ASK OUR GEEKS | What images should I use on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other social media sites?

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Finding the right image to use for each social media profile can be a challenge, especially for those of us without much graphic design experience or background. We can take the time to select the perfect profile photo, but as soon as it’s uploaded, we’ll see a grainy, stretched version of ourselves staring back. Not the most flattering! This article is meant as a quick, one-stop-shop guide to those pesky image dimensions on some of the major social channels. Keep in mind, these are always changing, but at least you’ll have a great place to start! Continue Reading

Why you should support the stories of the Lao diaspora

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As Little Laos on the Prairie blog celebrates its two-year anniversary of trailblazing the online presence of Lao voices, I’m embarking on a journey with my own little laptop and a good camera to collect the stories and capture the faces and spaces that connect the experiences of our Lao diaspora communities. Fellow photojournalists from the US on the West Coast, East Coast, Midwest, and the South as well as Laos are all contributing in this global photo essay effort. But why does this matter to any of us, right? I’m sure that’s what you’re asking. Continue Reading

COMMUNITY VOICES | Writing our way to success

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For a New American, few things can be as empowering and liberating as communicating through writing, be it a personal journal, a blog, for a voluntary newsletter or formal academic or business communication. In response to a Facebook status in which I informed my friends that I will be doing a monthly blog, some have asked me suggestions on how to initiate writing about our immigrant experiences here in the US. So I decided to devote this month’s blog on this topic.

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Fall resolutions: No point waiting for the new year

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I know it’s a bit too early to be making resolutions, but since I rung in 2013 by having a drunk girl lick my arm at First Avenue I can happily say I’m completely over New Year’s. For me, autumn is the time for change; change in the weather, change in the leaves, and changes for one’s career. It’s a transitional period marked by awkward discomfort but also by bold evolution. Continue Reading

A fond farewell to the Twin Cities Daily Planet

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In November 2007, I joined the Twin Cities Daily Planet as assistant editor. I asked Daily Planet editor Mary Turck if I could also be arts editor—since, after all, there were only two of us—and she said something along the lines of, “Sure, why not?”Six years—and 1,435 articles and blog posts—later, my time with the Daily Planet is coming to a close. On October 14, I’ll be making the move from the Daily Planet’s Seward headquarters to American Public Media, in what Garrison Keillor refers to as “hustling, bustling downtown St. Paul.” There, I’ll be joining the digital music team, working as an editor and writer on the websites of The Current and Classical Minnesota Public Radio.I’m excited for this new opportunity and very much looking forward to working with my talented new colleagues, but of course it’s hard to say goodbye to the Daily Planet, where I’ve had what feels less like a job than an odyssey. 2007 wasn’t that long ago, but when I started at the Daily Planet, MinnPost didn’t exist, METRO was a promising new monthly, and The Onion’s local A.V. Club didn’t even have a website. Continue Reading

Three talks kick off new Jewish Studies season

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Israeli documentaries, Russian-Jewish photography from the early twentieth-century, and Yiddish radio – these are a just a few of the topics that will be covered in this year’s Community Lecture Series, presented by the Center for Jewish Studies at the University of Minnesota. The series is celebrating its tenth year, and will kick off the season with three exciting programs in October. Continue Reading

Women who blog, women who farm

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Earlier this summer, I had a Deep Roots Radio chat with Elisa Camahort Page, a co-founder of BlogHer, an online community of women who blog. Although I’ve blogged for years – written and posted an online collection of farm stories and a growing archive of radio interviews – I had no idea there are millions of women doing the same thing on a wide range of issues and interests. In fact, reports Elisa, women who blog about food have made BlogHer one of the top three social media sites about the topic, along with Recipes.com and Food Network. Continue Reading

Why Popular Science banned comments — and why we won’t

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“Comments can be bad for science,” wrote Popular Science Editor Suzanne LaBarre this week, announcing that the magazine is shutting down comments. That’s a tempting option for many discouraged by racist, homophobic or just plain ignorant voices that sometimes dominate the “comment cesspools.” After reading the 78 comments on one of this month’s most-read articles, I think it’s the wrong solution.The article, Domestic violence against Hmong women: The silent truth by Kaonou Hang-Vue, is a carefully written, thoughtful and eloquent call to “Hmong men and women [to] both stand up to fight for this cause together. It’s not a man-woman issue, it’s a community issue that can only be challenged and fixed by the collaboration of the whole Hmong community.”Sure, some of the commenters displayed almost comical ignorance, such as the one who proudly stated, “I didn’t read the article but only read the comments,” and then went on to criticize the article that he hasn’t read. Other commenters misstated facts or denounced the writer for statements that she did not make. Continue Reading

Seeking Creative Minds!

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The Corcoran Newspaper is seeking some of Corcoran’s creative thinkers, writers, photographers and more to assist with our monthly publication. Volunteers assist in all aspects of the paper: brainstorming, writing, editing, and layout. If you are interested in helping out in any of these capacities send us an email at news@corcoranneighborhood.org.Contribute, advertise, or learn more about Corcoran News.Click here for current edition. Continue Reading