goodbye, paste.

Dear interns of the future,

Wear sunscreen.

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.

In the world of magazine internships, you usually get as much from the experience as you put in. No one is going to baby to you, so the best advice I can give you is to constantly pitch to your strengths (especially to Nick, who is your greatest alley and always there to help). I'm sure you'll learn a lot and do a lot of little tasks along the way, but walking away with even just one story or review makes it all worthwhile.

--If you don't have Excel, try to get it now. You'll need it to do the CD spreadsheeting.
--Conquer the Google Reader hourly. Not only is it good for the site, its good to know what's happening in the news. It makes you look smart, and stuff. Use that smartness to pitch Austin stories about things you like so you don't spend 2 hours trying to write a story about some obscure band you hate. If you pitch him enough stories every morning (before 10AM), you will probably get to write about things you like everyday, thus making you happy.
--Learn how to work the phone. I never did, and always felt bad when it rang and no one else was around.
--Read some back issues of Paste. Or, you know, all of them. It's a small thing that will inevitably prove pretty helpful. Promise.
--If the line is really long at the PO, go ahead and try asking someone at the desk if you can skip it and just get the overflow. Some people say no, but when they say yes it saves you a lot of standing around time.
--Mocha Match has the best muffins ever, and they heat them up for you. Cha-ching!
--Whenever you're comfortable, ask one of the editors you admire out to lunch to pick their brain. I've done this at every magazine I've ever worked at, and one time it even changed my life. Thats no joke.
--Always volunteer to transcribe. Transcribing is one of those things people assume is horrible, that actually isn't that bad. And guess what? You get to covertly learn the staff's interviewing techniques, thus gaining knowledge. And you know what they say about knowledge....(power, people. It's power).
--Many of you probably aren't from here, which is cool. Now you get to explore a new city! Warning: Atlanta is super lame. Make friends with someone with good taste and a car and have them take you to Athens. When you arrive, request (in this order): Agora, Clocked, 40 Watt. Full disclosure: Atlanta isn't that lame. I'm just from Athens.
--Aim to do at least one "Catching Up With..." and one "Band of the Week" for the web before you leave.
--Ask Jeremy thousands of questions everyday. Talk to him about "Pushing Daisies" and check out his web stories, they are amazing. He's pretty much the nicest person alive and he will be able to get you through anything.
--Just go ahead and take the trash out every Friday. Don't make Rachael nag you, she has better things to do (read her web postings, they are hilarious!)
--Criminal Records has $1 vinyl. Its good. But chances are I take the good stuff every week. But who knows, maybe you have better taste than me? Either way, I'm outta here Feb. 1, so have at it!

Finally, enjoy yourself! Try to make Austin read Harry Potter, go talk to Kevin whenever you are stressed (his smile is an insta-pick up), chat up Nick when you are hungry (dude seriously knows where all the good food is), go see Steve's band (Attractive 80's Women) and do lots of trivia. Go to ED2010 events and try not to get down about the state of the magazine industry. There is room for everyone, if you believe.

But trust me on the sunscreen.

x. Lo