You also know, of course, that as of tomorrow, we’ve got a new President here in the U.S. of A. (You may have heard?) I’m planning on taking an early, long lunch tomorrow so that I can actually watch the swearing in at noon … and see the Inaugural Address…
No, No, After You!
When I was little, my sister and I had a children’s book that had a picture of two men bowing to each other and saying, “After you.” “No, after you.” “No, after you.” While, all the time, in the margins, their beards were getting longer and longer. Because, of course,…
Social(izing) Media
Ah, Social Media. It’s everybody’s favorite, new buzzword. Really, though, it’s not exactly new. People have been interacting on the internet almost since its conception. (In fact, for all I know, the first transmitted item may well have been a message as simple as “Hi, How are you? LOL,” although…
Blogapalooza
I made it onto Robert Hruzek’s Blogapalooza, and you can, too! He has a self-imposed goal of 100 bloggers, and he only made it up to 92 and he wants more … and is asking everyone on the list to send him at least one more person. So, here’s your…
Moral Lesson
These boxes look remarkably alike, don’t they? That’s because they ARE! I went to Bath and Body Works on Saturday so that I could get some of my favorite body wash, but … I wandered all over the store, and they didn’t have it. Grr. Particularly frustrating, you know, because…
Good Company
Before I forget, I need to point you in the direction of a few very good posts with links to even more excellent reading. Joanna at Confident Writing: Simply the Best Posts of 2008 Melissa at Writing Forward: Creative Writing Tips from around the Blogosphere John at Pro Writing Tips:…
Shiny New
So, now that the year is all new and shiny, what are you doing? This isn’t going to be one of those “New Year’s Resolutions” lists. I figure you pretty much know the things you should be doing–exercising more, eating better, following up on leads, spending more time with the…
A Sextet of Information
So, Melissa wants to know 6 things about me, huh? Let’s see. 1. I can recite the entire alphabet backwards, just as easily as I can forward. Z, Y, X, W, V, U, T, S, R, Q, P, O, N, M, L, K, J, I, H, G, F, E, D,…
Library Card?
So … do you have a library? I mean, shelves in your own home, filled with books? I was just reading this essay from the NY Times about weeding out books from a personal library, and it got me thinking. Where books are concerned, there’s no question. I am a…
It’s a Blogapalooza!
Have you heard about the Middle Zone Musings Blogapalooza? He wants to know: Now, looking back at your archives, you’ll choose one post from every month you’ve been blogging in the year 2008. So how do you choose? Well, the question you have to ask yourself is, what was the…
Dumped On
So … you had your schedule all worked out. Your plans laid, your priorities clear … And then you get dumped on. Just like a snow storm came barrelling along to disrupt your well laid plans. The roads are bad, slippery, messy, treacherous. Suddenly, what was going smoothly and according…
Looking for a Moral
Well, here I came to write you all a post for Monday morning, and instead, spent most of my time chatting on Twitter, checking my email, catching up on forum posts over at Ravelry (a knitting social site, for those of you who don’t know. And, if you do knit…
Mental Radar
Remember when we talked about Focus? And how doing just one thing, rather than jumping between multiple ones, would get things done faster? It sounds good, right? And logical? Be honest–how many windows do you have open on your computer right now? I’m guessing there’s a word processor, an email…
Best
Joanna doesn’t make it easy. She wants me to pick my best post of the year. Now, I am beyond terrible at picking only one thing whenever anybody asks me to name a favorite–author, song, cookie recipe, spinning fiber, book. About the best I can usually do is narrow it…
Why We Need Professional Writers
Remember when I wrote about how, sometimes, words don’t matter so much? Well, go watch this sweet and meaningful short film (5:55), which is all about EXACTLY why words matter. Talk about the importance of getting words just right. In fact, this is exactly the point of why professional writers…
Domain Question for You Experts
You tell me–if I got an email that said this: We are Hong Kong Network Service Company Limited which is the domain name register center in Asia. We received a formal application from a company who is applying to register “punctualityrules” as their domain name and Internet keyword on Dec…
Sometimes It’s Not About the Words
Okay, this will be a shock, since I’m all about words and their value and importance. But, sometimes? Images matter more. At my day job, my boss said she wanted something different for the company Holiday cards this year, and mentioned a flyer-style card she got last year that had…
Comparison
Just for comparison’s sake. The old design (click for bigger): The new design. (Well, obviously, this is what you’re LOOKING at, but I figure this makes for good record-keeping for any future changes I might make, so…) A friend and I were just chatting about how much more “open” the…
Be Thankful
Be Thankful for the Writers who inspire you. Be Thankful for the Readers who make it all worth while. Be Thankful for the Computer which connects you. Be Thankful for the Pen which lets your thoughts out. Be Thankful for the Journal which keeps your thoughts private. Be Thankful for…
Bring Your Work into Focus
How do you work? Or, do anything, really? Do you focus on one thing? Or do you multi-task? Clearly, there are advantages to each. When you focus on one thing, you get done faster. It’s like running a race with your eyes on the finish line–no room for any thought…
Pondering
Hmm … you know you’ve been writing too long when a headline that reads, “Cougar Attacks Teen Girl Who Got into its Pen” makes you wonder, Why did the cougar have a pen? And what was it writing? And who was it writing to?
MM: Six Degrees of Separation–Once Removed
(Continued from last week.) So–the “great” and “grand” thing first. First, there are parents and children. When you go one generation “out” from that, you’ve got Grandparents and Grandchildren. (Just like you called your parents’ parents Grandma and Grandpa, your children will call your parents that…. give or take a…
If a Writer Writes in a Forest…
So–there are lots of reasons to write. We’ve discussed this–there’s the whole, making-a-living thing. There’s the helping-yourself-think thing. There’s the I-have-no-choice thing. Right. We get that. But then there are writers who write because they want to, they’re driven, they’re inspired. So inspired, perhaps, that they try to write an…
MM: Six Degrees of Separation
Quick–if your grandfather’s sister’s son has a grandson … what relation is he to you? To your grandfather? Raise your hands if you’ve ever been confused when someone referred to your “first cousin once removed on your mother’s side.” I thought so. So–let’s clarify this shall we? The basics are…
Ooh, Shiny!
So, Joanna wants all of us to Shine and live up to our fabulous potential. (Because, you DO know that we all have fabulous potential, don’t you? The rest of this post will be fairly pointless if you don’t believe that, in which case, why don’t you go sit over…
Well, I’ll Be…
Isn’t it exciting? I’ve made the list of SOBs (Successful and Outstanding Bloggers) over at Liz’s Successful Blog. Thank you, Liz! It’s really just an honor to be nominated…
Train of Thought to Nowhere
Are you waiting for a train of thought that isn’t coming? There you are, sitting at the station, waiting. And waiting. And waiting. But no train ever seems to come. You’re not sure why, exactly. All the tracks are there, you’re ready and waiting … but there’s nowhere to…
Poverty of Thought
Today is Blog Action Day, designed to bring attention to the world-wide problem of Poverty. This is particularly relevant, of course, in today’s troubled economy. (The word “troubled” is a bit of an understatement.) Those of us lucky enough to have food on the table, and a roof overhead–no matter…
Business: It’s All in the Cards
Next fascinating freelance topic: What elements do you think are necessary on business cards? Do you even think that business cards are necessary? Well, let’s think about that. Your name, obviously. Your job title/position/description Contact information, like phone, email, fax number. Website, if any. But, what about a company name?…
Poor Service (Or, No Tips for You!)
So, I posted about some of the important elements on a good Services page. Yet, my own Services page is still so very lame, failing in many ways. Let’s explore that, shall we? Why is it so pathetic when I’ve already shown you that I know better? No Specific Services.…