Africa, environment, food, friendship, girl scounts, politics, sports, television, travel

10 little things

My friend, Julie, is in Tanzania for about 2 months. She’s on assignment with the Peace Corp and has started a blog to track her experienceshttp://turnyourhead.wordpress.com/


On one of her posts, she takes a cue from her blogging sister and lists 10 little known things about her that are interesting and unique. I love the idea so much that I’m stealing it. Thanks for the inspiration, Jules 🙂

1.) The first profession I ever had an interest in was paleontology because I loved dinosaurs.
2.) When I was little, I memorized every fact about Africa that I could get my hands on and my mother would patiently listen to me go on for hours – if only we had the internet then.
3.) I was a Girl Scout until I was 12.
4.) I learned how to swim when I was 30.
5.) This is the first year I have ever been registered with a political party. My mother gave me a voter registration form when I turned 18 and until this year have always been an Independent.
6.) There is a tractor crossing sign on the road I grew up on. 
7.) The two countries I must visit some time in my life are Rwanda, to see the mountain gorillas, and Cuba because of the movie For Love or Country.
8.) I hate talking on the phone – it’s my least favorite form of communication
9.) My favorite charitable cause is environmental protection
10.) Mary Lou Retton was my childhood idol  
and a bonus fact:
11.) My sister and I have two common obsessions: The Gilmore Girls (my baby niece is named after Lorelei Gilmore!) and Dunkin’ Donuts (which we affectionately refer to as “Dunks”)
apple, business, family, friendship, social media, technology, website, writer, writing

My new website is up and running! http://www.christainnewyork.com

Hooray! After a steep learning curve and months of agonizing over every word, photo, and design decision, my personal website is up and running. I created the website to drum-up freelance writing work and to grow my practice of helping small business effectively use new and emerging media to augment their marketing strategies. Launching my website today was the first step down the road to this new and exciting venture. The website links heavily to this blog and I will continue to maintain this blog with near-daily writing. I’d love your feedback on the website! http://www.christainnewyork.com

It is a scary thing to put myself out there alone. While secretly I consider myself an expert in communications, now that sentiment is out there in the world. While I’ve contributed to efforts via a company I work for, this is the first time I am putting my own talent and ambition out there, entirely on my own. That website in a very real sense says who I am, what I do, and what I believe. While there’s a tremendous freedom that comes with that kind of action, there is also a fair amount of fear and trepidation. “One step at a time,” I keep telling myself.
I must recommend the kind people over at GoDaddy.com, where I registered my domain name and purchased their hosting service. Their website, while very cluttered, is fairly easy to navigate after a bit of practice. What won me over is their fantastic phone support. I talked to a real person (!) three times this morning, no waiting, and very few menus. Great customer service!
I bought my new Mac earlier this year for its web design capability with the iWeb program. Love it! They saved me the pain of learning anything beyond my rudimentary html knowledge. I applaud people who can write code elegantly – I just have no desire to do it myself and Mac understands that.
I must especially thank my dear friend Dan for his wonderful photography and all of the advice he gave me when I was considering the design of the site. 
I have so many friends who gave me ideas and encouragement as I’ve considered free-lance writing and this small consulting practice. In brief: Alex, Kelly, Steve, Monika, Katie, Amy, Lisa, Trevin, Brooke, Ken, Heather, and Richard. And to my great family who always believes in me.