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Category: Life

Laid Off, But Still Gonzo: A New Way To Support Kit’s Writing

Posted in Journalism, Life, and MintPress News

A little over a week ago, I learned that MintPress News is “restructuring,” and eliminating most of their original writing, including my position as staff writer. That means the end of the full time job I’ve held since October 2014.

I’ve had a lot of adventures with MintPress, from getting banned from Nieman Marcus while covering the American Legislative Exchange Council to traveling to Philadelphia for the protests at the Democratic National Convention. It’s been a shock to realize that my work there will come to an end in January, and just days before the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump.

2016 has been a bizarre year, full of unexpected losses, unbelievable stories and a few hard-won victories. Around the country, hundreds of organizations and thousands of activists and organizers are planning not just for January 20, but the next 4 years. I don’t want to lose my voice just as things are really popping off in America.

With your help, I can still be there on the front lines publishing stories of resistance. Today, I’m launching a Patreon account as a way of supporting my ongoing journalism. I’m asking my readers and fans to donate on a monthly basis as a way of keeping my writing alive.

Standing Up ‘For The Greater Good’: Kit Will Report From Green Party Convention

Posted in Journalism, Life, and MintPress News

As the Green Party’s Presidential Nominating Convention convenes in Houston, there’s renewed attention on the party’s presumptive nominee, Dr. Jill Stein, and increased interest in third-party alternatives to the American two-party duopoly.

On Saturday, MintPress News will be at the University of Houston, where Stein and her running mate, human rights scholar and activist Ajamu Baraka, are expected to accept the Green Party’s nomination for president and vice president.

Polls consistently show that Americans are deeply dissatisfied with the political status quo. Just 9 percent of U.S. residents voted for either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump in the primaries, according to The New York Times. In a poll conducted in May by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, some 90 percent of voters expressed a lack of confidence in the American political system, while 40 percent said that the two-party system is “seriously broken.”

See You In Philly: Kit Will Report Live From DNC 2016 Protests

Posted in Journalism, Life, and MintPress News

While delegates rally and Hillary Clinton turns on the charm at the upcoming Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, the streets will be full of activists demanding justice.

MintPress News reporter Kit O’Connell will be there as supporters of Green Party candidate Jill Stein demand that she have access to the voting ballots and the debates. He’ll be at a march to end the war on cannabis users and growers. And he’ll talk to other activists representing diverse causes as they protest, march and rally outside the Wells Fargo Center from July 25 to 28.

A New Look For Approx. 8,000 Words

Posted in Journalism, Life, and Website

If this isn’t your first visit, you may notice that my website changed in the past month.

I created this website when I finally got tired of keeping a LiveJournal and decided it was time to launch a real online identity. I’ve been a writer in various genres since my teens, but 8 years ago I was mostly focused on writing fiction. In 2008, I designed Approximately 8,000 Words to look like an old-fashioned manuscript format submission that a writer might send to an editor.

It’s halfway through a new decade, and I’m now working full time as a journalist. My homepage was overdue for a new look. I’m still fine-tuning things, and slowly crossposting most of my reports for MintPress News and other sites, but I hope you enjoy what you see.

My First Tattoo: A Semicolon

Posted in Austin, Life, Other Writing, and Polyamory

A semicolon tattoo on Kit's bicep. A yellow shirt can also be seen.
; is the pause that refreshes.

Today I got my first tattoo.

Why did I select a semicolon for my first tattoo? They’ve always been my favorite punctuation, ever since an English teacher showed me how to use them properly. It felt like esoteric knowledge. It felt like being let into a secret club of writers and I’ve never really stopped writing.

My writer friend Steven Brust also has a semi-colon tattoo, and after all we shared together it felt fitting to have matching body art. I look forward to getting a photo of both our semicolons next time he visits Austin.

Kit in a yellow shirt sitting in a chair while James works on his arm with the tattoo machine.
James Hill, of Shaman Modifications, modifying Kit.

Symbolically, I also like the what the semicolon represents — bringing two sentences together or joining disparate ideas. It might be the least used and most misunderstood of the common punctuation marks too, and I also like that. The same teacher who told me about how to use them also quipped that people are so afraid of the semicolon that you could use one to fend off muggers.

Since deciding that this would be my first tattoo, I also learned about The Semicolon Project. Though I’ve never been suicidal, I’ve dealt with debilitating depression and helped loved ones and family through their own suicide attempts. It’s not why I got this tattoo, but I am happy to display the project’s symbol.

And as if that weren’t enough, it turns out that today is coincidentally National Punctuation Day. I’d link you to the official homepage for the day, but people apparently love punctuation too much and it’s crashed.

Thanks James Hall at Shaman Modifications so easy, relatively painless and beautiful!