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The Newsletter of S.W.A.N. (njcreatives.org)
November 2001

IN THIS ISSUE

* Upcoming Meeting: November

Topic
Directions

* Announcements:

FLASH! SWAN Holiday Party

* What You Missed: October 2001 Meeting

* To Serve and Protect

* Member Contributions:

• Visions of Destruction by Deborah R. Herr

* More Members get on the Web

* From the Editor's Desk

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The Topic: 
Technology Tips: Get the Most from Your Computer and the Internet

Does your computer need its 100,000 mile check up? Are you confident you have the best Internet access? Are your files safe from viruses? Are you considering upgrading your hardware or software?

If these and other computer technology questions are making you haywire, come and listen to Fred Litt of C3 Media as he helps us get the most from our computers.

Whether you're a computer genius or don't know your ASP from a hole in the ground, you're sure to learn a tip or two that will make that box on your desk more efficient.

Wednesday, November 14, 2001
7:15 pm-Networking
7:45 pm-Meeting
Silas Condict County Park
Kinnelon Road, Kinnelon, NJ
For more information or directions, keep reading, or visit the SWAN website www.Njcreatives.org
Non-members: $8.00 at the door

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• From Interstates 80 or 287, take Route 23 North.

Notes:
* From I-80, Rte. 23 overlaps Rte. 202 for a while, then splits again--Rte. 23 becomes the left fork.

* Rte. 208 North becomes Rte. 287 South; no need to exit anywhere.

• From 287 North or South, take Exit 52B (Route 23).

Go through four traffic lights. Get in the right lane. Just before the fifth light, turn right onto a jughandle that will cross over Rte. 23. The sign says "Kiel Ave./Kinnelon Rd."

Turn left at the light onto Kinnelon Rd. You are now perpendicular to Rte. 23. Cross the highway at the traffic light on 23.

Continue for approximately 1.2 miles through two traffic lights, passing several businesses on the left.

Before the third light, look for the entrance to the access road (William Lewis Arthur Drive) to Silas Condict Park on your right. (If you pass the high school, you've gone too far.)

Proceed up the hill, around the bend, and through the park. Parking area is on right side, just after the lake on the left. Building is on left side, down the path.

For specific driving instructions, try MapBlast: http://www.mapblast.com  

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FLASH! SWAN Holiday Party!

This year the annual winter gala will take place at our elegant meeting site in Silas Condict State Park on Friday, Dec. 7, from 7 to 10:30 pm.

Catering by SWAN's own Jane Byron.

Spouses welcome. BYOB.

Invitations (which will note the cost of the affair) will be sent soon.

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The Dangerous Art of Procrastination
October 2001 Meeting

If you're a fan of word origins, you'll be delighted to know that, at its root, the word "procrastination" means "for tomorrow."

That's just one of the gems SWAN members collected from Marcia Ringel, who during the October meeting presented her thoughts and observations on one of the banes of the freelancer's life: that all-too-human desire to put off till tomorrow what looms large today.

The topic clearly touched a nerve. Most of those present nodded their heads in agreement as they listened to stories from the audience illustrating how we creative types fiddle away precious minutes...and hours...instead of tackling that daunting assignment.

For some, procrastination is an opportunity to take care of business other than-well, than business. Writer Jane Byron commented that, for her, procrastination means she'll end up with a sparkling clean stove, or at least that she'll make progress on her latest sewing or baking project. But for others, procrastination means delaying the inevitable by filling time with distractions: Television. Web surfing. Naps. (For your editor, procrastination can be summed up in six words: "Red queen on a black king.")

The puzzle of procrastination has challenged experts in the field of time management and efficiency. Citing from one of the many books she found on the subject, Marcia shared one bit of wisdom: "It's not procrastination unless you feel guilty." This suggests that, simply by changing our attitude about dawdling, the problem vanishes. We can still waste time, but as long as we're not haunted by it, it doesn't count. In reality, though, there's more involved in solving the problem than simply changing our attitude. A little behavior change is needed as well.

Another Pearl of Procrastination: "If you wait long enough, someone else will do it." Some in the audience thought that might be true only if you're an employee, it which case it might be considered a job perk. But Marcia noted that for freelancers, it can be the kiss of death, since it means that someone else gets the job... and the dough.

Of course, for many of us, a little procrastination comes with the territory. As creative types, we grant ourselves tacit permission to wait for the Muse to make her appearance. Many experts on creativity note that often our best ideas come when we're doing anything BUT working - singing in the shower, playing a game of pickup basketball, weeding the garden.

There's one form of procrastination that's particularly insidious: it's the kind your clients practice. Their delays then become your headache. The gutsier among us are able to stand up to such clients and say, "Just because you procrastinated doesn't mean this becomes my crisis."

The reasons for procrastination, Marcia noted, are plenty: You haven't committed to the job. You don't like the job. You have too many jobs. Some people work best under deadline pressure, so they dawdle until there's nothing left to do but plunge in and forge ahead. Other excuses: "It's nice out." "It's not due yet." "I have to finish something else first." (And then somehow they never get around to that either.)

But perhaps the biggest reason of all is fear: Fear of failing; fear the client won't like it; fear that you don't know what you're doing-and that others will find out.

Among the strategies Marcia offered for gaining power over procrastination-or, as she put it, for increasing the TTC ("Tush to Chair") Factor:
* Break the job into smaller, easier-to-complete tasks.
* Set different levels of deadlines:
* Make a list and cross things off when you finish them.
* Remove distractions. (DELETE that damn Solitaire game!)
* Arrange your workspace to make it more conducive to focused work.
* Ask yourself, "Will waiting longer make me any MORE eager to do this than I am right now?"
* Visualize completing the task and anticipating the happy feelings that will soon be yours to savor.
* Visualize what will happen if you fail.

Is there hope? Yes. Mel Brooks has described himself as "the World's Greatest Procrastinator." Clearly he can hem and haw and still deliver the goods. (Although it's perhaps a bit churlish to point out that it took 33 years for "The Producers" to reach the stage.)

Besides, Barbara Ross noted, procrastination can be its own reward. As she observed, "I know people who never got around to buying Lucent stock."

* * * * * *

A footnote from Marcia:

Thanks to everyone who responded to my request for e-mailed thoughts, comments, and anecdotes about procrastination before our October meeting. Be assured that those not mentioned specifically went into the mental hopper as background and helped me to decide what to say. What a great group--thank you!
-- Marcia

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When not scribbling away as a freelance writer, SWAN member Deborah Herr serves as an emergency medical technician. She was called to help at the site of the World Trade Center attacks some weeks ago. Following is an excerpt from the diary she kept during those difficult, demanding days.

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VISIONS OF DESTRUCTION

We arrived at Ground Zero as dawn was breaking. The sun appeared over Brooklyn, through the smoke and dust, producing an unearthly glow. Science fiction themes of Mars come to mind; certainly nothing here seems earthlike or familiar. Where well-groomed brokers should be scurrying to work, the bronze bull stands alone, covered with dust, tattered papers around its hooves. A ticker tape parade gone madly wrong.

Where tourists should be standing with necks craned upward, maps at the ready, are skyscrapers masked in thick veils of cement dust, windows denied their usual view of the sunrise. Street signs no longer point the way; they too, are obscured by dust. Familiar landmarks are in disguise, their identities so concealed we must be led to our assigned post by a National Guardsman in full battle dress.

Feelings of fear and anxiety, usually held in check by most rescuers, surged to the surface at the first sight of "The Pile." The scene is too massive to take in all at once, too destroyed to be reconciled by memory into familiar shapes. The sounds of searching are underway, piercing the dream-like state of the newly arrived rescuers. We're herded like sheep by exhausted teammates who are eager to be relieved. Visions of a hot shower and a few hours sleep on a cot at Chelsea Pier beckon them. "Here are your supplies," they say. "This firehouse is to be converted into a field hospital - make it work". They disappear into the gloom of day.

A quick survey shows that many needed supplies are still missing. The young doc with a Middle Eastern look and Arabic-sounding surname has a wish list. My partner and I split from the group to go shopping at the main "hospital," hastily constructed in a half-ruined building blocks away. Clutching a two-way radio and lowering our helmet shields, we step from the relative safety of our firehouse and trek across the ruined plaza of Tower Two. We move cautiously around heavy equipment-no flagmen here, we're on our own. A huge bucket crane lifts a mouthful of shattered building façade, prompting a gush of fire and smoke-all too close. We move faster, walking on still smoldering rubble. Firefighters are everywhere, grim with determination but with a sadness behind their eyes as they pour water into cavities they would rather be searching. We, too, have seen the crushed fire engines still attached to hydrants and wonder...

Our shopping trip is a success and we return to our post with additional doctors and armloads of equipment. The docs are wearing scrubs and sneakers, protected only by their talisman stethoscopes. We tell them where to look and where to step, feeling almost guilty, sheltered in our heavy coats and helmets. We remind them to wear masks, ironic somehow. Masks denote the sterility of an operating room, their "normal" world.

The rest of our team has worked wonders in our firehouse/satellite trauma hospital. We're ready to treat, ready to save. But where are our patients... the survivors? Rescue dogs bound up and down the tall piles of rubble. Tails wag, tongues pant. "Give us a chance," they seem to say. "Follow us, humans. We'll show you where to dig."

We wait... we hope. Eventually we are sent home.

-Deborah R. Herr
September 2001

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Janet McDonough, Writer, currently has 98% of her website complete. You can view her set of samples at http://JanetMcDonough.com. Halleluyah.

So if you need to be inspired or otherwise motivated, speak to those who have their own sites or who have posted their portfolios on http://NJcreatives.org and you, too, may see the light.

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I'm looking forward to the tech discussion at the next meeting. In the past few years I've been astounded at the way computers and the Internet have changed my way of working. I'm always eager to learn ways of getting more out of the digital tools at my disposal.

Most of my work involves medical writing. In the early '90s, I'd often start the research phase of a project by visiting a medical library, pouring over Index Medicus to identify key articles, combing the stacks, assembling a tower of bound journals, flipping through to find the bits I wanted, bookmarking them with torn scraps of notebook paper, wrestling them onto the copying machine, and spending a small fortune making bad copies. Often it was impossible to open the thick, heavy books wide enough to copy the text in the inside columns. And I'd agonize about spending a dime to copy the final page, one that might contain nothing more than a few references.

Then came Medline, the online database of journal articles that represent one of the best returns on our federal tax investment that I can imagine. In the early days (circa 1994), the lag time between an article's publication and its appearance in the database was at least six months. Now, in this age of electronic publishing, citations are available in digital form even before they appear in print. And many of the articles now feature link to the journal's own archives, which make PDF files of the complete available (most for subscribers only, but a surprising number are available for free.) Recently Medline made the complete texts of a dozen or so medical books available. Medical writer's heaven!

I've learned that I can answer just about any question with a few clicks of the mouse.
* While editing a short biography of George Lucas, I wanted to verify a fact about the characters in American Graffiti. Within three minutes I'd located an online copy of the complete original script.
* I wanted to learn to play a Nocturne by Chopin. Zap, zip, wham-I found not only the sheet music, but a free recording of the piece.
* Once, a client asked me if I knew anything about a certain medication, then put me on hold for a minute. By the time he came back to the phone, I'd already found and read a slide presentation by the drug company's marketing department.
* While researching my great-great-grandfather's life, I found a glorious sepia-tinted panoramic view of Virginia City, Nevada, taken in 1875-the year he arrived there. I know that one of the clapboard frame houses visible in the northwest corner of the photograph was where he struggled to raise his family.
* A resource like www.Bartleby.com gives me instant access to the American Heritage Dictionary, Bartlett's Quotations, Roget's Thesaurus, Shakespeare, the Bible...

I have a word-searchable library, photo archive, and music store at my disposal. And finding the information is just the beginning. What I can create from it using a word processor, image editor, and database makes me a more valuable resource for my clients. And this old editorial dog always eager to learn new techno-tricks.

How about you? What online resources have you discovered? How has technology changed your way of working? What's the coolest thing you've found on the Web?

-Ron Schaumburg
 

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Thanks very much to SWAN members who contributed material and ideas to this issue. 

Although we plan to offer a printed version of CYGNETURE in the future, for now the electronic format means we're not wrestling with space constraints. So let's consume our fair share of bandwidth! Please pass along items that would interest your colleagues, including:

* Personal news, updates, and accomplishments
* Tips for working more efficiently and profitably

* Resources you've found valuable
* Possible leads for clients or projects

* Unusual projects or wacky encounters with the "real world"

Let's hear from you!

Send submissions, suggestions, and comments to rons@attglobal.net, or call 201 836 2539.

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