The Blog

I’ve been selected for a fellowship that will take place at the United Nations next month. The blurb my boss put in the company’s weekly inter-office newsletter explains it best:

Reporter Aaron Morrison has been chosen by UNITY: Journalists of Color Inc. for its Global Reporting Fellowship in partnership with the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS. The June 6-10 UN High-Level meeting on AIDS will be among the most important to take place in recent years around AIDS issues, where world leaders will take stock of global response after 30 years. The gathering presents an excellent opportunity for young journalists interested in honing their skills in international affairs, especially at a time when many news organizations in the United States are reducing international reporting. Morrison’s fellowship begins on June 5, when he and other fellows will meet for orientation ahead of the UN meetings. Congratulations, Aaron.

I’m pretty excited about it. I imagine the experience will be like this: http://youtu.be/a7O8mPlNlRY

Or not.

Little known fact: I was terrified of bees growing up. Having attended a seminar on beekeeping for a story, I can say I’m now interested in starting a hive or two of my own. A few outtakes from the half day I spent with beekeepers:

Here’s the finished article and video piece, published last week.

I love animals. Well, most animals. I recently visited a New Jersey farm for a story on beekeeping. I ran into these creatures (photos below). You would have thought I was a three-year-old at a petting zoo…

If you were Facebook friends with my mom, you’d know she’s got a green thumb and then some. This spring I decided to do a little gardening of my own. So I planted two varieties of tomatoes, Italian parsley, thyme, sweet basil.

Here’s my plants exactly a month ago:

And here are my plants a couple of days ago:

Where the flowers are, tomatoes will grow. I should be able to harvest late next month, or sooner. I’ve already used some basil leaves and parsley. They’re great.

It’s always nice when sources people are happy to see you. When I showed up to interview a TV Production class at a local high school, this sign was there to greet me. That’d never happened to me before.

Picture: The class teacher.