Today, the Pacific Northwest chapter of the Recording Academy hosted Grammy Career Day at Seattle Center. Someone had the bright idea to invite me to participate in a panel on Music Journalism 101, along with my colleagues Brian Barr and Hannah Levin. Here’s a few of the pre-workshop highlights from the morning:

1. Sabzi from Blue Scholars had on the best hoodie EVER. It’s from an indie line called Creating Limitless Heights (or CLH). Cooler still, he told the kids “don’t believe reality shows… it’s a falsehood,” adding that people who use American Idol and its ilk as their model for how to achieve success in the music business “are the people who struggle the most.”

2. Megan Jasper, General Manager of Sub Pop, recounted her big break into the music biz: Stuffing Cat Butt records as an intern. “Not stuffing actual cat butts,” moderator John Richards quickly clarified.

3. I have never, ever been a fan of the Presidents of the United States of America. However, after hearing Chris Ballew speak (and hop up and down on a sofa like a monkey), I finally “get” his shtick: “Be as good at what you want to do as you possibly can be,” he told the students. If you’re going to be kooky and over-the-top, give it 110%. That’s what Ballew and company do, and I can respect that.

4. Teasing Nick Harmer from Death Cab for Cutie about his chest hair, and making him pose for a photo with me so my teenage nieces would believe I really know somebody in a band that has been on Saturday Night Live.*

5. Seeing the Cops in broad daylight. “There’s a nine o’clock in the morning, too?”

Kelly O, how did your Music Photography workshop go?

* No, I’m not posting it. It came out all blurry and we both look terrible. If you want to see a cute photo of Nick circa 9 AM today, minus my ugly mug, look at this one.