Adventures in Non-TV Land

Take my boring cable, take my old tv, you can’t take the sky from me, since I’ve found Serenity.

Lately I’ve been finding myself with an extra hour or two of spare time in the evenings. It’s not like I haven’t been doing anything after work, all my chores are getting done, the cat is happy with her purr time, my daily blog entry is posted, and my sci-fi short stories are in progress.

Where has all this free time sprung from?

Earlier this year I finally decided to cancel my Shaw cable service. I wasn’t intentionally trying to find time for anything, Shaw Cable had taken me to my breaking point with their worst customer service issues ever. I mostly follow the sci-fi/fantasy genres and there’s not a whole lot on TV that I did watch. Even Space Channel has its fair share of crappy programs.

After I cancelled my Shaw Cable service I figured it would give me a little extra time for writing projects but I hadn’t expected an excess!

Now that I no longer have cable service I won’t watch a program unless it has a fairly long run and ends properly. TV Networks are notorious for cancelling quality TV programs, leaving us at a cliffhanger, with no hopes of a happily ever after. Take Sanctuary for instance, that had a 4 season run and had a proper ending. I have bought all the CDs now. What the CDs cost me was worth one month of cable service. Take that Shaw Cable and... oh wait, I already told them that.

As I have adjusted to my new schedule I’m discovering just how much time I spent watching TV.

This TV-free life is proving to be quite rewarding! Let’s hope I don’t get bored with my crafty writing projects or I may have to take up drinking to occupy my hours!

Queen Victoria's Wisdom on Writing

Queen Victoria wrote a minimum 6000 words in her journal each day. She received her first journal in 1882, when she was a young girl of thirteen years old. It is unclear where her journals were stored as she finished each one, but a staff member of the royal household deemed them valuable enough to store away in the archive of her life.

This year HM Queen Elizabeth the II is presenting Queen Victoria's entire journal collection online at the Queen Victoria's Journals website. 

Women have extremely busy lives with work and famiy but Queen Victoria fitted a week into one day. She had the time to pen 6000 words each day, so I do believe that I can find the time to do the same, minus a zero or two!

As my vacation looms, I have promised myself to work on my steampunk writing projects at least 5 days in a row. It's been discussed whether I'll go into hiding, perhaps at a seedy hotel, or will I inhabit the local coffee shop and pretend to be JK Rowling? 

Ironically I was heading home one day when I nearly had to smack myself on top of the head! It's so true that we don't pay attention to our surroundings after the first few months. Stay tuned for my further writing adventures. I do know that the Queen did not stress about where to write, she just set pen to paper and wrote it.

If anyone here should finish reading Queen Vic's journals in their lifetime or write 6000 words a day, do come round for tea.

From the Spyglass of an Adventurer: Victoria Steam Exposition Part Three

I’ve greatly delayed in posting about the third day of the Victoria Steam Exposition.

We did some wandering around Victoria on this day, so we missed a few things at the show.

We started with a Steampunk Roundtable panel with writers Ann & Jeff Vandermeer; The Airship Ambassador from the Airship Ambassador website; Captain Robert from the band Abney Park promoting his book; and Kaja Foglio writer from Girl Genius fame. At the end of the panel they each answered a few questions on their respective projects.

Captain Robert, Kristina and Mel Dawn

We then had a lovely walk around Victoria's downtown area. Many passersby were dismayed that they had forgotten to wear their steampunk gear this weekend. 

We found numerous comic books stores, as well as a bookshop in a heritage building. At "Munro's" I found a large selection of steampunk books. I was able to acquire KW Jeter’s “Infernal Devices” for a book club event.

When we returned to the hotel we took a few group photos in the Empress Hotel's courtyard.

Next up was the best event of the day, a steampunk-themed fashion show. Jordan, one of the event organisers told us that this was their third attempt at holding a fashion show and this year they succeeded! 

That being the final event of the Exposition, there was nothing left to do but head to the ferries.

Please check out my blog entries from Friday night and Saturday, if you missed them earlier.

A Victorian Perfume Adventure: Guest Blogging Along

About a year ago I discovered the Perfume Shoppe tucked away in the lovely Sinclair Centre, in downtown Vancouver, BC. Here you can sample scrumptious French perfumes made from the finest natural ingredients.

If you're seeking designer perfumes, made with their allergenic synthetic formulas, you won't find any here. This Shoppe only stocks the finest perfumes that royalty and celebrities really wear. What, you thought they wore their own name brand perfumes? Highly unlikely, those are formulated from cheap ingredients with the goal of earning a celebrity an easy million dollars. Real French perfumes are designed out of sheer olfactory love and not mass-marketed schemes.

I tend to favour the gourmand type and have discovered that they don’t trigger my allergies like the department store brands do. When I choose to wear blends with coconut, hazelnut, licorice, violet, and rose, I am assured that the ingredients are actually made from flowers and food stuffs. As a guest writer, I’ve written a post entitled A Victorian Perfume Adventure for their blog. Please join us on a trip around the perfume world!

BC Government Asks: Citizen, are you ready for the Zombie Apocalypse?

Today, for your amusement let’s chat about the Zombie Apocalypse. You won’t need a job after December 21^st, right?!

Apparently the BC (British Columbia) government has decided that a Zombie Apocalypse is a real threat and has set up a website and blog with coping strategies. Click here to check it out.

While it’s not new to post online tips about the Apocalypse, the American CDC did the same last year, but it is unusual for a government hopping on the bandwagon. In a few week's time I won't be surprised to see a website telling us that the threat is imaginary and for no need to panic!

I don’t see a specific date mentioned, though it is claimed that the Mayan’s calendar ends on December 21^st. But then they found a new calendar going into the 2040s, so now I won't have to worry about an Apocalypse until I’m old and grey. I need not worry about what I have to save up for retirement as I can just plunder what I want from Safeway in 2040ish and/or the neighbours. They leave their door open so the zombies will get them first.

With the recent NDP haranguing the Conservative government on every issue from cuts in education, health and federal employees, I’m pleasantly surprised to see this new website. It offers some great tips on survival strategies and what to store in your supplies kit.

Apparently the goverment felt their citizens weren't taking earthquake preparedness serious enough, so they set up this wonderful new website. Their hope is to reach a segment of the population, approximately 95%, that generally ignores what they have to say.

Check out the Government BC website for helpful on planning strategies for the Zombie Apocalypse. Because if you are prepared for zombies, you are prepared for a disaster!

Clever Job Searching Techniques

In today’s economic environment it can be difficult to find a job. One thing that has caught my eye has been the sheer laziness regarding the standard job search. An employed person wants to help out her friends, so I’ve asked many people how they've been looking for a job. Many say that they have emailed only their standard resume to a job posting, without even an accompanying cover letter.

The early bird truly gets the worm, so here’s a few job search tips to get you started. They come from a job search class I took while in college. I actually found my job by being exceptionally clever and you can too!

You’ll need to be sending out 2000 resumes a month, not one or two. Do research online and choose several companies that you may be interested in working for. A quick telephone call can even get you the hiring manager’s name. When I was calling around I never actually had anyone hang up on me. If you are friendly and keep the inquiry short, most people are happy to help out.

Be sure to include a tailored cover letter and resume for the pertinent job, even when you are emailing. I know it’ll take an hour of your time, but employers throw out those generalized resumes. Plus, once you have one resume tailored for one type of job you can keep it on file and apply for more of those jobs. It’ll save you time in the long run. 

Have a friend go over your letter and resume. A friend of mine couldn’t even get one interview, until I saw his letter and resume, full of spelling errors and grammatical mistakes. No wonder he was skipped over! Once I fixed them he got three interview offers in one week and found employment. Good thing he didn’t need to know how to spell on the job!

Go onto Craigslist and go about three months back into the Help Wanted section. Send a query email asking if the job has been filled yet. If not, tell them feel you would be the perfect fit. I actually found my own job this way. Who would have thought I’d find a job through an old listing that was going to be pulled shortly! I’ll bet not many people have tried this technique, hence wonder woman wins again!

Ask your friends if their office is hiring. It’s actually hard to fill those mid-range jobs as people are too scared to apply. They feel they aren’t qualified. Well, unless the posting wants a doctor, lawyer, or engineer, you likely are qualified or can be trained to do almost any job so it can’t hurt to apply for all that interest you. Be sure to mention your friend’s name in the cover letter, or during the interview. They love to hear that you know someone within their company.

Make your job search a 9 to 5 job. The clever person who spends all day on a job search will have the new job sooner than someone who spent half an hour mailing out resumes.

Unfortunately, nowadays the lazy method is guaranteed to keep you unemployed for a long length of time, as there is one job opening with 2000 people applying. You really need to stand out and be willing to go that extra mile. I wish you good luck in your job search!

What I Learned About Finding Time for Blog Writing

Each writer has a different set of circumstances. We live different lives than our neighbours. What works for one writer may not work for another.

My 21-day blog writing challenge will be over in a week. While I didn’t find it too difficult to write each day, I did learn some interesting facts about myself.

1. I can’t for the life of me get up early in the morning to write! When I was in college I used to be able to get up at 5 am to study. No longer. This leaves me scrambling to find some other time during the day.

2. The optimum writing times for me are between 3 pm and 9 pm. Any earlier and I’m not wide awake, and any later and I am pooped. The afternoon difficulty is compounded by the fact that I work full-time, plus I spend weekend afternoons with my boyfriend.

3. I can’t write with someone else in the same room as me. Which brings me to wonder about my June writing challenge where I will attempt to write in public spaces. I guess I’ll find out then! This means that no writing will happen between Friday night and Sunday evening, the times I spend with my boyfriend.

4. If I can actually sit down and write in my book, on my iPhone or on my computer, the words come. The main challenge is finding the time to write.

5. If I spend time writing, other chores suffer. I’ve had little time for housework or even for crafting. When one activity is started, another must end.

6. I can fit in a little bit of writing while on the bus, at work, walking, etc., or better yet, ponder upon new ideas.

Generally this leaves me with a 6 pm to 9 pm week nights writing slot, which isn’t a bad deal, except I have to fit in dinner, dishes, housework, laundry, and time with the cat.

With this new knowledge I can now work out a daily writing schedule that I can keep for the remainder of the year.