News of Michael Owen and David Beckham

In the most surprising turn of events this summer, Michael Owen is at Old Trafford undergoing his physical to make a move to Manchester United. This is a move that I begged Sir Alex to do in a blog I'd written on December 22, 2008 when we won the World Cup. At the very bottom in the P.S., I asked Sir Alex to imagine the rhythm that he would have with the rest of our lads (at the time I was including Ronny) as they all played together. I knew then that he was going to be up for grabs at some point in time, and now…here he is! Coming to us! I couldn't be more pleased than if Ronaldo decided to stay.
This isn't the first time that SAF has given eye to Owen. Back when Michael was a young lad and he was training for the youth leagues, Ferguson was interested in his joining the Red Devils then but some stipulations from Daddy Owen (Footballer Terry Owen) couldn't be met at the time. Unfortunately, this led young Michael west to Liverpool. We aren't holding that against him now, and instead, are welcoming him with open arms, and an open wallet apparently. Sir Alex is looking at a £50k,weekly cheque to Owen and that's with the current record of injuries that he has at this point. Personally, I believe that Michael Owen's injury issues are going to be a thing of the past with the right team, training and physio behind him.
Look at it this way. He was on a team that was just relegated. How well could things have been going behind the scenes if they were going so poorly on the pitch? Also, Owen's place on the team has yet to be determined and most likely will not be one of a shining star but more like the one Tevez left behind and a place that Scholes and even Giggs currently hold. These are men that aren't always starters, they do not always go in every game, and are often used as substitutes in order to save the strength of the other players or they're used as ringers. We'll be getting to know Michael Own more and more as the weeks go by and as we hear of his interaction with the other lads. We'll see how he fits in. Once Rio features him in "5" and plays a few pranks on him, we'll know he's gelled off the pitch with the team, which will announce to the world that he's really become a Red Devil.

Now, for my BOLD prediction or suggestion that I'm going to make, just like the one I made on December 22 when I suggested Sir Alex being Michael Owen on; I think he should place a bid for John Terry. We need another great defender. Toward the end of the season, we started seeing some holes in our defense that never should have existed. Edwin Van der Sar was left exposed by Nemanja Vidic on more than one occasion, and was scored on when it never should have happened. I am usually one to always jump up and down for Vidic but the last few games of the season, the important qualifying games, and the Champions League were all disappointments. I'm not saying they were all Nemanja's fault but he wasn't always where he should have been. He can't always be everywhere he needs to be. That's why a little help from another friend might be a really good thing. So, there it is. Sir Alex Ferguson, please bring John Terry in from Chelsea! Our defense would be so strong and our striking force would be so great once again, we'll be saying, "Ronaldo WHO?"

Speaking of former Red Devils, David Beckham returns to the LA Galaxy as they down the New York Red Bulls on July 16th. Apparently, some fans are not thrilled with his return as they feel he never should have left in the first place. Is this a case of fans acting like children who are upset when Mummy and Daddy return but then warm up once they've been sufficiently "punished" for leaving in the first place? Probably. More likely than not, his fans that are glad to see him back will outweigh those that will be petulant.
My concern isn't fans who are the most peeved at Becks but his own teammate, Landon Donovan, who has been very outspoken in his disapproval of Beckham's overall performance as Captain and player. ESPN interviewed Donovan and he had plenty to say.
"When David first came, I believed he was committed to what he was doing," Donovan said. "He cared. He wanted to do well. He wanted the team and the league to do well.
"Somewhere along the way - and in my mind it coincides with Ruud being let go - he just flipped a switch and said, 'Uh-huh, I'm not doing it anymore'."
Donovan says Becks is a bad teammate because he lacks commitment.
"He's not shown (he's a good team-mate)," he said. "I can't think of another guy where I'd say he wasn't a good team-mate, he didn't give everything through all this, he didn't still care. But with (Beckham), I'd say no, he wasn't committed."
Ouch! Let's see, how do you define "bad teammate?" Is it someone who bashes a fellow teammate and doesn't stick by them, perhaps? Someone who doesn't always show a unified front no matter what their personal opinion is? Could be. See, these guys still have to play together. That's what I don't get. I'm sure Becks will gallantly stride up to Landon Donovan with an outstretched hand and a smile on his face with every intention of mending torn fences.
Donovan, on the other hand seems to be the type of teammate who would rather build a higher fence.

Twitter as Social Media

This article appears in Saathee magazine's June 2009 issue.

Last month's edition of Saathee featured a terrific article introducing you to Twitter, by Gail Martin of DreamSpinner Communications. She explained the 140 character system conveying ideas called, "Tweets" and gave some great advice on using Twitter to increase your business's visibility.
Twitter can be a valuable tool to generate traffic to your business's website and raise the number of hits you receive on a regular basis. If you're a blogger, your subscription levels can go up markedly with a few well spoken tweets.
The popularity of Twitter has increased over the last couple of years, and savvy Tweeters have been using the service to generate income, build brands and even raise money for charities. Google has seen the value, and as recently as April 2009, was trying to negotiate their way into acquiring the upstart. Twitter holds the key to the best real time database and search engine on the Internet, one to which not even Google can compare.
Companies are listening to what consumers say about their customer service through tweets. In order to protect their brand, companies are respond in real time on Twitter. Complaints about a business can be answered immediately, because Twitter's search engine brings comments to the attention of public relations and marketing departments' the moment they are sent into cyberspace. All it takes is a "hashtag" ( pound sign) in front of any name or word, and a grouped conversation, appears when a search is completed. Whomever is talking about that subject in Twitter, will pop up.
Here's an example: I use a program called, "Tweet Deck" that allows me to have several columns of Twitter conversations at once. I have a column devoted to my @replies, which my personal conversations, I have other columns with my business interest of #copywriting and #editing, another column with my personal passion of #ManchesterUnited, and another column with a friend's name, which doesn't need the hashtag but their handle instead with an @ symbol. So, let's say I stay at Acme hotel one night and have a terrible experience. In my 140 character tweet, I might say, "Terrible guest service at #Acmehotel last night. Avoid it, I won't be back. Left with bedbug bites, too." Now, since I have the hashtag in front of Acme Hotel's name all in one word, and they most likely have a column with their name just like I have columns with my personal interests, they're going to see my tweet come up right away. If they are working hard to make a good name for themselves and manage their reputation, a representative will email me immediately or tweet me, and ask that I call them or inquire as to what they can do to make things right for me.
Companies that want to protect their brand and their revenue, are creating full-time positions by a range of titles such as, Social Media Marketing Coordinator, Online Media Marketing Manager, and Blogger. Earning income through Twitter is just as possible as it is through any other online media outlet. Personally, more than one third of my current clientele has come from Twitter. The columns I mentioned earlier, #copywriting and #editing, are what helped me to find a number of jobs and a couple of steady writing gigs. I literally answered the call of a few 140 character cries for help to the effect of, "Does anyone know a good copywriter to help with some SEO's?" and "Any editors out there that can work on a project, send me an email." I've started blogging professionally for a couple of marketing companies and I write SEO (search engine optimization) articles for them as well. The occasional plea to write a press release has been sent out, and whomever gets to the person in need first, or whomever's work samples and prices suit the client's needs best, are the ones who get the jobs.
Pleas for help of a different nature are also met on Twitter. This past February, Twestival (Twitter + festival) took place throughout 200+ cities, worldwide in a simultaneous online broadcast. The event was held in order to bring Twitter communities together and raise money for Charity:Water, an organization that builds wells to bring safe drinking water to developing nations. The entire Twestival raised more than $250,000 and Twestival Charlotte raised enough money build a well in Ethiopia. Asheville and Raleigh also participated. Other organizations, such as animal rescue groups have figured out the benefits to setting up Twitter accounts that link to FaceBook pages or other websites. Word has spread to make Tuesdays a day of charity giving and the reminder to give is "retweeted" throughout the Twitter community.
Recently, Twitter downsized the "neighborhood" we all hang out in by taking away the ability to see Tweets by anyone whom we do not follow (these are called the @replies). Many of us feel this defeats the whole purpose of Twitter. If someone says something clever in their 140 characters, we go to their Twitter page, click on their website, see what they're about and follow them. Without the option of seeing @replies of people we don't know, we have to go to the pages of each individual person we follow, or who follow us and click on who they're talking to. However, once you find clever people, stick with them and most likely, you'll find that the people they follow are worth following. Also, look for common personal or business interests, see if they have more than a few hundred followers, take the time to see what they've tweeted in the last few days. If they've said anything worthwhile, or you like their website, follow them. While you're at it, give me a try! @WendyWells

Wendy D. Wells is President of WD Wells Writing and Editing, LLC
She is a Charlotte, NC based, Telecommuting Copywriter, Professional Blogger and Editor.
wwells@wendywellswrites.com

How to Get Your Music on the Radio

I used to work for a radio station, where I produced and sometimes hosted a show that highlighted new music from established artists and music from artists trying to break into the industry. They could be on independent labels or large labels, it didn't matter. The show was even called, The New Music and Indie Label Show. Not an overly creative title, but it got the point of what the show was about across well enough.
My job was to go through the hundreds of packages from bands and agencies that would come in each week, listen to the music, research a bit about each band and decide what would be played on the air. Yes, there was an element of power to this job. I was the gatekeeper to the musical airwaves of the market in which I worked. In order to get on the air and not get thrown back into the stack of "I'll get to them later," I had certain criteria that I needed to see. If I had to work too hard at finding this criteria, I gave up and the band got lost in the pile. I've had many people ask me what it took to get played on the radio. What exactly was I looking for in order to get their band to the top of the pile?
Here is the list of things I needed to see in order for a band to get played on the radio:

1. Send a professional looking package with a studio quality CD. Or, guide me to an active link with an MP3 or MP4 file for downloading. (Not all systems can do this. Smaller stations might ONLY take CD's. Check first!)



2. Sometimes gimmicks in a package would make me curious enough to wonder what was in the envelope to want to open it. I had a band that sent me cute little key chains that were airbrushed flip-flops. The envelope wasn't flat with just a CD, it obviously had something else in it, I had to know what, so I opened it first. I don't remember the name of the band, or whether or not I played their music. Was their money wisely spent? Probably not. Buttons and gimmicks with your band name should be the last thing you invest your money in. Wait until you're established. If you buy a box of cheap key chains, use a sharpie marker to write your name on them, that's money better spent. Get a nice, fabric back wall made made for your band to put behind the drummer at gigs. That's money really well spent. However, the gimmick worked in the fact that I opened the package, and for all I know, I might have played their CD. Also, always send two of something. There is usually a producer and a host, you don't want to slight anyone. Also, the host often uses extra schwag as giveaway prizes for listeners.



3. Type up a biography about yourself or the band and give me a FEW basics. Don't tell me how your entire band was conceived in your basement when you fell on top of a guitar. Some people might want all this, for me, it's too much to wade through. I only want to know what city you're from, if you've been touring or playing local gigs, and how long you've been together. Give me the name of each member and maybe a small bio on each person.



4. If you do not send me a bio, you better have a darn good Myspace page with ample information that I can cut and paste onto a prep sheet before I or the other host go in to broadcast or record the show. If I have to search for information about your band, I am taking too much time to work for you. Professional promotion agencies and record labels know to send a single bio page about the band or artist, which is why they are often the ones getting the most airplay. They're more prepared, and therefore, easier to grab and play.



5. I cannot stress how important it is to be professional in your package. If you send something hand written and I cannot read your writing, it goes in the trash. If you are too familiar with me, I might get insulted; if you flatter me too much, I will know you are not genuine. Be professional. This is the music business and people think about a certain lifestyle, but it is a business. Many of us are highly degreed professionals working our way to the top of the corporate food chain.



6. Tell me which song to play and make sure it is radio friendly. Don't try to make me listen to each and every song in order to find the song that fits my genre. If you think this will get me to think every song is great and you're so talented that I can't hear a single so I'll want to get behind your band and promote you…you're wrong. I won't take the time to listen to every song. I'll randomly pick one, which might not showcase your best skill, which in turn, might not make the audience want to hear you again. Or, I'll give a couple of songs a ten second listen and pick one that way. Again, not the best way to find your best work. Have the confidence in your music to tell me which one you think needs to be your breakout hit.



7. Follow up with me but don't bug me. Email me and ask if we played your song. Keep track of which cities are playing your music. Use an Excel spread sheet of how many times you are getting played. If you can get this information without bugging the DJ too much, you'll be able to email other DJ's (or jocks, as we call ourselves in the business), and tell them, "we've been going strong in Columbus, OH, where DJ Sally Strong on WWWE is playing us weekly on her New Music show." Or, "At WWWE, they've showcased us on their drive-time show, "take it or break it?" where the audience phoned in and voted to keep the record." Many stations have a playlist of what was played on line nowadays. The host surely has a playlist – often posted on their personality page.



8. If there is not a new music show to send your package in to, send it to the music director or the program director at the station. If they have one of each and you can afford to do it, send it to both. You can never really be sure who is listening to the music and deciding what gets played. The music director is supposedly the one who deals with the music reps and selects the music but some program directors like to keep the power and only let the music directors enter the new music into the music system, or do each day's log. It's the tedious work the program directors will often pass off onto their music directors.

That's about all I can offer without throwing in my cynicism of the music business and how so few artists make it. If you ask questions or leave comments about specific things, I'll do my best to respond based on my 10+ years in the radio business in addition to the years that I spent affiliated with the music business before radio.

Good luck!

The Kind of Fan I Am....

A Nigerian man ran a bus into a crowd of Barcelona fans, killing four and injuring many others. Could he have been so mad or hurt our team lost that he was driven to such a thing? Obviously, some other illness had him long ago and the revelry of the Barca fans was the trigger that was finally pulled in his mind for him to fire off. This is the worst reaction in world that we've heard of, and I am hopeful, this is the only one of its kind.
Yesterday I wrote about losing with dignity and how Manchester United did that on Wednesday when they lost the UEFA Champions League to FC Barcelona. The lads on the team held their heads high, their shoulders back, and while their faces looked grim, they respectfully shook hands with the dignitaries on the platform as they accepted their medals. One of them was their own future King, His Royal Highness Prince William of Wales.
Manchester United are the Royalty of European Football, whether they win or lose, and they proved that in their behavior yesterday. I already went over this in my previous post (read it) but they were very gracious in their compliments of Barcelona's playing.
But how does one go about hurting with dignity? Losing and hurting are different. I know we lost, I handled myself in kind with the team, dignified, graciously. I congratulated people on Twitter who cheered for the other team. I admitted we'd been outplayed. I left it at that and then I wrote my blog, I purged.
But today, I still hurt. My heart aches for the players, Sir Alex, and myself. I'd been so excited to think we could be the first to retain the title, that I had not prepared myself at all for a loss. It came as a shocking blow. I think the news reporters who made predictions that Manchester United would come out on top were just as stunned. But do they hurt the way we fans do?
Last night, I went to see a friend's kids play soccer and when I first arrived, I was yelling at the players to "cover up the hole, Defense! Get in place! Guard your keeper! Get the ball back, drive it up the middle!" Twenty minutes into the game I looked out from under my umbrella and saw the parents' of the players' staring at me like I was insane. I'd forgotten this wasn't a pro game and I wasn't yelling at the TV, these were kids. I remembered I can't behave at a teenage soccer game they way I do at home, or at the pub.
I felt deflated all over again when I realized that what I was doing in my mind, was guiding Manchester United to a win. I was trying to re-orchestrate the game we'd lost, to a better outcome. As it happened, the kids won 2-0 and they made it to their playoffs. Ironic, huh? They turned out to be Barcelona and the other guys were Manchester United.
As happy as I was for them, I still felt the dull ache of a spoon in my heart. Our Red Devils lost and I've been in a depressed fog ever since. I have so many friends on Twitter across the world, literally everywhere on the globe that feel the same way. We're still stunned and hurting. I only hope that as we all hurt, we are all doing it with respect to the winners, and with the dignity our team showed when they lost. If we're going to be fans of the Royalty of Europe, perhaps conducting ourselves in their image would do us good. Hold our heads high, keep our shoulders back, compliment the other guys. Admit we were outplayed that one night. Next season, when we win, we'll be gracious winners and tell the losers, you tried hard, good luck in your next game. Because when we win, we have to do that with class and dignity, too.
The Nigerian man who drove a bus into a crowd killing four people is not the kind of fan we want to identify with and not the kind we want to claim as one of our own. He's not a member of our club, we'd never teach him the secret handshake.
Instead, we'll get over our hurt, slowly but dignified. Because that's the kind of fans we are. Classy. Just like the players, gracious. Royalty.
Glory, Glory Man United! We'll be here, waiting for you next season!

Losing With Grace and Dignity

When a team loses a game and someone says, "winning isn't everything," the words offer no comfort. They aren't meant to. What they really mean is that winning isn't everything that makes up what a team or individual is made of. Being a winner is not always about getting the highest score and winning the game; being a winner is about knowing how to lose.
The UEFA Champions League Final was played between Manchester United and FC Barcelona. The result was a major blow and disappointment to Manchester United and their fans. The game began with such a wonderful start. United dominated the ball for the first ten minutes of the game and from out of nowhere, Barca grabbed the ball, found a hole and scored. Once Barca took possession of the ball, United had a hard time getting it back. When they would get it back, they were not able to do much with it. Cristiano Ronaldo had several chances to make a shot and just couldn't find the back of the net. Ryan Giggs came close a couple of times as did Wayne Rooney.
The end of the match, was heartbreaking. Barca was too good at keeping the ball away from United and even with added time, the game was over with a nil score on United's behalf. Nothing. If only one goal could have been made, the sting of defeat would have been lessened but that wasn't meant to be.
Manchester United lined up to receive their medals for having participated in the Champions League Final. His Royal Highness, Prince William was in attendance and shaking hands, which must have been a true honor for the lads. Their future King had been there to show his support and let them know how proud of them he was. Each of the Manchester United players shook the hand of each man in the procession (there were about 5-7 hands to shake), and they came off of the stage with their shoulders back and their heads high.
After the game, the players and Sir Alex Ferguson were all quoted in various interviews, but the message was nearly always the same. They praised the Barcelona players as having outplayed them. They admitted to not having played their best game and that Barcelona deserved to win. Wayne Rooney gave the most gracious quote of all, giving over the notion that "Andres Iniesta is the best player in the world, at the moment."
To lose with such grace and dignity makes a team with this kind of class a great winner indeed.

One Manchester United Fan's Pre-Game Jitters

I keep looking at the clock. I know it makes the time go by slower to do so, but I can't help it. There are five hours until Manchester United square off against Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League Final. If Manchester United retain the trophy, they'll be the first team in history to ever do so. Like Sir Alex Ferguson recently said, this is a team that is good at firsts. They were the first and only team to ever win the Treble. They won all three European titles in the same season, the Premier League, FA Cup and UEFA Champions League. Since they weren't able to make a ten year anniversary win of the Treble, being the first to retain the Champions League title will be good compensation.

Four and a half hours to go. I'm trying to stay busy by reading the game predictions and interviews from the teams, but it only it only gets me more excited. I should try and write one of my other blogs. My paid satellite internet and satellite TV blogs are going to be written after the game. Although, I could make them tomorrow's blogs if I go ahead and write something today.

Why do we get so worked up over our teams? I know psychologists have done studies about how the need to belong to a group is satisfied by being a fan of a sports team.. We live vicariously through the victories of our teams and we suffer with them when they fall. But how does it start, why do we choose our teams?

Often, the team is chosen for you. The city you live in might become the team you follow due to the sense of hometown loyalty, plus there is the ease of enjoying local games with others. We often love the team our family identifies with, alma maters, or birthplaces left behind. I'm a woman in Charlotte, NC who fell in love with "the beautiful game" of European Football (soccer), and the team, Manchester United. Both are far across the pond. How did it happen? It's almost embarrassing to admit but it started with a soap opera. I was into the show, Footballers Wives and realized I was interested in the game that they would talk about as an aside to the drama. I began watching the soccer channel, learned the various leagues and teams, then discovered Manchester United. Now, I've been told that loving this particular team is like being a Yankees fan, but what exactly does that mean? The Yankees baseball team aren't always on top, they have good marketing but they aren't cliché to follow. Nor is Manchester United. I've been with this team when they were in 17th place back in 2007 and they still managed to get up and win the Premier League title and the World Cup that season. What's not to love? I've seen this team place rookies and under 21's on the pitch because Sir Alex didn't have many other players due to an extensive injuries list. Owen Hargreaves has been gone so long, people have forgotten he's a member of the team. We just saw the return of Wes Brown after missing over half of the season. I'm grateful Rio Ferdinand is fit to return and will be protecting keeper Edwin Van der Sar in today's game. I know these guys, they get up and play when it hurts, and they climb back to the top when they drop low. That's why I love this team.
I've stuck by Manchester United not because they're the cliché "best of Europe" but because they simply are the best in Europe. Over the past few years as I watched the game and learned more about it, I have grown fond of a number of teams. I am a fan of Inter Milan and AC Milan from the Serie A League, I liked the Blackburn Rovers until they screwed Paul Ince. I enjoy watching other teams because they are good and have talented players. I can imagine a dream team of today's footballers and those of any decade mixed together.
I became a fan of the game first, and then I became an fanatic about the team, Manchester United. Today, regardless of the outcome, I will still be a fan of this team and I will continue to love the beautiful game.
Four hours to go.

Letting Go of My Hate for Michael Vick

I'm hearing impaired and my dog is really helpful to me in alerting me to things I can't hear. The alarm clock beside my bed, someone at the door, the kitchen timer…she's a smart dog. Shasta learned to signal me with different whines and barks. On more than one occasion, she's even stopped me from crossing the street when I didn't hear a truck coming. I never trained her to be a hearing dog, she figure things out on her own. Shasta is really quite amazing.
I look at her and I try to imagine someone pulling out all of her teeth and hanging her upside down to let angry pit bulls attack her. Or tying her up, forcing mate, and deliver litters of puppies over and over again because she's a Chow Chow. That's what Michael Vick used to do to his dogs. That's what all dog fighters do to dogs. They do so much more, too. Gruesome things I block out of my mind because the image is too disgusting and nauseating.
I have to run and love on my Shasta, and I imagine the way I would harm or kill someone if they ever tried to hurt her. She loves me back and without any fear or trepidation, she exposes her belly and neck to me because she trusts me. She knows I would never hurt her. That's why this dog would die for me.
She has stood to fight and protect me when she thought she needed to. Out running one day, a group of five dogs came rushing at us, she stood her ground and started to fight, to keep them away from me. The moment was over quickly, and no one was hurt. The owner ran over, and I pulled her away from the dogs. I made it clear to the irresponsible dog owner, that he needed to know how to control his dogs. Mine was on a leash, she was doing her job, protecting me. I told him how my hand had been mauled the summer before because of dogs getting in a fight.
It was Shasta who got into a fight with a German Shepherd. I tried to break it up myself. My hand got in the way and the Shepherd clamped down on it as she went for my Shasta's face. The Shepherd shook my hand like it was a stuffed toy, but Shasta did something that got the dog to release my hand. Then, Shasta flipped the Shepherd over onto its back and went for the soft parts of its body. Finally, a neighbor helped me break up the fight. Both dogs were injured, my hand was mauled.
I still love dogs and even after that happened, I kept rescuing them every chance I could. But I had trouble with their growling for long time. Even in play, the sound of growling was a trigger that struck fear in me. Instead of giving in to that fear, I over came it because I love dogs so much. I can't stand the thought that anything about them would be fearful to me. I've always been such a whisperer with all animals.
My love of dogs, will help me overcome something else. I have to stop giving in to my hate of Michael Vick. This is hard. I've hated him so deeply since we first learned about his dog fighting. I changed my MySpace page to a sounding board and blog for very nasty things that should be done to him. Once he was put away, I also locked him away in my mind and almost forgot about him. Then, came a show about rehabilitating his dogs-- the few that were salvageable from the compound. Seeing the fear, mistreatment and physical abuse these dogs had been through bubbled all of my hatred of him to the surface again. So, I blogged and wrote more about what I hoped was happening to him in prison. Then, I locked him and the hatred away in my mind once more.
Now he's out and it's back. My hate is worse than ever because he's free. He has his freedom and he's sucking up to the Humane Society to prove the remorse that Roger Goodell says he needs to see from Vick before the felon can play ball in the NFL again. I'm finding it harder to breathe.
I read articles from sports writers and other news journalists discussing how Vick got to where he is now, and I see the skeletons of dogs buried around the dog fighting compound in my mind. The one Michael Vick put there. I see the bloody injuries of yelping dogs who don't understand why they are being forced to fight this way, when all they want to do is please their human.
I have to find a way to stop hating Michael Vick. It sickens me too much. This hatred gives my mind these images and I have to let them go.
I have finally reached a point where I don't imagine going up to him and hurting him, or doing awful things to him. I imagine walking up to him and sobbing. Just standing there, sobbing and crying in front of him. And he has to watch me. He's force to watch the pain I feel bend my body forward, and crumble me to my knees. His ears are sentenced to hearing the agony moan out of me as I cry for the dogs, and I let go of the hate. This is what I imagine, this therapy. I don't know how to make it a reality but it is what I think would help me and what I think would actually help him to feel true remorse.
If he has a heart, and he saw how much pain he caused a total stranger, who never met a single dog that touched his property; maybe he could multiply it by thousands and know how many more like me there are. So many others, like me trying to stop hating Michael Vick.

90210 Season Finale

This week and last week have been a number of season finales. Tuesday night was the season finale for 90210. So, if you've DVR'd it to watch later, stop reading unless you want to know what's going to happen. This is what you call a *SPOILER ALERT!*
90210 ~ Well, my goodness…didn't Jen turn out to be Naomi's evil sister? Jen betrayed her sister for so little a thing as throwing a party and obviously, for throwing in her face the fact that Naomi is paying for everything. The way she lied to Liam and then used him to hurt Naomi is really going to have to come back and bite her somehow. If the writers and producers don't let that happen, their audience will never forgive them.
Rumors are that Ethan will not be returning next season, so some people are guessing that whatever Annie hit with her car will be Ethan. Or they think it will be Liam because he's getting sent off to military school and maybe he was able to run away. Anyway, there is a big question of who was in the older model Mercedes with the WBHS sticker on the back? Whomever it was will have witnessed Annie's hit and run, they'll either report it, or use it to blackmail her. Or another scenario is always the "guilt them into turning themselves in" where someone like Kelly Taylor maybe saw her (after dropping off her stoned parents), and it will turn out whatever was in the road had been there for hours and was either dead or needing help. Kelly (or whomever) will constantly drop hints and give looks directly into Annie's eyes that will eventually make her crack and admit what she'd done. That's just a guess.
Dixon and Silver are a big, wide yawning gap in the story line. The writers need to seal this off and move one. The audience has grown tired of the back and forth with the two of them and regardless of whether or not Dixon and Silver love each other, it's time to let it go. She should leave town with Ethan or something. Maybe that was him in the road, and because of his death, she'll realize she had feelings for him, and she'll be so confused that she will turn into a convent bound freak like the one at her Catholic school, who wanted to fast on her behalf.
If Kelly Taylor develops a crush on Harry and it causes a rift between him and Debby, it will be very obvious that it's merely a ploy to rock a boat on calm waters. Writers: Don't go there. Come up with something else. You've already done the "he has a kid with someone else, her job is too demanding, and your mother is driving me crazy" issues between them. Be more original. The audience of this show is geared more toward a teen demo, but they can handle something a bit deeper than a crush on Dad that gets Mom angry.
As for Navid and Adrianna, they're a sweet couple and she needs to be strong enough to move on from her decision to give up the baby. Strong enough to stay clean and stay with Navid. Just let them be the typical, happy high school couple for a little while. They can be the teen image of Debby and Harry. You can always mess them up later with what his father does for a living…perhaps Navid meets a woman that is too innocent for that business and falls for her. Maybe the sorority sister he met in the bar will have fallen into "the biz" and he'll get her out of it, thus causing a rift between him and Adrianna.
That's it for this season! That's the last of my ideas the writers' get for free, too!


This post was originally written for my work blog for DIRECTV.

Has Twitter Come Full Circle ~ Already?

Mark Twain said, "If you don't read the newspaper, you are uninformed; if you do read the newspaper, you are misinformed."
This was in an age where the only news was coming from the newspaper. Letters and gossip were the other sources of information, so where do you think he got his facts? Knowing Twain, he listened to what he heard, took in what he read and came to his own conclusions. Somewhere in the middle, there is always a truth. Somewhere on the edges, there is always a lie. Between the edges and the middle are the facts. This is why we're always beating around the bush, circling the facts, coming full circle, and in the middle of it.
So, which circle of information should we believe? Do we listen to the news, blogs, Twitter, or read it online? Like Twain probably did, coming to our own conclusions is the best way to go. This past week, Twitter gave us conflicting stories about its new method of operation and how it was going to give us its @ replies. First, it took away the ability to see the replies of people whom you don't follow. Many of us feel this defeats the whole purpose of Twitter. We like to see what other people say so that we can figure out whether or not we want to follow them. If they say something clever in their 140 characters, we'll go to their Twitter page, click on their website and see what they're all about. If they look like someone worth following, we'll follow them. Without the option of seeing @ replies of people we don't know, we have to go to the pages of each person individually we follow (or who follow us) and click on who they're talking to. It's time consuming and we often find more duds than dandies.
Twitter has given us bogus explanations and repealed some of the restrictions but other reports say that they aren't going to lift any @ reply restrictions at all. I'd rather be completely uninformed than so misinformed at this point.
So for now, I'm practically talking to myself and few select friends on Twitter (yawn!) and I'm growing stale in making new followers or finding new folks to follow. The social media aspect of it has diminished. What's next? Who's got the next best and biggest thing? I'm ready to move on. If the changes are going to remain, in my opinion, Twitter has come full circle…it's already too yesterday.

Grammar Issues 101

There is a mistake among writers on the internet that I see all too often. When I come across the error, I stop reading, re-read the sentence, look for the author's name and credentials, go back to what I've been reading and often don't finish the article. This one little mistake has taken away enough credibility (in my eyes), that I no longer want to hear what the writer has to say. I'm not saying I never finish reading, I'm saying that sometimes I don't.
Here's an example of the mistake that I found online today, let's see if you spot it before I point it out to you:

They then begin counting hours—where prior they probably worked more then 40 hours and never gave it a thought—you can now plan on no extra discretionary effort.

I don't know how this sentence made it past their grammar check. When I copied it onto my Word document, a squiggly lavender line appeared under the error on my page. The word "then" before the number 40 is the error. The sentence should read "more than 40 hours…"
The rule is really quite simple. When doing a comparison of one against another use the conjunction, "than." When using any measure of time, use the adverb "then."

• The new Star Trek looks better than the old Star Trek.
• In the original TV show, the future back then is funny compared to the special effects of today.
• Even the later TV show has less to offer than the new movie.
• His nap was longer than hers.
• He slept, then he woke up, and went back to sleep.

Which is correct, than I or than me?
Now, if you're wondering which pronouns to use after the word than, you're not alone. Many of us have to stop and think this one through. Even though this isn't part of the exact same grammatical issue, I'll go over this quickly, the solution is easier than it seems. Take I and me as examples, depending on the meaning of the sentence, either one can be correct.

• Jason loves swimming more than I, means he loves to swim more than I do.
• Jason loves swimming more than me, means he loves to swim more than he loves me.

See? Easier than pie! Now then, go forth and get it right!

How to Avoid Plagiarism

Writing a paper involves reading. A great deal of reading. In fact, writing is all about reading. A writer that doesn't read is usually not a very good writer. By reading, we learn how to write better. We can appreciate the beauty of another author's words on the page as they describe the human condition. So often we writers are Empaths, soaking in the world's emotion. We reflect everything that everyone around us is feeling, by taking it to the page. When someone else writes a really great line, frequently, I'll think, "ah, that's gorgeous…why didn't I come up with it?" After all, I feel the same way…I just didn't get it on paper first. Now, it's too late. The line is theirs and I can't have it.

Although, we writers steal from one another all the time. It's true. We do. But when we do it in the right way, it's ok. For instance, it was through Stephen King that I learned the art of conveying inner emotion through inner dialogue with just a few words. He doesn't make a character have a complete conversation with themselves (not all the time), but he'll move the plot forward omnisciently and throw in a short thought or two so we stay connected to the character. He reminds us we are in the character's head but we also know we are outside of the character.

If, however, I were to steal lines from Cujo where the mailman is talking about "keeping the mail moving" as he's delivering the mail, that would be stealing from Stephen King in a bad way.

So, stealing technique to some degree, is ok. Many authors teach technique and structure in courses during downtime when they're between books. Many are professors are also authors. I've stolen an adjective from an author, but was it really his? I didn't use it in the exact same way he did, so was using the same word in a remotely similar context stealing?

Plagiarism is illegal and wrong. If you get caught plagiarizing a paper, you will fail and you might even be subject to expulsion. Taking the easy way out is not worth the difficulty of student trial, heartache and the soiled reputation that will follow you for the rest of your career. Plus you will have wasted money on tuition, books, boarding, and if it was your parent's money…I can't imagine what kind of trouble that will cost you.

Once a professor has completed their Ph.D or MFA, they have read so many papers, books and journals that you will have hard time coming across something in the way of theory or fact that they have not read. When a professor is suspicious of a student's paper, consulting with one or two colleagues is usually all it takes until someone knows where the plagiarized work came from. Most professors will know the exact article from which either the concept or verbiage has been stolen. Even if a work is only paraphrased, which means not quoted exactly, if the idea is taken and reworded and not credited, it is plagiarism.

In today's advanced and developing technology, we have not only fellow professors to rely on but the internet has made it easier than ever to find out if a student has cheated. Software recognition programs have been developed specifically for the detection of plagiarism. They are highly reliable.

So, now that you understand what plagiarism is, don't do it. Always cite your sources when you paraphrase or quote content from another author. When writing a paper, in order to lend it credibility, you're supposed to quote and use sources, just not for the whole content. Use your head, if it feels like you're copying from the book or not coming up with your own ideas, then you are not. You're plagiarizing and it's wrong. You will get caught.

Writing a Paper - Help for College and High School Students

Starting the Process

With graduation so close, not only is it time for high school students to think about to which colleges they want to apply, but it's also time to wrap up the current school year! These next few posts will benefit both high school and college students. I'm going to discuss writing papers. (Up front, I'll let you know I am an Instructor of College Composition.)

Final exams are almost upon us but most likely, will have term papers to submit prior to taking exams. Writing is crucial to your success in and out of school, so learn to do it well. Communication is the key ingredient in everything from a well structured resume to a project proposal for a potential client.

To begin the process of creating your term paper for school, get a good handle on what is expected of you. Read your syllabus! My syllabi are very clear as to how the paper must be formatted, the length I expect and the way the Works Cited page must be structured. Before you start writing anything at all, if you have the option, ask yourself what type of paper you want to write. Make sure you're interested in the topic and in the way you will present the topic. Read over your notes, look over your information and review your sources.

An informative or expository paper teaches the reader something about a particular topic. You explain an idea or a theory within the body of your paper.
An argumentative paper makes a claim or takes a certain position on a subject, then justifies the claim with carefully detailed evidence. You must use research and documentation to support your position (as with all papers). The claim can be your opinion, but you'll need to back it up with solid evidence as to why your opinion is better than the counter opinion. You'll have to introduce both sides. The goal of the argumentative paper is to convince the audience that the claim is true based on the evidence provided.
An analytical paper divides an event, issue or an idea into its component elements, examines each one individually, then presents this breakdown and evaluation to the audience. Frequently, literary analysis is a popular topic for this type of paper. The theory behind a piece of work would be studied and interpreted for an audience. Or a moment in history, a way of life, a type of culture, just about anything can be broken down and analyzed.

Next, devise your thesis statement. It needs to be concise and interesting, and should cover only what you will discuss in your paper. On that same note, make sure you cover your thesis statement in your paper! As you write, your direction and focus may change, so be prepared to revise your thesis statement at the end of your paper. The body of your paper will also help you to determine what the introduction and conclusion paragraphs must say. Write the introduction last. (I'll get into that more in another post.)

The writing process can be broken it into several parts, prewriting, drafting and revising. These are the three basic stages of writing a paper, and I will explain them more over the next few days.

I rewrote this for my personal page because it was originally written for my paying gig for HughesNet satellite Internet.

Internet Killed the Newspaper Star

As a writer and journalist, I would have thought the day the newspaper died, would personally, be painful. I was an idealistic kid and used to think I'd forever be a double or triple-column, half-page writer in some major newspaper…naturally, I'd also be writing the great American Novel, Oscar winning screenplays, and directing all of my own films.

Twenty years ago, most of us would not have thought that the majority of our news would be from an online source as opposed to the newspaper. We all thought that it would be television that would kill the newspaper…as it had done the radio star. Now, in a way it still is video doing the killing…except the broadcasting takes place online.

I'm so keen on writing this because recently, a local survey came out measuring the difference in the size of newspapers from 20 years ago in various cities. The amount of shrinkage is significant. We shouldn't blame ourselves over the demise of the newspapers. Nor, should we be made to feel guilty about it. Progress changes and moves everything forward. Some older folks at dinner one night implied that by not reading the tangible newspaper – our generation, and those that follow are missing out on some additional level of intelligence. One that only they would be privy to, because of their ink stained fingers.

I occasionally enjoy the Sunday morning phonebook-sized paper with the sale ads and coupons. Sometimes, certain sections are fun to read cover to cover…I just don't have time to read the whole thing, nor do I have the space to store it. Plus, it uses too much paper!

The tree-saving method of reading my news online at high-speeds is not the same experience as flipping through ink on paper, that I concede. I also love books. However, for my news I prefer to use the internet. I select which ads I will allow to interrupt my field of vision, I read whole pages at a time, without a "continued on page…"

The internet is always on and ready for me to engage. In one click, I am instantly updated on developments that took place just moments prior. I have access to satellites in space that will show me more than one publisher's point of view, in fact I can see the news from more than one nation's point of view…THAT is the amazing part of being tied to the global community. I am more informed minute by minute than my friends waiting in their driveway each morning, coffee in one hand, the other hand ready to be stained with ink.

With respect to my older friends at dinner that night, which part of these advantages of internet news gathering is deficient in, or empty of intelligence? I've yet to see where it is.

~ As Usual, Nathan Knows Best ~

(Shh! Don't tell him I admitted it!)

Once again, world news has had an unusual correlation into my own life. Back in mid February, I posted a blog to one of my work sites about the movie, "Taken," starring Liam Neeson. I'd mentioned the kidnapping in the film as a good example of why home security is so important.

Now, I am mentioning Liam Neeson again in a completely different context. He has suffered a terrible loss in his personal life. His beautiful wife, Natasha Richardson has died from a head injury. On Monday, March 16, 2009 she fell a ski slope, hit her head, but seemed to be ok afterward. Since the fall seemed like a minor one, she didn't think she needed to go to the hospital. Unfortunately, if she had received medical care right away, the injury she suffered could have been treated. The type of blow to the head she sustained allows an artery to freely pump blood directly into the brain—it pools and creates pressure, which is not always fatal if it is quickly relieved. When this type of injury occurs, the victim can be lucid – walking and talking for a short period of time, which is why this syndrome is often called "Talk and Die." When the swelling and pressure between the brain and skull have nowhere to go, the victim will soon lose that cognizance and die without treatment.

In the first line of this blog, I said there was a correlation with my own life in this news. The Sunday before Natasha Richardson fell and hit her head on the Canadian ski slope, I hit my head on a metal bracket under a shelf in my home office. I was bent over a file cabinet and stood up too quickly before I'd cleared my way from under the shelves. At first, I was lucid and operated normally for a few moments, while complaining my head and neck hurt. Then, I started to say strange words like, "rainbow, bubblegum, and bologna," for no reason. When Nathan started asking if I was ok, I responded with nonsense statements. He asked me to recite the alphabet. I got stuck at E, F, G, H, and kept re-looping back to A.

He said someone, like the paramedics should come and take a look at me. I didn't want that, nor did I want to go to the hospital. My head wasn't working the way it should have though, and Nathan knew this. So, he made the call. He told the 911 operator the situation, and that he wasn't sure if I had to go to the hospital but he wanted someone to check me out. When the paramedics arrived, they asked him my normal range of intellect. He said, "this woman has two Master's degrees and right now, she can't say the alphabet." I remember hearing the alarm in his voice, which is I'm sure is accurate. However, my scrambled brain also distinctly remembers the two men discussing the topic of windsurfing, which never happened. The trip to the hospital and my time there was filled with more odd words like, "cocker spaniel, driftwood, tequila," and others I don't remember. I'm thankful they weren't embarrassing or swear words.

I've still got a pretty good sized lump on my head and a headache that seems to have taken up residence. The doctors said that just like any other part of the body, the brain can be bruised and it will take some time to heal. I have a mild concussion but no bleeding or swelling in my brain. My family and I are very grateful for that and for the fact that Nathan made the choice to call 911. If we'd have read about Natasha Richardson the day after my head injury without my having gone to the hospital, we'd probably be alarmed…freaking out is more like it.

Now, I can only say that my thoughts go out to Natasha Richardson's family. Liam Neeson has lost his wife, their children have lost their mother. Vanessa Redgrave has lost a daughter -- which every parent says is something that no parent should have to experience…children are supposed to go after the parents. Joely Richardson has lost her sister, and that's a pain I'll never know.

I'm so sorry Natasha Richardson didn't have her own Nathan with her the day she hit her head, to force her to get treatment. I'm sure if Liam had been with her…he would have. That's what our men do when we can't, or don't know how to do what is best for ourselves. Sometimes it turns out to be the right decision. If we've hit it lucky, he's the kind who steps in gently, then doesn't crow like a rooster from being right. I'm one of the lucky ones, because in my case, he's almost always spot on and he's never a cock about it.

Rest Without Pain
Natasha Richardson
1963 - 2009

Can Social Media Make You a Victim?

Today's social media world has nurtured a landscape in which a level of camaraderie develops online that normally wouldn't be felt in person. Often, a person's identity and information is available because of their business and their desire to gain new clientele. But, when is too much information – too much? When you're writing about being in the airport on Twitter, the world suddenly knows you're not at home. If any of the "pals" you've made along the way know you're single, live alone, and run a business from your home – the fact that a house with office equipment is empty of its occupant has just been released to the world.

So, how can Twitter, or other social media go really bad? This past week, I've talked about stalking a few times. These new means of instant communication are an easy way for someone with ill intentions to gather enough information, to stalk a person and plan a physical attack, harass them, or vandalize their property.

Here's an easy one, the wealthy business person mentions taking the kids to soccer. A few days later mentions going on a trip overseas — have you seen the movie "Taken?" If not, just think kidnapping or some other harm to the partner left at home. Another scenario: men and women, who discuss their toys: jet skis, motorcycles, convertibles, and then Twitter about being away from the house on a trip, or simply at the kid's recital, soccer practice, baseball game, etc. Bye-bye toys. Finding out where someone lives is not hard to do, Polaris systems make looking up anyone's real estate property easier than looking up their phone number. Plus, with the telecommuting capabilities of today, many of us work from home and use our home and business address interchangeably. Again, it's easy for the wrong person with dark motives to find a victim.

Take a clue from some of the stalking prevention tips I gave out over the last few days. Use a post office box or a package and box rental service that will give you an actual physical address. Many of the newer UPS stores are doing this in lieu of PO Box numbers as they know packages are often undeliverable without a physical street address. Plus, a business looks more legitimate with a street address as opposed to a PO Box.

Most people using social media services and tools, have the right intentions and are using them for business networking purposes and to build a list of potential clients. However, for the small percentage of people with the wrong motivations, these tools also have the ability help build their list of potential victims.

Nemanja Vidic's Ban (Finally Learned What it is..>:(

Well, last blog I'd mentioned that I didn't know yet what Vidic's ban was going to be after his red card and send off from the Liverpool game. Here it is, it's ugly and it actually sounds worse than it is but it's pretty bad when you get to the bottom of my blog. The Football Association's official statement on their website confirms that Vidic is "suspended from all football until the Club have completed 2 first team matches for a Sending Off in a match played on 14/03/2009." Basically, he'll miss one match for his offence against Liverpool - denying a goal scoring opportunity for the visitors' skipper Steven Gerrard - and another because he has now been sent off twice in domestic fixtures this season.
So, Vidic won't play the away game at Fulham this coming Saturday, 21 March and the home game against Aston Villa on Sunday 5 April. If United plays on Tuesday, 7 April in the Champions League, the AV game will be held back a day…either way, the Serbian defender will not be where we need him most DEFENDING our keeper!
He's been getting goals, which has been amazing and it's saved our games more than once. But we really need him on the pitch to defend, especially against Aston Villa. These guys beat Hull. Keep in mind, Hull have been doing amazingly well. They aren't the old Hull, it's as if they've been substituted with some parallel team that look like Hull. (I'm happy for their fans, I've seen interviews and they're proud of their team – it's been a while.)

As far as Vidic's send off goes, I really appreciated how classy Sir Alex Ferguson handled it. (He always is such a class act...thus, the Knighthood--well that's how I like to see it.) Sir Alex said that Vidic made a mistake as people do. The team and he understood why Vidic had to be red-carded. SAF said they would have expected the same response against the other team if we would have been fouled against in such a manner. Vidic's previous red card was also against Liverpool, (are we seeing a pattern here?) in the 2-1 league defeat at Anfield on 13 September. Vidic was suspended for one match at that time, which was United's 1-1 draw away at Stamford Bridge on the following Sunday. Knowing that the next game he wasn't in was a draw doesn't make me feel too good about his not being on the pitch against Aston Villa in a few weeks.

Now, I don't mean to down play what Fulham can do. We beat them 4-0 in a recent FA Cup final berth and before that, we took them 3-0 in a Barclay's. But these guys are so up and down--do they know if they should scratch their watch or wind their butt? Get this: They beat Tottenham once and drew a nil with them, they drew a deuce with Chelsea, and drew nil-nil with both Liverpool and Aston Villa. They have been even more sporadic in their performance than that! It gets worse--They won against the Wanderers but lost against the Rovers—and this was during the Rovers' "rough patch." I'm not worried about them and I can only imagine no one else in Red is either...do you thing Nemanja just wanted the day off? But to take a chance with Aston Villa....
His not being there against AV is really nasty as we haven't seen them since our draw in November when we went nil-nil. (It was a cold, stormy, gloomy morning that lasted all day long.) At least this time, we're having them over to our place at Old Trafford but that didn't make a whole lot of difference last weekend against Liverpool, now did it? The game against Aston Villa will be broadcast live on Fox Soccer Channel, at 11:00AM EST Sunday, 5 April.

Footy Saturday 14th March, 2009

(Just an FYI for you, if you're trying to calculate game times. Until the last Sunday in March, Britain is only four hours ahead of us in the Eastern Time Zone [EST]. On March 29, they go into their daylight savings time, when they'll be five hours ahead of us. It's boggy like this for this few weeks every year just in March. In October, when we switch again at different times, they're six hours ahead for a few weeks, then back to the usual five hours ahead.)

Despite Loss, Manchester United Still Tops the League

What a day...there's good news and bad news. The good news is we're still seven points ahead of Chelsea and four ahead of Liverpool. The bad news is...Liverpool took the match on a 4-1 win against us at Old Trafford today, Saturday 14th, March 2009.

It looked good up until an uncharacteristically, bold display at the back allowed Liverpool into the match; and the subsequent 4-1 defeat means the Reds’ lead at the top is chopped to four points, albeit with a game in hand.Cristiano Ronaldo converted a first-half penalty and put United ahead but three defensive mistakes, one of which was made by the man who's praises I'm quick to sing these days, Nemanja Vidic. Everyone makes mistakes and everyone has bad days. Many, many days have passed since United have seen so bad a day as this and we really can't berate the fact that it went so poorly. We're still tops in our home league and looking great in the UEFA. This really is only a minor trip up. I don't like that our Vidic was sent off in the second-half at 73 minutes with a red card, which preceded the visitor’s third goal. I've not yet heard about a next game ban.

Other Premier League:

My other team…I used to love and still feel a loyalty toward the players – not so much the staff.

The Blackburn Rovers
What comes around goes around…Arsenal took the Blackburn Rovers 4-0 at Emirates Stadium. As far as I'm concerned, this wasn't much of a surprise but it's always disappointing to see the Rovers go down so badly. I personally feel it's all part of the Paul Ince karma they've brought on themselves…the poor judgement enacted by the Rovers' Board in firing him after only four months at the helm as coach. I've always felt strongly about it, which is why I wrote a passionate comment only this morning (3/14/09), in the Lancashire Telegraph. The article is about Keith Andrews' earning his keep and the wise decision of Paul Ince to have brought him to the team. Ironically enough, Andy Cryer's column is titled, "Blackburn Rovers Midfielder Has Gone Full Circle," which I feel has great symmetry to my karmic evaluation of Blackburn's situation.

Other news in the UEFA Cup run off:

Taking it on the nose -- Danish midfielder Daniel Jensen will have to miss out on the deciding leg of Werder Bremen's UEFA Cup Round of 16 tie against AS Saint-Etienne. In fact, he'll be missing two weeks of play breaking his nose in Thursday's night's collision with an opponent while playing against Les Verts. His surgery was on Friday, 13th March, to repair his broken nose. OUCH!

Catching UEFA Footy

A quick catch-up before the weekend…

Manchester United 2 - 0 Inter Milan

Manchester United will take place in the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals for the third season in a row, but Inter Milan actually had United's Nemanja Vidic concerned for a moment.

He was the successful and magical first goal of the night's game, making a powerful header into the net that set the tone of the game, and took United into an early lead. Inter Milan put up a good fight until Cristiano Ronaldo slicked the second goal five minutes into the second half.

We'll find out who the Red Devils are up against next when the draw for the last eight is made on March 20.

And as for Serie A…Well, it's not been a good year for the Italians. For the first time in seven years no Italian teams will play in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League. Yikes! It's hard to believe that all three Italian sides have been completely snuffed out by Premier League clubs. I say it with pride of course but I wouldn't have minded seeing Chelsea lose to Juventus and have at least one Serie A team in the quarter-finals.
ACF Fiorentina were the first out, unable to get past the group stage, Roma tied with Arsenal, which wasn't enough to get them the points needed to get into the quarter finals, either. Serie A is having a hard time the last few years and it's a sad thing. I remember seeing them win the FIFA World Cup in 2006, which was when I was really starting to get into Footy. That was when I first "met" Gilardino and Zinédine "Zi-Zi" Zidane, and began to learn the game.

I'm happy to know that most likely, an England Premiership team will win (oh, come on! Let's be realistic, here.) and that most likely, it will be Manchester United (oh, come on! Let's be realistic, here.) once again taking the cup. However, I can see English Premiership teams play each other all the time in the Barclay's Premiership. The UEFA needs to be more diverse, like the FIFA was. I am hopeful the other three of the Big Four will be eliminated quickly so there is a more international flavor to the last legs of the competition. I'll be keeping you posted…

SLUMDOG OSCAR FOR SALE

While the movie,"Slumdog Millionaire" was sweeping the Academy Awards the other night, the domain name, "Slumdog Oscar" was purchased. It's set to go on auction within 24 hours from now. Hmmm....

How to Start the Job Search ~ Step One

What Do I Do? How Do I Say That?

The Resume

I don't need to begin with statistics or facts about unemployment's alarming growth. We all know about it and chances are you're online reading this now, because you are looking for a job, or freelance project, perhaps you're in preparation of the layoff your company is about to announce. Yeah, we're all feeling it.
So, here we all are, blowing dust off our resumes, breaking out the thesaurus to find power words, figuring out ways to derive our skills from our accomplishments…this is not an easy task to undertake in itself, much less face the entire concept, of looking for a new job or making a career change. Watching our dwindling savings accounts, increasing household budgets, and rising stress factors in the home; all make staying positive and upbeat at the new "opportunity" presented before us – difficult at best.
First things first, take a deep breath and start with the basics. What do you do? What was the title of the last job you held? Not all job titles spell out exactly what their duties are, like Territory Operations Administrator. That can be a job that has wide berth of duties from company to company. Many companies will not have the title in their organizational chart at all. If you're not the Head Payroll Accountant, define your roll. List your natural talents and the ideal job that would highlight your best attributes. In which industry are your skill set and that position best suited?
If you are making a career change or returning to the workforce you'll need to survey what is available to you. Evaluate your talents as above and write down what you believe is the best industry to find the position you want…really look at it and ask yourself. Are you up to date on the latest trends and newest developments in that industry? Do you subscribe to the trade magazines (online or print) and journals related to the field? If not, you need to research everything about it – quickly! Be honest with yourself, start from where your left off and be thorough. Keep in mind a hiring manager who has been inside the industry will be asking you questions, and generating conversation; in an attempt to test your knowledge.
A resume should have an objective or summary statement. Depending on your situation, a paragraph may even be acceptable. The objective gives the interviewer an instant feel of the tone of you, your resume, your intellect, and your skill set. That's a tall order from one statement, isn't it? You have to get it right. Some hiring managers admit, if they don't like the objective statement, the resume goes into the dead file. Your objective or summary also helps you to focus on exactly what you are looking for as you search for a job. Plus, it's a great ten second sales pitch of yourself during the quick handshake and business card swap moment at a networking event.

Now, the meat of the resume is your skills – what you bring to the table. What are your skills? Write them down. One of my skills would be, "Compose comprehensive reading materials." Simple, concise and it can be broad enough that I will elaborate in the body of my resume with my experience through projects such as: Sr. Copywriter and Editor for nationwide company newsletter; Ghostwriter for medical text book, copywriter for email marketing campaign, and so on. Sometimes pulling out what your skill set is can be difficult. You're already feeling down as it is and then you sit there and think, "what am I good at?" Think about an award you've won, or some proud moment when the boss singled you out for moment of kudos. What did you do in those circumstances? Write it down! Did you fix a system or a create savings for the company? Have you ever initiated a sales incentive program, rewards system, or other benefit to employee morale that worked out well?
Next, start listing all of the good things you accomplished at one job, that you will be bringing to the next. For instance, were you the go-to person that helped rookie employees understand the job and did you bring them up to speed? You were good at "training people." That translates to: developing, counseling, coaching, team building, motivating, and much more. Use a thesaurus or the "look up" feature in Microsoft Word. It'll become your best friend.
This same technique applies to your job responsibilities. The level of leadership you held in your last position will determine how well you'll fit into the organization at which you are interviewing. Employers find value in employees that are held accountable for various processes or duties. Responsibility and reliability are two of the most desirable qualities executives say they want in their assistants.
If your education is a greater asset than your work experience, then highlight your degrees. Include any case studies you participated in that had real life impact. In a Campaign Management Class, I spearheaded a Public Relations campaign for our local Area Transit system. The objective was to reeducate the public about public transportation. As I began to see my ideas implemented over the years (local government takes years for a plan to come to fruition), I moved that particular case study to the top of my scholastic experiences.
Frequently, a position that is difficult to fill can be negotiated into your favor. Work backwards with me here: A fellow student and I wrote a grant proposal for a local charity organization that delivers meals to the elderly. Their need was for a $40,000 refrigerated truck, which would enable them to expand their delivery territory and increase the efficiency of the food preparation process. We had a huge success with our proposal, out of the whole class in fact, ours was the only one. A couple of years later, as I was looking for a job, I saw an ad that had been running for a long time, needing an editor for requests for proposals at a particular company. Their experience requirements were way beyond what I had, so I didn't bother to apply. When a friend told me they had a project that had to be completed soon or funds could be lost, I saw an opportunity. My only experience in that particular field was the single grant proposal, nevertheless, I proposed to the hiring manager that judging by how long the ad had been running, if he didn't find someone soon, he was going to be in a bind. He needed a particular job done quickly and I knew how to do the job. I was willing to work on the single project with the looming deadline, on a freelance basis. He would have my quote up front, so he'd know how much he was going to spend, plus I wouldn't cost him the expense associated hiring an employee. The best part would be that he could stop wasting his time interviewing completely unqualified applicants and get to work on the project. I convinced him, the job went smoothly, I earned some money during my job search and I gained some more experience. The supervisor finally had the time available to him to travel and recruit the proper candidate from Boston. The lesson here is do not rule out freelance work while you're job hunting.
Back to your resume, by all means include networking organizations (especially if you've held post as an officer), charity committees, and all career development training. However, make sure the continuing education is pertinent to the profession. If you are applying for a Public Relations position, the fact that you are certified to service the fire extinguisher in the hallway will not be impressive.
Now, at the end of a resume, some folks will put their outside interests to prove they know how to balance work and home life…as if this is some real evidence of a sane and well adjusted individual. Personally, I don't like to put anything personal on my resume. My opinion is that the two should be kept separate. If some parts of our personal lives are illegal to ask, why should we throw in any at all? Isn't that a double standard of sorts? Also, you never know if an organization you belong to may create a bias opinion against you. The gun club member might be offensive to the vegan hiring manager, yet the gun club member could be vegan, too. After you've proven yourself on the job and developed friendships in the department, then revealing who you are outside of work, is a good idea.
I'll take a look at your resume and polish it for you, at no charge. Just subscribe to my blog and send it to me. If you don't have an objective or summary statement, follow the format I've laid out here and let's see what I can do for you! No strings attached! Really.

Beckham, Van der Sar, Rooney ~ Oh My!

1,302 Minutes, 108 Caps & #10 Takes a 3rd

Just when I think I can't be any more proud of Edwin Van der Sar, he makes me want to burst with joy…again! He's hit his 14th successive league clean sheet in the 3-0 win over Fulham on Wednesday, 18 February, 2009. In fact, if he can keep the Blackburn Rovers from making a goal within the first 89 minutes on Saturday, he will beat the current record holder, Dany Verlinden, Belgium's Club Brugge keeper. Dany Verlinden's record of 1,390 minutes, was set in back in 1990, which means that it will have taken nearly twenty years for someone break the record, proving the task is not an easy accomplishment.

Frankly, nothing about our Eddy's job is easy, but he makes it look so! His brilliant height and sticky hands that can catch a ball or smack it away have made him the best keeper in the league. The young guns can learn so much from him, the main lesson being that with years of experience comes a natural grace and flow that can't be forced. His movements are not jerky and rushed. His eyes never leave the ball and his body is like a sound wave reaching from the field outward. It's unseen, this power he has and yet, it's huge and right there for the world to admire. Yes! I admit I gush!

Now, I do like to give credit elsewhere and that is to who is probably Van der Sar's best partner on the field, #5 Rio Ferdinand. His absence was palpable when he had back issues recently and couldn't play. I see these two as a great partnership and Rio defends his keeper and acts as Captain frequently enough, that I believe when Neville retires, the job should be Rio's full-time. I know Giggs sometimes wears the band, but personally, I sense a better communication experience between the refs, Rio, SAF, and Edwin Van der Sar, when Ferdinand is captain. (Just to throw it out there, my favorite ref is Webb and that will be for another blog!)

So, I've gone this far without mentioning the biggest story of the week and that was Becks earning his 108th cap and making his 100th start in Seville. That places him on par with the most legendary name in the history of English football, Bobby Moore. Some people are offended by this. They feel that he doesn't deserve the honor. Why not? Are they afraid it takes something away from Bobby? Peter Shilton broke the record by 17, earning 125 caps long ago and no one seems to be saying anything about that. It's just that the "pretty-boy" Beckham is now level with the only England captain to ever win a world cup. Well, guess what? He's not going to always be the only one. It will happen again and if we want to split hairs, a British team recently won the World Cup…Manchester United. A team for which Beckham once played. (Hair splitting from the other side argues that Becks had late or quick walk ons that shouldn't have counted as caps.)

So, let's congratulate David Beckham for accomplishing something that not many players get to do. He loves the game so much, he's been loaning himself out just so he can keep playing and it has added up. Game after game, we've now reached a point where we can say, "Look Beckham and Moore are equal on caps!" We only count upward from here with Beckham…from now on, his tally goes higher. By the way, in his loaning himself out to keep playing, Beckham has said that his body fat is the lowest it's ever been in his life. Ok, I'm a woman writing this blog, you gotta know that makes me drool a little. (You guys would be the same way if it were Gisele Bundchen that you were writing about.)
Wow! What is wrong with Victoria Beckham? She should be spending every possible moment with him – offering to measure his body fat!

The last and happiest item is that #10 WAYNE ROONEY IS BACK! Yay! He came back from his injury and he scored the third goal of the game…just as we would expect him to do. He looks like little Opie Taylor with the grin on his face, and that's what we've been wanting to see for weeks now! Welcome back, mate – you were missed!

Tips for Better Business Writing

Wendy Wells is a Freelance Writer, Editor and Proofreader
wwells@wendywellswrites.com

Wendy Wells is a Freelance Copywriter, Editor and Ghostwriter. She holds a Master’s of English in Writing and Rhetoric, from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where she also completed her Graduate Studies in Communications.

Many MBA's dread when they are forced to do any sort of formal business writing. There's simply no replacement for the written word, even in our technologically advanced age. Sometimes a phone or video conference isn't practical, and an email isn't emphatic enough for what needs to be said. Presentations and projects often require original text, so you're going to need some basic business writing skills. For times like these and when you need more than a memo to get your point across, following these simple tips can make the business writing process easier for you and keep your reader engaged.

• Begin
  
  When you introduce the topic of any sort of business correspondence, consider your audience and their role in the project. How much background information is needed for them to understand what you're talking about? If "very little" is the answer, then keep it short. You can lose your reader very early with too much information, especially if it is only adding flavor to the topic.
  

• Format
  
  Headings in business writing help the reader get a quick idea of the page's topic and content. Use headings to get the message across quickly, allow your reader to skim the page and show emphasis. Headings also create white space, which gives the eyes a "rest" between topics and paragraphs.
  
  Does it have to be words? Business writing is often best communicated when it's not written at all! (Especially for business correspondence, when the reader has quick and easy access to a trash can.) A graph or chart is much more effective than our market shares showed an increase in penetration throughout the summer months, reaching 92%.
  

• Place
  
  Keep business writing and correspondence short! Look for phrases that can be rearranged and shortened. Instead of saying system of inventory, write inventory system. Sentences that start with flourishes such as, "For starters, if you have excessive information that is only adding flavor...” instead, just begin the sentence with what you mean to say. "Excessive information that only adds flavor...”
  

• Cut
  
  Once you've written a draft, go back and look for redundant information to edit. Check to see where things you've written are saying the same thing and cut something out. The two previous sentences are an example, they say the same thing.
  
  Many companies have some sort of internal reference system, abbreviations or nicknames that can shorten your text. If everyone knows the Seattle warehouse is called "S-E2," use it.
  
  Avoid editorializing, save it for a meeting, phone conference, or as a follow-up. Too much space is wasted with: For some time now, I have seen the need to improve the system of inventory control at S-E2, it has grown into a problem, which can deter its progression into a major distribution hub. Instead, get straight to the point of what is best for the company and not what makes you look the best. Before it can become a major distribution hub, the inventory system at S-E2 needs significant modification.
  
  Search for content that steers away from your core subject and remove it. Business writing is not about you but when it's done properly, business communication will make you look great!
  

• Go!
  
  When you've made your point, there is no need to recap. This isn't Composition 101, where your grade depends on the "tell them what you're going to tell them, tell them, then tell them what you've told them," formula. Once you've made your point and finished what you have to say, stop writing!

Social Media Works for Hearing Impaired

Going Deaf
Losing Your Senses – NOT a Picnic!

Social media is perfect for someone like me. It's online, I write you – you write me, I can blog, podcast, or video. Don't get me wrong…I love socializing and meeting people in person, and at the Charlotte Twestival last night, I had a blast! If it weren't for the fact that I'm Hearing Impaired, I'm sure I would have enjoyed it even more!



You're probably familiar with the cotton-filled feeling your ears have when you've got a head cold. Sound is muffled, as if it is coming through water, or through the wall of another room. Everyone expects you to hear what they say and comprehend it the first time around…when you don't, they get impatient because you're making them repeat. Music doesn't sound the same…the quality is flatter, something's missing…your own voice betrays you…say a few words, and stop yourself, "do I really sound that way? What's wrong with me? I must be sick." That's the flu. For me, that's life.

My world is growing quieter but my head grows louder. I am going deaf but I have tinnitus. I never have silence. There is no such thing as relaxing, soothing, calm in Wendy-land. There is no, enjoyable conversation that is caught the first time around, where no one ever has to repeat themselves. There is never a day, when someone – a stranger, a friend, a loved one, doesn't become impatient with me because they've had to repeat something twice, three times…'look at me, I need to read your lips,' – they say it again. When I don't get it the third or fourth time they often give up, "oh never mind, it wasn't that big of a deal…the joke's over." So I get left out – frequently. Or, I'm too embarrassed to ask someone to repeat themselves more than once or twice, and I'll pretend I heard them. Smile and nod…I take the cue and laugh when everyone else does (must have been the punch line), then ask Nathan later what I missed. Wendy-land gets lonely and it's an embarrassing place to live. It's the house on the block with the poor kid, who never wants to invite friends over.

Yeah, I know, "woe is me!" Well, there's only so much, DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT, that I can do. I've had surgery in both ears. Surgeons replaced the bones with metal implants and rebuilt new ear drums. Both surgeries were spaced apart by about ten years, and that's about how much time they'll "buy" me until I go nearly deaf. As long as I have any measure of hearing, aids can amplify sound and I do have one hearing aid. I need two but they're expensive and insurance doesn't cover them. I suppose all six senses are a luxury. Each surgery corrected the vertigo I had at the time. But that grows as the hearing goes. Another embarrassment. I might as well be an alcoholic, for the way I get so dizzy and unbalanced much of the time. If Nathan's around, or I'm standing near something, I can usually inconspicuously lean, or reach out to steady myself. Fortunately, Nathan's used to it. He'll suddenly feel my hand tighten around his waist or his arm,he'll know I'm having a dizzy spell, and that it'll pass. No need to call attention to it.

So, at last night's Twestival in Charlotte, as usual, it was a struggle to participate in conversation, as it always is in a loud venue. (Especially when my Love was on the microphone. We're both radio/TV people, so I get it;~) Inevitably, I will end up asking, "what?" so many times that I get embarrassed, I'll fiddle with the volume on my hearing aid, twist my neck around to try each ear…then, as usual, I'll take a cue from the facial expression of the person speaking to me, or the group I'm in and smile and nod – or, pensively, "hmm, interesting…" I've got to read lips in situations when I can't hear. While I love going out and socializing, social media is perfect for me. I'm reading words, which is even more definitive than lips, it's online, I write you – you write me, I can blog, podcast, or video…I blast the volume, whatever. It's just that going deaf and socializing in public is no picnic. I'm sitting outside watching everyone else eat and laugh…Nathan will hand me a doggie bag later.

My left ear is almost completely deaf, so it has the hearing aid. My right ear has about 60% hearing left in it. I can hear in a relatively quiet room without my hearing aid, especially certain tones and voices. Usually, I can derive from the conversation we're having, what is being said even if I'm not catching every word. Sometimes, I'll get it wrong and it's comical. Eating dinner in front of the telly, Nathan will get up, and take our plates toward the kitchen, I'll hear his voice, and reply, "no thanks, I want to save some room for dessert." He'll stop, turn look at me quizzically, and that's when I know I've done it again. I'll lift an eyebrow silently inquiring, "what did you really ask me?" He'll bemusedly say, "I asked if you if wanted to start the movie yet." Oh, I was turning down a second helping of dinner. You hear that? Going deaf really isn't a picnic!