Tag Archives: writing

Awaiting Twenty-Ten

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I may not write much here anymore, especially with my rampant Twitter addiction for the past 18 months or so, but I always like to take some time to think about New Years, resolutions and the like. I’m feeling good about what 2010 has to offer so far. I’d like to make the following resolutions to either forget or genuinely make myself a better person:

First and rightfully so, I’d like to focus more on reading and writing. I currently have a nice selection of books on my desk at home that I’m reading through and fully intend to continue soaking up the written word. Conversely, I also would like to focus more on writing more, as intended with starting Clovis Pulse. The site has started off slow, but ideas between myself, David, and Crysti are continuing to brew and we plan on doing some fun stuff in the next year with the site. I also have many journals I’ve been given throughout the years and think it would be fun to pick up a pen every once and a while, even if it’s just to write something as simple as a haiku. Words inspire me to produce more words.

Fitness and nutrition will also be a priority in 2010. Almost three years ago, I was in the best shape of my life, eating right, and exercising heaps. I want to get back on that wagon, as I miss running. A big focus for 2010 is going to be regaining energy lost from laziness and eating poorly. That’s right, I’m talking about more vegetables, granola, and cooking my own meals. I plan on using Traineo.com to help me organize and motivate this effort.

Finally, 2009 was the year I started my own freelancing business. I was tasked with helping the Clovis Police Department develop a new website, along with a few other projects. In 2010, I aim to buckle down even more with a variety of clients, with my biggest goal being to help people develop websites and social networking awareness, and also to build and focus on my web design portfolio. The biggest challenge is juggling the two hats of print designer and web designer. I look forward to studying and practicing new skills, as well as sharpening old ones, in order to continue to pursue my second professional passion.

Cheers, to a happy and healthy Twenty-Ten!

A Note on Productivity

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These days, I’m as busy as ever, a mixed blessing in some situations. While I don’t have a lot of free time to play more Mario Kart on the Wii, I do have a lot of fun projects and clients to keep happy. Here’s a brief list of some of the stuff I use to stay productive:

  • Cashboard: Cashboard is a slick little web application, complete with integrated Dashboard widget for Mac OS X, that I use for managing tasks and time tracking on projects for clients. They even have a free version that lets you manage up to two projects. Subscriptions are nicely priced in different tiers depending on the amount of projects and contacts you need to manage.
  • anxiety-iconAnxiety: Anxiety is the best, most minimal To Do list I’ve used on the Mac. I’ve tried other apps like The Hit List, but keep coming back to Anxiety. It’s lightweight and very well integrated with iCal.
  • Mozilla Thunderbird: Don’t get me wrong, when I’m on my Mac, I’m a full-blown Apple Mail fan, but at work, we run Windows and Outlook is not my friend. I’ve got Thunderbird configured with a theme that closely matches the Mail experience on OS X, and a minimal folder/filing system that lets me use my inbox as a task list of pending projects. And speaking of email, I’m also a big fan of Merlin Mann’s “Inbox Zero” philosophy. Check out his great presentation here.
  • ical-iconiCal/MobileMe: I may be one of the few who doesn’t have constant troubles with Apple’s MobileMe, a service that syncs my desktop calendar and email with the cloud (online), so that I can pull up my schedule, emails, contacts, and more via web browser. I find the web apps very easy to use and stay connected with my main email account and calendars all day long.
  • chrome-iconGoogle Chrome: Quite possibly the best web browsing experience available on a Windows PC. I love its minimalistic user interface and speed most of all. Sure, Firefox has dozens of great, powerful add-ons, but when you want a browsing experience that is fast, Chrome is where it’s at! Chrome works great with Apple’s online web apps for MobileMe that I mentioned above.

Coming soon: A Note on Unproductivity (or better known as the fun stuff I distract myself with)

To Dr. Pepper and Steno Notebooks

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My favorite teacher of all time was a kind, sweet lady named Nancy McBride. She had a love for science and Dr. Pepper, but also taught me the importance of journaling and creative writing. My classmates and I would fill dozens of Steno notepads with our thoughts, dreams, and documentation of our travels. For whatever reason as I grew older, this was an ability I never lost but would always stray away from.

Recently, I have been dabbling in various blogging tools and content management systems and have come to the following conclusion: I will use WordPress for my own creativity and save Joomla for more professional sites that I will develop. With all due respect to WordPress and its development community, it’s a tool that makes me excited for writing again, the way I felt when I was 11 years old. Joomla, on the other hand, has the intricacies of Business 101 (laugh it up) from my Freshman year at ENMU. I love the extensibility of Joomla, but it does nothing to inspire me!

Now that I have established my views on blogging software and CMS solutions, I find myself thirsty for a nice cold Dr. Pepper. Here’s to being a more creative writer and hopefully a more active blogger! Cheers, Mrs. McBride!