Words of Wisdom I Live By

 

The 5 Cs of copy editing on a post-it on my cubicle wall.

The 5 Cs of copy editing: Clear, Correct, Concise, Compete, Consistent - I learned the 5 Cs in graduate school when I took a course on copy editing. I never became a copy editor but I found the 5 Cs to be great guidelines for work, especially with e-mails, and for writing. Out of all the Cs, consistency has been the most important to me and it really changed my work ethic.

How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. - Whenever I'm faced with a task or a problem that seems too large to tackle, I think of this. Compartmentalizing the task into smaller steps (or bites) and focusing on each step before moving on to the next, makes the world of difference. It makes the impossible seem possible.

You can’t control what other people do, you can only control what you do. - People "should" but chances are they "don't". Realizing that you can't control people gives you back a lot of control. When you expect others to do certain things or to be controlled by you, you make yourself vulnerable to what their decisions. These words of wisdom are crucial for my sanity and for safe driving!

Once you hit rock bottom, there is no where to go but up. - It seems like a cliche but it's really the universal truth. I always find that at the worst of times happiness is waiting just around the corner.

It's okay to say "no". - Recently, I asked four different advertisers a question. I knew the answer would be "no" but was hoping by chance one or two of the responses would be "yes". None of them actually said "no" yet essentially that was their answer. Instead of saying "no" they decided to antagonize me because I dared ask the question. Their responses were cowardly and unprofessional. Be up front with people and say "no". It's not a sign of weakness. And don't be afraid to say "no" to opportunities you're not interested in or one that will hurt you more than help you.

What words of wisdom do you live by?

The Months of the Year in My Head

The above is a visual representation of how the months of the year are organized in my head. Over the years, I've tried to think of other ways to lay out the months in my mind but nothing ever sticks. This is how it is and probably how it will always be.

January through May line up together all in one neat row.  Everything is orderly and neat until we get to the summer months. That's when things go astray. June is always below May but it's not directly below it. It's always slightly to the right. Sometimes it shifts way over to the right but it usually stays in that spot. June, July and August always stack up one on top of the other vertically. In my youth, those months always represented the freedom from school, warm weather, long days and fun trips. So it makes sense that if my brain were to break up the months that the summer ones would separate from all the others.

September has always been the most difficult for me to visualize. I can never think of it on it's own, only in relation to the month before, August, and the month after, October. I placed it to the left of October in the diagram above but it only exists that way when I'm thinking of September in relation to October. When I'm thinking of September during August, September is right beneath the summer months or skewed slightly to the left but still below. The first 20 days of September are technically summer and school never started right at the beginning of the month anyways so I always thought of September as an extension of summer. September is a transition month for me so it makes sense that it's a more mobile month in my head.

October, November and December follow the same pattern as the earlier months of the year, all in a neat row. Once the days of the year start winding down and we get closer to New Year's, I start building a new diagram in my head of the upcoming months. January is never right next to December. I have to jump up to the top of my diagram to get to it. I think it's interesting that although January follows December, in my mind the two are really far apart from each other.

How do you visualize the months of the year in your head? Do they follow a straight vertical or horizontal line? Do you stack them by season or by threes? Or do you have a weirder arrangement like the one I have above?

Paper Doll by the Mills Brothers

Paper Dolls was the Mills Brothers comeback song. The Mills Brothers was barbershop style quartet (sometimes quintet) whose pop vocal styles had elements of jazz and swing. They found much musical success in the 1930s but an extended tour of Europe and South America kept them away from American listeners too long and when they returned they found themselves mostly forgotten. They revitalized their career in 1943 when they released their record I’ll Be Around. The song Paper Doll was on the B-Side and it went on to become their biggest hit. It was written years ago in 1915 by songwriter Johnny S. Black. The song wasn’t published until 1930 and wasn’t recorded until 1942 . When you listen to the song, you can tell it’s definitely a blend of new (the Mills Brothers style) and old (the original song as written years ago). I love this song. It reminds me of I Found a Million Dollar Baby (Harry Warren) as well as Louis Armstrong’s Dummy Song.

A big thanks goes out to Bobby Rivers who introduced me to the Mills Brothers. I have loved them ever since!

Paper Doll

I’m gonna buy a Paper Doll that I can call my own

A doll that others fellows cannot steal

And then the flirty, flirty guys with their flirty, flirty eyes,

Will have to flirt with dollies that are real.

When I come home at night she will be waiting

She’ll be the truest doll in all this world.

I’d rather have a Paper Doll that I can call my own

Than have a fickle-minded real live girl.

I guess I had a million dolls or more

I guess I played the doll game o’er and o’er.

I just quarreled with Sue, that’s why I’m blue.

She’s gone away and left me just like all dolls do.

I’ll tell you boys it’s tough to be alone.

And it’s tough to love a doll that’s not your own.

I’m through with all of them, I’ll never fall again.

Say boy, whatcha gonna do?

I’m gonna buy a Paper Doll that I can call my own

A doll that others fellows cannot steal

And then the flirty, flirty guys, with their flirty, flirty eyes

Will have to flirt with dollies that are real.

When I come home at night, she will be waiting.

She’ll be the truest doll in all this world.

I’d rather have a Paper Doll that I can call my own,

Than have a fickle-minded real live girl.

The Mills Brothers

A to Z of Me

Age: 33, my Jesus Year.

Bed size: Queen. I can’t wait to upgrade to a King!

Chore that you hate: It’s not a particular chore but I do hate cleaning up after people. It’s the worst chore of all having to clean up after someone who can’t or won’t clean up after themselves.

Dogs: I used to have a beagle. I miss him so.

Essential start to your day: Breakfast. But if I’m honest, scanning Instagram is the first thing I do when I wake up.

Favorite color: Blue and Green

Gold or Silver: Silver

Height: 5’ 8” and proud of it.

Instruments you play: I used to play violin in an orchestra in elementary and junior high school. I also played clarinet for a while.

Job title: Online Marketing Manager, Blogger Extraordinaire

Kids: None

Live: New England

Mother’s name: Sarah (she named after Abraham's wife in the Bible)

Nicknames: Quelle

Overnight hospital stays: None. So far I’ve only had day procedures/surgeries. Thank goodness!

Pet peeves: Throat clearing during a movie. SHHHH.

Quote from a movie: “What ever anything is, it ought to begin by being personal.” – You’ve Got Mail (1998)

Right or left handed: Right handed

Siblings: Two half-sisters in Canada but I was basically raised an only child.

Time it takes you to get ready: It takes me 30 minutes to get out of bed and an hour to get ready. I have to add 45 minutes if I need to wash and dry my hair.

Ultimate Vacation: A trip across Europe.

Vegetable you hate: I love all vegetables but I’ll pass on cooked red onions, blech.

What makes you run late: Playing on my phone way too long before getting up out of bed!

X-Rays you’ve had: I’ve had several including a barium swallow. Fun times.

Yummy food that you make: Go to my food blog Thoughtful Eating to see them all!

Zoo animal: WOLVES. They are not a typical zoo animal but I love them. I also get extra excited if I see a Capybara at a zoo. It happened one time.

Scarf-Purse Trick

Do you have a purse that doesn’t zip close? Or perhaps you’re like me and prefer to keep your purse open even when closing it is an option. The problem with having an open purse is that other people can take a peek inside. There is a reason why the “What’s In My Purse” meme is so popular. People are curious about what others carry around with them. Also, keeping an open purse makes you more vulnerable to being robbed. It would be easy for someone to spy a wallet or some other item of value and quickly lift it out of your purse.

My solution for the open purse problem is to fill the empty space at the top with a scarf. What’s great about this is the fabric fills the purse nicely and effectively obscures the items below. Also, you can match a scarf to your purse adding some extra flare to your outfit. An added bonus: you have a scarf ready to go in case you want to add it to an outfit or need to protect your hair from wind or rain. If I leave my purse in a car, I will sometimes use the scarf to cover the purse obscuring it from those nosy folks who like to look into car windows.

10 Facts About Me Meme

10 Facts About Me

1. Your Nickname - Quelle. No one calls me this in real life but I like to refer to myself like that online.
2. Your Eye Color - Boring Brown. My long, thick lashes make up for it though.
3. Your Hair Color - Boring Brown. I refuse to call it dark brown!
4. One fact about you - I love all things history. All of my hobbies and interests all seem to come back to one major theme: history. I'm a history nerd for life!
5. Favorite Color - It's a tie between blue and green. What's more glorious than looking up and seeing the green of the leaves at the top of a tree matched with the blue of the sky? That combo is what makes nature so beautiful.
6. Favorite Place - Jasper, Alberta, Canada. No other place has filled me with as much joy as that place did.
7. Favorite Celebrity - Robert Mitchum. He's one of the most interesting and difficult people of film history. And gosh darn it was he handsome!
8. Favorite Animal - Wolves
9. Favorite Song - Look For the Silver Lining by Chet Baker. His voice is so smooth and I love that it's an upbeat jazz number. Most jazz tunes are about heartbreak and sadness. I love that this one is optimistic.
10. Favorite Book - Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. I want to be Elizabeth Bennett and I fell in love with Mr. Darcy. A close second is a new-to-me favorite North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell. It's Pride and Prejudice meets social justice.

On Masterpiece Mystery! Breathless

I caught the first episode of the new British TV drama Breathless on Masterpiece Mystery! last night. I had seen the previews for it over and over again but I wasn't quite sure if I wanted to see it. I'm glad I did because it filled two desires I had for a replacement for the soon-to-be-ending Mad Men and a new British show that I could follow from the very beginning. 

Breathless is basically Mad Men meets London. Instead of the ad men and women of Madison Avenue we get the doctors and nurses (and their patients and families) of a gynecological ward in a London hospital. Because they work in gynecology, sex inevitably becomes the main theme of the story. There are unhappy marriages, adultery, unwanted pregnancies, miscarriages and all sorts of issues that result from relationships and sex.

It's very easy to compare Breathless with Mad Men because a lot of the characters are so similar. The show stars Jack Davenport as the surgeon Otto Powell. He's the show's equivalent to Don Draper. He's charismatic, good at his job and admired by some and hated by others. His rival, up-and-coming surgeon Richard Truscott (Oliver Chris), is the epitome of Peter Campbell. He's privileged, sexist and lacks originality or talent. The new nurse Angela Wilson (Catherine Steadman) is the show's answer to Peggy Olson. And it couldn't be more obvious that Angela's sister and Richard's bride Jean (Zoe Boyle) is modeled after Mad Men's Joan, right down to the red hair, her sexy strut and her form fitting dresses.

Yes there are comparisons galore between Breathless and Mad Men but I think the main difference between the two will be how the main character Otto develops as a character. I think he won't be quite the anti-hero Don Draper was but we'll see. In the first episode we see that Otto has a big secret from his past, much like Draper had, and I'm wondering how the writers will work that into the plot of upcoming episodes.

The first episode started off a bit cheesy. It felt like the creators were trying to hard. But it got better as the show progressed and eventually I was hooked. I'm curious to see how Otto's relationship with nurse Angela develops. I love the themes of sex, relationships, class, intrigue and ethics come into play. The fashion and decor doesn't hurt either! The show is rather progressive and depicts the sexual revolution of the 1960s. If you shy away from stories which feature abortion or birth control pills, then this show isn't for you. And Mad Men wouldn't have been for you anyways.

The second episode is on tonight and I'm excited to watch it!

Stop and smell the Lilacs

In the dooryard fronting an old farm-house near the white-wash’d palings,

Stands the lilac-bush tall-growing with heart-shaped leaves of rich green,

With many a pointed blossom rising delicate, with the perfume strong I love,

With every leaf a miracle—and from this bush in the dooryard,

With delicate-color’d blossoms and heart-shaped leaves of rich green,

A sprig with its flower I break. - Walt Whitman

No matter how hectic your life gets, make sure you stop to enjoy the simple things in life. Spring always brings me a crazy schedule, full of moments when I want to break down and retreat from the world. During this time I make sure enjoy nature which is at its full glory. Nature reminds me of the importance of simplicity. Connecting with all the vibrant life blossoming all around is essential. I take a moment to stop and smell the lilacs, to soak in some sunlight, to go for a long walk outside, to wonder at the glory of the greenery that surrounds us and to watch a Robin hop along the grass looking for it's next treat. Don't ever let life disconnect you from nature. Always find a way back to it.