Balance

Life's all about balance...the good with the bad, the light with the dark, the yin with the yang, Wilma with Fred, and Betty with Barney. I don't know if it's the "Yoga for Cyclists" dvd that I've started doing (I think it's a law that you have to do yoga when you live in the Bubble) or just the regular order of things, but this week has definitely made me more aware of the balance that life offers.

See, my week started off baaaadddd when my laptop crashed. Ack! I'm trying to make my living as a writer, for goodness sake, and my laptop is, well, my office, my tool belt (and tools), and my ticket to a paycheck now and then. The first glimmering of problems came when I had trouble shutting the computer down, and once I did and tried to turn it back on the next morning, all that glowed back at me was my desktop photo -- no icons, no cursor, absolutely nothing to help me navigate and create. Two times, I was able to get it to re-boot by unplugging and also removing the battery. The third time, however, wasn't charmed, and it was gone. Just a little blinking cursor on a black screen, and then a long "Sorry, Windows has shut down due to technical difficulties, and you will never again be able to feed yourself or pay your rent, blah, blah, blah" message. With a deadline for a Fresno Magazine article looming on Friday, well, this was a crisis.

Thankfully, I'd just recently written the name and number of a computer dude who was recommended by someone on my Boulder Media Women listserv (apparently, I sensed that my computer was about to crash...I knew we were close, but didn't realize I was that tuned in), and he came by to see what he could do the day after I called. Today, he gave me the verdict. I need to either let him replace the hard drive, or buy an entirely new machine. Aaaaaahhhhh! I've learned more about computers, hardware, and software in the last few days than I'd ever wanted to. So now I have to make a decision, and in the meantime, he was nice enough to let me borrow one of his computers so I can make my deadline Friday. If you're on the Front Range and ever need a computer dude, do contact him: chris@geekforhire.com

So, where's the balance, you ask? Well, yesterday while at the library to use the internet for a bit, I logged on and found the coolest e-mail message. It was from a senior editor at Shape magazine, and she was letting me know that she wants an article I pitched back in October. How cool is that?! It's a small front-of-the-book piece (front-of-the-book articles are those short, attention grabbing pieces at the front of most magazines) and it will be in the June issue. It's due Monday and most of the work is done, as I did a lot of it for the pitch -- woo-hoo! (Remember the Magazine Writer's Conference I attended back in September? I learned there that FOB pieces are a good way to break into national mags, and I also met with Janet Lee, a Shape editor, during my "speed dating with the editor" sessions, and she helped me refine my idea for the pitch.)

AND today I was invited to do some articles for The Daily Camera's annual "Success Stories" edition for the advertising department (stories about businesses). AND I chatted with Andy Lee, the communications director at USA Cycling in Colorado Springs, and we're working out a deal where I'll be doing some writing for them, as well.

So, some very good professional vibes there to balance out the bad computer ju-ju. (Honestly, how do you spell "ju-ju"?)

And, perhaps even better, I had a very good conversation with my dad this morning, and then another with my mom. We had to talk about some stuff that was pretty hard to talk about, and, frankly, I think we all did an amazing job. Very, very good ju-ju.

So, there's your balance. It's tipping much more heavily toward the good side at the moment....deep, deep sigh.

(But, no pics with this post, as currently ALL of my photos are being held hostage in my lifeless laptop...but not for long!!!)