Slow going

I've been noticing, the past few weeks, that suddenly I seem to have slowed down. I'm working, just much more slowly than I usually do. My usual "quickie" gigs - articles that usually take half an hour or so each - have turned into an all-day ordeal. I don't know how I can get back onto the fast track again, but the slower pace is frustrating me very much.

It's something of a comfort to know that I'm not the only one. One of the writer blogs I follow, the Writer's Confidant Blog, talks about end-of-summer procrastination. Although that's not quite what I am experiencing, I think it just might come down to the same thing. I think I'm slowing up because I got burned out on the excessive workload earlier in the summer.

Anyway, I have a few things to try to wrap up before the holiday weekend, so I guess I had better get back to it. Hopefully the long weekend will help me recover from this snail's pace...

Check out my mySpace profile!

I've seen a couple of fellow freelancers mention networking on mySpace, so I decided to give it a try. Please feel free to visit my mySpace profile! If you're a fellow writer, I'd love to hear from you as well.

An invasion of privacy

If the American government did this to its citizens, most of us would call it an invasion of privacy. So why is it okay for parents to do it to their children?

Of course, parents are constantly being manipulated by news reports and "experts" who instigate paranoia. They talk about how kids aren't being raised right these days, how they're getting into more trouble than ever, how it's not safe to let them play unattended. And now technology has allowed parents to delay children's independence even further.

The reason why I think technology like this won't work in the long run is because it doesn't teach kids the real reasons for obeying their parents rules and society's laws. Lawrence Kohlberg's theory of moral development holds that obeying out of fear of being caught is one of the lowest levels of moral reasoning - yet this line of thinking is exactly what this type of constant monitoring will do.

Children need to be taught about right and wrong, not just given rules and expected to follow them. And if you are teaching your child about right and wrong, they will immediately recognize that using a black box to spy on them is wrong.

Moreover, spying on your kids is just wrong. Our country was founded on certain ideas, such as an individual's right to privacy and the theme "innocent until proven guilty." This black box goes against all that. It violates a teen's right to privacy and freedom of choice. (Personally, I think if you haven't instilled good values in your child by now, then there's little else you can do besides letting them learn from their own mistakes.) It also assumes that they are already guilty of a crime, even if they haven't committed it yet.

Unless we want each and every teen fighting their own revolution for independence, I strongly urge parents to resist the temptation to spy on their children. No matter how easy modern technology makes it, it still isn't right - any more than the government spying on us or holding prisoners without trial is right.

Check out the changes!

I've posted the changes to my website - check it out! It's minus a couple of links (scans of my clips that I haven't yet gotten permission to post on my website), but other than that it's ready! Take a look, sign my guestbook, and tell me what you think of the new look!

Website changes coming soon!

The website changes are nearly finished, and I'm getting very, very excited about posting the finished site! Currently, I'm just waiting on a few responses letting me know whether or not I can post a scan of my clips on my website. I'm hoping to have all the okays in by the end of the week so that I can upload the changes!

My new website

Several months ago, I started work on redesigning my website. My idea was to make it a little more career-oriented, a little more focused on selling my skills. Unfortunately, I got sidetracked by my crazy summer workload.

This weekend, I decided to work on the website changes - for the first time in weeks, if not months. Now I am happy to say that it is almost done: I anticipate that I'll be able to post it within the next week!

I will, of course, post again to let you know when the changes are live... I look forward to hearing what you think!

My new wedding blog

Since plans for our wedding are getting underway, I decided it would be fun to keep a blog on the subject - after all, a 1920s-themed wedding isn't your normal, everyday affair! If you look at my list of links in the sidebar, you'll see the link for My 1920s Wedding.

I'll update it whenever I have new news to tell!