Pamela Wood

Last week, the drama over the same-sex marriage bill in the Maryland House of Delegates developed at a frantic pace.

On Tuesday afternoon — Valentine’s Day — word quickly spread through Annapolis that a pair of committees considering the bill would hold a voting session.

I had been at the State House complex covering another story and headed back to the newsroom to file my story. Just as I was finishing up my story, our State House reporter sent back word that one of Anne Arundel’s Republican delegates was going to be a surprise vote in favor of the same-sex marriage bill.

That may not sound interesting, but in the world of politics, it was.

Supporters of the bill were squeezing every vote they could get, unsure that they could get a 71-vote majority in the 141-member House. Opponents of the bill were trying just as hard to get fence-sitters to commit to casting a “no” vote.

Our State House reporter only had his cell phone with him at the committee hearing — no laptop. He had been texting updates to our editor who handles legislative news.

But in this era of small staffs, our legislative editor also edits one of our smaller newspapers, and that newspaper was on deadline day. He had his hands full.

I volunteered to help, and the editor asked if I could stitch the reporter’s text messages together into a story. He handed his phone over to me. (Ahhh, the evil things I could have done! Just kidding, I like my editor!)

I texted our reporter to let him know that he could send updates directly to my phone. So between the texts on the editor’s phone and my phone, plus culling background information from past stories, I was able to drum up a little story.

We posted it online and it immediately drew attention. We were the first ones to nail down that this Republican was going to vote yes on same-sex marriage.

I knew we had done something good when one of the reporters from The Washington Post linked to the story on Twitter.

Of course, the excitement is fleeting. Within a couple of hours, the original story was replaced with one that lead off with the vote total from the committee. The Republican vote-changer still played a significant role in the story, but as soon as he officially cast his vote, our scoop was gone, turned into knowledge that all the other media had.

But still, it was exciting. And it was fun and a little odd to read quotes that were texted from another reporter to an editor and turn that into a story. Can’t say I’ve done that before.

Or, more accurately, that headline should be: What is your notebook?

I got to thinking about notebooks the other day at a concert. I noticed a couple of the musicians had marble composition notebooks on stage, filled with notes or maybe setlists — I’m not exactly sure.

It made me smile to see a hip band using such old-school notebooks.

When was the last time I used a composition notebook? Probably about the third grade.

Composition books are long gone from my life, but I have very serious thoughts about notebooks. Every reporter has strong opinions about notebooks!

I’ve seen my colleagues use all kinds of notebooks: legal pads, regular school-style notebooks, steno pads, reporter notebooks.

Reporter notebook -- product image from Betty Mills Co.

For most of my note-taking, I use standard reporter notebooks. For those who don’t know about reporter notebooks, they’ve got the spiral at the top. They’re kind of like steno pads, but only half as wide.

Reporter notebooks are great because they fit in the palm of your hand well. They also can be stuffed in a back pants pocket or tucked in a purse easily. (I’m not a purse-aholic, but when I do shop for new purses, I always check to see if a reporter notebook will fit.)

If you are ever at crime scenes, you might notice that police officers and fire investigators sometimes use similar notebooks. Often, they’re the same notebook, with just different lettering on the cover.

I also have a special place in my work world for steno pads.

I like to keep my phone messages all in one place and separate from my note-taking notebooks. I’ve found that steno pads work well — they have the spiral binding at the top, but they have more room for writing. Plus, the steno pad doesn’t get mixed up with my reporter notebooks.

I’m sure my colleagues have just as many reasons for their fierce allegiances to certain notebooks.

And then there are the pens. Don’t get me started about my pen preferences …

This post isn’t strictly about journalism, but bear with me, I’ll get there.

I learned through my friend Jenny about a neat project called Fun A Day. It’s geared toward creative types and the idea is to make art each and every day through the month of January.

A lot of us have the blahs in January, and it’s a motivator to get off your duff and do something creative. I loved the idea right away.

While my day job is as a reporter, one of my hobbies is photography. I’m sort of the family photographer, always photographing the little kids, the special occasions. Occasionally, I’ll do some nature photography, shooting pictures while out on hikes or out kayaking. (Photography while kayaking is a fun adventure! Try it some time … just not with an expensive camera the first time.)

When I shoot for work, I’m usually taking pictures of people in hats (watermen, biologists, cops, environmentalists) bending over looking at some sort of seafood (crabs, oysters, fish).

When I set out to take a picture each day in January, I knew I would not have my usual subjects handy. I don’t see my family every day, I don’t have time to visit parks during the week. And besides, it gets dark really early in January.

But more days than not, I found interesting, cool things to photograph. Some of my pictures were total duds. But I had a few I really liked.

I also kind of on a whim decided to make all of my pictures black-and-white. I usually shoot in color. I learned that some things look way cooler in black and white. Other times, things that look awesome in color just don’t translate well into black and white.

This is my first photo, a shoeprint in dried mud in my neighborhood:

For this one, I learned cold weather is not my friend. It was one of the few frigid, windy days we had in January (in the 20s) and I got windburn on my right wrist from shooting:

This one is my favorite from the  month, a tree branch that I kind of silhouetted as the sun set:

As I noted, the sun sets really early in January. That made outdoor pictures a challenge for me. Here’s a nighttime picture that I managed to pull off. One of the few  glimpses of snow we had this month:

I spotted these chairs near where I parked my car in Annapolis one day. If I hadn’t been doing Fun A Day, I would have noticed them, but kept walking. Instead, I took some pictures:

This one turned out cool and moody:

I made this one with my iPhone. A reminder of the saying that the best camera is the one that you’ve got in your hands:

Sometimes the picture you get isn’t the one you wanted. The creeks and rivers had an awesome fog on them one morning, but by the time I was able to get out of the newsroom on my lunch break, the fog was gone. But I liked how this picture turned out, with storm clouds moving out from over the Severn River:

Here’s one of the few with a person in it, my cousin Billy during a wrestling tournament:

And last but not least, I couldn’t go a month without shooting downtown Annapolis, could I? I saved City Dock for my last day:

So those are my favorite pictures. But I promised that I’d make this about journalism, right? This is a reporter’s blog after all.

I think there are lessons I learned in this art project that I can apply to being a reporter.

Reporters aren’t exactly creative types. We aren’t fiction writers — we can’t make up our characters or the situations they’re in for our stories.

But we can think differently. We can be always on the lookout for new or interesting things.

I found that when I was doing Fun A Day, I always had my eyes on. By that, I mean that I didn’t just rush from Point A to Point B as I went to the newsroom and interviews and ran errands and did the 8 million things we all do. As I was out and about, I tried to keep my eyes open, to look for interesting things.

Sometimes I took detours. One day, on my way to the State House, I took a lap around the grounds before I went in. It took just a few minutes, but I saw and photographed interesting things I had never noticed before.

That’s what I should be doing as a journalist — peeking around corners, going down a different hallway. You never know what interesting photo — or story — you might find.

… and I don’t actually have a joke for that.

What really happened is that three governors walked into a room  and a bunch of journalists wrote down what they said and took their pictures.

Gov. Martin O’Malley held a press conference in December to give the formal OK to a controversial state growth document called Plan Maryland.

The gov called in two high-powered Democratic buddies to bolster his case (and probably draw some more media attention, too): former Gov. Parris Glendening and former Gov. Harry Hughes. That’s half of the living former governors we have in Maryland — the other two are Gov. Marvin Mandel and Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.

Three governors in one place about five minutes from the newsroom meant that we definitely needed to be there.

I see Gov. Hughes at environmental events from time to time. He did a lot of environmental work when he was governor in the 1980s, and he remains connected with environmental causes.

Gov. Glendening, however, has kept his life much more behind the scenes. He’s not often at public events, though he’s still active in the smart growth issues he first championed as governor.

In addition to covering the press conference and writing about the controvery of Plan Maryland, I took the time to make a few pictures of Gov. Hughes and Gov. Glendening. It’s nice to have photos showing the post-gubernatorial life of these guys for our archives.

And also, it never hurts to have up-to-date pictures of people who might be in the news. They might say or do something interesting, and if we don’t have a camera there, at least we’ll have recent pictures.

Gov. Parris Glendening

Gov. Harry Hughes

Journalists love press contests. And we hate them, too.

January is contest time of year in my newsroom. By Monday, we have to turn in a list of our best stories for about 8, 724 different categories for the state press association.

(OK, technically it’s the press association for Maryland, Delaware and the District of Columbia … three small states combined is kind of like one normal-sized state. And it’s technically not 8,724 categories, of course.)

The categories really do seem endless: business story, environment story, feature story, profile story and so on. There’s now even a category for weather and natural disasters. (That should be an interesting competition this year!)

Sometimes journalists would like to skip the whole contest thing altogether. But you never know how much current bosses or prospective bosses might like to see those awards on your resume. So it’s smart to take the time to thoughtfully enter contests.

It’s daunting to sift through 200-plus stories to find a few gems.

The best of the best are obvious. Off the top of the head, I immediately thought of my profile of a skipjack captain and my many stories on the late Gov. William Donald Schaefer as my best work of 2011.

But what about other good — but not necessarily spectacular — stories?

Often, reading through old clips reminds me of stories I enjoyed reporting and writing. Or I find stories that were better than I remembered. I remembered meeting Orioles superstar Adam Jones at the local Boys & Girls Club. And I remember how a budget dispute highlighted how power works in the state capital.

But are those stories good enough for awards? Maybe, maybe not.

One thing I thought I did well this year was covering many citizen challenges to a proposed crematory. I covered every step of the way and I felt my stories were thorough and readable and fair. Other news outlets covered the issue somewhat, but no one was as comprehensive as my newspaper.

But is that worthy of an award? Or is that just what I should be doing every day? Solid work isn’t worthy of awards.

So the self-evaluation will continue.

In between interviews and meetings and phone calls, the reporters in my newsroom read and reread. And reread some more.

And after Monday, we’ll breathe a sigh of relief.

Newspapers, like most of us, tend to do the whole looking back/looking forward thing when the new year rolls around.

And it’s always someone’s task to compile a list of the top stories of the year. At The Capital, members of the newsroom submitted our own lists of top stories to an editor, who tallied them all.

I didn’t see everyone’s list, but I’d venture that most of us had at least six or seven news stories in common on our lists. It was usually the last few stories on the list, or stories on our own beats, that we thought were more important, but others may not have thought about.

This year’s list in The Capital includes 10 stories and five honorable mentions. The Maryland Gazette also has a north-county focused list.

You also can check out a year’s worth of awesome pictures from staff photographers Paul W. Gillespie, Joshua McKerrow and Laura-Chase McGehee.

In working on our lists, many of the reporters noticed how many stories were repeats from 2010, including the craptastic economy and politicians in trouble, including County Executive John R. Leopold. I suppose that’s an illustration of the old saying that the more things change, the more they stay the same. (Or, maybe it means we gravitate to the same stories over and over again, and maybe we should seek out new stories?)

I was heartened to see that many of the stories I contributed to made the list, although some of that was due to my stint filling in on the state politics beat for a few months. I was on the beat during a busy time, including the death of former Gov. William Donald Schaefer and the heart of the petition drive to overturn the Dream Act.

I also happened to be working when some of the stories happened, such as the Blue Angels cancellation and some of the (too) many deaths on the water. Others were all-hands-on-deck efforts that involved the entire staff, including the earthquake, Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee.

My only quibble with the list is the same one I have every year, which is that my biggest story — that the Chesapeake Bay’s health continues to be poor despite intense efforts to save it — didn’t make the list.

It frankly worries me a little that the thing I write about 90 percent of the time never makes the list. I guess part of the problem is that, to many, it’s sort of the same thing all the time, like the economy.

I thought 2011 was an interesting year for the Chesapeake Bay. The new pollution diet was immediately challenged in court and concerns about implementing the diet grew throughout the year, even from people who support the effort. Also, out of seemingly nowhere, rockfish poaching through illegal netting became a huge story. Then in the fall, a significant die-off of oysters in the upper bay was discovered. It was so bad that the last remaining skipjack captain on the Western Shore called it quits and sold his boat.

I think the bay is a compelling story. I’ll continue to write about the bay’s ups and downs, the politics of saving the bay, the stories of the people who work on the water. Maybe the bay will make the 2012 top stories list.

For the first time since I was in high school, I don’t have to work this week. I’m actually on vacation.

So first, I’d like to give a big, warm shout-out to all of my journalist friends who are trying to scare up interesting stories when the whole world seems to be on vacation. There are no government meetings, sources are out of town and even the police blotter is usually pretty quiet.

The last couple years, I was fortunate that there were big Dec. 31 deadlines for parts of the Chesapeake Bay “pollution diet.” The pollution diet is a federally-mandated program that requires states to cut pollution that harms the bay. So I had some news.

But I’d like to share one of my favorite last-week-of-the-year stories. I found a local yoga center that cancels its regular classes and holds special yoga classes for charity. It was a smart business move to keep customers connected and it benefited local charities, so that worked out pretty well for them. It also was a fun feature to write.

Happy New Year!

What’s the best winter holiday you’ve probably never heard of?

In my mind, it’s Bill of Rights Day, which falls on Dec. 15.

There are lots of great things in the Bill of Rights — the right to bear arms, the right to a speedy and fair trial, protection against unlawful search and seizure — but my favorite part is the First Amdendment.

Let's hear it for the Bill of Rights!

As a refresher, here it is:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

The First Amendment makes my job as a newspaper reporter possible.

Not only do Americans have freedom of speech in this country, but we can write down information and opinions and distribute it through the press — and the government generally can’t give us crap about it.

And the First Amendment makes sure we can do other cool stuff, too, like allowing us to worship (or not worship) as we please, to stage rallies and protests, to petition our government to change laws.

I won’t go on my First Amendment soapbox, but I do encourage you to check out the “1 for All” campaign that’s designed to raise awareness of the importance and awesomeness of the First Amendment.

I had a neat opportunity over the weekend to volunteer with a cool nonprofit effort called Help-Portrait.

It’s a nationwide — and actually, international, too — movement to help others through photography. Photographers, makeup artists, technical gurus and not-very-talented people like me join together to make portraits for people in need.

Each person who comes to a Help-Portrait event gets a free, professional 8×10 photo of themselves or their family. No strings attached.

The Help-Portrait Baltimore group set up two locations: Captivate Church near Patterson Park and the Helping Up Mission.

I baked cookies and worked with the hospitality crew at the church. Mostly, I sat and chatted with guests as they waited for their portraits to print. I got lots of kids hopped up on sugar and made plenty of cups of hot chocolate.

Believe it or not, I’m not really an outgoing person. I’m actually an introvert! So I was a little nervous at the beginning. But I put my reporter experience to good use. After all, I joke that I am a “professional question-asker.” I asked the guests questions and got them chatting about their families, why they came, what they were hoping for in their pictures.

Most of the folks who came were from the neighborhood. It’s not a great neighborhood, but it’s not a terrible one, either. The neighborhood has those blue-light police cameras and too much litter blowing down the streets. The folks didn’t seem to be in terrible straits, but they’re the kind of folks for whom a real professional portrait is probably out of reach. Some hadn’t had a nice photo done in years.

All of the guests really seemed to enjoy the experience. And so did the volunteers. The photographers, especially, really put a lot of time and attention into the event. They set up all their shots with crazy lights and reflectors and backdrops. I could tell they put just as much effort and heart into these photos as if they were being paid hundreds of dollars per family. They also were generous with their knowledge, explaining things to me as they were setting up and when there were breaks.

If you’re interested in Help-Portrait, I encourage you to check them out on their website or on Facebook.

One of the first things I do each day is scroll through my e-mail, the AP wire and my Twitter and Facebook accounts on the phone.

The other day I saw this intriguing tweet from the local Salvation Army:

I talked to the Salvation Army and it turned out to be a nice little warm-and-fuzzy story for the holidays. It’s not the biggest deal in the world — and this tends to happen from time to time in the Salvation Army’s red kettles — but it’s nice to write about positive things sometimes.

(As opposed to writing about, for example, this guy who is accused of bilking local schools by promising Ravens players for assemblies and then failing to deliver.)