Gooooooaaaaallllllllll!!!!!!!!!

When I started freelancing full-time (if you're just joining us, I made freelance writing my career in June of 2007), I was hesitant to set specific goals for myself. I was unsure what to expect, and to be honest I was afraid of failure. I figured as long as I could keep my head above water--meaning pay my bills and buy groceries--that was good enough to start with.

Now a little more than a year and a half later, I'm feeling more confident. The fear, while not completely gone, has abated considerably. So today I hauled out the calculator and, using my pitiful but serviceable math skills, came up with a monthly monetary goal.

If I reach it more often than not (and I am fairly certain I can--hopefully I'll even exceed it on occasion), I will have made more at the end of the year than I did in my last year at the cube farm job. That means not only can I pay bills and buy groceries, but I can resume my unhealthy "new shoes" habit!

Something

I have taped this comic to my computer monitor at every job I've had since college. It made me smile every time I looked at it. Even at the end of the cube farm job, when I'd had as much bureaucracy as I could stand, this still gave me a warm fuzzy. It reminded me that I was a part of something.

Today, as a freelancer--with nary a coworker or furry rodent in sight (unless one counts my cats or husband in either category, which I don't)--it still serves as a daily reminder that I'm a part of something. And now I'm smiling bigger than ever because this time around I created that something--and there's no better feeling in the world!

AT&T strikes again

My neighbors just started building an addition on their house. In January. It's 16 degrees. I think they may be insane. And I think I may join them, if the current noise level does not abate. That, coupled with the fact that every so often something they do over there makes my entire house shake, is making it difficult to concentrate. My cats are fairly convinced that it is the end of the world.

But I digress . . . a recent channel surfing expedition uncovered this gem:



I fear for the mental health of the "Val" character.

If I ever meet the person/people responsible for these synopses, I will be torn as to whether to deliver a smack or hug. It is rare that I encounter something that annoys and entertains me in equal measures.

Amie learns a new word

I participated in a webcast last week about behavioral change and medication adherence. Really exciting stuff.

*pause while I wipe off the sarcasm that just dripped all over my keyboard*

But there was something exciting about the webcast--I learned a new word, and now I'm going to share it with you:


That's a 16-pointer on the ol' Scrabble board, my friends!

English

On the news last night there was a segment about how Tennessee has declared English the official State language. That's all well and good. And the sooner the better, because the man they interviewed for his opinion on the issue said, "We need to protect the suprimacy of the the language." No, that's not a typo. He said "suprimacy." And it wasn't just that his Tennessee accent made it sound like he said "suprimacy." He really, truly said it. With a straight face. I almost fell off the couch.

If you're going to declare English the official language, meaning you expect people of other nationalities to speak the language when they are living in your state, those of you for whom English is your primary language should be expected to speak it as well.

End of rant.