"Dear Diary..."

delete, edit, and integrate, oh my!

still sorting out feelings about this strange summer of "unemployment," after a stressful, hectic, but very rewarding school year.
I feel as if I went to sleep as an artist, and woke up as an educator, with one foot stepping back into my former life as a music teacher/conductor.
I'm dragging the other foot, as there is still a lot of baggage I'm carrying with me.
but I'm confident that it will all fall into place.
I absolutely loved my time spent subbing, especially after I got to know more kids/teachers and their routines.
and although I was a bit scared at first, I'm so glad I also made the jump back into adjudicating music festivals for WSMA.
those Saturdays at Who-Knows-Where High School can be very long, but I think I'm a good judge, and I have a lot of fun.
and NOW, I'm dusting off the baton, and will be conducting a group of young string players with the Door County String Academy.
it's very exciting.
but I'm also nervous about it all.
want to make sure that all the parts & pieces fit, and don't interfere with the life I have here in Kolberg with Patrick, and the critters.
to all my artist friends, I want you to know that I've not quit "making stuff," but the emphasis has switched.
at first, it was out of necessity - just had to make more money.
but now, I think this is the direction I should go, it's where I'm supposed to be...
later,
Mrs. O'R

start your search engines!

I know I have posted information about GoodSearch previously, but I'm doing it again.
it's such an easy way to raise money for your favorite cause.
just start using GoodSearch.com as your search engine, and they'll donate about a penny to your favorite cause every time you do a search!
in addition, go to their online shopping mall, GoodShop.com, where you can shop at more than 900 top online retailers and a percentage of your purchases will go to the charity or school of your choice.
you pay the same price as you normally would, but a donation goes to your cause!
I now GoodSearch for the Door County String Academy (Sturgeon Bay) - and it was so easy to register.
http://www.goodsearch.com
later,
Mrs. O'R

summer blues

it has been an odd summer, so far.
I began a "summer job" at a cute little bead shop in May, before school ended, school ended in June, and about a week later, so did my summer job!
I may get called back in August, but that didn't help my bank balance for July.
so, I have been fighting the blues.
and, being the Queen of Making Do, I'm doing.
painting steps, gardening, cleaning, organizing, life goes on.
time at home has been nice, especially after the hectic spring, subbing almost every day those last weeks of the semester.
and it looks as if fall will be busy, whether I get called back to Acme Bead, or not.
I will sub, of course, anywhere, anything, if called.
AND, I've just been hired to conduct a string ensemble for the Door County String Academy.
it's comprised of mostly high school students, and I'm very excited.
we'll rehearse 4 or 5 times, then perform a few pieces at their December concert.
it's a trial basis, and as is the case with all non-profits, it's all about "funding."
so, now I have to dust off the baton case, start thinking about repertoire, and update not only the blog, but my Facebook page, and check to see if I still have pages on Twitter and MySpace.
need to get the word out, and drum up (no musical pun intended) support.
later,
Mrs. O'R

import/export business

although I was a bit scared, I managed to export my other blog posts as a file, and then import them into this blog.
the point is to morph the two into one, so please be patient as I copy, edit, and delete.
hope to have most of it done today, so that I may downgrade again, and save more money.
unfortunately these days, it's all about the money.
I did go to Blogspot, as several of you suggested, but had a great deal of trouble with it.
(probably because I'm on a Mac, using Safari, and we still have dial-up.)
and I've been using Typepad for a long time now, and really like many of the features that are available to me.
we'll see how this all shakes out.
I will also be deleting my website soon.
just need to simplify, put everything in one place.
I will keep you posted (no pun intended), and will have some new things to share soon.
later,
Patty

changing the way we do...

actually, it's just more of "making do."

and, as my husband has often told me, I am the Queen of Making Do.

I've decided to downgrade my typepad account, to save a little money.

as far as I can tell, none of the features that I care most about have been affected...

yet...

I'll keep you posted.

I'm also considering deleting my website, since most of that info. is duplicated here, and morphing my other blog into this one.

I've explored the free blogging world this month, and I'm hesitant.

baby steps.

so here goes the downgrade...

(did anyone hear a crash?)

later,

Patty

blogging

quick post before I go to work.
the Fairfield's blog is now up and running, and I put a link for it here, but wanted to make special mention of it in a post.
there's a lot going on at the art museum, and more to come in the future, so I hope you will check out the blog, and come visit soon, when you're "in the neighborhood."
later,
Patty

blog tour continues

the blog tour for "I'd rather be in the studio" continues on Lisa's blog today.
I'm hurrying to get this posted, hoping I will win a copy of the book.
yesterday I was too late for Claudine's, and much too late for the first stop on the tour.
the information is wonderful, just what I think I need right now.
more later,
Patty

zazzled

yesterday, while waiting for the tow truck, I wandered around the internet for a bit, and happened upon Zazzle.com.
it's very much like Cafepress.com, where you take your designs and images, and place them on various products to buy and/or sell.
I've been using Cafepress for a long time, but have always found the process of creating new things quite tedious, the costs quite high, so I have not done much with it this past year.
so, I thought I would just try something at Zazzle, since it's FREE, and it was very, very user-friendly.
much easier to customize things, download images, and I especially liked the fact that I could add my own text to anything, without having to alter my own images, and then re-download.
today I made a couple of things, and they even have a widget for typepad blogs that was a snap to install.
if any of you have more experience with the site, let me know what you think.
check out my new Zazzle "gallery" here.
later,
Patty

making a wish

it's Sunday afternoon, but I'm scheduling this to be published Monday morning.
big news!
last week I was contacted by a product manager in the Amazon Associates program.
theirs was one of the first online affiliate marketing programs, and you're able to link to Amazon books, products, and services, and receive referral fees in exchange.
you can take your commissions in cash, or gift certificates.
lots of bloggers have been doing this for a long time.
I create a lot of links to books, new and used, and any money I make from referral sales goes toward more books.
for gifts, or for me!
anyway, Amazon is launching a few new widgets, and they are going to feature my site in the press release, as an example of their "Wish List" widget! (on the right, in the red box)
I am so excited!
my wish is that this will bring lots of people to "Dear Diary..." and, ultimately, to my artwork and "papor products."
happy beta trial Monday!
but right now, it's naptime...
later,
Patty

portalwisconsin.org

portalwisconsin.org is a very cool, nonprofit web site that was created by the Cultural Coalition of Wisconsin to help support the state's culture, arts, humanities and history.
among other members in the coalition are the Arts Board, Public Radio & TV, the state historical society, etc.
one of the features on the site that I really love is the listing of CLASSES.
I've used it to find classes in my area, and now I've posted my class on their site.
check it out, and all the other lists of events, the gallery, the resources - I could get lost for hours in there!
later,
Patty