Monday, July 09, 2007

The Trivial Little things

Today I saw a pair of red shoes. Cute little peep toe sling backs in bright red with cream trim and a small buckle. I even tried them on. They fit beautifully...but still I put them back on the shelf and walked away.

I got home and had told three friends about the shoes in the space of two hours and began to wish I'd bought them. By 10pm I was in the car and heading out to buy shoes.

I was meant to have these shoes. Not only were they still there and in my size, but they were half the price they had been this afternoon.

I just love it when the little things somehow seem to fall into place....

And I have red shoes!

Sunday, July 08, 2007

Time for change

There have been so many changes lately that I have neglected this and other blogs...fortunately it is only me who will suffer as a result. Normal service should be resumed by the end of the month at the very latest.

Currently I am tying up a few work-related loose ends, finishing up on a couple of writing projects and resurrecting last years NaNoWriMo attempt, with the intention of a complete rewrite to include a major pov shift. I'm not too sure if it'll work but we shall see.

My home office is undergoing a revamp this week and I am currently perched on a wooden stool amid paint pots and other decorating 'stuff' - I don't want to know what any of it is called or what it is used for lest I am called upon to use it...I much prefer being the artistic director on this project ie choose the colours and accessories and make the decisions on what goes where.

The smell of paint is overpowering and I can only work in here for short bursts. Can't go to the family room because I am not disciplined enough to not be drawn in by the goggle box....especially with the Wimbledon men's final at two sets each.

Sunday, May 20, 2007

Health Blog

I have been asked to write a blog for HealthTalk.com and have been working behind the scenes with the editor to prepare for the launch...which of course is nowhere near as grand as it might like to think it sounds.

I was rather surprised at the amount of hoo-hah involved though. I was pleased that my short bio was accepted immediately - I find me the hardest thing to write about - but I had to send in five different photos before the graphics people were happy they had something they could work with...On reflection I hope that was all about picture quality and nothing to do with my ugly mug!

Generally I have been rather neglectful of my blogs but this health talk gig means I have to write to deadlines with two set publishing days per week. Hopefully this will help me to get into a blog routine and a bonus of starting the new blog will mean more regular postings on my other blogs...that's the threory at least.

Once I have the url for the new blog I will post it in links...just in case anyone is out there.

Is there anyone out there?

Monday, April 02, 2007

Magical Trip

Back fresh from Mickey World where, although I refused to stand in line to meet the famous mouse, I did sidle up to Pluto in the street for a quick photo opportunity.

The sun shone for us while we were there and we somehow managed to find ourselves a little excitement on the side, resulting in an impromptu tv appearance and a brief mention on the six o'clock news. Nothing of a criminal nature I hasten to add.

On the plane on the way back we were puzzling how we managed to turn a simple break into the kind of trip where people were pointing at us in the supermarket and one or two even approached us saying "I saw you on TV last night".

Not quite the kind of holiday (or fame) we had in mind!

I now find myself a champion of the underdog and rather (accidently I might add) associated with a consumer issues campaign; one that will not go away just because I am now back in the UK.

Overall, excitement aside, the trip fully lived up to the plan. Relaxation, chillin' and a little retail therapy thrown in made for one set of happy tourists...who once again had to buy another suitcase in which to carry all the bounty home again.

And now reality beckons; the excitement and relaxation of our holiday faded faster than our (very light) tan.

Saturday, February 24, 2007

Update on my fortune

As I suspected, the article writing hasn't made me a fortune and my account is still about twenty quid short of the minimum earnings level for payment. It's a great way for the site owners to tie people in to providing content, as they strive to meet the magical minimum amount in order to receive a cheque for their labours.
I don't plan to waste any more energy writing articles for less than peanuts, although the site claims you can earn money just with the articles that have been uploaded. We shall see. I will check my account balance at the end of March and see if it has grown any...watch this space.

Meanwhile I am off to Florida for a short break in a swanky new resort where I plan to chill out and shop till I drop in equal measure.

Monday, January 08, 2007

Trying things on for size

I have been struggling with a few articles I promised to write - struggling to find a way in, a new angle, a point from which to make my point. Its never quite as easy as you'd think.

Of course research is what is needed, and lots of it, and where better than the good old internet - that veritable mine of both useful and useless information, and much of it inaccurate to boot! It was during my research, and I love that I can justify (get away with) procrastination and outright time wasting by calling it research, that I discovered there are communities out there where people write and 'publish' "articles" and reviews ...which are in turn rated by other people who write articles and reviews... and all in the hope of earning some extra money. But the most amazing thing about the whole process is the rates of 'pay' for this work.

Admittedly the standard of work produced is variable to say the least, but there are some half decent writers out there but they are having to churn out hundreds of artciles in order to earn a few quid...and when I say a few, the pay is between 0.5 and 3 pence...per article!

Nobody can blame the companies who run these sites, the terms and conditions (including rates of pay) are clearly posted for all to see, and every participant ticks a box to say they accept them...so nobody can say they didn't know... Apart from the idea of using these sites as a place to hone article ideas, I can't for the life of me understand why people who can write (and it is true that they are in the minority on these sites ) would post their work for the possibility of earning a mere pittance?

Of course one has to try these things out in order to be able to speak from a point of any real authority...and I am delighted to report than in total, over a period of five days, I 'earned' the princely sum of five pence from my two published articles. Just to confirm, that's a whole five pence in total as payment for two 'published articles.'

I guess I won't be giving up the day job just yet.

Thursday, January 04, 2007

New Year - of the brown bear

I read through my old blogposts this evening and am delighted to report that finally the tatty old green dressing gown of 2005/06 is no more. Santa brought me a new one this year...and slippers too...although the fact they match is pure coincidence.
Now I can lounge around a nice new fluffy brown gown and brown furry slippers...like a huge brown bear. Of course there is no actual fur in any of my furry things, they are good old fashioned acrylic based synthetics...sounds wonderful eh?

Synthetics are just about everywhere...even in tins of treacle pud. The proof really was in the pudding because my mother gave me a tin of microwaveable pud - she has no microwave because, as she will tell anyone who cares to listen, she has nowhere to put one . Anyway we compared the ingredients of this mystery brand pud with that of a well known (household name associated with Beanz) brand...and we were horrified to find that the no brand one contained all manner of synthetic and chemical delights - most of which were totally unpronounceable (by anyone without a degree is biohazardry). We took some comfort that the weel known brand does actually contain recogniseable ingredients of the kind one might expect to find in a treacle pud...even if they were diluted by the presence of chemical stabilisers.

Whilst mother and I discussed our findings with a combination of interest and horror, hubby simply asked if we'd got any custard?