Mar

30

Exercise for Writers

March 30, 2004 | Comments Off

Been sitting still at your desk for far too long? Need a quick exercise that won’t distract you too much from the work at hand? Try this one, suggested by Alan Ruffalo:

While sitting at your desk, lift your right foot off the floor and make clockwise circles. Continuing with the foot circles, draw the number “6″ in the air with your right hand. Your foot will inevitably change direction.

When you’ve tried this exercise enough times to convince yourself there’s nothing you can to to keep your foot from switching to counterclockwise, it’s time to get back to your writing.

Mar

30

Student Traveler magazine

March 30, 2004 | Comments Off

Thanks to Andrew Dean Nystrom for letting us know that Student Traveler magazine is looking for writers, illustrators and photographers.

Mar

30

Travel Classics West conference

March 30, 2004 | Comments Off

The Travel Classics West Travel Writers Conference is being created by the founders of the popular Troutbeck Travel Writers Conference, which has operated in the Hudson Valley, New York, for the past ten years. A sell-out every year, “Troutbeck” is attended by travel writers who get assignments, every time. Travel Classics West: Just 35 professional travel writers will be accepted for the Travel Classics West Writers Conference, November 18-21, 2004, at the Sanctuary on Camelback Mountain in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Read the full post . . .

Mar

30

Global Medicine Delivery

March 30, 2004 | Comments Off

Thanks to Karen Misuraca for passing this information along: Going to Nepal? “As hundreds of thousands of adventure travelers trek to the far corners of the earth, there is an opportunity to create a huge delivery system of basic medical supplies to places that need them,” said Janice Belson, Executive Director and creator of Medicines for Nepal, a newly formed non-profit organization looking to improve world health. In cooperation with outdoor retailers and other sponsors and supporters, travelers can give something back to the areas they visit, no matter where in the world. Recently, travelers took enough pharmaceutical Vitamin A for 45,000 children in Katmandu (vitamin A prevents early nutritional blindness, a common problem in the Himalayas). Others visited government or community health posts, delivering 10,800 doses of first-aid ointment, and hundreds of doses of medications and medical kits. The supplies were left at outposts where first-aid cabinets are almost bare. Check it out here; you’ll find guidelines on how to collect and deliver medical supplies to any country.

Mar

28

Keys to the Outback

March 28, 2004 | Comments Off

My story, Keys to the Outback, about inadvertently locking my keys in the car in the middle of the Australian Outback, is a Travelers’ Tales Editors Choice. Was I overcome by hordes of flying insects? Did I end up sleeping with the camel? Find out here.

Mar

25

Do-It-Yourself Book Tour

March 25, 2004 | Comments Off

I came across an excellent article by Jeannette Belliveau about how she set up a west coast tour for her adventure travel book, An Amateur’s Guide to the Planet. Jeannette covers everything from logistic advice to setting up and managiing bookstore events (including audience size and number of books signed) to the indirect benefits of her tour (including honing her message and learning to sell better). You’ll find other “insights for thoughtful travelers” on Jeannette’s site, including information about cultural and sexual geography, ecology and environmental studies, and intercultural communication.

Mar

25

Phrase Finder

March 25, 2004 | Comments Off

Ever wonder about the origin of phrases like OK, scot free, and the full monty? Click onto the the Phrase Finder site to learn more. And if you’re looking for the meanings and origins of proverbs, euphemisms, Mondegreens (misheard song lyrics, such as, “the girl with colitis goes by”), quotations, or Shakespearean phrases, well, “Bob’s your uncle.”

Mar

10

Word of the Day

March 10, 2004 | Comments Off

Thanks to Dick Katz for sending this link to Dictionary.com’s word of the day. Even if you already know the word, you’ll enjoy the examples of literary usage and information about the word’s origin.

Mar

9

Why English Is Hard To Learn

March 9, 2004 | Comments Off

32 Reasons Why The English Language Is Hard To Learn:

1) The bandage was wound around the wound.

2) The farm was used to produce produce.

3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.

4) We must polish the Polish furniture.

5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.

Read the full post . . .

Mar

9

Eye halve a spelling chequer

March 9, 2004 | Comments Off

If you’ve ever struggled to learn a foreign language (I know I have) you’ll appreciate how difficult it is for foreigners to learn English:

Eye halve a spelling chequer,
It came with my pee see,
It plainly marckes for my revue
Miss steaks eye kin knot sea.

Read the full post . . .

Mar

8

Cruise Industry Magazine

March 8, 2004 | Comments Off

From Writers Market: Cruise industry magazine to launch: The travel company Thomas Cook has hired a promotion agency to design a company magazine that will support its brand, cruisesdirect2u.

Mar

7

Copyright Info

March 7, 2004 | Comments Off

Someone asked recently about copyright info. Here’s what I found: The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) of 1998 established that a copyright is in force at the time of creation of a piece of work, not at the time a copyright symbol is added or when registration happens. A copyright symbol or registration is not required if the work is created after March 1, 1989. Copyright now offers “Strict Liability,” which means that defendants can be liable even if they didn’t know they were doing something illegal. Owners of copyrights need only prove copyrighted work was used without permission, not that they suffered loss or damages.

Read the full post . . .

Mar

7

The Practice of Travel

March 7, 2004 | Comments Off

Thanks to Michael McCarthy for forwarding this link to Jan Morris’ article about the Practice of Travel in SF Gate.

Practice of travel doesn’t require going with a goat
Jan Morris Sunday, February 1, 2004

People talk a lot these days about the philosophy, the art or the meaning of travel. Not me. I have been wandering almost constantly for more than a half a century, and I have evolved no philosophy of travel, discovered no art and haven’t even tried to evolve a deeper meaning.

For me travel is a habit, a job, a pleasure, a tool and raw material, so to speak, for my writer’s trade: I need some more workmanlike generic, which would apply to the traveling attitudes of us all, and embrace the loftiest and the most prosaic of our peripatetic intentions.

Read the full post . . .

Mar

4

Bill Zarchy

March 4, 2004 | Comments Off

Bill Zarchy, travel writer, director of photography. During his 30 years as a director of photography — most recently, on the Emmy Award-winning The West Wing Documentary Special — Bill Zarchy has shot film, video, and HDTV in two-dozen countries and three-dozen states. Over the years he has worked with ordinary people and former presidents, found ways to communicate with crews from Kyoto to Kampala to Costa Rica, overcome numbing jetlag to get the job done, and had a lot of fun despite the disorienting reality of working for weeks far from home.

Mar

1

Tara Weaver

March 1, 2004 | Comments Off

Tara Weaver writer, developmental editor.