I know my own limitations and distractions. I fight them everyday but sometimes things are completely out of control. Right now, I’m disgruntled because on a day I’d like to do a lot of work online, my Internet is out. Yes, I’m typing this in Word to copy into the blog later.
This is an ongoing comedy of disgusting errors. I actually received a credit on my bill for April’s Internet service because CenturyLink (fka Embarq fka Sprint fka United Telephone and possibly fka Centerburg Telephone Company) finally recognizes that they are not delivering the DSL bandwidth I am paying for. The tech actually told Harry to call again on May 1 for another credit if it isn’t fixed.
Hey, I’m not doing to look a gift horse in the mouth. That money - $25 – is a couple of articles a month. Of course, then there’s the base telephone service I pay for a land line I rarely if ever use. They like to use a diversion tactic of “only” $12.99 for local service. But, by the time they add on their required bundle of services I don’t use in order to provide an overall discount, I’m up to about $80.
So, with CenturyLink deciding that I needed a distraction from the Internet today rather than writing news commentary, I’m going to write whatever comes to mind. It worked out rather well when it happened two weeks ago to the day.
Happy blogging!
Showing posts with label freelance writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label freelance writing. Show all posts
Saturday
Beauty, Blessings and Beer
Quite the combination, huh? When I think of the letter B these are the first three words that come to mind.
What is beauty? I don't think of it in terms of people's looks. I think of beautiful souls. I've known Bonny Buffington (catch those Bs?) since I was a little girl. Her family lived next door to Gramma and Grampa (just up the road from where I live now!) and I can remember swimming with them in their above-ground pool. Over the years, Bonny has taught my children. I remember a particular day. I knew Bonny had been battling cancer. The windows were open and I heard singing. I looked outside and saw Bonny walking by, singing. That's a beautiful soul.
I see beauty everywhere around me. A brilliant sunrise or a blinding red sunset. I'm captivated at watching the hummingbirds in the summertime. The snow on the branches of the pine trees. I appreciate the brilliance of Earth Mother for giving us all these gifts, if only we choose to accept them.
I am truly blessed. Yeah, I've had bad times and I'm certain there will be more. I've raised two beautiful souls to adulthood. Every day, I wake up beside the love of my life and enjoy the relationship we have built. I have brothers and their families who I love very much. I have a huge family thanks to Mom & Dad that I appreciate and enjoy.
I'm blessed with friendships that I can never properly explain. A balance of love and trust, even some I've never had the opportunity to hug.
I really have to thank Barley's Smokehouse & Brewpub. In addition to providing the platform to build Rent-A-Party and subsequently, the Sewing Circle, they taught me to appreciate beer. No - not Budweiser (which tastes better in Canada than it does in the US, by the way) or Blatz (which does taste remarkably awesome when it's ice cold in a can and you're in a cabin in the Hocking Hills). Barley's taught me to appreciate real beer. Craft-brewed British-style ales. Belgians from other places.
An appreciation for the beauty in real beer led to the path I'm on today. I appreciate small business. I appreciate craft wineries. I appreciate slow food (but not turtles or snails). Being able to appreciate all those things led me to where I am today. A writer, a baker, a food blogger, a small business-owner.
What is beauty? I don't think of it in terms of people's looks. I think of beautiful souls. I've known Bonny Buffington (catch those Bs?) since I was a little girl. Her family lived next door to Gramma and Grampa (just up the road from where I live now!) and I can remember swimming with them in their above-ground pool. Over the years, Bonny has taught my children. I remember a particular day. I knew Bonny had been battling cancer. The windows were open and I heard singing. I looked outside and saw Bonny walking by, singing. That's a beautiful soul.
I see beauty everywhere around me. A brilliant sunrise or a blinding red sunset. I'm captivated at watching the hummingbirds in the summertime. The snow on the branches of the pine trees. I appreciate the brilliance of Earth Mother for giving us all these gifts, if only we choose to accept them.
I am truly blessed. Yeah, I've had bad times and I'm certain there will be more. I've raised two beautiful souls to adulthood. Every day, I wake up beside the love of my life and enjoy the relationship we have built. I have brothers and their families who I love very much. I have a huge family thanks to Mom & Dad that I appreciate and enjoy.
I'm blessed with friendships that I can never properly explain. A balance of love and trust, even some I've never had the opportunity to hug.
I really have to thank Barley's Smokehouse & Brewpub. In addition to providing the platform to build Rent-A-Party and subsequently, the Sewing Circle, they taught me to appreciate beer. No - not Budweiser (which tastes better in Canada than it does in the US, by the way) or Blatz (which does taste remarkably awesome when it's ice cold in a can and you're in a cabin in the Hocking Hills). Barley's taught me to appreciate real beer. Craft-brewed British-style ales. Belgians from other places.
An appreciation for the beauty in real beer led to the path I'm on today. I appreciate small business. I appreciate craft wineries. I appreciate slow food (but not turtles or snails). Being able to appreciate all those things led me to where I am today. A writer, a baker, a food blogger, a small business-owner.
And I shall write...
I entered the world of freelance writing for PAY! in July 2008. While I didn't think about it at the time, it was actually July 8 - my ex-husband's birthday. So now that date is stuck in my head every time I look at my AC profile.
Wait - it's not AC anymore. It's the Yahoo! Contributor Network. What a journey it's been. My discipline sucks, always has. I'm the worst boss I've ever had unless you take porch breaks with cocktails into account. But I learned something this morning - I have a total of 401 pieces of content across the Yahoo! family of websites. Only one is a poem - a haiku I wrote for a contest over the summer. Out of that 401, I wrote 208 of them in 2010. That's an average of just over 17 articles a month. Considering that I wrote 40 articles at Y!CN in November I realize that I've got the skills if I just apply myself.
November was an interesting month writing-wise. I had a lot of great assignments, try-outs for some regular Yahoo! TV positions - I scored the 4 shows I watch regularly! I also started writing for Bright Hub at the end of October and was still on probation through November and did 5 articles for them. I didn't do as well at BH in December but I've got a lot of external factors weighing on me right now. I was also accepted into the Gather Socialwrite program and I was really excited about it. Now - they've changed the platform and I'm just not sure I'm as excited as I was originally.
So here it is - my writing goals for 2011 based on what I really accomplished in 2010.
1) 540 articles. This is realistic because I did write 45 articles in November without hurting myself too much. I plan to spread this over each of the sites I write for.
2) Achieve Hot 500 status each month at Y!CN - I hit it for the first time in November and my December was a bit better with really no hot news. My 2-year old Christmas articles carried the weight and are testimony to the power of residuals. I'd love to be Hot 100 but I tend to set realistic goals.
3) Improve my news writing so that I can score some Yahoo! News assignments. Sadly, I have a local murder trial to cover but it will be a first person perspective.
4) Work on my local work to hopefully score a Yahoo! Local beat.
Simple, achievable goals. I can do this.
Wait - it's not AC anymore. It's the Yahoo! Contributor Network. What a journey it's been. My discipline sucks, always has. I'm the worst boss I've ever had unless you take porch breaks with cocktails into account. But I learned something this morning - I have a total of 401 pieces of content across the Yahoo! family of websites. Only one is a poem - a haiku I wrote for a contest over the summer. Out of that 401, I wrote 208 of them in 2010. That's an average of just over 17 articles a month. Considering that I wrote 40 articles at Y!CN in November I realize that I've got the skills if I just apply myself.
November was an interesting month writing-wise. I had a lot of great assignments, try-outs for some regular Yahoo! TV positions - I scored the 4 shows I watch regularly! I also started writing for Bright Hub at the end of October and was still on probation through November and did 5 articles for them. I didn't do as well at BH in December but I've got a lot of external factors weighing on me right now. I was also accepted into the Gather Socialwrite program and I was really excited about it. Now - they've changed the platform and I'm just not sure I'm as excited as I was originally.
So here it is - my writing goals for 2011 based on what I really accomplished in 2010.
1) 540 articles. This is realistic because I did write 45 articles in November without hurting myself too much. I plan to spread this over each of the sites I write for.
2) Achieve Hot 500 status each month at Y!CN - I hit it for the first time in November and my December was a bit better with really no hot news. My 2-year old Christmas articles carried the weight and are testimony to the power of residuals. I'd love to be Hot 100 but I tend to set realistic goals.
3) Improve my news writing so that I can score some Yahoo! News assignments. Sadly, I have a local murder trial to cover but it will be a first person perspective.
4) Work on my local work to hopefully score a Yahoo! Local beat.
Simple, achievable goals. I can do this.
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