What’s on the iPod: Pink Cadillac by Bruce Springsteen
How can a person be so busy and not have much to do? Yesterday, I did that by trying to learn new Web technology. In my attempt to get a dedicated site together where writers can gather and share ideas, I came across things with strange names – Drupal, Joomla, PHP….I’m glad my husband has a strong understanding of these things, but he was at work.
I dug in. After about six hours, I was slightly closer to understanding what I was looking at. Worse, he’d come home, saw what I was trying to do, and said, “I have that up on the site already.”
Great.
It’s why I stick with writing.
Got an assignment yesterday – the juicy one – and I’m digging into it today, mostly because it’s so juicy, but partly because I’m avoiding the tech stuff. Also, I had a conversation with a PR person on the article (I give her first dibs because her experts are excellent sources). We got to talking about the upcoming conference. That led to a phone conversation and two more potential clients. She’s connected to some big companies and she was eager to share. That’s the second PR person in a week to offer that to me.
I’ve used PR contacts in the past to get some work, but it’s different this time because they approached me. I like that. When you find a good PR person, you rejoice. There are so many variations of PR reps – as there are writers – and the good ones stand out. Both these ladies have taken the time to understand my article needs and responded with great sources.
Today, more marketing and some initial research on the article. I have the questions lined up – now the research to get some answers. If I have time, I’ll be back to Schedule C and put some agonizing time into it yet again. I’ll find those deductions. I have to.
How’s your week shaping up?
6 responses to “Busy Doing Nothing”
6 hour drive in the snow and final conference details and my students. Fighting a cold. the cold's winning, but it's no big deal. I can rest up next week!
Safe travels, Devon! Hope you're feeling better, too.
I'm getting punished for having been out of town playing hooky last week. That's how *my* week is shaping up! But it was totally, 100% worth it 🙂
Off topic, we went to Great Big Sea last night. Wow. Just wow. I'm hesitant to throw around a phrase like "best concert I've ever been to," but they were simply fantastic and ebullient. The crowd never sat down through much of the first act and the entire second act.
I commented to my wife the other day that I'll usually pick an album based on my mood at the time, but when I put on GBS, it *puts* me in a great mood.
Jake, ebullient describes it quite well! Glad it was fantastic. 🙂
Remember a couple weeks back when I was stressed out over a never-ending article from an editor who made last-second changes without providing additional sources? Funny how that one article ate up every second of my time. This week I've written two (shorter) articles, a column, and am setting interviews for two more articles due next week…and I had time to check my e-mail, read a really long list of piled up Tweets, write a LOI, help my sister with some on-going issues, talk to friends and pet even pet my dog. I baked cheesecake brownies, too.
Amazing how much easier it is to work on multiple well-planned projects than finish just one disorganized mess.
Back to your techie stuff, Lori. That missing website my sister did was a project for a Drupal class. She didn't like it Drupal but she's not technologically inclined. Techie types might love it. Artsy types, not so much.
Paula, glad to hear you've moved on to much more useful articles! You're killing me with the cheesecake brownies – I'm watching my fat. Ugh.
Drupal isn't for me. My head explodes when I try to upload simple website changes from SharePoint. I just spent an hour fixing a problem I created.