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First of all . . . . I can't believe that I haven't written since November . . . WOW!!

Well . . . my book proposal is almost complete and ready to be posted for editors and publishers to read (more on this later). I've been helped by a new program with which I am becoming familiar. I recently purchased Office 2007. With it came OneNote 2007. This is the program that helped me get my work, writing, and studies ALL IN ONE PLACE on my computer.

Microsoft developed OneNote to track with the way we've been taught to think as students through all our years of school. OneNote is a database set up as a library of Notebooks. Each Notebook is a subject or area which you define. You can assign sections/dividers in your notebook--just like in a real-world notebook. Then you can add pages to the sections. You can have as many different notebooks, sections, and pages as you wish. What's amazing is that when you're online and find a good piece of research or a quote or demographic, merely click the OneNote button on your Explorer and whatever you highlighted is placed in a notebook for you to later move to wherever you need it. That way you just continue your research or reading with no interruption.

The notebooks I have are:

     WRITING

     JOURNALS

     STUDY

     PERSONAL

     LIBRARIES

Within each of those Notebooks, I have my sections set up. Let's take JOURNALS as an example:

     JOURNALS

          Spiritual Journal

          Travel Journal

          Writing Journal

          Art Journal

          Reading Journal

          Study Journal

The pages within my JOURNAL section follow the same format:

     JOURNALS

          Spiritual Journal

                 1st Quarter

                     March 2007--on the March page are all my March entries (I began using OneNote in March so my previous months are not in OneNote. Instead, another helpful feature allowed me to place a link to my previous Journal (a Word Doc). I can click the link on my 1st Quarter page and it immediately opens that Word doc on my mini-drive.

                 2nd Quarter

                     April 2007

                     May 2007                    

                     June2007

          Travel Journal--same layout under each of the following journal sections

          Writing Journal

          Art Journal

          Reading Journal

          Study Journal

If I were you, I'd simply go to Microsoft's OneNote website and download the demo and mess with it. Then check back here and a lot of what I'll be saying will make sense. I will share a couple of its features that work great specifically for a writer in my next entry--which I promise to do as soon as I get a little chunk of time.

Here's the link for OneNote:  MS OneNote Homepage

[This is a revision and reprint of a blog I did last Christmas season. It is printed again here by popular demand.]

Prepare yourself for the BEST CHRISTMAS SHOPPING EXPERIENCE YOU HAVE EVER HAD!!

My friend Ken has forever solved the Christmas shopping dilemma for me.

Here’s how it works.

1. Make sure that you understand the strategy: One Day, One Purpose, ALL ALONE. That’s the ONE MISSION.

2.  Set a full day, morning till evening—one full day—for you to spend alone at the stores. Plan on being out from 9am to 10pm. Make sure your spouse and family know that you won’t be home for any meals that day.

3. Remember, ONE PURPOSE—You can’t have anything scheduled that day that would cause you to have to rush or hurry.

4.  Next, several days prior to the target-day, equip yourself with a music listening device and make sure that you select holiday music that you love to listen to that quiets your busy spirit. This is an essential ingredient. If you say that you’ll do without the music, then Ken (and I) cannot guarantee the results of your experience.

5. Dress comfortably. Layers are best. You can always shed or take on by going to the car. Don’t bundle up—you’ll be too hot. Don’t wear to little—you’ll be too cold.  You get the point.

6. You take your meals out, beginning with a good breakfast. Today you want a Farmer’s breakfast. The strategy here: breakfast is the least expensive meal of the day. Eat a big one. Less spent later on lunch and dinner. I can already see your wheels turning: (well, I’ll eat breakfast at home, pack a lunch and save money that way). Nice try!!  The problem here?  You just RUINED the reward system that is built into this day where you not only get all your shopping done in ONE DAY, but . . . you also get rewarded with a memorable experience (and a little well-deserved break from fixing your own meals).  So don’t cheat at this point. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner while out shopping are a must if you’re going to be a purist of the ONE MISSION this Christmas season.

7. Now, beginning with your list, TAKE YOUR TIME in the stores. You’re in NO HURRY. You have no place other than the present to be.

You’re listening to nice music. You can smile at people. Be nice to the store clerks. So what if someone cuts ahead of you in line. Smile, and enjoy your music and think about that steak you’re going to have for dinner later. A steak that you don’t have to cook. Someone else is going to cook and serve you tonight. You're just working down your Christmas list.

8. Make sure that you take extra money along for gift-wrapping. No matter what you have to do, make SURE that the gift-wrapping people at the mall wrap your gifts for you. Not only does this save you an extra day, but . . . they do a nice job, your gifts will look nicer, the ladies who serve you will get a little extra for their trouble (tip them, it’s nice), and you’ll be able to arrive at home without the stress of wondering where to hide your newly purchased gifts. You won’t have to struggle with finding an extra day to set aside for wrapping. Oh . . and who has to go to buy wrapping paper, scotch tape, pens, labels, sharpen scissors . . . get the point [no pun intended]??

9. This is not Ken’s, but my own added little tip: Make sure you get a Café Vanilla Frapaccino at Starbucks (size is immaterial, although on a day like this, I prefer Venti, with an extra shot of espresso, no whip—not that I need the caffeine, but I love that coffee flavor with the Vanilla).  I normally arrive at Starbuck's at about 3pm, when I hit that afternoon slump for about an hour.

10. Essential—keep the negative self-talk to an ABSOLUTE MINIMUM. No self-deprecating stuff:

“Well who’s going to want that?”

“Why would you ever pick that color?”

“No one’s going to buy you anything this nice.”

“All that money you spent today could have housed and fed the poor of Detroit”

“If you weren’t so chunky, you wouldn’t be whining about carrying these packages.”

Just say, “Quiet!!  Wrong Address. I’m not listening to you . . . “

Oh yeah, and if you work a job where you get tips, set your day as close to Christmas as possible (more time to accrue more tips).

And . . . enjoy yourself!!

REMEMBER: ONE DAY, ONE PURPOSE, ALL ALONE = ONE MISSION