Thursday, April 17, 2014

ahh...the write life


A new weekly community paper opened in February this year. It seems that elsewhere there is much press about sports especially and also about music and drama, but very little is specific to visual art in the valley. In March, I approached Big Country News about the need for information about arts and the artists, and I offered to write columns to that end!
Whoo-hoo! They loved the idea. Since then I've been busy writing for the 2nd and 4th week of every month. On the 2nd week, I write about a tidbit of interest about art in general, and I showcase a local artist on the 4th. (I'll include my tidbits in this blog from time to time.)
 
Writing for the paper is a fabulous activity. I have decided to look again at books I had written years ago. Back then, I even went so far as to send some off to publishers and have grown a very healthy pile of rejection letters! I've read that many well-known authors began their career by accumulating hundreds of rejection letters. I'm in good company.

Thursday, April 10, 2014

run on with canada post

When I heard that postage might be raised to a dollar, I wondered if Canada Post might reinstate a practice they offered about 20 years ago: reduced rate Christmas stamps for Christmas cards, because if postage is so high, no one will send cards any more...then Hallmark and Carlton won't profit and a box of cards will then cost $40, which no one will buy, so the paper producers will not profit, which forces them to increase the price of school loose-leaf packs which will sky rocket from 79 cents to $5, which moms won't pay, so children will not be able to complete schoolwork and will suffer failing grades, which means they will drop out of school, causing a shortage of skilled labor, which will create havoc on the economy, and families will have no choice but to curtail vacation trips to far and remote lands which is probably for the best since no one can afford to send a post card anyway!
 
(Stamps were later actually only (only!!) raised to 85 cents from 63. I wonder if it was never intended to be raised to a dollar, but that figure was tossed about so there would be relief rather than shock at the 22 cent jump.)