My Website, Pics, Vacuums, and Writing Gigs

I am inches away from having my own website, and personally have no idea what I'm doing. It's crazy all that you need to know to put up a good website, though I have to confess, I haven't put the time needed into it. I have learned that to be a serious writer, you need a website, so this is something I need to work on. I'm meeting with RR on Tuesday, who happens to be a Web wiz, and we're going to start this process. For all it's worth, I do have a domain name and hosting service. Just no website, but that could change, soon. I worked with my wife yesterday on ideas for my site and found myself completely overwhelmed. I was thinking something simple and functional, but R brought up a whole slew of important points. In sharing with me what she felt was a good website, I realized that there is a lot of work to be done. I hope RR can help. It's daunting but exciting, at the same time, and I do think a good way for R and I to team up and find a gig working together, if we don't kill each other in the process.

As you may have noticed, I started adding pics to my blog. Again, R brought up the point that they make the blog look more interesting, and I have to agree. I didn't do it in the beginning because it just took more time, and I tend to blog in a stream of consciousness manner. In other words, quickly in, quickly out. Putting a pic requires time and thought, but I think it's worth it and it just adds to the challenge.

Two people I know have suggested a possible writing gig for me, and I take that to be a good thing. My friend's wife, JK, and our good friend, CH, both suggested I look into the Vermont Standard, and truth be told, I have sent them a query message and await word from them. Who knows where this will go, but I like the coincidence. A sign, perhaps? When you got nothing, you gotta hold onto something, even if it's just a dream. I've got some small minor gigs with my blogsites, Parenting Squad and Wisebread, and two new ones, Healthcare Hacks and Healthy Theory, but they're not going to pay the rent. Then again, who is?

Just wanted to finish with a word on our new vacuum. Our friend moved back to Japan after living here for six months, and sold us his vacuum. It was a Dyson, and it worked great. Much better than our Hoover, which not only didn't work very well, but made enough noise to wake the dead. The Dyson is an amazing piece of machinery, though I'm struck by how expensive it is. Granted, we bought it used and cheap, but even still, we have the low budget model and it costs about $500. I can't imagine spending that kind of dough on a vacuum. Then again, that's what inspired me to get the Hoover, and it's a piece of you know what. The Dyson is bagless and you can see what you're actually picking up. And our kids are fascinated by it since it looks space age. Oh well, you get what you pay for, as the saying goes.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Kathryn McCallum for the pic.