Charmed?

At the risk of dating myself, I'm going to admit that I learned to type on a typewriter.  It was 8th grade, I believe, and we actually had an entire class in this skill (shorthand, too, as I recall...how un-PC for females today!).  Typing turned out to be one of the best skills I ever mastered, particularly considering my present profession as a writer and editor.  But I was amazed the other day, watching my 16-year-old daughter's fingers flying across the keyboard of her PC.  Not one typing class has she ever taken.  This skill has been self-taught, from years of growing up with computer technology.  She never knew the agonies of jammed paper, replacing ribbons, stuck keys, white-out, or--God forbid--having to painstakingly patch up a "stencil".  Anyone remember THOSE??  This generation gap was brought all-too-painfully to my attention quite a few years back, when that same daughter was admiring a silver charm bracelet of mine, heavily laden with charms that each meant something very specific to my life, my travels and my hobbies.  She paused when examining it, stopping at one that had moving parts, and looked puzzled.  "Mom?" she said, "What is THIS?"  I looked.  It was a miniature typewriter, complete with moving carriage, to commemorate my foray into journalism and the fact that I was editor of my high school newspaper.  How in the world could it be that my very own daughter had NO KNOWLEDGE of what a typewriter was?  Somehow, I like to cling onto the perhaps mistaken idea that those of us who grew up with those "archaic" machines appreciate even more the wonders of today's technology and the ease at which words can now be sent across continents at the push of a button.

Red Pen Disease

Well, since I'm a writer, I guess I'd better get on this blogging bandwagon, huh?  Up until a few months ago, I didn't really even know what a blog was!  (Am I giving away my age here?)

Yep, I'm a writer...and an editor.  I have that weird disease that means I can't read anything without putting a red pen to it.  Typographical or grammatical errors literally jump off the page of a book, an ad in a newspaper, a billboard in town...and hit me in the face.  Drives me crazy.  Drives my husband crazy that I do this, in fact.  But there you have it.  You'd think my meticulousness with the written word would translate into me being one of those people who have a very neat house and a very organized closet, right?  Well, unfortunately those two things appear to be very separate.  In fact, I'm what's known as a "piler".  I have "piles" everywhere: of papers, books, photos, you name it.  I'm resigned to my fate, however, and will be content with cleaning up the written word.

It always amazes that, even on extremely professional websites or publications, how many errors you'll actually find.  Or simply poorly written copy.  Maybe people don't know there are poor, struggling freelancers like us out there to cater to their every whim and make their written materials look fantastic??

I actually became a freelancer out of necessity, after I was laid off from my job as Managing Editor of a monthly lifestyle publication here in Phoenix, a job I loved.  But such is today's world, with layoffs happening everywhere...and, although I had no inkling that it would affect my life, it did.

But, since I'm generally one of those "cup half full" people, I'm trying to make lemonade out of lemons, getting bits of freelance work here and there and helping my husband with his new business (Sandler Training--a fantastic sales and management training program that is 180 degrees from traditional training) by writing his web copy, press releases and so forth.

And when I don't have freelance work, expect more blogs--at last I've found a way to release the words within me, whether anyone reads them or not!!!