No day is quite alike in the life of a journalist. Or at least in the life of this intern journalist.

Some days, I am ridiculously busy the entire day.

Other days, I have a moment of “I won’t be able to finish all of this!” and then finish my tasks with a few hours to spare.

And then there are the days when the clock ticks by s l o w l y.

On those slow days, I find creative ways to fill my time. True to my job, they all somehow manage to include words.

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A pass time that ranks high on my list is the crossword puzzle. I do what I can on my own… and then resort to using the aid of Google.

But really, what am I supposed to do with clues like this: “33 DOWN, 3 characters: B’way posting of yore”?

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I can usually tell you every topic that is on the homepage of Lancaster Online. Why? Because I’ve already read it – a minimum of eight times. At least I’m informed.

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Are you finally emailing me back about a story? Please do. My response reflex is instantaneous. As soon as that notification of your message pops up on the bottom right corner of my screen, my cursor meets it, my eyes read it, and my fingers type a reply.

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One day, I took advantage of the microfilm records of past newspapers to research what made the headlines on my day of birth: Dec. 31, 1993.

Local news consisted of the implementation of the “717” area code. There was also a heated debate in Lititz over a creche downtown. The county prepared to celebrate the new year in a variety of ways.

The most fascinating text to look for was the bylines – I found quite a few familiar names scattered among what used to be 2 separate papers: the Intelligencer Journal and the New Era. And now I’m working with these people that have been sitting in this newsroom since before I was born. (I hope none of you read this. I don’t think you’re old, I promise! It’s more a matter of me being young…)

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And if I still have time… I begin to write. I’ll reread long-term stories I’m working on and modify them. I will journal and scribble in my hand-dandy notebook. An editor once commented, “You know, most people type these days. It’s faster.” But a charming aura accompanies the free-hand text.

Sometimes, I even write blog entries.

Just like this.