My Career (to Date) as an Automotive Journalist: The Beginning

In 2012, I was working a desk job that I hated.  I realized whenever I had a free moment I was reading about cars, watches or menswear.  In fact, I started this blog about those three exact things.  I knew I had to make a change.

I already had my bachelor's degree in management and a brief check of the classes I would need to finish to get a second degree, albeit an associate degree, at Austin Community College revealed I only needed nine more hours!  I soon enrolled in an online continuing education class that would teach me how to write for magazines, quit my soul-crushing flunky position and turned in all of the required ACC enrollment paperwork.

One of my classes - Critical Issues in Journalism - was on-campus and taught by a local news anchor.  He was so passionate about politics and the history of journalism that I felt kind of lucky to be in the class.  Even if I don't share your interests, I can absolutely respect and smile at your enthusiasm.

When it came time to write my term paper, I was, at first, tempted to write about Richard Nixon, whose career fascinates me.  However, I didn't want to write about Watergate or all of the hackneyed topics associated with "Tricky Dick."

I was going to go out on a limb and try to start my automotive journalism career early by writing about the media biases and practices applied to and exploited by the late John Z. DeLorean.  (That A-quality paper can be found here.)

Notttt you!

My second class was News Writing I.  Luckily, I was able to take it online.  That didn't make it any easier, though.  Some of the assignments were real nail-biters.  My failure to grasp certain points in assignments was reflected in my grades, but I didn't make those mistakes again.  I ended up bumping along and learning my way to an A. 

I soon got involved with ACC's student newspaper, the Accent.  I proposed writing about male campus fashion, an interest that was not represented at the time.  (The next semester I would write an automotive journalism article for them.)

I finished the semester with As in both classes and by writing about another one of my interests: James Bond.  My review of the movie "Skyfall" would lead to my winning 2nd place in Critical Review from the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association.  (The awards ceremony took place in April of 2013.  I had no idea I was even up for an award, so I didn't attend it.  Ah, regrets...)

I had no idea how career-shaping my next (and final) semester would be.  And you won't know until you read the next installment in this series (coming soon)...

Trying On the Cartier Calibre aka Never Meet Your Heroes

     Ever since I discovered the Cartier Calibre (check it out here) earlier this year, I had been drawn to it, especially the pink gold/steel model with two-tone metal bracelet and white dial.  I even wrote an earlier blog post about my attraction to it (read that post here).  I had resigned myself to the idea that I would have to go to Houston or Dallas just to try it on.  That all changed with a casual visit to the Sak's Fifth Avenue store up in north Austin.  They sell Cartiers!  It was a shock to be in a store that sells high-end watches as well as handbags and shoes.  However, this pleasant discovery soon became tempered by disappointment after I tried the Calibre on. 

I'll make it simple: it looks way too damn big!  It's a good looking watch, but its white dial and the way its bezel flows into the crystal add up to make a 42 mm diameter watch look absolutely massive.  It's like Eva Mendes' face atop the body of an NFL player.

However, it was not all bad news at Sak's.  I got to try on a beautiful Cartier that I had forgotten all about.  Keep scrolling down to find out which one it was (hint: both President Clinton and Usher have one).

                      This watch looks like a wrist wrecking monster on my 7-1/4" wrist.  Way too butch.  Makes me think I should have no neck, a fake tan and a tendency to call everyone "bro" just to wear it.

                      Even the sapphire set into the crown is too big.  Makes me think of how American cars are designed - every element is oversized.

                      This is a nice color combo.

 

                      The black dial helps disguise some of the enormity of the dial and looks good with the stainless steel case.

     Despite the disappointingly hulking appearance of the Calibre, I was pleasantly surprised by the Ballon Bleu in stainless steel and yellow gold (Ref.: W69009Z3).  This, too, is a 42 mm watch, but its proportions are much more visually subdued and tasteful than those of the Calibre.  It is a very round watch (ballon meaning ball or balloon in French), but its attractive two-tone bracelet, large Roman numerals, contained and fluted crown and opaline dial with guilloche finish are more than enough to distract me from that.  This watch has a charming, old-fashioned appearance that makes it look like an heirloom piece already. 

Notice the subtle "C" shape formed by the indentation of the date window.  It makes for a pleasant-looking assymetry.

 

                      I could get used to seeing that.

                      The Ballon Bleu even appears round when viewed from the side, thanks to its curved synthetic sapphire crystal and rounded caseback.  I don't think I've ever seen a watch that looks like this one.  I like it, even if it does look a little thick (13 mm).

     If you are as smitten with the Cartier Ballon Bleu as I am, you can click here to learn more about it.