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Printed from https://www.writing.com/main/profile/blog/tuozzo/sort_by/entry_order DESC, entry_creation_time DESC/page/6
Rated: 18+ · Book · Personal · #1411600
The Good Life.
I am a professional musician  , worship leader  , small business owner  , songwriter  , aspiring author   and freelance nonfiction writer   with a chemical engineering degree  .

But that's just my resume.

My profile of qualifications is only one of the ways in which I am unique. Here I chronicle my personal and professional goals and my efforts to achieve them. Occasionally I fail. Mostly, I take daily baby steps toward all my long-term goals. Much like the stories I pen, the songs I compose, and the businesses I run, I am always a work in progress.

Merit Badge in Music
[Click For More Info]

  To a dear friend whose talent for writing music is sensational. May you have a fabulous New Year, (((Brandi)))!!! *^*Kiss*^*

Big hugs,
Sherri *^*Heart*^*  Merit Badge in Organization
[Click For More Info]

I don't know how you do it, but I assume there's magic involved *^*Bigsmile*^*  I have really enjoyed this month of planning and preparation for NaNoWriMo and I love how organized it all is.  Thank you for hosting a great challenge and for your dedication to helping so many of us prepare with confidence and trepidation for National Novel Writing Month (known to sane folks as 'November' *^*Laugh*^*) at your  [Link To Item #1474311] Merit Badge in Leadership
[Click For More Info]

For your hard work, commitment, talent and innovation in running the October NaNoWriMo Preparation each year, which helps many of us get our scattered thoughts together for November's novel-writing. And also because this badge has ducks on it.
Previous ... 2 3 4 5 -6- 7 8 9 10 11 ... Next
November 3, 2012 at 6:33am
November 3, 2012 at 6:33am
#764781
Frozen! Must... clean... up... holes...first...
October 21, 2012 at 9:32pm
October 21, 2012 at 9:32pm
#763538
Just two or three short months ago, Michelle Tuesday Music School   posts on Facebook reached up to, and sometimes more than, 200 users, according to FB's own statistics reporting. Posts in the last month have barely cleared 50 reached users.

I suppose it could be seasonal, but I've noticed changes elsewhere, too. More...  
October 6, 2012 at 6:57pm
October 6, 2012 at 6:57pm
#762184
I am a lean, mean, forum-updatin' machine who likes... shiny...

...thanks to my now officially diagnosed and fully treatable adult ADHD. Doc has started me on a low-ish dose of meds, and it works very well until about 3pm. I can tell it's worn off because I start randomly clicking tabs and windows and icons or flipping through Android apps wondering what the heck I was just doing, what I'm supposed to be doing, and what I just did. But 7am-3pm are wonderfully focused and productive, and I'll take the improvement.

Most of my readers know about "October Novel Prep Challenge [13+], which is exciting, rewarding, and exceedingly time-consuming, in part because of my leadership, and in part because of my participation. Hey, have you guys been watching Revolution? Is it everything you expected? How about the new season of Big Bang.

*checks clock* *Blush* Sorry. It's nearly 7pm. Meds = completely gone. This is why I generally use section headers in my blog posts - more for my own organization than yours.

Praise Team
I unloaded on the praise band and choir about their attendance and commitment level today. I got lots o' sympathy and apologies, so that's good. I still feel like we didn't learn the parts well enough for our big 10-Year Anniversary tomorrow. What'r'ya gonna do? Sing louder, I suppose.

Gigs
If you don't know, the Mexican restaurant I played every Wednesday night laid me off after about a year of playing there. So no regular gig right now. I need to find a new one of those.

MTMS
Keeps chugging, mostly without me this past week. Thank God for loyal employees, because even without my regular attendance, we've cleared 280 students. We're going *Up* again, which is the RIGHT DIRECTION. I have a big, long to-do list to catch up on at work. Some of the tasks, I'll do. Some will get deleted in about a year when I decide, eh, if I haven't done it yet, is it really important?

Family
Just me 'n Sammy tonight. The boy and his two kids are all hanging out with their friends tonight. Ahhhhh...

Writing
I suppose I have a Contest Round entry to go write. Too-da-loo!



September 22, 2012 at 10:45am
September 22, 2012 at 10:45am
#761268
17 days since my last post = pathetic. Here's what's happened since I last posted.

SO FAR IN SEPTEMBER:

"October Novel Prep Challenge [13+]
Ready to go, with all funds and volunteers in place. Now we're all just waiting for October 1st.

Saturday morning Praise Band and Choir practices
Started and stalled. I had a great turnout at Weekd 1 practice, and then next to nobody at Weeks 2 and 3. Meanwhile, Saturday mornings at work have tossed me a few curveballs in the way of teacher attendance, and I've been at church directing a band and choir of nobody, unable to jump to the rescue at work.

Klout
Completely revised its site. ?

Church Internet Marketing and Social Media
I created Facebook and Twitter pages for my church, which took off (yay.) Because I'm fantastic at implementations. It's maintenance I struggle with, so let's see how long they last.

STILL YET TO COME IN SEPTEMBER:

MTMS Staffing
* Counseling (and possible termination) of one teacher - BLEH- and hiring of at least two new teachers.
* Open House on 9/30

Church
* Reschedule praise team practices????
* Form Internet Presence team
* Newsletter article: Internet Presence team
* Newsletter article: New Facebook and Twitter pages

BLAH:

...and here's why: I thrive on ideas. I love it when people get excited about something new (unless it's another iProduct.) So I constantly have this list of "wouldn't it be great if" ideas, and I'm all about actually implementing them. But maintenance becomes too much for one l'il gal like me to keep up with. So unless I have people lined up to take over (or volunteers appear out of the woodwork), it's going to flop.

I'm a good delegator. What I'm not doing is delegating {i]before implementation. Nothing bursts your bubble more than a great idea (like a praise choir) that flops (because people don't show up.)

Maybe praise choir is my real problem, because the Facebook page, the Open House, hiring prospects, October prep - all that looks good. My church job is bumming me out for the second or third year in a row.

I've been wondering if it's time to move on from that job. I still "need" the income, at least, in order to meet our budget and not fight with Keith about discretionary spending choices. But maybe this is my last year. Maybe my new campus launch next fall will take all of my time. Maybe I'll get more gigs - they seem to be growing of their own accord just by word-of-mouth, and I could always actively look for opportunities.

#EndRamble:

I'm a music director and worship leader. Here are my primary functions:
1. Lead our volunteer church musicians in offering their musical gifts.
2. Provide a worshipful experience for our congregation on Sunday morning.

SCOPE CREEP. Why do I make it so much harder than it needs to be? If the musicians don't show up, they don't need my leadership. And I'm perfectly capable of providing a worshipful experience with fifty, twenty, five, or one musician.

Praise Choir is in year two of its trial phase. If it flops, it won't see a third year, simple as that. We'll go back to a small group of singers and a band, which has worked just fine for a decade now. I'll be disappointed for a bit, and then I'll move on to the next great idea.

Peace, because I just found some for myself.

Michelle
September 5, 2012 at 8:30am
September 5, 2012 at 8:30am
#760057
This is one of those boring "state of the union" type blog posts. I've attempted to make it more interesting with boldfaced and underlined section headings. *Bigsmile* Enjoy.

MTMS
Student count = 273.5. Our cash flow is in great shape and enrollments are up, which means I suddenly remember that I love my job.

Writing
"October Novel Prep Challenge [13+] is off and running. We have plenty of volunteers and donations, everyone is excited to start, and it's only 9/5.

I turned 37 on 9/2. I got a cushy leather office chair for my closet in the guestroomoffice, which is going to be fantastic come October and November.

Church
My friend Sarah (the praise band guitarist) met with me yesterday and helped me iron out the first song of the year, a medley of a contemporary Christian song ("I Will Be" by Natalie Grant) and "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey. It's going to be a blast. Also, she made me feel better about some stupid ego problems I've encountered with former praise band singers whose feelings are hurt because they've been relegated to "choir" instead of "one of four singers who stands in front of a microphone every week." Yes, folks: egos. In my church. Don't let it scare you, of course. It's not religion that's the problem. It's people.

Home
I'm down 8 pounds since June and dropping. I spent plenty of time with my family this past weekend. In particular, Keith and I spent time appliance shopping, installing a washer and dryer (the teenage boy helped, too), and repairing the mower. Also, the four of us went together to Red Lobster for my birthday. Moral of the story: I spent the weekend with my family, so now I can focus on other things. Like NaNo. *Bigsmile*

And just in case the section headings weren't enough, here are some balloons: *Balloon1**Balloon2**Balloon3*
August 29, 2012 at 11:24am
August 29, 2012 at 11:24am
#759598
I've found a book that's completely missing from the market. I've desperately looked everywhere, and it simply does not exist. So I'm going to publish it. *rubs hands together with an evil cackle*

(It's a surprise.)
August 28, 2012 at 10:24am
August 28, 2012 at 10:24am
#759527
Not too shabby: 278.5. I haven't recorded in awhile, so I wanted to snag the number since it's close to the end of the month.

That is all.
August 26, 2012 at 10:14pm
August 26, 2012 at 10:14pm
#759442
Of course I enjoyed this because I'm a musician, but I found it just as applicable (maybe even more so) to publishing:



The Benefits of Self-Publishing to the Literary Industry
The Internet has finally given the publishing industry some level footing. Sales are a snap when merchant services like PayPal charge you service fees barely higher than traditional Visa swipe machines in brick-and-mortar bookstores. Social media has created a platform where marketing is completely free, costing only time and energy. Distribution is a breeze with Internet stores like Amazon, and even better, with the advent and booming popularity of e-readers, with which authors can electronically transmit their product to any customer in the world for free in seconds. Suddenly, small presses and even individual authors can compete with traditionally-published prices. This is great news for the consumer.

The Quality of Self-Published Works
On the flip side, traditional publishers claim that self-publishing is leading the industry down a literary toilet, and I do admit that cutting out the middle man also cuts out quality controls. While some quality and highly-acclaimed self-published works exist, it's all too easy to self-publish junk, so naturally, self-published junk exists as well. So many authors are self-publishing right now, we are bombarded with literally millions of reading choices. Whether or not you believe the majority of self-published works lack the quality of works traditionally published, The Guardian reports that most of those choices aren't earning their authors a living:



As a consumer, my literary choices are more varied and cheaper than they've ever been. But they're also more questionable. I recently read halfway through a book that one of my author "friends" on Facebook offered free for Kindle at one point or another. The writing has clever and quirky moments, but the whole thing had an overall amateurish feel. I ended up giving up on the book because, frankly, I thought it was stupid. I was too distracted by thoughts like, "This guy needs a decent editor," and "Where the hell is this plot going?" to enjoy the book. I feel like the author has potential, but I'll never waste my time on another of his works again.

Traditional Publishers and the Supply Chain
In my opinion, the publishing industry is in a period of transitional chaos. While I see the benefits of self-publishing to consumer and author alike, I don't believe in cutting out the middle man entirely. Authors are good at writing, and not necessarily editing, marketing, distribution, or selling. Any author who wishes to be a successful author should recognize his weaknesses in the supply chain and delegate or contract those functions, and traditional publishers have always been the literary supply chain experts. But I do believe the traditional publishers are bulky, slow, and overly powerful. They're like WalMart to retail: the larger the corporate giant, the harder it is for everyone else to compete, because - let's face it - even tiny margins equate to enormous profits when you multiply them times the kind of volumes corporate giants see. WalMart can afford to sell at rock-bottom prices when pennies of profit per item multiplied by trillions of items sold still equals billions of dollars to the company's bottom line. The publishing giants have always had the advantage of volume over small presses and self-publishing venues, which gives them pricing power. The problem becomes too much control: higher prices for the consumer and lower revenues for the author.

The Future of the Industry
I believe that traditional publishers are going the way of the typewriter. But I don't believe that rampant unedited self-publishing marketed on Facebook is the future of literature. The industry is in transition, and as with any industry, the consumer ultimately controls the market. Consumers will not tolerate poor quality products. Amazon, currently one of the biggest self-publishing venues, will have to satisfy consumer demands. Whether that satisfaction comes in the form of improved product review processes and rankings, acceptance policies, competing online stores with better quality controls, or something completely innovative that changes the market as much as the e-book did, the consumer will get its way in the end. The trick for the author - or editor, publisher, marketer, agent, or other member of the literary supply chain - is to be there and ready when it happens.
August 23, 2012 at 2:58pm
August 23, 2012 at 2:58pm
#759233
...I'm just curious.

Productive? Somewhat. Today, I've managed to reschedule a student, negotiate advertising rates, purchase MTMS notepads, revise MTMS client policies, write a newsletter article for church, and subscribe to Angie's List so I can check out my business from the customer's perspective. And I kinda-sorta started compiling an online music poll for to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the worship service I lead.

Productive, yes. But all I really feel like I've produced is a pile of snotty tissues.
August 22, 2012 at 9:55am
August 22, 2012 at 9:55am
#759139
I hate it when people whine online about being sick, but SERIOUSLY - who gets two completely different viruses two weeks in a row??? And not just those 24-hour deals, but like the several-days-in-bed varieties?

And I was on such a roll.
August 17, 2012 at 11:34am
August 17, 2012 at 11:34am
#758803
When Storm Machine struggled with nomenclature for her current project  , I bombarded her with thoughts about nomenclature in our own lives: How humans define things, how other races on Earth define things (e.g., canines define things by smell rather than words), and how it's possible that the "sixth" sense is really six hundred various senses that we humans don't understand. Alien races could have completely different biology and sense their surroundings in ways we haven't considered. And the more I rambled, the more I recognized scope creep. While this might all be great fodder for the imagination, she just needs names for her races and nations.

Scope creep versus boundaries.
I create scope creep for myself, constantly, and not just in writing. I create it in my jobs, which are theoretically clearly defined, as least in comparison to my "job" as a writer. My job at church? Lead music at worship. Nobody said I have to have x number of instruments or choirs or sing x number of songs. My job at Patron? Sing for two hours. Could I sing the same exact two-hour setlist every week? Of course. Do I? Not a chance. I kill myself trying to learn new releases and listener requests. My job at MTMS  ? - I'm making a bit of money as a business owner, and it's technically enough to live on. Do I just collect a paycheck and let the place run itself? No, I'm looking at how to open 2-5 more campuses. Why? Because I'm a glutton for scope-creep punishment. I set no boundaries.

This is my struggle as a writer.
I need to focus and eliminate the scope creep. Andromeda Sings was a cool idea, and she was sort of begging to be created. A lot of my shorts are just writing exercises that resulted from contest prompts. I need to make like Butcher (and Rowling and Meyer and Brooks and Salvatore etc. etc. etc.) and stick to my story. That's how I can get back into writing. Scope creep spirals out of control, and I lose the reins. Then I don't want to ride anymore, and I take a year-long hiatus from anything so much as a Textbroker article or blog post. It's just too intimidating, because it's too MUCH. So I should focus. Create my world. Everything I do lives in my world. All my characters are tied to the same story. They all have their own stories, of course, but they're linked. I need connections. That's how I can focus.

Whew. I guess I just identified my NaNo project for this year: "Poor Witch [E] sequel. I'm also going to think through how I can completely rewrite Andromeda to move her to my world. It's highly possible. Mildred's world is parallel to the world we know, and she visits our world, so why couldn't Andromeda move across worlds too? She could.

Author marketing and what I learned from Jim Butcher.
Here's something I've learned from Butcher: He's so freaking addictive because it never goes the way you want it to. In his prefaces in Side Jobs, more than once he referred to rubbing his hands together and cackling with glee when he got Harry into more messes. I need that attitude. I need to do that to my characters. That's the point , isn't it? I'm too easy on my characters. I like for things to work out for them, so I make things work out for them, because I'm the author and I can do what I want with my characters. Why not rescue them?

Because it's boring.

So here's the choice I make: do I want my characters rescued, or do I want readers? Because it turns out (and even though I knew this all along, somehow I've come to the sobering realization that I'm horribly guilty of ignoring the fact) you can't have both.

Suddenly, all the experts who claim that authors should pick a niche and stick to it have convinced me. I buy it. I buy it, and I plan to live it.

Focus.
My New Year's Resolution for 2012 was to create balance between work, family, church, health, and writing. I've done a good job with the first three, but I've sadly neglected the health and writing categories, because I just can't get to them. So I'm adding a new word to live by, and that word is FOCUS. I plan to set boundaries in the categories of my life, including writing. I plan to add "health" and "writing" back into the equation. And I will be successful, because I won't waste my time on things that fall outside the boundaries I've defined for myself, my jobs, my business, my endeavors.

I don't know where I've been for the last six months, but I'm back, Baby. Initiate productivity sequence: GO!
August 15, 2012 at 4:50pm
August 15, 2012 at 4:50pm
#758669
GAH! My Google Pagerank slipped! http://michelletuesday.com is still a 2, but http://michelletuesday.com/musicschool and http://michelletuesday.com/michelletuesday.php dropped to 1s!

I. Am. A. Slacker.

But the MTMS Facebook page is a 3. Which means I'm doing well there. I've got to blog! I've got to be more present! I've got to exchange links! What the hell?

I heard Google recently changed its algorithm. Anyone have the skinny on that?
August 12, 2012 at 7:33am
August 12, 2012 at 7:33am
#758375
I finished a whole entire project because my pastor pushed a little.

That's a good thing.

Websites
I had three websites on my to-do list.One is a web revision for my church site. Another is a web revision for my school site. And the third was a made-from-scratch site for a new local food pantry   hosted by six area churches, including mine. I actually scratched something off of my "long-term" to-do list yesterday.

Reading
I'm still reading Side Jobs, but not flying through it like the rest of the series, probably because I already know the outcome. I wanna know what happens next. I'm not diving into a new book series quite yet, but I have a couple choices on my Kindle. I'm thinking I should hold off until Praise Team rehearsals kick off at church. And I finish those other two website projects.

People I'd Like to Kick
*Bullet* Ohio Idol owner, Steve Wise.
*Bullet* Pretty much any young-ish employee or volunteer who refuses to read or answer emails, whom I must chase down with text messages or face-to-face conversatinos to get absolutely anything done. This includes both MTMS and church.

To Do - Disclaimer: This Section Is Kinda Boring
*Bullet* Finalize plans for Sound System Work Day on September 9th.
*Bullet* Pick/buy music and plan worship and Praise Team rehearsals through December.
*Bullet* Fall ad planning and rollout at MTMS.
*Bullet* Review and implement brainstorm items from MTMS Staff Meeting... a list in its own right.
*Bullet* Meet attorney and chase down $830 owed by Ohio Idol, which owner Steve Wise refuses to pay
*Bullet* MTMS website revision.
*Bullet* Messiah Lutheran Church website revision.
*Bullet* Senor Patron poster. How many weeksmonths since I moved to Wednesdays?
*Bullet* Tweak payroll system so it doesn't take me five hours every month.
--- That one jumps to the top of the list the first of each month, then drops back after five hours or so. *Pthb*
*Bullet* Review and revise business plan.
*Bullet* Performance evaluations and growth plans. At least for the ones who care.
*Bullet* Writing/Revisions/Editing.
*Bullet* Develop student database.
*Bullet* Something I told Robert Waltz was at the bottom of my list, next to "develop student database." I can't remember what it is.

Other Important Notes
Did I mention that STEVE WISE, OWNER OF OHIO IDOL, is a JERKFACE? He needs to just pay his fucking bill and stop playing games with big words like "attorney" and "council." He blames his "council" for not paying his bill, which probably consists of himself and his five daughters, who were the "staff" at every single Ohio Idol event.

See, here's the thing. This guy clearly thinks he's doing this again next year when he says things like, "County Fair Such-and-such invited us back next year!" on his Facebook page. He clearly thinks this is a viable, recurring annual business.

Maybe it is, and maybe it isn't. Fact: he told MTMS staff (in WRITING) when he asked us to judge that he expected 5,000 entrants. He got about 500, which we also know as fact, because we were there. At $25 per head, you do the math at how much revenue he expected versus how much he actually saw.

See, at that point in a business venture, you have two choices: (1) You bail on the whole thing, or (2) You go in with your eyes open, throw a bunch of money at it, and understand that you won't see a profit until NEXT YEAR, if at all. I know about these things. I barely broke even on my summer camps two years running and am considering not doing it again in 2013. If I do decide to move forward, I understand that it might lose money. But I also understand that I need to maintain my reputation as a quality provider of summer camp programs if I do decide to continue, or I will surely lose money.

He's terrified of a bad reputation. When we (MTMS) told him that another judge told us the same thing he told us ("I never agreed to pay you. You said you would volunteer in exchange for a contact list."), he emailed that other judge and threatened to bring in his attorney if he heard of any more "slander" from her. (I'm not sure how, "Funny, that's exactly what the other judge told us you told her," constitutes as slander.) Then the other judge and I both posted on the Ohio Idol Facebook page that we had not seen payment of our invoices and were just following up, and by the way, congrats to the winners! (also not slander - or libel, either), he emailed us both and told us "formally" (he always uses that word) to stop posting on the Ohio Idol Facebook page, website, or "any other public forum" (oops), and said if we had any questions, that he would provide his attorney's name and number.

So I called his bluff. I replied and asked him to, yes, please, by all means, send his attorney's name and number. I haven't heard back.

I'm so tired of this. I just want to get paid. Leann and I worked long days and sacrificed other things that needed to get done to help this guy out. I feel so abused and unappreciated.
August 10, 2012 at 12:01pm
August 10, 2012 at 12:01pm
#758203
...in dog years, that would be...35? That's fairly close. Except it's WDC years, not dog years, so I would think I'd be published by now. Er - not just published. Published and selling. That's one thing WDC has done for me - help me distinguish between that very important difference.

TO DO
*Check* Write to-do list.
*Check* Take nap.

I don't even bother making things up to scratch off the list first.

My ADD is OUT OF CONTROL. And I'm not even diagnosed. Maybe I should get a diagnosis. I wonder if medication would help? Shiny medication, so distracting. I have legitimate stuff to do, of course, but I've done nothing but email another musician at church all morning. It's enough to drive you mad:

Me: Hey, since you're playing a pretty solo right before the prayers, do you want to continue playing softly under the prayers and The Lord's Prayer this Sunday?

Musician: Which Lord's Prayer are you going into, Mallott's or the contemporary one?

Me: I actually meant to play softly under the spoken Lord's Prayer, but since you suggested it, singing the Lord's Prayer would be nice. We could do whichever one you like, so long as you can provide us with lyrics for the power point slide show.

Musician: Do you mean type out the words in a PowerPoint slide?????

Me: Hahaha no!! I mean send the lyrics to me and Melissa and WE will type them into a power point slide. *Smile* If it's the contemporary version, we have those lyrics already. If it's another version, we need the lyrics.

Musician: Are you kidding me??? Are there different "lyrics" to The Lord's Prayer??? Isn't the prayer the same with only the music different????

Me: Silly. Of course! There are different TRANSLATIONS of the Prayer, are there not?? The contemporary song includes the "debt/debtors" verbiage, but starts with "Our Father, who art in heaven" rather than the "Our Father in heaven" that is typical of that translation. Our poor congregation would be beside themselves with confusion if we put the wrong words in front of them!!

Musician: Since I've played for so many denominations, debtors, trespasses, intruders, etc. all the same people to me!! I found the front page to that Russell Nagy Lord's Prayer. I think you did it a few weeks ago at a wedding. I didn't have much time to look for the rest of the pages. Do you have it immediately at hand?

Me: Yes, let's just do that one. I have those lyrics.

Musician: I'll need the music. I think it's in the key of G?


Is it too late to go back to Plan A??? Sheesh. Meanwhile, I need to send an email to our client list reminding them to sign up for upcoming recitals; write a bulletin announcement inviting church people to sing in my choir; and plan the fall schedule for my praise team. And that's just what I need to do TODAY.

At least I blogged, even if most of it was copy/paste cheating.
August 7, 2012 at 8:32am
August 7, 2012 at 8:32am
#757996
I finished the Dresden Files (except Side Jobs, his collection of shorts) and moved on to The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty for book club. A very good book, but nowhere near as suck-me-in engaging as Dresden. I'm still going to bed too late (thanks a heap, Gabby Douglas), but at least I'm not spending every free moment nose-in-Kindle.

That image doesn't work as well, does it? Technology is great until it renders our cliches obsolete. *Pthb*

At MTMS  , we cleared 275 and dropped back down when a family of three withdrew, but we're still two-steps-forward-one-step-back in the volume growth category, which is the opposite of May and June, which makes me very happy. I love my job again.

On the weight loss front, I dropped four pounds and held... all summer long. I suppose I should be happy I'm not gaining, but I still have twenty-six pounds to go according to my goals. I ate three molasses cookies (6 points) and drank two cups of creamered coffee (2 points) for breakfast today. Yay, go me.

On the writing front... (wait, there's a writing front?) ...two months until "October Novel Prep Challenge [13+], which means one month until advertising and fundraising begins. Other than that, I'm behind on my WDC blog (yours truly) and my business blog, I've been away from social media and the Internet in general, I have three website revisions in progress, and I'm behind in my church duties.

I will accomplish something on my to-do list today. *scribbles "take nap" on to-do list*
July 28, 2012 at 8:30am
July 28, 2012 at 8:30am
#757359
Student Count = 270. We've enrolled a slew of students in the last two weeks.

That is all.
July 25, 2012 at 9:11am
July 25, 2012 at 9:11am
#757204
My friend is getting married this fall. I asked her to sing in my praise choir this past Easter, along with a host of other singers, and she agreed to do it. At some point, I told the whole group how happy I was that they all agreed to come together and lead worship for Easter. My friend announced something like, "I'm glad you think so, because I was going to ask you a favor in return." She said she hoped I would sing at her wedding.

Now, I normally charge $200 to sing at weddings. She's a friend, but not family or even a close friend. I'm thinking to myself, I would normally charge her. Is she hoping I'll do it for free? But at this point, I'm sort of bound, just because of the way she phrased it, and because she really did do me a favor (and though I see it more as serving the congregation and God, not me personally, I figure maybe my own service to the congregation and God is to return the favor and sing at this wedding.)

So she followed up this month to firm up the dates. Yesterday's emails went like this:
Friend: Are you still available? I need to let the DJ know if he's doing the wedding too or just reception.
Me (after confirming the date): I can do it. Just let me know what you're looking for.
Friend (after listing desired songs): I will pay whatever you normally charge...of course.
Me: That's no problem. I normally charge $200. Let me know if that's okay.
Friend: Absolutely!
* insert back-and-forth with song choices, logistics, wedding and rehearsal time discussion*

Then, this morning, 5AM:
Friend: I looked over our wedding budget last night. After paying a DJ $600...we can't really afford another $200 for music. :( thanks though.

Gah. So, do I offer her a discounted price? Offer to do it free? Was she hoping I would do it free in the first place? Why would she say she would pay whatever I normally charge and then decide she can't afford it. She could be one of those people who is legitimately really bad at budgeting, and maybe someone pointed out how that just wasn't going to work. Maybe she never really planned to spend the extra, but wanted to look responsible by offering to pay, all the while hoping I would offer to do it otherwise. Or maybe she just got the quote from the DJ and was shocked at how high it was. At this point, the easy out is to tell her okay and leave it at that. But I'm not sure if she has some expectation or is hoping for something more. I don't want to let her down, and I don't want a member of my church harboring negativity toward me. On the other hand, I don't want to set a precedent that I'll do all kinds of free stuff if you volunteer under me. I could be indebting my time for life, and I just don't have that much of it to give. I make next to no money, and although it obviously doesn't cost me anything to sing at an event, it's the one thing that earns me a decent income. I do have bills to pay.

So what would you do??
July 24, 2012 at 4:32pm
July 24, 2012 at 4:32pm
#757172
We cleared 260 students again - finally - after finally clearing 250 again - at MTMS  . So that's good. I also took care of the cash flow situation with a big, shiny bank deposit (granted, and a longer loan payback period), so my anxiety about running out of funds has decreased substantially. I've started to catch up on my to-do list, or, rather, I've stunted its growth, which also helps my anxiety. I've always been a summer girl, so I can't believe I'm saying this, but bring on fall, Baby.

Student count = 260.5.

I realize I've been absent from blogging and social media for the last month or two. That's because my life is a spiraling hurricane. Every once in awhile, I find myself sitting in the eye with a moment to breathe, only to find that the winds have swept away the dregs of my sanity, and I have no idea what I should be doing to take advantage of the lull. But like we say in Ohio: If you don't like the weather, just wait five minutes. Or play a video game. Or read a book. The storm shall return momentarily.

I've nearly completed Ghost Story, the last of the (published) Dresden files, not counting the short stories compiled in Side Jobs. Once I finish the series, I'll kick Jim Butcher in his lazy ass for not publishing more, and then I'll move on to The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty, which I am apparently reading with the book club I apparently joined. (I'm not sure how that happened.)

Still pending attorney intervention regarding Ohio Idol, but are the facts:

OI offered cash, food and parking for each judging day. MT accepted OI's offer and agreed to judge five days in exchange for said cash, food and parking. OI had some last-minute problems filling judge seats and asked MT for assistance. MT provided MTMS employee LL. Now that four out of five judging days have passed, and both MT and LL have judged four out of five judging days, OI claims that OI never agreed to pay for cash and parking (or food, apparently, since we weren't fed on Judging Day 4), and that we, rather, agreed to judge in exchange for a contact list. We have documented evidence to the contrary in the form of THREE SEPARATE EMAILS outlining the agreed-upon compensation for judging.

Another fun fact: We have documented evidence that OI originally said they expected 5,000 contestants, and we know (since we judged on Judging Day 1) that only 500 contestants competed. At $25 per head, OI is short 4,500 contestants from their initial projections, or $112,500.

Those are the facts and can in no way be construed as slander, but readers are of course encouraged to infer whatever they like from the facts as stated, because MT, MTMS, and BrandiwynšŸŽ¶ cannot be held accountable for the thoughts that go through readers heads (or happen to show up on her blog comments, which MT, MTMS, and BrandiwynšŸŽ¶ neither endorses nor condemns.)

Because OI is throwing around (presumably, supposedly scary) words like "slander" and "attorney", we are minimizing how much information we report and keeping it to JUST THE FACTS, but we're really not scared. Because if OI could afford an attorney, he could afford to FUCKING PAY US THE MONEY HE OWES. Luckily, MT and MTMS are fully capable of affording an attorney and in fact already have one on retainer. And she's spitfire, so I'm very much looking forward to seeing this amateur put in his place at the bottom of the feeding trough.

Moving on.

........I can't remember what I was going to say. Or do. I think the winds are kicking up again.
July 19, 2012 at 2:36pm
July 19, 2012 at 2:36pm
#756927
Without going into too many specifics, while I wait for a scheduled conference call with my attorney, MTMS is no longer in any way affiliated with Ohio Idol. I am sure there will be more on THAT in a week or two.

I finished "Changes" - book, um, 12? in the Harry Dresden series.

Wow.
July 14, 2012 at 2:35pm
July 14, 2012 at 2:35pm
#756670
In bittersweet news, today ends the last MTMS   summer camp of the year. On the one hand, we have less fun pictures, videos, and status updates to share on social media (which has been great for those arbitrary rankings on Klout and WebsiteGrader that don't mean anything to our actual sales volume.) On the other hand, the studio will be peaceful during the day, allowing our office staff to catch up on much-needed paperwork.

I freaking hate that word. Paperwork. Because it's so antiquated. We live in the digital age, people. Why do we have paperwork?

Also on the plus side, advertising and running summer camps stresses me out, because it's not what we do best. We run a damn good summer camp, but we aren't so great at filling them. That's okay, though. We're filling the studio with private music students, which IS what we do best. I think we're around 255 and climbing, but we're so behind on our "paperwork" that I can't be sure. *Pthb*

I have pages and pages of emails in my inbox. I have a to-do folder an inch thick. I'm ready to feel on top of things again.

I keep saying I'm busy, but one problem is Harry Dresden. No, seriously. I can't put the flippin' books down. I'm on number... 11? 12? It's called Turn Coat, and I'm at 95%. I'll finish it and immediately pick up the next book. I don't know what I'll do with myself when I catch up with the author and run out of books to read, but it might involve paperwork.

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