Time for a Contest!

Yes, time once again for another contest, this time for an autographed copy of the Winter 2008 issue of Electric Velocipede. If you haven’t had a chance to read EV, then here’s a chance to try for a free copy! It’s a great ‘zine with lots of good speculative fiction as well as speculative poetry (and a couple of my own poems, of course).

This contest will carry us into the new year with a due date of January 1, 2009. All you need to do is leave a comment on my Blogetary blog on this specific blog entry by midnight January 1. I will put all entries into a hat or do a random number generator thingy and announce a winner on January 2, 2009!

Hope you enjoy!

Happy Christmas to all! And to all a good night!

I would like to announce that I have a Christmas story out. So, if you're in the mood for a little story to take you into the week leading up to Christmas, take a gander at Santa is My Homeboy, on Mindflights.com.

Christmas and Chocolate

It's that time again! Time for Chocolate! Though I wrote the article on frugal gift giving, I think some of the other articles were much better. Check out the Twelve Days of Chocolate or how hot cocoa can chase away the winter blues.

Christmas Meme

Here are the questions:

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?
Pretty wrap, mostly, though bags are not out of the question. I like to challenge myself to see how creative I can get with what I can find on hand and what I have found on sale. And I reuse a lot of stuff. If I get pretty ribbons from people or really nice wrap, if possible, they are saved to reuse the next year.

2. Real tree or Artificial?
Depends on my life. I used to always say real. But I live in SoCal and after a couple of years of real trees at WAY too expensive prices getting dry after a day, I opted for a fake tree that I paid for once and can reuse every year without fear of fire. Note: Even fake trees lose needles.

3. When do you put up the tree?
Usually Thanksgiving weekend, though I've been known to do it around December 15. Depends on my life - am I working a lot, do I have the energy and hope to clean the apartment and pull out the stuff.

4. When do you take the tree down?
Never before Epiphany - January 6, which is the 12th day of Christmas.

5. Do you like eggnog?
Yes, I do. So there.

6. Favorite gift received as a child:
As a young kid - a barbie apartment. Though just a few years later, at around 12, I got my favoritest gift ever - a desk and stool. The desk was really simple and my grampa made it using our old crib as some of the materials. The stool was just a wicker stool. They lasted for years. Still had the desk when I was in college, but I was moving and didn't have room to move it and gave it to a roommate. Shouldna done that. Kept the stool and it finally fell apart about 10 years ago.

7. Hardest person to buy for?
Men. Most men in my life - gay or straight - I just can't seem to hit their gift vibe. I try. But typically, what they want, I can't afford. And they aren't interested in the cute little decorated nailfiles I found on sale at the general store down the street that make my girlfriends squeal. Got my dad a trainset, small, mind you, one year, only to get a, "yeah, it's okay."
Men.

8. Easiest person to buy for?
Most of the women I know, but especially my sister. I always see things that I think she'll like. THe trick is to not just buy for her.

9. Do you have a nativity scene?
At one time I had a home made one that I made while in grade school out of homemade dough clay that I painted and shellacked. It lasted for years until I think one year it got left in my trunk and the trunk had a leak in it. Now I have some tiny wood ornament I hang on my tree. I haven't seen a nativity scene I'm willing to spend money on. Most look too too to me. I prefer a nativity scene that might be a little more modern - pared down. Simple shapes, not too much detail. The kind of scene where someone could look at it and easily think that it could be anyone in there - any young girl looking at her baby and scared man who doesn't know what to do with a family.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards?
Mail, if possible. I like real mail. Positive, real mail - not just bills. And I'm sure other people do too. And in case you think it's a waste. I don't think so. All the card I get, I reuse. I save the ones with real notes in them, but the others, I cut up and reuse the next year for gift tags.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?
A plastic lobster accompanied by a plastic seagull on a plastic post. I have no idea why my friend thought it was funny. But he did. So I laughed when he gave it to me as if I understood, cuz I didn't want to hurt his feelings, and then donated them soon after.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie?
Christmas Carol with Alistair Sim
Holiday Inn with Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire
Miracle on 34th Street - both 1946 and 1994

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?
All year round, but especially after CHristmas when all the sales are on. I keep a gift cupboard and whenever I'm on a trip or at a sale and see something that I know would make a good gift later, I get it then. Put it in my cupboard, and then bdays and Christmas are not so much of a hardship.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
I usually end up donating presents I don't care for. Typically, if I don't care for them, I don't think anyone else will either.

15.Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?
My cranberry relish on toast. I also like to have a little smorgasborg I share with the cat - whatever I can afford that's cold cut like and cheesy.

16. Lights on the tree?
I like white lights, mostly, but I also really like bubble lights. A lot of them have burned out. I need to replace a string or two, but haven't been able to afford to. Maybe I'll find some on sale after Christmas this year.

17. Favorite Christmas song?
Christmas Carol or Christmas Song? I have quite a few. Love the Wexford Carol and the Boar's Head Carol. Good Christian Men Rejoice and COventry Carol and many others. ALso like songs like White Christmas, Old-Time CHristmas, and many others...

18.Travel at Christmas or stay home?
Depends. This year staying home. But sometimes I travel up north for Cmas.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer?
Now Dasher! Now Dancer! Now Prancer and Vixen!
On Comet! On Cupid! On Donder and Blitzen!
And sometimes Rudolph. And don't forget Olive. And Rudolph's younger brother.

20. Angel on the tree top or a star?
Angel. But not the angels you think. Again - ultra modern where it is shape and form that suggests angelic-ness. I grew up with this angel mom got at a drugstore that I've never been able to replace. It was simple. Cone, head at top. Wings, and a halo. In bright tin painted blue and gold. Angels have no gender and are not children. They are separate beings with their own classifications. We shouldn't impose what we think we are on them. So, I like just the simple suggestion of angelic-ness.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?
Christmas morning. It ruins it to do it all on the Eve. Though it's okay to open one on the Eve.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year?
Having to apologize to all my cynical friends that yes, in fact, I REALLY DO LIKE CHRISTMAS, THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

23. Favorite ornament theme or color?
Orange kitties is one. Pretty shoes is another. Angels. Instruments. Motion ornaments that you hang over the lights so they'll move (heat propelled). Whatever is pretty.

24. Favorite item of holiday wear?
I have wreath earrings I like a lot. And at this time of year (Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Years) I can freely wear a lot of the blingy, sparkly stuff I have without having to make an excuse for it.

25. What do you want for Christmas this year?
I would like the world to come a little closer to love, peace, and understanding. I would love for my sister and dad to declare a truce. I would love for Prop 8 to be repealed and people's eyes be opened to the harm that prop does. But if you're really interested, check my Amazon wishlist. It's long and there's lots to choose from.

26. On a scale of 1 to 10, how many lights (like the Griswalds) do you have outside?
None. I live in an apartment. I have a couple of strings of lights I keep up around the windows year round. I don't turn them on often, except at Christmas. I like pretty sparkly lights.

29. Favorite Christmas tradition?
Doing stockings for my mom and sister.

30. Non-stop Christmas music radio station?
THere's a clear channel radio station I only listen to around after Thanksgiving that has tunes that I listen to when I'm tired of my own, and there's Live365 online that has Christmas year round. The clear channel station tends to be a bit smarmy and play the same stuff over and over again - usually that shitty song about the red shoes.

31. Stockings or not?
YES!

32. Pie or Cake?
Pie if it's good and cake if it's good. But I prefer cookies and candy and scandinavian/germanic breads. Pralines, pfefferneuse, liebkuchen, tortone, and stuff like that.

33. Do gift cards make good gifts?
Not this christmas. You don't know which company is going to go belly up next. Get them a Visa or American Express gift card that they can spend anywhere.

34. What is your preferred spelling for the Jewish Festival of Lights?
I grew up with the H beginning, but respect the C beginning.

The Family that Protests Together...

Has the best bellbottoms!

On Saturday, November 15, 2008 at 10:30 AM, I joined my friends and several thousand others across the United States to march for marriage equality. We were in downtown LA, the area between City Hall and the LA Times building. There were many speakers at the event. Alec Mapa was the MC. Mayor Villaraigosa gave a speech in English and Spanish. Rev. Eric Lee of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference was there and have a speech. Several LA Council members, Rocky Gelgadillo, the prosecutor gave a speech. Lucy Lawless gave a speech. I saw Pauley Perrette (Abby from NCIS) making her way through the crowd.

This was an incredible event, almost too much to write about coherently. You can read more about the different rallies all over the US on Towleroad. Towleroad has a gallery as well if you want to see some of the pics from the protests around the US.

This was to be a nationwide, and even global wide, protest of Prop. 8 and other laws like it. I am proud of the Angelenos who showed their support no matter what the orientation. One woman spoke about how the proposition basically nullified her entire family - her two gay dads and lesbian mother, as well as her sister, are not considered a family. Yet, they raised her. Her mother was more worried about whether or not she’d be hurt at the protest than what the protest was about - just like any mother. Her fathers, like any parents, took she and her sister to school, gave them snacks, went to parent-teacher conferences and have raised two beautiful girls. But there are people in the world who don’t think that counts. For some reason some people fear that perfectly non-threatening family.

Ignorance leads to fear and fear to hate and discrimination. If you don’t understand why two people of the same sex fall in love and want to get married, then ask them! They will give you the same answers people of the opposite sex would give. If you don’t understand why people are so angry about not being able to marry, then ask them and they will explain it to you. And you will hear the same explanation you’d get from people who were banned from marrying from one another because they were different races or different religions.

One of the signs I liked the most (besides the one my friends had showing how they’d been together for 19 years - more than most marriages) was the socialist looking “Defend Equality Love Unites.” I think that was the best message because it’s true. All you need is love.

If you believe in marriage equality, I urge you to raise your voice and let others know. Try going to rallies and marches, it's a good bonding experience. Volunteer for phone banks. If going to protests and rallies isn't your thing, then write your congresspeople, write letters to the editor, blog about it, host open discussions where people can ask and discuss this without getting villified, talk to your neighbors and family about. As one speaker yesterday said, make this the most interesting Thanksgiving you've ever had.

Poetry Published in Electric Velocipede!

Electric Velocipede is a scifi/steampunk type journal and it is publishing two of my poems, The Story and Homemade Rosewater. EV is a print journal, but it has some of the poetry and fiction online if you want to check it out, including my two poems.

So, take a look. Hope you enjoy!

My New Prop. 8 Litmus Test

While I’m happy about the results of the presidential election, I’m deeply disappointed with the results on Prop. 8 here in California that changed the state constitution to take away the rights of people of the same sex to get married. So, I’ve decided I need a new litmus test for where I will and will not spend my money. From now on, if I am going to pay someone a significant amount of money my question will be 1) How did you vote on Prop. 8 or 2) How do you feel about gay marriage? or 3) How do you feel about separation of church and state?

If I get any answer implying they voted for Prop. 8 or are against marriage equality for everyone or think it's okay to get their religious beliefs legislated then they will not get my money. I know I can’t do that with everything, but with those things I have a control over, I want to try to stick to that. Maybe if I vote with my piddly little dollars, or if others pay with their dollars, people will finally understand that you can’t legislate belief systems.

If you believe abortion or gay marriage or birth control is wrong, fine. Believe it. But don’t force the rest of us into your belief system. This is a country that was founded on the separation of Church and State. And part of the Declaration of Independence is the Pursuit of Happiness. I think marrying the person you love, no matter what their gender, qualifies as Pursuit of Happiness!

And if you insist on trying to legislate your belief system then remember what Jesus said to the Pharisees. Give to God what is God’s. Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s. Separation of Church and State - right there.

Also, considering much of the funding for Yes on 8 was from out of state, I’ve decided to write my representatives. If a sovereign state is deciding a constitutional issue, it should be against the law to accept funds from outside the state for that campaign.

My best friend was at a Marriage Equality protest last night. You can read about it here.

Find your representative here.

Find your congressperson here.

Take a break from the election

Check out the chocolate articles on Chocolate Zoom!

Cool Announcements!

First, just a reminder, I'm still having a contest for a free Peanut Albinos CD on my blogetary blog.
You have to leave a comment on THAT blog (not this one) to be considered for the drawing.

NEXT - I was interviewed and am on a blog on KCET, one of the public television stations here in Los Angeles. You can read the interview here.

FINALLY - My name is now officially in the masthead at the Larchmont Chronicle as "Circulation Manager." I'm more of a copy girl, but I'll take anything I can get!

Blog Contest!

If anyone is interested, I'm running a contest over on Blogetary for a free Peanut Albino's CD!
So go on over and leave a comment for a chance to win a free CD!

October 2008 Chocolate Zoom Out Now!

This month's Chocolate Zoom is about more than just Halloween candy! It's our special fashion edition as well. In October's issue you can read about chocolate fashion -- from clothing to jewelry -- as well as about chocolate specially made for ghosties and ghoulies, and even chocolate paintings!

So check it out - but make sure you have some chocolate at hand, cuz by the time you're done reading this issue, you're gonna be hungry!

(Cross posted a few different places...)

New Poems coming out in Electric Velocipede!

The new issue of Electric Velocipede will be coming out soon! You can check it out here. It's a great magazine to subscribe to and not only because I have two poems coming out in it!

Or, if you need to buy some advertising space, try advertising in this issue. Check out their rates here.

Cafe Press Shop Open

Okay, not sure I did it right, but I have three shops because I want it all for free and I’m willing to put up with a little inconvenience for free. So, if you’re interested, take a gander at my three shops:

• Putt Putt Productions Shop
• Putt Putt Productions Shop Two
• Putt Putt Productions Shop Three
• Putt Putt Productions Shop Four
  

Let me know what you think.

I may do another one or more for other designs and photographs I have, but I need to work those out first.

Blocking Care to Women

The deadline for the comment period is September 25, so figure out who your reps are and write them! Go to Senate.gov to find your senators and House.gov to find your state representative, and Whitehouse.gov to write the president and vice president. Also, go here to comment. You can see the docket number and they’ll give you instructions on how best to do it: http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=DocumentDetail&o=09000064806da3bc

Do it. What are you waiting for!?!? DO IT NOW!

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/19/opinion/19clinton.html?ei=5070

September 19, 2008

Op-Ed Contributor

Blocking Care for Women

By HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON and CECILE RICHARDS

LAST month, the Bush administration launched the latest salvo in its eight-year campaign to undermine women’s rights and women’s health by placing ideology ahead of science: a proposed rule from the Department of Health and Human Services that would govern family planning. It would require that any health care entity that receives federal financing — whether it’s a physician in private practice, a hospital or a state government — certify in writing that none of its employees are required to assist in any way with medical services they find objectionable.Laws that have been on the books for some 30 years already allow doctors to refuse to perform abortions. The new rule would go further, ensuring that all employees and volunteers for health care entities can refuse to aid in providing any treatment they object to, which could include not only abortion and sterilization but also contraception.Health and Human Services estimates that the rule, which would affect nearly 600,000 hospitals, clinics and other health care providers, would cost $44.5 million a year to administer. Astonishingly, the department does not even address the real cost to patients who might be refused access to these critical services. Women patients, who look to their health care providers as an unbiased source of medical information, might not even know they were being deprived of advice about their options or denied access to care.

The definition of abortion in the proposed rule is left open to interpretation. An earlier draft included a medically inaccurate definition that included commonly prescribed forms of contraception like birth control pills, IUD’s and emergency contraception. That language has been removed, but because the current version includes no definition at all, individual health care providers could decide on their own that birth control is the same as abortion.

The rule would also allow providers to refuse to participate in unspecified “other medical procedures” that contradict their religious beliefs or moral convictions. This, too, could be interpreted as a free pass to deny access to contraception.

Many circumstances unrelated to reproductive health could also fall under the umbrella of “other medical procedures.” Could physicians object to helping patients whose sexual orientation they find objectionable? Could a receptionist refuse to book an appointment for an H.I.V. test? What about an emergency room doctor who wishes to deny emergency contraception to a rape victim? Or a pharmacist who prefers not to refill a birth control prescription?

The Bush administration argues that the rule is designed to protect a provider’s conscience. But where are the protections for patients?

The 30-day comment period on the proposed rule runs until Sept. 25. Everyone who believes that women should have full access to medical care should make their voices heard. Basic, quality care for millions of women is at stake.

Hillary Rodham Clinton is a Democratic senator from New York. Cecile Richards is the president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

Announcing.....

The debut of Peanut Albinos' first CD, Falling from the Saddle of a High Horse. You can get the CD at CDBaby.com or the MP3 download from Amazon.

If you wanna take a listen and sample some of their tunes, go over to their MySpace page.

Pretty, Sparkly Jewels!

A friend of mine over at Good Karma Reviews has gotten into jewelry making. She has some samples up ready to ship to you as soon as you buy them! Check it out.

Chocolate! Cupcakes! More Chocolate!

The September Issue of Chocolate Zoom is out. Drop by and check it out. It’s full of lovely tastings, such as Chocolate and the Printed Word or Bestsellers That Oughta Be Dipped in Chocolate. Then there’s chocolate as regards to your decorating choices, and chocolate that is healthy for you. If you want to learn about some innovative ways that chocolate is being used in cooking, checkout Hotel Chocolat. And if you want to know about the current craze overtaking the country grab your umbrella cuz It’s Raining Cupcakes!

I want to publically thank Jim (and Lyle) for aiding me in my hunt for cupcakes and taking pictures!

Cross posted all over....

The Importance of Proofreading

What is Proofreading?

According to the Business Dictionary, the definition of proofreading is: “Careful reading (and rereading) of a (yet to be finally-printed) document, to detect any errors in spelling, punctuation, or grammar. It may also involve checking of different elements of a layout (such as headlines, paragraphs, illustrations, and colors) for their correct dimensions, placement, type, etc. Every author knows that (despite the spelling checking abilities of modern word processors) a human proof reader is indispensable. See also editing.”

Proofreading and copy editing are not interchangeable terms, though they very often occur at the same time or are performed on the same document at different times. Copy editing addresses concerns such as awkward sentences, logic flow, fact-checking, voice, etc, depending on what is needed. Copy editing is usually the step after writing a document, but before proofreading it (I will cover copy editing in another blog post later). Proofreading is one of the final stages before sending a document to print (a human reads the “proofs” before sending them to be published).

What Proofreading is NOT

Proofreading is not revising or editing a document.

What Does a Proofreader Do?

In some cases, proofreaders will work in tandem if one document has been copied into another. One proofreader will read off material while the other checks that it has been accurately transferred or copied into the other. Proofreading includes not just checking for misspelled words, but also wrong words. Spellcheck will not check that the autocorrect on your word processing program chose the correct word. Only a human can distinguish, for example, whether “form” or “from” is needed, or that the writer meant “who” rather than “whom” or “how”. And only a human will be able to tell if numbers have been switched or lists misnumbered when transferring data from one document to another.

Proofreaders also check for grammar and punctuation errors. These errors can include (but are not limited to): repeated words, run-on sentences, misplaced commas, whether an apostrophe is needed and where (”its” v. “it’s” for example), dropped periods, proper capitalization, pronoun agreement, dropped words, proper use of other punctuation marks such as em-dashes, colons, and semi-colons, paragraph formatting, and other common problems (”you and I” v. “you and me” for example). Proofreaders are not perfect, but they do try to make sure the copy they are proofing is as perfect as possible before it gets printed and read by the outside world.

How to Proofread a Document

First and foremost, the proofreader makes sure they have the proper tools: dictionary (New Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors, for example, or the good old-fashioned Merriam-Webster), word usage or grammar book (Strunk and White’s Elements of Style is a favorite), and/or document reference manual (Gregg Reference Manual, MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, and the AP Stylebook, are four examples). These are typically not cheap books to find, so you may decide to bookmark special sites that can help you in proofreading your documents, such as: Grammar Girl, The Owl at Purdue, and the Quick Reference Associated Press Style. There are also a variety of free dictionaries on the internet to help you with spelling and word choice, such as Your Dictionary, Dictionary.com, and the Business Dictionary quoted above.
Next, decide on whether proofreading will be done on the computer screen or on a hard copy. Proofreading a hard copy is better in the long run as the reflected light off paper and ink is easier on the eyes than the constantly moving pixels on a computer screen. This means mistakes are more easily seen and corrected on a paper copy than they may be on the computer screen. However, proofreading may done either way.

When proofreading for yourself on hardcopy, you can use whatever marks work for you, and whatever type of pen or pencil you like. However, if you are proofreading for someone else, pencil or red pen may be the accepted tools. Below is a list of some proofreading marks, which may also be found in many reference manuals.

For proofreading on the computer screen you may simply read and make changes as you see fit. However, when working with people in a team, or for someone else, using the Track Changes feature in MS Word may be a good option. This way the owner of the document or team member may decide whether or not they want to keep your corrections or changes.

Now it’s time to settle in and use your brain. There is no short-cut to proofreading. In the end, as the definition says at the beginning of this article, proofreading is the “careful reading (and rereading)” of a document. However, it is sometimes easier to catch mistakes by scanning a document. When reading a document, your brain will often fill in and correct where there are dropped or misspelled words. While you still need to read the document to make sure it makes sense, and to check for whether a paragraph mark needs to be started or deleted, etc., it is also good to scan.

One way to do this is to begin by reading a page of the document from beginning to end. Then, read/scan back through the page from end to beginning. Because the words are being scanned/read out of order, your eyes may be able to pick up on out of place words and misspellings more easily. Do this page by page until the whole document has been proofed. Another way to do this is to read through the document completely, marking what you see the first time through. Then, go back through the document more thoroughly the second time, checking for mistakes your eye glossed over the first time. One of the better ways is to start off with proofing the hard copy, then when making corrections to the document on the computer; you’ll probably find more problems you didn’t see when reading through the hard copy.

If something looks wrong, but you’re not sure, look it up. That’s why you have your tools. They don’t just sit on your desk to look pretty or impress people.

If you are proofreading a document you have written yourself, it is best if you have not looked at that document for a week. This way, you can come at the document with fresh eyes and will probably see mistakes that you glossed over when writing it. Most of the time, however, people do not give themselves the time to be able to lay aside the document and come back to it later. If you can at least wait a day, though, that would be good.

There is no magical way to bypass the proofreading process. Even the best writers need to have their work proofread. No matter how many drafts they have written of something, chances are there is a mistake somewhere that needs to be corrected. Proofreading is an important step in finding and correcting those mistakes.

If you would like more information on finding someone to proofread your documents for you, contact me at Putt Putt Productions.

Cross posted everywhere.

Writerly News!

Norman Bogner has a new book out, 99 Sycamore Place, a suspense thriller. It came out in July, but he's had some distributing problems. You can find it on Amazon now, though, and Barnes and Nobles, so check it out. He should also be coming out with a brand new shiny website any day now, with new tweaks and fun bits.

Now Writing for Suite 101

I'm trying out one of those many "write for free for us and get possible money later" things. I've got profiles on Helium and eHow, but can't get myself to put energy into those, but for some reason, I'm okay with Suite 101. Go figur.

Anywho, I have a profile up. And here is where you can find some articles I wrote (not much yet):


Later on this week, proofreading.

Putt Putt Productions Presents: Resumes and CVs -- Hints & Tips

Job hunting is a little bit like dating, a little bit like selling stock in a company no one yet knows about, and a little bit like those MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) documents you get telling you about the difference parts and/or chemicals in whatever new handy dandy thing you just bought. You have to convey information as well as sell yourself: who you are, what you do, how well you do it. All this hinges on how well you communicate these points to future employers. Resumes and CVs (Curriculum Vita) are documents that we use to communicate this information. They are responsible for communicating information about what we have done in the past and where we may be headed in the future.

However, besides being informational documents, they are also MARKETING documents (see the bit up above about selling yourself). You are advertising your wares, putting everything you want to sell about yourself in the best light possible, and conveying it as clearly and succinctly, and easy to read, as possible. Whether you are writing your own resume, or have hired someone else to do it, remember that resume or CV is like a brochure, a leaflet, a website, or a dating profile. It’s what people see before they decide on whether or not they want to see you.

I know you’ve heard this before, but the people who have read those resumes have read a million others BEFORE they got to yours. Their eyes are tired. The resumes are typically scanned for keywords, and being read on computer monitors (which are harder on the eyes than reading regular paper documents), and by the end of the day, that person has a headache. In addition, they may have an ideal person in mind, or they may be subconsciously comparing you to the last person who held that position — comparing YOU in a way that could be either positive or negative. How you measure up, either way, could be the deciding factor as to whether you end up in the “keep” file or the “toss” file.

Below are some hints and tips that may help you end up in the “keep” file rather than the “toss” file.

While Human Resource Managers, or Headhunters, or the Department Head, or anyone looking for that perfect person for the job may studiously read the entire resume or CV, chances are they will pay more attention to the upper half of the first page. Don’t be sloppy with the rest of the document, but make sure the upper half, or even upper THIRD of that document shines with your best qualities. Used to, after your contact information, everyone put an objective. Some people still do. These days, since some companies use computers to find keywords in documents, and others are still using humans to rifle through the information as quickly as possible, it’s better to have a brief synopsis or summary, typically in bullet point form, that lists your best points. Think of this summary as your topic sentence.

Remember writing essays in school? The topic sentence is the statement the writer makes at the beginning of the paper and then uses supporting evidence throughout the rest of the paper to prove that topic sentence true. Your summary is your topic sentence. Now, throughout the rest of that marketing document, make sure that topic sentence is proved.

At this point, some people prefer to list their education, then work experience, and then other experience. That is the typical format. But remember, this is a MARKETING document. Is your education recent? Is it the most important reason for why you are applying to a particular job in a specific industry? Or is your experience more relevant? How about your volunteer work? Perhaps you have had more experience as a volunteer for the job you are applying to than actual working experience? Whatever the case, begin with your strongest area.

Another point to make when listing your information is to begin each statement, or as many as possible, with active words. For example, you may have “provided excellent customer service” but that’s a dead phrase that recruiters have read and re-read all day long. Drop the “provided”. What you did was “excelled in customer service”. Both phrases say the same thing, yet the second phrase has more “oomph” in it.

When you first begin writing this resume, or are getting help from someone, don’t be afraid to stuff your marketing document with everything. Put EVERYTHING on that resume or CV that you can dredge up. You are going to whittle it down, eventually, but begin with everything. Create a Master Document that holds all your relevant information that you can refer to every time you need to revise your resume to send out for a new position.

Contrary to what many people think, you do not need to limit your resume to one page. Yes, it is ideal, but once you reach your 30s, if you’ve been working steadily at a career, you may well have accrued enough experience to fill two pages. These days, since most resumes are seen on the computer, the one page rule is not as hard and fast as it once was. If you are in a field where CVs are the norm (traditionally professionals such as those in academics, research, medicine, law, etc), then it may very well be longer, as you should list any publications you have, certifications, etc.

If you are someone who is just starting out in the working world, you may feel as if you don’t have anything to put on your resume. Or what you do have, doesn’t even make up a page. This is when you include extra-curricular activities, volunteering, and other activities in your community. Your future employer wants to know what type of people s/he is bringing into business, and whether or not it will be worth it to pay that person. Even if all your working experience is as a babysitter, then you can still use those other activities to round out the picture of who you are. And the one thing you do have going for you on your resume, if you are at this point in your life, is white space. White space is important. White space frames the words so the readers’ eyes don’t get tired and lost on the page. White space is especially important to people who have been reading badly written resumes on computer screens all day long.

On the other end of the spectrum is the person who has a lot of experience already. They have no problem with filling one page, and may even have two or more pages worth of relevant information. The same goes for this person: 1) Make sure to list the extra-curricular activities, volunteer positions, certificates, awards you’ve earned, and affiliations. (Yes, it’s important.) 2) Make sure there is good white space framing each section, and don’t try to make the font tiny just so you can fit everything on the resume. While the hard and fast rule is at two pages for you, you can be more selective about what you include and how much relevance you give it on the page. Again, your future employer wants a good picture of who they are hiring.

Are you trying to change careers? Perhaps get out of the Administrative Assistant trap and leap up to Management? Do yourself a favor, take out any word that is even remotely connected to “assist”, and make sure to list those times when you “managed” the paperwork or “trained” other employees in the office. Maybe you are a TV producer/graphic designer/chef. Which area do you want to emphasize? You don’t necessarily want to hide the other areas, because they may be instrumental in your next perfect career as a producer/chef/designer or designer/producer/chef or any combination thereof. You need to keep in mind, however, which is most important to you.

If you have hired someone else to write your resume, make sure they understand which is important to you. Don’t assume that they just “know.” Only you know, so tell them. In fact, if you haven’t either had a good hour long interview with, or filled out a lengthy questionnaire for the person writing your resume, odds are you will not be happy with the result, because resume writers are not mind readers.

After you have put that marketing document together listing all your stellar achievements and traits, set it aside for a few days, or at least a week. Ignore it completely. Then, look at it with fresh eyes. Look at as if you were going to hire you. Find the typos and awkward sentences (they will be there and don’t depend on spell check). Fix them and, if necessary, rearrange it all again. Satisfied now?

Okay, NOW send it to your trusted friends and family, the ones who pay attention to detail, know you well, and maybe even know the industry you are seeking employment in. What questions come to mind? Could you answer those questions in an interview? Maybe they see talents you have that you forgot to include on your marketing document. Take any and all suggestions with a (very large) grain of salt. Write them down. Set them aside, with your resume, for another week. Then take another look at the resume and the suggestions, incorporate those that you think should be incorporated. Proofread it one more time.

The day after THAT, you can send it out (after you have proofed, yes–again, one last time).

Remember — your resume is your marketing document with the purpose of selling you. You are constantly changing and your resume should change with you. If you need two or three different types of resume, then do it. Whatever it takes to sell yourself. We’re in a recession, people. You need all the help you can get.

And if you need help writing that resume, contact me.

If you are in the mood to read about chocolate (and remember, when you read about it, you want to eat it, so have some stashed away somewhere), then check out August's Chocolate Zoom.There are lots of articles on chocolate and movies for the summer, plus a rather downer article by me on chocolate with a conscience.

Updated Website

Check it out here!

And Now A Word From Our Sponsor

I was speaking with a friend the other day and realized that I may not be keeping every one up to date with what I am doing. Since it is the dead of summer and I need to scare up some business, I thought I would do what all sole-proprietors do and hit up people I know for contacts.

Expand my network.

I also plan to follow up with a series of one blog entry a week covering in detail some of the aspects of writing a good resume, proofreading v. copy editing, and why I have the company name and logo that I do, as well as other topics.

So, what do I do? On my resume it says:
*Book editing, proofreading
*Articles and reviews (book, magazine, and film)
*Resumes, letters, executive summaries
*Informational white papers and essays
*Fiction and poetry
Fifteen years experience in proofreading, copy-editing and other detail checking work.
Twenty years problem solving, trouble-shooting in customer service; some supervisory experience.

But what does that mean to you?

Contrary to popular belief, it's not just books and collections of short stories and poetry that need to be proofread or copy edited. EVERYTHING needs to be checked, proofed, sometimes edited, before it goes somewhere: Company, organization, and family newsletters; business and marketing proposals; thesis proposals and dissertations; personal and academic essays; resumes and cover letters; Power Point Presentations, lesson plans, and speeches; websites and blog articles. Just about anything in regards to the written word needs to be proofed and edited before it goes on public display or sent out to other people. Sometimes proofreading even means comparing figures to make sure those figures were correctly entered.

Sometimes, you can do that just fine on your own. Sometimes you work someplace where there are people hired to do that. But if you can't -- if you need a fresh pair of eyes to go over the spelling (spell check only goes so far), grammar, punctuation, and missed or wrong words, then that's what I can do for you.

What else do I do?
Copy editing, which is a more extensive form of proofing, checks for awkward sentences and whether or not what is written flows logically and makes sense. That is also something I do.

If someone needs content rewritten or reformatted from one type of document to another (PDF to Word or Excel for example). I also do that.

On top of all that -- I write! You may not need a writer at this minute, but what if one of the regular writers on your golfing newsletter can't make the deadline this month or this quarter or there's one more topic than writers available? I'm available for that as well.

Do you need a resume redone that you're not happy with? I can do that in a couple of hours. Or do you want a resume from scratch? You feel like just starting over? Give me an hour or so with you on the phone, we'll go over where you see yourself headed and what you want to do with the rest of your life and I'll get that resume done for you. And we'll talk about that cover letter, too.

Or do you have a new piece of art, music, book, poem, business, etc, that you have just gotten out and want written up and reviewed? I can do that (it helps if you can get me a copy of whatever it is you want me to review).

IN ADDITION to all that - if you're in Los Angeles and have a home office or regular office in need of some care and attention, I can come in and organize things for you. You've been putting off filing, organizing those receipts, and typing them into your account sheet for months now and January is just a few months away! I can come in, organize, tidy, file, and do data entry to catch you up so that next time you sit down to take care of business, it's not so frustrating.

Other things you might want to know about me:

If you feel more comfortable with non-disclosure agreements or confidentiality agreements, then I will sign those. No problem.

If you hire me to do something for your business, then you can take my invoice/receipt to use when you figure your tax deductions.

What do I charge?

*Proofreading: $20/hour
*Copy Editing: $30/hour
*If it's something in between we can negotiate on some price in the middle, depending on what is needed and how fast.
*Written content: .03-.08/word (also depending what is needed and how fast)

Resumes:
*Rewritten or just updated -- $20-30/hour depending on how much needs to be done.
*Written from scratch, including an interview with you, information gathering on you and what industry you are in, and the necessary revisions and tweaks we'll make to get it perfect -- $150 flat fee
*Cover letters: $25-50 flat fee

*Office Help: $10-15/hour, depending on what is needed.










And now back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Cross posted on every blog I have....

Paris Hilton for Prez!

My estimation of her just shot up.

'Nuff said.

Meme for Writers!

I got this from Razored Zen. He posted it when I was out of it, cyber wise, so I'm a little behind; let's see if I can catch up.

Your genre(s): Well, I've written poetry (both scifi and non), short stories, fantasy, science fiction, horror-ish stuff, romance, and erotica, and some subgenres in there as well, like folk tales, animal tales, children's, paranormal romance, and maybe urban fantasy. I've always wanted to try murder mystery as well. I might try that in the future some time. But I'd have to be a really good plotter then.

How many books are you working on now: Hmm....I have lots of started things that I put away to work on other things. I have one book that is basically 4 novellas (one about each girl in a band). I have one fantasy I'm currently revising. Then I have a bunch of short stories. AND there's this chick lit idea I've been kicking around for a long time that will probably never get written, but it's fun to toy with.

Are you a linear or chunk writer: I do it both ways. Which ever way the writing decides to come. Sometimes a scene comes to me and I have no idea where it's going to end up; I just grab a pen and try to get it down and then put it aside until the right moment comes along to insert it. And there usually is a right place, though sometimes it just ends up being backstory that I have as material on the character.

The POV you’re partial to: Whatever tells the story best. Sometimes it's first and sometimes third. Sometimes limited third and sometimes omniscient third. I have no idea where this prejudice against omniscient 3rd person came from. It's a method, like any other method. Lots of celebrated authors used it, so I see no reason why I shouldn't if it tells the story best. I suspect a little bit of "literachur's" snooty "standards" have snuck into genre writing. And I've heard writers debate for hours over the correct POV to write in and have been told by editors I have too many POVs trying to tell the story.

Well, if it's a big story, it needs a lot of different POVs to tell the story from! Like I said, whatever works best for that story. We really do more harm than good when we try to put so many rules on our own craft instead of just working on it.

The Tense you use: I guess past, mostly. I could see the effect present first would have on a story, but I haven't yet written a story that needed that.

The theme that keeps cropping up in your books: God, the universe, trying to think outside the box, what you see isn't always what you get, don't assume, kids without dads or responsible parents, having to grow into your calling in life, don't wait for prince charming, parents trying to make things up to their kids, the magic that we forget to see even though it's all around us....I guess there's a lot I like to write about.

How many days a week do you write: Fiction writing or other writing? I work with words every day. Sometimes as a proofreader/copy editor, sometimes as a fiction/poetry writer, sometimes as a reviewer/article writer. I try to do something every day, even if it's just writing in my journal or penning a poem that hits me on the bus. This is what I am.

I used to play the violin as a kid and I remember I was supposed to practice 15-30 minutes a day. I would put it off and then try to practice 2 hours the day before my lesson. My instructor could always tell. I never got around to practicing my violin everyday, though I still have my violin. I did enjoy playing it and still do sometimes, but I wasn't supposed to be a violinist. I was supposed to be a writer. And if I am really serious about this then it's something I need to try to do every single day.

What time of day do you get your best writing done: Either early in the morning (which almost never happens anymore), or from 3 pm on. I tend to do a lot business writing and job/gig searching in between.

Who are your mentors: I've never been able to find an actual mentor. That would have been nice. There are some people I've known I would have liked to have had as mentors, but they weren't that interested in me as a writer and had others they were interested in. So, I guess I'm like Charles, most of my mentors have been books. When I was a tween/teen I was fanatical about finding female role models to live up to. They were: Joan of Arc, Helen Keller, Edith Cavell, Florence Nightengale, Louisa May Alcott, Laura Ingalls Wilder, LM Montgomery, and Marie Curie. If Marie Curie could subsist on radishes in the middle of winter whilst studying at the Sorbonne and working at a lab job, then by golly by gum, I could do it, too. If LM Alcott could write after cleaning houses all day, then so could I.

Other "mentors" of mine include CS Lewis, JRR Tolkein, and Charles Williams. They were willing to research to the nth degree to get to the heart of something. And Charles Williams wasn't afraid of writing about, what to Christians would be considered, taboo subjects.

My favorite authors to read: Including the people above plus, H. P. Lovecraft, Edgar Allen Poe, Andre Norton, Patricia A. McKillip, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman, Charles DeLint, Rachel Vincent, Vicki Pettersson, Leigh Purtill, Stephanie Rowe, Lilith Saintcrow, Simon R. Green, Charlotte McLeod, Dorothy Sayers, Margery Allingham, O. Henry, Damon Knight, Georges Simenon, and lots of others.

Get your RED HOT COPIES!

Just a post to let you know that the issues of The Illuminata (Tyrannosaurus' Press newsletter of all things scifi and fantasy) and Chocolate Zoom (all things chocolate) are out.

You can find The Illuminata here: http://www.tyrannosauruspress.com/Illuminata/archive.html
(Just go to the bottom and click on the July 2008 issue link). Check out my articles on Writers and Their Health or Archetypes and the Villain.

And you can find the new issue of Chocolate Zoom here: http://www.chocolatezoom.com/index.php
Check out my article on Chocolate in Asia.

Crossposted a lot of different places

Rachel's Rules

Carolyn, on You're Boring Me, put out a list of her "rules" and reading it and talking it over with Jim I realized I had a list of rules as well, probably just as individualistic.

So, here goes.....

1) If I can possibly help it, I don't let anyone walk behind me. I hear footsteps on the street behind me, I'll suddenly develop a need to look for something in my handbag and stop and search through it until that person has passed. And I hate people behind me on the stairs, especially going up the stairs. I'll just wait until you've gone on ahead, thank you very much. All this especially holds true for people wearing "I'm so very important shoes" that click clack on the floor behind me. I hate those shoes.

2) I can't stand cold fruit. It needs to be room temperature for the flavors to be at their best. I do like cold juice, but fruit needs to warm up before I'll eat it. And I do like cooked fruit, but not pineapple. Can't stand pineapple on pizza.

3) If I am going to drink soda, I like it to be a little flat and a little warm. Beer is good cold, but again, I like it to sit a little before I drink it. Carbonation is just not my thing. I'd much rather have flat water than sparkling.

4) Most of the time, I like to keep my chocolate separate from other things. I don't want to mix it with fruit or alcohol or coffee. Ideally. I will eat it otherwise and enjoy it, but mostly I like it on its own.

4a) Most of the time I hate chocolate cake. Most chocolate cakes are dry and flavorless unless you get a nice chocolate mousse cake.

5) In general, I hate dry food. Dry food gives me the hiccups and is flavorless. If you see me eating dry food like crackers, it's because my stomach is upset and you'll notice I'm only eating a tiny bit at a time. Otherwise, I love goo. I want plenty of mayo on my sandwiches and lots of butter on my toast and popcorn and a lotta mustard on my hot dogs. Dry salads are the worst.

6) If someone wants to be my bff forever a little too fast or sooner than I think appropriate I don't like it. I'll hide from them. I may end up becoming bffs later, after I've had a chance to get to know them better, but I hate being rushed. Which leads me to...

7) I hate being rushed. I was rushed all growing up by a grampa with jingling change in his pocket and various other busy adults that kept me going from violin lessons to choir to church to vacation bible school to day camp to swimming...I think we can stop now. IMHO the only people who truly deserve to have everything shoved aside for them are doctors, firemen, and policemen. They are the only ones with real emergencies. The rest of us just think we have emergencies. That's not to say I don't respect deadlines, but don't tell me it's an emergency snap you need it "ASAP" unless someone is dieing.

8) Never use "ASAP" in my presence. For a reason, see above. If you need something as soon as possible, then say, "as soon as possible." And if possible, give me a specific time and date.

9) I am not a joiner. See 7 above for reasons. I got burned out on joining and participating. I can commit, and will participate if I have a choice as to the level of participation and if you don't try and guilt me into thinking it's my godly duty to participate. My writer's meetings are only once a month. I can commit to that. So far.

10) No guilting allowed! Okay, I know I'm guilty of this myself, but I hate it just the same and try to keep myself from doing it these days. If I hear a petitioner asking people, "Can you spare ONE MINUTE for global warming this afternoon?" I wanna smack'em. It is SO guilting people into stopping and then it's not just one minute, it's 15-20 as they try to talk you out of money you don't have in the first place!

11) Do not try to talk me into eating or drinking something I don't like just because it's "good for me." For example, I don't try to make you eat broccoli, so why is it so important for you to make me accede to eating peas. So I don't like red tea, so what. I drink lots of other liquids with antioxidants in them. I don't make you like lapsang souchong or russian caravan tea, do I? I will respect what you dislike as long as you respect what I dislike.

12) I do not use black pens unless I can't find any other colors. I prefer blue, purple, pink, and green. Or really sharp pencils. Black ink just looks so angry to me. I use red pens for proofing.

13) The toilet lid should always be down once you leave the bathroom. It's only common sense. I've lived around enough animals and in enough small places to know that keeping the lid closed on the toilet is very important. It's just gross to keep the lid up for one thing. Those commercials when a woman loses her earring down the toilet? Hello! If the lid were down, that wouldn't happen.

14) Always have enough toilet paper. NEVER RUN LOW ON THE TOILET PAPER. And keep it near the toilet! What's the point of having extra toilet paper if you can't reach it when you're sitting on the seat in question and have run out?

Okay, I know I have more rules, but I can't remember what they are. Those will work for now.

So, what are you rules?

Hello!

I may be on radio silence for a while as my computer has broken down and I am only here because of the kindness of friends! So, you may not hear from me for a while. Hopefully I'll be back soon.

How much do you read?

I got this from Jim's Notes:

The Big Read reckons that the average adult has only read 6 of the top 100 books they've printed.

Instructions:
A) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
B) Italicize those you intend to read.
C) Underline the books you LOVE (or change the color to blue because I can't underline).
and then I add
D) change the color to pink if you've seen the movie (and perhaps that's good enough for you but remember to bold it if you read the book as well).
E) I'm going to add, color it green if you began reading it but couldn't finish it.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare (I've read a few of them.)
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame (love it and saw the movie)
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis (love it and saw the movie)
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne (love it and saw the movie)
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown (how did this get in here?)
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt (long and depressing)
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding (if you are wondering what's wrong with the world, note that this book made the top 100 books list.)
69 Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens (love it and saw the movie)
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte's Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

I have read 44 of the above titles. Whoohooo!

The Ten Year Meme

I got this from Razored Zen.

What were you doing 10 years ago?
Back in 1998 I was living in San Francisco near the Haight in a tiny little house in someone's back yard. I had an orange tabby named Kiko. The computer I had at the time was a "pizza box" Mac and I had AOL dial up. I was doing yoga. I had a garden. To get to work each morning I took a bus downtown and then a BART over into Oakland. The job was steady and not bad, but it kind of felt soul leaching at the time as it was all to do with numbers and I wanted words. I wanted to be surrounded by creative people.

Re-reading my journal (which I do on occasion to see if I've learned anything at all over the years), I found that I was brooding over guys I had brooded over from years before and kept brooding on for years after. Silly me. Like brooding does anything. On June 24 I woke up with a headache that wouldn't quit and called in sick to work, then felt like a louse for doing it, but I was caught up with invoices and bored and my headache wouldn't stop. I finally got out of the house in the afternoon to lug my laundry over to the laundromat over on Hayes to do laundry. I liked doing laundry, even though I hated hauling it (I used a luggage carrier and bungee cords to get my laundry bags down the hill and over a couple of blocks. The worst was bringing it back home again up the hill).

I'd had a dream where a former roommate of mine sobbed and wouldn't be comforted. I was living in a place from childhood, in Wenatchee. I didn't know what to do for her but found my violin case. It had no violin in it but had money instead. In my journal I pondered if I had sold out my creativity for money. Had I given up on my dream to be a writer just to have more money (yeah, now, I might not mind that job because it was mindless, like Lisa said, but at the time, it felt like a soul-sucker). My sister and a friend of hers were going to come over for dinner and hang out.

Five things on your to-do list for today
1. Rewriting Chapter 3
2.Check through my favorite blogs to read.
3. Vacuum, dammit! I really need to vacuum. I've been sweeping (too hot to run engines), but that doesn't cut it.
4. Work on a proofing and editing some short stories for a client.
5. Cross my fingers for work another client has promised will come through sometime soon (like today).

What would you do if you were a billionaire?
I’d set up a charity foundation. Not sure what it would focus on, or if it would just accept grant proposals from any in need who seemed worthy. Or maybe it would help pay medical costs for artists and writers without insurance. I don't know. But I would have a charity foundation. I'd also have a family fund set up - or set up accounts for my mom, my dad, my sister, other family members and friends. Other than that, I'd write, putter in the garden, play with my kitty, travel, maybe set up my own production company that worked on different kinds of creative projects from writing to film to art to music. I'd have a beachhouse, a cabin in the mountains, and a penthouse in the city and a jet that flew easily between each.

What are three of your bad habits?
1. Procrastination
2. Moodiness - typically from feeling as if I'd pissed off the world and it was taking it out on me, feeling like my friends are ignoring me and that I'll never, ever, ever, ever be good enough. Nobody likes me. Yeah, it can get bad.
3. Not thinking before I open my mouth or hit reply, or thinking but doing it anyway.

What are some snacks you enjoy?
1. toast
2. chocolate chip cookies
3. M&Ms

What were the last five books you read?

The Riddlemaster of Hed trilogy by Patricia A. McKillip. The prince of Hed, who recently returned from the Riddle Master College due to the death of his parents, falls in love with a harp and gets talked into following a riddle, just wants to answer one more riddle, and a harpmaster who seems to really understand him. Things happen, adventures occur, hi-jinks ensue, there's betrayal, love, loss, war, magic, and really good word magery.

The Sorceress and the Cygnet and The Cygnet and the Firebird, also by Patricia A. McKillip. In the first book, a young wayfarer boy is the only one in his clan to have corn silk hair. He tells good stories, but one day he falls into one and it sets him on a journey that could destroy the world as he knows it, but it's the only way to get back his true love. He meets up with the sorceress, Nyx Ro, and it's all mirrors, hidden rooms, and magic after that. In the second book, a firebird flies into Ro Holding one day spouting fire and turning everything it spouts on into jewels and precious gems. Everything turns back at moonrise when the firebird changes back into a man. Nyx Ro, ever curious, tries to help the lost firebird/man. In the meantime, Maguet Vervaine, her cousin, protector of Ro Holding, is abducted by a mage who wants a book that Nyx has but doesn't know how to use--yet. It's full of dragons and desserts and magic and love and loyalty and betrayal, and again, really good word magery.

So - that's five (3 + 2).

What are five jobs you have had?
1. Barista at Starbucks.
2. Receptionist/kennel cleaner at Fountain Veterinary Hospital.
3. Invoice clerk for a Chemical Company.
4. Keyholder at Waldenbooks.
5. Shelver, helper, proofer, etc at Wilson Library.

What are five places where you have lived?

1. Wenatchee, Washington
2. Bellingham, Washington
3. Seattle, Washington
4. San Francisco, California
5. Los Angeles, California