Quote of the Day:
What you can do, or think you can, begin it.
– Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Okay, first of all, that quote today is just perfect. It’s just what I needed.
Second of all, RUSH right over and buy Denise’s new book! Her Passion is released today from Samhain and you can get it here! YAY Denise!!
And now on to business. Thanks to all of you who commented yesterday. It was definitely a bad day for me, but I’m better now. I felt like I was in one of those downward spirals. You know, the kind where you’re just not sure you can go on living. I’ve been feeling sorry for myself far too long and it’s time to make some changes. At least, that’s what I decided to do yesterday afternoon. My friend says it takes ninety days to form a new habit and I guess she’s right. It’s only been about two months, so I need to give myself some time and space and relax. I guess part of it is the unknown and we all know how scary that is. Having to support myself scares the crap out of me on a daily basis, but I’m doing it. I feel myself slowly moving away from that “old†life and into something new. Uncharted territory. I can’t worry about the future much, I can only think about today. And I mean the future as far as my life. I need to just write and live and worry about myself. I need to worry about getting those books written, sold, and the other ones promoted. That’s my priority right now. And that’s what I plan to do. And if some gentlemen decides to ask me to dinner, I won’t turn him down. (However, they’re not exactly beating the door down to get to me which is really okay. Boys are really kind of stupid anyway. No offense to my male audience. :lol:)
Anyway, after much thinking about the entire situation that is my life, it’s I made a few decisions this morning. To keep myself from stressing out about the amount of bills I have, I’ve decided to do a balance transfer and have ONE major credit card to pay off instead of two. That will help. Next, I’ve put away the other credit cards and I’m not using them under any circumstances (except the gas card and why the hell is gas so high still??). The last thing I do before I put myself on buying restrictions is – I’ve decided to buy an AlphaSmart. This will be my last big purchase for quite a while.
So, all you AlphaSmart users – which did you pick? The Neo or the 3000? And tell me why you decided to pick whichever one you picked. I’m leaning toward the 3000 for the price. It doesn’t seem to be all that different from the Neo, but I want to hear your thoughts! Just post a comment below or email me.
Last and certainly not least, had my plotting party last night and talked about my dragon book and Nice Girls Do. I have some great ideas for both thanks to my plotting team. I am now going to start rewriting the first chapter of NGD and change some things up. Make the hero a little more sympathetic and change up the heroine just a bit. I’m fired up about them both! I’m writing out my notes on the dragon book today and then I’m going to start on the revision of NGD.
The contest entries are still slowly rolling in. I’m getting there! As soon as I get them all in, it’ll be time to double check scores and figure out the winner. It takes time and it’s a large undertaking but I really am enjoying it all. And I’m wondering if I can scrape up the money for Nationals this year. Not sure I can, but I’m gonna try.
Okay, enough rambling. Can you tell I feel better today? :wave:
THANKS – I am excited. I got the release date for the second book – Sept 12 – They are getting so full it pushed it back – but I am not complaining!
I am glad you’re feeling better!
I love my Alphasmart Neo. I got the Neo for two main reasons: 1) The 3000 is a wonky green color. The neo is charcoal, and very dignified looking. (I know, dumb reason). The second reason, is that its simply better than the 3000. You can view six lines of text with the Neo, and with the 3000, you can only view four. AND the Neo has more features, called SmartApplets. But yes, it is $100 dollars more, which could be groceries for a month.
But if I was making an INVESTMENT (which would be what this is) I’d go for the Neo. And it’s not embarrassing looking. :loser: (I know, I know, but I couldn’t get over the green color!)
I popped over and bought Denise’s book – I can’t wait to read it! I’m going to try to get it on my Palm and then I can read it at crappy work when no one is looking heh heh.
Glad you’re feeling better!
🙂
Leigh
http://www.blogcharm.com/thespinningpen
Leigh – you’re a peach! I’m sure Denise will be happy to hear you bought it! 🙂
Good for you, Mik! I always feel better and in more control when I have a plan. And a list, LOL!
I have the alphasmart and really like it, but if I had to do it over again, I would buy the Neo. Only ’cause I like the color too. And the six lines of text instead of the four. But if the $100.00 more will cause a problem, then the Alphie is just fine.
Mik-
First off, glad you’re feeling better. Sometimes you simply have to take a day to be down to get back up. Trust me, I know. 😉 Plus, having set goals are sometimes the best medicine.
As to the Alphie… I have a DANA-which was-I think-the predecessor to the NEO. I’m not an expert, but I do have an opinion and pros and cons. The DANA was a gift-and I knew nothing about it until I opened the package.
What I like about the Dana versus my laptop-is the 24 hour battery and the ease of use. My DANA weighs like 2 lbs, where as my laptop is a dinosaur and weighs like-8. So, since I travel so much…there is that. It is easier to carry around.
My Dana is wireless and has email and web cababilities-though I don’t use them. The whole point of having the Dana was for me to write while I was traveling-so I didn’t want to tempt myself with the distractions of the internet. 🙂 So far, I’ve resisted the urge to get it web-ready. Probably because I also have a laptop.
I love that the keyboard is full sized and that it runs most of my windows applications. I haven’t had any trouble with it-but I also know I’m not using it to its full potential.
The cons… The biggest con to the Dana for me-personally-is the screen size and backlight. Probably not a big deal for most, but I have trouble with it as I think my eyes are starting to feel their age. The DANA screen-I think-is similar or the same as the NEO’s. It is a little bigger than the orginal Alphie-but I like a full screen when I work.
It is handy, though. And if you’re looking for ease and all of that-it is the way to go. One suggestion-have you thought of maybe finding a used one? I know then you might have warranty issues if something goes wrong with it, but hey-if you aren’t sure about making the investment-it might be something to consider. I bought my laptop used because I couldn’t justify the expense of a brand new one and its been a gem. Just a thought.
Probably more info than you wanted, but I ramble..
Good Luck!