Quick Tip Tuesday

... or Thursday. I'll get used to this rotation one day.

Read the instructions of IKEA furniture before you put it together. Especially if you have carpentry experience. Because I have discovered that the language of IKEA makes perfect sense those illiterate in the terms of furniture with the directions, but is not engineered in a way that makes sense to those who actually know furniture.

I wish a National Geographic team to film my dad, a natural builder, installing my IKEA pants hanger. I daresay my commentary on this creature out of his element was quite amusing.

Slightly like this, except insert the part where all my pants fall off the hanger. 

(from this article on learning and cognition)

Gold Star to anyone whose Dad is too smart for his own good (and I say this will all the cheeky love in my heart).

Pics of pretty

In celebration of fall...

from MalloryBethh's Flickr

Some lovely apples. I can't wait to go apple picking this week!

Gold Star to those who wait all summer for cider season (with cinnamon sugar doughnuts, of course!)

For the love of Post-Its

(taken from here -- which has other cool art)

A long, passionate affair indeed.

If you look on my desk, alongside jars of pencils and some choice items to inspire me, you will find piles of Post-Its -- both used and of many variates of lovely crisp newness. 

I have been gathering pretty Post-Its for a while, but they really became a go-to item in college. I couldn't bring myself to violate books by writing or highlighting them, even though textbooks are low on the levels of book sanctity. So, I used Post-It notes. To this day, you can tell which books I used in lit classes because I never bothered to remove the many colorful passage markers. 

After a while, I began making my own little flags by (slightly obsessively) tearing bigger Post-Its into tiny line markers. 

Now, I use them in my job, to pull out passages of my company's books that are clever, define them, or make them unique. My current assignment has me writing promotional materials, which require many of these little nuggets. 

They really are one of my most often used tools, in that they allow me to keep track of the things that jump out at me, require my attention, and need to be remembered. It allows me to keep track of my reading in a way I need to do when I'm working with books, as opposed to reading for pleasure. 

Gold Star to everyone who can't bear to write on their books. 

Things that inspire me...

The crazy family members.

This weekend, I was at a second wedding with my mom's family in the last couple of years, and once again got to experience the abundance of character that is my Great Aunt and Uncle's brood.

My great uncle himself fits the profile of the crazy old coot. As a general rule you don't want to leave anyone alone with him for too long or they'll get the whole life story plus some. At my cousin's wedding, I got more career advice than I could ever need. This time, it was my Dad. But at the same time, a crazy old coot is entertaining, and you learn a lot from him, whether you want to or not.

My great aunt is another character. She is known, and a bit infamous in our family, for her letters. She sends them only on the choicest of occasions, and as she says with a tiny smile, "they're a bit nutty." In celebration of a second cousin getting an apartment, she sent him a Minnie Mouse card, because, "every apartment needs a mouse." At the most recent wedding, she identified me by "I sent you the card with the shoe, when you graduated." As per my mother's instructions to cherish it always, I still have it saved.

And through my mom's stories, I could talk about the CIA cousin (though of course, we'll never know that for sure, the one who has lived everywhere, the Yooper engineer who occasionally sails into Canada without his passport..., the one who was my mom's buddy, just now un-bachelored, and their girl.

This is just a sampling of the characters available to me, who, if I ever get time to write the stories in the back of my head, will provide endless manifestations.

Gold Star to everyone who loves their crazy-wonderful family.

Pics of pretty

This lovely composition makes me want to live in a Barn

This lovely composition is taken from Dove Tree Design

"What, did you raise your kids in a barn?"

"Why, yes I did."

Gold Star to those inspired by Harvest Moon fantasies.

A writerly affair

So, another thing I would like to get started is a posting of things I use as a writer, to help inspire me and assist in my job. A sort of "what's in my purse," had I a Merry Poppins bag devoted to all things writerly.

from nicolekrauss.com

I first read Nicole Krauss in my contemporary lit class, and she is definitely an example of "writerly" fiction. Not only in her use of unique forms, but in that she tends to write about writers. In Great House, like a History of Love, my lit-class introduction, she weaves together stories of several seeming strangers in a dreamily seamless way. And in Great House, you get the lives of writers from the writers and their families, illustrating the eccentricities of a creative mind, and how people love and cherish them. And you get this superimposed with other lives and stories, all layered together brilliantly. I read this book and  see in the characters and language why I chose to write. A good reminder to keep handy :)

Gold star to anyone whoever masters the Mary Poppins bag someday in the future.

Things that inspire me...

My car

Perhaps an odd thing, to be inspired by a '95 Buick LeSabre, but I love it.

Mainly because I love things with unexpected character, which my Pearl possesses in abundance.

Firstly, she is a complete and total granny car, white exterior, a very thoroughly blue leather and faux-wood paneling interior, it even came with a box of Kleenex. Also, the height of nineties luxury. Not only does my car have passenger heat control and motorized seats, it has the most awesome cassette player I have ever seen. It can skip through songs and flip sides automatically. No discman I ever had could do that.

But asides from her physical character, I think my favorite thing about my car is that one day, After packing her trunk to the brim, some wire to the trailer hitch got disconnected. The result is that the back-left blinker didn't work. Instead my clock blinked. Only when I had my foot on the break. When I didn't, all was normal, as it was once my dad reconnected the wire.

Character. TBS has it right.

Gold star to anyone who drives a granny car.

Musings in memorium

I drove by a 9/11 memorial today.

It's is so odd to think that was ten years ago. Something that has changed so much of my politically formative years must have been sooner, right?

At the same time, I remember the exact moment in my seventh-grade class when my peers and I walked into the large multi-purpose room to see teachers crowded around a television screen, and five minutes later when the teachers explained why they had left their posts. Perhaps it's because my main teacher had the foresight to make us write where we were and what we felt. I still have that essay, with the little American flag doodled in the top corner. And seventh grade feels lifetimes away, unlike the event that happened then.

One of the recent musings, I've had occurred one day when I picked up a book with a New York skyline, and realized the two towers dominating that particular picture were no longer there.

I didn't have anyone but a distant relative in New York, so the whole thing is oddly detached to me. I knew that even as I sat at home after school, compelled into watching the news. I've experienced more of aftershocks in airport security more than any other part of the event.

So I guess the best way I can commemorate is by thinking, and wondering, and hoping the people who have lost their lives due to this day a decade ago are safely ensconced in heaven.

On the glories of email

So, I'm a big fan of email. I've never been one to talk on the phone much, except to convey necessary information. If its too long or complicated for a text, I'll call, but usually prefer to just leave a message.

I think this has a lot to do with the fact that if your brain checks out when you're on the phone, there's really no way to cover your bum. Just an awkward silence in the airwaves. And when there's not a physical person present when you're communicating, this seems to happen a lot. Someone should research that.

And unless I have a specific business-type reason to call (I can be very professional if I have a clear reason and goal, I promise) this phenomena usually happens. It makes my voice mails a positive treat.

"Hi, its Anna, so I'm making dinner and... its going to be really good, because it smells great in here. But yeahhhhhh, I'm not actually calling you about that *insert the silence of a mental flatline here.* Oh, sorry, I just spaced out a little. Ignore it. Yeah, hmm, oh! I just wanted to tell you I saw a commercial for a T.V show featuring Jim Caviezel, and it reminded me of that Andy Samberg song you like so much, and whenever you listen to it I yell out 'Jim Caviezel.' Oh, this is Anna, I may not have said that. Anyway, that's what I had to tell you, so bye!"

*Note, this is a fictional, but not exaggerated account. Witnesses can be brought forth on request. Also, the song in which I am referring to is "Iran" by Andy Samberg and Adam Levine from Maroon 5, from Saturday Night Live.

And now that my post has completely gone off-topic, I believe my point has been proven. You can't go off topic with email -- or if you do, you can edit. So, I'm going to share some tips to make email much more effective than my telephone skills.

I dealt with a lot of emails in my college career, and as section editor at my Alma Mater's paper, I dealt with everything from communications with writers, press releases, and the occasional hounding someone about deadlines. It was interesting, being the boss, and it means I can share some pet peeves bosses have.

-- Please identify yourself. I don't know who ponydancer5643 is, sorry. Most emails let you set up signatures that contain contact info, which will automatically be included at the end of emails. I had several, one for dealing with newspaper business, one I'd use when talking to my tutees (ie. the people I tutored), and one for emailing my student org. This allows you to give out exactly how much contact information each group needs (for example, my tutees didn't need to know where my office was in the newspaper, and so on).

-- Please spell-check. Especially if you are in the English business. Even if you are not, most emails have built in spell-checkers, so there is no excuse for misspellings. If the email is of a professional nature, have someone else read it (even if you do know your grammar). The second opinion will help make your correspondence polished. Also, make sure you check the email and the subject line. The subject line could be the only thing your recipient reads, so make it correct and accurate -- then they may read the rest of the email.

--If you are contacting someone to ask a favor (like that they consider publishing a press release), make it easy for them. Get right to the point, include files that may help the person in attachments (instead of going on and on in the body of the email), and make it easy and quick to read. Also, make sure you are contacting the right person. I still get press releases, and I haven't been an editor for about six months.

-- Make email concise. This kind of ties into the making things easy for your recipient. Start with a brief introduction of yourself (if you don't know the person), then a one-sentence summary of your subject (which should also be clearly stated in the subject line). This should be the first paragraph. Then go on to put a little more detail behind your subject, and close with a paragraph giving your contact info and a polite "please contact me with any questions." Making yourself and your contact info available also makes things easier for recipients. People really appreciate when you make things easy for them.

-- Please communicate! This may be the biggest one. The most frustrating thing I have faced in email is its lack. If you use email for your job, check it often. Make it the first thing you do when you open your computer. Bosses get anxious when they don't hear from you, especially if there is a deadline involved.  Yes, you may have to admit you're running behind, but most people understand human nature, and can accommodate. But if something is just not there, it's a lot of stress for a lot of people other than yourself.

I hope this was helpful!

Gold star to anyone who already has a professional email account (i.e. not ponydancer5643)

Things that inspire me...

Vietnam.

Originally the country was just a part of a package deal on my way to Thailand and China. This was what I said when people of my parents' generation asked me, "Why Vietnam?," as inevitably happened.

More specifically, it was a six-week package deal where I could earn credit for my history major in a way that would make school in the summer more than tolerable. We ended up spending 10 days in the country, and they were all amazing. It ended up having some of my favorite places, my best day ever, and a really astounding people.

Its hard to explain its allure, but its something beyond its natural beauty -- which is considerable. The country is at least half bordered by gorgeous beaches, and it features everything from romantically terraced mountains to jungles of exotic plants and delicious alien fruits :) Spectacular too, is the differences of people you can find, from those living in stilt houses to sleek women gliding down the street in silk ao dai.

But the best thing about the people is their acceptance. Most were really excited to meet an American -- granted, a huge percentage of the population is below 25 (therefore doesn't remember the war), but we are, unfortunately, part of the reason that is true. The Vietnamese were fighting for generations straight (first the French, then each other, then America), but they don't hold grudges against any of these groups. I'd read this in some of our required reading, but I was astounded to find it true.

So while the landscapes are absolutely beautiful, and the cities romantically haunting (I'll have to post about Hanoi at some point),  it's really that acceptance that I find most inspiring.

Gold star to anyone who dreams of far-off places.

PS. Pictures will be added to this post soon -- I need to find their location first....