Patti O'Shea's Blog, page 184
May 29, 2011
Another Guilty Pleasure
Another of my guilty pleasure movies is Night of the Comet. When a comet passes near Earth, those directly exposed die immediately, those indirectly exposed become zombies, and those who were protected have to battle the zombies to stay alive.
This movie has some really good lines. One of my favorites comes after the secondary heroine's automatic weapon jams: Daddy would have gotten us Uzis.
One of my favorite moments, though, comes at the end of the movie. The human population of Earth is next to non-existent, but there are the hero, heroine, secondary heroine, and 2 kids waiting for the walk sign to appear so they can cross the street.
The secondary heroine is like What? And the heroine says something along the lines the mantle of civilization rests on their shoulders.
In disbelief, the secondary heroine says, Are you nuts? There's no one here. And to prove her point, stands in the middle of the street and spins around--only to nearly get hit by a car. The guy stops and looks at this girl and says, Sorry, but you shouldn't cross against the light.
I love that part.
What got me thinking about this movie is that I'm listening to an audio book called The Well Dressed Ape that looks at humans the way biologists classify other animals. One of the things I heard was about how we create rules to maintain civilization, so that there aren't fights and battles and we can continue in basically harmonious day to day living.
It's turned out to be an interesting book and might review it if I can remember enough to hit the high points when I finish listening to it. I'm finding it hugely interesting to hear theories on why humans act the way we act and why our bodies evolved the way it did.
This movie has some really good lines. One of my favorites comes after the secondary heroine's automatic weapon jams: Daddy would have gotten us Uzis.
One of my favorite moments, though, comes at the end of the movie. The human population of Earth is next to non-existent, but there are the hero, heroine, secondary heroine, and 2 kids waiting for the walk sign to appear so they can cross the street.
The secondary heroine is like What? And the heroine says something along the lines the mantle of civilization rests on their shoulders.
In disbelief, the secondary heroine says, Are you nuts? There's no one here. And to prove her point, stands in the middle of the street and spins around--only to nearly get hit by a car. The guy stops and looks at this girl and says, Sorry, but you shouldn't cross against the light.
I love that part.
What got me thinking about this movie is that I'm listening to an audio book called The Well Dressed Ape that looks at humans the way biologists classify other animals. One of the things I heard was about how we create rules to maintain civilization, so that there aren't fights and battles and we can continue in basically harmonious day to day living.
It's turned out to be an interesting book and might review it if I can remember enough to hit the high points when I finish listening to it. I'm finding it hugely interesting to hear theories on why humans act the way we act and why our bodies evolved the way it did.
May 26, 2011
Why So Happy?
Lately around the interwebs, I've seen people gleefully proclaiming that ebooks have killed off paper. I don't understand this attitude.
Before I go any farther, let me explain that I do own an e-reader (mine's a Kindle 2 and I bought it when it was still incredibly expensive) and I buy most of my fiction in e-format. I like having the book I want arrive instantly. I like the convenience of having hundreds of books with me. If I change my mind on what I feel like reading, I'm not stuck with the story I thought I wanted to read. I also like the fact that ebooks don't take up room in my house.
On the other side of the coin, I've e-published my short stories from the two Mammoth book collections I was part of and I'll be publishing my backlist titles in e-format, too. I've written two Harlequin Nocturne Bites which only come out in electronic format.
This is my way of explaining that yes, I like ebooks, and yes, I read ebooks, and yes, I've been published in electronic format. I have nothing against ebooks, nor am I a champion of paper books.
When I see these paper books are dead posts, it's the tone that irritates me. Why are these people so happy about this? Personally, I don't feel strongly one way or the other. If I were sharing the statistics on the percentage of books sold in e-format, I would do it with a newsy approach. An oh, isn't this interesting attitude. So when I see people ready to dance a jig on the grave of mass market paperback, I wonder--why?
For authors, it's usually pretty easy to come up with an answer, but it's the readers who are so elated that have me scratching my head. Are these early adopters who feel vindicated that the format is finally gaining traction? Is that why they're so happy? Because they've been "proven right?"
While I'm happy ebooks are doing well, I don't pop around the internet singing ding, dong the witch is dead, which old witch? The paperback witch. It's a format. It's a technology. In twenty years, maybe we'll have something completely different.
If you're reading pixels or if you're reading the printed word or if having the book inserted into your brain via nanoprobe doesn't make any difference. The only thing that does matter is the story.
So yeah, why do some people feel so much joy when one format overtakes another? It's like rooting for MP3 over CDs and I've never seen music fans doing this. They might debate sound quality in various formats, but that's tangible. And in books, as long as the ebook is formatting correctly, there really is no quality difference, just preferences for the reader.
My guess is I'll be puzzling over this for a while. No answers are occurring to me.
Before I go any farther, let me explain that I do own an e-reader (mine's a Kindle 2 and I bought it when it was still incredibly expensive) and I buy most of my fiction in e-format. I like having the book I want arrive instantly. I like the convenience of having hundreds of books with me. If I change my mind on what I feel like reading, I'm not stuck with the story I thought I wanted to read. I also like the fact that ebooks don't take up room in my house.
On the other side of the coin, I've e-published my short stories from the two Mammoth book collections I was part of and I'll be publishing my backlist titles in e-format, too. I've written two Harlequin Nocturne Bites which only come out in electronic format.
This is my way of explaining that yes, I like ebooks, and yes, I read ebooks, and yes, I've been published in electronic format. I have nothing against ebooks, nor am I a champion of paper books.
When I see these paper books are dead posts, it's the tone that irritates me. Why are these people so happy about this? Personally, I don't feel strongly one way or the other. If I were sharing the statistics on the percentage of books sold in e-format, I would do it with a newsy approach. An oh, isn't this interesting attitude. So when I see people ready to dance a jig on the grave of mass market paperback, I wonder--why?
For authors, it's usually pretty easy to come up with an answer, but it's the readers who are so elated that have me scratching my head. Are these early adopters who feel vindicated that the format is finally gaining traction? Is that why they're so happy? Because they've been "proven right?"
While I'm happy ebooks are doing well, I don't pop around the internet singing ding, dong the witch is dead, which old witch? The paperback witch. It's a format. It's a technology. In twenty years, maybe we'll have something completely different.
If you're reading pixels or if you're reading the printed word or if having the book inserted into your brain via nanoprobe doesn't make any difference. The only thing that does matter is the story.
So yeah, why do some people feel so much joy when one format overtakes another? It's like rooting for MP3 over CDs and I've never seen music fans doing this. They might debate sound quality in various formats, but that's tangible. And in books, as long as the ebook is formatting correctly, there really is no quality difference, just preferences for the reader.
My guess is I'll be puzzling over this for a while. No answers are occurring to me.
May 24, 2011
What It Takes
The other day it occurred to me that there are two skill sets involved with being a fiction writer: Writing and storytelling. This isn't exactly an epiphany because it's kind of an obvious thing, but it was the first time I actually put it out there in my thoughts in such a straightforward way.
Two things kind of nudged this up into my consciousness. First was the reminder of the 10,000 hour rule. A couple of years ago, I'd read an article on how it takes 10,000 hours to become really good at anything. I blogged about it at the time and talked about how I always wanted to be able to draw, but wasn't willing to put in the number of hours it would take to get good at it. My interest wasn't great enough for drawing, but that it was different with writing.
The second thing that triggered this involved backstory and how new writers think they need to info dump the history of their characters at the start of their book. I can't even tell you how many contests I've judged for unpublished writers where nothing happens in the entry at all because they're so busy giving me the life and times of hero and heroine. The writing itself--how they put sentences together--is usually fine, but the storytelling isn't.
Of the two, I think the writing part is easier to learn than storytelling. I'm assuming this based on the fact that the entries in the writing contests are generally well-written, but storytelling still needs work. Also on what I hear as coworkers tell stories. And by telling stories, I mean someone asks, "How was your weekend?" and listening to the response.
What usually follows is a recitation in chronological order of every little thing that they experienced over the weekend. That's not how you tell a story. In storytelling, the boring stuff should be left out and so should anything the reader doesn't strictly need to know. Backstory violates both those things.
So applying the 10,000 hour rule, I'm thinking this means that writers need 20,000 hours since there are two different skills involved. Or maybe there's some overlap and writers need 15,000 hours?
Two things kind of nudged this up into my consciousness. First was the reminder of the 10,000 hour rule. A couple of years ago, I'd read an article on how it takes 10,000 hours to become really good at anything. I blogged about it at the time and talked about how I always wanted to be able to draw, but wasn't willing to put in the number of hours it would take to get good at it. My interest wasn't great enough for drawing, but that it was different with writing.
The second thing that triggered this involved backstory and how new writers think they need to info dump the history of their characters at the start of their book. I can't even tell you how many contests I've judged for unpublished writers where nothing happens in the entry at all because they're so busy giving me the life and times of hero and heroine. The writing itself--how they put sentences together--is usually fine, but the storytelling isn't.
Of the two, I think the writing part is easier to learn than storytelling. I'm assuming this based on the fact that the entries in the writing contests are generally well-written, but storytelling still needs work. Also on what I hear as coworkers tell stories. And by telling stories, I mean someone asks, "How was your weekend?" and listening to the response.
What usually follows is a recitation in chronological order of every little thing that they experienced over the weekend. That's not how you tell a story. In storytelling, the boring stuff should be left out and so should anything the reader doesn't strictly need to know. Backstory violates both those things.
So applying the 10,000 hour rule, I'm thinking this means that writers need 20,000 hours since there are two different skills involved. Or maybe there's some overlap and writers need 15,000 hours?
May 22, 2011
Birdbrained
For the past few days, a male robin has been attacking the glass doors on my patio. It isn't a case of not realizing there's glass there--my windows are clean, but not enough to confuse the bird. I've had my house for five years now and it didn't happen the first three years at all. Last year, it happened briefly, but once or twice and it was done. Not this year.
This year, the idiot robin has spent days attacking my window over and over. When I pull the drapes, it's mostly stopped the problem, although he did fly at my other windows that have curtains over them. The thing is that I like sunlight and would love to have my drapes open so I can enjoy the light. But I don't want the bird to kill itself attacking the windows either.
I've tried chasing him away. He flies to the tree in my backyard and then returns later to attack the window again.
On Thursday, it occurred to me what was different this year and last year versus the first three years I was in the house. I didn't hang my wind spinner on the deck! This should solve the problem, right? So I dug out the spinner, chased the idiot bird off, and hung my spinner.
An hour later, he was back...attacking the window.
Some research explained that robins are territorial and the male is defending his area. Against himself. Um, yeah. The article said that robins aren't stupid (Really? You couldn't prove it by me.) and that once the babies are born, he'll be too busy feeding them to worry about his reflection.
In the meantime, I've got a dodo bird attacking his image. :-( Territorial or not, you'd think that after thunking against glass about fifty times, the birdbrained robin would think, "dude, reflection." Nope. Not that bright no matter what the website said.
After I shooed him away yet again, he started singing his territorial, this is my land, song from all around my yard. And singing it loudly enough that I could hear him with all my windows closed. Guess he was really set on proving this is his land and no other male robin better even think about coming around.
You notice, though, that it isn't the female robin flinging herself pointlessly against the glass. She's probably busy building the nest while macho bird fights himself. ;-)
I'm going to try a fake owl to keep the bird away. I was hoping to have it Thursday night because my parents have one, only they can't find it. They're looking. If this doesn't do the trick, there was a suggestion online to try helium balloons. I can't believe this is actually happening over and over again.
This year, the idiot robin has spent days attacking my window over and over. When I pull the drapes, it's mostly stopped the problem, although he did fly at my other windows that have curtains over them. The thing is that I like sunlight and would love to have my drapes open so I can enjoy the light. But I don't want the bird to kill itself attacking the windows either.
I've tried chasing him away. He flies to the tree in my backyard and then returns later to attack the window again.
On Thursday, it occurred to me what was different this year and last year versus the first three years I was in the house. I didn't hang my wind spinner on the deck! This should solve the problem, right? So I dug out the spinner, chased the idiot bird off, and hung my spinner.
An hour later, he was back...attacking the window.
Some research explained that robins are territorial and the male is defending his area. Against himself. Um, yeah. The article said that robins aren't stupid (Really? You couldn't prove it by me.) and that once the babies are born, he'll be too busy feeding them to worry about his reflection.
In the meantime, I've got a dodo bird attacking his image. :-( Territorial or not, you'd think that after thunking against glass about fifty times, the birdbrained robin would think, "dude, reflection." Nope. Not that bright no matter what the website said.
After I shooed him away yet again, he started singing his territorial, this is my land, song from all around my yard. And singing it loudly enough that I could hear him with all my windows closed. Guess he was really set on proving this is his land and no other male robin better even think about coming around.
You notice, though, that it isn't the female robin flinging herself pointlessly against the glass. She's probably busy building the nest while macho bird fights himself. ;-)
I'm going to try a fake owl to keep the bird away. I was hoping to have it Thursday night because my parents have one, only they can't find it. They're looking. If this doesn't do the trick, there was a suggestion online to try helium balloons. I can't believe this is actually happening over and over again.
May 19, 2011
Aside From Writing...
That online class I took last week was on branding, something I really have trouble with despite being an advertising major in college. I tell people that I was trained to handle multi-million dollar accounts, not nickel and dime operations like I am. :-) I haven't had time to read the lessons yet because I was deluged with email from other class members on Day 1, and this weekend (when I meant to catch up on posts), I got sick and had no brain power.
But one of the things I think I caught scattered among the nearly 1000 posts this class generated in one week was that we shouldn't blog about writing, that it only interests other writers. What we should blog about are other things we're involved with/interested in.
This makes sense to me, but it raises the question: What the hell do I blog about if I stay away from writing and my stories?
Hobbies:
Watching Major League Baseball. This I could probably do, unfortunately my demographic is women and I'm doubtful I'd attract the right audience to my blog if I picked this topic.
Watching movies. Kind of. I used to watch a movie a week, but that fell by the wayside years ago. I've become so picky, that it's difficult to lose myself in the story because I'm so busy noticing plot holes. Since movies have become work for me (all that analyzing I do), I've mostly stopped watching them.
Reading books. I have no plans to review the books I read. Oh, an occasional non-fiction one now and then if I really loved it, but I won't criticize another author, and a good reviewer should cover the pluses and minuses. I crossed this one off the list pretty quickly.
Playing Hidden Object Games. I suppose I could review these and the demographic is okay since it seems as if a lot of women enjoy these games, too, but there are review sites like Gamezebo who review huge numbers of games of all kinds. I can't compete with that, and they also preview upcoming games. It's the site I go to for reviews and previews. Also, I go in streaks when I play these things, and when I'm busy writing, I don't play much, so that would leave huge gaps.
Flower gardening. I know nothing about gardening. Really. All I did was buy perennial bulbs and plant them. I mulch so I don't have to weed as much. Then I just look out the window and enjoy the color. This does not make for a successful gardening blog. Then factor in that I live in Minnesota and we're talking about maybe six months without anything to talk about even if I did have a clue about what I was doing.
Scrapbooking. I haven't done it in 5 years, even when I did do it, my pages were okay, not great, and I'm not particularly creative with how my pages look. I'd be embarrassed to take pictures of my finished work, especially after seeing what people who are good at crafts can do.
So what does this leave me with? The only other things I do are write (which I'm not supposed to talk about) and go to work. I'm not keen to blog about my day job because then I have to follow all these guidelines my employer has set forth for social media and it's easier to just avoid this and any potential problems it might bring up. And since I can't blog about sleeping, I'm not left with much. :-/
I thought about blogging about computers because I am a major geek this way, but I'm far from an expert and a lot of times I just figure things out by playing with them. And there are gazillion tech blogs out there anyway written by people who know much more than I do. Another fail.
I'm hoping things become clearer when I have time to actually go through the lessons and work on the exercises that were part of them. But looking at my list above, I'm not holding my breath for an epiphany.
But one of the things I think I caught scattered among the nearly 1000 posts this class generated in one week was that we shouldn't blog about writing, that it only interests other writers. What we should blog about are other things we're involved with/interested in.
This makes sense to me, but it raises the question: What the hell do I blog about if I stay away from writing and my stories?
Hobbies:
Watching Major League Baseball. This I could probably do, unfortunately my demographic is women and I'm doubtful I'd attract the right audience to my blog if I picked this topic.
Watching movies. Kind of. I used to watch a movie a week, but that fell by the wayside years ago. I've become so picky, that it's difficult to lose myself in the story because I'm so busy noticing plot holes. Since movies have become work for me (all that analyzing I do), I've mostly stopped watching them.
Reading books. I have no plans to review the books I read. Oh, an occasional non-fiction one now and then if I really loved it, but I won't criticize another author, and a good reviewer should cover the pluses and minuses. I crossed this one off the list pretty quickly.
Playing Hidden Object Games. I suppose I could review these and the demographic is okay since it seems as if a lot of women enjoy these games, too, but there are review sites like Gamezebo who review huge numbers of games of all kinds. I can't compete with that, and they also preview upcoming games. It's the site I go to for reviews and previews. Also, I go in streaks when I play these things, and when I'm busy writing, I don't play much, so that would leave huge gaps.
Flower gardening. I know nothing about gardening. Really. All I did was buy perennial bulbs and plant them. I mulch so I don't have to weed as much. Then I just look out the window and enjoy the color. This does not make for a successful gardening blog. Then factor in that I live in Minnesota and we're talking about maybe six months without anything to talk about even if I did have a clue about what I was doing.
Scrapbooking. I haven't done it in 5 years, even when I did do it, my pages were okay, not great, and I'm not particularly creative with how my pages look. I'd be embarrassed to take pictures of my finished work, especially after seeing what people who are good at crafts can do.
So what does this leave me with? The only other things I do are write (which I'm not supposed to talk about) and go to work. I'm not keen to blog about my day job because then I have to follow all these guidelines my employer has set forth for social media and it's easier to just avoid this and any potential problems it might bring up. And since I can't blog about sleeping, I'm not left with much. :-/
I thought about blogging about computers because I am a major geek this way, but I'm far from an expert and a lot of times I just figure things out by playing with them. And there are gazillion tech blogs out there anyway written by people who know much more than I do. Another fail.
I'm hoping things become clearer when I have time to actually go through the lessons and work on the exercises that were part of them. But looking at my list above, I'm not holding my breath for an epiphany.
May 17, 2011
Why Is That?
I've always enjoyed learning and have an insatiable curiosity. If something grabs my interest, I'll read up on it and I've done this for years. When I was in junior high, I remember checking out every book the library had on sharks and reading them. A few months later, it was Mars.
While I was unaware of it at the time, college encouraged this dabbling in subjects. The School of Journalism only allowed us 45 credits inside the program, the rest of our credits needed to come from a diverse swath of disciplines. This suited me fine. I'd go from Astronomy class, to Theater, to History, to Biology, to Far Eastern Art, to Oceanography, to... You get the idea. I was basically all over the campus.
It makes sense actually. I was an ad copy major, but there were also print and broadcast journalism as well as public relations inside the school. I believe the theory was we'd never know what we'd be required to work on. A journalist could cover a city hall one day and a flower show the next. A PR person never knew what industry their firm might represent and with advertising, the agency could work on very diverse accounts. If the student knew a little bit about a wide variety of topics, they'd at least have a background to draw from.
I might have taken this to extremes. Just slightly. When I graduated, I was 60 credits over the required number. I had 1 major and 0 minors. Um, yeah.
I've never stopped learning. I've continued to take assorted classes since then. Online, in community education, workshops, seminars and only some of them were directly writing related. I also continue to research anything that sounds interesting. If you've read The Power of Two you know nanotechnology played a huge role in that book. About five or so years before I wrote that story, I'd done a major study of nanotechnology. Not with any intention of using it, but because I found it fascinating.
All this leads me to this morning. I picked up a cold--I woke up Saturday sick--and this morning I wondered: Why do the sinuses clog up and make it so hard to breathe?
So I researched that. I don't think this is normal behavior, but I was curious.
For the record, the information I found said that the sinuses are lined with membranes that secrete mucus when they're irritated. The purpose is to keep bacteria and viruses from entering the respiratory tract. That made sense, but then my next question was: In that case, why does it take 3 days after getting sick for the sinuses to react? Wouldn't it make more sense to respond immediately rather than this delayed reaction?
I didn't have time to research that question.
While I was unaware of it at the time, college encouraged this dabbling in subjects. The School of Journalism only allowed us 45 credits inside the program, the rest of our credits needed to come from a diverse swath of disciplines. This suited me fine. I'd go from Astronomy class, to Theater, to History, to Biology, to Far Eastern Art, to Oceanography, to... You get the idea. I was basically all over the campus.
It makes sense actually. I was an ad copy major, but there were also print and broadcast journalism as well as public relations inside the school. I believe the theory was we'd never know what we'd be required to work on. A journalist could cover a city hall one day and a flower show the next. A PR person never knew what industry their firm might represent and with advertising, the agency could work on very diverse accounts. If the student knew a little bit about a wide variety of topics, they'd at least have a background to draw from.
I might have taken this to extremes. Just slightly. When I graduated, I was 60 credits over the required number. I had 1 major and 0 minors. Um, yeah.
I've never stopped learning. I've continued to take assorted classes since then. Online, in community education, workshops, seminars and only some of them were directly writing related. I also continue to research anything that sounds interesting. If you've read The Power of Two you know nanotechnology played a huge role in that book. About five or so years before I wrote that story, I'd done a major study of nanotechnology. Not with any intention of using it, but because I found it fascinating.
All this leads me to this morning. I picked up a cold--I woke up Saturday sick--and this morning I wondered: Why do the sinuses clog up and make it so hard to breathe?
So I researched that. I don't think this is normal behavior, but I was curious.
For the record, the information I found said that the sinuses are lined with membranes that secrete mucus when they're irritated. The purpose is to keep bacteria and viruses from entering the respiratory tract. That made sense, but then my next question was: In that case, why does it take 3 days after getting sick for the sinuses to react? Wouldn't it make more sense to respond immediately rather than this delayed reaction?
I didn't have time to research that question.
May 15, 2011
Totally To the Max, For Sure
One of the movies I enjoy is a guilty pleasure--Valley Girl. Actually, if you can get past the title and the way they talk (like gag me with a spoon, ya know), it's a cute movie. Nicolas Cage plays a boy from the wrong side of the tracks who's interested in a valley girl. She's interested in him, too, but all her friends are pressuring her to be with Biff or whatever the popular boy's name is.
In the movie, though, there is one of my favorite lines of all time. Our heroine is glum. She's being forced to choose between her social position/friends at school and this boy from Hollywood that she really likes. So as she's sitting on the couch, all morose, her father comes in.
He asks her what's wrong and she tells him she has a problem and she doesn't know what to do. His response? "Take it back and get the more expensive one. You know the more expensive ones always fit better."
No matter how many times I see the movie, her father's assumption just makes me grin. I own very few DVDs, but this is one film I had to buy. It's just too much fun not to pull out now and then and rewatch.
My rating: 4/5 High on the fun factor, but the Valley Girl slang gets a little wearying.
In the movie, though, there is one of my favorite lines of all time. Our heroine is glum. She's being forced to choose between her social position/friends at school and this boy from Hollywood that she really likes. So as she's sitting on the couch, all morose, her father comes in.
He asks her what's wrong and she tells him she has a problem and she doesn't know what to do. His response? "Take it back and get the more expensive one. You know the more expensive ones always fit better."
No matter how many times I see the movie, her father's assumption just makes me grin. I own very few DVDs, but this is one film I had to buy. It's just too much fun not to pull out now and then and rewatch.
My rating: 4/5 High on the fun factor, but the Valley Girl slang gets a little wearying.
May 12, 2011
One of a Million
I love taking online classes geared for writers because I can get a lot of cool information. Craft classes you can find anywhere even locally, but where else except online can you find classes on how to work undercover? Let's face it, writers need to know weird stuff to make their books accurate.
There is one huge drawback, though, to these online classes--the size.
The writing organization sponsoring the class is trying to make money. The teacher who's leading the class also would like to make some money, but I find it extremely frustrating. In fact, I'm going through it right now. The class size is so big and the numbers of email so overwhelming, that it prevents me from participating.
This is what happens in almost every class I've ever taken: I sign up, I wait eagerly for the class to start, the teacher posts the welcome and lesson 1 while I'm at work, the other students immediately start responding to the teacher, and I arrive home in the evening to hundreds of class emails.
Hundreds. No lie. On day 1.
I have rules set up to auto-sort my mail, so I look at the number of notes in the class folder and I feel overwhelmed. There's no better word for it. Now, instead of going in, reading the teacher's email and the emails from my classmates, I read nothing. Somehow, I now have to find time to wade through all these notes, read them, and delete the ones that don't further anything.
On Day 3 of my current class, I have nearly 600 email in the class folder. Day 3. ::sobs::
My wish is that these online classes would cap enrollment at a reasonable number so that everyone can participate if they want to. There has to be other people like me who have the best of intentions, but drown under the mass of notes. I know it's a balancing act. That if there are too few people, the class fee has to go up, but I'd be willing to pay $5 more to have a smaller size.
BTW, I have had one class that was a nice, small size and it's the most fun I've ever had in one of these things. I'd love to have a similar experience again some day.
There is one huge drawback, though, to these online classes--the size.
The writing organization sponsoring the class is trying to make money. The teacher who's leading the class also would like to make some money, but I find it extremely frustrating. In fact, I'm going through it right now. The class size is so big and the numbers of email so overwhelming, that it prevents me from participating.
This is what happens in almost every class I've ever taken: I sign up, I wait eagerly for the class to start, the teacher posts the welcome and lesson 1 while I'm at work, the other students immediately start responding to the teacher, and I arrive home in the evening to hundreds of class emails.
Hundreds. No lie. On day 1.
I have rules set up to auto-sort my mail, so I look at the number of notes in the class folder and I feel overwhelmed. There's no better word for it. Now, instead of going in, reading the teacher's email and the emails from my classmates, I read nothing. Somehow, I now have to find time to wade through all these notes, read them, and delete the ones that don't further anything.
On Day 3 of my current class, I have nearly 600 email in the class folder. Day 3. ::sobs::
My wish is that these online classes would cap enrollment at a reasonable number so that everyone can participate if they want to. There has to be other people like me who have the best of intentions, but drown under the mass of notes. I know it's a balancing act. That if there are too few people, the class fee has to go up, but I'd be willing to pay $5 more to have a smaller size.
BTW, I have had one class that was a nice, small size and it's the most fun I've ever had in one of these things. I'd love to have a similar experience again some day.
May 10, 2011
Social Media Blitz
I have to make an apology here. Back when social media sites first got hot, I joined all the ones I heard about or received invitations to join. MySpace, Bebo, Shelfari...well, the list goes on and on. I rarely visit most of these sites. Some I no longer visit at all.
This weekend, I discovered that I'd been getting messages on my wall at Shelfari. Some are two and three years old. I never saw them. I did post back to the people Sunday, apologizing and thanking them, but wow, am I embarrassed. The first thing I did was check my settings and notifications were turned off. I probably did it and forgot about it.
My philosophy on these sites that I don't visit anymore has been to leave my page up because I figure why not? Maybe it's not updated, but it still has links to my site and stuff, so people who find me, say at Bebo, can link through if they're interested.
I'm rethinking this theory.
Maybe it would be better to delete my profiles at sites I don't visit any longer. That way I won't run into this situation again where I've inadvertently left someone hanging who took the time to leave me a message.
I honestly haven't been to some of these places in years. Sometime a lot of years. I'm on Facebook and things still get backed up there. And I'm on Twitter, which I love. :-) And you can find me at my blogs, but any other place? Hit or miss. From now on, I will try to drop in at Shelfari and Goodreads and check my page, but I'm thinking I should just delete Bebo and add a message to MySpace that I am no longer active there. This might be the way to go.
This weekend, I discovered that I'd been getting messages on my wall at Shelfari. Some are two and three years old. I never saw them. I did post back to the people Sunday, apologizing and thanking them, but wow, am I embarrassed. The first thing I did was check my settings and notifications were turned off. I probably did it and forgot about it.
My philosophy on these sites that I don't visit anymore has been to leave my page up because I figure why not? Maybe it's not updated, but it still has links to my site and stuff, so people who find me, say at Bebo, can link through if they're interested.
I'm rethinking this theory.
Maybe it would be better to delete my profiles at sites I don't visit any longer. That way I won't run into this situation again where I've inadvertently left someone hanging who took the time to leave me a message.
I honestly haven't been to some of these places in years. Sometime a lot of years. I'm on Facebook and things still get backed up there. And I'm on Twitter, which I love. :-) And you can find me at my blogs, but any other place? Hit or miss. From now on, I will try to drop in at Shelfari and Goodreads and check my page, but I'm thinking I should just delete Bebo and add a message to MySpace that I am no longer active there. This might be the way to go.
May 8, 2011
Adventures In Home Waxing
I am--of course--talking about the hair removal kind of waxing.
A few weeks back, QVC had a Bliss waxing kit as the Today's Special Value. I dithered a bit, but decided I'd check out reviews/prices when I got home from work. The reviews I found on line were positive, QVC's price, even with the shipping, was better than what I found online, and so I ordered it. And found myself on back order. My kit finally came.
For those unfamiliar with Bliss, it's apparently a salon wax that's now been made available for home use. The wax is microwaved rather than heated in a special machine and their special oil is supposed to make it nearly pain free.
On Wednesday, I decided it was a good time to try it out. I set up at my kitchen breakfast bar with my lighted makeup mirror, a handful of cotton balls, and easy access to the microwave.
The directions said that a full cup of wax would likely need five or six 30 second zaps in the microwave and that the wax should be stirred between each interval. The first two times in the microwave, stirring was impossible because the top was rock solid. The third time through I had a little hole form, maybe the size of a nickle. By the fifth time, the wax was way too hot. It's supposed to be the consistency of honey. I had it the consistency of water. :-) I waited a bit for it to cool down and thicken.
I started with my eyebrows. After all, how hard can it be, right? And this is a good place to test for pain. Because of years of plucking, I'm pretty inured to pain there and if it hurt, then using that wax in other areas was not going to happen.
Seriously, the directions needed to say something like: Idiot, reconsider doing the eyebrows yourself. Or get adult supervision.
Wax got into areas where I wanted to keep eyebrow. A little wax string dipped down into my eyelashes. I dripped wax on my floor. And my counter top. It required following their emergency instructions, but I did manage to not lose half my right eyebrow. It's a little thinner than the left, but it is intact. :-/
Lessons Learned:
1. Do not wax in the kitchen. Take the cup into the bathroom.
2. The thicker wax is easier to work with, don't overheat it and get it too thin.
3. When the wax cools, it won't adhere will to the hair and nothing gets removed. Stay in the sweet spot as far as the time goes.
4. Pluck the eyebrows from now on. Use the wax for other places instead.
A few weeks back, QVC had a Bliss waxing kit as the Today's Special Value. I dithered a bit, but decided I'd check out reviews/prices when I got home from work. The reviews I found on line were positive, QVC's price, even with the shipping, was better than what I found online, and so I ordered it. And found myself on back order. My kit finally came.
For those unfamiliar with Bliss, it's apparently a salon wax that's now been made available for home use. The wax is microwaved rather than heated in a special machine and their special oil is supposed to make it nearly pain free.
On Wednesday, I decided it was a good time to try it out. I set up at my kitchen breakfast bar with my lighted makeup mirror, a handful of cotton balls, and easy access to the microwave.
The directions said that a full cup of wax would likely need five or six 30 second zaps in the microwave and that the wax should be stirred between each interval. The first two times in the microwave, stirring was impossible because the top was rock solid. The third time through I had a little hole form, maybe the size of a nickle. By the fifth time, the wax was way too hot. It's supposed to be the consistency of honey. I had it the consistency of water. :-) I waited a bit for it to cool down and thicken.
I started with my eyebrows. After all, how hard can it be, right? And this is a good place to test for pain. Because of years of plucking, I'm pretty inured to pain there and if it hurt, then using that wax in other areas was not going to happen.
Seriously, the directions needed to say something like: Idiot, reconsider doing the eyebrows yourself. Or get adult supervision.
Wax got into areas where I wanted to keep eyebrow. A little wax string dipped down into my eyelashes. I dripped wax on my floor. And my counter top. It required following their emergency instructions, but I did manage to not lose half my right eyebrow. It's a little thinner than the left, but it is intact. :-/
Lessons Learned:
1. Do not wax in the kitchen. Take the cup into the bathroom.
2. The thicker wax is easier to work with, don't overheat it and get it too thin.
3. When the wax cools, it won't adhere will to the hair and nothing gets removed. Stay in the sweet spot as far as the time goes.
4. Pluck the eyebrows from now on. Use the wax for other places instead.
