tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60537352012-02-09T14:27:17.469-05:00Illumination: The Fyrefly Jar WeblogThe journal of a new mom and freelance editor who blogs about both when she has the time!Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.comBlogger3301100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-90391542717972424932011-12-02T09:23:00.015-05:002011-12-02T10:03:44.990-05:00Another wonderful girls' night out in the city: dinner and, of course, the holiday Chanticleer concert at the Met. We wandered the Roman and Greek hall before the show, reading descriptions of sculptures under their missing noses.It's my first gift of the season: to open the concert program in the Medieval Hall and read their selections for the night. Their second piece was one that our madrigal Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-44141162212505582932011-11-14T17:22:00.001-05:002011-11-14T17:25:04.187-05:00Good lettering requires as much skill as good painting or good sculpture. - Jan Tschichold
Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-61510311299796248972011-11-09T17:51:00.001-05:002011-11-09T17:53:41.253-05:00Finally at Occupy Wall Street, some people who know what protest songs are all about."Teach Your Children"Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-20026830868624317112011-11-07T16:34:00.001-05:002011-11-07T16:35:11.546-05:00Tried to send some messages to my 80s self today. Told her to do a few things differently. I wonder if she heard me.Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com128tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-56267814895509913622011-10-05T18:10:00.001-04:002011-10-05T18:11:48.029-04:00She's waiting like an iceberg,Waiting to change, but she's cold inside.She wants to be like the water.Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-14177977009626230422011-09-03T12:11:00.004-04:002011-09-03T12:14:52.978-04:00
Cape Cod, August 2011
Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-7217419257448561732011-08-14T16:45:00.004-04:002011-08-14T16:50:35.129-04:00
Just saw Another Earth. So much I could say, but I feel strongly that one should see this movie without knowing much about it beforehand. At least, that's what I did, and it was powerful that way. Go out and support smaller films!!
Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-80734603239519911592011-06-07T23:19:00.003-04:002011-06-26T22:27:41.859-04:00The events of today, written all out, would become some kind of Vaudeville sketch or I Love Lucy, or even read like a fiction piece, so I won't bother. Let's just say that things started when I found a small, folded photocopy of this poem among my husband's wallet receipts, and the twister was set off from there. Of course, there was a simple story behind it all, but for a while ...Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-38808553718013833152011-04-16T15:41:00.001-04:002011-04-16T15:41:57.788-04:00Status Updates from Facebook, #1:Amy would like to suggest that the simile using "rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic" retire itself to the active seniors village of overused comparisons.Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-5608186774007160712011-04-13T15:09:00.005-04:002011-04-13T15:15:29.847-04:00I am normally very rigid and follow the APA manual exactly, but a certain rule made me curious when I saw it applied differently in an article I am editing (regarding multiple references by the same author in the same year but in a specific chronology, dates provided), so I looked on the APA style blog, and sure enough one person used this way of organizing the references. So I wrote a note to Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-7572769090249688642011-04-09T20:51:00.005-04:002011-04-09T21:10:07.868-04:00Been writing more found poems from catalogs. Not saying they are that good. Just writin'We set out for that last espresso,central Europe restaurant,vintage wine in antique glass.This spring woven offlowering branches.We admire the hallmarkof small crafted coffees.A beautifully romanticBrooklyn, bridge, mercurysurf crashing, rocks,so many distressed, dividing,curvy, heart shaped,a pathway piled upAmyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-63297401877580708722011-04-09T20:25:00.005-04:002011-04-09T21:30:36.240-04:00 Another fabulous evening with Mom and Vi listening to Chanticleer perform their Out of This World program, this time in the space that is the Temple of Dendur at the Met. The slanted wall of glass carried the cold rain quickly down, and the room was cool. The music was beautiful, as always, and the modern pieces were fun and eclectic. Chanticleer sang "Island in Space" by Kirke Mechem, which Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-47214332846954704392011-03-30T15:05:00.002-04:002011-03-30T15:07:33.496-04:00 Geeky editor me loves writings about fonts and typography and so on. And make it about New York City ... all the better. Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-57758712049131069272011-03-13T17:07:00.003-04:002011-03-13T17:11:29.178-04:00Just got back from curling lessons! Best afternoon in a very long time! When they say it will be cold, they are NOT kidding. (Of course. Ice. Duh.) Once you get sweeping, though, you forget about all that and worry about booking down the ice with the broom toward the house. (Now who's got the lingo?!) I've never heard "Sweep harder" so much. Felt like Cinderella! :) I look forward to doing this Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-45255730559088669312011-03-11T15:16:00.001-05:002011-03-11T15:16:33.655-05:00When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping." To this day, especially in times of disaster, I remember my mother's words, and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers--so many caring people in this world. --- Mister RogersAmyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-67989805249841691752011-03-05T23:42:00.002-05:002011-03-05T23:43:03.178-05:00Just fired off this comment to the Merriam-Webster free dictionary site at http://www.merriam-webster.com/ because I just can't take it anymore!!!I'm writing not about an outside ad but about the graphic/photo of the young guy pointing his finger gun in my face that accompanies your "Top 10 Rare & Amusing Insults" link, which has appeared on your page for a while now. I don't typically comment Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-26046444032958213042011-02-24T22:06:00.003-05:002011-02-24T22:08:01.786-05:00A very kind author praised me today to the production editor of the book while he was visiting the publisher. It's a rare author who goes out of his or her way to mention appreciation for the editing! He even listed my name in the Acknowledgments! I am happy that he is happy! That's my goal.Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-12429431017431842322010-12-13T00:11:00.002-05:002010-12-13T00:13:37.278-05:00Watching the original "Time Stand Still" Rush video on YouTube. Horrible video. Makes me feel off-kilter. But they all look good, so young. And I forgot that Aimee Mann did the little vocal part on that one. Love her hair then, esp. the long braid. Oh, to be running around on the set of a Rush video! :)Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-65632743551041859762010-11-06T23:03:00.005-04:002010-11-06T23:07:59.859-04:00Very best thing in the whole Tut exhibition. I just couldn't stop looking at it, wondering who made it, whether the craftsman had children who tested it out before it went to the king, and then to his tomb for 3,000 years.The seat is perfectly curved, the feet tiny paws with ivory nails. The sides have a stag under curving branchlike lines. Each angle and detail is amazing.I have never seen a Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-24437954912071923842010-10-26T13:28:00.003-04:002010-10-26T13:37:21.652-04:00Upon leaving the toddler class today I passed in the parking lot a woman who is well known in town, whose family attended the same church as our family, whose children were in school with me. She did not recognize me but was very friendly and said hello to K. Were I not in a rush to run errands I would have talked with her. And now, back at home, I think of her, and I think of the memorial Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-35668805086253233552010-10-16T14:35:00.003-04:002010-10-16T14:37:59.350-04:00Well, I did it. I cancelled the hosting for my website, although I did renew the domain name. Weird to see nothing there now. I just could not justify paying each month for a site I never update. I think I'll host some pages with another co. next year. First, to regroup and see what I want to do with it, whether I want a new domain, etc. Something more professional for writing, editing ... we'llAmyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-8677883832399741232010-10-10T22:42:00.002-04:002010-10-10T22:49:24.894-04:00Attended a fun toddler bday party today thrown by a couple we met in Lamaze Class. Hung out with some very nice people there (and very nice toddlers!). I found it especially interesting to talk to a woman whose child attends the same daycare as our friends' child. She asked me what I did as work, got to talking about editing, publishing careers, etc. She used to be a rep for RR Donnelley in Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-11196918578449437942010-10-03T18:33:00.003-04:002010-10-03T18:35:37.608-04:00Just read this piece on the new HarperCollins imprint Broadsides. My favorite quote (almost ever!) is from the chief, Adam Bellow:"We're on the cusp of an explosion of intellectual activity on the right."I really need not say more.Except that I think the imprint name is spot on.Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-16749831652128965562010-10-03T15:37:00.002-04:002010-10-03T15:40:31.788-04:00I just learned that one of my haiku that was included in an issue of Now Culture was nominated as a Best of the Net 2010 poem. I am very honored, and this was really just what I needed. Been very down about my lack of creative writing. Although I do "write" often, I have not been focusing on poetry.So, yea! Very cool.Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-24002346532296154812010-09-29T23:01:00.002-04:002010-09-29T23:02:22.189-04:00Sentence in something I edited:"People who spontaneously view challenges as learning opportunities rather than threats; who think about chores in a positive rather than in a distressing manner; who think in ways that promote effective action; who are trusting of others but not naively so; who live in the present, plan for the future, and do not dwell on the past; who are realistically but not Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-5638861982016570022010-09-26T22:57:00.003-04:002010-09-26T23:02:45.958-04:00More cut-up poems from magazines, summer 2010:a birch-white spark powder-coated in this soft light more intensely replicates resistancequietly spring undulates the delicate vermeil petals, circlets in motion as a brushstroke hiddenthe beach and current swing in complement to the carbon ocean, these graystone loops from dark indigo beyondAmyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-59864419821554262262010-09-25T21:40:00.002-04:002010-09-25T21:55:23.329-04:00Went to see Porcupine Tree with Greg on Friday night. Put makeup on, wore white jeans and a black swirl sleeveless shirt, and hit the humid NYC night. Times Square was amazingly quiet. I got to Radio City a half hour before the show, met up with Greg, and headed in. The alcoholic drinks had blue light-up swizzles. Kinda neat. We were in the 20th row. Extremely neat.A bit of acoustic at first, andAmyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-44735130941332463742010-08-27T14:54:00.001-04:002010-08-27T14:56:25.330-04:00Things I've Learned from Copyediting, No. 42Italics are an important way to indicate words as words."Producers of the TV program were permitted to use one ass per half-hour episode."Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-16575029531999663732010-04-16T00:50:00.002-04:002010-04-16T00:57:51.912-04:00Tax day. I read that lots of returns like ours will be audited. That's all I need to put the icing on this transaction. Seriously.Lots of things going on but not much I feel like writing about. I've been working hard to keep up with 100 Words this month. We'll see. I need to get creative about my writing again but I don't feel creative at all.Been keeping up with my freelance work and received Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-1205693247216375372010-02-28T10:03:00.005-05:002010-02-28T11:29:50.215-05:00Three recent cut-up poems from magazines that I was about to recycle:lanterns whipping over the library red with lights the rustic ceilings dim in constant grand pleasureglittery words about glass go like the future coming to push you with clubs hovering even biggerYou're that risk of flying associated with long aisles and fear. Those unsafe times widely repeated from myth never fly. I steer and Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-38387466889620801242010-02-14T14:51:00.002-05:002010-02-14T15:04:27.126-05:00This month looks like an excellent balance of work and personal time so far. I'm very proud of that, as it's very difficult for me to make any personal time typically. Had lunch with a good friend last Tues., much overdue. I've been writing to an old friend and catching up with her. I spoke to another friend on the phone this week after not having connected with her in quite a while, and she gaveAmyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-40623103461804242802010-01-16T16:14:00.003-05:002010-01-16T16:22:02.595-05:00A new year, and perhaps time for a new blog ... a new template, anyway. We'll see. A toddler and incredible amounts of work do not leave much time for screwing around with a blog at this point.But I do want to keep updating when I can. I can post about my dinners, I suppose.I've decided to make one dinner a week and give the chef a night off. Last week was fabulously successful: Black Bean Soup Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-63906391617117390112009-12-03T01:08:00.003-05:002009-12-03T01:13:51.217-05:00Well, keeping track of time so far has shown an average of my working about 4.5 hr per day. Wow, much less than I thought. Makes me feel better and bad at the same time. I need more data. I'll have to keep track in Dec. and see what it looks like.Been very busy with having Thanksgiving here, trips to NYC (Chanticleer concert; R's early bday present to me: A Steady Rain tickets. I mean, come on. Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-71497291183910047532009-11-07T16:08:00.002-05:002009-11-07T16:12:41.395-05:00Have been extremely busy with the new house and childcare and tons of work. In an effort to actually see how much I work (since I really have no idea how my time breaks down, as it's chunked out over the day), I am going to start keeping track of what I do when next week and post it here. How is my WAHM week broken down. Then I'll see if that is typical and do it again.In the meantime, this is Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-16965751498593164772009-09-09T16:06:00.003-04:002009-09-09T16:07:48.646-04:00Things I've Learned from Copyediting, No. 5This is one hell of a cloth!!" ... a towel that could soak up a bucket full of water"Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-35760581079382908102009-08-21T11:39:00.002-04:002009-08-21T11:42:05.537-04:00I took my first step to being more organized and efficient ... I opted out of receiving this daily email that listed "Virtual Editing Work." Most days there is nothing in my field but today I saw three listings that I could do. One paid $10 per hour, one paid $9 per hour, and one paid up to $12 per hour. And two of the listings were in broken English.You have GOT to be kidding me!So now I don't Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-21346133218623523612009-08-20T09:11:00.003-04:002009-08-20T09:21:07.577-04:00It's amazing how things change. I used to spend my "net" time checking all freelance sites, posting on here, checking editing sites ... Now I check FB and check items for work and post on 100 Words. That's about it. I have little time to look at freelance items, blogs ... . Maybe that will change again sometime.I do miss keeping up with all the freelance sites. But I should spend more time Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-74704902353029665042009-07-20T14:51:00.001-04:002009-07-20T14:51:44.829-04:00Favorite errors of the day:peoples'Tuscon, ARAmyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-9192818444909283062009-07-17T19:11:00.002-04:002009-07-17T19:14:20.666-04:00I'm still doing well with my writing: 100 Words is going well and I've been thinking a lot about my novels. I joined JacketFlap.com, a site about children's publishing, and created a profile as a freelancer. Seem like nice people there.I just saw a rerun of Jeopardy and one of the answers started with the words Ms. Lenox' (the possessive), and I took a double take, then hit rewind on the DVR Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-41870594943762918372009-07-01T13:50:00.001-04:002009-07-01T13:51:53.147-04:00In honor of my starting 100 Words again today and my attempt to start writing and submitting poems again ...Poetry: Not Dead YetAmyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-10748244453373943262009-05-23T11:11:00.004-04:002009-05-23T11:13:49.229-04:00Things I've Learned From Copyediting, No. 4Here is another example of where a hyphen is rather important. Today I'm editing academic work in the field of education:" ... some small school principals are aware of the problem"Without the hyphen in "small-school" I am picturing a 4-ft person behind a large desk in the school office!Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-61779427710681431492009-05-18T15:42:00.003-04:002009-05-18T15:44:49.827-04:00I'm taking a medical editing course online, caring for Kai full time, editing two novels, making my way through editing eight journal issues, and looking for a house to purchase. So I haven't had much time to post here, if you can't tell.Here is a blog post from Freelance Matters that talks about freelancing and the time demands ...Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-51690624815342532912009-04-26T11:05:00.001-04:002009-04-26T11:06:39.374-04:00Gotta love this ad for an editor ... wow. Talk about someone having issues, one of them being professionalism.Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-58346905339746171072009-04-17T17:09:00.002-04:002009-04-17T17:12:08.970-04:00Well I haven't been posting much of late. I really do want to get back to it, but being a mom, working, and looking for a home are taking all my time. I've had less freelance work in the past month as well, which allows me to clean up around here but does worry me. I assume it's a product of the economy, more freelancers, less work to send out, etc. But it's troublesome. I keep thinking about Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-49660116968694267612009-04-04T16:18:00.005-04:002009-04-04T17:23:41.138-04:00I am working on a book this afternoon, and I see TK in the front matter, and finally I decide I am going to look and see if I can find where TK comes from, its history, and so on.So I find these when searching around:"Ask mb" on Mediabistro: "TK: A place marker used in drafts of an article to indicate missing information. It's short for tokum, which is the intentional misspelling of 'to come,' asAmyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-27539965373748425312009-03-28T18:33:00.002-04:002009-03-28T18:41:54.216-04:00WOW. Just saw this posting for APA editors and I am floored by the rate. You make a whopping $10 per hour. Seriously???***********We are an academic press seeking freelance copy editors who are well versed in one or more of the following academic writing styles: 1) APA 2) Chicago 3) MLAApplicants should possess an excellent command of English with a strong attention to detail, as well as the Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-66828878198406955842009-03-08T12:48:00.002-04:002009-03-08T13:00:30.869-04:00Things I've Learned From Copyediting, No. 3Sometimes italics make all the difference:Jake was stitched into the front of his shirt.Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-19814758983417197242009-03-01T17:23:00.002-05:002009-03-01T17:26:47.416-05:00Things I've Learned From Copyediting, No. 2There is not a fiction author out there who knows how to spell the name of the webbed superhero correctly. It is NOT Spiderman, oh authors. It isSpider-ManSpider-ManSpider-ManNow write this on the blackboard 1,000 times à la Bart Simpson.Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-61897876666700230522009-02-26T16:42:00.003-05:002009-02-26T16:45:35.208-05:00Must have at least one Kai picture up here at all times ... *Hey, I don't make the rules, folks. Email the Cute Baby Faction at cbf@drool.comAmyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-41394554313975071842009-02-26T16:40:00.001-05:002009-02-26T16:41:37.341-05:00Schizo just sent me this link to what sounds like an excellent book to read, if I had the time to actually read.Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-22747244694344827382009-02-08T19:17:00.003-05:002009-02-08T19:22:01.490-05:00Good evening. Just about to have dinner of flounder and couscous, but I thought I'd post and say how in the last four days I have had three terrible viruses, which luckily McAfee has caught, but I think it is the evil doings of Facebook devils, so I will refrain from going on there for a number of days, which totally sucks because my friends will probably post their new baby photos and damn if IAmyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-63996380983036978142009-01-26T08:30:00.005-05:002009-01-26T08:44:36.132-05:00I haven't posted much of late, but things are going well. Very busy with my freelance work ... keeping up with it thanks to careful planning, a great husband, and fabulous friends and relatives who come to help out. Kai has started sleeping longer, smiling more, outgrowing everything from furniture to clothes (off the charts of height and weight, the bruiser!). I'm blessed.Kai and I have a ritualAmyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-60550388403328999382008-12-29T16:30:00.003-05:002008-12-29T16:38:45.621-05:00Things I've Learned From Copyediting, No. 1In fiction, if you want to apply any unlikely detail to anything, something that is kooky and makes no sense in context but, damn it, you love it and want to throw it the heck in there, use the word somehow. This word is invaluable in allowing you to drop in a detail or situation without the responsibility of having to explain it. For example, "The Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-60833515412688967062008-12-24T17:43:00.002-05:002008-12-24T17:50:28.918-05:00Happy Christmas everyone! Blackadder's Christmas Carol down, Alastair Sim's Christmas Carol to go.Baldrick: ... I've nearly finished the Christmas cards.Ebenezer: [taking off his tall hat] Oh, splendid! Let me see... [opens up a card he has picked up from the desk] "A Very Messy Christmas." I'm sorry, Mr Baldrick -- shouldn't that be "merry"?Baldrick: "A Merry Messy Christmas"? All right, but Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-20881843670088138702008-12-10T18:57:00.000-05:002008-12-10T18:58:24.676-05:00Perfect!From Time magazine ...SARAH PALIN to get $7 million book deal. Copy editors to demand half.Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-17687830574453436472008-12-05T08:53:00.002-05:002008-12-05T09:03:47.359-05:00Things are getting very scary in the publishing world ... been following the changes and layoffs through contacts I have and through Publishers Weekly. (This article, for example, which talks of things that directly affected a client.) My Listserv called it Black Wednesday, and it seems true. This article was also rather cheery regarding pay freezes.It's all made me grateful for the work and Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-35736174154145315722008-11-29T17:47:00.002-05:002008-11-29T17:53:34.041-05:00FAQQ: How did you come up with the name Kai? Is that a family name?A: No, Kai (k-eye) is not a family name.I first heard the name Kai in high school when studying poets in an English class. I was drawn to Gary Snyder, the often-classified Beat poet and Pulitzer Prize winner, for his interests in Zen and nature and for his direct, observational work. Snyder named his oldest son Kai, and I Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-27115272396803535482008-11-16T08:10:00.006-05:002008-11-16T08:49:11.911-05:00I do not talk religion or politics or any of those sensitive and personal subjects in this blog typically. But I have been thinking about present moment and spirituality and religion and church quite a bit recently, having just experienced what I found to be a perfect miracle (cliché, perhaps, but creating life is often described this way), which brought me much closer to the spiritual aspects (Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-21052999018644479762008-11-10T08:08:00.002-05:002008-11-10T08:15:59.262-05:00As a work-at-home mom who doesn't have an option but to work, I find that this post at At Home Mom Blog is oh-so true ...Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-33439872249286090772008-11-04T17:07:00.001-05:002008-11-04T17:08:57.331-05:00Welcome Kai Desmond Ralph MaffeiHalloween 20089 lb. 2 oz.Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-82159644903778342282008-10-02T19:37:00.001-04:002008-10-02T19:39:15.298-04:00How great! Or how evil! I can't decide ...The Book Bench blog post, Surprise Ending, Oct. 2, 2008"This month, boxes of used paperbacks with a sign proclaiming “Free Books” will be placed at strategic locations on Fourteenth Street in Manhattan, as part of the Art in Odd Places “Pedestrian” exhibit. The catch: the last pages of each book have been torn out. It’s unclear if this a commentary on howAmyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-78832228250640687682008-10-02T16:39:00.002-04:002008-10-02T16:43:19.770-04:00So you get an email that offers some work that you would love to take, and you review how long the project is and the due date, and you look at your calendar and you already know that you would really be pushing it if you took the job but you would really like to, but then you analyze the calendar again and you hear the voice in the back of your skull that said that you really need to take less Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-67328557035864388332008-09-25T14:00:00.002-04:002008-09-25T14:05:41.974-04:00Oh my goodness. Clean your house in 19 minutes. Yeah, right. At least they throw the word maintain in there to clarify, because this is not cleaning. It is straightening and wiping up. And if you can do these things this quickly, I doubt it's helping at all.she says this as she looks across her place packed with boxes and papers and assorted family stuff that will take ages to arrange and clean Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-88345715042965053452008-09-20T23:08:00.003-04:002008-09-20T23:10:15.011-04:00Thanks to my CE Listserv for pointing me to this great 1947 video:"Making Books"Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-49763849465340855962008-09-13T20:35:00.006-04:002008-09-13T21:07:42.777-04:00 I had been in a slight copyeditor panic wondering why "Walmart" was popping up in large letters in new commercials for the store giant instead of the typical "Wal-Mart" spelling. I keep a standard style sheet to use for all my editing, and I list certain trade names there, like Pop-Tarts, La-Z-Boy, and Kmart. I thought my entry for Wal-Mart was safe. Then all of a sudden, this happens.I checkedAmyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-11771430732463185082008-09-12T13:29:00.003-04:002008-09-12T13:30:14.604-04:00*NEWSFLASH*My host upgraded servers and so my domain no longer is compatible with Blogger files. Lovely.Here is the blog transferred to blogspot. Eventually I think I'll do a domain CE blog and a blogspot personal blog. Of course, I have no time to set this up now, so I'll do it next year.Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-82707101740312455762008-08-26T13:01:00.003-04:002008-08-26T13:07:48.642-04:00As if I don't have enough going on ...I spend two hours each day picking up and driving my gimpy husband in work transit, and now our neighbor just backed into our newly fixed car, which was parked on the street!! I called the auto place to get an estimate and have spent the last 90 min talking to her, calling around to different places, picking up plastic off the macadam ... Good grief.Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-6153241772858170382008-08-22T18:33:00.010-04:002008-09-12T13:28:25.367-04:00GenCon was really good and all went well. (Except the flight out, which tossed everyone out of their seats for a time. Ugh.) The hotel staff was great. Goodman Games people were exceptionally sweet, asking about me and Rick, how we were doing, keeping watch over us while being very busy. The Rock Bottom Brewery was again our favorite, although eating dessert at Champs while Michael Phelps won hisAmyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-78276934440454821662008-08-21T11:17:00.004-04:002008-09-07T09:13:19.069-04:00If I may be allowed to bitch for a minute ...* My work email somehow got linked to spam in the last week, so now I am getting 5 to 10 spam messages a day there. &*%$# It happened right after I listed that address on a freelance site, so I bet someone picked it up there.* Our family health issues are eating away all my time as we have dr. appts, I drive everywhere, etc. Consequently I have a ton Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-5683079235388161862008-08-18T12:21:00.010-04:002008-09-12T13:25:05.696-04:00 Just got back from Indianapolis, did a lot of convention stuff (more on that later), and saw the original On the Road scroll at the IMA. Finally. Missed it in NYC so I was glad we could see it while in Indy. Amazing amount of changes and marginalia on the paper. Didn't realize he edited on the scroll. The female guard kept looking at my husband and me as if we were crazy. No one else was lookingAmyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-71708167563356157672008-08-08T12:02:00.006-04:002008-09-12T13:10:03.300-04:00No, no, no, no, no, no. "In June 2008, Public Broadcasting Service announced that it intends to soon change the way Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, the beloved children’s television program, is distributed to member stations."PBS will cease transmitting the program as part of their daily syndicated lineup beginning in September. Instead, PBS will provide member stations with a single Neighborhood Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-76705104286527453592008-08-06T21:28:00.002-04:002008-08-06T21:32:48.790-04:00I totally agree that this approach to shopping at drugstores can save you money, but holy coupons!! In the time it would take me to do all this in order to get some toothpaste and paper towels, I could make a minimum of five times what the shopping trip would cost me. I can see how some people get a charge out of the challenge of saving money, and I do use CVS the way this article discusses, butAmyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-1994508594943410342008-08-06T12:44:00.002-04:002008-08-06T12:49:21.106-04:00Happy Birthday, Wargames!!Love that movie. I saw it in a CT theater with my cousin and sister when it first came out, and when we got back to my cousin's house, we screwed around on his Commodore computer all night long, thinking we could do something like what we just saw. Kids.-- Mr. McKittrick, after very careful consideration, sir, I've come to the conclusion that your new defense system Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-46325326572349855822008-08-05T11:04:00.003-04:002008-08-05T11:06:37.435-04:00If Amy were a copyeditor turtle right now . . . Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-60512021695297378802008-08-03T10:28:00.002-04:002008-08-03T10:40:37.787-04:00So here is how things have been going since Wednesday when I said I must buckle down and finish my incredible amounts of work:* Thurs: Sit and work most of the day; get a decent amount done. Am lulled into thinking that this renewed effort and schedule can actually be maintained.* Fri: Oh crap, forgot I have to see dr. at noon. Follow preappointment procedure, get wicked headache, get arms Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-84504792925709840882008-08-01T11:03:00.001-04:002008-08-01T11:06:11.983-04:00A bit of a rant from Giles Coren, as pointed out by my CE Listserv. (Note that raw language is used.)May I never experience such wrath from a client!Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-70957240010733681072008-07-30T22:27:00.001-04:002008-07-30T22:28:08.673-04:00help. my husband is addicted to watching Scare Tactics. ugh.Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-12167979315111862222008-07-30T13:07:00.004-04:002008-07-30T13:26:08.369-04:00Oh well. It was nice while it lasted. For a few days I was able to complete my work early in the afternoon and then I cleaned and organized the place for the rest of the day. I got to a couple movies and ate that really-good-but-bad-for-you popcorn. We even went to the shore, where I walked (well, teetered around) on the beach, ate boardwalk ice cream and pizza, got crushed in air hockey, and Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-35693147404725100272008-07-19T08:42:00.002-04:002008-07-19T08:44:57.707-04:00I'm not going to become a consumer site, but these things really piss me off, if you haven't noticed. Huge thanks to Schizohedron for pointing out this great site that I did not know about.The Consumerist: Grocery Shrink RayIf any other readers know really good sites that are professional and discuss consistently the screwing over of products, sizes, and prices that is going on, let me know.Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-8156084566319279152008-07-18T17:47:00.002-04:002008-07-18T17:53:08.830-04:00Thanks to Work at Home Mom Revolution blog for pointing me to this great site ... so up my alley!! My top pet peeve right now is how so many merchants, supermarkets, restaurants are being cheap in this economy! You have to watch everything!I Spy Restaurant TricksReporting on what restaurants are shrinking, screwing with, and trying to get away with!Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-69867412774350218542008-07-17T09:20:00.004-04:002008-07-17T09:34:14.241-04:00We finally got outside after work yesterday, took a long walk in the county park, went on the shaded path by the river, me with my water bottle, so frustratingly slow and too quickly out of breath, so much so that I had to take to a bench for a few minutes. Soon after we sat we saw a small fawn in the woods behind us, a rich caramel color, and then it seemed that taking a break was the right Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-18276544061698933072008-07-15T14:44:00.004-04:002008-07-15T14:50:59.525-04:00Okay, this is it. Seriously. I have just decided that I will shower and dress immediately when I get up from now on and start acting like clients are going to come over! Typically I wear bum clothes or PJs (as I've posted before) and don't shower until later in the afternoon so that I can get a jump on work right away, but just now I had two policemen at the door looking for a neighbor, and it Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-4096022236895677652008-07-02T18:08:00.004-04:002008-07-02T18:25:33.514-04:00Cool. I'm in. I got this from Lori Cates Hand's blog Publishing Careers.The National Endowment for the Arts has an initiative you may have heard of called the Big Read. According to the Web site, its purpose is to "restore reading to the center of American culture." They estimate that the average adult has only read 6 of the top 100 books they've printed.For fun, let's see how many of the top Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-86652796501095998212008-06-27T09:27:00.002-04:002008-06-27T09:31:58.565-04:00Regarding Bill Walsh's latest post on the copy editor's responsibility to check phone numbers, all I can think about now is an editor working on a piece about 1980s pop music and coming across "867-5309/Jenny" and getting an earful after dialing it.Stewie: [picking up the phone] Hello, operator. Hello ... Oh, God, that's right, you have to punch in the numbers nowadays. Uhhh, I should know this.Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-46852468767466605382008-06-19T16:27:00.005-04:002008-06-19T16:58:44.248-04:00You work at home in peace for almost a year. The street you live on is a quiet side road. You back up to a park with a stream. Many nice families live here. Many people are away from home working each day. Sometimes a mother walks her baby to the park. You hear birds singing in the trees around the house. All respect the neighborhood.Then some months ago, someone buys the on-the-market-forever Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-41528703751094635832008-06-19T14:43:00.003-04:002008-06-19T14:47:29.983-04:00So how is this possible? As soon as the new ymail address became available today, I was right on it. Immediately. The minute it came up. I wanted copyeditor@, or editor@, or editing@ or ANYTHING generic like that. But NOOOOO! They were ALL taken. Seriously. Everything I could think of was taken. It's just like f'ing concert tickets when you log on to get some right away, to no avail.So they say, Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-36469959708847265032008-06-13T13:27:00.003-04:002008-06-13T14:28:29.589-04:00Every one in a while, fellow freelancers--whether it be on an e-mail list or a blog or a meeting with other freelancers--bring up rates, and I must admit, this topic always gets me edgy. I make what I make and accept what I accept based on my experience, time with the company, and so on. I take lower rates from certain companies because I know exactly what is expected of me, how much it takes to Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-46435762699416523202008-06-12T09:53:00.002-04:002008-06-12T09:59:08.351-04:00Oh my. I just was holding a banana in one hand and in the other dialing the cordless phone to talk to my parents. Then as the phone was ringing, I put it down and held the banana to my head. Then I looked at the phone on the table and wondered why it was making a ringing sound when it should be fruit.I thought it was just folksy talk, but now I see it's true. My brain has officially gone away Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-43934061802721902932008-06-10T18:49:00.003-04:002008-06-10T18:53:39.891-04:00I've pretty much decided that I'm going to create a separate blog for my freelance editing thoughts and links and comments and so on. Of course, I won't have time to do this until next year, but the intent is there. I'll let the thought sit and see if later on I feel that I could maintain and enjoy two blogs in that way. At the very least I should have a search function on this one so that peopleAmyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-834017978008939892008-06-07T21:01:00.002-04:002008-06-07T21:06:49.658-04:00Hot enough? Geeze. We just got the AC units in the windows yesterday. I think that central air has just moved up on the list of hopes on the house-hunting list. (Next to a wood fireplace, of course.)Been editing and proofing all day while R is DM to the final stages of his Tomb of Horrors campaign. The guys are almost done now. Been lots of whooping going on. I hear that one is a bear.Picked six Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-45995314727319962462008-06-03T20:02:00.003-04:002008-06-03T20:04:40.879-04:00An interesting post from Lori Cates Hand:Learn Way Too Much About Your Neighbors From Their Yard-Sale BooksOne of the first places I look when I go to a new house/apt. is the bookshelf. So important what they like and read! Now I'll have to check the neighbors, although our town sale day just went by.Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-56765728360409852802008-06-03T09:10:00.005-04:002008-06-03T09:46:45.394-04:00Wasting Time ...I have been paying attention to HOW I do what I do during the day so that I can cut out all the terrible time wasters and be more efficient so that I don't sit there at night and wonder why I didn't finish half of what I wanted to do. Here is an example from this morning already:* I am editing an article that needs to be formatted a certain way.* I check the style guide and then Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-15476997758361959092008-05-30T23:20:00.003-04:002008-05-30T23:27:18.227-04:00Oh copyeditor, my copyeditor ... Why hyphens are so necessary:On Shine, a Yahoo! site that posts a variety of stuff from health care to entertainment, I saw this blurb that functioned as a link:Do you love or fear Jillian Michaels, the bad ass trainer from the Biggest Loser with the in-your-resistant-sobbing-face attitude and biceps of steel? Now, from what I've seen, Jillian turns bad asses intoAmyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-55727164299752116092008-05-30T15:42:00.003-04:002008-05-30T15:56:52.769-04:00Worthy Television ViewingI very much enjoyed watching some of the Met's HD film/opera programming last night. A very dramatic and powerful Tristan und Isolde. I liked the graphical movie aspect of the production, and it's inspired me to try to catch more of that opera when I get the chance. As you know, I'm a sucker for romance. The other must-watch show is, of course, coming June 8: "When We Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-84971014080032411652008-05-29T19:31:00.002-04:002008-05-29T19:33:04.410-04:00It drives me nuts when local businesses don't have Web sites. I mean, come on! You could generate so much more interest on the net, couldn't you? Now you are just making me get up out of this computer chair and go to the phone and actually CALL you to check on your hours and stock and stuff like that there. Like I have the energy to actually get up ...Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-62656825120222403662008-05-29T15:50:00.003-04:002008-05-29T15:56:44.811-04:00Dear Fellow Freelancers,Have you ever forgotten that you accepted work two days ago from two clients and then accepted other work the day before from another client and then had your doorbell ring every three hours because the (perhaps same) FedEx truck keeps swinging by? Looks like I have a hefty white layer cake on my couch, one box layer fatter than the other. Tomorrow will be what I call "Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-78202946164983662242008-05-27T11:07:00.002-04:002008-05-27T11:11:16.952-04:00Dumb Work Move of the DayI just spent 25 min trying to figure out how to reorient my screen after hitting some crazy keystroke in haste while trying to finish a journal article edit. Somehow I got the screen to appear 90 degrees clockwise! After a while I realized that it was not a Word issue but a Windows XP issue, and so I found the right keystroke to fix it. Thankfully we have the other Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-50731002126459796432008-05-23T12:10:00.004-04:002008-05-23T12:26:55.439-04:00I took the time to go out last night to see the new Indy movie. That's crazy talk, thinking I'd miss that opening night! :)I won't go into details so as not to spoil things for anyone, but I did like it overall. I thought the action was very good, and I love seeing real stunts with stuntmen instead of being inundated with CGI. Although there were very silly things throughout the movie, I could Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-5360992583331979902008-05-22T11:03:00.003-04:002008-05-22T11:07:37.021-04:00Love it, love it! I may just have to order this great T from Space Pancake. :)Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6053735.post-70575777213830478072008-05-21T16:42:00.005-04:002008-05-21T17:05:01.280-04:00A Few Freelance Items ...1. Freelance Freedom strip #53 is so me these days! (Well, I have PANTS on, just crappy sloppy pants). See this post!2. Freelance Freedom strip #52 is even MORE me!3. Interesting article by Logan Strain on looking at the stresses and realistic side of freelancing.4. Dougalfish's post today about her working hours! I hear ya!5. The Freelance Parent post on getting a helperAmyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12445622433353493710noreply@blogger.com2