I hope everyone enjoys the new look. I really liked the previous blog template, but it just wasn't working correctly. I tried repeatedly, but I couldn't figure out the html to fix it. I found this one which is similar enough, and I may actually like it more. What's better is that it's functioning properly, AND I was able to tweak the html for the look I wanted.

Yesterday I attended my very first lecture at our local library. I wasn't sure what to expect but somehow thought it would be small and intimate like a community center class. No. It was a conference room full of seats, with someone in nearly every one of them. I should have suspected this when I couldn't find a parking space but even then I remained shrouded in my naivety.

The entire session was 2-hours long and despite many annoyances (cell phone after cell phone, people snipping about said cell phones, inappropriate questions, etc) the time flew. I not only managed to take 2 full pages of notes, but I also managed to get nearly a full page of ideas for myself. So while the lecture ended up being a complete free-for-all I did manage to walk away with good ideas for future articles, as well as a few book suggestions and writing how-to suggestions.

I'm hopeful that the best tidbit I came away with is that the lecturer is offering a class through a local community center that starts in a couple weeks. I hope there is still room to sign up; I plan to call Monday morning. She is also considering forming a freelance writer organization locally. She isn't aware that one already exists, but that's not surprising. The current group, from my understanding, concentrates on educational publishing not magazines. I think a group like the one she is suggesting would be awesome. I had considered putting a message out on my social networking sites to start just this thing. Though I really feel like having this spear-headed by someone with the lecturer's experience is much better.

In other news, I've had an educational publishing freelance job fall into my lap. Roughly two days later I got an email with a lead on another similar job. I'm not currently looking for work, but I won't pass any up either. I want to concentrate on article writing but writing of any sort is good practice. Plus getting a paycheck is a nice change.

This month is looking good. Between the jobs and classes I hope to establish good (better) habits that will help get my article writing off the ground floor.