The Story of How Dena Did Not Interview Anyone Famous

Regarding the World of Opposites update posted on Friday, I decided not to do the profiles of the four semi-famous people.

I can't tell who the people were, but I can give general background since a few of you asked. One is a creator/producer of a popular TV series, one is a musician, one is an executive at an auto company, and...hmmm...I've forgotten the last one. Maybe a model? I can't remember.

Anyway, the gist of the assignment was a 500-word profile of each person due by September 5th. The old Dena would have thought, "500 words is easy. I'll take the assignment." Experienced Dena wondered:

• Has the idea of being interviewed for this magazine already been broached or am I cold calling these people?
• What's the focus of each profile? (You can't cover a life in 500 words.)
• Am I responsible for having photos sent in to accompany the story?
• How firm is the deadline in case I can't get the interviews in time?

Turns out I would have been cold calling these people and selling them on the idea of their profile appearing in the magazine. Which is okay, as many people are eager for the publicity. But I know from experience that explaining who I am, what the magazine is, what I'm calling about, getting them a past copy of the magazine, and getting through their people, etc., etc. is TIME CONSUMING.  It's a flurry of e-mails and phone calls and arranging dates and last-minute cancellations and "I forgot we were supposed to talk then" excuses.

Then there's the research. No way am I going to interview these people without heavy researching their background so I know what the heck to ask and what should be expected that I already know. That's a LOT of uncompensated work time.

So for those two reasons alone, I turned down the work. As Blair pointed out though, at least I knew to think about the above. Two years ago, I would have just said "yes," not realizing what I was letting myself in for.

And I discovered something. When I thought about taking the work, I had a little pit at the bottom of my stomach. When I decided to take a pass, the pit went away. I think it comes down to I didn't care much about doing a profile on any of these people and the thought of having to interview them made me nervous and unhappy. So why do it? Plenty of other projects out there to choose from.

And THAT is the story of how Dena did not interview anyone famous.

The World of Opposites

It's happened again. The Universe gives you the opposite of what you ask for to test if you really mean what you say. And apparently, I don't. =)

I'm a goal setter. Luv me some goals, especially in the New Year. One of the goals I set each January is monetary--how much I hope to earn in the new year. I break the goal down by month so it's easier to track.

Last month I had a very lucrative project. So much so that I've actually already earned all of my August and part of my September income. Which is wonderful. The question then became: Do I keep pushing and try to stay ahead, or do I take advantage of the extra money to focus some time on creative projects I've pushed to the side?

I opted for creative projects. Grand plans to spend half days working on book and essay projects.

You can see where this is headed. I made my creative plans and I'm not kidding you, within 3 days my plate was overflowing with new work. There is:

• A new science/technical article for a breeding magazine. Very scary as it has an "I can't believe an editor would actually do this to me" short deadline, but I'm going for it.
• Writing a brochure, web site content, one-page, and promotional pieces for a new client.
• Editing an e-book
• Writing a keynote speech for a new client
• Accepting 4 (count 'em, four) new assignments from a local magazine
• Bidding on a new website content writing project that looks like it will work

Creative writing what??  I admit, I shoved those creative projects to the back burner and am doing my best not to be a stress case as I work through the above. The challenge of it all is kind of fun. EVERYTHING has a tight deadline. I believe every project listed above is due September 1st, with the exception of the science article which is due sooner (I will not think about it, I will not think about it, I will not think about it...)

Soooo... I guess I'll be creative NEXT month, huh? Cheers!

Can't Quite Get A Grip

My mind is racing this morning. In no particular order, here's what I'm thinking about:

• My running group is scheduled for a hill workout tonight. That's where you pick about a 1/2 mile long hill, run up it almost as fast as you can, jog slowly back down, and repeat the madness. We have 4-5 hill repeats scheduled for tonight and I'm half-excited/half-scared. Bring on the jelly legs.
• 5 women from my yoga class surprised our instructor by kidnapping her from class and taking her out to dinner to celebrate her 30th birthday. Fun, but now I'm deficient a yoga session. Wondering if I'll have time to do some on my own today.
• I had an extremely well-paying project last month that set me ahead in my goals in that I've already earned my income for August and part of September. I'm torn between wanting to stay on a roll and keep doing more projects for more money vs. taking advantage of the gift and concentrating on some of the non-paying writing I've been wanting to do.
• I'm hungry, but I've been eating non-stop for two days. The madness must end.
• I've got to call people today and arrange time for interviews. Bah, humbug.
• I need to call the vet and take the cats in to have their nails trimmed.
• I haven't talked to my mom, sister, or dad for weeks. I'm still here! I'm alive! I love you all! Call me!
• Why did I think it was necessary to stay up last night watching Will & Grace? Was it really worth giving up an hour's worth of sleep? I think not.
• My friend's mom had surgery this weekend. I hope it went well.
• I'm still hungry. Forget blogging, I'm going to go eat.

Such are the ramblings of an unorganized mind...

Dena For Mayor

No one wants to be mayor. That's the news that greeted me last week in my yoga class. Apparently some much smaller towns around us have people lining up around the block to put their name in for mayor but Madison? Nope. No one wants it.

At $1100 a year, it's not the best paying job in the world. Plus, our little town has issues with more and more downtown store fronts standing empty, lack of jobs and transportation, and a host of other issues about which I am utterly and completely uninformed.

Which is why it was a hoot when my class suggested I be mayor. "Sure," I said. "As long as it's understood upfront I'll run the town as a dictatorship. Non-negotiable."

You know me well enough to know that of course I had to consider the idea for at least an eighth of a second. But there's no way I have the knowledge or--more importantly--the people skills to attempt it. People get on my nerves. Drama gets on my nerves. Babies get on my nerves. Anyone not doing exactly what I want them to do gets on my nerves. Probably not a good skill set match for mayoral duties.

Blair would be fantastic other than he doesn't have the time. Maybe someday when he retires.

Meanwhile, protect Madison. Vote down Dena for Mayor!!!