Tuesday, January 19, 2010

The Gittleson Gossip, the sequel

Ahlan wa sahlan and welcome to my blog!

I'm studying abroad this semester in Amman, Jordan, on an intensive Arabic program at the University of Jordan. Before I get into all that -- actually, not everything about how I'll be spending my time, what I'll be studying, where I'll be living, etc. is completely clear yet -- I think it's worth taking a look back at the namesake of this blog, the paper that started it all.

Back in the year 2000, post-Y2K brouhaha and in the lead-up to butterfly ballots and recounts, I apparently got bored and tired of getting letters rejected by KidsPost, so I started my own family "newspaper." As the editor, publisher and senior writer, I strove to keep family and friends -- total circulation: 25 households -- up to date on the Gittlesons' latest summer vacation, the 2000 U.S. presidential elections and the trials and tribulations facing all the family pets, among other topics. Amanda wrote a regular column on animals, and aunts and uncles contributed to a regular feature on jobs.




The first-ever issue of The Gittleson Gossip. Note the quote from Honey Gittleson in the bottom-left corner.



The paper graduated from Microsoft Word to Microsoft Publisher, with eight issues published in less than a year -- and one unpublished edition sitting dormant on my laptop -- before I guess I got too much Algebra 2 homework to continue. The last issue came out in the summer of 2001, and all was forgotten (other than when I had to think of a cool story for my college admissions essay!).

Until now. As much of print media has been moving to the web, it was clearly inevitable that The Gittleson Gossip would follow suit. I'll be updating this blog over the next four (!!) months as I document my time in Jordan and traveling around the region.

And finally ... to get an e-mail in your inbox whenever I post an update, please enter your e-mail address in the box in the top right of this page (under where it says "Receive e-mail updates") and follow the directions. Let me know if you have any trouble!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy, inshallah!

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