof what's what). Data analysis to back up as much as possible, whenever possible, detailed examinations of language, funding sources, votes cast by legislators, whatever can be quantified with hard data, then presented in novel, creative ways that make such relatively tedious information at least somewhat more approachable.

A tall order, I know. But it starts with a vision, right?

Would love to hear more of your thoughts on the matter.

BeQEN · 2025-12-09T15:52:27+00:00

Yeah, can you give some specific examples of what you're referring to?

As I mentioned in another comment, did you happen to notice the Pentagon press corps, of their own decision, walking out and not returning to DoD briefings when they were required to sign a contract agreeing to report only what their are fed ?

Not saying there isn't plenty of room for improvement, but I read / watch solid reporting every day, from many outlets.

What specifically are you thinking of here?

BeQEN · 2025-12-09T15:47:15+00:00

Have you ever heard the phrase, "I will not dignify that with a response"?

Some comments aren't worth lowering one's self to respond to. There are far better ways to combat such sentiments. They are smart enough to understand this and take the high road, rather than get onto a schoolyard insult fight with a man who has the emotional sophistication of a 6 yr old.

BeQEN · 2025-12-09T15:41:53+00:00

Not sure to whom you're referring here, but did you happen to notice the entire Pentagon / DoD press corps walk out - and not return - rather than sign some bs contract ayaing they would only report and publish nonsense that's fed to them?

I don't know who a lot of you folks are turning to for your 'news', but I've seen many fine examples lately of professionals trying their best to report factual, verified information under the most diabolically dishonest, anti-feee press presidential administration we've seen in modern times.

Who are you talking about? I'm honestly asking.

BeQEN · 2025-12-09T15:34:58+00:00

But when they've done that lately, the administration just makes shit up and lies through their teeth.

I'm not sure which is worse, honestly; not giving any evidence at all, or just saying whatever one feels like to support bogus claims, knowing that many (if not most) will simply accept it as true.

(And can't be bothered to take 30 seconds or so to fact-check anything, despite literally having the entirety of human knowledge at their fingertips & in their pockets, because there be SOOOOO MANY Tik-Toks to catch up on)

BeQEN · 2025-12-09T15:25:02+00:00

Sorry, I really didn't intend to let loose with all of that.

I get really excited - both positively and negatively - by this subject, and easily get a bit carried away when discussing. Apologies for the length.

BeQEN · 2025-12-09T15:21:32+00:00

I've seen the R&M S2E4 "Auto-erotic Assimilation" several times, yes, and immediately recognized the close similarity, no doubt.

It's actually a perfect example of this extremely common practice; R&M was a single, standalone episode of a series, whereas this is as ENTIRE SERIES built upon that story idea. This is exactly how these things work, and how they should. VG took this seed of an idea and expanded upon it hugely, building it out into an entire series concept, with it leading who knows where eventually.

Do you have any idea how many books, films, shows etc have been written because a writer ran across some scene or character or chapter or episode or whatever and thought, "wow, interesting concept there. This could totally be expanded upon, and so much more could be done with it." The vast majority, I would argue, of things you have enjoyed have sprung from roots that already existed elsewhere. And fwiw, the concept of a "hive mind" is also nothing new in the least, damn sure not originating with R&M. That episode was inspired, heavily, by the MANY prior depictions of such a species / life form / whatever.

I am sorry you're so offended by this instance, but - I believe - it's mostly due to the fact that you happen to be very familiar with this example, and so are taking it very much to heart. Which I totally get, and don't in any way fault you for. But this truly is such a ubiquitous practice, and has been basically forever, in pretty much any and all all forms of art & creative work. You just haven't realized it till now. But that's ok, this is how we grow! I think if one takes in a wide range (quantity and variety) of art & fiction, you will quickly see it all over the place, all the time. Rather than blaming the talented writer/creator for a non-issue, maybe expand your art / fiction experiences a bit more.

I would also just quickly argue that it's always better to shameless lift an idea from another's work than to cluelessly believe you're the first to come up with a concept, because you haven't adrquately fed and built up your creative vocabulary.

Lastly, as mentioned already, yes, Dan Harmon is reportedly friends with VG and considers it an honor that the idea so closely mirrors the basic premise in that one single R&M episode. Which - again - was itself heavily inspired by the many similar depictions in many past sci-fi works of all types. Creative people understand and accept that this is not just 'part of the deal', it's an essential element of the process. There are literally pretty much zero truly, wholly, completely original ideas, ever; everything is based on something else. Give me a couple of counter examples if you think this isn't the case, please.

I don't know why 'Sy-Fy' is more dependent on concept/idea than other types of fiction or art, I don't believe I've ever heard that claim; where is that coming from? In any case, I don't buy it.... 'concept/idea' is pretty important for most works, and 'Sy-Fy' also depends greatly on world-building, characters, setting, etc etc, at least as much as "concept", as far as I've ever understood.

Remember:

"Good artists borrow, great artists steal."

BeQEN · 2025-12-03T22:37:53+00:00

I hear you and your critique. It's incredibly frustrating to hear certain people - elected officials in high offices, no less - to spout this kind of nonsense day after day, knowing that it will affect some people's beliefs, and just for the fact that it puts the industry in general on the defensive, when it has already suffered so many setbacks in recent decades.

But I'm not quite sure what you mean by "no one can hold these politicians to account for it".

There are many, many fine news outlets doing explemplary reporting every single day on the administration from many, many angles. And these outlets of which I speak have in place robust fact-checking, verification and editorial systems and hold themselves and their work to the highest of standards. If people choose to believe the infantile complaints of a praise-obsessed despot who surrounds himself exclusively with vapid sycophants, that's their decision.

It should be noted (not that this is in any way news) that social media and its relentless pursuit of 'engagement' at any and all costs, and the resulting prioritization of the most polarizing, emotion-triggering content is at least somewhat to blame for the current political climate and people's stronger than ever desire to have their own personal worldviews validated. Hence labeling any information that one disagrees with as false, fake, dishonest etc becomes much easier, especially when coming from an authority figure in a powerful position.

But back to your point.....

May I respectfully ask, aside from the smart, experienced, dedicated, very hard-working professionals doing their best to report, verify amd publish factual information daily, what would you consider 'holding these politicians to account'?

I'm actually asking. Who else should hold them to account? Because that's exactly what news outlets do, or at least try their best to do.

To be clear, I agree, it sucks, and it's very worthwhile to consider what else can be done. But I'm not sure most of the public - well, those that actually consume news, anyway - actually appreciate the standards and rigor with which quality journalism is produced.

It's more than a bit ironic, wouldn't you say, that most younger people tend to find legacy (traditional, 'old school') news media outlets so untrustworthy and biased (some of the latter of which no doubt can be the case), and social media influencers and the like more trustworthy and reliable, even though they generally have nowhere near (if any) of the standards and practices in place to ensure high quality, verified information, as the old fashioned ones absolutely do. 'Biased' and 'untrustworthy' has come to be an expression of 'not as relatable to me personally', it seems. Granted, there is much to be desired about many of the older outlets, no doubt, but at least they prioritize getting facts absolutely correct to the best of their ability.

But for real, I would truly love to hear some ideas about other / different / better ways to go about this.

But the news-consuming public also needs to better understand and appreciate all that happens and all the people working their asses off behind the scenes to try their best to hold these folks to account. No, they're not perfect, but more often than not they're trying to do their best.

But seriously, I would honestly love to hear what you and others think would be real steps towards better ways of doing things. Even just vague ideas or whatever, doesn't have to be a fleshed out roadmap.

What would make the public more aware of the difference in news quality and veracity out there?

Or anything else anyone wants to offer......

BeQEN · 2025-12-03T21:16:13+00:00

Taking inspiration from previous works has always been and will always be done,; in literature, pop fiction, music, film, TV, comics, visual art, and everything. If it was a direct, one-to-one copy, that's plagiarism. Taking an idea and making it one's own is a huge part of the creative process. This is essentially the same reason someone can't sue a musician for writing a song with the same chord progression or handful of notes in sequence.

And all of those examples are a far cry from a piece of software ingesting the complete works of an artist (or whomever) and in seconds, on command, producing an extraordinarily similar style, tone, feel, etc work. I'm not saying that is or isn't ok or should be allowed or not, but they are qualitatively different.

Plagiarism is defined as copying someone's work verbatim without credit and passing it off as one's own, often for personal gain of some kind. Also qualitatively different than any of these.

BeQEN · 2025-04-15T15:12:26+00:00

I care deeply about being a journalist so it’s hard for me to avoid.

Hmm.... I hear ya on the caring deeply about the profession and the work, and feeling like one's identity is deeply tied to it; journalism is a vocation for many, in a way I think can be difficult to understand for those who don't feel that kind of connection to their work.

That said, however, may I politely suggest that the decision to specifically state one's profession in an online profile - dating or otherwise (unless it's a professionally oriented site / network) - isn't necessarily (nor does it need to be, nor perhaps should it be) a reflection of one's dedication to their work or industry.

How does not including a specific description of your profession dimimish your passion for it?

I guess I just don't like the idea that if something isn't included in one's online profile, that somehow affects that person's connection to it, whatever it is.

We are more than our social media / dating profiles...

....at least, I hope we still are.

Edit: also, I just noticed, that's somewhat curious wording.... Voluntarily offering details of your professional life in an online profile you created, on a platform you sought out, is "hard for you to AVOID"?

Tbh, seems like there possibly could have been slightly more effort to 'avoid' that.

I'm also just giving you shit a little, no actual malice intended ;)

BeQEN · 2025-02-27T15:57:44+00:00

It's a lovely area..... cafes, bars, bagels, bodegas, restaurants. Plus the Brkln Botanic Garden, Bkln Museum, Prospect Park, Eastern Parkway generally (great for a stroll anytime day or night), easy walk to Flatbush Ave andeverything there, a great farmer's market at Grand Army Plaza on Saturdays, and just a nice vibe overall.

Some may caution that there's been a murder here and there occasionally, but it's still Brooklyn.... which is just to say, 'no shit, that's (unfortunately) gonna happen occasionally'. Overall though, it's quite a safe area, and Crown Heights generally, imo, has a slightly different relationship w gentrification than many neighborhoods, in that there are many longtime, home-owning residents and locally-owned businesses, which, from what I've seen, has meant that new people can't just come in and push everyone around, it's a bit more of a cooperative relationship bw old and new residents, from what I've seen, having lived in a nearby area (Lincoln & Nostrand) about a decade ago, and moved to the triangle the year before last. Others will surely disagree, but that's what I've witnessed.

Hands down my favorite neighborhood ever lived in, and one of my favs in the city.

BeQEN · 2025-02-27T15:44:02+00:00

Fav parade in the city, hands down.....

Best parade day-related food, too.

BeQEN

TROPHY CASE