Stumble it!
February 23, 2007
In Which I Multi-Task, Announce Exciting News, And Open The Floor For Questions
The closer I get to forty, the greater my ability to multi-task. Yesterday between four and ten I colored my hair myself and added highlights, made oatmeal bread, kept up with the Anna Nicole debacle, paid bills, gave each boy individual attention, prepared dinner, washed and dried three loads of laundry, cleaned the kitchen and caught the results of American Idol.
It wasn’t always pretty, but sometimes you must sacrifice beauty for efficiency.
An experienced colorist/baker feeds the children and applies the first layer of color while the loaves rise, then rinses and paints on highlights while they bake. A skilled photographer would have made this a more focused picture, but surely you can see the toothpaste-like streaks of white bleach in my hair as well as the unbleached flour dusting the aromatic loaves.
Many of you may be surprised to know that I didn’t intend to be a blogger. In fact, when I wrote my first entry a little over two years ago, my goal was simply to force myself to work on my writing. My hip LA friend assured me that a blog would provide an outlet for my writing and could lead to bigger and better things.
He was correct. I’d only been writing for five months when iVillage contacted me and asked me to be one of their original five bloggers. Publishing columns twice a month for a wide audience was fantastic practice and immensely satisfying.
I now have another exciting event coming up. I’ll be one of the speakers at Writing Today, a well-known writers’ conference at Birmingham-Southern College. Gay Talese is the Grand Master and all sorts of interesting journalists, poets, novelists, agents, and so forth will be speaking. You can click on the link to see all the information about the speakers, registration, and the impressive list of past Grand Masters.
I’m clearly the low woman on the totem pole, but hell, at least I’m in the tepee. I’ll be talking about blogging and using a blog to work on and market your writing.
If any of you plan on attending and have particular topics you’d like me to address, please put them in the comments or email me at anneglamoreATgmailDOTcom. Similarly, any readers who have wondered about the history of the blog or have questions you think attendees would like the answers to, chime in.
I’d love to hear from you. Let the questions begin!
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February 23rd, 2007 at 10:25 am, Antique Mommy Says:
Question! (raising hand) How do you write “for” someone without altering your voice (to accomodate their audience). The few times I’ve agreed to write for someone, I find that the end product sounds nothing like what I would write on my blog.
The forced exercise of writing is why I started blogging as well, and like any exercise, I have built up some muscle. The danger in blogging as a way to do that, is that it is easy to get caught up in “blogging stuff” - memes, site meters, comments and away from the work of writing.
Anytime I’ve tried to color my own hair, it ends up in an emergency visit to the hair salon, a few hundred dollars and a humiliating admonishment
February 23rd, 2007 at 12:21 pm, lake lurker Says:
Hey, the hair color is kind of sexy.I hope Bill appreciates how much money you’re saving him.I rode to B’ham last weekend with my wife and dropped her off at Trocadero’s, two hours later I walked in the salon to pick her up and discovered her little secret! That is $210.00 to color her roots!!!Maybe you can suggest to Bill that he can buy more massages with all that you are saving him.
February 23rd, 2007 at 2:11 pm, Oh, The Joys Says:
YOU LOOK MARVELOUS. You really do.
February 23rd, 2007 at 2:14 pm, Chag Says:
Congratulations on Writing Today!
February 23rd, 2007 at 2:19 pm, Lady Lawyer Says:
Seriously! I NEED to know how you color and highlight your own hair without it turning orange. Every time I’ve done it, I require multiple salon trips to fix the copper tone…
Congrats on the Bham So. thingy. Sounds interesting!
February 23rd, 2007 at 4:56 pm, boomama Says:
Okay, here’s how smart I am: I didn’t even know that they had a writer’s conference. But now I must check it out.
All that to say: congratulations to you! And happy birthday, too.
Also: your hair is rockin’.
February 24th, 2007 at 9:44 am, The Serious Shopper Says:
Thumb’s up on the hair color! I’ve tried to color my own before and I ended with hair the color of pinestraw! All I wanted was golden highlights! Is that too much to ask for?! I mean, every time I….. Sorry!
Congratulations on your writing! That’s awesome!
February 24th, 2007 at 12:38 pm, Krisha Says:
Anne, I found you! I was such a huge fan of your blog on ivillage, but I was out of the country on business when you moved, and when I came back, there was no more Tiny Kingdom on iVillage! But now I’ve found you, and I’m not ashamed to say that I just spent an hour and a half reading all the entries that I missed while I was gone.
Glad to have you back!
February 24th, 2007 at 1:41 pm, Karin B Says:
Congratulations to you! The writers’ conference sounds interesting. That oatmeal bread you baked looks delicious, I would love to get the recipe.
February 24th, 2007 at 2:55 pm, Jamie Says:
Congrats on the speaking gig! And I bow down to your mad multitaskin’ prowess.
I just posted about how demographics/media are taking note of blogging.
This is a big deal as I usually post about poop and Britney Spears.
February 24th, 2007 at 5:53 pm, mom2ameliaB Says:
I am so looking forward to your lecture at Birmingham-Southern. I am a former newspaper reporter turned full-time stay-at-home mom who has been needing something academically fulfilling to pull me from the depths of potty training and pretend play. This may be just what I need to make me feel smart again, and hopefully I’ll be motivated to finish the fiction piece I have been working on forever!
February 24th, 2007 at 9:19 pm, Karyn Says:
Just how damn cool are you?
And can I be your friend?
And - you make bread, too???
February 24th, 2007 at 9:26 pm, Karyn Says:
Just how damn cool are you?
You make bread, too???
And can I be your friend?
February 25th, 2007 at 7:19 am, jenevieve Says:
Ooh, that bread looks delicious! Is there a recipe?
February 25th, 2007 at 1:03 pm, Melissa Says:
I only have one question - how do you get your bread loaves looking so very yummy?
When I make bread they are either too dense or to flat or some combination that makes them better for building things (or more accurately destroying things as the last attempt broke my trash can when my husband did a cross-kitchen-lob and knocked the cover to bits).
So, congratulations on this Writers forum thing, kudos for your mad multi-tasking skillz and double kudos for coloring your hair WHILE making delicious bread!
I bow to thee..
February 25th, 2007 at 1:07 pm, Melissa Says:
P.S.
I will say a prayer that no medical office or emergency room visits are necessary in the days leading up to your conference - or on the day of - or for the first few days after..you must have time to prepare, deliver and then bask in a job well done.
February 25th, 2007 at 4:00 pm, Ann Kroeker Says:
Well done on your recognition, opportunities, obvious writing talent, and exceptional multi-tasking abilities. After pulling from the oven some strange, flattened bread loaves; a near-disastrous hair-coloring episode last year; and modest blog-readership, I’m envious of your many talents. Enjoy it all!
February 26th, 2007 at 9:47 am, amanda Says:
this is great. congrats and good luck. can you tell us where to go to get a transcript or something, after the fact? sounds like a lecture i’d like to attend!
February 26th, 2007 at 12:52 pm, Clearlykels Says:
You are an awesome writer. You certainly have found your niche. I’m just glad you blog.
February 26th, 2007 at 1:50 pm, Kelly Says:
Congratulations on the speaking engagement. I love to read your stuff. Would you share the Oatmeal bread receipe? As my husband has an extra loop of colon which requires daily Rx laxatives (among other more unpleasant things) I am on the constant search for anything good that is high in fiber. I cook lots of things with Oatmeal and/or Fiber One Cereal as a primary ingredient.