August 30, 2007

• I went ahead and signed up as a consultant. This was because I had, in the course of idly  discussing it with people, scheduled three shows. I therefore had to call Janalisa and say, "I seem to have scheduled three shows, so I had better sign up."

   In honor of this surprising event, I am posting some pictures  of Pampered Chef products. Really, they are pictures of food which happens to have Pampered Chef products under it, but it is still surprising how many pictures like these I have in my xanga files.

  Naturally, these pictures do not include things like the amazing garlic press or the really cool seasoning mixes, because I did not foresee any need to illustrate something with such pictures.

  And even as I type that, I see that I have indeed managed to catch a bit of the amazing garlic press, here being used to press fresh ginger.

   

   

  

   

   

   If you actually live near me, I will come to your house and cook things for you while you sip sangria  with your guests, and how cool is that?.

  I was aware that I had all these pictures because I had been leafing through my photos for a publishing project I'm working on for the store.

  Back when I first went to work there, That Man had the idea of publishing classroom materials. So often our customers want something that doesn't exist. We have always shared their requests with the publishers we work with, and often they go ahead and produce something -- but often they don't. There are some areas in which we have enough demand as a retailer but there's not enough national demand for it to be worth the investment for a national publisher. NCLB has changed the particular items people want, but it hasn't changed the fact that we are too small a state to get McGraw-Hill to make the stuff for us.

  Plus, That Man has been an accountant all his adult life, but in his youth he wanted to be a writer. He had some very cool ideas about literature units. He was imagining being able to print them out for people on demand, as sheet music was being printed from a sort of jukebox in those days.  I don't know whether that is still done any more, but we admired it.

  So now technology has caught up with us and we can publish this stuff ourselves. We are going through Lulu. I mention this because I know that there are several of you who are toying with the idea of writing books. I'll let you know how our experience of self-publishing with the new services goes, in case it turns out to be helpful.

  So far, we have read their data and watched their online tutuorials and had a live chat with them, and they have been very helpful.

  It looks to us as though it can be done profitably, so I am writing the stuff. I've always loved curriculum design, and I am enjoying myself enormously.

  I expect to have the content finished this week, and I've been able to use photographs for some of the images, but next week I will be diving into the formatting part and finishing up the images and all. Which is to say that I am about to move from things I am good at into an area of incompetence.

  As you know, I like that. 

  We will have all our kids at home this weekend. #2 daughter is taking a guest conductor gig at our church to cover her travel costs and improve her resume. I will be following the advice  in my New Consultant kit and practicing the season's recipes.

  The materials recommend practicing the recipes so you can make them smoothly while talking. They say you can pretend there are people listening, but I plan to make my kids listen, in return for my spending Labor Day weekend preparing Three Cheese Garden Pizza and French Silk Torte.

  My kids are excellent critics, and will tell me all the things I am doing wrong.

  • 7:11 am
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