JRN 490 Journal Entries
For my senior capstone, I had to write weekly-ish journals to show where I was at progress wise. Follow along on the semester long journey of creating this labor of love.
Journal 1
This week I finally got my footing with the all encompassing project that this class presents. I was able to nail down my topic — my pitch is modern witchcraft and its relevance in popular culture, with a look at social media and its influence there. I was able to secure an interview with a Brooklyn-based witch who has over 100k followers on TikTok, so that’s exciting. We just have to nail down a date to do the initial interview, but nonetheless I’m excited.
I’m still hunting for local witches (haha the pun there), so I’m hoping to pop into a few crystal shops this week and hopefully find some more sources. Also still hunting for some information on Long Island’s history of witchcraft, but I’m hoping to start getting some stuff written up for draft. Also need to make a website for the project, which I should have done by class time this week.
That’s all for now!
Journal 2
Holy moly what a week. After a lot of consideration and hours of thinking and playing a mental game of tug-of-war, I’ve decided to modify my pitch. I found myself being pigeon-holed by focusing on just witchcraft, so I’ve decided to take a bit of a more open approach, and am focusing on the occult as a whole— basically anything that society deems “dark” or “unnatural.”
Since modifying my pitch, and making a Facebook post asking if any of my family and friends know anyone who would fall under the umbrella of my pitch, I’ve received a bunch of potential sources, including a Delaware witches group on Facebook that one of my cousins is part of. I still have to make a post to the group asking if anyone is interested in being interviewed/a part of my project, but that’s on my todo list for the weekend.
More excitingly, I was able to secure interviews with not one, but TWO sources!! The first interview is set for next Thursday with Tara Lamberti, a medium. She also has connections with loads of witches, Wiccans, and anything else my heart desires. Very excited to chat with her!!
My second interview will occur next Friday with Janet Russell, a spiritual medium who was abducted by aliens. We’ve been chatting over Facebook all day, and she is bringing documents from others who were also abducted.
The brickwall I felt myself in front of is not looking so scary anymore, and I’m excited to finally get the ball rolling! I created a wix site for the project, but I also want to experiment with a square space site as well, and see which one is more user friendly, because when it comes to websites, I have no clue whatI’m doing.
That’s all for now!
Journal 3/4
I dropped the ball last week, and totally forgot to write a journal entry. I had a lot of personal stuff going on, and still do but I’m not just screaming into the void this week. I’ve done two interviews since my last entry, and am setting up a third in the upcoming days. I have to transcribe my interviews this week, both are lengthy and were wonderful to be able to do. I plan on meeting with both Janet and Tara again, to get some multimedia elements. I also found an article about the witch of East Hampton who was alive in the 1600s, so I plan on researching her a bit more.
That’s all for now!
Journal 5 ish
Started transcribing my interviews, send help.
Journal 6
Draft is started, still trying to solidify my last few sources. It’ll be interesting to see how it changes when it comes to the final draft.
Journal 7
Starting to plan out the multimedia elements for my final piece, and have solidified a third witch to interview. She even agreed to let me film her doing a tarot reading, so I’m really excited to add that element to the project. Draft is a little stagnant, but I plan on picking that back up this week.
Journal 8-11
Mid-semester slump hit me hard, I’m not even gonna lie. Good news is that my website is up, and my draft is almost done. This semester has kicked me where the sun don’t shine but it’s fine, because that’s what the real world is like. I’d say it’s been hell, but part of being an adult is making it work. Fake it till you make it!