Renungan: Nak ke mana hidup kita?

A boat docked in a tiny Malaysian fishing village.
A tourist complimented the local fishermen on the quality of their fish and asked how long it took him to catch them.


"Not very long," they answered in unison.
"Why didn't you stay out longer and catch more?"
The fishermen explained that their small catches were sufficient to meet their needs and those of their families.

(GAMBAR: Dari website fishing.net.my)


"But what do you do with the rest of your time?"


"We sleep late, fish a little, play with our children, and take jungle walks with our wives. In the evenings, we go into the village to see our friends, have a few teh tariks, play the guitar, and sing a few songs.

"We have a full life."

The tourist interrupted,
"I have a degree from Oxford and I can help you!
"You should start by fishing longer every day.
"You can then sell the extra fish you catch.
"With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger boat."

"And after that?"

"With the extra money the larger boat will bring, you can buy a second one and a third one and so on until you have an entire fleet of trawlers.
"Instead of selling your fish to a middle man, you can then negotiate directly with the processing plants and maybe even open your own plant."

"And after that?"

"You can then leave this little village and move to KL, Penang or even Singapore!
"From there you can direct your huge new enterprise."

"How long would that take?"  

"Twenty, perhaps twenty-five years." replied the tourist.

"And after that?"

"Afterwards? Well my friend, that's when it gets really interesting, " answered the tourist, laughing. "When your business gets really big, you can start buying and selling stocks and make millions!"

"Millions? Really? And after that?" asked the fishermen.

"After that you'll be able to retire,
"Live in a tiny village near the coast,
"Sleep late, play with your children,
"Catch a few fish, take walks with your wife and spend your evenings drinking and enjoying your friends."

"With all due respect sir, but that's exactly what we are doing now. So what's the point wasting twenty-five years?" asked the villagers.


And the moral of this story is:

Know where you're going in life.... you may already be there.   

Saturday TastyLinks with a Little Whine

Greetings Grublets:

One more work day and I can totally unwind this evening and tomorrow.  We're off to Harrisburg for a three hour book signing and make it and take it session at the Grand Opening of their new AC Moore.  If you live in the area, please join us!  You can get the 411 here.  We'll have a bunch of Beadalon QuickLinks so you can create your own fabulous necklace or bracelet and you can purchase a copy of one of my books and I'll personally sign it just for you.  Avalon is my demo buddy and we're going to enjoy some Mother/Daughter time together. 

I've been a little edgy this week...okay I've been a lot bitchy this week.  It happens.  It's not always rainbows and unicorns.  I juggle a lot of balls every day and I have many different jobs...author, freelance designer, blogger, consultant, TV spokesperson, craft industry celebrity...and this week I've been doing them all.  Add to that being a mom to a small family and a rather sizeable menagerie of animals...and sometimes I'd just like a girl's night out.  Which I never get.

What's up with that?!

My girls are all too far away.  Dangit.

The Amish ladies haven't embraced me into the fold.  Shocking, isn't it?

Maybe if I was just a little less...sparkly and bitchy...and I liked champagne a little less...

Har har.

Thanks to all of the fine folks out there who have cross linked to my blog and said such lovely things about me on the interwebs this week.  I can't tell you how much I appreciate it. 

So without further ado...here are this week's craftacular links filled with creative inspiration from The Crafty Bloggers Gang:

The Artful Crafter
Read some glass etching tips from master etcher Eric Robert.


Stefanie Girard's Sweater Surgery
How to make a dress from a recycled tank and skirt inspired by one in the book Built By Wendy Dresses

Mixed Media Artist

Learn a more subtle approach to using the pointillism filter in Photoshop.

Margot Potter The Impatient Crafter

Wanna be a 'trashionista?' Join Madge as she turns old magazines into a fabulous decoupage purse in this week's project for ILoveToCreate Teen Crafts!

Crafty Princess Diaries

Tammy was thrilled to discover her new book is available for early ordering on Amazon. This is the first time she got to the see the final book cover too!

Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world

Craftside's got a how-to on making a zipper necklace, a free pattern template for a cute card jewelry display, a whole bunch of great cat quotes, an interview with Paula Guhin author of Image Art Workshop and announcing-Craftside authors will be doing Make and Takes at the Unique Los Angeles shopping extravaganza!


Cathie Filian

The Easter Bunny has been busy over at Cathie's workshop! Check out all the fun Easter Craft Ideas.

Aileen's Musings

Follow Aileen along her creative path and see how she transforms a 16x20 canvas and a map background into her dream piece!

About Family Crafts

Find out how to get creative while making prints with kids by using a variety of supplies you already have on hand. You can share your ideas too!

Pink Update For Pink Saturday...

Good morning "Pinkies" Welcome to my Pink Saturday post. As always, please thank the beautiful Ms Beverly at How Sweet The Sound for organizing and hosting this fabulous event, each and every Saturday. Please remember to go and check out her blog, and see the complete list of Pink Saturday "Pinkie" participants, and take the time to go and visit some of them. You will find the pinkest of "Pinkies" right here at Pink Saturday.

 

Last Pink Saturday I introduced you to a beautiful angel named Colette. She is battling breast and bone cancer. I put out a request to send cards to Colette and let her know that she is not alone. (See the little fairy below, talking to the birds to spread the word, that is us ladies.) Once again we have united together and made a difference. Colette does not have a blog, so I am posting a message below from her, to each of you.

Hello everyone! I just wanted to give an update. Yesterday at chemo I found out I have another tumor on my spine. It is on the T5. Hopefully, the last 6 weeks of chemo will take care of it. Chemotherapy was a little rough yesterday, but all in all I'm doing well. God is with me and so are all of my wonderful cards and gifts I received this past week from all of you beautiful blogger women.

Such big hearts, Ladies, I have been blessed more since my diagnosis of cancer than in my whole life. I received 25 cards this week! And, they all seemed to arrive after I was feeling sorry for myself or was regretting things in my past. All of you are keeping me going. You are all my strength! I have no other way to describe it. Total strangers banding together for another human being.

This is what God intended for us. Luke 6:38 says "Give, and it will be given to you". You all have wonderful blessings heading your way. It feels good to cry happy tears for a change. My love and sincere thanks to your kind hearts. You have made a difference in my life.

If any of you missed my last Saturday post, and need Colette's address to send out a card, please email me and I will get that right out to you. Colette sweetie, please rest and focus on getting well. Love ya sweetie.

Now pinkies, I have been trying to think of something that we could do to show Colette what each of our blogs are all about. If you would like to participate, here is what I want to do. Make a hang tag that represents your blog with a get well wish for Colette. If you mail them to me, I am going to put together a scrap book of all of them and mail it to her. She has very little space in her small house, but I thought a book would be so nice to lay and look at. She could connect each of us to our blogs. I am going to purchase a nice scrapbook, but any left over scrapbook material that you might want to donate would be greatly appreciated. I would like to add embellishments to each page. Please email me for my address and let's get this scrapbook together to cheer up our friend, and get her "In The Pink."

As always, thank you for stopping by my little piece of heaven, here in the desert that I so love to call home. Country hugs and much love...

How to Write and Publish a Craft Book Part Two

Firstly I wanted to announce a winner of a BIG PRIZE from The Shape of Things to Come! Erika Michaels COME ON DOWN and claim a fabulous prize package!If you email your snail mail address to margot@margotpotter.com I will forward your info to the fine folks from Scrapbook Adhesives!

Secondly I promised a design here today which is MIA.  Why?  Because I was busy finalizing the details on my new book proposal... I have got to stop making promises!

Thirdly that leads us to my second installment in my How to Write and Publish a Craft Book Series!

(Sneak Peek of a Design Sample for New Book Proposal Copyright 2010 Margot Potter ALL RIGHTS RESERVED!)

Yesterday I finished the final sample design for my book proposal.  These designs are meant to show the publisher what my vision is for the book.  They may or they may not make the final cut, but they're a starting point.  It's important when you're creating sample designs that you not get too attached to them.  The editorial team may not dig what you're throwing down and you as a highly sensitive artist have to suck it up and accept that not every creation is going to change the universe.  You can almost always find another home for your ideas if they're good.

I finished my final design and fine tuned the title, introduction and chapter breakdowns.  There are five chapters in this book and since the topic is a little more complex than my past titles, there are fewer total designs.  I created ten samples with two designs representing each chapter.  This really gives a nice POV on my concept and should help the Pub Board decide on whether or not they'll buy my book.

There is a team of people that regularly review book proposals in every publishing house.  Once you've gotten the approval from editorial and worked with an acquisitions editor on creating a presentation of your idea, the acquisitions editor will present it to the Publishing Board.  They meet on a regular basis to review concepts.  A lot of the decisions revolve around the opinions of the sales team.  Why?  Because they're the ones in the front lines meeting the buyers.  If they don't think your idea will sell, they're not going to approve it.  So even if it's a fabulous idea...if they feel that they can't sell it, they can't sell it.  Even though it's a tough pill to swallow when your brilliant concept gets rejected, it would be a far more bitter pill to work your booty off on the book and watch it tank after publication.  I have a file of good ideas that are patiently waiting for the right time to be developed into full blown proposals.

Publishing is a business.  Things are tough these days for publishers which means they can't take the sort of calculated risks they could take a few years back.  Try to really be on point in terms of what is trending and what is emerging so that your title is really relevant, marketable and enticing to the sales team.  Do your research because if you can't convince them that your idea has merit, they're not going to buy it.  So go to book stores and review what's in the craft section with prominent placement.  Get craft and fashion magazines to see where color, style, texture, motif and other trends are heading.  Surf the internet and start looking for connective threads.  That's where you'll find a solid and marketable concept.  If your initial idea isn't gelling with the trends, keep reworking it until you're satisfied that it's relevant.

If the stars align, the acquisitions editor gets behind your idea, the Pub Board approves it and your title sells, you will be assigned an editor.  Be nice to your editor.  Don't cop an attitude.  If you can't play well with others, try self publishing.  Your editor is your lifeline and only connection to the publisher and if you piss them off, you're going to find it tough to get anyone to listen to your ideas.  The editor is probably not going to be the person who sold your book to the publishing board.  You don't get to choose them, though if you've worked well with someone in the past you can certainly request them again.  So when you send out your proposal, wave a magic wand over it and say a few magic words in the hopes that you get an editor who gets you and will get behind you as you forge the wilderness of creating and publishing your book.

I'm waiting to hear from the acquisitions editor on the proposal I've submitted.  She may want me to change up some of the project samples, she may want me to fine tune my idea, she may not like my idea!  If she does like it, she may need for me to present a targeted demographic breakdown and provide her with statistics for my blog, website and social networking sites.  Yes, you will be your own PR and Marketing department, so if you want to sell a craft book you'd best build up an online presence first.  That's a big factor in selling your concept.  The acquisitions editor is a very, very busy person.  It could be a month or more before she's ready to propose my idea.  So stay tuned...

THE SILENT TEARS

26th,March,2010

6p.m

Good Evening!

The day was a cool day,being most of the work is done.Today morning,my friend showed me a peacock walking holding its head high in the ground.She was excited and waseager to show me before it disappeared.We were surprised as so far we have never noticed this beautiful bird before in the office premises.There are bushes and shrubs all over and no humanbeing was in sight to disturb her.My day was made even though the feathers were not spread for me!:(

This post was due since one week.This is for my friend,Sonali who comes to spend her weekends with me once a month.We met in a social party held for some noble cause and then onwards we are good friends.Sona is so smart,tall ,elegant and well dressed.She has always a bright smile that never fades.But right now she is totally stressed and is under pressure.

From the long conversations,chats and phone calls I know what she goes through.

''A woman's head is always influenced by her heart,but man's heart is always influenced by his head''.Lady Blessington

This is what happens if you are in a relationship.:)

With joyful memories and bonds of sorrow,

Sonali comes and spends the time with me.

She is not the same old cheerful friend,

And I can feel the pain pierces the heart.

Life will not always reward,

Many of our expectations as we would like.

Life is never a smooth and comfortable journey

As it takes us through the valleys and peaks.

Sunlight and twilight used to be our favourite passtime,

When the sky turns reddish,

We enjoy the amazing wonderful sight.

Sonali meets a lot of people as the part of her job.

It was six months before this handsome guy,

Ritesh has won her heart.

Both of them supported each other,

For their professional growth.

They have real sense of humor,

Which is essential for a healthy relationship.

The friendship was slowly turning,

Into a strong and steady relationship.

Besides her,he was always there,

To make her evenings glittering!

But it was long ago,

Or at least she feels it so.

A project work assigned to him,

Made him go across the seas,

The separation was too much for her.

She did always wanted to be with him,

By the end of the day!

She knows it very well,

Each season brings its own unique blessings.

Still she is frustrated.

Lying in the darkness,sharing the sweet moments with me,

She waits eagerly for a call that hardly comes!

May be the timings are different,

Or he needs time to settle down.

When the sun sets in the sky,

When the cool breeze kisses her cheeks,

When the long paths lined by the tall trees,

Are deserted and so inviting for a stroll,

She remembers him a lot!

And longs for his presence!

When the sun shines early in the morning,

When my heart fills with cheer,

I take her to my balcony.

To enjoy the quiet vast sea,

The new blooms in the garden down,

And try my level best to cheer her up!

But she feels insecure and unsafe,

About his love and trust for her.

The distance creates problems.

Weeping silently,she awaits,

For his phone calls,

To feel the depth of huis voice,

And I must tell you guys,

Voice has that magical touch,

To be so inspiring,to bring back the glow,

The assurance,the togetherness!

Which have become very rare.

He may be too busy with new people and work.

Ritesh,remember,you made your home,

At the very roots of her life!

How could you forget and move on?

Within her eyes you are always there.

I have seen you sitting on the rocky shore,

Sharing the beautiful moments of togetherness,

When her soft bare back of the neck,

Was touched by your lips!

Can anyone forget those wonderful moments?

You are always in my prayers,

The wet flowing hair and the waterdrops dripping down,

She is dreaming and always with a lost look!

Do remember,my friend,

On the high flood of memory,

She wants to let you know,

Your name will be always on the top!

''Hurting someone

Is as easy as cutting a tree.

But making someone happy,

Is like growing a tree.

It takes a lot of time,

So,never hurt anyone.''

''If I were a tear in your eye,

I would roll down into your lips.

But if you were a tear in my eyes,

I would be afraid to lose you!''

Friends,

''Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass.''

Let us accept the challenges of life.

It's Anu signing off.

Tomorrow night,Sonali will be once again with me and now I have to find out better and convincing ways to tell her,life is still beautiful.

Emotional attachments should not become heavy baggages that we can't carry.Why love can't give only happiness,peace and cheer?I just can't understand. The misunderstandings,waiting,arguements make the love lose its charm!

Friends,tomorrow.27th,March from 8.30 -9.30 p.m please switch off all the lights.Guys,it's EARTH HOUR!This is conducted on behalf of World Wide Fund For Nature in six thousand cities.Hundred crores of people will cooperate.Please,you too.....................

Wishing you an unconditional relation in life,

Reminding you Anu loves all of you,

Wishing you a wonderful Earth Hour in the candle light,

Sasneham

Anu

Friday - Finding Beauty

Today is "Friday Finding Beauty" a weekly event on Claudia's blog Dipity Road. Participating blogs are asked to post a photo of whatever they like on their blog, that touched them in some way and made them feel, see, or appreciate a moment of beauty in their lives. Please thank the lovely Ms Claudia for being so kind to host this wonderful weekly event.

"Beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder."

If you have the time, please go and visit all of the other blogs participating. It will definitely Bless Your Heart.

Today, when I came home from work, there was a box for me on the kitchen table. Ofcourse who doesn't love surprises? I have to tell you today "Finding Beauty" came in a box. This beautiful BUNNY. Isn't she just the sweetest thing? For no reason other than SOMEBUNNY LOVES ME. She has her Easter Bonnet on, and the most beautiful collar you have ever seen (lilac and olive colored ribbons). She also is carrying her own Baby egg in her basket. I love her. She is already on the entry way table in her place of honor. Her name is "Lovey", as she just screamed love when I opened the box.



Yes today, Beauty came in a box. And I have to tell you the sender is none other than our own Ms Claudia. She is just gorgeous Claudia and I thank you from the very bottom of my heart. I don't know what I did to deserve a special gift, but I will cherish her for the rest of my life. She is staying out year round, as I think she would like hopping about my house. Happy Friday!



As always, thank you for stopping by my little piece of heaven, here in the desert that I so love to call home. Country hugs and love...

Psst! Nak software percuma dan berguna?

Dah lama tak masuk bab Internet-software-internet.
Kita jengok kejap dunia siber ni.

1) Ramai orang tentu suka melayari Youtube nak lihat trailer wayang, dengar lagu dan tengok aksi orang politik dan keluarga mereka (cerita 'Rosmah puaka' dulu popular benar! Maaf Datin Seri, saya cuma tulis apa yang semua orang suka buat. Saya tak nonton pun. Errrr, sekali saja adalah....).
Atau mungkin nak lihat Shah Rukh Khan joget, mendengar ceramah agama dan sebagainya.
Kadang-kadang kita syiok benar dengan sebuah lagu atau nasyid. Atau ceramah politik.

Kita nak download ke iPod (atau untuk saya, ke Walkman W Series untuk buat jogging), atau ke PC kita.
Tapi bagaimana nak tukar video dalam Youtube ke format MP3?
Atau bagaimana nak download video itu semua sekali masuk dalam laptop agar kita dapat bawa ke sekolah/kampung tunjuk kawan/keluarga?


2) Kira-kira dua tahun lalu, komputer saya kena malware. Ia bukan virus yang merosakkan system files atau trojan yang mencuri maklumat.
Malware yang saya kena, dah lupa nama, setiap sejam gitu akan flash advertisement nak jual itu dan ini. Kita lagi syiok tulis email atau main game, dia flash advertisement. Kurang ajar betul.
Menggelacat saya kena Google cari 'ubat' nak bunuh malware ini. Berjam-jam dan macam-macam saya cuba, akhirnya dapat bunuh juga.
Nak format semula satu komputer, payah sangat.

Tapi mana kita nak cari 'ubat'?
Who do you call? Ghostbusters?

Atau mungkin kita nak update virus protection, tapi nak yang percuma.
Semua kita nak free sajalah. Biasalah tu.
Mana nak cari? Takut salah download kena attack pulak laptop atau PC kita.

3) Saya nak tanya: Siapa yang menggunakan browser Internet Explorer (IE), angkat tangan!
Kahkahkah, buang masa oi!
Sejak 5tahun lalu, saya gunakan Firefox dan Opera. Saya hanya menggunaka IE di tempat kerja kerana security system tak membenarkan kita gunakan browser lain.
Anda juga mungkin nak cuba Chrome (by Google) atau Safari (by Apple).
Firefox lebih pantas nak upload dan download, dan lebih mudah digunakan dari IE.
Dan kini, jeng jeng jeng, Opera Version 10.5 baru saya download semalam.
Mak oi! Lebih pantas dari Firefox.
Saya kini dah mula gunakan.

GAMBAR ATAS: Logo Firefox. Musang peluk dunia.
GAMBAR BAWAH: Logo Opera. Berbentuk donut warna merah.


4) Atau kita nak cari game atau utility software yang lain. Di mana tempat yang paling selamat kita nak cari?
Percuma dan tak ada virus dan malware yang akan didownload bersama?


5) Atau kita fed up dengan Media Player kat laptop kita. Apa nak buat?
Saya memang agak anti dengan si Microsoft ni. Saya tak gunakan IE dan saya juga, sebolehnya, tak gunakan Windows Media Player.

Saya berminat dengan Real Player.
Dulu saya gemar dengan WinAmp.
Atau mungkin anda nak cuba iTunes dari Apple.
  Sebab saya kurang penggunaan produk Microsoft?
Saya tak mahu hanya satu saja syarikat software control dunia. Nanti dia naikkan harga, mampoi kita semua.
Macam dulu apabila hanya Microsoft dan operating system Windows.
Dia letak harga tinggi pun kita terpaksa bayar.
Kini dia kena lawan dengan Linux dan Apple's Snow Leopard.

Kita tak perlu lagi pakai Microsoft Office.
Dalam GMail ada 'Documents' (lihat atas sekali, sebelah kiri). Buka tu, dan ada Word, Spreadsheet, Presentation. Semuanya percuma!
Dah habis buat, kita save, kat mana ada Internet, kita boleh buka dokumen kita! Data disimpan di cloud computing, yang pernah saya cerita di sini.


Saya dah lama tak pakai Microsoft Word, biar harganya jatuh oi.
Anda juga boleh download secara percuma, OpenOffice.org - Word, Spreadsheet, Presentation semua ada.

BAHAYA MONOPOLI

Nak tambah sikit.
Dulu, hanya ada MAS dan SIA terbang antara KL-Singapore. Harganya RM400 one-way.
Sekarang dah ada AirAsia, Firefly, Jetstar dan Tiger, RM150 boleh dapat. Kadang-kadang lebih murah lagi.
Jadi kalau boleh, mari kita s l o w sikit gunakan produk Microsoft ni.
Sebab itu saya juga tak beli iPod ni. Sebabnya? Laporan menyatakan 70-80 peratus market MP3 dicontrol oleh iPod buatan Apple ni. Eh, bahaya tu!
Nanti tinggal dia sorang saja, mampoi kita semua, dia pasti naikkan harga.
Belilah MP3 buatan Sony, Creative (syarikat Singapore), Samsung dan yang lain.

Si Google ni pun sekarang dah jadi gergasi bahaya.
Dia miliki Google search, Blogger/Blogspot, GMail, Facebook, Youtube, Google Earth, Chrome dan kini ada software telefon bimbit Android.
Sebab tu kita, walaupun hanya orang biasa, kena jaga-jaga.
Sebuah monopoli tu apabila dah besar sangat, bahaya 'bang.

Jika berjuta-juta orang macam kita di seluruh dunia tak gunakan produk mereka, kerana ada produk alternatif, mereka baru nak dengar 'suara rakyat' ini. Mereka lebih prihatin kepada kita.
Samalah macam orang politik.
Dah ramai pembangkang dalam Parlimen, baru si Umno-BN ni ada slogan "Rakyat di Dahulukan, Pencapaian di Utamakan". Kalau dulu, 'Aku di Dahulukan, Pencapaian jadi jutawan di Utamakan'

OKlah, banyak sangat si remgold ni bawa cerita.
Nak tahu macam mana nak cari software bagus, percuma dan selamat (tak ada virus, trojan, malware).

Tuan,puan, Mak Datin, Tok Batin,
Memperkenalkan (kalau belum kenal):
download.com.


Dah bertahun saya gunakannya untuk mendapatkan software percuma.
Kita boleh lihat software yang paling popular, jadi boleh tahu yang nak didownload tu bagus ke tidak.
Ada review oleh pemilik website ini, CNET, sebuah syarikat teknologi gergasi.
Nak cuba software, lepas tu beli pun boleh.

Jadi jawapan-jawapan untuk soalan saya di atas:

1) Nak download video Youtube ke MP3 kita di komputer dan lepas tu upload ke iPod.
Ada software 'Free Youtube to MP3 Converter'.
Kalau nak download video Youtube ke komputer pun ada dalam software ni. Mudah nak digunakan.
Saya download lagu Hindustan sekarang ni. Hahaha.

2) Taip 'anti virus'.
Ada macam-macam software disenaraikan.
Ada yang boleh digunakan untuk dua minggu atau sebulan, lepas tu kena beli.

3) Untuk browser, taip lah apa yang saya dah tulis tu. Lepas tu cuba sendiri.

4) Taip 'free games' atau 'pc games'.

5) Taip 'media player' atau 'free media player'.

Selamat melayari dunia siber.