Welcome back to Letters From The Editors. If you read our blog from Friday, Oct. 16, you remember Jena’s lesson, which contained her realization that she’s turning into J-Curt. Since then, we’ve noticed more and more similarities between us. This blog will be dedicated to our individual takes on our favorites and (and least favorites).

Senses of humor

J-Curt: I have a very odd sense of humor (just ask any Mill Valley News staff member). So usually, people don’t get why I find certain things funny or laugh at my jokes. But, somehow, all the time I’ve spent with Jena has led to her actually finding me funny, and I’ve started to find her funny enough to use my super loud and obnoxious laugh.

Jena:  Everyone has a normal, giggle-type laugh and an obnoxious laugh. It’s a fact. J-Curt has a “normal” laugh and a laugh that is so loud and abrupt that it scares me. My obnoxious laugh is usually taking place when my mouth is open and my nose crinkles a little bit. As this year goes on, J-Curt’s and my senses of humor have been slowly converging into the same sense of humor and we’ve obnoxiously laughed probably more than we should.

Getting excited about goofy journalism things

J-Curt: A few months ago, I saw a new SNO update for our site that allowed for a lot more multimedia coverage. Who did I go to first? Jena, because I knew she’d freak out just as much as me. Whenever I try a new thing on our website (like the “Breaking Barriers” grid post or “From decorating to dancing …” Homecoming compilation), I have to show Jena first, because I know she’ll actually think it’s as cool as I do. Likewise, Jena really likes to show me cool websites and page designs, and we usually even end up liking the same specific aspects of them.

Jena: Our sophomore year, J-Curt was web editor. Our junior year, I was web editor. Now, we’re Mill Valley News editors-in-chief together. Given that over half of our high school careers have been dedicated to mvnews.org, we’ve turned into giant web nerds (if you haven’t already noticed). When I notice cool web things, the first person I nerd out to is J-Curt.

#webproblems

J-Curt: Like you probably gathered from our last blog post, we have problems. The crazy thing is, Jena and I always seem to know when the other person has noticed a web-related problem, because we’ve found the same one already. Not only do we know that the same problems exist, though, we usually end up coming to the same solutions — which I guess means we work pretty well together.

Jena: Problems, ranging from miniscule to massive, have become a normal part of our lives as editors-in-chief. When one of us finds a problem, the other one is usually aware of it before the “Hey so we have a problem” text comes through. Somehow, we almost always come up with the same solution.

Tastes in music

J-Curt: Obviously, I like music. Jena does too. Surprisingly, though, we like a lot of the same stuff.  There’ll be days when Jena is singing songs off Taylor Swift’s iconic album “Red,” or I’m singing some pop masterpiece like “Love Myself” by Hailee Steinfeld, and the other one of us will acknowledge how good the song is. The other day even, Jena was singing along to “Trap Queen” … and I could tell exactly where she was in the song and we started a pretty awesome singalong.

Jena: For anyone who knows J-Curt, they know he loves alternative music. For those of you that know me, you probably know I can listen to about any music except for alternative. Somehow, this school year, I’ve found myself listening to more and more alternative music — I even have 96.5 The Buzz on my car presets now. As for the other genres of music, J-Curt and I can rock out to the same (usually Taylor Swift) songs.

“I know what I want to say but I don’t know how to phrase it”

J-Curt: As we’ve written this blog, I’ve realized that Jena and I can take each other’s phrases and turn them into things that actually sound how English is supposed to. In class too, Jena and I will be talking, and one of us won’t know how to word something, but the other comes in clutch and words it perfectly. This doesn’t even just go for words — if one of us has a super cool idea and has no idea how to vocalize it, the other can build on it and turn it into a full-fledged idea for a project.

Jena: I’m going to say ditto to J-Curt for his phrasing on this one because it was exactly what I wanted to say about it. Oh, the irony.

Somedays our similarities are just downright funny; others, they’re borderline scary. With over a semester of working together left, it’ll be a wonder if we’re not the same exact person by graduation.

Lessons of the week:

J-Curt: (I’m going to relate my lesson to our blog topic this week, for the first time in forever. Cue the celebration.) Not to sound arrogant, but Jena and I are a dream team. Each of us has a year of web experience, and our skills complement each other’s really well — so, together, we’re pretty fantastic. If I were to have a choice of any staff member to work on the web with, it would be Jena, and I’m so glad we get to be co-editors-in-chief because I’d say we work pretty awesomely together — even if she does creepily know what I’m thinking sometimes.

Jena: For the first time in forever, my lesson isn’t going to be super senti (sorry mom). This week, I learned that when staffers come up to my desk to ask questions or ask for clarification, I’m usually deep in thought toward whatever is on my computer screen. I’ve learned to write down nearly everything that I need to do or that others tell me they will do. This way, I don’t forget anything and I don’t feel so scatterbrained.

That’s all … for now.