My little Pinoy bro Jaton, who is a much funnier and more diligent writer than I could ever be, has been a wonderful resource. Sometimes, I forget how young he actually is (just 1 - 2 years older than the first batch of students I taught!), and hence, is totally in the loop of where all the hip writing exists being the web-savvy dude that he is. Anyway, he recommended some great sites, so I'm spreading the linky love along: Letters of Note - All the memorable snail mails of days gone past. … [Read more...]
Wednesday
Not alone
November 18th, 2009
A few friends are helping with the Nanz Inc website now and you should be seeing their articles up soon. It's oddly reassuring to have company while writing, even if the interactions mostly constitute of online discussions and e-mails. Today, Tym and I tried to write "our own stuff" together in a cafe. After an hour, we got quite antsy and proceeded to people-watch and make faces at Uncle, who just so happened to be there for lunch. But we did write a couple of hundred of words each. For … [Read more...]
Friday
The Art of Being Anal
November 13th, 2009
I recently completed an editing/proofreading job that left me with a slightly shakier confidence in my command of English. In fact, just writing the previous sentence caused a minor internal tussle on which prepositions to use. I have been re-reading The Elements of Style to revise on the fundamentals. Here's a nifty tip from possibly-the-only-remotely-interesting-book-on-grammar: "When you become hopelessly mired in a sentence, it is best to start fresh; do not try to fight your way through … [Read more...]
Sunday
A Good Kind Of Busy
November 8th, 2009
I was talking to a friend who also went freelance around the same time as me (but in a different industry), and we both agree on how we seem to be so much more occupied than expected. My freelance fantasy involved daily contemplative walks in the park and breezy cycling during the weekends - sadly, I haven't been able to manage my time well enough to fit such routines into the picture yet! One thing's for certain though, this kind of busy is definitely a more lucid, productive kind of busy … [Read more...]
Monday
Holing up
November 2nd, 2009
After this pretty intensive social period, I would like to spend the next few days (maybe weeks) having a quieter pace of life, especially with all the looming deadlines ahead! By last night, I knew that it was time to shuffle a retreat from the hustle and bustle of everything when I lost my voice from too much talking and a strong craving to just stay at home and make a pot of lotus root soup overcame me. This morning, I'm glad I went for a rather introspective stroll with a friend (even … [Read more...]