Guess My Algorithm

Blair and I were out to dinner with friends on Saturday and the conversation turned (as it will when two of the four people present are wanna-be-well-known-billionaire-authors) to book sales on Amazon. I asked my friend how a book he'd edited and contributed to was doing which launched a conversation about how, only days earlier, Amazon had changed their algorithms with the unfortunate effect of making sales appear less then they would have otherwise. 

This led to a brief discussion of how Amazon periodically changes its algorithms so that people (probably wanna-be-well-known-billionaire-authors) can't learn how to game the system. 

Later in the night, the two men were whining complaining moaning discussing how every time a man thinks he has a particular woman figured out, the woman changes her mind and messes with him. 

"That's called 'changing our algorithms,'" I volunteered. "Fear it."

"I change my algorithm every 30 days," offered my friend, sipping her drink. "It's marked on my calendar." 

The guys were all, "That's not fair, blah, blah, blah," so I pretty much stopped listening. If anything, shouldn't all the men out there be thanking us ladies for keeping the world interesting? If any of you guys are looking for gift ideas to express your gratitude, here are a few hints: We like fine wine, dark chocolate, flowers just because, and you'll never go wrong surprising us by cleaning the house. 

At least, that's what all women want THIS week. I can't speak for next week when we're all due for an algorithm change. 

Cheers,

Dena 

Why I Never Get Anything Done

I woke up this morning ready to hit the ground running (not actually running, but writing) and then looked at today's schedule:

5:30 am - Go over to Mom's house and water cats and feed plants. No wait, reverse that. It's still early. 

7 am - Leave for Greensboro

8 am - doctor's appointment

10:45 am - chiropractic appointment

12:15 pm - Bodypump

1:45 - pick Mom up from airport and return her to Mayodan and two cats that will be out of their minds happy to see her

2:45 pm - Bank and errands

3:15 pm - Hopefully driving back into Greensboro to pick up Lucy and bring her home. 

As I tell my writing students, there is always time to write in each day, you just have to claim it. I'm dragging my laptop to every locale and will spend the day working in 10 minute splurts in waiting rooms, airport lounges, and cat clinics. 

It sounds like I'm whining, but actually I love it. Happy Monday!

Forgotten BarkWorld Expo Interview

Googled my name this morning (Oh hush, you do it too) and found this video recorded during the BarkWorld Expo I attended last year as a speaker. I'd completely forgotten I'd done this brief interview. 

What's funny is that if you click on the link above, it takes you to the Barkworld home page which happens to be a big picture of me being interviewed for this very video. Who knew? (Click through the images if mine doesn't pop up right away.)

Note to self: Wear more makeup on camera and quit starting your sentences with "Um." You sound like a moron. 

Cheers,

Dena

Who Needs Goals?

It's that time of year. The time when we get to begin anew. Forget January 1st as the kick-off day for goals and resolutions. I've always been a December girl when it comes to starting over. My usual pattern is that I'm admirably disciplined the first 3-4 months of the year, a little less during the summer, and by late fall I can be found vegetating on the couch watching back-to-back marathon episodes of "Chopped." Right now I'm so sick of my sloth-like behavior I can barely stand myself. It's time for a change. 

I read a blog post the other day about achieving without goals. I'm intrigued. I want 2012 to be a year of purpose but I like the author's premise that goals won't necessarily get you there:

"You don’t need goals to tell you what to do. You know what to do. You’re excited about doing it already — you just need to focus, and get to it. 

 Goals keep you focused on something in the future, instead of being present and enjoying what you’re doing right now. Goals keep you fixed on one path, which might not be the best path in a week or a month or a year. They keep you fixated on one thing, rather than being open to new opportunities, being flexible as the landscape changes, being free to pursue something you’re newly passionate about rather than sticking to something you’re tired of."

The thought of spending my days pursuing my passions is ever-so-more intriguing than working my way through a checklist of mini sub-goals and timelines. 

Here's a simple example. Blair and I are spending the next couple of days cleaning closets out around the house. Sounds like a horrible must-do task, right? Wrong! We love it. We are ruthless as we pick through what stays and what goes and everything gets a nice new home on a freshly dusted shelf. Makes me happy just to think about it.

And that's the point. We (and yes, Blair's psyched about it too) are looking forward to it because--sad as it may be--we have a passion for that sort of culling out of old things and bringing order to our home. But I can almost guarantee that if I had made a checklist of "things we need to get done over the holidays" and put "clean closets" on the list, we'd be dragging our feet. How you approach a task is important. 

I'm going to try to carry that into 2012. I'm sure I'll never fully give up my beloved checklists but I do want to work on being more excited and focused on whatever it is that's in front of me at any given time, whether that's writing, reading, running, petting a cat, spending time with Blair and friends, cooking, etc. 

So in 2012 I want to live life with intent and passion. (But shhh... just don't call it a goal.)

Cheers,

Dena