Howdy, y'all!
So work is still work, except this week was really busy up front with the cash register. There was like a line of non stop people on Friday and Saturday, and it felt like a miracle when I could actually get a break. Despite that, things are still going well, and I even managed to score each of the three memberships B&N offers. Other than our regular membership discount card, there's also the Kid's Club Card, which gives you small kick backs for every time you buy kid's stuff, and the teacher discount, where you money off materials intended for classroom use. The most I got out of the three was the Kid's Club, raking in seven memberships this week, and I am very proud of how well I did (though not as proud as the time I sold seven regular memberships in a day). The only other things I can mention this week is that I got called in two hours before I was supposed to start working one day, so that was two hours extra cash, I finally got my Christmas vacation hours sorted out and okayed, and my mom stopped by to see me in my work environment, which was really nice, and I was happy to see her. So that's that.
Concerning the editing, I have another writer that's been temporarily reassigned to me. According to the work charts, one of the other editors has left for reasons I won't ask about (none of my business), so until further notice I have four writers' work to look over and after and inbetween the lines to catch whatever mistakes they make. But it's not that bad; the temp is a good writer (though she could stand to actually hyperlink her web sources), so it's not like I'm dealing with another version of Miss Late-All-The-Time. Thus, editing is going just fine.
No news on the writing front, and this week's work in M.O.A-27 was a little slow thanks to much-welcomed visitors (which I'll tell you about down below). I'm still in the middle of the fight scene I told you about before, but now the tables have turned as the heroine's best friend, a hologram genius, has thrown a bunch of holograms into the fight, which are all projecting a image of our favorite cyborg that move together in one big mass. Despite the advanced tech the enemy is made out of, our genius has implemented a scrabbling system that messes up the bad guy's ability to pick out the real person, so our heroine is right in the middle of some serious butt-kicking. And thankfully, thanks to the outline I wrote before starting this project, I know exactly where this fight is going (you will have to find out yourselves some other time).
Weekly (Dis)Likes:
Like 1: This week was my birthday! I'm now 23 years old, and it was a very good day. My mom flew in for it, and we spent the whole day shopping. I got some great birthday presents: comfy dress slacks, a flippy skirt, and a new ipod, to name a few. I also had a delicious dinner at a seafood restaurant where I had peanut butter/chocolate cake and tried oysters for the first time (and they were actually pretty good, all things considering).
Like 2: Seeing my mom. I love her lots, and it was a treat to see her. :)
Dislike 1: The Royals losing against the Giants twice in a row. Who hit the switch and suddenly made the players go all bad? LAME!!
And quote!
"To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying make you something else is the greatest accomplishment." Ralph Waldo Emerson
Later days,
Colleen
Monday, October 27, 2014
Sunday, October 19, 2014
OH MY GOSH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If you're wondering what the all-caps/shouting is about, you will find out momentarily. Until then, let's touch on other things.
Work is work, as in nothing bad and nothing exciting happened this week. I did start making arrangements as to days off during this Christmas holidays so some time can be spent with the family, so that's something. Otherwise it was normal; working at the cash register, working at customer service, putting books away, and cleaning up after patrons too lazy to do it themselves.
Editorial work is going well as well. The writers are turning their work in on time, and I actually caught a break this week because the two writers who usually post longer articles didn't, and post normal length work instead. Which was nice for reasons I'll explain down below. Otherwise, I got some really nice articles in terms of subject matter and photography; two were about fashion shows for designers Diane Von Furstenberg and Dries Van Noten, whose features pictures were awesome in terms of displaying the merchandise (don't know if I'd wear any of it, but it's nice to look at), and one was about this Japanese designer who makes her clothes with cloth she makes by weaving with leftover thread from waste fabric (those clothes were also pretty cool). So if you need some reading material, click here.
And in book stuff, the current book is going excellent; I'm still in the middle of the fight scene from last week, but there's going to be a dramatic turn of events as a fourth man enters into the fray with a weapon no one expected to help our heroine. Said lady, who you know is a cyborg, is part of a model line and has the designation M.O.A-27, the letters standing for Military Opts Automon, and has both lower legs up to the knee, her stomach, her right arm up to her elbow, and her complete left arm from shoulder to hand as army green robotics, with metallic eyebrows to boot! There's very little she can't do thanks to the super computer in her head, which can look up anything in the blink of an eye and all the gadgets she has stored away in her body; I'll admit her robotic abilities were inspired partly by Cyborg from the old Teen Titan cartoon I used to watch when I was a kid. But there's some added additions, like jet boots, sonic wave fists, mini missiles, and more (I should make a list of all I want her to be able to do), all stored in a bio-synthetic body with metal bones and electrical tissue. She's no Transformer, but she's made for anything, and with knowledge of every single fight style, she'll take you down!
Now onto the Weekly (Dis)Likes:
Like 1: Want to know why I'm happy? I GOT MY FIRST CAR!!! This weekend while my dad was visiting, him, me, and my grandpa went used car hunting and made a day out of it. I did my research and found some really good cars at the local CarMax, but Dad suggested we try going to a dealer that's owned by one of his friends, and that's where I found my car! It's a silver 2011 Corolla with only 36K on it, has a 26 mile per tank capacity, has a clean cloth inside, and everything works! All under my price range. I'm happy that I have this, and I'm going to do my best to take care of it. I don't have a good picture yet, but I'll post one in next week's post.
Like 2: Family visiting! Both my dad and youngest sister came to spend a few days with us to celebrate my upcoming birthday, and it was fun. Other than car shopping, we had a nice lobster dinner at the neighborhood country club (it was delicious, with potatoes and corn and apple crisp for dessert), went out for lunch a bunch, and carved jack-o-lanterns (which I'll also post a picture of). It was great seeing them, and I can't wait to see them again.
Dislike 1: The Royals game getting rained out on Monday. I was supposed to go, but it got cancelled because of the rain and rescheduled to Tuesday night, WHICH OF COURSE IS WHEN I HAVE A NIGHT SHIFT AT B&N. Yeah, not very happy about that if you can't tell, and there was no time to call in and ask for a day off. GRRRRRR!
Dislike 2: The stoplight at 119th and Nall. It's fast in the sense that the green light lasts for only about ten seconds before turning yellow, and that drives me nuts, especially on my way home from work and there's a crapload of cars right in front of me. Does the light let us all go? No, it doesn't! And all I want is to go home after a long day at B&N. :P
And quote!
"The measure of who we are is what we do with what we have." -Vince Lombard
Good night,
Colleen
Work is work, as in nothing bad and nothing exciting happened this week. I did start making arrangements as to days off during this Christmas holidays so some time can be spent with the family, so that's something. Otherwise it was normal; working at the cash register, working at customer service, putting books away, and cleaning up after patrons too lazy to do it themselves.
Editorial work is going well as well. The writers are turning their work in on time, and I actually caught a break this week because the two writers who usually post longer articles didn't, and post normal length work instead. Which was nice for reasons I'll explain down below. Otherwise, I got some really nice articles in terms of subject matter and photography; two were about fashion shows for designers Diane Von Furstenberg and Dries Van Noten, whose features pictures were awesome in terms of displaying the merchandise (don't know if I'd wear any of it, but it's nice to look at), and one was about this Japanese designer who makes her clothes with cloth she makes by weaving with leftover thread from waste fabric (those clothes were also pretty cool). So if you need some reading material, click here.
And in book stuff, the current book is going excellent; I'm still in the middle of the fight scene from last week, but there's going to be a dramatic turn of events as a fourth man enters into the fray with a weapon no one expected to help our heroine. Said lady, who you know is a cyborg, is part of a model line and has the designation M.O.A-27, the letters standing for Military Opts Automon, and has both lower legs up to the knee, her stomach, her right arm up to her elbow, and her complete left arm from shoulder to hand as army green robotics, with metallic eyebrows to boot! There's very little she can't do thanks to the super computer in her head, which can look up anything in the blink of an eye and all the gadgets she has stored away in her body; I'll admit her robotic abilities were inspired partly by Cyborg from the old Teen Titan cartoon I used to watch when I was a kid. But there's some added additions, like jet boots, sonic wave fists, mini missiles, and more (I should make a list of all I want her to be able to do), all stored in a bio-synthetic body with metal bones and electrical tissue. She's no Transformer, but she's made for anything, and with knowledge of every single fight style, she'll take you down!
Now onto the Weekly (Dis)Likes:
Like 1: Want to know why I'm happy? I GOT MY FIRST CAR!!! This weekend while my dad was visiting, him, me, and my grandpa went used car hunting and made a day out of it. I did my research and found some really good cars at the local CarMax, but Dad suggested we try going to a dealer that's owned by one of his friends, and that's where I found my car! It's a silver 2011 Corolla with only 36K on it, has a 26 mile per tank capacity, has a clean cloth inside, and everything works! All under my price range. I'm happy that I have this, and I'm going to do my best to take care of it. I don't have a good picture yet, but I'll post one in next week's post.
Like 2: Family visiting! Both my dad and youngest sister came to spend a few days with us to celebrate my upcoming birthday, and it was fun. Other than car shopping, we had a nice lobster dinner at the neighborhood country club (it was delicious, with potatoes and corn and apple crisp for dessert), went out for lunch a bunch, and carved jack-o-lanterns (which I'll also post a picture of). It was great seeing them, and I can't wait to see them again.
Dislike 1: The Royals game getting rained out on Monday. I was supposed to go, but it got cancelled because of the rain and rescheduled to Tuesday night, WHICH OF COURSE IS WHEN I HAVE A NIGHT SHIFT AT B&N. Yeah, not very happy about that if you can't tell, and there was no time to call in and ask for a day off. GRRRRRR!
Dislike 2: The stoplight at 119th and Nall. It's fast in the sense that the green light lasts for only about ten seconds before turning yellow, and that drives me nuts, especially on my way home from work and there's a crapload of cars right in front of me. Does the light let us all go? No, it doesn't! And all I want is to go home after a long day at B&N. :P
And quote!
"The measure of who we are is what we do with what we have." -Vince Lombard
Good night,
Colleen
Sunday, October 12, 2014
Insert STAR WARS Theme Song Here
In a galaxy far, far away ...
Actually, let's stick with the Milky Way. I'm no space explorer, though I wouldn't turn down the chance to discover/live on a new planet as long as the natives were friendly.
If you're wondering where all the space jargon's coming from, we had a Star Wars theme event day at B&N this week. Some of the events were three rounds of trivia, each one harder than the last, and for the kids there were activity sheets, bowling, a build-your-own-R2D2 table, and storytime in the kid's section. Unfortunately, Star Wars Day went completely unappreciated by the customers; NO ONE took part in the trivia, and I can count on one hand the amount of kids who colored, bowled, and built (not counting me; I made an R2D2 because I was the one told to keep an eye on the table and I was the one who cut out all the shapes in the first place). So I got a free Christmas tree ornament and a easy work day consisting of me watching the table when not putting away books and/or reading the backs of books I considered interesting, but I do wish the customers could've participated a little more. With all the people in the store doing early holiday shopping, you'd think we'd have a bunch of participates. Ah, what can you do?
The people I'm now editing for in my internship are very different from the others I used to look over, not just because they don't post their stuff late. Two of my three new writers actually write, as in their articles actually look like articles and aren't a few sentences separated by a bunch of pictures. Now it's starting to feel more like working an internship, but it's better because these articles are actually reporting on something (not to mention the pictures they include add to what they're talking about and look really good). Not that the third short writer doesn't do her job; it's nice I don't have to do three writer's worth of block paragraphs.
And since I'm talking about the daddy of all sci-fi this post, I'll mention my own sci-fi story MOA-27, which is the one about the cyborg in the post-apocalyptic city trying to get her memories back. According to the chapter outline I wrote, I'm about halfway through, and right now I'm currently in the middle in a fight scene. Our heroine has just gotten a major hit from the other cyborg she's fighting, and she's just getting out of her daze to see one friend panicking and the other one fighting the enemy cursing up a storm. And this is only the beginning of the fight; it needs to go on for a few more pages, and it terrifies me. Fight scenes are REALLY hard to write because you have to visualize it as you write so you know what's going one, there's the laws of physics to obey if you want it to sound real, you need a basic knowledge of fighting terms so you know different types of punches and stuff, AND you have to make sure you aren't using the same words/descriptions over and over to the point you don't want to read anymore (by the way, this is my advice to those who want to write fighting scenes). I've written my fair share, and read more than enough fight scenes (thank you fan fiction!), so that helps some. But I can't deny the feeling of relief I get when the fighting's over with and I can get on to the next exciting bit.
Weekly (Dis)Likes:
Like 1: I saw this on the employee comment board:
Thank you! I try my hardest!
Like 2: The little cross my grandparents gave me. They went to visit Grandpa's alma mater Notre Dame this week and brought me back a souvenir. It's a cross that can fit into the palm of my hand, and it's made of walnut with a sycamore bird on it. It was made by Grandpa's classmate Moore McDonough who makes them from fallen trees on the Notre Dame campus, and it's very beautiful. Thanks grandparents!
Like 3: I had dinner with some of my grandparents' friends again. It was simple pizza, but it was a good meal with some really entertaining and nice people.
Like 4: The Royals and their winning streak. Go Royals! (If they win the whole thing, I swear someone's going to make a movie out of it in the future).
Dislike 1: The fact barely anyone took part in Star Wars Day.
Dislike 2: Car accidents. There was an accident on my way to work one day this week because someone in front of me slid into the bumper of the car in front of it thanks to all the rain we've had recently. It was a simple matter of driving around it, and police were there to help, but I don't want to think about how that could've been me.
And quote:
Colleen
Actually, let's stick with the Milky Way. I'm no space explorer, though I wouldn't turn down the chance to discover/live on a new planet as long as the natives were friendly.
If you're wondering where all the space jargon's coming from, we had a Star Wars theme event day at B&N this week. Some of the events were three rounds of trivia, each one harder than the last, and for the kids there were activity sheets, bowling, a build-your-own-R2D2 table, and storytime in the kid's section. Unfortunately, Star Wars Day went completely unappreciated by the customers; NO ONE took part in the trivia, and I can count on one hand the amount of kids who colored, bowled, and built (not counting me; I made an R2D2 because I was the one told to keep an eye on the table and I was the one who cut out all the shapes in the first place). So I got a free Christmas tree ornament and a easy work day consisting of me watching the table when not putting away books and/or reading the backs of books I considered interesting, but I do wish the customers could've participated a little more. With all the people in the store doing early holiday shopping, you'd think we'd have a bunch of participates. Ah, what can you do?
The people I'm now editing for in my internship are very different from the others I used to look over, not just because they don't post their stuff late. Two of my three new writers actually write, as in their articles actually look like articles and aren't a few sentences separated by a bunch of pictures. Now it's starting to feel more like working an internship, but it's better because these articles are actually reporting on something (not to mention the pictures they include add to what they're talking about and look really good). Not that the third short writer doesn't do her job; it's nice I don't have to do three writer's worth of block paragraphs.
And since I'm talking about the daddy of all sci-fi this post, I'll mention my own sci-fi story MOA-27, which is the one about the cyborg in the post-apocalyptic city trying to get her memories back. According to the chapter outline I wrote, I'm about halfway through, and right now I'm currently in the middle in a fight scene. Our heroine has just gotten a major hit from the other cyborg she's fighting, and she's just getting out of her daze to see one friend panicking and the other one fighting the enemy cursing up a storm. And this is only the beginning of the fight; it needs to go on for a few more pages, and it terrifies me. Fight scenes are REALLY hard to write because you have to visualize it as you write so you know what's going one, there's the laws of physics to obey if you want it to sound real, you need a basic knowledge of fighting terms so you know different types of punches and stuff, AND you have to make sure you aren't using the same words/descriptions over and over to the point you don't want to read anymore (by the way, this is my advice to those who want to write fighting scenes). I've written my fair share, and read more than enough fight scenes (thank you fan fiction!), so that helps some. But I can't deny the feeling of relief I get when the fighting's over with and I can get on to the next exciting bit.
Weekly (Dis)Likes:
Like 1: I saw this on the employee comment board:
Thank you! I try my hardest!
Like 2: The little cross my grandparents gave me. They went to visit Grandpa's alma mater Notre Dame this week and brought me back a souvenir. It's a cross that can fit into the palm of my hand, and it's made of walnut with a sycamore bird on it. It was made by Grandpa's classmate Moore McDonough who makes them from fallen trees on the Notre Dame campus, and it's very beautiful. Thanks grandparents!
Like 3: I had dinner with some of my grandparents' friends again. It was simple pizza, but it was a good meal with some really entertaining and nice people.
Like 4: The Royals and their winning streak. Go Royals! (If they win the whole thing, I swear someone's going to make a movie out of it in the future).
Dislike 1: The fact barely anyone took part in Star Wars Day.
Dislike 2: Car accidents. There was an accident on my way to work one day this week because someone in front of me slid into the bumper of the car in front of it thanks to all the rain we've had recently. It was a simple matter of driving around it, and police were there to help, but I don't want to think about how that could've been me.
And quote:
"Do, or do not. There is no try." -Yoda, Star Wars. (I just had to.)
See ya,Colleen
Sunday, October 5, 2014
New Writers
Hey little ho, bros (and ladies)!
So, after those two eventful weeks I wrote about in my last blog, I had a rather average week of work, writing, and what not. Work was work; I had two night shifts this week, which wasn't so bad, and I've been working my hardest while trying to help the store out. I also had to do the music section again for one night shift, which same with the weekly look-over through the CDs for rogue labels. Which isn't the worst thing in the world, if I haven't said so already, but I did discover how I hate being interrupted when in the middle of this. I work slow because I'm thorough, so I only have a matter of time before the store closes to get this done, and the moment I feel like I've gotten into a groove and rhythm of doing things, someone breaks my concentration by asking them if I need help. And of course I help them, because I do want to help them, but it only adds a bit more stress to getting the look-over done on time. Not that it really mattered last night; apparently the store was so messy outside the music department we couldn't even finish straightening up before our boss took mercy on us and sent us home before it got too late. It'll take some practice, but I think I'll get better with CD look-overs.
Editing went incredibly well this week in that I don't have to edit a certain writer anymore. Basically, I got tired of working with the girl who was always sending her stuff in late, and told my boss as such. She agreed with me that it wasn't fair, so I now have new writers. Their skills are excellent (I won't say perfect; I am an editor, after all), but it does feel like there's not much to complain about on the weekly comment sheet I send to my boss. Which just goes to show how good they are. This week some of the articles I edited were about the perfect colors for fall, Fashion Week, in Paris, Milan, and London. and how a doll magazine can inspire Halloween costumes. If you haven't checked out "The Fashion Foot" yet, do so now!
No news on the writing front, so let's discuss another character from Burn in Light. This week is Jaeger, Enid's grumpy exorcist mentor. Like her, he's half human and half ghost, and he's a member of the Council, which is basically the government that looks after ghosts and exorcists: keeping the two worlds in balance, making new discoveries about ghosts, keeping track of new exorcists and assigning them teachers, etc. The Council is incredibly secretive, keeping all but the most need to know info from the public (thanks to some incredibly outdated rule of 'if no one knows, nothing can happen') and therefore Jaeger is not the most open person, which leads to some tension between him and Enid. Their relationship is complicated, but Enid still respects and likes him somewhat, and Jaeger willing to break the rules and give her pieces of info time to time whenever he shows up to check in on things.
And that's that for this week.
Weekly (Dis)Likes:
Like 1: It's October! The month of Fall, Halloween, and my birthday; how can this not be my favorite time of the year?
Like 2: 30 Seconds to Mars. Love this band, and Jared Leto is one of my celebrity crushes (love him in Dallas Buyers Club, though I hoped he's cut his hair since we saw him at the Oscars). The point is I was lucky to find their CD This is War in B&N's bargain CD bin for $4.99, and now I have very happy ears. :)
Dislike 1: I need to add another question to the list of stupid question people ask me when I'm at work: "Do you work here?" No, I don't, I just like wearing this B&N nametag for fun! Yes, maybe they don't notice it right away, but it's still one of those things you just want to roll your eyes at. :P
And quote!
Bye,
Colleen
So, after those two eventful weeks I wrote about in my last blog, I had a rather average week of work, writing, and what not. Work was work; I had two night shifts this week, which wasn't so bad, and I've been working my hardest while trying to help the store out. I also had to do the music section again for one night shift, which same with the weekly look-over through the CDs for rogue labels. Which isn't the worst thing in the world, if I haven't said so already, but I did discover how I hate being interrupted when in the middle of this. I work slow because I'm thorough, so I only have a matter of time before the store closes to get this done, and the moment I feel like I've gotten into a groove and rhythm of doing things, someone breaks my concentration by asking them if I need help. And of course I help them, because I do want to help them, but it only adds a bit more stress to getting the look-over done on time. Not that it really mattered last night; apparently the store was so messy outside the music department we couldn't even finish straightening up before our boss took mercy on us and sent us home before it got too late. It'll take some practice, but I think I'll get better with CD look-overs.
Editing went incredibly well this week in that I don't have to edit a certain writer anymore. Basically, I got tired of working with the girl who was always sending her stuff in late, and told my boss as such. She agreed with me that it wasn't fair, so I now have new writers. Their skills are excellent (I won't say perfect; I am an editor, after all), but it does feel like there's not much to complain about on the weekly comment sheet I send to my boss. Which just goes to show how good they are. This week some of the articles I edited were about the perfect colors for fall, Fashion Week, in Paris, Milan, and London. and how a doll magazine can inspire Halloween costumes. If you haven't checked out "The Fashion Foot" yet, do so now!
No news on the writing front, so let's discuss another character from Burn in Light. This week is Jaeger, Enid's grumpy exorcist mentor. Like her, he's half human and half ghost, and he's a member of the Council, which is basically the government that looks after ghosts and exorcists: keeping the two worlds in balance, making new discoveries about ghosts, keeping track of new exorcists and assigning them teachers, etc. The Council is incredibly secretive, keeping all but the most need to know info from the public (thanks to some incredibly outdated rule of 'if no one knows, nothing can happen') and therefore Jaeger is not the most open person, which leads to some tension between him and Enid. Their relationship is complicated, but Enid still respects and likes him somewhat, and Jaeger willing to break the rules and give her pieces of info time to time whenever he shows up to check in on things.
And that's that for this week.
Weekly (Dis)Likes:
Like 1: It's October! The month of Fall, Halloween, and my birthday; how can this not be my favorite time of the year?
Like 2: 30 Seconds to Mars. Love this band, and Jared Leto is one of my celebrity crushes (love him in Dallas Buyers Club, though I hoped he's cut his hair since we saw him at the Oscars). The point is I was lucky to find their CD This is War in B&N's bargain CD bin for $4.99, and now I have very happy ears. :)
Dislike 1: I need to add another question to the list of stupid question people ask me when I'm at work: "Do you work here?" No, I don't, I just like wearing this B&N nametag for fun! Yes, maybe they don't notice it right away, but it's still one of those things you just want to roll your eyes at. :P
And quote!
"If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader." -John Quincy Adams
Bye,
Colleen
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