Thailand Photos As Promised

In my last blog, I promised photos of lovely Thailand, so I'm about to make good on my promise here and now. I submitted a travel article for the trip, and when it goes live, I'll send you all the link, so you can see more in depth.

Here you see several Krathong floats, which are made of banana leaves and floated down the rivers in Thailand. They are made every November to celebrate the Loy Krathong festival, which honors the Goddess of Water and thanks her for allowing us to tread in her domain.

Sukothai

Our first stop was in the Sukothai Province (home of Thailand's first capital). The festival here was so fun, very regional. Kind of like the U.S. equivalent of a state fair. We a regional parade (clearly I was quite taken by the fire blower), a picnic, a light and sound show and an outdoor street market.

I even tried the fried silkworms--yummy--taste just like french fries. Okay, I did pass on the bigger bugs and the fried frog skin. As adveturous as I am, it was all a little much at the moment.

Anyway, I think this may have been my favorite stop, as the festival was so *authentic* for lack of a better word. The locals were just having so much fun, you couldn't help but get caught up in the moment.


The light and sound show was fabulous, giving us a complete overview of Sukothai history. The show had floating lanterns and fireworks, in a UNESCO heritage temple in Sukothai Historic Park. They put lights,and candles and lanterns throughout the temple which made for quite a spectacle.



Ayuthaya

Our next stop was in a city called Ayuthaya, Thailand's second capital. We had a great time exploring ancient temples and palaces here, which was amazing. I even got to see an elephant here, although I was told that this ISN'T where they come from. They're brought in just for the tourists, I guess, but whatever, I was sold.



That night the festival was a little more contained, it was held as a private buffet, just for our group. Yummy! All you can eat Thai food, it was a dream come true. They had performances on stage, and then we got to float our krathongs, but in all, we were removed from the general public, and I really missed getting out and mingling with the locals.



Here Lizard, Lizard
(What the heck is that thing?)

So many wonderful memories of Ayuthaya, Thai Coffee at the freeway rest stop, temples, palaces, gardens, marketplaces. So what are my two most vivid memories? Soldiers march-running through the palace grounds, and the giganto-lizard in the same place. The lizard's probably why they have the soldiers there, don't ya think?





Bangkok

The last festival, of course, was held in Bangkok. This was the elegant of the elegant. We all had to dress up (I found a Thai outfit, in my size even, in one of the Thai marketplaces, so I was quite in fashion). Our party was held at the Naval Institute, normally off limits to civilians, and it was overlooking the Grand Palace on the other side of the Chao Praya River. Here you see one of the river boats, designed up special for the festival. In the back left, you can see the Grand Palace, all lit up. Spectacular.

Okay, sorry for the VERY short overview, but with a travel article coming out on the same subject, I'm not sure how much of this I'm even allowed to post. If you find this post getting removed in the coming days, it's cause my editor was NOT amused. :)

I Was Lost, But Now Am Found

What does it mean, when people start asking what's going on with you in online forums? Google told me that this post had recently popped up about my website: http://www.writewords.org.uk/forum/48_53103.asp.

Not sure if it's horrible that I've been such a slacker lately, or if it's graat that I'm known enough to warrant a mention.

Those of you that haven't heard from me, take heart. I've taken a mental health vacation of sorts in the recent past. I kind of dropped out of circulation, only working on projects from my paying clients, and shoving everything else to the back.

OnceWritten.com, in particular, requires so much nurturing and my to do list for the site is extremely high, and so I just kind of abandoned it recently.

Many of you know that I went to Thailand in early November, and before leaving I was so busy I was working around the clock. When I got back, my mom came for a two week visit, so I didn't have much time then either. It was a fabulous, wonderful, teriffic trip, but I got into vacation mode, and have had a hard time coming out of it.

These days, I'm spending a lot of my time questioning whether I should abandon the website or not. I love it, I love the people that write me, but it is so much work and effort, and I have so many other things I wish to accomplish.

And now that I work from home, I need to be careful to allocate my time resources appropriately.

Wow, this blog suddenly went to a whine, whine, whine status. Anyway, I'll keep you all updated on the progress of me and the site. Next blog will contain pictures from Thailand, promise.

Identity Crisis

What do I want to be when I grow up? And when do I have to give an answer to that question? I'm 38 years old and just last week I decided to become an stronaut or a fairy princess. This week I changed my mind and am considering mountain climbing and travel marketing promotions. Next week it's another story, and I'm already investigating the idea of becoming a tropy wife to a VERY rich, VERY old man.

The thing is I have no idea what I want to be. A writer? Maybe, sometimes. A webstress, extraordinaire? More times than not. Pretty much what I want to be is a rich, superhero. I know, it's not much of a definition, nor very realistic, but at least it gives me a framework.

The superhero part indicates some kind of charity work, but the rich part kind of precludes most 501C3 work. So then what?

I do know that I think the following things SUCK:

Stuffing envelopes
Washing windows
Any type of housework
Being ordered around by a ridiculous boss
Fetching coffee (unless it is a Starbuck's run and someone else is paying.)

Anyway, most of you know that a year ago I declared work independence. I gave six week's notice at my job and basically walked away from the 9-5 world without a second glance. I had some money (not enough) saved, and I had many, many, many professional contacts. No actual projects or clients had been lined up.

Now I've kind of spent the past year dinking around "finding myself" or whatever the p/c term is these days.

So after some brainstorming and talking with friends I made one big realization. I'm spending so much time being good at EVERYTHING, I haven't left myself enough time to be GREAT at anything. Now, how am I going to be a super hero without having at least one Super Power?

So I did the career planning thing this week, catalogued my strengths, weaknesses, what do I like, what am I good at, blah, blah, blah. I made the decision. I'm going to focus on my marketing agency. I'm going to specialize in promotion in Latin America. All stuff I do well, and with a little bit of work these things could be Super Power.

Then, pow, I secure a new tourism client, and the focus for them is online marketing, so now I'm changing my focus (if you can even call it that) again. Spent some time the past few days stressing over my lack of commitment to my own future.

But then I hit the pay off. I realized

I DON'T CARE.

I'm having the time of my life. I'm poorer than I've ever been. I'm mismanaging credit. My wardrobe has degenerated from cool business suits to ripped jeans and raggedy sweats.

But I'm having a blast. If it's a rainy day, I take a nap at lunch time. If I'm infused with creativity, I will stay up all night long to get my work done.

I'm incredibly busy, maybe even more busy than when I was gainfully employed. Time seems to be hurtling along at not-yet-defined scientific term that makes light speed look like a turtle's crawl.

The thing is that maybe when I grow up I want to be exactly who I am today.

The Google Print Controversy -- Why the Fuss?

Just a quick catch up, Google Print has a controversial new program where they plan to scan nearly every book ever written. The point, according to Google, is so that when people do a Google search, if published books contain the searched words, relevant pages will also show up in the search results.

Two groups have filed suits against Google for Copyright infringement. Now I certainly can see how the major publishers are a bit worried about their bottom line. Certainly a clever enough person could use Google Print in a way that would allow them to find each and every page in their favorite James Patterson novel.

But my God that would take a lot of work. Maybe publishers will lose a few dollars to the most enterprising of the copyright stealers, but let's face it these people have other methods (photocopying books at the library, for instance. Or perhaps buying a book at a major retailer, then copying it, and then returning it) for violating copyright laws.

And searching a book page by page on Google is going to take a hell of a lot more work than it would take even to photo copy a book page by page. (And who in their right mind would even want to do that??)

Absolutely there will always be the person trying to beat the system, just because they can.

However...

Here's the key issue I think the major publishers have completely overlooked. We bookies won't use Google to steal books, because we're addicted to BOOKS themselves. Sure the words inside are great, but it just isn't the same unless we are reading an actual book. A 500-page photo copy just doesn't have the same effect for us.

We're going to buy books because we like the way they feel, the way they smell. We like having them next to us, in piles, while we curl up in bed. Searching the internet for a page-by-page copy of the book is going to be about as popular as the pretty much failed downloadable book movement of the past few years.

What Google Print will do is help sell books. Hey, if I'm doing a search for "outlaw pirate with a heart of gold", (oopsie, I mean "great philosophical texts of the 1800s") and I come across a book that has that text inside, a book I've never heard of. Am I going to spend DAYS reading that book online? Heck no, I'm too busy playing video games, doing chat rooms, and keeping my fantasy football league in the playoffs. However, I might just be so excited to dig up a new find in a field I like, that I'm gonna buy me that book to see if I like it.

Love to hear everyone else's thoughts.

I'm a Travel Writer

I can now officially call myself a travel writer. My first story is posted at TravelAge West, a magazine for Travel Agents in the Western United States. I attended a trade show, known as La Cumbre, in Houston Texas. Here's the result of that show:

Trading Spaces at La Cumbre

Hope you all enjoy it.

Betty Sullivan La Pierre Defines Good Hair Day

For author Betty Sullivan La Pierre, a good hair day means a day with hair. Recently having undergone an aggressive form of chemotherapy, she's now coming out the other side. Her lymphoma is in recession, and she's concentrating on getting her health back.

And she's celebrating her good hair day, and inviting others to celebrate with her. She's giving away free copies of her book, so if you want to enter to win, just visit http://www.geocities.com/e_pub_2000/

Messages From Beyond

Career questions are the order of the day. I enjoy the freelance life, and believe I can eventually make a good living doing a combo of my website work and the freelance consulting gig. Now, however money's thin, and while I love the freedom to do what I want, I do miss the nice, regular paychecks I was drawing as a cog in the employment wheel.

During a particularly dark moment a few months back, I saw a job posting and sent a resume off "just to see." Months later, I've had an interview, and I know I presented well. So the question is should I or shouldn't I (if the offer comes through).

So many threads are involved here, and it is a far more complex situation than paycheck vs. not.

So I did what any self-respecting confused person should do. I consulted the Tarot cards. It was a spur of the moments decision, based on being in the right place at the right time kind of situation.

The reading did not go well. I have so many neurons bouncing around in my little brain that I'm sure it was hard for her to pick up on just one energy strain, but pretty much nothing she said matched my reality. The "Death" card showed up, which as we all know means "Change" and not actual "Death" but still what change?

It is interesting though, what energies she did think she was getting from me. "There's a man in my life, I'm ignorning." God, would that were true.

Ah well, I'm sure the voices from beyond are trying guide me, and I'm just not paying enough attention. I know the decision I ultimately make will be the right one, I just wish it weren't so nerve wracking to get to the decision.

Culture-Loving Monica

Had a super-duper cultural couple of days.

Sunday, I went to the Walt Disney Concert Hall for the first time ever. Bizarre as the place may seem on the outside, the inside is marvelous. It is designed to feel intimate (indeed some classrooms at my University felt larger than the hall), but still seats nearly 2,500 people. Tremendous, really.

Inside sources tell me that the wood used to construct the theatre is the same wood that cellos are made of.

Personally, I give the concert itself mixed reviews. It had kind of a funky program, ranging from very popular music (think "Singing in the Rain") to more obscure works by Strauss and Dvorak. I don't mind either, but found it odd that they would share a playbill.

I did particulary enjoy the piece by Leonard Bernstein called "A Young Person's Guide to Television" which featured a medley of works from many favorite TV shows and commercials, including such favs as Pink Panther, Plop Plop Fizz Fizz, The Brady Bunch, NBC Nightly News, and many, many others. What wasn't so fun was the dipstick guy sitting beside me, who insisted on saying the name of each piece he recognized at more than just a whisper.

After the concert, I walked across the street to see the Basquiat Exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art. That is one weird exhibition. I know it is very popular, and people are lining up to get in, but maybe that work was just a little too contemporary for my taste.

Monday morning, my art-filled life continued, and I went with some friends to go see the King Tut exhibit at LACMA. Now this display is quite a spectacle. A lot of time and money went into the creation of this exhibit. If you are a fan of the legends of Tut, I recommend you go, but don't be too disappointed when you learn that the main coffin, sarcophagus and other big pieces from the tomb didn't leave Egypt.

By the way, there is TYPO on one of the historical exhibits in the display, which I find very upsetting, especially considering how much money went into producing this show. However, since this may be one of the last time this show gets to L.A., if you are interested, you probably should take a look. I recommend you go early in the morning to avoid the larger crowds. Our reservation was at 10 am, and while there were a lot of people there, it was manageable.

Monica The Tech Geek

Most of you know, I run a website for writers. But what surprises most of my readers is that I actually have a techno-geek background. Many a person has lost a bet, when it has come to guessing my major in college. (Mathematics, and I'm not lying.)

After college, most of my marketing successes came on the shoulders of understanding data, how to store it, how to access it, how to manipulate it. I'm a crackpot programmer in database languages, and I challenge you to find a database software I can't manage.

So, how come, I was asked the other day, I'm not using a database to manage the very data-heavy content on my website, OnceWritten.com? The question came from a super techo-nerd friend of mine, who felt, I think, that I'd lost the way. I'd abandoned the data crowd in favor of my cool new literary crowd.

The thing is, that he was right. I'd developed a data-reliant website, and was hand coding each page. Egads, you can imagine how long that took me every week.

So now my new challenge is this. I'm already converting the site, but now all of a sudden all my web pages are going from a .htm ending to a .php ending to keep up with the new code. Doesn't sound like too much of a problem, does it? And really it isn't. But oh my gosh, I'm losing my very cool Google Page Rank left and right. I'm being dumped from a 5 (and even in some very cool cases a 6) to a zero for the same content. Frustrating to be sure.

However, I guess its better to do it now, rather than save it for later. I only wish, my techno geek pal had challenged me to do this much, much sooner.

There is a lesson to be learned in this tale, which is, if you are considering creating a website, and have a general "marketing" plan, or at least an idea of what you'd like to have that website do in a few years, think twice before you plop down a bunch of code, that may become obsolete in a year's time. When you have over 300 pages, as I do, you will not be ecstatic about re-coding every page.

And for those of you checking in at the website periodically, be patient with the changes. They are happening slowly, but surely, and I'm trying to cover my tracks. If you happen to catch a link to nowhere, do let me know, so I can get those loose ends taken care of.

Best Buy's PSP and Selling Your Soul

For those of you that have been following my technology woes, I own an HP laptop, which I bought at Best Buy about a year and a half ago.

I bought the PSP (Performance Service Plan), and was glad to have the protection the first time I had to take said laptop in for repairs. (The power cable wasn't connecting to the battery, so the computer couldn't keep the charge.) Ten days later, works fine. Still feeling okay about the PSP the second time I had to take the computer in for the same problem, some nine months later. Another ten days without, but this time its okay, because I'm heading on vacation. The third time, though, I'm not so thrilled to be bringing in the computer for the SAME problem, some six months later.

Don't worry, I was told, on your fourth service call, you get a brand new computer for free. Well gosh, now I'm praying for my computer to break down.

But I digress.

This third time, they keep the computer five weeks for repairs, with no word of why or even when I'll get it back. I bring in my receipt, and say, "Look this is the day I've been promised my computer. Where is it?" Answer: "That's just a suggested date." I take another look at the form, which does NOT say "Suggested Date" but am told that it was meant to say suggested.

Okay, so finally, five weeks, I get the computer back. Oh, happy day. I turn it on, thrilled. Now I'm checking emails, I'm gonna go back to being Internet queen. But oopsie, the whole thing turns off and no amount of praying, clicking or cursing gets it working again. As I'm shaking the thing, and trying to find a magical way to bring it back to life, I notice the service guys removed my battery and never put it back in before shipping the unit back to me.

Now I know I've got to buy a back up, because I can't go another three weeks without being able to do any work. So being mentally challenged, I return to the scene of the crime, and buy another laptop at Best Buy. Get that baby home, and no kidding, I mean, really no kidding the new lap top doesn't turn on.

So, come Monday morning I'm hauling two computers to Best Buy for repairs. How retarded is that? I did get the new one back in about an hour, thankfully, or I wouldn't be able to rant to you all right now.

The other one they keep for a week, and after not hearing from them, I call them to enquire (not so politely) of the status. The hard drive is dead they tell me. And by the way, data back up is not included in the service plan. "But since I didn't originally bring in the computer for a data problem, but a hardware problem, and since my battery was dead, and I couldn't charge the computer due to said hardware problem, there was no way for me to back up my data." Not their problem.

So the data backup process takes a good week. Won't bore you with those details but I did have to go in person to Best Buy eight times in two days.

Now, though, it's the fourth time, technically that I've brought in the computer, so I'm expecting a shiny new one. Not so, apparently it's only after the fourth time the samething has to be replaced NOT the fourth time you bring it in for service.

So I get the computer back, just yesterday. I'm sort of thrilled, but sort of skeptical. Check out the computer at Best Buy, and oh dear, STILL the service guys forgot to replace the battery. Incredible. But okay, at least I have it back. So I'm testing the thing out, because why leave the store if there's going to be a problem. And the double click on the keypad isn't working. I'm not jesting here, this is all true stuff.

So exactly 23 minutes after I turn on my new hard drive, the laptop is back in its box, being shipped back to the service center. Hard to believe, but here it is two months! later and I'm still waiting for Best Buy to figure out how to repair a computer. I'm beyond irritation now and in a zen, oh well, someday it will make a good story kind of place.

So, some of the data I have, some has been losst forever. The backup is working fine, the original laptop believes I've abandoned it completely.

I'll keep you updated on the next step.

Monica