Awesome Idea for Daytimer

It's time to reorder Daytimer pages.  And please, just suspend the disbelief here and bear with the thought that yes, in this digital society, there are people who still lug those heavy, paper-filled little binders around, scrawling in ink - INK I say - daily appointments, meeting notes, to-do items, etc.  Have you done that? Good.

Now, back to my issue.

It's the time of year when I panic because I start making appointments for January and realize when I flip to the back of my Daytimer to record said appointment I find no new calendar pages.  AHHHH.  So I make a note (in my Daytimer, thank you very much) and then later that evening, hit up the Internet to order refills.

And then I remember why I haven't ordered new pages yet - they all suck!  Yes, I know, not pretty talk from a 36 year-old professional, but it's true.  There are only a handfull of page sets to select and they're boring or I've had them so many times I know everything they say EVERY DAY.  And while I am a Daytimer brand loyalist, I've stepped out on them a time or two - and you know what?  Covey, At-A-Glance, they all suck.  Seriously.  I know it's 2010 and with iPhones and Crackberries and iPads and whatnot people aren't creating a huge demand for these items anymore.  But those of us who still use those flexible "Today" markers are mired in a wasteland of Gardenpath, Nautical, Diabetes Tracking hell planner pages from the 1970's.

As an aside, I covet the iPad and hope to add one to my life within the new year.  And that may change the way I organize my world.  But for now, in my professional life (which requires a lot of note-taking, time-and-date tracking and WRITING), I need something handy in which I can do all of this and a Daytimer - planner, if you will - fits the bill.

Why doesn't someone create new planner pages that are fun, entertaining, easy to use (two-page pre day format, action list long and on the left side of the right page - appointments that run from 6 a to 10 p, little area to track calls to return and a full lined notes page on the left page) and updated a little?  I mean, printing has come so far these days, this would be a breeze. And could drive sales of certain products/services.  Want to know how?

I love, love, love Texas/Red Dirt Music.  How much fun would it be to have Daytimer pages featuring info on my favorite bands, current and from the past? Throw in Tabbed Month Dividers (2 pages) with photos of some awesome clubs and dance halls, pre-print brithdays,  pre-determined shows, album release dates by certain artists and viola!  Fan heaven and instant support for an entire music scene.  Southern Thread, Tito's Vodka, and other consumer brands beloved by artists and fans of the scene could put coupon codes on certain months to drive traffic to their sites and purchases for their products...it's gold, gold I tell you!

Hell there's a Show called Keeping Up With the Kardashians - how hard would it be to turn that into a "Keeping Up With You" planner page set?  Advertisers who support the stars' endeavors could get placement on pages, they can promote show times and dates, their clothing stores and books and websites, etc.  They could even include a place for women to track trends they like, reminders to schedule beauty appointments (lazer hair removal anyone?), etc.

And what about the Demon Marketer himself, Mr. Gene Simmons.  KISS is an international brand and KISS fans are everywhere - and I would venture to guess equally split between the young and older demographics (or demon-graphics - get it?).  Put together a set of KISS planner pages - you could use old album covers as the tabbed monthly dividers, have a nugget of info on each page about the band or its members, have a "This day in KISS history" (or KISStory) item on each day - - - I guarantee they would be purchased as fast as they could be printed.

And the awesome thing is - these pages could be turned into apps for iPhones and  iPads sharing the same graphics and info - just digitally - to open up the market even futher.  Lord knows there is yet to be a top-notch planner app for Smartphones etc. created to date.

I've spouted off enough.  Since I guess I won't be ordering my Randy Rogers Band planner pages this year, I've got to go back to choosing between Maxine, Flavia or Golf Links...




  

The Shower

It seems all of my ideas come to me in the shower.

Seriously.

I've created entire marketing plans, found the missing piece to solving multi-leveled problems for clients, written songs, realized elegant methods of navigating odd social situations and generally had a bunch 'o a-ha moments under the water and suds.

My in-laws started a travel blog recently. They are working hard on making it a complete resource for visitors to Santa Fe and a showcase of travel done "their way" across the country. I was thinking about this in the shower the other day and asking myself why is it that I don't have something like that going.

It all comes down to choices. I have too many of them and I really hate being put into any one box.

For instance, I own a PR/Marketing Communications firm. Hey, i could blog about that. Yeah, but I don't want to put my clients on display like that. And yeah, sure, I could pick apart press releases by other companies, point out mistakes PR firms or companies make in their campaigns, have a "when will Tiger speak" counter on the site, but that, to me, is something I would do on my company website. That's work. And more of it. I love PR/Marketing/Communications - and I'm good at what I do. I live it every day - adding a full blog about it would really let it take over my life.

I'm a writer. I could do a blog about writing - motivation, analysis of the current trends in publishing, review books, kvetch about my own struggles when writing...But really, does anyone want to read what an unpublished writer with two "closet novels" (one's that will stay in the closet until I die) to her name has to say on any of those topics? Especially not with real writers who have earned a seat at the table are covering those issues quite nicely.

I'm a mom who is over-extended in child-rearing, home-making, social duties...maybe I could... Nope. I can't even say "Mommyblogger" without throwing up a little in my mouth. Don't get me wrong, I love to read mom blogs. I get their humor, jokes, fascinating asides. And I think they have A LOT to add to the coversation of parenting because they tend to be truthful when too many people are not. But that's not all of who I am, either.

I'm into fitness and am actively working towards a "Total Body Transformation by 37". This self-created program includes working my way up to running at least 3 miles a day three days a week, cross-training twice a week, dropping 20-25 pounds and increasing my lean muscle - which is to say, relocating it. I'm changing eating habits, working out more regularly, counting calories and keeping a food journal. So far I've dropped 9 lbs (bringing weight to lose down to the number above) - so this would be a great blog to start, tracking my progress daily and being held accountable to the world. Only I'm sometimes too busy to keep my food journal up for a full week, can't remember when I did an ACTUAL workout (instead of those 10-minute running-up-and-down-the-stairs-mini-workouts I see in Shape) and really feel like I'm the last person to crow about fitness at this point in life.

I'm a pop-culture freak. I may not perscribe to them, but I follow trends in fashion and tech and society closely. I take an interest in the celebrity world - while not supporting paparazzi actions or libelous press. I enjoy music and love to see who is on the charts and why - and also point out who I think is worth listening to, and who is not. Why not talk about that stuff. Ehh, it's interesting in passing, and I'd love to make snarky and pointed commentary about events occasionally, but I think I'd tear off my eyelids if I had to watch every style change of Lady GaGa or track which celebrity has their own perfume or fashion line out. I love that stuff, but I'm no slave to fashion - and I only wear perfume if I'm going somewhere where people are present who are worthy of smelling Chanel.

So what do I do then? Tell me, Oh suds and hot water, what should I do to be more engaged in my writing, my world and enter the blogosphere?

Really? Is it that simple? Noooo, it couldn't be...

Just be me? Just write about what I'm thinking about, doing, wondering each day? Why that's... that's just...ABSOLUTELY EFFING BRILLIANT!!! And, after re-reading the posts on this blog, is exactly what I'm doing.

So that is it, that is this, this is me....

Don't Treat Me Like I'm Stupid

Don't treat me like I'm stupid
I know more than you believe
while you have years of experience
I give people what they need

Don't treat me like I'm stupid
and blame me for your mistakes
you can't prioritize to save your ass
but that does not my problem make

Don't treat me like I'm stupid
and look into my eyes and smile
you're inept and inconsiderate
and people only tolerate that for a while

Don't treat me like I'm stupid
sitting up in your office with a view
down on the street they know your game
and are ready to abandon you

Don't treat me like I'm stupid
I have money to spend
don't piss down my back and tell me
it's raining on your head, my friend

Don't treat me like I'm stupid
I'm small but I have a mighty heart
and I know what it takes to keep someone
even when my world is falling apart

Don't treat me like I'm stupid
and hide behind a blaming smokescreen
everyone knows you're in over your head
and that makes you the stupid ones, not me.

Long Time Gone

I've been away from the Blogger dashboard for too long. But that's me. I am a serial procrastinator and a person who, when the projects are for sheerly my own personal satisfaction, etc. starts a million things and never finishes them. When it comes to doing things for others and clients and the like, I am on it in a heartbeat; checking, rechecking, timelining, updating, revising.

Me, though, I'm the shoemaker's child.

Today the Bennington waitlist closes, and although the Assistant Director of the Writing Seminars sent me a very encouraging and lovely email on Friday, I'm now on to determining things I can do to either enhance my application packet for the June 2010 term, additional schools to which I will apply, or none of the above. My heart feels like I want this MFA and I need this MFA to push myself as a writer. To grow as a writer. To learn as a writer. To take on roles that keep me closer to writing and reading than I am right now. Yes, i write every single day of my life, and yes, it's writing that requires a talent. But no, it isn't the writing that I see myself doing from that lovely cottage in Ireland when I'm in my 50's (which are now only 15 years away). Perhaps it's the writing that will pay for that cottage and afford me the breaks away from earning money (or much) from publishing.

But I ask myself - what will help me over that last little hill and into the sacred temple of Bennington or Warren Wilson or any of the other well-regarded schools that offer low-residency MFA programs and make me feel that they respect me as a writer and a human with all of the responsibilities along with it?

And will the idea of getting into a program and the opportunities it can offer be enough for me to put it first? Up there with the paying clients and pro bono cases and helping outs for the organizations to which my kids belong?

Feeling just a little lost today - but suitable I would say for the weather outside.

I shan't lie

I'm writing this after drinking about half a bottle of syrah and eating a medium-sized bowl of pasta with garlic, hot pepper flakes, freshly ground pepper, olive oil and salt. Okay - and I ate a few mini marshmallows dipped in peanut butter a few hours before that.

That meal (?), gluttony, absolutel disregard for health and ateries and fat cells and the like can really sum up my weekend.

We had a rough one, last week. Along with a fairly pressing work schedule and coming off the Swine Flu, I did the solo parent dealyo most of this week as my husband took an epic journey to exotic areas of our country including Terra Haute, Houston and Sacramento. Why and when will be in the press soon enough (perhaps - or maybe the country's just used to bad economic news from HR Directors these days). Suffice it to say however, that upon his arrival home Thursday he needed immediately to take on the single dad role as I was out for a meeting with a client and then Friday night, as he delivered the final presentation to receive an importing/exporting certificate from WVU (that seemed like a good idea at the time...), I took advantiage of a sitter to support my alma mater's Relay for Life and listen to a speech by my former professor, current friend and always mentor Dr. Bev Hogue as she delivered an awesome speech about her "cancer journey."

So, this activity, combined with the knowledge that Wednesday evening we shall bid farewell to our boys to fly to San Diego and walk 60-miles in 3-Day (The Breast Cancer 3-Day), aided and abetted our decisions to basically take this weekend off. We stayed in touch with our PDAs of course, but really tried to focus energies on the boys and what they wanted to do. A bit of our activities:

• get up early, crawl in bed with mom and dad and giggle for an hour
• have a fantastic early morning read with Dad on the couch
• cherry kool-aid from Mom at 9 a.m.
• free-time in which lots of Wii and Lego play ensued
• lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant including a "virgin strawberry daquiri;" spelling test on the British spelling of words likve "colour," "favourite," "grey," "realise,"; explanation about why "toilet" is a more-commonly-used term across the pond; and fried icea cream eating race with Dad
• trip to the Mound Cemetery to investigate old graves and paranormal activity. Big disappointment, the dog could not come. "Dogs are much more sensitive to paranormal activity," my 7-year-old states. "If there were ghosts here, [the dog] would have acted crazy and we would have proof."
• Visit to Giant Eagle
• Viewing of Dr. No
• crawl into bed with Mom and Dad in the middle of the night - strip off all clothes.
• awake to Mom yelling because someone in the bed is naked
• reading with Dad, games with Dad, being quiet while Mom sleeps in
• discussing Dr. No with Mom and Dad and playing with Lego.
• more Wii
• beating up my brother
• going outside for a two-hour romp with the neighbor kids - ignoring Mom and Dad
• family dinner
• homework
• reading with dad

Yes, incredibly child-centric. And totally against my NaNoWriMo goals (not a word written in three days). And really not productive for preparing for a journey across country.

But the kind of weekend I love best...

Scared

A show of hands please - who's afraid to set foot outside with the rash of random shootings taking place? Seriously - Ft. Hood, Orlando, Oregon and one that hits close to home, Pine Planins, NY. Okay, so Pine Plains was simply a hostage situation in a school by and armed man, but if it weren't for Pine Plains, ny husband and I would never have met, so I take even something that in this day and age would seem trivial (after all, no one was even killed!) seriously. (For those keeping track, that was sarcasm back there.)

I find myself getting twitchy in public places now. On Saturday, my son and I were in Borders - hallowed ground for us - enjoying a few spare moments to inhale that new book smell and pick up a new Del Tora Quest series and a copy of The Guernsey Potato Peel Pie and Literary Society (I never can get the name of that book right). A larger man goes walking past me, saying something really loud repeatedly - what I only now think was likely some sort of singing or chanting - with two early teenage girls following closely pointing and laughing the whole time. In my head I pegged those two girls as the first victims of this man, who on probably any other given Saturday would have been just a run-of-the-mill local nutbag, but in light of all of the events, was obviously a crazed gunman ready to take revenge on a society that can read and communicate without chanting or singing something loudly in a monotone.

And to top it all off, tonight is the scheduled execution of the DC Area Sniper. Who doesn't remember that reign of national terror? Even before I learned that he'd likely driven his deathmobile right along the interstate that runs through our town I was running through the Wal Mart parking lot in zig-zags, resistant to taking my kids anywhere in public and fearful that each time I pumped gas I could die. Right there. Doing the mundane thing I most despise.

I'm not asking for much. I'm not asking for an end to Global Warming or for the economy to go back to clinton-era weath overnight, but please, can't we just stop killing each other for a little while?

No Editing Allowed

I sit here in my basement office working away at client documents. I have a set of Questions and Answers and a press release to do for one client, and a press release to write for a pro bono thing I do. I'm telling myself that if I can get the paying client work done, I have permission to work on the novel that I have jumped in to.

But every time I start to type in another Q or fill in the A, I keep coming back to questions about this new project. I'm worried about structural issues - I want it to seem like it's coming at a person from various sides and disjointed...frankly, I want it to replicate the thoughts that race through the minds of a group of friends as they learn of and work to deal with a friend's suicide. But I'm not there yet. And taking on the sheer number of characters it takes to pull this off is daunting. I'm 1,000 words into this story (and please note here that I am not typically a writer who lives and dies by word count. In fact, I've never seen so many writers who do until I joined Twitter. My knowing word count is based on the fact that I've committed to doing this novel in one month - the month of November in fact - as part of National Novel Writing Month - NaNoWriMO) and already have so many places to go and things to say. I've settled on third person limited omniscent narration (including thoughts) but wonder if first person would work better. I waiver if I should delve at all into the story of the character who kills herself, or leave her to be described by her friends' actions. But I don't like that idea because it focuses on the people who are left (which I like), but not on the person who chose this tragic path...

There is a big part of me that wants to shut down all of those voices and just write away. That is how I write best most of the time - just hover hands over the keyboard and let it all come out. in fact, that's what the organizers of NaNoWriMo tell you to approach this challenge - write first, edit later. But isn't that wrong? What if I get the point of view messed up and end up having to rewrite the whole damn thing? Would that be so bad? I mean in many ways, that's what editing is for. Right?

This, what I've done right here, is an example of throwing stuff down first - I've not hit the delete button once. Nor do I intend to review the post before I publish. I'm doing it to see if I can. And if I will.