#jonathan is team photog

[crewmannumbersix]

but baseball is pretty good, too

Relationship: Robin Buckley/Nancy Wheeler

Word Count: 13,058

Chapters: 1/2

Summary: LA Dodger's social media manager Robin Buckley navigates her best friend starting at first base, trying to set said best friend up with the rock star throwing out the first pitch, and her embarrassingly large crush on SportsNetLA's on-field reporter, Nancy Wheeler.

Read it on AO3.

[reportfruit8-blog]

Staying on the rails

When my editor sent me the description for this issue, there was something in it about managing brokers being the “linchpin” of a real estate office. This is a word that people aren’t using enough. And if you say it a bunch of times, it makes no sense. I went down an interwebs rabbit hole and discovered that the word describes a fastener used to prevent a wheel from sliding off an axle. That totally sums up in a nutshell what managing brokers do! Now that we’ve got that covered, see if you can’t manage to use that word in a sentence with your agents this coming week and make them impressed with your deep vocabulary. As usual, you’re welcome.

Now for the gossip. In case you were wondering why traffic has been so light lately, it’s because all the CPS folks were out for spring break. Well, they’re all back, so enjoy getting stuck behind the wheel again in the morning and middle of the afternoon. Coolest vacation locale? One agent told me she went to Egypt for the break.

If you see Danny Lewis around, make sure to ask to see his feet. Even if you’re not necessarily into feet (no judgement either way), you might just catch him in those new Zillow Preferred Agent socks he’s so proud of.

Dan Kieres may be the big boss at his new brokerage, but in between showings he’s basically a chauffeur to the little munchkins in his life. I recently saw a video of Dan running down the block in a full suit while pulling a wagon full of toddlers. Now that’s multitasking.

Melissa Govedarica welcomed her new grandson to the world on Tax Day. I couldn’t believe it either when I heard the news. Ms. Govedarica looks like she is barely old enough to have children, let alone grandchildren.

There are a lot of ways leaders work to build healthy relationships on their teams, and it turns out sweat equity is one of them. The Sarah Leonard Team proved this with a recent mid-day gym selfie. You know the old saying: The team that pumps iron together stays together.

I’m a bit light on the happenings around town in this issue, which I’m sure has nothing to do with me falling in a bush after a recent unnamed event. I will say that CA’s expert photog Dan Machnik is already shooting some Who’s Who candidates this month around town, and I may or may not be one of his subjects. Cool location shoots include places like 727 Madison, One Bennett Park and The Cooper.

Let’s get cracking on wishing our spring babies a happy birthday. Nancy Taylor and Steve McEwen share an April 29th birthday, while Marty Winefield will get a birthday balloon on April 30. Nicole Fabiano Oertel and Justin Lopatin share a May 2 birthday, and Leslie Struthers can do her own thing on May 3. Francisco Quintero and Susie Pearson should head out together to party on May 4. Nykea Pippion McGriff can thank her parents for her birth (and her cool name) on May 6, while Sam Powell may get lucky on May 7. Danielle Dowell and Eve Benton celebrate on May 9, and Katherine Sather gets down on May 10. Last, but not least, Mimi Harpur, Brett Decker, Jonathan McCulloch and Joe Caltabiano should toast their moms on their May 12 bdays, because not only did those moms bring them into the world on that day, but it also happens to be Mother’s Day.

Source: https://chicagoagentmagazine.com/2019/04/29/staying-on-the-rails/

[woundepoxy53-blog]

Staying on the rails

When my editor sent me the description for this issue, there was something in it about managing brokers being the “linchpin” of a real estate office. This is a word that people aren’t using enough. And if you say it a bunch of times, it makes no sense. I went down an interwebs rabbit hole and discovered that the word describes a fastener used to prevent a wheel from sliding off an axle. That totally sums up in a nutshell what managing brokers do! Now that we’ve got that covered, see if you can’t manage to use that word in a sentence with your agents this coming week and make them impressed with your deep vocabulary. As usual, you’re welcome.

Now for the gossip. In case you were wondering why traffic has been so light lately, it’s because all the CPS folks were out for spring break. Well, they’re all back, so enjoy getting stuck behind the wheel again in the morning and middle of the afternoon. Coolest vacation locale? One agent told me she went to Egypt for the break.

If you see Danny Lewis around, make sure to ask to see his feet. Even if you’re not necessarily into feet (no judgement either way), you might just catch him in those new Zillow Preferred Agent socks he’s so proud of.

Dan Kieres may be the big boss at his new brokerage, but in between showings he’s basically a chauffeur to the little munchkins in his life. I recently saw a video of Dan running down the block in a full suit while pulling a wagon full of toddlers. Now that’s multitasking.

Melissa Govedarica welcomed her new grandson to the world on Tax Day. I couldn’t believe it either when I heard the news. Ms. Govedarica looks like she is barely old enough to have children, let alone grandchildren.

There are a lot of ways leaders work to build healthy relationships on their teams, and it turns out sweat equity is one of them. The Sarah Leonard Team proved this with a recent mid-day gym selfie. You know the old saying: The team that pumps iron together stays together.

I’m a bit light on the happenings around town in this issue, which I’m sure has nothing to do with me falling in a bush after a recent unnamed event. I will say that CA’s expert photog Dan Machnik is already shooting some Who’s Who candidates this month around town, and I may or may not be one of his subjects. Cool location shoots include places like 727 Madison, One Bennett Park and The Cooper.

Let’s get cracking on wishing our spring babies a happy birthday. Nancy Taylor and Steve McEwen share an April 29th birthday, while Marty Winefield will get a birthday balloon on April 30. Nicole Fabiano Oertel and Justin Lopatin share a May 2 birthday, and Leslie Struthers can do her own thing on May 3. Francisco Quintero and Susie Pearson should head out together to party on May 4. Nykea Pippion McGriff can thank her parents for her birth (and her cool name) on May 6, while Sam Powell may get lucky on May 7. Danielle Dowell and Eve Benton celebrate on May 9, and Katherine Sather gets down on May 10. Last, but not least, Mimi Harpur, Brett Decker, Jonathan McCulloch and Joe Caltabiano should toast their moms on their May 12 bdays, because not only did those moms bring them into the world on that day, but it also happens to be Mother’s Day.

Source: https://chicagoagentmagazine.com/2019/04/29/staying-on-the-rails/

[elisehu]

Covering curling with my friend Jonathan Cheng of the WSJ, who is now OBSESSED with curling.

It’s the final day of the Winter Games in Pyeongchang and Gangneung. Covering these games was crazy intense, the whole way through. I can’t reflect really well without hindsight, so instead, here’s a round of cheers and jeers.

Cheers

The sports. What I love about the Winter Olympics is how utterly death-defying all of the events are, maybe with the exception of curling. But for basically every other event (skeleton, anyone?), a mere mortal would DIE trying it. I am exactly the kind of person who cannot maintain my cool when watching things like figure skating jumps. I cringe and audibly react with an “OH OWWWWW” when someone falls on the ice.

Curling. There’s something so magical about the perfect stones and the special shoes (one glides, the other doesn’t) and the terminology like “hog line” and “hammer.” I have come to really enjoy going to see curling more than anything else. The best night of curling happened with WSJ’s curling aficionado and sportswriter Jim Chairsumi happened to come have dinner with us and came with me to catch some curling. He gave the play-by-play and context, making the whole experience that much better. Thanks, Jim!

The Garlic Girls, aka Team Kim. The breakout sensation of these Games are four girls from the sticks, a garlic-producing town called Uiseong, which charmed the nation with their improbable victories in curling over the world’s best. Friend Jon (from the WSJ) and I accidentally stumbled on these women when we went to curling with the aforementioned Jim. They were mesmerizing to watch, and interesting off the ice, too. They have nicknames based on their favorite foods (“Steak” is my fave), a skip who is stone-faced, which inspired hella memes, and an excellent curling strategist. That they made it to the gold medal game at all was in the face of 50-1 odds. Rock stars, pun intended.

USA Women’s Hockey Team Beating Archrival Canada was the most exciting hockey game I’ve ever attended and maybe the greatest Olympics hockey game ever, according to veteran sportswriter Christine Brennan. It was sort of a fluke that I wound up covering it, meaning not only did I get to enjoy it, I got to file my first (and probably only) hockey results piece ever.

Reunions. The last time I was in the same place as Nigel Robertson I was 24 years old and he bought me a Wonder Woman shirt for my birthday that year. We have celebrated one another’s successes from afar for years and his energy is infectious. NIGEL is at the Olympics. So is Friend Juliet, who I haven’t seen since we moved away from Washington, Friend Alex, who I haven’t seen since the Nieman thing in Boston in 2013, and so many coworkers who I really never even worked with before, like our sports correspondent Tom Goldman. Getting to laugh with these folks makes the Olympics really special.

Jeers

Overheated buses. We constantly go from standing in subzero temperatures in a fierce (sometimes as fast as 50mph winds) to buses heated like they’re in the inside of a Korean sauna. One time my colleague Bill got into a bus that was actually heated just the right temperature and he decided to ride it to wherever it took him just to stay on the bus and not get stuck on a different one.

Wind. Wind gusts reached Cat3 hurricane speeds, destroying pop-up food stalls, security screening posts and wreaking havoc on the alpine schedule. For those of us who had to walk around in the wind, the big problem was trying not to be picked up by a strong gust. Also debris. I ended up having to irrigate my eyes numerous times after specks of gravel flew up into my peepers.

Food that tastes like despair. I feel it’s a travesty that the food in the concessions and tents here is so bad, given that there are such culinary delights across the rest of the country. Breakfast is sad, concessions which consist of “nachos without cheese” or “sandwich” (no details about what’s in it) taste of despair. Even things you can’t screw up, like fried mandu, aren’t served with condiments, so you can’t adjust anything. No hot sauce or soy sauce for you! Outrage.

The schedule. It is nonstop grinding-it-out, around the clock, since we work our daytime, and then by nighttime we begin working America’s daytime. The result is my alter ego comes out. Her name is Denise and she is a bitch. Denise has been making regular appearances in recent days, being all sorts of grumpy, uncompromising and picking fights. My mom thinks I’ve gone temporarily insane and told me I should not make any decisions right now, to which I responded by hanging up on her. Blame Denise, she’s horrendous.

Media Village Housekeeping. The apartments didn’t have do not disturb doorhangers so I’d often be awakened by or disturbed by the loud electronic voice of the teched-out apartment bell, which yelled, “YOU HAVE A CALL. YOU HAVE A CALL.” The other issue is that they bring you fresh towels every day, but never put them in the bathroom. So you’d come out of the shower or finish handwashing and have to trudge over to the bed to dry off. Because of language barriers, this situation could not change. I end my Olympics tenure supremely annoyed by this. Or is it Denise being annoyed? Hard to tell.

We were there.

Curling became my responsibility real fast.

Covering Alpine skiing with our sports reporter, Tom Goldman.

Canada house

WSJ dispatched five reporters to a women’s curling match.

Team NPR at Pyeongchang!

Yongpyong, for the alpine skiing events

Garlic Girls after a victory

USA v CAN women’s hockey was a highlight.

We were sooooo anxious during the crazy overtimes in hockey

So many North Korean cheerleaders all the time

Friend Alex! Gaaah I love this woman.

Pop-up McDonald’s in Gangneung Olympic Park

US women’s hockey team forward Hannah Brandt, wearing her gold medal she had just won.

GOLD!!! USA women’s hockey team.

With the North Korean cheering squad.

North Korea’s only elite athletes — Ryom Tae Oak and Kim Ju Shik

Every time we went inside the gates of any venue, we’d get scanned and our images would show up on giant screens

A defeated Mikaela Shiffrin

Wearing the Olympics fad “long padding” for a shoot with photog Jun Michael Park.

Pyeongchang Winter Olympics: Cheers and Jeers It's the final day of the Winter Games in Pyeongchang and Gangneung. Covering these games was crazy intense, the whole way through.