Updateapalooza

So much going on right now I hardly know where to begin!  This is going to be one of those scattered and broken thought process kind of posts today so I can jam it all in there.  Aren’t you lucky?  Well of course you are!  I'm bringing Broken Thought Process Thursday back, woo hoo! For today anyway.

Ripple the Twine

Most importantly, the book is progressing nicely (especially considering the BTPTh link above includes an excerpt that isn't even in the finished MS anymore).  I will be acquiring the ISBN in the next couple weeks (budget, budget, budget!) and hopefully will finish formatting in about the same timeframe.  THAT is a lot of work let me tell you!  But it’s totally necessary and I don’t mind doing it knowing the book will look so much prettier when complete.

Judi FitzPatrick Studio was in-state recently and we had a little photo shoot for my book cover.  We’re working out specifics now and that should be wrapped up in the next couple weeks as well.  Can’t wait until that’s all situated, once I have the cover art it’s on like Ping-Pong, bitches!  I can order business cards, bookmarks, posters and other marketing material and I can get the graphic all over the place (promote, promote, promote!).

Also, I essentially had to start a publishing house in order to do this self-publish thing but it wasn’t too hard, just a lot of reading on the IRS website for EIN’s and stuff (research, research, research!).  Come to find out the EIN I had for CSD will work for Writesy Press as well.  I like the name, think it has a nice ring to it and it looks kind of sweet inside the front cover!

Ed-u-ma-cation

School is O.V.E.R.  Forever and finally. 

I know everyone says ‘never say never’ and all that but I think I should just finally admit to myself that I’m not the type who wants or needs a formal, structured, education in my life. 

My relationship with higher education began twenty years ago (almost to the month in fact…fuck, I’m feeling old!) when I first stepped through the doors at Middlesex Community College.  I started thinking about this quite a bit back in mid-January when I decided to withdraw from Ashford University.  I think all the financial messiness was the final straw but I really started to look back on all the signs and personal challenges over the years as related to college and how it was a non-essential part of my life.

I’ve gone to four different schools for four different paths over the past two decades.  I’ve accumulated massive debt and have absolutely no knowledge of how that debt will be repaid as I don’t have a steady paycheck (yet).  I’ve gone to, and subsequently dropped out of all but one program; the second attempt was just a short-term certificate course.  Basically, as I’ve said before, I’m the Sandra Bullock character in Forces of Nature with a four page long resume.

Ashford Instructors started to be less and less involved, yet I stayed.  The course content became less and less related to the course, yet I stayed.  The other students in class displayed less and less intelligence as each class went on, yet I stayed.  Then the bitches tried to fuck with my money.  It was like the proverbial baseball bat upside the head, I finally knew it was time to just admit that school is not my thing and get out so I could finally start learning.

The Attorney General in the state of Iowa was contacted and given specifics about the financial stuff.  They have decided to take the case.  If I can save just one person from being denied an education that they actually want, but can't complete because the shady financial practices cause them to leave school, then I'll feel like the battle was all worth it.  I may never even know but that's okay, I like happy endings so I'll go ahead and believe its possible.

Battling Against Cancer

One of the things I’ve learned recently in the school of the world is that there are people out there who get the shaft for absolutely no reason.  These people are so fucking great there should be statues in their honor in town squares and stuff.  They are selfless, kind, caring, giving and struggling, yet they still continue to give.  That’s hardcore rainbows and sunshine people!

You all know my dear friend Ginger, right?  No?  Well you can check out her link – Life & Bagels.  She & I met in the coolest way possible – through comments left on Jason Mraz’s (late) blog, Freshness Factor Five Thousand (RIP).  Yup, that’s right.  Represent for all the early lovers of the love!  We’ve known each other for about five-ish years already (holy shnikeys!) but have never met. 

Whatever.  Face-to-face has no bearing on friendship.  I’ve got a really good friend in Ohio who’s married and has a kid.  He’s about a year older than me and we met for the first time at his wedding almost ten years ago.  We had been pen-pals since I was sixteen years old.  Yes, remember actual letters?  Just like the blogs and comments of today’s generation.  You can know a person without knowing them.  So, anyway, back to Ginger.

Last year she was diagnosed with carcinosarcoma.  Yeah it’s a mouthful.  It’s cancer.  Those words are never going to be easy to pronounce because medical type people want you to linger over the names as long as possible.  Fuckers.  Anyway, Ginger is a working gal with a limited insurance plan and getting treatment to survive a cancer that no one walks for or really even knows about.  Its pretty rare.  It sucks that she has this, it sucks that the treatment is a bitch to pay for.

What doesn’t suck is that the people she works with all pitched in and bought her a car recently (she was a public transportation kind of gal for a while there).  What also doesn’t suck is her attitude.  The woman is a freaking cancer battling ninja!  But a few bucks would really help her to pay the bills for all of the stuff she has to do to be the ninja.  You can go right over to PayPal and send her a tax deductible donation at whatwouldgingerdo@gmail.com  Any amount is welcomed.

Goals to strive for

I have four daily goals right now.  For as long as I can muster the courage and strength to continue to strive for them I’m looking forward to completing as many per day as I can.  The ideal would be to do at least three of the four every day.  They are:

·         Write

·         Read

·         Exercise

·         Socialize (and I don’t mean strictly through online media)

And would ya look at that?  Here’s my first goal already achieved and it’s barely even 9:00 AM in Phoenix!

So to recap – Ripple the Twine is coming out in April through Writesy Press, my mom is a kick ass Photographer, I’m officially a student of the world, my mind-body-soul is being worked on as often as possible, and my friend really could use some help. 

That email again -- whatwouldgingerdo@gmail.com

So that’s pretty much it for now.  Kaythanxhaveagreatday!