Back in the Strict: Jobless, but hopeful

Aight. So here's where I stand gig-wise: I don't have one.

This isn't the first time I've been in this situation, though. When I moved to DC in the summer of 2000, I didn't have a job. Nothing. But I swung through, got on the grind and in less than a year I had a job makin real dough on a job that, on paper, I wasn't qualified for. But I made it happen, with Jah's help of course.

When I decided that it was time for my old-*%* to finally finish college, I quit that job. Did I have a job lined up? Nope. But, I was focused on my goal. Which was to finish school and that couldn't happen without me freeing up my mornings and afternoons. So that meant quitting a job that I could have made very good money and a career out of; and getting that HU thing done. But, everything worked out. I kopped the Washington Post nightside gig, which is will probably be a reason for any future job I get, just because of the people I met.

Fast forward...I come back from Atlanta and get comfortable doing the nightside thing with the Post again. That, however, was a dead-end gig -- the editors weren't going to wake up one day and say, let's put Vince on that Wizards beat or let's send Vince to the 2008 Olympics. So, I had to make a move. That lead me to Orlando.

Now, I could've asked the Post to take a leave of absence, like I did when I went to ATL, and still had a job when I got back -- if I came back. But, what good would that do? It'd just lull me into a sense of comfortable. I wouldn't be on the grind, like I am now.

So that's where I'm at now. Here in DC, not much dough and no job, but a pretty good deal of prospects.

Let me put you on to a couple of the places I could turn up at within the next month or so (hopefully much sooner than that). Depending on where I land, I could either be there for less than a year or a couple years. But, I'm still not at the stage where I'm ready for a paper or magazine that I'd spend a decade at. That's how we do it in our industry. You probably jump jobs 2-3 times in your first 3-6 years. It's just the nature of the beast and I don't mind it much. What's not hot about getting a chance to live in different parts of the country doing something you love?

I would get into a very detailed assessment of each city, but I think I'll save that for the city that I'll be moving to.

Meanwhile...

TAMPA: Well, St. Petersburg, actually. The St. Petersburg Times is the largest newspaper in Florida. It covers Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater. It's probably the best paper in Florida, but I think Orlando's sports section is better. I wouldn't mind living in Tampa. As a city, it's probably a lil better than Orlando and definitely bigger.

They have two positions at one of their bureaus in the sticks. When I interviewed with the editor, I asked dude straight up, "Have minorities had problems in this county?" He hemmed-and-hawed until he gave me an unsure answer. But, I wouldn't worry about it. He did say that one of the last reporters assigned to that county was a black woman and he said she never expressed any safety concerns.

My worst fear: That I get stuck out there. The editor told me that some of the Preps writers have been there for 6 years. I'm not down with that.

AUSTIN: Out of all my prospects, this is kind of where I want to be -- working at the Austin American-Statesman. It's fairly big city (about 750,000, bigger than Tampa, Baltimore, etc.). It's a young city, too. University of Texas is there. Since so many young people make it their home, the arts and entertainment scene is thriving. A lot of tech companies that can't afford to be headquartered on Silicon Valley are there. And it passes the Real World test, since this summer's Real World season was taped in Austin. It's also the state capital.

The paper is good, too. It's probably one of the bigger mid-sized papers and it's considered on of the best of it's size.

Austin will probably be my next interview. We've already had a phone interview and they sent me two papers to critique (a tiring process, where I had to read and critique every section of the paper. Final thought: Pretty good sports section, great Metro section, good A section, horrible Style section (which is unacceptable in a city that calls itself "hip") and a pretty good business section.

My worst fear: That I'd get knocked for public drunkenness and sentenced to the death penalty. Or that I get into a heated argument with some Cowboy-boot wearing government worker and he takes me to rural Texas and hangs me from a sturdy tree-branch.

TWIN CITIES: A gig just opened up at the Star Tribune in Minneapolis-St. Paul. My mother grew up in Minneapolis. It produced Prince, Mint Condition, Kahlid El-Amin and a bunch of Good Life babies -- matter fact, it's the Good Life capitol of the world. That's all good though.

I wouldn't mind living here for a couple years. I'm used to the snow and used to the square blacks, since I grew up as the son of Linda Thomas and nephew of her siblings.

The paper is not renowned for its sports section, but that's cool. A good writer will make his job hot. It also has a franchise in every major sport and covers the University of Minnesota, so opportunities would abound.

My worse fear: I'll be drugged into living the Good Life.

WICHITA: You know I don't want to live here. But trust me, it could be worse. I could be forced to spend a year writing for a paper in a small-town in Alabama. But I'm committed to this writing thing, so if this is what I need to do, then this is what I need to do.

Worst fear: Take my previous three fears and then add every other scary prospect and those are the causes of my trepidation with this Wichita deal.

So there you have it. As soon as something happens, I'll let you know.