Hi,
I've had a busy time since my last (first) blog. Firstly, I finally bought a new laptop; after only a few months of weighing the pros and cons of various prices, brands and the minutia of almost every aspect of a laptop that I am close to understanding (graphics cards? eh???)...I ended up going for a Toshiba C660 - well priced on the budget side of things, I think....and it is driving me crazy already...the stupid thing keeps missing letters I type or adding random doubles...it's really slowing my writing down...I've never had these problems before and I've never used a Toshiba before so I don't know whether it's a faulty product or a cheaply made product that is the issue - I don't think it's me....one positive thing is that my lap no longer gets heat stroke while working!!!!
Secondly, I've ordered both my desk solution (from Jali.co.uk) and my office chair, a Herman Miller Mirra chair (theofficefurniturestore.net). I should have the cupboard (soon to be hideaway desk) in a week, but the chair will still be another 5!!! I've just got to sort out how I'm going to hack the cupboard with a roll out keyboard shelf and paint colours and such...I'm quite looking forward to that bit actually - I love making nice tidy cupboards ;0)
Anyway, the stress I'm feeling is from all the new networking things that I'm doing now. I went to the Circle bar in Colchester for First Friday, lunch time networking; and also to The Crown, at Ardleigh, for another networking event. I did these both on the same day and it really was quite a lot to do...as a shy person it's hard for me to make the first move to talking to others - but I pushed myself as much as I could anyway.
So, I met a lot of people...thankfully interesting people too...maybe even a few characters (or a few traits) for my future books. The problem is that now I have quite a few contacts that I'd like to follow up for possible future collaborations...as a newbie to this I'm not really sure of the etiquette of timeline for following up....I guess I'll make some faux pas and insult a few people (unintentionally of course) along the way, but hopefully not too many.
The other thing I'm now signed up to is Twitter (@essayholmes). I must say, I don't really get it...what are all the #words all about...how do you fall into a conversation, should I be using the reply button...what's a retweet...do I look like a doofus doing the wrong thing on there...am I doing the wrong thing on there...how should I really be using it to my best advantage...it all adds up to a big fat QUESTION MARK ????
I've had a Linkedin profile for a few months, but not knowing what I wanted to do with it I did nothing much more exciting than make connections with a few people I already know. Now, with the networking events I've been to, I'm starting to make more contacts on it...still not really sure what to do with it.
From the Circle bar networking event (First Friday is on Facebook if you're interested) I met a lady, Sam, that is hosting a Women's Day exhibition in Chelmsford...so that's another busy day.
It may not sound like that much to others, but it's a lot to land on my plate all at once...and still trying to get some writing done too...only a little over 6,000 in the last week.
My new goal (set last Friday 4th March) is to complete the M&B book by this Friday (11th March)...so that's another 16,000 left...it's definitely achievable, but not at my current rate.
Maybe I'll just try to focus on the writing and forget everything else for a few days...try to forget me login details or something!!!!!
This post has definitely been a lot more difficult to type since my laptop is deciding what keys it does and doesn't want me to press...even making a few kind suggestions of its own....grrrrr...happier, less frustrated, times ahead I hope; maybe, even, slightly clued in on twitter and the like.
TTFN
