Too many passwords

I made my decision and bought my new computer. And not unlike my last experience with a MAC, I managed, within the first few actions to delete a program. It just went poof and disappeared. The support woman on the phone kept saying, "don't worry, it is there." Alas, it was not there.

Fortunately, it was a trial program so I downloaded it again.

Next came time to check my bank statement. I entered my password and it came up with a security question I never typed in. I was suppose to have a different question and the computer kept tasking me what was the name of the city in which I was married. I would answer and was told I was not being specific enough. It also told me that it did not recognize the computer. OK, let's try it again. And again, And Again. Still, it kept telling me that where I was married was not correct. You have to have a sense of humor. I decided to check into later. I haven't blogged in about a week , so I chose to do this instead of dealing with the bank. 

My new computer has a lot of bells and whistles--as they say. I think perhaps I should get some lessons to learn exactly what this machine can do. Years ago, I had a PC that did all types of fancy stuff for the time. I just used it as a word processor. It was silly not to learn more of the computer. So, here is another pledge for this year. I will learn all the tricks my computer can do and try to utilize them. How? That remains to be seen.

Buying a new computer

I remember the first time I needed to buy a computer. It was months before I could get the courage up to make the purchase. It was during the early 80's and while computers were around not so many people owned one. I remember, as I was living in a loft in Manhattan, that my upstairs neighbor was "investigating" a purchase. I learned a good from our discussions. I bought mine before he bought his computer. I bought an IBM and the operating system was DOS.

I learned enough of DOS to work my computer and write my dissertation on it. For whatever reasons, I eventually needed to buy a new computer-- this time I went with an Apple. There was a graphic designer in my building who owned a MAC and loved it. "You can't do anything to ruin this computer, " she told me one day, as I had the computer sitting on my desk for about two weeks unopened. I was afraid of it. I didn't know what would happen if I turned it on.

I followed her advice and turned it on. BOOM the thing froze before it had completely booted up. That led to many phone calls and finally several hours of talking with support to straighten out the problem. We became such good friends during the long arduous process of figuring out what was wrong with my computer, that at the end, when the machine was up and running, the man on the other end of the phone said, "Now, Linda, you need to get a glass of wine and take a warm, bath to calm down. Everything is fine." He was cute. I don't know that I did either of those things, but I certainly didn't feel anymore secure about my ability to operate a computer than I had before I hit the on switch-- and so much for the graphic artist's advice...

I have had several computers since that time and today I need to go once again and purchase a new computer. Since those first years, I have had different kinds of computers, including one custom made. My kids have MAC laptops with all kinds of fancy bells and whistles. I think I will go back over to Apple. I am sure that once I make the purchase I will have heart palpitations before I turn the thing on. This time, I will probably enlist the help of my son--he no doubt will think I am ridiculous.

But, now I am facing transferring the data from my PC to the MAC and the thought of that makes me nervous. Oh Well, yet another adventure. Hopefully, I won't repeat my first experience and have the thing freeze up on me and I won't loose any important files in the transfer. After all these years, I know alot more about computers and how to do things but I am still intimidated by them and get confused when trying to do things, like import buttons to make this blog more visible.

More will be revealed as I like to write....

Making Money

I am one of those individuals who works and earns a scarce amount of money. That I hope will change this year. Everyone who has worked with me, with the exception of two people, has been thrilled with my ability to write what was needed and with my ability to listen and understand.

I have taken great pride over the years in my ability to tackle many diverse subject areas. I was trained to think in an interdisciplinary fashion. It is what makes things interesting for me. It is also what makes life more complex.

What is your specialty? I am often asked. I try hard not to narrow my scope of inquiry. Many find that disconcerting. "Of course you struggle, you are all over the place. You need to find a niche and develop it." I did, in a fashion, find my niche. It has always been women. But, I make a distinction about my own writing and writing what others need or want. I do not have the luxury to just write about women.

Be that as it may, I have determined that this is the year I will hit it big. Hit it big with my own works and hit it big in my writing business. That also includes the workshops that I offer for women ( a separate business, but a business nonetheless.)

I have started the year with quite a few requests by people to help them with their books, partially written, not yet begun, whatever. I look forward to helping others see their books become reality. I also look forward to my writing a new screen play and selling it -- BIG TIME!

I am looking to allow abundance into my life in all its manifestations. There, I have made a public declaration of my intent and I will see it happen.

Inspired: Women Working

I went to a Goddess store this AM to promote my book: Awakening Minerva: The Power of Creativity in Women's Lives and to promote my workshop on creativity. The store owner was a petite, attractive woman with big blue eyes who spoke easily about dance and meditation.

There was a hip hop class going on in the studio as we spoke out in the store. We talked about dancing, about dance and sexual energy, different forms of dance and meditation. We spoke about expanding or releasing one's energy through dance, which entails a connection to that place deep inside of each of us, male or female, that houses the sexual.

As we spoke about these things, I mentioned that I was from a different city-- perhaps 40 , 50 minutes away. She told me about the long distances that other women traveled to take dance
classes at the goddess studio. Different dance classes. I learned that there was one woman, who happened to be from my city, who came to the studio every morning to dance for two hours before she would travel back to do her days work.

She owns her own business and thus can determine when her work day begins. The thought of taking two hours every day to dance before she begins her work is spectacular. What a gift to herself and probably everyone else who works with her including her clients.

That is the point really. If we give ourselves, perhaps better phrased, allow ourselves the time to fulfill our needs physically, emotionally, spiritually, we are always better equipped to deal with the day's challenges. I didn't speak with this woman, she was dancing. But I certainly was inspired by her discipline and her strength to say: this is what I need.

We all need to be inspired. Look around you today and see what messages the universe is providing you.

Women on my mind

I have been trying to figure this blogging business out for a couple of weeks now. I admit, that one of the reasons I ventured into this arena was to obtain another form of income from my writing. And, while I have been writing in the dark, as it were, I am beginning to get a sense of what is out there.

I am a writer by trade, a mother and a wife, a friend, a confident, a speaker, a workshop facilitator to name a few roles I play-- functions I serve? At any rate, one of those roles requires me to write a newsletter for the Ft. Lauderdale National Assoc. of Women Business Owners. I enjoy the women I meet through this chapter and the other networking chapters I have attended. Although, I am not one to be involved in the highly structured, more rigid networking groups. That is not my style.

My style is far more casual. I come from a background in the arts. That is basically irrelevant. What I have discovered recently, through my eyes as a woman business owner looking at the blogs, is exactly that. There seems to be a lack of voices writing about women business owners. I have looked at the topics on helium, I am not moved. I have looked at the women's topics on other women driven sites and yet they all seem so traditional.

Perhaps my voice needs to be heard in this arena. Within this arena, the issues of money, creativity, life balance, family, sisterhood all exist. That is what I love to write about. And so, this is a declaration. My blogging will continue to address the needs of women, mothers, daughters, friends. My voice will be inspired by your voice and so I hope to get a dialogue moving between women seeking other women's understanding of this journey we are on.

Mastering the blog

I am a bit intimidated by this blogging stuff. But, unlike things in the past, I keep coming back to it. I have resolved that I will get help to understand and develop my blog. I know already that I am missing something particular as I have posted several items over two months but do not know if the world has received them. I have also, joined, I think networks etc. It is a bit daunting to keep writing in the dark, as it were.

And, I am not clear about the process of earning money from blogging. It has taken me a couple of years to attempt this and I am determined to make it work. I do learn quickly but I need help. I have applied to be part of the AdSense and was approved. Yet, I do not seem to know how to coordinate it all. Someone, several weeks ago, e-mailed me with all kinds of instructions. I tried to understand them but to no avail. Oh Well. It is all a learning process and I am up to learning new things.

It seems that the older I get, the slower I learn. Perhaps it is more accurate to write, the slower I move through my hesitations and anxieties. But, I am resolved. I will get this together and I will do it by the end of January. From there, I plan on building my blog into a thriving business. I am a writer by nature, by craft, by profession. It just makes sense that blogging is a part of the process now. It is not enough to write stories, or articles, or books, not even speech writing. It is not enough to try my hand at screenwriting. For me, using words to communicate has taken on many forms and contexts. I willingly embrace all of them.

Mastering the form is the problem far more so than the context. I understand the context in the bigger picture, though that is stated from a position on the outside looking in. I will have to revisit the issue of form and context in a year.

For the moment, if you see this post, please connect with me. You can read more of my ramblings at 4firestone.wordpress.com.