Friday Fiver!

1. Caught up for the weekend. Whew! Worked it yesterday because the India office is off on Monday and stuff was due. Feeling good about how much I got done and how fun it will be today to READ . . . in the cold . . .

2. Our furnace blower died a horrible death last night. The repair man is coming today, but the temp is dropping and it's 60 in here. For Trish, the cold-blooded skinny girl, this is too cold. I am wrapped up when it's 65 or 70, so I am going to go scald myself in the shower.

3. Wii party at our house tonight at 7. BYOB. Nuff said.

4. LOST blew my mind last night and I'm kinda ticked. More questions, more new people, and they channeled C.S. Lewis? I'm so confused. Who is Charlotte Staples Lewis? Polar bear addict? Argh.

5. WGA strike is done. They've got a deal, it will be ratified by WGA west and east tomorrow and back to work Monday? That sounds great. Congrats, WGA! We're proud of you and so happy for you. Big weekend.

Gotta run, heating guy is here (so strange to not use my sis and brother in law for this!)

Currently reading: Self-Publishing (Pete Bowerman)
Currently listening to: Nichole Nordeman

LOST Day!

I'm pretty excited because rumor is that the WGA strike is close to resolution, and maybe the writers, show runners, and crews can get back to work on Monday.

As a writer, the issues they have fought for are worth a lot to me (residuals from dvd sales and web downloads); I never like to see a writer writing for free in order to keep their job.

In writing news, essay class is moving along. I sent my first little anecdote to my instructor and hope she didn't run screaming out of her office in pain. I am getting pretty daring with my writing, sending it hither and thither. You'd think I actually believed it was good.

But that's the issue. I'm a good writer, but you still have that nagging feeling that maybe you missed the target with your latest piece. So today, after all the work is done and LOST is watched, I won't try to write too much, saving it for tomorrow when things are not so hectic.

Currently reading: McGraw-Hill Business Writing and Communication (Kenneth W. Davis)
Currently listening to: Stop and Stare (One Republic)

Over It

Stayed up too late watching returns from Super Tuesday. It is voter fatigue, I can feel it. I'm pretty happy to see the big winners and those who are losing steam. This year, I'm ABH (anyone but Hillary or Huckabee) and I loved Guiliani so much, but my hope is that he might be McCain's vp choice, which would be cool. I like McCain, but Mac cannot beat Obama, and I just don't care anymore. Obama/Mac, whatever.

I'm a bit disillusioned because to me there is not much difference between the parties anymore: in fiscal policy, foreign policy, domestic policy, etc., as both love to spend my money, both love to make decisions that benefit themselves and not average Americans, and no one has respect for the power of the people anymore. (We know this about Mac already, and we read Obama's book and were really disappointed by it.) So both have made mistakes; that's fine. I just need a break. I get daily emails from very conservative friends urging me to choose Huckabee when they only like him because of the access it will give them to the federal government (you should see who's in Huckabee's back pocket--scary).

But I sound really grumpy, so I'll just say that I love Mac and his ABBA song that he plays at his rallies. I love Peggy Noonan (of Ronald Reagan speechwriting fame) last night commenting on the GOP's fickleness. She is so cool. I love the fervor I see in Obama supporters, like a breath of fresh air.

This race is so far from over and I love that element in America. We can make a difference by voting in primaries and participating in state caucus events (WA has one on Saturday that I'm preparing for), and in this country, if you vote, you are doing something. I get frustrated just like everyone else, but in the end, it's a vote cast. It means something.

Writing is moving along and practically the only enjoyment of my day right now. That and another project wrapped up yesterday. I am neck-deep in day job work and sometimes I just get antsy to not think about it for a while. Probably because I had a three-day weekend. Hard to get back into the groove, but I've got my Bose cranked today and Kath McPhee rocking. Yes, I'm still on this American Idol kick. Chris Daughtry is up next! :)

Realizing that I could write a stream of consciousness essay for a week straight. (There is that much in my head begging to be let out.) The key will be to mold it into something that means something. So don't look at this blog post as an example of molding.

Told you I could write a lot.

Currently reading: White Papers book by Bob Bly
Currently listening to: Over It (Katherine McPhee)

Super Tuesday

I'm back to the home office after a nice three-day weekend and celebrating baby niece's first birthday. It was a hit! We had a wonderful time. She is so grown up at one and is working so hard to imitate everything we do.





She is so curious and anything different gets her notice very quickly. Even if you leave a camera or Wii controller or tv remote within her reach, she zeroes in on it within seconds. It was fun to spend time with her and the family and we made Wii bowling champions out of a few more people!

Onto writing, my editor is still reviewing and I'm busy with other things:

researching possible agents to send the book to and working on my essay class and MFA class work. The power flickered last night so much after our arrival at home that we just shut the computers down and went to bed. I have already had a conference call and answered all my email and now am ready to start on my to do list for today, which is long, but everything I want to accomplish will get done this week.

My February list:

Move this blog to a more secure platform (got my host, picked my theme, just need to move)
Finish building and launch my corp writing site (www.realbrilliantcopy.com)
Hire my VA for data entry.
Editorial postcards need to go this week.
Update eZine.
Implement decisions on blogs for both biz sites.
Corp site eZine writing.
MFA class work catch up for February.
Essay class (write four essays and learn the process)
Daily study and reading schedule (my list of books is over 50 titles long)

We'll see how far I get on this. It's fun to set out plans and then see how I do at month's end.

Currently reading: The Situation and the Story (Vivian Gornick)
Currently listening to: Third Day