Posts Tagged ‘writing’

eanda logo

 

by @anarchyroll
August 26th, 2013

 

Economics is not complicated, it’s taxing, pun intended. Studying the subject at a novice level reveals that the entire field is nothing more than a simple field purposely hidden under a camouflage tent of complicated sounding language. One must become familiar with these terms because they build upon each other, layer after layer after layer after layer until it is believed that only computer algorithms can be used to do the work of insiders and professionals that are hired by normal people because they just don’t want to think about it. Why? Because the terminology is so complex looking and sounded it makes someone who spends forty hours a week or more working a ā€œnormalā€ ā€œdayā€ job believe that they need someone to do it for them. Putting computers in charge of making trades by the millisecond was not a victory for simplicity either.

 

Studying economics and writing about it is as fun as it sounds, in that there is reward for the time invested, that reward is of course knowledge. There is a flood of knowledge available for consumption in the fieldĀ  of business and economics, and it is almost too easy for one to drown in it.Ā  I personally do not have a background in economics, I did not formally study it, I have not worked for a hedge fund, a brokerage, in New York trading stocks, or in Chicago trading options. I listened to The Warren Buffet Way on audio book and became fascinated with the field. Several books later I found myself compelled to regularly check websites like Reuters, Business Week, Bloomberg, The Economist, and CNBC so that I could regularly bathe myself in daily economics and market terminology.

 

So what is Excess and Algorithms? It is the business/economics blog for me, @anarchyroll. My other blogs feature my writings on hard news/journalism, pro wrestling/mma, philosophy/spirituality, and sports. I originally wanted each blog to be a separate website, but I got mentally buried in concern of the aesthetics/design of each one and used that as an excuse to procrastinate. So I’m going to start writing and posting content online and go from there. Eventually I would like to combine all five blogs into one website and present the material like a digital newspaper/magazine akin to VICE, Uproxx, and Kinja.

 

I am passionate about each subject I blog about and aspire to be a professional reporter/writer of. I received my bachelor’s degree in media communications from Northeastern Illinois University this past May. I want to make sure that I am applying what I have learned, that I am keeping my writing skills sharp, that I am staying productive as a person, and that I am working towards my overall goal achievement desires. Writing about economics truly tests me as a writer. Presenting the information in an easy to read manner for anyone regardless of education level is difficult and time consuming. Researching the articles takes hours and sometimes days.

 

I will be writing an article on quantitative easing in the coming week. I started doing research and before I knew it five hours had gone by and all I had was a thesis statement. This both exhausted and excited me, because I knew that I was challenging myself as a writer. Writing about wrestling/mma is easy for me. Writing about sports and philosophy are both easy for me. Writing about hard news as a journalist isn’t easy but isn’t hard because I have so much formal training in it. Writing about economics is as challenging as investing. I hope to learn as much about the investment world as I learn about myself as a writer. I will be buying the knowledge and information with my time and energy, then selling it to you at a discounted rate of a thousand words or less. Fair trade?

logo1

 

by @anarchyroll
August 31, 2013

 

There is not a shortage of sports writers in this country or in the world. There are countless talking heads on five or six 24 hour a day sports television channels on basic cable alone, let alone on premium packages, not to mention written print and digital media. And let us not forget the infinity of negative opinions that is sports talk radio. I have always been a big sports fan and have always been opinionated about what I see when I watch sports. After all, it takes as much effort and skill to be a Monday morning quarterback as it does to be a backseat driver.

 

As I read books and listened to audio books in the subject of philosophy/spirituality/personal development I became less opinionated about sports. I became less knowledgeable on the day to day, hour to hour events of the sporting world. I stopped listening to sport talk radio almost completely. I disconnected from cable television so ESPN, Comcast, etc were also eliminated from my daily media intake. I found that the vast majority of sports opinion was negative, and in most cases not even veiled in creativity, credibility, or objectivity.

 

However, when I would encounter quality sports journalism, it peaked my interest as much as any kind of news or entertainment media I consume. Whether in a newspaper, magazine, web page on radio or television I found that the people who were good at their jobs in sports media were bona fide heroes of mine. The blending of creative writing and news has always gotten my blood pumping and thoughts dancing. Quality sports writers and broadcasters in my opinion are masters at combining creative and media writing.

 

So what is Sports Roll? It is the sports blog for @anarchyroll under the Anarchy Journal Constitution digital media writing umbrella. My other blogs feature my writings on hard news/journalism, pro wrestling/mma, economics/business, and philosophy/spirituality/self actualization.Ā Ā Ā Ā  I would like to combine all five blogs into one website and present the material like a digital newspaper/magazine akin to The Daily Beast, Kinja Network, and UPROXX. These are all subjects I am passionate about and would like to become a professional reporter/writer of. I received my bachelor’s degree in media communications from Northeastern Illinois University this past May. I want to make sure that I am applying what I have learned, that I am keeping my writing skills sharp, that I am staying productive as a person, and that I am working towards my overall goal achievement desires.

 

Sports is entertainment for me, no different than any other television show or movie. That paradigm is why I am suchĀ  a pro wrestling fan.Ā  My sports blog could just as easily be my TV show or movie blog, but I watch little of either because my visual entertainment time more often tends to be used watching sports and sports entertainment. Football, basketball, hockey, and baseball will be the sports I write about most, in that order, since those are the sports that I watch in that order of frequency and enthusiasm.Ā  Mixed martial arts may over time bleed into the sports blog because pro wrestling is my biggest passion in life and that blog which is currently split between rasslin’ and mma may over time just become completely dedicated to WWE, TNA, ROH, indies, lucha, and pureoso.

 

Many of my inspirations for pursuing a degree in journalism, which became a degree in media communications are sports journalists and/or sports broadcasters. Michael Wilbon, Tony Kornheiser, Jim Rome, Jonathan Hood, Bob Costas, Dan Patrick, Scott Van Pelt, Jim Lampley, Neil Everett, Bob Ryan, Max Kellerman, Skip Bayless, Woody Paige and Stephen A Smith have all provided me with equal parts entertainment and inspiration via radio and television for many years. Sports writers like Rick Reiley, David Haugh, Bert Sugar, Mitch Albom, Peter King, Bill Simmons, and Mike Lupica have all had me confusing reading nonfiction with being entertained, heaven forbid. These are my inspirations for sports writing/journalism, these will be the benchmarks I strive for as I try to grow and evolve as a writer.

 

Lastly, and what proves to be the main reason that I will be regularly writing a sports blog, is that I have personally been told by more strangers than any to be a sports reporter. From school child age through adulthood people I have met at parties, bars, coffee houses, and through friends have told me that I should be working for ESPN, FSN, Comcast, Dead Spin, etc. This is not simply a situation of me thinking I’m cool because my mom says so. I have been complimented on my intelligence, lexicon, charisma, style, etc by many people. However, it is almost solely been while talking about sports that I have been told that I should get involved with it in a journalistic or broadcasting related endeavor. So rather than resist, I will do as one of my favorite philosophers advises and follow the sign posts that come into my life. But I’ll save the philosophy for my philosophy blog. Now you and I both know the purpose of Sports Roll. Let the games begin.