Sketches, Smetches

I've always been able to make a decent sketch of something, but as all unschooled sketchers (not the shoes, mind you), my drawings have always be askew, awry and a-missing the proper perspective.

Good thing I discovered Mark Kistler's You Can Draw in 30 Days: The Fun, Easy Way to Learn to Draw in One Month or Less.

And yes, he's awesomely right when he says “drawing is a learned skill.”

There's some myth in the belief that you can't draw good if you're not born with the talent.

Of course, there are those who seem to have been born with their hand holding a pencil, able to sketch intricate, technically correct landscapes and portraits. I certainly had a classmate in grade school who seemed to have a knack of drawing faces and mixing colors attractibely. I remember he once drew a dog—which looked like how dogs looked like in real life—in kindergarten. Precocious, I tell you. Er, prodigious,  too.

Still, drawing is an acquired skill. Which is something Kistler capitalized on when he came up with his 30-day drawing tutorial.

I'm on Lesson 17 now, and I can truly say Mr. Kistler truly knows what he's doing with wannabe sketchers like me who just want to draw things that resembles something that really exists in real life, heh.

As you can see in the baseline pre-test, my sketching technique—and results—are elementary at best.

The Pre-Test. Elementary, my dear Watson. Very elementary.

How the Brain Works: The Secret to Staying on Top of Your Game [Video]

I'm a perennial student. Being gifted with a healthy dose of curiosity—especially on how things work—guarantees that I'm constantly learning new things. Lately though, I've been forgetting a lot of things, particularly specific words and phrases that describes whole concepts. So I got to thinking...

How can my mind forget something I've been doing or saying or writing or thinking for many years?

That question led me to this video on how the brain works. The target audience are students still in school, but because we're all students as long as we live, I think you'll find it helpful, too.

Video Takeaways:

How Your Brain Learns New Things

The human brain is about three pounds in weight, and can fit in the palm of your hand. Imagine that. Everything about you—in fact, a whole universe of knowledge—fits into an organ so small you can carry it in your purse. Talk about handy, unlimited hard disk drives wherever you go!

Top 9 Things You Can Do to Earn Money Online

When money is tight and the budget is short, us girls are great at finding other ways to augment our income. My mom repacked nuts and sold undies just to make ends meet when I was growing up just to feed three perpetually hungry little mouths. Others I knew took on a second job, usually after the day job was over.

Image credit stockimages/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

In the 21st century, most of us have discovered the money-making potential of the Internet. Few of us though, don't know just how to transform the web into their very own money-making machine.

I've been working online since 2009, and I've already earned thousands of dollars from the endeavor. Not enough to make me filthy rich, because I enjoy lots of time off, but a tidy sum to pay for my monthly bills, savings for a rainy day, and a lot of wants.

For those who haven't yet tried it but are hoping to get their feet wet earning money online, here are some of the ways you can do it. These are just the top 12 ones that you can explore with a minimum of investment—often with just a laptop, great Internet connection, your skills, and the gray matter between your ears.

1. Develop websites for companies, stores and bloggers

For those with the technical know-how, designing and developing websites for online shops, company sites, web magazines and the like is a shoo-in for making money online. Most of the guys I know develop blogs and websites on Joomla, Drupal, and WordPress. Others use Adobe Business Catalyst, especially those who develop online storefronts.

A Day in the Life of a Special Assistant to a Cabinet Secretary (A Short Story)

What’s a normal day like being an Executive Assistant? That’s a question I always get asked by friends who’re fascinated with my previous job, working as Special Assistant to one of the country's more celebrated (and perhaps notorious) Cabinet Secretaries.

Warning: Long(er) Story Made A Tad Shorter

Following is how a routine day unfolds. I’ll have to tell you right off the gate that it’s a longish story.

Like I said, this one’s a typical day, but usually when we're busy. As special assistant and de facto Chief of Staff to a very busy presidential adviser, there are days when I’m cruising, and there are more days when I feel like I’m on a bumpy, small plane ride.

But it’s one life I’d never trade because (1) I learned a lot of stuff I wouldn’t have normally learned (of course), (2) I gained confidence in dealing with real life--and real live Big People, (3) I realized that powerful and powerless people are the same -- they all want happiness, and a better life for their loved ones, and (4) I can do anything I set my mind to...even seemingly impossible ones, it appears.

An Executive Assistant’s Day

Image credit: Witthaya Phonsawat/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

0630H, Thursday, Home

The iPhone on my night table rings, jarring the early-morning stillness of my darkened room. My eyes shut, I grope the table top for it and the stapled sheaf of papers it rests on.

“Hold your horses, darned it,” I speak into the phone as I sit up sluggishly on my bed.

“Good morning, Liz,” the sickeningly fresh, chirpy-crisp voice of my Boss’ close-in security blares into my ear. “Anything new from his sked?”

I open bleary eyes to look at the schedule printed on the paper I’m holding, though I already know it by heart...even five days following this one. “Just the emergency meeting of the Security Cluster at the Palace at 1530H, Music Room. They confirmed it at two this morning.”

I hear G groan. Another unscheduled stop. N’s security detail will be berating heavens and the Palace again. “Will you be there?”

“I don’t know, but he’s got stuff with me he has to deal with.” I briefly scan the surprisingly slow schedule on his column, the packed one on my own. “Any surprises on your end?”