Posts by Hillary
“Weight Loss for Writers” Class Premiers Online Jan 6
I’ve been waiting to teach this for years, and am so excited! We’re going to get healthier and write more. Description follows. Space limited, so register now. Lots of writers struggle with their weight, but has it ever occurred to you that weight gain has a lot in common with that other common writer’s malady,…
Read MoreBe Sure to Check the “Preapproved Payments” Page on Your PayPal Account Every So Often…
…and to cancel those preapprovals no longer needed. I just found that I’ve been paying $10/month to elance.com. Unlike more honest, forthright companies, they don’t send account statements, so it’s easy to forget you’ve subscribed and are paying. I haven’t used elance probably in a year, so this was wasted money.
Read MoreSituational Perfectionism in Sex
The Times’s Joyce Wadler recounts how the high cost of Viagra and other “performance enhancing” drugs is putting her under pressure to be better at sex. “I’m a sexually confident woman, but the cost of these pills was giving me performance anxiety. I knew it was supposed to be about love and connection, but when…
Read MoreWhy, in Writing, Process Trumps Product, And Why You Shouldn’t Worry About The Quality of Your Work
Everyone’s obsessed with quality, but the way to achieve it is not to focus on it. That’s because: 1) Quality is an Emergent Property An emergent property is one that’s intrinsic to a system, and that arises organically as that system operates. Think of relationships: if you try to force them, they wither and die.…
Read MoreOn the Topic of Not Waiting for Ideal Conditions to Get Started
Here’s a gent who, having lost a lot of his vision in old age, continues to paint amazing things **using Microsoft Paint.** Very inspiring – and you won’t believe what he can do.
Read MoreA Great Day for Mushrooms, and Alliteration
Woke up to find it’s raining again, for the upteenth time this fall. At first, I had my normal reaction, “Aw, crap.” But this time I quickly corrected myself, “All right! More mushrooms!” Michigan is apparently great for mushrooms. Maybe today, Monday, I will make manifest a marvelous Michigan morel.
Read MoreMushroom Picking in Michigan
We found…
Read MoreAre You Waiting for Ideal Conditions to Start Your Project?
Recently, someone mentioned she was waiting to clear “a big chunk of time” before starting a project. Other things people wait for are: The kids to be in school (or out of the house entirely). A better work space (either at home or elsewhere). More money. Retirement. ”To do more research.” While there is often…
Read MoreI Bought the World’s Best Coffee Mug at Goodwill Recently, and The Best Part is…
no matter what J says to me, I can respond simply by pointing at it.
Read MoreDave Barry on How to Cope With Post-Pulitzer Prize Situational Perfectionism
Situational perfectionism is when something causes your perfectionism to spike. It can be a failure, of course, but it can also be a success. Here’s J.K. Rowling, quoted in Salon: “For the first time ever in my life, I got writer’s block. The stakes seemed to have gone up a lot, and I attracted a…
Read More