Left or Right?

You Are the Left Side of the Brain

You are a logical and orderly person. You have a system for almost everything in your life. You like to stay busy, and it's important that you stay on task. You prefer to do one thing at a time. You are rational and detail oriented. You love to analyze, and you have a head for numbers. You are also good with words. You love to read, and you've been known to write well.

What Side of the Brain Are You?

Blogthings: Free Quizzes for Everyone

The good-with-numbers thing corresponds with my career. On the other hand, the good-with-words thing corresponds with my passion. So. Yeah.

Weird Dream of the Day: The Empty Office and Norah Jones

If you've been following me on Twitter, you may have seen my tweets about my weird dreams. Normally, I barely remember them once I wake up. But there are days when I remember most of the weird dream; sometimes, part of it or the feeling it left me after I woke up even stays with me throughout the day.

In today's dream, I was walking through my side of an almost empty office with my lunch in my hand. I saw my nine-months-pregnant colleague talking with a couple of officemates who had their back toward me. They looked very serious. My colleague glanced at me while nodding at one guy. I went out to the shop side to get to the lunchroom. But when I closed the door behind me, I saw that the lunchroom had one door boarded up. I don't remember whether the other door was locked or not, though. Also, the tables and chairs from the lunchroom were moved to the shop side, where the manufacturing equipment would be in real life. There were three women - who didn't work at my office - sitting and chatting in the shop/lunchroom. Two of them sat at one table, while the other sat at another table. When I sat at the table where the two women were, I saw that the third woman was Norah Jones. Yes, Norah Jones - the Grammy-winning musician and the star of My Blueberry Nights. They were discussing ideas about either a new video or new movie. I don't remember what Norah was saying when I sat down, though; and I wouldn't have known what song (if it's a song) they were discussing, because I don't follow her music. Which is probably why, when Norah noticed me, she said something like, "Oh, she's OK." I don't recall what she said after that, but I think she mentioned something about that fact that I don't know her music as much as I know, say, Kelly Clarkson's (see two previous sentences). Then the dream ended.

Weird, eh? Disturbing too, because the office and shop were practically empty; although it could also mean that it was a very slow Friday or that the manufacturing equipment was moved to the larger shop section downstairs. Also, three were talking with each other on the office side and three were also talking on the shop/lunchroom side. Also, Norah Jones in my office? Not to mention that she knew the music I prefer and was OK with it.

What could this dream mean (as well as the other weird dreams I've had and will have)? Does this mean that I should buy the new Norah Jones record when it comes out? That's some sneaky and creepy advertising! Or is it just the bottle of Corona talking? Or that I slept at 1 AM? Or that I ate some meat the As brought home from Pinpin Restaurant in Vancouver three hours before I went to bed and four hours before I actually fell asleep? Not that I'm saying there's something in the food, just the fact that I ate something that heavy at 9 PM (after I watched the Stand Up 2 Cancer special on ABC/FOX/CBS/NBC).

Regardless, I'll try to write about my weird dreams as much as I can. I hope that I can figure them out or why I'm having such dreams by blogging about them. Feel free to comment, y'all.

Vacation!!!

It's time again for my annual week off from my day job. Yay!

I timed my vacation with the week of my Basic Copy Editing classes at SFU Vancouver. I actually didn't expect my boss to approve my leave, because the August billings are due on Wednesday, August 25th. But she did, and I'm so thankful for that. I am in dire need of time off from work!

For four days, I'll be in class in the mornings and studying in the afternoons. I guess I'm kinda thankful that my freelance business is kinda slow. I can still bid on a project that I like, if I find one, but no work and deadlines this week.

I'm not sure yet what I'm going to do on Friday. I can either go to Victoria with my mom - because I haven't been there in my eight years in Canada! - or book a spa appointment at Spa Utopia. What do y'all think I should do?

Still, I wish I could take a month-long vacation. I've been so exhausted!

Anyhow, I'll try my darnedest to enjoy this week off. I think I'm gonna need the rest for my return to work on August 30th.

Three Stories. Yeah.

I did it: I submitted three stories for the 2010 FMC Fiction Prize.

Thank God.

I decided to add another story to the mix, because submitting three stories is a little bit cheaper than submitting just one. Well, USD $2 is still two bucks. So, in addition to Before I Let You Go and Frogs & Princes, I quickly edited Under The Autumn Rain, a story I wrote seven years ago. Then I went on the Flatmancrooked website and paid USD $40 for the three stories via PayPal. Then I copied and pasted the three stories on the submission form under my pen name. I was so relieved to see the "Success!" message after I hit send.

Again, thank You, Lord!

If you've read Before I Let You Go on my Writing.com profile - coughgotomyprofilecough - you'd know what it's about. Frogs & Princes is about a Christian girl torn between a Christian guy with whom she's in love and a non-Christian guy who's into her. It's semi-autobiographical. 'Nuff said. Anyway, Under The Autumn Rain is about a new Canadian immigrant who's had a bad day and who wants to give up.

Phew!

Even if I don't win anything, at least I got to write a new story. And I was able to write and edit with a deadline. See? It's a win-win situation.

But I do hope I win something. It'd be cool to win even a runner-up prize or consolation prize on the first fiction-writing contest I entered. That'd be really cool.

Ciao for now!

Say A Little Prayer For Me

I need to ask you guys for a little favour: please pray that my job interview tomorrow will be a success.

I'm going on my first interview in almost two years and I have less than 15 hours to prepare since I had to work late today. At 10 AM tomorrow, I'm meeting a recruiting specialist regarding a brand-spankin'-new job opening. And I need to nail that interview. (If you personally knew me or if you've seen my tweets, you might have an idea why I need to nail this one.)

So I'm asking all of you to pray for me as I do the same. I pray that God guides my words and actions before, during, and after the interview according to His will.

Thanks in advance.

By the way, it means editing Maybe This Time was pushed back to tomorrow night. I hope to finish it all by Sunday night.

Ciao for now!

So Emotional

You Are an Emotional Artist

You're the type of artist who creates because you are moved. It's like it's not even a choice. Your art is all about expressing yourself, and to be honest, you don't really care about what others think of it. You are in love with the things that you create. Every piece of art you've made has great meaning to you. You don't beat yourself up if your art isn't perfect. If you're happy with what it says, then that's all you could ask for.

What Type of Artist Are You?

Blogthings: 100's of Fun, Free Quizzes and 3 Stupid Ones

Gonna Be A Guru

The writing/editing jobs I like on iFreelance are scarce right now. I have lost three projects to other writers/editors - that's three more than the number of projects I've won. Once, I stayed up until 8 AM to finish a bid for a project that was approved less than 24 hours prior. I slept shortly after I submitted the bid. When I woke up and checked the status of the project, I discovered that it had been awarded to someone else!

That was depressing.

Since business is still kinda slow, I registered for a Guru account. I'm still building my profile, though. I started writing the profile overview tonight and I should be able to finish the final draft by Thursday. Take that, procrastination!

One great thing that came out of joining the website is that I got to write a slogan for the business. I even put it on the official website and my iFreelance provide profile!

Another great thing about Guru is that it uses a mandatory SafePay system, where the employer's payment is deposited into the freelancer's SafePay account. The freelancer can then withdraw the funds by requesting a cheque or by transferring the money into the freelancer's PayPal account. It's safer for both employer and freelancer, especially if the SafePay Escrow method is used. In this method, the employer pays the deposit into Escrow and releases the funds when the work is satisfactory. Mediation or arbitration is also available of the Escrow method is used.

iFreelance's edge over Guru, however, is that the former does not charge commissions when the freelancer gets paid. On my Basic profile, if I get paid USD$100, Guru gets 10% of that amount.

But a freelancer's gotta do what she's gotta do. I need to generate business, dudes!

Are you a freelancer on Guru too? How has it helped your business? What other pro or con can you add to the above?

A Desk Tells a Lot About Someone...

You Are a Creative Worker

You are a very private person. You don't open up easily, and you don't open up to just anyone. You draw a lot of inspiration and energy from your own internal world. You get bored easily around other people. You like to edit and revise. You are always improving your work, and you never turn in the first draft. You are down to earth and practical. You achieve success one step at a time, by paying attention to details.

What Does Your Desk Say About You?

Blogthings: Cheaper Than a Therapist

Pennette Has A Better Love Life Than I Do

Last night, I was looking for games on the iTunes Apps Store. I found Virtual Families, a sim game where I adopt a person - I chose Pennette, 27 and a rookie magazine editor - and I control her life, from finding a mate and encouraging her to work to giving her children and helping her house renovations.

I found Beamer, 25 and a rookie board game designer, for Pennette. He seems to be good for her; he cooks for her, and he has a happier disposition than Pennette. She seems to be depressive - like me. I thought it's only because she was lonely, so I found her a husband. I did and she was happy for a few minutes, then she's depressed again. I keep encouraging them to mate, but they fight about having kids. (Beamer's profile says he definitely wants to have children and Pennette's says it would be nice to have children, so I don't know why they fight about it.)

Anyway, Pennette works from home, but Beamer doesn't seem to work although he earns money. Maybe those are royalty payments?

The game has crashed once, but restarting my iPod Touch seems to work. Let's hope it doesn't crash anymore.

Let's also hope Pennette and Beamer agree to have children soon. Hehehe...

P.S. Wouldn't this make a good short story? Hehehe...

Freelance Writing Rates Ready

I have finally finalized the freelance writing rates. Thank God!

I have also announced it on the website, Facebook page, Twitter, and LinkedIn. I've also added it on my iFreelance provider profile page.

I'm also done creating a quick quote template and adding the rates on the QuickBooks company file.

Now I can focus on bidding and working. Hallelujah!

BlackBerry Curve 8900

Do y'all remember my original Christmas wish list? Do y'all remember me saying that I want the BlackBerry Curve 8520, specifically the lavender one?

Well, I just changed my mind. Now I want the BlackBerry Curve 8900 smartphone!

(Image taken from BlackBerry.com)

I didn't feel like working on the freelance writing rates yet, so I went on the Rogers Wireless website to look for the best BlackBerry phone to replace my Red Pearl when my contract expires in December. I've had my heart set on the Curve 8520 for a while now, but I wasn't sure if you could read Word, Excel, and PDF documents on the smartphone. As a freelance editor, I'd like to skim through the prospective client's document before submitting or sending a quote. Unfortunately, the reviews for the Curve 8520 on the Rogers Wireless website don't mention anything about its attachment-reading capabilities. The Red Pearl's small screen doesn't really go well with zooming on a document; more often than not, especially if it's a PDF, it becomes blurry and unreadable. A reviewer did say that the Curve 8520 is not for users who use smartphones for business purposes.

Then I decided to check out the Curve 8900's features. Lo and behold! You can view and revise Word and Excel documents right on the Curve 8900! Hopefully, PDF documents too!

Attachments
For the times when you cant [sic] be at your desk, view and revise popular attachments such as Word and Excel documents right on your phone 

Unfortunately, I still have to wait eight (it's the Numbers, man!) months for my contract to expire. Well, let's hope the current offer of $49.99 for select 3-year plans (hmmm, I wonder what those are...) drops, it becomes available in other colours (only black for now), or both, by December.

Freelance Writing Too?

Purely editing projects are rare, even on iFreelance.com. Most projects that are open for bidding deal only with the writing, particularly articles and copy. Because my provider profile is under the Writing/Editing category, the project match alerts I get include writing projects. I have also received a few requests for my freelance writing rates.

But I don't have rates for my freelance writing! I have only set up rates for my editing services because I meant to focus on the editing. But I need supplemental income so I decided to offer freelance writing services too.

I hope to set up the rates before next week. They should be on the official website, iFreelance profile, Facebook page, and Twitter soon.

Writer's Digest Subscription: To Renew Or Not To Renew?

Last Wednesday, I received a subscription renewal notice from Writer's Digest.

A few months ago, because of the recession and my two Work Share Days, I decided not to renew my subscription. I had to cut some costs and I decided this should be it. I also checked out Quill & Quire, a magazine about the book industry in Canada. But its one-year subscription for 10 issues costs CAD $59.95 before GST - twice WD's costs for a one-year subscription of eight issues! Plus, I'm actually behind three issues, because I have so many things to read and to write (among other tasks).

So, when I got the renewal notice last Wednesday - and saw that the USD $29.95 offer ends on April 14th, a week after I received the notice - I decided not to bother and renew my subscription. But when I went to the Writer's Digest website, I found out that I could renew my subscription online! So I did, for the same price, and without any worries that the completed renewal form arrived in Florida by next Wednesday. *Sigh*

Which means I've gotta cut costs elsewhere. Maybe non-LOST- and non-Fringe-related Amazon purchases? Hehehehe...

Wanted: More Writing Feedback

Hey, everyone!

I joined Writing.com a week ago, and I uploaded the first draft of my short story, Before I Let You Go.

It only has one review and rating at the moment. While I appreciate the five-star rating, I would like to see more reviews and ratings. I would like to read which part is working, which part isn't, what needs to be changed, et cetera. This is the first story I wrote in a long while and the first one I ever uploaded anywhere for feedback.

So I ask you guys to read my story and write what you think of it. I promise to reciprocate!

Thanks, guys!

Back to School This Spring or Summer?

While business is still slow, I think I should take another editing course at Simon Fraser University's Writing and Publishing Program. Basic Copy Editing is the next course in the Editing Certificate program - to which I haven't registered because of the estimated total cost - so I thought it would be a good idea to check it out.

Anyway, I'm not sure which schedule to choose. The only two workable schedules are in late spring and in late summer:

• Four Wednesdays, May 19th to June 9th, 18:30 to 21:30 at the Vancouver campus
• Monday to Thursday (i.e. four days), August 23rd to August 26th, 09:00 to 12:00 at the Vancouver campus.

Instructor is the same (Nick Rockel), as well as the fee ($370).

The spring schedule starts four days before ABC airs LOST's series finale so I'd be freaking out and preparing myself for the end, which means I'd need something to get it out of my head for a night. On the other hand, it's going to take me an hour and 15 minutes to get to the Vancouver campus after work and an hour and 55 minutes to get home. I've taken night classes before and nothing untoward has happened to me. Still, I'm gonna need to take a lot of precautions - say, keep pepper spray in my purse - when I go home.

The summer schedule is great because I can take this week off work and devote the entire four days to the course. Since it's a hassle to commute from Langley to Vancouver every day, I can rent a hotel room for four days (which, of course, is an extra cost). It's like a staycation, but at least I won't be in Langley. Or not. However, four straight days of studying maybe too fast, too much for my brain. 

If only Basic Copy Editing were offered as an online course like the introductory one, I wouldn't have to freak out about the schedule.

 

At the moment, the summer schedule looks better. But we shall see.

 

***This was originally posted on the Announcements section of my freelance editing website at 4 AM today.***

What Advanced Degree Should I Get?

Hmmm...

You Should Get an MFA (Masters of Fine Arts)

You're a blooming artistic talent, even if you aren't quite convinced. You'd make an incredible artist, photographer, or film maker.

What Advanced Degree Should You Get?

Blogthings: Free Quizzes for Everyone

Are there available MFA programs for creative writing in Canada? Hmmm...

Felice Anno Nuovo!!!

Goodbye, 2009!

While 2008 was a year of healing and 2010 is a year of hope, 2009 was a difficult year. It was difficult for everyone affected by the recession, but it was especially difficult for me.

I started seriously looking for my own place, even without enough money. I didn't - still don't - have much support from my family because they don't think I'm mature enough to live on my own. I lost one unit I liked because my brother took forever to definitely refuse to help me. Every time I mention the words "condo" or "condo hunt," my mom and my sister wig out. It is painful that other people support me in this matter, while my own family doesn't.

Then the government of British Columbia announced that it is harmonizing the Goods & Service Tax (GST, at 5%) with the Provincial Sales Tax (PST, at 7%), thus creating the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST, at 12%). It is effective starting July 1, 2010. The HST announcement led to a surge in real estate sales, reducing the inventory and turning the real estate market into a seller's market - which means, it's not helping me at all. The government is insisting that HST is good for the economy, but more British Columbians disagree with it than those who accept it. For more information about the HST opposition, please go to this site.

Also, the recession's effect on the construction industry affected my work days and my salary. To prevent more layoffs, my employer entered us in the Work Share Program and cut our working days by one or two days. Employment Insurance is paying us for those days, but it does reduce the money I put into savings, part of which is for the condo hunting.

The above may not match other people's difficult experiences this year (e.g. the Typhoon Ondoy/Ketsana victims in the Philippines, among others), but these were very difficult and painful for me. This is just half of all the pain I experienced in 2009, at least those I can talk about without getting chewed out.

These difficulties did teach me/remind me of a few things:

• God has control and sovereignty in my life. I can't impose my will on His.
• Everything happens for a reason and that God answers prayers in His time.
• God does not give me trials that are beyond me. He has gone through everything He makes me go through.

In 2010:

• I will have a better quiet, devotional time. I usually do it in the morning, before I leave for work, but I feel it's not enough.
• I will register for more editing or writing courses to develop my skills. I'm not sure about the SFU Certificate in Editing program anymore, because it will cost me at least $4,000.
• I will write more - and edit more.
• I will change my sleeping habits for the better. The more sleep, the better.
  
• I will improve my time-management skills.
• I will spend less and save more. Except, of course, if it relates to LOST. *Wink wink*
• I will fix that emotional unavailability thing.
• I will make other necessary changes in my life. *Wink wink*

Lord, I thank You for all the obvious blessings and blessings-in-disguise You bestowed upon me in 2009. *Sigh* More of the same for 2010? Hmmm...

Goodbye, 2009! Hello, 2010!

Felice Anno Nuovo!!!

Whatta Year It Has Been

In celebration of my first anniversary at my current job, I took this BlogThings.com quiz...

Your Career Personality: Original, Devoted, and Service Oriented

Your Ideal Careers: Art director Book editor College professor Composer Film director Graphic designer Novelist Stage actor Psychiatrist Writer

The Quick and Dirty Career Test

The First Rule of Blogthings Is: You Don't Talk About Blogthings

Book editor. Novelist. Writer.

Told ya.

Funny How I Choose Sometimes

I have a long list of books to read this year. It's primarily because I keep buying novels and other books even if I still haven't finished The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla (Stephen King). So I don't know when I'm going to finish the entire Dark Tower series in order to get to the next book (either Kristin Billerbeck's Back to Life or Bernhard Schlink's The Reader).

Anyway, I picked up Kristin Harmel's How to Sleep with a Movie Star when it was on sale ($2.50, dude) at the Muriel Arnason Library (formerly Willowbrook Library). One time, I grabbed it from my pile of unread books when I needed something to read while I was having dinner. (Yes, I know what people say - that it's bad to read when eating - but it's the only option a single girl has sometimes.) I think that was some weeks after I edited Miss KC's IB essay. Freelance editorial as a moonlight business has not fully formed in my mind then. Fast forward to 1pm today, when I resumed reading it while having a late lunch.

Then, it clicked: the protagonist, Claire, is an entertainment editor at a women's magazine in New York (i.e. mecca of the publishing industry in the US).

Yeah. Heaven-sent.

Maybe after I read the book, I'll know enough about editing that I can breeze through the prerequisite course for the Certificate in Editing in SFU.

Hehe. Just kidding. I still have miles (or shall I say kilometres?) to go before I can say that with real confidence.

And isn't one protagonist in Jennifer Weiner's short story collection The Guy Not Taken also moonlighting as an editor?

Hmmm...

Leap, Dude, Leap

I just started an editorial and typing service business. Yeah. I did an outline for a business plan, researched my market, carefully read statistics and business start-up info, and created a web site.

Well, I need extra money so I can save enough for a down payment and closing costs. A little moonlight business can help. A former co-worker is moonlighting as a bookkeeper for at least one small company. I figured, I could moonlight too - not as an accountant, but as an editor. I've been writing prose and blogs for years now - specifically, 15 years all told - and I have been editing my nephew and niece's school papers for almost half of that. Plus, I always edit stuff - like news articles, feature articles, company and road signs, other people's blog posts, etc. - in my head.

I thought I could make it as a freelance editor after I worked on Miss KC's essay for her high school IB program. I needed to whittle it down from 600 words to 200. I only managed to reduce it to 400 words, but I tried to rearrange sentences and change the wording so that I could unite her ideas into one decent application essay. Apparently, after I gave it back to Miss KC, they sent it to their editor-friend in New York (yes, the mecca of publishing in the US) for further polishing. I don't know what the final essay looked like, but it probably helped her get in the program. According to Mrs C, their friend said it looked professional - as if a pro editor worked on it. From there, the freelance editorial services business idea was born.

I'm not going to bore you with the details of my research, but it took me two or three weeks before I finished the rough draft of the business plan outline. I still have not finished writing the business plan itself, but I can work from the outline. I even figured out a fair pricing plan: I will be billing based on either word count or page count (depends on the document), rather than on the number of hours I worked on it. Since I have a day job, LOST obsession, and a hint of a social life, the usual pricing basis will not be fair. Anyway, I added document or manuscript typing to widen my market. I would probably do a bit of editing as I type anyway.

So I created a website on Google Sites, because it is free and it is convenient (I am using my other GMail account for the business). It's a decent site - frankly, Microsoft Publisher can do better - but it works. The site is almost complete; I only need to complete my bio and to figure out how to make the file upload page work and secure for my customers. Check it out, if you'd like.

Also, a thought came to me last Saturday: Why don't I actually study editing? Simon Fraser University has a Writing and Publishing Program, which is based in the City of Vancouver. There is a Certificate in Editing program, but all applicants need to complete Editors and Editing: An Introduction. So I registered for the online course, which starts on July 1st (a.k.a. Canada Day) and should be completed after four months. I hope I get to finish all the requirements so I can apply to the Certificate program. And for $420, I'd better!

Now, I need customers. So, if you need someone to polish your work, then let me know. Pricing is on the website, and you'll find it cheap and reasonable.

And, oh, this feels so much like Ted Mosby on How I Met Your Mother's Season 4 finale ("The Leap"). Although the field is still architecture, teaching is an entirely different career. With the help of his friends, he took the metaphorical leap and left the architectural practice to teach. My situation is different, but the action is the same: I also took the metaphorical leap by moonlighting as a freelance editor and by studying editing. I actually remember telling my old boss (from the one that laid off the entire Burnaby finance department) that I want to go into the literary/publishing field. Ten months after, I finally made good on that statement. Let's hope I become successful enough so I only have to work part-time as an accountant. Hehehe...