Pardon My French

It was by a strange chain of events that I came to be mentored by a Pulitzer Prize Winning Journalist.

Earlier this year, I came upon a writing contest called “The Coffee Shop Chronicles” while looking for writing gigs on Craigslist. My story could be featured in anthology the publishers were assembling and the winner could earn a gift card to their favorite coffee shop. The rules were simple: be creative, keep it short, and the story should have something to do with coffee.

I sat down at my computer and started writing. I didn’t stop for several hours and came up with a story that wasn’t short enough to be eligible for the contest. I posted it to my blog, considered the entire writing experience an inspiration and then put the whole thing to bed.

The very next day I woke up to a comment from a man named Thorn Sully of A Word With You Press, Publishers and Purveyors of Fine Stories. He was thrilled that his contest was able to inspire me, agreed that my story was a bit long, but posted it to his blog, anyway. It turns out that Thorn is a very kind human being who has a lot of passion for words. As I am always inspired by people who love what they do, We stayed in touch via email and I kept up with his blog.

Some months later, I found out that the creative team had decided to be bend the rules a little bit and publish my story in the anthology “The Coffee Shop Chronicles Vol. 1: Oh The Places I Have Bean” anyway. I was thrilled, as I have never been published before.

A Word With You Press isn’t just a publishing house, however. They also offer workshops and seminars. And I recently attended one of these workshops.

I drove out to their headquarters in Oceanside, California, which is about an hour and a half outside of Los Angeles to attend a workshop put on by Jonathan Freedman. Freedman won a Pulitzer Prize in 1987 for his series of editorials that urged the passage of the first major immigration reform act in 34 years. (These were published in The Tribune in San Diego, Calif.) I was pretty excited to attend as I had first read his work during college and it struck a cord with me. It’s one of those pieces of writing that every time you pick it up, doesn’t matter how many times you’ve read it, you have to read it all the way through. That’s how good it is.

Freedman’s career hasn’t been rooted exclusively in editorial writing, however. He has also worked as a foreign correspondent, written novels, books meant to inspire social change and children’s books.

I have been trying to will my pen to write fiction for some time, but because the world of journalism and fiction exist on opposite ends of the universe, this is something that doesn’t necessarily come easy to me. I saw this as the most perfect venue to bridge my passions– with someone who is an expert in both media.

At first I was very intimidated by Jonathan, but he was actually very warm and receptive to what I had to say. I ended up picking his brain, asking him questions about his voice and how he had come to develop his eye for detail. We ended up talking about my own journalism project, Perfect Stranger L.A. and he seemed genuinely impressed. Later, he offered to be my mentor to help guide me toward success. I, of course, was speechless.

I have never before had any professional in the field take an interest in my work.

I’ve always felt very jealous upon hearing friends and colleagues talk about the great contacts that they have made in their designated fields. Networking is something that I have never excelled at. I can wander up to any stranger and ask them about their day in the life, but I have a very difficult time putting myself up on a pedestal and explaining to people why I am worth their time.

I’m just happy that I can now say that I have at least made some beginning steps in the right direction.

It’s always when I least expect it that I discover the most interesting stories for the Perfect Stranger L.A. project.

From the back room of a Los Feliz Frozen Yogurt shop, leaning over an economy sized sink filled with dishes, I found a very tall, 18-year-old Mexican man from Highland Park, wearing a face that expressed permanent exhaustion and defeat.

Typical questions about school, work’s proximity to home and place of origin led rather unexpectedly to a gripping tale of murder and the giving up on a lifelong dream.

This stranger’s eyes became alive when he explained to me that there was nothing in the world that he loved more than working on cars– and that it was his dad who first made him interested in the trade from a very young age.

His father was a man who was very involved in Los Angeles underground street racing. And when this stranger’s father went up against a duo of men who wagered a bet they had no intention of ever paying, he met his match. Weeks later, dad came to collect the debt and was consequently shot eight times, the final bullet striking him in the head.

From that day on his son vowed to never again pick up a wrench.

This first meeting was brief. A fellow employee at my part-time cashier job, there wasn’t a lot of time for us to talk, and so I scheduled a Perfect Stranger L.A. interview with him during the weekend.

I had some time to consider which questions I would ask, and carefully structured my interview based on the tragedy of this young man’s story.

So, you must imagine the confusion and shock I felt during the interview when this stranger told a completely different story of how his father was killed.

In the on the record version, Dad was addicted to gambling. He won a game of Poker and was later shot when he came to claim his winnings.

I started become aware of more inconsistencies in the story as the interview went on.

The number of times his father was shot, the location of the murder, the number of years ago that this occurred–all changed throughout the interview.

Questions that attempted to make the story more clear brought answers that only further confused me. And later, while I was reviewing my notes, I noticed blatant contradictions, in tone and the chronology of events from page to page.

Because I simply couldn’t get the story straight I decided that it would be irresponsible of me to write the story.

I’m not fact checking every single thing that I write down and a lot of what I’m told I really can’t verify.

Honestly, people could and probably have lied about things that they have said and done, knowing that I couldn’t prove it either way.

Journalism is about telling the truth, but, because I know only what comes from the mouths of the people I find on the street, I know only what people tell me.

When I really think about it, though, I feel in some cases that the absolute truth can be secondary to who these people really are. It’s the nature of these stories and how the strangers tell them to me that really defines the kind of work I’m trying to accomplish.

I saw them as ordinary words. The kind that didn’t belong to anyone in particular, used by everyone, every single day in all languages across the globe.

The words “Beautiful Stranger” were unwanted stand-bys, too cliche’ and tired to hold any kind of deep meaning. And yet, somehow, when paired with my work they took on an entirely different meaning, perfectly conveying the tone of what my journalism project is all about–a passionate person’s inside look at the real people wandering the streets of Los Angeles. That’s why I decided to adopt them as my own.

My sources expressed a fondness for the title and I grew even more attached.

That’s why I was so frustrated and disappointed when I recently had to change it.

I received an email earlier this week from a woman named Abby Wallach, the owner and founder of a website called BeautifulStranger.TV, in which she respectfully requested that I change the name of my blog and URL address.

Apparently, she owns the legal right and trademark to the full name and all variations of “Beautiful Stranger” worldwide.

I consulted with Media Law Professor in the Journalism Department at CMU, Timothy Boudreau, who told me that Wallach does have me–on a technicality. The terms of the trademark revolve around commerce–and while I am not selling anything–my website ends in dotcom. These days, anyone can have a dotcom site, whether they are a business or not, but the written rules aren’t quite caught up, yet.

I did some research and learned that the grounds for a trademark lawsuit are based on the fear of an ordinary person confusing the two websites or thinking that one is associated with the other.

Because our websites are so different (hers is a video fashion site that pushes the sales of the clothing, accessories and beauty products) and because an ordinary person would never just stumble upon my website if they didn’t already know where to look, I know there’s no way anyone could ever confuse the two.

My project is based on my passion for journalism writing and story telling. I don’t get paid in any way and I’m not attempting to sell anything.

I couldn’t help but feel that her ordering a name change was unjust and it was a bit cruel of her to single out the little guy who clearly is not in direct competition with her in any way.

I have a Google alert on the words “Beautiful Stranger”, which means that every time someone out in the blogosphere used those words, I received an email notification of the occurrence. This means tons of links were brought to my attention every single day.

This trademark happens to be the name of a popular pop song (by Madonna), is used every other day in the headlines of web news articles and is in the URL of probably 15 percent of the iGeneration’s old Myspace accounts.

The example I used with friends and family to express my frustration and confusion was that I felt that this incident is like someone naming their newborn baby daughter Tiffany and then stating that no one else on Earth can call their child by the same name.

It’s been a very challenging week for my nerves.

I’ve had to change my domain and remodify my page, changes that took weeks to get exactly how I wanted them. I again had to call on my friend, web designer Erol Ahmed to help me get everything straightened out.

Phil installed a redirect on my site so that anyone who tries to visit BeautifulStrangerLA.com will be rerouted to http://PerfectStrangerLA.com. I’ve ordered new business cards and changed my Twitter account–neither of which was a challenge. But my Facebook Fan Page was definitely a test from God.

It turns out that the Facebook Page technology isn’t advanced enough to make simple edits to the name of the page or to change the category that it falls into.

I had to remake the entire page and start my fan following over from scratch just because I needed to rename it.

After I remade it the first time, including all of the data about my project, I realized that the category the page was filed under was not correct and I had to scrap it and begin again.

When I wanted to message all friends of the “Beautiful Stranger” page, I couldn’t find the option to message all followers and so I contacted all 133 people individually. Later, when I discovered that there was such an option, my head nearly exploded.

The more I think about it, the more I feel that the name change to “Perfect Stranger L.A.” is more fitting for the project. I’ve checked online registries for Trademarks online and haven’t come upon anything with the name. I’m looking at it as though this is a fresh start with a new name and I’m excited by all of the possibilities.

I’ve vented out all of my frustration, I’ve picked up the pieces and I’m moving on. I just hope that I never have to go through anything like this ever again, as this was not only a huge inconvenience, but it also meant I lost something that I consider to be part of my identity.

I went from being without a job on Monday to having two jobs on Friday.

Last week was definitely a weird one.

I was perusing Craigslist last Friday, as usual, and sending off emails with my credentials to every writing/editing job and “gig” that I qualified for. (I’ve been hitting the pavement pretty hard since I’ve moved to California but haven’t been having much luck.) Occasionally I get an interview, but rarely do I ever about these job opportunities, again.

That’s why I was surprised when I almost immediately received an email back from a Science Fiction website I had contacted. The Craigslist ad hadn’t listed much information about the job, only that this was a new site who needed news writers. In the signature of the email, one of the website’s founders listed the URL of the site–MyOuterSpace.com.

A social networking site for creative people in the science fiction genre. MOS is a network that targets science fiction, horror and fantasy fans seeking a career in the science fiction industry. Divided into 12 network categories called “Planets”, each Planet represents a different entertainment art. For example: Orpheus is a place for musicians, bands, singers and songwriters while Creatia is an area designated for writers and directors.

MuOuterspace also has “Starships” which are like virtual production companies, each working on a project that’s being made into a film, stage or animated production. If higher ups on the site like the work being done by a particular member of the website, these people may be presented with an opportunity to work on one of these various projects.

I had heard of these guys.

Phil had mentioned that he registered on the site after he saw a tweet about MyOuterSpace from William Shatner’s Twitter account. (According to various news sources, the site had 20,000 hits within the first hour of this tweet. The site crashed several times during the first week of it’s launch because of the high traffic on MOS.)

After some back and forth, one of the site’s founders requested that I come sit in on a writers meeting. I was expecting some sort of in depth interview process, but at some point during this meeting I realized that I was already considered to be a writer for the website.

So, through this somewhat bizarre twist in events, I became a staff writer for William Shatner’s social networking website. I’ve written a few minor stories so far, not a whole lot, yet, but it sounds like I’ll primarily be working on Sci-Fi news, site news, features with The SyFy channel as my beat. I’m hoping for the opportunity to produce lots and lots of content.

I also grabbed up a job working at a local frozen yogurt place that’s opening up the street from us. It sounds like I’ll be working the cash register and doing general dealing with customers. The store’s owner asked me if I was sure that I wanted to work there “Because I’m way overqualified,” he said. But, work is still thin for me. As long as I’m writing, I’m actually quite pleased with this job. I’d like to be able to get out of the house (I’ll be doing my MOS work from home) to go do some work, whether it’s mundane or not. I’m also hoping it will bring me into contact with some interesting people for the Perfect Stranger Project. The store is scheduled to open next Monday.

Neither of these jobs offer a benefits package so I’m still on the look out for more opportunities. I like to think that this just falls in line with what I’ve always been told– to never, ever stop looking for a job and to never settle.

I recently started experimenting with conducting Perfect Stranger interviews at local events (Capcom’s Fight Club, a promo event for the release of the new “Street Fighter IV” video game, and a local zombie walk) and the results have been good.

The day that I posted my story from the Zombie walk, I received a record number of hits to the website. The Facebook Fan Page is growing every week and more people are becoming loyal readers.

Check out http://PerfectStrangerLA.com if you haven’t lately. I’m actually quite pleased with my work as of late.

I’ve always been a people watcher. But, since I’ve started Perfect Stranger, I’ve transitioned to always being consciously on the look out for interesting looking strangers.

Friends who wander around with me during my more active scouting sessions have been asking questions like “Why not that lady?” Or “why won’t you talk to anyone inside that coffee shop?”

The explanations that accompany these questions have already been considered and molded into a set of “rules” based on the initial Beautiful Stranger encounters and what I’ve learned through studying and practicing journalism over the last 5 years.

Because the project is still very young, there are likely more of these rules to be made based on experiences as they happen, but I’ve otherwise laid out some pretty specific stylistic, ethical and overall general rules for the project.

Here’s what I have at this point:

Perfect Stranger: Style, Ethics and General Rules of Thumb:

-I never interview anyone inside the doors of a place of business. I’ve made an exception for open outdoor facilities when a (really interesting looking) potential source looks like they are not busy, but because I don’t know the management rules for every coffee shop in L.A., I’m being careful. I don’t want to make any trouble for myself. I also don’t want to risk being labeled a solicitor.

-A huge part of the purpose of this project is to capture the diversity of Los Angeles. I never interview someone in the same neighborhood two days in a row. I try to keep in mind a source’s occupation, place of origin, age, race, creed, whether or not a source is male or female and do my best to keep these varied in posted sequence.

-I can and do interview people who live in my neighborhood, Los Feliz, but I will not interview anyone who lives in my building or approach anyone on my street.

-I don’t necessarily need a source to give their birth name, full name or age. I work with what people give me and understand that’s part of what makes people feel comfortable enough to talk to me.

-I try to keep all interviews during the day. I won’t conduct an interview at night unless I am accompanied by someone I trust or I happen to be at a crowded event.

-Perfect Stranger is not intended to work as a mouthpiece for putting down other people, or to be used as a means to exclusively promote oneself or business.

-There’s not a magic number of words per article and all will vary in length. Interviews are never very long, usually lasting between 10 and 15 minutes–the fruit of these interviews is dependent upon a number of factors including: the type of questions I ask, how open and articulate a source happens to be and the overall nature of the subject of the interview.

-Interviews can be presented on the site either in the form of raw transcriptions or as feature articles.

-When I speak to a person who either make their living or lives on the street, I pay for these person’s time, whether that be through giving he/she a few dollars or by buying this individual something to eat.

-People can and are encouraged to contact me to give me more information (that they didn’t think about until later), to give me feedback on the end results of their article, or to notify me about local cultural and entertainment related events. No source or person whom I have handed my card is ever a burden.