Test posting on Backpack Journalist website seems to be working OK

SACRAMENTO, Calif., USA - The business cards have printed and the backpack is ready to go with a digital camera, a Flip Video, a Mac laptop - and a reporter's notebook - to launch the Backpack Journalist project.

This website will be used as a log of activities, a news source, a compendium of useful links and a way to communicate with people about story ideas.

Stories under consideration include:

•  Corruption in the California State University system 

•  Capriciousness (and corruption) by the US Citizenship and Immigration Service's dealing with Mexican immigrants 

•  The timebomb of healthcare for poor Asian populations who rely on fish for protein

Those all sound pretty serious. And long term.

Less serious (perhaps) might be a story about life along the road between California and Mexico, based on a trip I expect to take in mid-December, retracing a road trip taken last year. Or about the resurgence of ukuleles in an era where the electronic game Guitar Hero sells hundreds of thousands of units. 

Yes, the ukulele is a piece of equipment that this Backpack Journalist carries along to remind that life isn't always serious. Plus, strumming on a ukulele is almost always a good way to get people talking, which leads to stories and more stories.