Seeking PenPals...

This post is blatantly cross-posted from my other blog, Life is (not) Boring.

Havi at The Fluent Self has a weekly ritual in which she postspersonal ads for the things and people she wants and needs in her life. I love the idea, so I am heretofor going to rip her off.

Prolific communicator with endless opinions seeks same for penpal relationship. Let's keep the centuries-old tradition alive and count among the last great correspondants.
Topics unlimited. I am not easily offended, but be sure you are likewise and can take what you give. Sample topics might include books recently read, life lessons learned from daily tasks, updates on major milestones, progress towards goals, and explorations on topics not discussed in polite society.

Regualr correspondence is a must, although "regular" may be defined as anything from a short note once a week to an encyclopedicmissive twice a year. I tend toward the latter but am flexible. Ideally, holiday and birthday greetings would be inlcuded in the correspondence (but would not count toward the "twice a year missive").

The ideal candidate already has my home address, as I do not give it out online. I begin all replies immediately after receiving a letter; long repsonses will take longer to finish.

No dabblers, please. Apply by post; I have sent letter that have recevied no repsonse, and would like to weed out such candidates.

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Prayer Intentions

Image via WikipediaSo I had mentioned ages ago that I wanted to write the prayer intentions for my wedding.  Well, I finally finished them and got them approved, so I thought you might want to take a look:

• For all the Church in the world, that we may come together, not in dispute over our differences, but in love and devotion to our Lord Jesus Christ.
• For all people of faith, and all those who seek meaning, that they may find Truth.
• For all deacons and ordered religious, all priests and ministers, all bishops and conference chairs, all Popes and Patriarchs, and for all men and women who are called to be shepherds, that they may lead their flocks in Christ's example.
• For all parishioners of N----- Church, and for the former congregation of F----- Church, that the values and love they have passed on to Chris and Laura may continue to guide them and those their lives touch.
• For Barack our president, D---- and E----- our governors, and all elected and appointed officials, that they may lead and serve their people with love, courage, and compassion.
• For peace in our world, and comfort in those regions suffering turmoil.
• For our men and women in uniform, both stateside and overseas, who serve justice, protect our freedoms, and keep our lives safe.
• For all those who wish to marry before the Lord, that their unions be blessed.
• For all those who work with the law, that they may act with justice and mercy, guided by the Law handed down Moses and realized by Christ.
• For all those who work with the written word, that their pens and their hearts may be guided by the Word made flesh.
• For all members of the H-----, Grow, O-----, and Nyberg families, that God's blessings on them and on all families may continue.
• For friendships, the families we choose, that we may strengthen one another in times of difficulty, and celebrate together in times of joy as we do today.
• For all who are sick or injured, whether physically, mentally, emotionally, or spiritually, that they may find strength in their suffering, comfort in this life, and eternal peace in the next.
• For all of our loved ones who have passed from this life, that we may celebrate with them in the next.

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Elevator Pitch

I'm a little late in the game, but I'm going to be working (slowly, no doubt) on ProBlogger's most recent version of the 31 Days To Build a Better Blog Challenge.

Now, I'm not going to be working on this blog -- I might, eventually, if the Challenge works out, but not yet. My primary blog is Reviewing Whatever, so I'll be concentrating on that.

Day One's challenge is to Write and Elevator Pitch For Your Blog.

You can get reviews of the newest and hottest books, movies, and restaurants anywhere, but where do you go to hear about chain restaurants, library finds, several-year-old DVDs, or even tourist traps? Just because it's old or ever-present doesn't mean it's not new to you -- and you deserve to read the reviews in advance even then. So if it's new to me, I'll tell you what I think.

Thoughts? What's your elevator pitch?

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Writing For Happiness

So since I've been in a mood-slump lately (partially explaining, but in no way excusing, my long absence), I decided to start my own Happiness Project. I don't want to get into it too much at this point, but one of my goals/plans for the Project is to recreationally (no work, no forums, no emails) write at least one paragraph daily. This counts!

Does forcing yourself to write increase your happiness, or just increase your stress? Or both?!

NaNoWriMo

How's your novel going?  I really don't know how mine is, because I'm writing most of it out longhand.  I need to do a massive round of typing.

Ethical question

Image via WikipediaI grad school, I wrote several stories, including a few profiles of intereting people.  These never got published, and since a few years have passed, it doesn't seem likely that they would without massive overhauls.  Assuming that I add a disclaimer about possible out-of-date concerns, are there any ethical problems with posting these to my other blog?

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Self-Promotion

Wow, this is sad, isn't it?  I'm in... not a rut, so much as a ditch, really.

One thing that's got me stuck: Say I want to pitch a story, or apply for a writing or copy-editing job.  My weak point is self-promotion.  How do I convince potential employers that I am better than everyone else they're sorting through, when all I know about everyone else is that they are at least as qualified as I am, or they wouldn't be my competition.  How do I figure out what I, and no one else, has to offer, that makes me better for the job than anyone else?  (Besides the fact that I'll work cheap -- I don't want to advertise that too much!)

How do you figure it out?  Do you have any helpful hints?

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