tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13999753572149708172024-03-13T00:26:56.681-04:00Solstice Writing Inspiration MovementUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger144125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1399975357214970817.post-74796315718612130142010-03-09T13:48:00.000-05:002010-03-09T13:48:24.951-05:00Let's see this week.I've got a lot of writing to work on this week. I'm doing some article proposals (two actually) and they both require all.this.research. Ugh. I've been posting lots on my blog, so check all that fun out- there's even some singing! WOOT!!!!<br />
<br />
I finally got in with a psychiatrist and a counselor about all the anxiety and post partum, and the changes we've made are really helpful. But they are both in Sioux Falls, which requires a lot of driving, qhich of course eats up the teensy amounts of moola we do have. Ugh.<br />
<br />
So, I'm working on a lot of guest blogs, articles, proposals, and FINALLY getting over myself and working on actually roughing out some more personal essays. I'm also forcing myself to walk the dog more, despite our shitty weather andsoon will be forcing myself back into my yoga regimen, reminding myself (uhhh you ALWAYS FEEL BETTER AFTER). How about you? I miss you gals!<br />
<br />
xoxo-<br />
<br />
Sara RoseUnknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1399975357214970817.post-88389105865000977302010-02-24T21:10:00.001-05:002010-02-24T21:10:14.510-05:00Locker Room PostNeed solid wisdom from you lovely ladies! xoxo.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1399975357214970817.post-8174179729484865262010-02-22T21:08:00.000-05:002010-02-22T21:08:13.676-05:00Waiting For pictures to LoadARGH!!! Writing an article right now and the server I have to send all my pics to is taking for-ev-er. SO, UPDATE.<br />
<br />
Got some blogging, journaling, and four articles done last week, which I am pretty pleased about despite having an insanely busy week. Got Kiki's Valentine- THANK YOU!!!!<br />
<br />
I didn't get a whole LOT done creatively and I really want to get started on some submission and query letters for different publications but TIME is such a huge issue. With Eva homeschooling due to Nolan losing his job, I have sooooo much less time. I may have to burn some midnight oil to get this done.<br />
<br />
I GOT A NEW JOB TOO!!!! Woot! Sioux Falls is starting a regional publication of Midwestern Parenting and they want me on as a featured writer- two columns and a 1000+ feature per month! They launch in about 6 weeks and I'll keep you updated. Since we are in the slow process of moving up to Sioux Falls, I have been scouring nonstop for writing opportunities there and freelance/telecommute.<br />
<br />
I still need to get better about yoga and walking and eating better. What an uphill battle. Goals for the Week<br />
-Knitting- Finish two colors on blanket I am working on.<br />
-Yoga and Walking. Period Amen.<br />
-5 articles, 5 blogs.<br />
-3 journal entries.<br />
<br />
Love you all!<br />
<br />
<br />
Sara RoseUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1399975357214970817.post-18925887953945174432010-02-18T22:57:00.000-05:002010-02-18T22:57:36.612-05:00Hey Gals!There's been some positive changes and some staying the same in life lately. I'll write more candidly in the locker room! Anyways, I've got loads of new articles up over at my Examiner Page, just waiting for you to read or comment on!<br />
<br />
http://www.examiner.com/x-27935-Sioux-Falls-Rural-Lifestyle-Examiner<br />
<br />
BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY!!!!!<br />
<br />
My blog is a year old! SO I posted a long blog that includes a video message and everything! Enjoy, hopefully. Leave comments, all that jazz!<br />
<br />
Goals:<br />
-GET. BACK. INTO. YOGA. (period, amen.)<br />
-Get the dog out for more walks.<br />
-Write an article a day, a query letter every 3 days, and a blog every other day.<br />
-Help my husband find a job.<br />
-Focus on my resolutions.<br />
-Be here more often for all of you.<br />
-Finish these two blankets I am knitting. NOW.<br />
<br />
xoxox-<br />
<br />
Sara RoseUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1399975357214970817.post-35762400283296810422010-02-10T06:47:00.000-05:002010-02-10T06:47:37.082-05:00New startHi ladies!<br />
<br />
It's been such a long time! However, I haven't stopped thinking of you and have been missing your posts in SWIM. We managed to catch something pretty special here and I hope we can all manage to joggle our busy lives and re-connect soon. For me, the fact I haven't been posting means my life has become WORK, WORK and MORE WORK, which is totally wrong and makes me feel down, exhausted and frustrated. I feel that now I've figured out what I want, LIFE doesn't let me go for it. Anyway, I've said ENOUGH to THAT, and I'm starting again with the same no-time but buckets of new energy and new ideas. I will certainly need all your support to make them SUSTAINABLE (this seems to be my problem), but I'll get there.<br />
<br />
My new <span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: magenta;">GOALS<span style="color: #444444;"> <span style="color: black;">in general</span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: magenta;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: magenta;">1. Yoga REFLECTIVE practice (which includes journaling) daily.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: magenta;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: magenta;">2. Back to Morning Pages and Artist's Dates.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: magenta;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: magenta;">3. Creating new materials for my new two modules at university: Medical Spanish and Creative Writing in Spanish</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: magenta;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: magenta;">4. Write proposal for Medical Spanish book. </span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: magenta;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: magenta;">5. Allocated time for reading.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: magenta;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: magenta;">6. Back to 'Medea', my novel (which now seems to take up a new life as a film script in collaboration with R)</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: magenta;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: magenta;">7. Applicatin forms for funding for an MA next year (Applied Linguistics and Creative Writing).</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: magenta;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: magenta;">8. Post in my soooo-abandoned personal blog. </span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: magenta;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: magenta;"><span style="color: black;">Since it's Wednesday already, my OBJECTIVE THIS WEEK will be</span> JUST to GET STARTED ON ALL THE ABOVE <span style="color: black;">and learn to make space in my timetable for, actually, <span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: purple;">LIFE!!!!</span></span></span> </span> </span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
I hope we can reconnect all soon.<br />
Have a lovely end-of-week!<br />
<br />
V.Viennahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17791600858674738910noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1399975357214970817.post-69679292878705384072010-02-01T11:30:00.002-05:002010-02-01T11:35:01.580-05:00Goals here, but check the Locker Room!Hello, sparkling SWIMmers, from chilly Cambridge UK where the temperature is near zero Celsius but the sunlight today looks like Spring.<br />
The juicy post is actually on the Locker Room - it needs a little extra love and security. I'd love to hear your thoughts and your responses, because something just bubbled out of my fingertips onto the keyboard and for the first time, <i>I couldn't just delete it</i>. And you gals are the ones I want to share it with.<br />
<br />
But my goals for the week are here:<br />
<br />
*Finish revising Chapter 5 by Thursday<br />
*Begin revising Chapter 6<br />
*Finish drafting my interview outline by Wednesday<br />
*Post M-W-F-Sun at Yogademia<br />
*Run twice and move my asana at least three times<br />
*Keep up the daily yoga practice off the mat - breathing, responding rather than reacting, yoking breath with intention and movement in all things as much as possible<br />
*Reconnect with you!<br />
<br />
Love from England,<br />
KUnknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1399975357214970817.post-29761834010358314672010-02-01T05:32:00.000-05:002010-02-01T05:32:47.976-05:00Lets Start Over: Week 1 GoalsIt's been so long and I got so completely delusional in the last few months that really, it's time for me to clean the slate and get restarted here. So. Here we go. My <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Year" rel="wikipedia" title="New Year">New Years</a> Resolutions are Gratitude, Wellness, and Appreciation. In my book, Gratitude and Appreciation are NOT the same things but rather entirely different ones. So my weekly goals need to include some time devoted to pursuit of those 3 things. With wellness, I'm not just talkingweight or whatever, I want better health, better immunity, better psyche, IWANTITALL!!! (Feeling very <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veruca_Salt" rel="wikipedia" title="Veruca Salt">Veruca Salt</a> right there.)<br />
<br />
So. In devotion to GAW2010-<br />
-Gratitude lists. I aim to post at least one a week either here or on my blog, but write personal ones at least 3 times a week.<br />
-Tell my hubster thank you more often.<br />
-Appreciate my time with the kiddos more.<br />
-Get myself back into a daily <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoga" rel="wikipedia" title="Yoga">yoga</a>, meditation, and walk the dog routine.<br />
-Be better about <a class="zem_slink" href="http://www.weightwatchers.com/" rel="homepage" title="Weight Watchers">Weight Watchers</a>. I slacked off soooooo badly.<br />
<br />
As for writing, obviously I was slacking there too. Some of it had to with the fact that my laptop decided to go all psycho and die. Some of it was me going off the deep end. It's true, I kinda crashed and burned in January. Some of it is because I was lazy, lazy, lazy. So.<br />
<br />
-Send out 4 proposal/query letters for articles in the next two weeks.<br />
-Write 4 articles a week again for my <a href="http://www.examiner.com/x-27935-Sioux-Falls-Rural-Lifestyle-Examiner">Examiner Page</a>.<br />
-Get my examples done to submit for a new second Examiner Page.<br />
-Write 2-3 blogs this week. BTW- my blog is newly private. I sent you all invites. If you lost yours or never got it, email me so I can resend you one!<br />
-Get back to journaling. Even mini-sessions.<br />
<br />
I've got a bunch of life stuff going on. We're going to move this summer, I now <a class="zem_slink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeschooling" rel="wikipedia" title="Homeschooling">home school</a> Eva Bean because Nolan lost his job in January, and really we've just got loose ends to pull together too. I'll be writing about all that more frequently in the Locker Room. In fact, I'm headed there now to post links to some of my last posts that would best update you all. Overall, I love and miss you gals. Let's get this thing going again!<br />
<div class="zemanta-pixie" style="height: 15px; margin-top: 10px;"><a class="zemanta-pixie-a" href="http://reblog.zemanta.com/zemified/4e2fe7d8-1ec8-4cff-80ae-9f791efa8fb6/" title="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]"><img alt="Reblog this post [with Zemanta]" class="zemanta-pixie-img" src="http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=4e2fe7d8-1ec8-4cff-80ae-9f791efa8fb6" style="border: medium none; float: right;" /></a><span class="zem-script more-related pretty-attribution"><script defer="defer" src="http://static.zemanta.com/readside/loader.js" type="text/javascript">
</script></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1399975357214970817.post-17280298556809841252009-11-08T10:28:00.000-05:002009-11-08T10:28:40.609-05:00Preparations GaloreDarcy had a new bathroom put in this week. Rather than have him take time off work, I attempted to work at home with varying success due to the interruptions.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Recap of SWIM goals 1-7 November</span><br />
<b><span style="font-style: italic;">*Begin each weekday morning with dissertation intro writing to re-establish the writing habit and draft at least 2000 words by Friday.</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-style: italic;">*Adapt my daily morning pages to something more akin to late afternoon/early evening journaling</span></b><br />
These didn't work for me at all. My brain is not firing fast enough when I wake up, especially now that it's still dark at 6 a.m. I need to be sharp and awake for this kind of conceptual writing, and waiting until the end of the day to journal didn't work either. 2k words only happened in the form of transcribing notes I had taken as preparation for this section while in the States.<br />
<span style="font-style: italic;"><b>*Complete and mail out the two job/postdoc applications due</b><br />
</span>Managed one.<br />
<b><i>*Complete and mail AAH conference abstract</i></b><br />
Check, and managed one other as well.<br />
<b><i>*Begin tailoring interview presentation</i></b><br />
Only mentally. Does that count?<br />
<b><i>*Return to my regular M-W-F-Sun Yogademia posting schedule</i></b><br />
<b><i>*Comment on all my SWIMmers and their blogs!</i></b><br />
<b><i>*Practice yoga for at least an hour 3-4 times this week</i></b><br />
<b><i>*Run twice</i></b><br />
Not even close on any of these. One yoga, one run, no comments or posts.<br />
<br />
So what the heck did I do this week? Major rewrite of my dissertation abstract and the attendant posting on the website, some other conference abstracts, dealt with the final details required to put the first issue of the journal I co-edit to bed, began charting a major new class that needed at least a plan on paper in preparation for my upcoming interview, tidied other class plan and syllabi, sorted some ideas and sources for my intro, and spent a bunch of time dealing with the bathroom.<i> </i><br />
<br />
<b><i>Reward: Artist Date to see An Education at the independent cinema with a glass of wine. </i></b><br />
Even though I didn't really meet my goals for the week, I did take myself to see <i>An Education</i>, minus the wine. Excellent all around: story, cast, acting, visuals, soundtrack. Definitely a must-see for this group.<br />
<br />
<u><b>SWIM Goals Nov. 9-15</b></u><br />
*1 hour writing intro & 30 min revising cross-cultural paper every weekday <br />
*Monday: fully check chapter sample & course plans to submit for interview; presentation<br />
*Tuesday: Afternoon - S---- postdoc letter and app<br />
*Wednesday: Revise postdoc plan for C---- and O----; presentation<br />
*Thursday: Afternoon: presentation and interview prep<br />
*Friday: R--- letter and app; presentation and interview prep<br />
*Saturday: any final tidying in preparation for interview and presentation<br />
<br />
Reward: Sunday trip to London with Darcy for Christmas shopping; cinnamon buns at Nordic Bakery, Melody Gardot show at Southbank CenterUnknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1399975357214970817.post-11042917580214142652009-11-01T03:18:00.002-05:002009-11-01T04:50:36.492-05:00I'm back! I'm back!Cripes, it's been six weeks since I posted here. That's absurd. The past six weeks have been absurd, especially this last week. There's a rambling post up at the Locker Room about all this, and how it's seriously messing with me. <br />
<br />
So, HELLO!!!!!!! I have missed all of you so much! If there was ever a group of ladies I would love to have over for tea or a glass of wine on a regular basis, you are it. I would have loved to swing through each of your cities while I was traveling in the States just to meet you for an hour in a café somewhere. Your good company and sage advice would have been so welcome. <br />
<br />
Hello and welcome especially to Sara Rose - I'm sorry I haven't been around to welcome you before this, but I was working 18-hour days while in the States, hopping on a train or airplane to a new city every few days, and then on a computer-free week with my family and my guy. I'm still catching up on posts, but I'll be back in the regular comment-posting saddle starting today!<br />
<br />
I'm just going to jump right into this week's goals, because I put the most important crazy background noise buzzing inside my head up in the Locker Room.<b> </b><br />
<br />
<u><b>SWIM goals 1-7 November</b></u><br />
*Begin each weekday morning with dissertation intro writing to re-establish the writing habit and draft at least 2000 words by Friday<br />
*Adapt my daily morning pages to something more akin to late afternoon/early evening journaling<br />
*Complete and mail out the two job/postdoc applications due<br />
*Complete and mail AAH conference abstract<br />
*Begin tailoring interview presentation<br />
*Return to my regular M-W-F-Sun Yogademia posting schedule<br />
*Comment on all my SWIMmers and their blogs!<br />
*Practice yoga for at least an hour 3-4 times this week<br />
*Run twice<br />
<br />
Reward: Artist Date to see <a href="http://www.apple.com/trailers/sony/aneducation/"><i>An Education</i></a> at the independent cinema with a glass of wineUnknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1399975357214970817.post-64728814527553031772009-10-31T11:24:00.000-04:002009-10-31T11:24:18.837-04:00Where'd I go???Gosh, sorry its been so long, all. Happy Halloween all, first off. I hope this weekend is so much fun for all of us. How have you all been? I feel so bad that I've basically been out of commission for so long. To be truthful, I sort of lost track of everything so now it's time to get recharged and restarted, huh? Ok.<br />
<br />
So. What happened? I got h1n1 of all things. It seems I've had this 3 month stretch of nonstop sickness, so my immune system must just really be exhausted. Anyways, I got h1n1 and I *thought* I would get over it relatively quickly. In fact, I seemed to be on the mend two weeks ago and life was going on in a merry little way. Suddenly, two Fridays ago, I woke up and was so.much.worse. I mean, could barely move, felt like I was dying worse. Nolan had to go into work that morning and I was here struggling to even deal with anything. Anyways. Nolan came home from work early and I got up to go to the bathroom to cough up a lung.<br />
<br />
Next thing I know, I'm in the ER with Nolan and my friend Jordan (she's a nurse) and she tells me "You passed out. Nolan and I brought you here and I think you've got pneumonia." I spent the next 5 hours fading in and out of dozing during tests and lab work (luckily, the dr gave me morphine so I'd just sleep. The results? "Walking pneumonia", aka all the symptoms of it but not the actual virus or infection. Apparently h1n1 can either mimic the symptoms of pneumonia or develop into it. Thankfully, it was just mimicking the symptoms. <br />
<br />
So, I've spent a week and a half resting, medicating, and slowly working on writing projects. I still have a wicked cough and lots of sinus congestion but each day I'm seemingly getting better. I really need to commit myself to restoring good health. I always sort of just get myself back to functioning but not actually doing "really" good, health wise. I need to do that. I need to focus on eating well, getting good sleep, taking my vitamins, meditating, and exercising so I can be strong and healthy but most of all productive.<br />
<br />
Got any tips for me? Honestly, I'd love and appreciate any and all advice or suggestions. Isn't it kind of the chronic American lifestyle of just slugging through things but not really making the effort to make sure our wellness is a top priority? We're all so busy that we just run ourselves ragged but don't stop to take the time to make sure we can actually handle everything we're doing.<br />
<br />
So. On to writing. I backed off of my blog to focus on doing a few things to get paid. In my last BIG blog, I wrote about deciding to just take the jump and commit to being a full time writer. I'm still finding my sea legs doing this but I'm so much happier than I was trying to apply myself to a job that wasn't going anywhere. The trouble comes in just learning to balance working from home with being a mom and a wife. So much easier said than done. But I've found a few ways to focus myself, one of which being . . . .<br />
<br />
NaNoWriMo!!!! That's right. Go to nanowrimo.org and sign up to spend a month writing a 175 page novel. The goal is quantity, not quality for your writing. You spend a month writing furiously to produce a verrrrrry rough draft of a novel. The purpose? Get your creative juices flowing, get yourself trained to spend significant parts of your day really writing, and also to not shoot yourself in the foot by constantly self-editing. Sometimes writers block comes from the fact that we're always trying to make what we're writing "perfect" when really we just need to get it all out first, THEN edit.<br />
<br />
I've been working on notes for a story for about a month now, so I'm going to use that as my NaNoWriMo project. I'm really excited to just apply myself to this and I'm really hoping that its going to help me overcome some of my own personal hurdles with writing. More on those later.<br />
<br />
I got hired on by The Examiner and I'm writing 3-4 articles a week!!! Hurray!!! I also got a few freelance book review projects starting up, and am working slowly on developing two new blogs- one for my book birthday project and one devoted to political commentary that I'm doing with 4 other writers. When those are up and running, I'll let you know!<br />
<br />
For this weeks goals, I'm going to try to keep it simpler. I need to really devote myself to the rhythm of meeting my daily nanowrimo word count so I don't fall behind and I get a running start. I need to get back to regular posts on my blog, articles and pieces for The Examiner and other jobs, and development on the other blogs. That sounds so overwhelming! Argh! We'll see how I do.<br />
<br />
My other goal is to get back on track with Weight Watchers. Two weeks of being sick really got me unfocused, but since health and wellness is a priority . . .well time to pay the piper. Anyways, have a wickedly fun little evening! Talk to you all soon!<br />
<br />
xoxo-<br />
Sara RoseUnknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1399975357214970817.post-22354939926889288302009-10-19T14:50:00.004-04:002009-10-19T15:02:51.044-04:00Drriftwood: Week 7 GoalsHi all,<br /><br />Hope everybody's doing great!<br /><br />I've been busy, but decided I just have to post this week.<br /><br />Week 5 (and 6) Update: <br /><br />This week's goals (Oct 5-Oct 11)<br /><br />Academic<br /><br />1. When I get feedback on my paper, hopefully this week, work on it. <span style="font-weight:bold;">Haven't gotten feedback yet.<span style="font-style:italic;"></span></span><br /><br />Creative<br /><br />1. Write a few scent related blog posts. <span style="font-weight:bold;">Wrote 1. 1 more in the drafts.<span style="font-style:italic;"></span></span><br /><br />2. Everyday, for atleast one hour before sleeping, either do WPs or read a book. <span style="font-weight:bold;">Did this for a few days. Must make a more conscious effort.<span style="font-style:italic;"><span style="font-weight:bold;"></span></span></span><br /><br />3. WPs - atleast 10 mins 3 times a week. and half an hour on Sat, Sun. 1.5 hours - <span style="font-weight:bold;">Not much. Though I did write some free form food related stuff<span style="font-style:italic;"></span></span><br /><br />4. Morning Pages for work related stuff<span style="font-weight:bold;"> Again not really..:(<span style="font-style:italic;"></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Week 7 goals (Week 19th - 25th)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Academic:</span><br /><br />1. Work on a document/proposal explaining my experiment with pilot results/plots and rationale. This has to be more detailed than my previous one<br /><br />2. Work on programming the new version of my experiment<br /><br />3. Reading for a class I am sitting in. - 3 Chapters<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Creative</span><br /><br />1. Do some research for a short trip, I'll be making soon. Will post details in the locker room soon<br /><br />2. Finish a post waiting in my drafts section<br /><br />3. Finish reading Middlemarch/resume reading. I started this book ages ago (I am talking years..lol). Was loving it, but life caught up and I stopped reading it. Each time I begin at the beginning and then again stop reading for some reason or the other. This time I am going to finish it..lol. It is such a lovely book<br /><br />4. Work on my novel a bit- have been neglecting it.<br /><br />Have a great week everyone!driftwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06919072864670340603noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1399975357214970817.post-50506084770806964372009-10-19T13:22:00.001-04:002009-10-19T13:23:36.788-04:00Tomato: Behind!!Hi friends!! I know i'm uber behind here, and yes I totally failed all the goals i posted last time. Eek! Am hoping to catch up on life in the next week or two so please be patient with moi. :)<br /><br />xoxo!!!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1399975357214970817.post-91135609607539366472009-10-17T12:39:00.001-04:002009-10-17T12:39:08.190-04:00Update Later, Read My PostHi all!<br />
<br />
I'll writ, update, and comment later today or tomorrow. But I wrote an important blog over at the chatterbox about a major life decision to focus solely on writing, and would love you to check it out.<br />
<br />
http://chatterboxsara.blogspot.com/2009/10/little-secrets.html<br />
<br />
xoxo<br />
<br />
<br />
Sara RoseUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1399975357214970817.post-50134088795631515802009-10-15T11:47:00.002-04:002009-10-15T11:48:50.929-04:00Vienna again: Quick updateMarking while listening good music is always better! I am actually enjoying it now or at least I'm more relaxed about it. Ay, life!<br />How is your creative week going?Viennahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17791600858674738910noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1399975357214970817.post-3189829067092566202009-10-15T09:50:00.002-04:002009-10-15T10:04:36.865-04:00Vienna: Too tired, too busy and fed up about it.Hi ladies!<br /><br />I'm sorry I've sort of vanished from the SWIM scene but my life has been absolutely non-stop for the last two weeks. In a positive note, just to say the Yoga course is amazing. I am very excited about it. However, I am working like mad from Monday to Friday at uni (I hate grading, or I hate grading soooo many papers) and I was away for the weekend (my yoga course takes place on weekends) so I feel exhausted. I was about to write my goals or to see what I've accomplished this week and, really, I don't even know where to start. I hate working at such intensity that life becomes work, work, work. Since my teaching load is so heavy,I feel like a teaching machine with very little space for development. I'm tired and I don't particularly want to be here right now. Sitting by my desk, marking more coursework. No time for writing. I feel I'm getting nowhere with all what really matters in life. Anyway! I'll give myself time till Sunday to re-think my goals and I'll get back to you. I'll also try at some point to catch up with all your posts.<br />Have a nice weekend.<br />V.Viennahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17791600858674738910noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1399975357214970817.post-49571650943066757112009-10-07T21:12:00.001-04:002009-10-07T21:13:05.709-04:00Sara Rose: Oct 7- Oct 13 Goals<div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Encore, bonsoir, mes beaux amis!<br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">So last week, I got a bit accomplished, but it always seems I have this huge pile up of more/more/more I need to get done. Where do I strike a balance with this?<br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">One of the things I need to really work on in the next few weeks is carving out a writing/work schedule since I work from home now.<br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">I have Owen home with me too and am trying to make the hard decision . . . do I have him at a babysitter a couple mornings a week while Eva is at preschool so I can work uninterrupted? Do I try to work when he sleeps and in the evenings, thus potentially cutting into family/couple/me time?<br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Also, since I work from home now, I feel more pressure (from myself mostly) to be the one entirely responsible for my household. Since I am a bit of a neatnik/clean freak this presents the problem of cutting into writing/work time. ARGH! I need balance!<br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Ok so goals for this week.<br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">1. 10-20 minutes character development & research for my short story. It's rounding nicely into what I hope is going to be a good piece of work.<br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">2. Send of writing samples and resume for a few jobs I found, preferably by Friday afternoon.<br />
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</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">3. Rough drafts of first Weight Watchers articles by Sunday morning.<br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">4. Journal more! Even if it's short entry journaling.<br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">5. I've got two new blogs I've been a part of developing and Im excited to get them rolled out. Hopefully in the next two weeks.<br />
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</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">6. Finish editing the content for my mothers website.<br />
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</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">7. Get my butt to the gym. Period. Amen.<br />
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</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">8. 4 posts on the Chatterbox.<br />
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</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">9. Make my husband get my hard drive and flash drives. Get to work on cookbook/recipes. Refuse to do his laundry if he keeps forgetting.<br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Ok thats more than enough. Good night all! <br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Sara Rose<br />
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1399975357214970817.post-3553715945244539792009-10-07T21:01:00.000-04:002009-10-07T21:01:23.425-04:00Update on my first week here! :o)<div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Bon soir, mis amis! Here's a recap on my goals last week and my progress with them. I've still got lots of work to do but feel like I made a bit of progress last week. It's a bit like chipping away at a proverbial iceberg sometimes. Ahh well.<br />
<br />
1. I've embarked on a new project that I started the week of my birthday. I decided to start reading a book a week until I've reached 1500 (yes 1500) books. So far its going well but now I am faced with another conundrum- Do I start a new blog for this project or just do posts on it ony Chatterbox Sara? Thoughts, anyone?<br />
<b><i style="background-color: magenta;"><span style="background-color: white;"> -I'm going to do a separate blog. I've been struggling for awhile with really focusing the content of Chatterbox Sara to present a more cohesive block of writing. I need to really separate out different areas of interest (more on this later) so I can get to the "meat" of what I want Chatterbox top be about.</span><br />
</i></b><br />
2. I've got a short story rolling around that I've been brainstorming for about a week on. I want to do 10-20 minutes of brainstorming/character development/free writing to see where this story goes.<br />
<i><b> -I did do about 10 minutes of brainstorming just about everyday this week. My husband has been a great help in this. He's also a writer and while he doesn't actively pursue it anymore, he wrote a number of plays. Character development is one of his strong suits with writing so as part of my brainstorming, I talked over my story with him almost daily to get input on where I am going with this. He's really helped me hone what I want the story to be.</b></i><br />
3. Catch up on blogging. I've got 4 posts I've been meaning to get done.<br />
<i><b>-Done for the most part. A couple important posts I wanted to do are in notes on my computer still but thats I'm really working on a more coherent and concise writing style for my more topic driven posts.</b></i><br />
4. Sign up for <a class="zem_slink freebase/guid/9202a8c04000641f80000000002cc204" href="http://www.weightwatchers.com/" rel="homepage" title="Weight Watchers">Weight Watchers</a>. Use it. Consider if I want to blog about it in the locker room or on my own blog.<br />
<i><b>-Signed up AND got an opportunity to write about the experience! Still unsure as to whether I want to write about it on my blog or not, but Ill talk about it in the Locker Room for sure!</b></i><br />
5. Retrieve all my recipes and free writing on my cookbook from our external hard drive. Edit 1-2 recipes/write ups daily.<br />
<i><b>-Nolan has the hard drive and our flash drives at his office. Grrrrrr. He keeps forgetting to bring them home. If this keeps up, I may "forget" to wash his boxers anymore.</b></i><br />
6. Pursue 3 new freelancing opportunities.<br />
<i><b>-Done! Got the job writing about my weight watchers journey, and submitted writing resumes/queries/samples 3 other places. Also got a job reviewing three books for next month! Woot!</b></i><br />
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When I get feedback on my paper later this week, work on them. <span style="font-style:italic;">Haven't gotten feedback on this yet</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Creative:</span><br /><br />1. Taking a leaf out of Revisionista's book, I am going to start doing timed/untimed writing practice. Atleast 3 times a week for 10 mins and 1 hour each on the weekend. That is atleast 2.5 hours this week. <span style="font-style:italic;">I did WPs once this week. But for more than 10 mins, maybe 20.<br /></span><br />2. Morning pages, to sort out work related ideas. <span style="font-style:italic;">Yes, on most of the weekdays.</span><br /><br />3. Let the writing practice lead into 'novel' writing. <span style="font-style:italic;">Sort of. Wrote a page.</span>.<span style="font-style:italic;">Not sure if the WP led to the novel writing. Was in the mood to write one morning , so wrote..:)</span><br /><br />Also wrote 1 blog post.<br /><br />This week's goals (Oct 5-Oct 11)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Academic</span><br /><br />1. When I get feedback on my paper, hopefully this week, work on it.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Creative</span><br /><br />1. Write a few scent related blog posts<br /><br />2. Everyday, for atleast one hour before sleeping, either do WPs or read a book. I have been trying to this, this weekend, and it feels soo much better than checking my email and twitter a million times before I sleep..lol..I noticed Carolyn had posted a similar goal..Good luck to us..:)<br /><br />3. WPs - atleast 10 mins 3 times a week. and half an hour on Sat, Sun. <span style="font-weight:bold;">1.5 hours<span style="font-weight:bold;"></span></span><br /><br />4. Morning Pages for work related stuff<br /><br />Have a great week ahead.driftwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06919072864670340603noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1399975357214970817.post-22088055140615372812009-10-05T13:03:00.001-04:002009-10-05T13:03:22.118-04:00Tired TomatoBonjour, fellow SWIM-ers! I am all kinds of tired today, but trying to stay as upbeat as possible. Also feeling really good about last week's SWIM goals...<br /><br />1. Write 3 snail mail letters. <span style="color:#3366ff;">Yup! Granted I did them last night but that counts, right? Nothing better than getting fun little somethings in the mail</span>.<br /><br />2. Write letter to myself to read when overwhelmed at work. <span style="color:#3366ff;">Check! This was a <em>great </em>exercise prescribed to me by Jennifer. I did the same exercise back when I was painfully slow at work and needed to cheer myself up. After printing it (in cute font of course), I laminated it and decorated it with gorgeous fabric tape. Plan to do the same with Letter #2!</span><br /><span style="color:#3366ff;"></span><br /><span style="color:#000000;">3. Practice nothing, then discover my truth. <span style="color:#3366ff;">Admittedly I did not follow the nothing part as strictly as I should have, but the truth, oh my, the truth was all over the place! Read more about my experience </span><a href="http://www.hangontomato.com/2009/10/joy-diet-truth.html"><span style="color:#3366ff;">here</span></a><span style="color:#3366ff;">.</span> </span><br /><br /><span style="color:#000000;">Now for this week's goals...</span><br /><br />1. <strong><span style="color:#33ccff;">Respond to blog comments</span></strong>. I'm really bad about this (and it doesn't help that i'm terribly behind on blog reading as it is), and it's completely unacceptable. I've gotten such lovely comments, and i really want to make it a priority to respond so i'm making it a goal!<br /><br />2. <strong><span style="color:#33ccff;">End my evenings with either journaling or reading a book</span></strong>. Absolutely NO laptop or TV watching when i'm about to go to sleep!<br /><br />3. <strong><span style="color:#ff99ff;">Pink Heels HW</span></strong>: includes fun activities like creating a life mandala and answering big picture journal questions. I promise to share a picture once I'm finished!<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/_qPNz7l2J-0qLmQ05rJBiw?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguPEk-rdfifidEjmgL_OBea-mOxe1XPmNEEme_zIzHA-F2azqAk4GShp5uzbYGNp4dWhtHWxuLArzWYLA2E97DWCQ9kCIF5gI_udI7Sa3Kc9aaKUMn35UBZiI-MuzdusEOWY_KHCYejIRu/s144/signature.jpg" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1399975357214970817.post-52168624631441373952009-10-03T20:44:00.004-04:002009-10-03T20:56:44.890-04:00gussying up fall finaleladies aaannndd, well, ladies ;)<br /><br />quickie review on my quickie week 7 goals:<br /><ul><li>work on city girl's guest blog post - <span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">holla yeah!! and i loved every second of it. if you missed it you can <a href="http://www.cgldaily.com/2009/10/what-does-balance-and-wellness-mean-to.html">read it here</a>.</span><br /></li></ul><ul><li>focus on schooling - keeping up with assignments - <span style="color: rgb(0, 102, 0);">yes but barely. when there is only 6 months of schooling there is a LOT to do in a short amount of time, which i'm sure you could imagine. which leads me into...</span><br /></li></ul><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://icanhascheezburger.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/funny-pictures-cats-say-good-bye.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 345px; height: 301px;" src="http://icanhascheezburger.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/funny-pictures-cats-say-good-bye.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;">photo credit <a href="http://icanhascheezburger.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/funny-pictures-cats-say-good-bye.jpg">ici</a></span><br /></div>i hate to say this, but i am gonna put my swim suit away for the season. this past week has felt as though i've been drowning. i do plan on coming back when the weather is warmer (aka when school and life in general has calmed down). i will miss you all terribly but if given a chance will definitely be checking in on my swim team and cheering you on from time to time. this has been such a fantastic lap while it lasted and no worries, i will definitely be back!<br /><br />much love & hugs to all of my swim team!!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1399975357214970817.post-42084374348361794242009-10-03T10:59:00.006-04:002009-10-03T11:46:54.866-04:00Vienna: Survived the first teaching week.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7o9LwEAVJUugOeGGlzuPyAjZiZfWvs6fd6IuV-05haCK5XZgd50ivy3YA1cCEVi3AywMolo1ZHzyTuCNO3-7vkdwFAmtZdH7vE6Kp8RF2w4P-J_qj6tVKxejP3JiVcWPxHqv1FEFNxEiJ/s1600-h/SDC10693.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388390876376610034" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7o9LwEAVJUugOeGGlzuPyAjZiZfWvs6fd6IuV-05haCK5XZgd50ivy3YA1cCEVi3AywMolo1ZHzyTuCNO3-7vkdwFAmtZdH7vE6Kp8RF2w4P-J_qj6tVKxejP3JiVcWPxHqv1FEFNxEiJ/s320/SDC10693.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><div>Hello ladies,</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Here I am. Sitting by my desk. Seeing my garden gaining life and going absolutely nuts with what it looks like a gigantic hurricane. What's going on today in the middle of the UK? Sunny spells, rain, grey clouds, clear blue sky, all-in-one type of weather. I even had to rescue the bin container from flying away and crashing against the neighbour's new car. <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">Ayyyyyyyy</span>!</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Anyway, day <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">ooooofffff</span>! After the first week of teaching this feels like heaven. Up late (-<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">ish</span>, I can never sleep until late anymore...), <a href="http://www.ciao.co.uk/Wild_Swans_Jung_Chang__Review_5529433">Wild Swans</a>, <a href="http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/exercise/health_fitness_magazines/zest.htm">Zest magazine</a>, new <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">Autumn</span> <a href="http://www.mslexia.co.uk/"><span id="SPELLING_ERROR_4" class="blsp-spelling-error">Mslexia</span></a>, Yogi tea and cereal in bed (does that counts as an Artist's Date?). A bit of tidying up, 30-minute-yoga session and 25-minute-meditation, light lunch and down to do some work at my <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_5" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">PC</span>. Sorted out a few financial issues and now working on an application form for a grant for my <a href="http://www.druworldwide.com/yoga/dru_yoga_teacher_training_course">Dru Yoga Teacher Training </a>course, which starts next Saturday. Yes, yes! I made my mind up. I'm doing it. Universe help me!</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Let's check my previous goals:</div><br /><div></div><br /><ol><li>Last July I was accepted in a Yoga Teacher Training programme. I've been wondering for ages whether I should go ahead or not. Mainly only financial reasons hold me back. There is a grant I can apply for; however, there is nothing guaranteed and I am afraid of struggling with the payments. The Yoga Centre has been fantastic and offered me all sorts of alternatives to make my life easier. I need to make my mind up this week. So I will explore the issue in <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_6" class="blsp-spelling-error">MPs</span> and/or <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_7" class="blsp-spelling-error">journaling</span>. <span style="color:#993399;">Yes, yes and yes!!!!! I'm doing the course and I am trying to apply for a grant. Starting next Saturday. Hooray!</span></li><li>Figure out how long it takes me to plan my lessons and grade students' work. <span style="color:#993399;">This first week has been quite mad, as expected. Students constantly knocking on my office door (despite the signs directing them properly...) have slowed down my work rhythm. I teach 19 hours a week, which personally I find excessive, given that I also hold managerial and research responsibilities. Anyway, I suppose next week I'll get a clearer idea of my actual workload for this academic year. </span></li><li>Work out a fitness routine, both at home and in the gym. <span style="color:#993399;">At home I've managed the usual twice-a-day yoga so I'm happy with that. I need to work out how to get to the gym for my studio classes and my cardio. The nearest gym is quite far away. Well, maybe not for drivers, but I rely on public transport and it takes me an hour to go and another to get back, so I'm finding it pretty difficult to get organised. I know, I know, I need to get a driving license, but for various reasons (mainly financial) that will have to wait (still) a bit more. I have a deal with R and he picks me up from the gym twice a week but now is away filming so I'll have to wait till he's back. Hate being dependent though. </span></li><li>4. Figure out WHEN is the best time for me to write creatively, squeeze it in my timetable and STICK TO IT. I might try to start with little writing every day to get into the routine (<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_8" class="blsp-spelling-error">Revisionista</span> style! Thanks for the idea!).5. Work out a time for blogging and reading blogs (I found it so difficult last term). <span style="color:#993399;">FAIL. BIG TIME. This week I've had no time at all with the classes and I'm scared that is the way is going to be during term time, which I hate. I WANT TO WRITE. I cannot bear another year without a writing routine. When I come back from work I'm so so tired. I really cannot write at night, plus I need to get some decent sleep if I'm to get up at 5:30 am. </span></li></ol><p><span style="color:#000000;">Well. And that's all for now. Overall it's been a positive week, even though I still need to figure out a few things, as you have read above. Hope you are enjoying your weekend. I'm really excited because R comes back tonight to spend Sunday together, which will be great. Miss him.</span></p><p>Loads of love,</p><p>V.</p>Viennahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17791600858674738910noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1399975357214970817.post-79404755753726658612009-09-30T07:58:00.000-04:002009-09-30T07:58:00.950-04:00Sara Rose: Sept 28- Oct 6 GoalsMore later on a few different topics I've got going around in my thousand mile a minute brain but for now let's start with some goals.<br />
<br />
1. I've embarked on a new project that I started the week of my birthday. I wanted some way to give this birthday a bit of importance since we're so broke and I was soooooo due with Owen that we couldn't do a whole lot. I decided to start reading a book a week until I've reached 1500 (yes 1500) books. So far its going well but now I am faced with another conundrum- Do I start a new blog for this project or just do posts on it ony Chatterbox Sara? Thoughts, anyone?<br />
<br />
2. I've got a short story rolling around that I've been brainstorming for about a week on. I want to do 10-20 minutes of brainstormiung/character development/free writing to see where this story goes.<br />
<br />
3. Catch up on blogging. I've got 4 posts I've been meaning to get done.<br />
<br />
4. Sign up for Weight Watchers. Use it. Consider if I want to blog about it in the locker room or on my own blog.<br />
<br />
5. Retrieve all my recipes and free writing on my cookbook from our external hard drive. Edit 1-2 recipes/write ups daily.<br />
<br />
6. Pursue 3 new freelancing opportunities.<br />
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Alright, thats more than plenty! Time for coffee!<br />
<br />
xoxo-<br />
<br />
SaraUnknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1399975357214970817.post-75036251018392064302009-09-29T17:32:00.000-04:002009-09-29T17:32:49.652-04:00An Introduction, I Presume?Well, hello! I'm new here. I'm all fluttery feeling right now. This is totally first day at a new school type jitters, sans my wearing strange 80's paraphernalia like a pair of high tops or bangs sprayed and tamped down with a gallon of Aqua Net. So I assume I need to tell you all about myself while you apply <a class="zem_slink freebase/guid/9202a8c04000641f800000000470e290" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonne_Bell" rel="wikipedia" title="Bonne Bell">Lip Smackers</a> and snap your gum, eh?<br />
<br />
Here goes.<br />
<br />
My name is Sara Rose, which I go by in real life. In the blogosphere I also go by Chatterbox Sara, The Chatterbox, and White Chrysanthemum (pen name sorta). I have guested on a few blogs and write for my own and several side projects. More on those later.<br />
<br />
I live in Satan's Left Arm Pit, also known as Vermillion <a class="zem_slink freebase/guid/9202a8c04000641f8000000000034fc5" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=44.5,-100.0&spn=1.0,1.0&q=44.5,-100.0%20%28South%20Dakota%29&t=h" rel="geolocation" title="South Dakota">South Dakota</a>. The easiest way to describe it is totally confusing and complex. We're in the middle of corn and soy fields on the Plains and we're a college-meets-farm-meets-trailer park sort of town. Thats what there is here- a university and its respective students, a lot of farms, and miles upon miles of trailers. We even live in one. Awesome, huh!<br />
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I never meant to end up here. See, my parents were the free wheeling hippie kids who happened to actually make money so we lived all sorts of places but basically ended up back here when I was about 12 going on 13. It was a strange sort of <a class="zem_slink freebase/guid/9202a8c04000641f800000000021957e" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_shock" rel="wikipedia" title="Culture shock">culture shock</a> to come to South Dakota. People eat things like chislic, wear beer goggles to weddings, and rail about being a red state. Huzzah!<br />
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I'm not built for small town living for the most part. I prefer anonymity, I prefer to be seen in a crowd, I want culture, but there are aspects of rural living that do agree with me. I love the geography here, I really prefer being close to nature, etc., but there's only so many potluck dishes a gal can eat. Anyways, I ended up in Vermillion via an unlikely turn of events.<br />
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When I was 18 my dad killed himself. I basically spent a few years in college, in pageants, travelling Europe, and just avoiding myself. I met a guy, thought I was in looooooooove, and decided to "get it together" and follow him to school here. Well "getting it together" meant breaking up, start sleeping with a guy who was a loser and getting pregnant. Funny how that worked to actually make me get it together.<br />
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Baby Daddy and I decided he sholuld terminate his parental rights and contact with my daughter, Eva. She's amazing. She's like fire, in human form, really. Then I met my husband, we eloped, and have been happily at each others throats ever since. I just had my son, Owen, he's now 12 weeks old and he's already very opposite his sister in so many ways. In the meantime I got a perfectly useless degree in psychology and worked in an organization for developmentally disabled people as a glorified social worker.<br />
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That didn't last long. It's a high stress/quick burnout environment because you spend your days fighting the system for decent care for people and get told to "stick to procedure" and make them look good on paper. I decided to go back to school for nursing. My husband is finishing a masters for software design and I wanted a job I could take everywhere.<br />
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I've always been a writer. From a very young age, I realized I wanted to work writing into my life plan somehow. However, I had one of those evil fathers who enjoys destroying dreams so I backburnered that for a very long time. When I met my husband I decided to actively start writing again in bits and pieces. I blogged and journaled and have slowly been building up from there. This last summer, I realized that nursing would never be a career or a passion for me, just a j-o-b and that I was going to make myself miserable if I continued to head down that path.<br />
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There were lots of other factors behind this as well, but basically a few months ago, while on bed rest with being pregnant, I started sending out query letters, emails, ads, signing up for all sorts of networking for my blog, you name it. As I was in the thick of an existential pseudo-<a class="zem_slink freebase/guid/9202a8c04000641f80000000002dcb1c" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quarter-life_crisis" rel="wikipedia" title="Quarter-life crisis">quarter-life crisis</a>, suddenly I started hearing back from people . . . who wanted me to write for them, freelance, write on my own, etc. It was like a sign from God, honestly.<br />
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So I dumped nursing down the drain. And, here I am. I'm so glad to have found you! I have a special request too. Do you all have backlinks wiuth your own introductions, so that I may read them? I'm so happy to have found an environment where I can write, track my progress, assign myself some goals, and help other people do the same. This sort of community effort from other writers is exactly what I needed and I'm glad to be here.<br />
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Phew. There. I did it. Now did my scrunchie look ok? Tee hee!<br />
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xoxo-<br />
<br />
Sara Rose<br />
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</script></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1399975357214970817.post-64765473868408498592009-09-29T16:44:00.008-04:002009-09-29T17:06:30.690-04:00Driftwood Week 4 goalsHi all,<br /><br />I am not going to dwell too much on last week's progress as I didn't do too much writing. I am going to focus instead, on what I accomplished and what I want to finish this week.<br /> (Also can somebody tell me how to change the color of part of my text. I have tried for two weeks now, and can't seem to find the option anywhere..lol)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Academic:</span><br /><br />1 Read work related papers, the whole of last week<br />2. Managed to do some brainstorming yesterday and came up with some proposed changes to my existing experiment<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Creative:</span><br /><br />1. Morning Pages, except for the weekend and Monday.<br />2. A paragraph of the 'story' which I am probably going to discard..boo.<br />3. Two food related blog posts<br /><br />I didn't find time to excercise much though..:(<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Week 4 Goals(29 Sep - Oct 4)</span>- Going to keep this short and focussed..:)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Academic:</span><br /><br />1. Write up the proposed changes to my experiment, the rationale behind the experiment etc.<br />2. When I get feedback on my paper later this week, work on them.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Creative:</span><br /><br />1. Taking a leaf out of Revisionista's book, I am going to start doing timed/untimed writing practice. Atleast 3 times a week for 10 mins and 1 hour each on the weekend. That is atleast 2.5 hours this week<br /><br />2. Morning pages, to sort out work related ideas<br /><br />3. Let the writing practice lead into 'novel' writing.<br /><br />The reason I am thinking of doing both MPs and WPs, is that I've been using MPs more to get more focussed for the day and sort out work related ideas etc. I want to use WPs for more creative writing. Does that make sense?<br /><br />Have you explored the similarity/difference between the two?<br /><br />Good luck with all your goals this week.<br /><br />Lotsa lovedriftwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06919072864670340603noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1399975357214970817.post-35077545315412415232009-09-29T07:23:00.000-04:002009-09-29T07:23:28.685-04:00Kiki: And the beat goes onBy now, you all probably know that I did not get the job. (Boo! Hiss!) I'm putting my creative energy into my work/applications to move all that forward and regain a little bit of control.<br />
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Dudettes, the academic job search totally sucks. But I digress. Let's check in.<br />
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<b><u>Goals 18 -27 September</u></b><br />
<br />
<b>*Finish postdoc app due 5 October (inc. research plan, class plan, writing sample, etc.)</b><i> </i><br />
<i>Not so much. Good chunks of it are done, but not all of it.</i><br />
<b>*Complete draft of conference paper/presentation to be delivered 3 October</b><i> </i><br />
<i>This, at least, has been completed. And not just the draft - the final thing.</i><b> </b><br />
<b>*Work up practice "job talk" to receive feedback when I'm in the States</b><br />
<i>Not so much. But the room has been booked for 8 October, so I'm on the hook for it!</i><br />
<b>*Begin revising dissertation (I see this happening on the planes)</b><br />
<i>Yes, in the form of my writing sample for the postdoc apps.</i> <br />
<b>*Try not to get worked up about not working when I'm attending my oldest friend's wedding</b><br />
<i>Here, I actually succeeded. It was a gorgeous wedding, and the bride was truly radiant.</i> <br />
<b>*Three dailies: morning pages, yoga, and something creative - Tiny, if necessary</b><br />
<i>Haven't done any of these since Wednesday. Not even Tiny. I can't really explain why.</i><br />
<b>*Think positive about the job interview</b><br />
<i>Yes, well, I tried.</i> <br />
<br />
This week sees me in Boston, with a daytrip to Providence on Saturday for a conference. The nuttiness is firing on all cylinders. I leave today, and have meetings scheduled with everyone but my adviser <i><b>WHO</b></i> <i><b>STILL HAS NOT RESPONDED FOR MY REQUESTS FOR A MEETING!!!!!</b></i> There has to be a special level of Hell reserved specifically for AWOL Ph.D. advisers. Or at least some very bad karma. Plus, the stupid plane from England gave me contact dermatitis, which resulted in an infection and antibiotics. <i><b>ARGH!!!!</b></i><br />
-------------------<br />
Dear Universe,<br />
<br />
I appreciate that you've got my back. But the lessons of self-reliance that you're teaching me with an AWOL advisor (lesson: find your own professional development support) and economy-class rashes (lesson: bring your own pillow, or don't touch ANYTHING in coach) don't have to be quite so rough. If you could lighten up just a touch, that would be superb. There's a lot going on right now, and I could really use a wee bit more support.<br />
<br />
Love,<br />
Kiki <br />
-----------------------------------<br />
<br />
<u>Goals 29 September - 4 October</u><br />
*Write sample cover letter by Thursday 1 October <br />
*Complete and mail postodoc app #1 by 2 October Friday<br />
*Read and return comments on a paper by 2 October Friday <br />
*Draft Job Talk and presentation for next Thursday<br />
*Begin Edinburgh job application <br />
*Ambush advisor - politely<br />
*Write one morning page and do five minutes of yoga each day.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5