First Day at Work!

The first half of my day was spent in training,mostly we went through a script I am to read when I do calls.  As we discussed it, we also got a little bit into the theory behind cold calling and how it works.  I would be starting out with a script, but eventually I will become so comfortable I will be able to put a lot of my own spin on things.

The thing that struck me the most about this place is how nice everyone is.  Of course, they all like that show, "Coven", which I could barely stand the first half hour, so that is something funny, there will be a lot of laughs with this group, I expect.

And Yet More Good News!!!

Went down to the DMV today and passed the written test!!!  It took three tries, but I got it.

Then I went to the library and looked up books about cold calling and sales.  I sat there for awhile, thinking about what it will be like to start work tomorrow. 

Something occurred to me while I was sitting there.  My new job is as an appointment setter.  What do things like cold calling, sales, advertising, and marketing all have in common?  And what skill do they most use, while at the same time honing that same skill?

Writing, that's what!  There are so many different directions I can go with this.  Using words to persuade and capture hearts and minds.  As I sat there today, my head was swimming with possibilities.

Also, forgot to mention that this is a company that serves the LGBT community.  Is that cool, or what?  This job is gonna rule! 

Jupiter is certainly giving me lots of Xmas gifts this year!  How's that for Law of Attraction?

A Good News Day...

Today was a very good day.  I got a brand new job today.  The one I had didn’t suck, it was just becoming obvious to me that it was the wrong job for me, it didn’t fit.  I’m very grateful I was able to get it, but there are certain times when one needs to move on.

And today I saw the ad in Craigslist, a shiny, new ad that had just been posted, and said to myself, “Why not?  The worst that can happen is I don’t get it, but if I want to advance my career, I’ve got to do something now, and why not this?  It could just as easily be me as anyone else.”

I think what helped me was the fact that I *did* strike while the iron was hot, thereby securing the fact that I’d be one of the first they interviewed.  I’ve heard that’s one of the best job hunting tips:  always try to be the first one they talk to.

And this job is so great:  it’s entry level, yet it’s doing something very important.  I can learn a skill that I’ll have--this is a sales type of job, I’ve never done this type of thing before, but I feel like I’m up for the challenge.  Even if this eventually doesn’t work out, it is *still* an excellent experience to have.

I feel very “new chapter in my life” right now.  There are so many positive things about this job, and how it will help me in all kinds of areas of my life, and the other good things that are going on...There is something very “fresh and un-stale” about my life right now.

I don't have a shorthand.

Ernie Souchak, the columnist played by John Belushi in Continental Divide, invented his own.  There's something very cool about that to me.  Something that said he was a real writer.

I have no idea why, but that movie didn't have the critical acclaim that his earlier movies did.  I happen to like that movie a lot.

It's the story of a Chicago journalist who goes up against the Mob and corrupt politicians, has to go into hiding where he falls in love with Blair Brown, who I believe was cast due to her similarity to a young Katherine Hepburn.  There is romantic tension, and Belushi has to get back to Chicago, where he once again takes on corruption.

I like that he's a guy who is on the ropes, and rallies his way back.  And that he was a writer doing this.

It seems like during the eighties there were a whole lot of movies that revolved around writers and their problems.  Probably because they were being written by screenwriters.  The kind of screenwriters, it seems to me, that would be the type of guys who would have lunch with Robert Evans and those type of guys.

I don't know if I'll ever get a chance to have lunch with Robert Evans, but I sure wouldn't mind being a real writer, like Ernie Souchak.

The Decemberists Writing Challenge

So, I saw Mur Lafferty's podcast about the end of NaNoWriMo:  http://murverse.com/nanowrimo-podcast-day-30-the-end/

She didn't make the required number of words, but she (rightfully) didn't feel like a giant loser, either.  This got me thinking how I had blown off the 100 Day Writer Challenge on Twitter, and maybe I could STILL do some thing writerly for the end of the year, that I didn't have to spend the remaining days of 2013 in writing challenge Palookaville.

In a "pouring it on in the last moments" kind of way, I've devised my own kind of writing challenge, one for "wannabe" writers like me, who look at the people doing NaNoWriMo, and think, "Man, I wish I could do that!  Wish I had the time/skill/discipline/whatever that it takes."

I am one of those "scramble at the last moments" kind of people-- something always seems to get in the way.  But in the spirit of not feeling like a loser about it, this time, here is the challenge:  if, like me, you're a wannabe NaNoWriMo-er, but you feel it's too intimidating, how could you write that many words in a month, excuse dejour, etc, you can write in the last month of the year. 

And you get to set your own goal.  It could be so many words a day, it could be so many pages by the the end of the month--you are the one who knows how much time you have and how much writing you have in you.  But your comitment will be to writing something, it doesn't matter how little, every day of the month of December.

And I knew that The Decemberists have a song with lyrics that go, "I am a writer, writer of fictions/ I am the heart that you call home/And I've written pages upon pages/Trying to rid you from my bones."  So it seemed appropriate to name this The Decemberists Writing Challenge.  Hope they don't mind that I used their name.  Here's a video of the song:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4FErEVRlIU&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Anybody wanna join me?  This is designed to be a no-pressure kinda thing.

A Serendipitous Moment

So, here's a story of something kind of nice that happened to me today.

The day didn't start so well.  I got some sharp words of criticism from a family member.  Then I had a disagreement with some people on the internet, and I realized I had to completely remove myself from any further discussion with an entire group of people, because they just weren't worthy of the respect I had had for them. 

It's always more disappointing when these things happen between myself and folks who I thought were more intelligent and mature.  It wouldn't hurt as badly if it was a group of people I didn't care about.

It wasn't hugely devastating, but not the way I would have chosen to start my day.  So, when I started work that evening, I didn't feel so great.  So, when am I getting to the something nice, I'm sure you're wondering?

Well, I had been working for about 45 minutes, when I saw a familiar face come into the store.  A gal I had worked with about 15 years ago was shopping, and she remembered me.
In fact, she told me a story, something I had forgotten about.  She said, "I had a broken heart, and you gave me a little heart necklace and I still have it."  I don't think she knew what just that little sentence had meant right at that moment, how it lifted me out of the doldrums I was in.

There I was, stewing about how someone had called me a moron today on the internet--I mean, come on, it's the internet, how important is it?  And here comes along, this old friend, and reminds me of a small kind gesture I did and that they remembered it this whole time.  Some little thing I did made *them* feel better.

I pretty much had a smile on my face the rest of the night, and work went really well.

#100 Day Writer Challenge

Been getting pretty chummy with a lot of real writers on Twitter and other places lately.   And here is this one lady with a challenge:  Write every day for a hundred days, and  mark off every day on a sheet.  Here's the post regarding the challenge: 

http://blog.writingspirit.com/2013/09/2013-writing-challenge.html

Now, I'm not one of those published authors or ready to publish hopefuls she seems to be talking to, I'm just someone who used to do a lot of text-blogging and wants get back to doing it on a regular basis. 

At the risk of sounding whiney, I kind of have a lot of duties that take me away from blogging, a mom who, when there don't seem to be enough chores for me to do, comes up with the idea that it would be really cool for me to wash the walls.  And a job which, though I'm very happy to have it, can be very physically taxing.

I'm basically a much more stressed out Hermgirl than I was back in 2002 when I was firing up my LiveJournal nearly every day.  However, I refuse to believe that means that I have to put my blogging life out to pasture. 

Maybe I need to use it as a place to vent, or self therapize or whatever, but I know that someday I will have the time and space to myself to pursue my creative endeavors, and that I will publish one day.

I need to find a way to keep my hand in.  Keep my hand in writing, keep my hand in reviewing, keep my hand in grammar and editing, keep my hand in books, keep my hand in WORDS!  I won't give them up, I will fight.

So, here I am, making a commitment to blog every day for 100 days, the remainder of the year.  Can I do it, with all the irons that I have in the fire?

I think so, if I keep it "downsized", if you will.    So I'm thinking the commitment I will make will be this:  I pledge myself to blog 75 words a day, at least, and to make at least one tweet or Facebook post, or both, every day. 

The blog entries may not be here, I have a couple blogs for different purposes, there are some I don't want everyone to see, but by cracky, I'm doing this!

The Miracles of Archangel Gabriel, by Doreen Virtue

It's a little hard for me to think of the Archangel Gabriel without thinking of Christopher Walken's performance in the "Prophecy" series.  Or Tilda Swinton's in "Constantine"...

Hollywood's conception of the Angelic aside, This is a pretty good book.  I have to admit, I thought for a second that Doreen Virtue was "Going all Catholic" on me.  When I got further into the book, though, I realized that she had spent a long time getting acquainted with all the lore on angels, and that, as usual, she finds a way to remind us that no one religion has a corner on the market of being able to communicate with angels.

She first takes us through that lore, including the biblical, extra-biblical, Jewish, and Muslim stories about Gabriel.  Virtue then looks at things like the symbols of Archangel Gabriel, gender (if any), and then other are some chapters devoted to the functions of Gabriel.

This archangel presides over parenting, childbirth and childhood, writing and clear communication.  It was interesting to learn of Gabriel's assistance to artists and writers, speaking as someone that wants to do both of those things.

Gabriel is presented as the Strength of God (one assumes that one can interpret the idea of God, whether male or female, one or many, for oneself, being a pagan that believes in angels I have a slightly different take on God(dess) than most who would read this, I'm sure.)

At the end of the day, this book did prove useful in drawing me closer to the Archangel Gabriel, it helped me to see that even as a pagan I have just as much right as anyone to communicate with God's messengers.

I received this book for free from Hay House for the purpose of writing a review, however the thoughts and opinions here are my own, based on my reading of the book.