books

  • copy writing…

    Some thoughts from a blog I read called Write To Done:

    Step 1: Get in bed with the reader

    Who would you rather sell to? People who won’t benefit from your product, people who could benefit from it, or people who definitely will benefit and have great reasons for buying it?

    Step 2: See the offer as the reader sees it

    Just like the first step, this step is all about the reader. The product or service itself is almost insignificant in this process.You’re looking for:Ways your product can help the readers get from where they are now to where they want to goAspects of the offer that matter the most to themTraits in your competitors they don’t likePast experiences they’ve had with similar productsObjections they have to buying the productQuestions they’ll have about the product and you (or the company selling the product)Other concerns the buyer might have such as risks in purchasing the productForget yourself and your thoughts and forget the product’s features. For now, you’re only interested in what the reader thinks and believes about the product.

    Step 3: Classify, simplify, extreme-ify

    1. Find the strongest concepts that are likely to influence the readers.
    2. Remove everything but the core ideas.
    AND MORE:
    Seven Tips For Casting A Narrow Net
    Here are seven tips that you can use to immediately begin targeting the right audience for you.
    1: Adjust Your Focus.
    2: Stop Writing For The Masses
    3: Toughen Up
    4: Don’t Mimic
    5: Lay It On The Line: Be You, Be Bold
    6: Write to Your Biggest Fan
    7: Learn How to Alienate All The Right People
    Shoot for Progress Not Perfection
    Enjoy Your Uniqueness
  • < Isn’t that a COOL kitchen? Found it on HGTV.com.
    I got quite a bit accomplished this weekend.

    On Friday, I got up early and drove to Fergus to get curtains and other items. I did spray-paint a bookcase/desk combo I had from Target (I think I bought the combo like… 5 years ago? Wow.) black so they’d be more neutral. Then, I spray-painted the hanging lamp that was left by the former owners in the kitchen. It’s RED now. I also unpacked the kitchen on Friday before my sister & I went out and got dinner.
    On Saturday, I was going to go back to Fergus to get bookcases (big black ones) at Target, but then I thought I’d just settle for the ones at Walmart in town. Saved me time, gas money, and money in general = $80 later, I have two tall black bookcases and two short ones for the west wall in the living room that only had a frame of my bf’s 42″ Northern hanging on it. Anyhow, I put those damn bookcases together, and it sucked a lot of energy out of me. I was going to go and see Bridesmaids that night, but I was too exhausted.
    Yesterday, I woke up and really wanted coffee. And the Sunday papers. So, I grabbed those things and then watched TV… I spent most of the late morning and afternoon dying the wine-colored curtains I already had (yes, the ones from Kmart and Target didn’t do the job, so I’m saving more money by using the ones I already had!). Why did I have to dye them wine if they were already that color? My south apartment window had faded spots in them. By the end of the day, when my dad came over to secure the tall bookcases to the wall, my curtains were washed and line-dried and done.
    I never did get around to throwing together a crockpot of chicken tortilla soup, and I’m glad I didn’t do it last night because we lost power this morning for about an hour. I think I’ll throw the stuff together this afternoon. Maybe. Otherwise, today is filled with checking in on students (my two online classes), having lunch with the birthday girl Megan, and hanging out w/Cheryl & Lizzie later in the day. I may try to finalize the living room (unpacked the books last night while watching Bravo).

  • Goosebump-inducing Daydream…

    In my giddiest daydream about how my teaching can affect students, I dream that they see writing as fun and not something they are incapable of. In addition to that, I dream that they find a book, an author, that they look forward to reading every day or every week. In that goosebump-induced dream, I don’t even care if they only like to write erotic poetry or read about serial killers or research anarchy. The dream doesn’t even include them putting down the Crackberry or logging off Facebook; it’s just an addition to their lives. They read The Onion, perhaps, via Facebook and laugh. They read from a slang dictionary to their friends over lunch. It doesn’t have to be boring, and it doesn’t have to be appropriate. Language and books and writing spans too many genres and generations to limit what I want them to do, love, and learn.

    Just writing that made my day start off … on a lighter note.

  • Books Books Books.

    Two Days Late and Half Off.
    [our trivia name last night]
    The bf gave me The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy last night as my Valentine’s gift (among chocolates, etc.)…
    that got us/me thinking of other “classics” I’d like to read:
    The Grapes of Wrath
    A Wrinkle in Time
    Lord of the Flies
    War of the Worlds
    Slaughterhouse 5
    Him = The 3rd Policeman

    I told him that I’ll start on Hitchhiker’s once I wrap up David’s book.
    Then I may have to read Klosterman’s other fictional piece – Eating the Dinosaur.
    p.s. We talked about the TV show Lost and how they used a lot of stuff from Alice In Wonderland; that got me thinking = what if I assigned that book in English 110. Students could dig into the pop culture pieces that use that book?

  • A Bug and a Blogger.


    Ode to my bug
    who got me through the pre-blizzard last Thursday
    Ode to my bug
    who is a trooper through yet another winter, her tenth or eleventh
    Ode to my bug
    who since I started talking about getting an SUV, has turned over without a flinch
    Ode to my bug
    who has mostly cosmetic issues at this point in time
    … the fog light cover crack, the pigeon-smashed side mirror, the side hole in the driver’s seat, the plastic peeling inside
    Ode to my bug
    who gets snowhawks and pulls herself through small drifts
    Ode to my bug
    who will be mine forever.

    Okay, so I don’t know if I’ll “go wild” the ways that wildness pops up in life, but I do plan to blog more this year personally, fashion-ally, and teacherly. And I plan to make up words. And read more books. And add more to my life in general, I guess. I didn’t really make resolutions, but I do have a few goals bouncing around in my head. I don’t think putting pressure on a person mid-vacation is a grand idea, anyhow. Plus, one can always add resolutions later, right? Right. These are my first recorded thoughts of this year. Hmmm

  • Books I’ll have to bring back to the library
    because I won’t have time to read ‘em before my extended deadline:

    I Drink For A Reason, David Cross
    Don’t Sleep With Your Drummer, Jen Sincero
    Run Catch Kiss, Amy Sohn
    Coloring Outside The Lines, Aimee Cooper
    The F–k-Up, Arthur Nersesian
    Floating, Robin Troy
    Number 6 Fumbles, Rachel Solar-Tuttle
    Thin Skin, Emma Forest
    Tunnel Vision, Keith Lowe
    DreamWorld, Jane Goldman
    Brave New Girl, Louisa Luna
    How To Kill A Rock Star, Tiffanie Debartolo

    Right now, I’m still in the middle of Fargo Rock City. I hope to tackle the other Klosterman books I have early this summer, then move onto the ones I purchased on Amazon = Chelsea Handler’s new one, Amy Sedaris’, and… there was another one…

    IDEAS: In English 110, I’d like to cover George Carlin, David Sedaris, and include a poetry unit (since I’m creating this crazy-cool poetry booklet complete with images/screenshots of my favorite stuff and just stuff I found online in the past few years that’s super weird or cool or whatever)… So, it’s a matter of listing all the small, medium, and large projects I’d like to do and make a schedule from there. Plus, I think all the papers will be multi-genre and include books! Yep. And maybe I should use that Interview Project Betsy had my sister complete. Yea, they could use a question brought up in Carlin or Sedaris to interview people with (Betsy asked them to interview people on Shakespeare – something dealing with that guy).

    In English 120, I’m throwing around the idea of them re-typing parts of the chapters they like into Wordle.net. That way, they HAVE TO READ it. And the Mini-Assignment needs re-vamping. And I want new CB topics (create a Wordle, create a Glog, create a Photo/Quote, etc. etc. etc.). Yea.

    FJ: (b) peaches-n-cream oatmeal (150?) + Greek blueberry yogurt (130). (s) coffee coffee coffee. I’m jittery; I think I should snack on something (mini-cinnamon bagel w/p.butter) before I go for a walk around the Oval (National Walk At Work day – did 5 laps). (l) 1/2 ckn crossiant + fruit + water + 1/2 cup white chili + cup of squash. Brought dessert and other 1/2 of crossiant back to office for later whether “later” is a snack or dinner. GO ME! (s) other 1/2 of ckn crossiant (that word is tough to spell, so whatever) + VitaminWater (125 in whole bottle; I’m 1/5 the way through). + (s) cheddar crisps (140) + small piece of cake from lunch. (d) two bowls of cereal w/soymilk.

  • Sex and The City
    {having my own DVD/Movie party Oct. 5!}

    Favorite Scene:
    When Carrie has her own fashion show to the tune of
    “Walk this Way,” by Run-D.M.C.

    DVD I probably won’t purchase =

    DVD I ordered from HBO.com=

    Book I ordered from Amazon=

    Book I ordered from Amazon=

  • If it’s not one thing, it’s another.
    We complain about “them” all the time.
    No solutions given.

    I’ve read quite a few blog posts lately about Obama and him being apparently “god-like” to his supporters. I don’t follow all the news as much as I should, but I’ve never looked at him like a god. I appreciate the fact he wrote a book about what to do with our nation (because I know publishing is tough, as is writing politically) and I like that he’s “green” as far as politicans go. Beyond making those two comments, I’m not going to write much more. Who cares? (At least, that’s how I feel today – I may have to make fun of a Bushism later.) Plus, as a nation, we pretty much detest politicans, policies, government… yet, what do we really do about it? Nothing. Blog about it, but that’s it. Ugh.

    Moving on to things more important to me at this moment…

    So, my first class o the semester went well. Composed of 27 males, which is okay. And all from three disciplines: Rec Engines, Electrical, and Diesel. I covered all I wanted to cover, and then was able to give them about 20-25min to get started/finish their Introductory Memos about themselves. It’s a great assignment to start with because they write about themselves, get introduced to the memo format, and when we read ‘em aloud tomorrow, they have a piece of paper in front of them and don’t have to wing it.

    And now for some more prepping for tomorrow’s afternoon classes. As well as the redoing of Project 1 in English 105. Allison shows up sometime today; it’ll be awesome to see our rockin’ workstudy again.

    One last thought about liberals & conservatives… it just came to me. As a liberal, I often have to watch what I say around conservatives (or say nothing at all – “Don’t say that in front of your grandfather”). Tippy-toe around them. Now, is it the same for them? I’d have to say “No” from my own personal experience.