Hey!

Hello!

I love writing, art, and running. I'm currently working as a freelance writer doing articles and short stories, as well as working on a novel on the side. I write articles on a variety of subjects, including health and fitness, sports, art projects and activities, but love to learn about new things and don't mind doing a bit of research for any job! My favorite is probably creative writing, in which I draw of personal experiences, funny observations, or anything else that strikes me. I have both a witty and humorous side, but also a more serious one as well. I live in Oregon with my cat and brother, and have another younger brother and sister as well!

I hope you enjoy poking around and I will be adding more of my works soon!

*~*~*Cait

Do you feel lucky???

While I did spend the last few days working on my freelance writing jobs, I did get to sneak away some time to do some cartoon doodling! I did this one while watching 'The Invention of Lying' which was quite funny if I may say so myself. But because I always have a hard time just sitting and watching movies without DOING anything I like to draw at the same time. I didn't really have a specific inspiration per say for this one, but I just started going and saw where the pen led me. I thought the end result was ho-hum, okay for kind of a loosey goosey drawing without having an idea in my head before to work off of. Anyways, I've added this one to my cards at Pigspigot so if you want to take a look at the finished one, be my guest! :) Take care all and until next time...try to avoid sleeping with the fishies!

Slowly, against my will at first, I became a Twitter convert

I will admit, I was more than hesitant at first to log onto and partake in the Twitter mania that has seemed to befallen the rest of the world. I couldn't understand the point of reading what everyone was 'up to' every hour of the day; there are in fact some things that should remain private...say the going-ons in the bathroom! But I finally came around to signing up and sending out my first few hesitant Tweets.

The thing was, I figured that there couldn't really be anyone all that interested in what happened to be on my mind or what mundane task I was up to. Unless I was suddenly hit with creative inspiration that would regale my followers, I didn't find any need to post a new Tweet.

Days passed, and I was still listed as up to the same activity...then weeks. Gasp, I had committed a fatal Twitter crime in neglecting my updates. The truth was I still didn't understand all of the hoopla that surrounded this crazy bird. I didn't even understand half of the messages being put up...what was an @someone and the meaning of RT passed over my head. I didn't get the # signs and I was confused over the whole reply thing. Yet something possessed me to find the answers and so I shamefacedly Goggled what all of these things meant and found I was not alone in my cloudy understanding. Albeit I may have been in the company of the old, techno challenged, and other wayward Twitter newbies, but I was not in fact alone.

So I become a student of the Twitter, joined some groups and even a few Twibes. I learned how people network on this blasted thing, and realized the nuisance of Spam Tweets. I don't care if you lost 25 pounds in a week thanks to the miracle drink you're hawking! But I actually DID start getting interested in what actual people were writing and did some replies to sort of connect. I then found it a bit addicting once you got started.

I learned that Twitter can be a fun way to not only share what's on your mind and also yes, promote what work you're doing as long as it isn't to the excess, but also meet up with some like minded individuals you may never have had a chance to connect with. While I'm still new to this whole Twitter business, I think, in fact I have crossed to the other side.

Echos of the past

Footsteps echo
like sounds of laughter
days long past.
Memories only left...
empty bed
vacant seat...
Gone but not forgotten.

Course of time - intended progression
happy on the other side.
Door shut - locked.
Closing one chapter
venturing onward.

Where does it leave the past?
Slowly fading - drifting away
one clings behind
the other breaks forward.

Crying in the wake - left torn
once thought lost
made murky with unrest, unease
captured momentarily
Only to be delegated to the past.

What I Learned Today...

I am learning that with my writing I need to be more succinct and to the point. In keeping with such I am going to write a list of what I've learned today:

1. Persistence is the name of any game
2. No one likes a whiner
3. Be a sponge: soak up what others have to offer
4. Be a selective sponge: keep in mind your source
5. Twitter updates are insane
6. Be an eager learner but be just as ready to offer help to others

What have you learned today?

24 going on 12...

Okay, well today I think I definitely took some time to nurture that little girl inside. In fact, she isn't really that far from the surface is what I am finding out, and I don't think any amount of added years are going to change that. When I was younger I always thought that 20-something and 30-something women (yes, by that point they were women in my mind) led these refined and classy lives being the professionals they were. But here I am 24 and when the bag boy called me 'madam' I almost couldn't believe it. Here I am, who when walking into Costco gets accosted by the 'bouncer lady' checking membership cards who grabs my arm and asks me, "Where is your mother?", and now I'm being called madam? I know I look like a 15 year old, 18 tops, and I actually don't mind it. I don't feel like a 24 year old and I don't think I live the kind of life I envision when I hear that age. I know I'm more of a homebody; not necessarily recluse but I don't feel the desire to go out to clubs until the wee hours and I'm more than happy to stay home with some good old Nick at Nite reruns and making stupid jokes.

I feel a bit out of place or like an 'impostor' sometimes around my peers when they regale in tales of the previous weekend and how they don't actually remember most of it. I've been a runner for what seems like forever so through school I didn't stay out late, drink, do drugs, or party really because I was in training and had to get up for a workout or race the next day. And that was fine with me; I was much happier to be able to give a semi-acceptable excuse (even if I sounded dorky) to bow out at the late hour of say 10pm. My close friends felt the same way, but as I have moved on and out of school and into 'the real world' I am sometimes left feeling like I'm a bit out of place. I watch say Sex and the City and I feel quite honestly like a 15 year old, inexperienced girl who would rather go to say Disneyland than Tao or whatever hot place to be.

Case in point; today I spent an awesome day at the arcade with my bro and we hit up the air hockey table and did our best to get enough tickets to 'score that sweet prize' at the ticket counter. And what, pray tell were these coveted items? For me it was a Tamigatchi (yes, I found out they DO still exist!) and a little plastic bracelet. While we may have spent more money to get the tickets than it may have cost to actually buy said items at Dollar Tree, I don't have any regrets. I had a blast, and I guess no matter how long I'm on this Earth I don't really know if I'll actually ever 'grow up'.

Stepping out of my comfort zone

So I've spent the day sort of ruminating about what to do, what to do, oh what to do. I'm still rather new to this freelance writing business and so I feel like I'm learning something all the time. I've been reading some great blog postings from other writers and websites and sometime it feels like information overload! :P But I try to take it piece by piece, and what struck me is that I've become comfortable in my little 'routine' so to speak. I was going about my days working off of the same pool of assignments and clients and never really looked to branch out. In the back of my mind I knew that when I envisioned what I wanted my writing career to be I hoped to have achieved more, but I was solely focused on the here and now. I didn't want to go outside of my comfort zone and then query around to other opportunities and instead just kept doing the same old thing. I was afraid to take time out of making a profit right then and didn't want to then sacrifice that time to hopefully invest in the future.

But the truth is, if you stick to the same old routine forever in anything, how can you expect to get better or get somewhere you want. That's exactly how people can spend years and years stuck in a cubicle or behind a counter; they go in with the thoughts that it's short term and they'll work their way up but are too afraid to make the leap. Or, they don't know how. I think I'm guilty of both; I was afraid to go out on a limb because 1) I could fail and then I wouldn't have achieved anything, never gotten the job, and then would be in the same place but worse for wear in that I'd wasted time and hadn't been working and 2) I just didn't know how to do it, where to query, what the process was, etc.

Yet I'll never do anything, or learn how if I don't at least try. It's a lot to learn and pick up on, but I know if I want to get to where I hope to be I better get cracking. It's a tough road getting into freelance writing and a lot of it is contacts and people you know. But at the same time, if you want something bad enough, you've got to work for it. So I've been reading and taking the advice of others who have achieved things I hope to one day and soaking up all I can. And since I sometimes feel like I have a billion ideas floating around in my head and then lose focus, I've made a list of goals:

1. Get into print magazines
2. Get higher paying online jobs
3. Find a literary agent
4. Figure out what I'm doing with my art
5. Build up my blogs; this one and Fitness Stop

Like I said, today I'm on almost information overload, but little by little stuff will seep in and hopefully in time I will get closer to achieving what I hope to.