07.28.05
Posted in at 4:17 pm by queent
I recognize the Technica Communication field for what it is. It’s a challenging and misunderstood field. Most people don’t know what it is when you say “technical writing”. Let me provide you with a definition: “Technical writers create documentation for a technology. Their responsibility, like, is to effectively communicate a message. Technical writers are responsible for writing text that is helpful to its intended audience, accurate, readable, and accessible.” [Source: http://www.wikimirror.com/Technical_Writing ]
Because it is misunderstood, it is underappreciated as a field. Most companies don’t recognize it for what it is and how it benefits them in the grand scheme of things. It is the tech writers that design and write the training and user help guides you use to do your job, regardless of your field. Airlines, computers, machinery, your DVD player; the instructions, help guides, pictorial inserts, all those are designed and written by technical writers. Many companies seem to thin that the writing of these documents are the responsibility of the product specialists, i.e. the technical support representative, the application or machinery designer, or the trainer. This is true to an extent, they are critical to the writing process. They do posses the expertise that is mandatory to inform and educate the reader. But what they lack is the writing expertise to deliver the content in a way that is most effective to the reader. The information needs to be communicated in a manner that is best for what it is designed to do. Training documents are not going to be written in the same way that airplane specifications are. Technical communicators are trained to provide this information. Just as the application developed is trained to develop an application, we are trained to effectively educate and help the user of that application use it to the greatest ability possible.
With all of that said, it hurts me to hear of a person working in the technical communications field who is not educated in that area. Being someone trying to break my way in, to hear of someone who doesn’t have a background in any type of communications landing a tech writer position is practically offensive. There are so many of us out there that are trying to find any entryway in that we can grab a hold to. There are just as many of us already in the field that are mid career and above that are enduring the field’s declining market due to the “new wave” of exporting jobs overseas, on top of an already struggling market thanks to the dot-com crash. It is degrading to out profession to have “outsiders” securing our positions.
In a discussion with an experienced writer recently he suggested that the technical writing field establish an association, similar to that of the National Association of Science Writers, NASW; or American Communication Association, ACA. This would help alleviate this problem that our field currently faces. There would at least then be a set standard for what we truly are here to do. We want to help, we want to enlighten, and educate. Placing “outsiders” in our positions dilutes our entire purpose and even worse, gives us a bad name; because the average person doesn’t know the difference between a “true, educated” technical writer and a person who is stepping in to that role without the background. All they know is the terrible, unusable documentation that is the end result.
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07.27.05
Posted in at 12:12 pm by queent
Let me spread my joys in hopes of infecting everyone else, or at least to profess there is a “half glass full” mind running around here, instead of the “half empty” that has been trying to creep in.
- My best friend from high school, E(yes the tone deaf one…lol), and her family are supposed to be moving down here in the next few months. I am soooo beyond excited. I’ve been trying to get her to move down here for almost as long as I have been here. She has two boys, 4 and 2, and just to have them all here will make my “family” even more complete.
- Twin is graduating this weekend and I am so excited for and proud of her. We’ve both been stumbling through school for longer than we’d care to admit. I’ve already walked the stage, and although I still have a few classes before I’m officailly done, that feeling of walking the stage is very fulfilling. I’m so happy she’s getting that experience!
- I am finally satisfied with what my dating life has settled into. It is extremely lacking, but I am cool with that. I don’t have the patience to deal with the quantity to get to the quality, so I’m just sitting back in the cut, watching and living vicariously through Twin who seems to be the only one in the crew enjoying her dating experiences…lol When it’s my time, it’ll come.
- My baby boy is coming home this weekend. Yes it is a week early, and of course there is baby daddy drama fueling it, but I could care less. I am ready for him to be home with me, away from there where he is miserable. The sacrifices I make for him are worth it to me for him to be happy. He starts Kindergarten in 2 weeks and I am ridiculously excited. On top of that I found an afterschool program that is beyond economical, so I am ridiculously excited about that.
I’m dwelling on those positive notes, and leaving the negative ones up to the Man up above and letting Him work all those out for me. Seems to be the stresfree way to go and so far it seems to be working.
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07.24.05
Posted in at 5:58 pm by queent
Some would call me closed, some would call me secretive. I look at it as selective. I don’t reveal more than is necessary at a given time. And I recognize where that in fact comes from.
I am a product of my upbringing. That is not a story of roses. After the age of 11 when my grandmother and great-grandmother passed, my family changed. Mama retreated into herself and spent more time with her new found love. She loved him…we despised him. I found myself playing “mommy” to my youngest brother, even more so than before. Over time, things became worse; the boyfriend was scum and right before my thirteenth birthday I moved out for the first time to my grandmother’s house. Over the next 6 years, I moved somewhere between five and ten times, in and out of one family member’s house or another. Sometimes it was my fault I had to leave. I was boy crazy and often got in trouble one way or another behind some boy. Sometimes it was just circumstantial. They couldn’t have me there anymore.
In school I was pretty social; about as social as I am now with a select group of friends. So I learned to not talk about my home life. Home wasn’t relevant to any topic I chose to talk about, and I didn’t invite friends over. I’d hang out at other people homes, but never invited anyone over. And that worked out well for me. I proceeded from middle school right into high school with that mentality. Nothing to talk about… so I didn’t. Kicking it with my friends at the mall, or on the block, or their house; just not at mine. The “secrecy” thing worked for me.
It did make me somewhat quiet at times, which is why I am still quiet now. I don’t talk about what’s not going right in my life because I don’t see its relevance to anything. Talking about it isn’t going to change it, so why bother? I have my outlets, whether that be writing or venting to one of the few people I feel I can vent to but, even that is only out of a physical and mental health necessity. If and when I want someone’s opinion or advise on an issue, I ask for it but otherwise I just don’t see the need for discussion. It’s nothing personal, it’s just me and I am content being that way.
I don’t shut people out. I just am very selective and cautious about whom I let in. And already I’m a victim of senseless and baseless gossip. What motivation do I have to open up anymore? I don’t gossip and I don’t care to be a part of anyone else’s. If you want to tell me that’s fine, but I’m not gonna be the one to discuss it anywhere else. What’s the point?
The downside is that, yes, I used to bottle it all up and not tell anyone anything. I learned my lesson from that the hard way and now I have revamped my actions. Along those same lines, never inviting anyone over, I never really learned that hostess/hospitality thing or ever learned to feel comfortable with people being in “my space” i.e. my home. I recognize that I can’t (or I guess I should say shouldn’t) stay that way and I am working on it. Yes, there will be a Happy Hour at my house soon (no date, just ’soon’…lol) Nothing mor than, a product of my upbringing. To an extent I am happy with it. I like my little cocoon. It’s safe and cozy and warm. But I feel the need (or maybe pressure) to let the little butterfly out too. Just gotta find that balance.
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07.20.05
Posted in at 1:39 pm by queent
Dirrty - Christina Aguilera: Right after I moved out from living with my ex-husband I started partying more. I used to hang out with this dude and one night we went to Chaos. Chaos at that time was a really mixed crown and “we” hadn’t really shown up yet. I had had just a drink or two, but I was somewhat of a “newbie” all over again so I was felling quite good. This song came on when I was on the floor kinda just chillin, cause I wasn’t used to partying with “them’. Suddenly, I no long had control over my body. I was dancing so hard, I think midway through the song, I surprised myself. But I must’ve surprised my boy and his friends too. They’d kinda wandered off and came back to find me just letting loose. I remember the looks on their faces, and being amused that they were intrigued watching me. That was when I recognized that my dancing causes some heads to turn.
Happy Birthday - Stevie Wonder: When I lived back home I never thought I’d get home since when I went away for college. I couldn’t wait to get away. But once I got there, I was immediately home sick. I realized how far away I was and everyone else was so close they went home often. My birthday was maybe 5 or 6 weeks after I left for Baton Rouge, and Mama called me to wish me Happy Birthday. I answered my phone in my dorm to hear her singing “Happy birthday to ya, Happy birthday to ya, Happy Birrttthhhdayyyy” and I couldn’t help but cry. I was so silly, and so sweet at the same time. I really missed home. It got better not to long after, but I did leave after the first year anyway.
Anytime - BrianMcKnight: Speaking of college, I learned love at first sight 3 days before I left Baton Rouge. O, maybe not first sight but by the end of the first night, we both admit to this day we knew there was something very special there. It was so hard that we met three days before I left, but that fate. At the last minute, I decide to try to go back to school there for another semester and went back down to Baton Rouge. I stayed with him the week I was there. Unfortunately, it was too late to get my financial aid package straightened out and I went back up to home. We knew long distance was not an option and although we loved each other for many many years our romantic love developed into a friendship love and we’ve been best friends for over 8 years now.
HotMusic - Soho: I’ve been earning the name HotPants for many many years now. When I was a junior, I took a Pre-Calculus at the college I am not finishing my degree at(so glad to have had that extra credit too…lol). Because I had to go on campus to attend I had to get an ID, which means I now had a college ID. Putting it to good use, my best friend, E, and I who also took the course, would frequent the college parties. It was there that I cultivated my love for dancing and got my first taste of house music. I wasn’t’ crazy about all of it, but this one song HotMusic, used to make me crazy. I would watch everyone get to clapping and moving and I fell in love. That song still gets me today and if I hear it in the car, I am likely to damn near cause an accident because I simply must clap to the beat no matter what.
Killing Me Softly - Fugees: And speaking of E, I will forever hear Killing Me Softly in a tone that one else would want too. Lawd, BabyGirl I love you, but you are tone deaf! She used to love this song and would belt it out at the top of her lungs every time it came on. And all I could do was cringe and laugh cause she knew she couldn’t sing and could care less. I could learn a thing out two from her…lol
Ribbon In the Sky - Intro: At 18, I left college after one year (that’s a story for another day) and decided to move to VA to live with my boyfriend and attend Hampton. I spent a week there securing an apartment and getting to know the area when we got in to a huge, huge fight. The distance between us was really startign to get to us. One the dive back to NY from VA, we had a long long talk about our relationship, and where we were treeing to go. It was at this time we seriously considered getting married. I remember Ribbon in the Sky playing and out of nowhere we both just started singing it. It was a very sappy, sweet moment, but one I’ll never forget.
Breathe Again - Toni Braxton: This is probably where my complex about singing out load comes from. When this song came out I was sooo in love with it. Every morning I would sing it in the bathroom while getting ready for school I was always the only one that was up so I would just sing my little heart out. One day my mom came in out of nowhere and started imitating me and told me she’d been listing to me snag it for months. And every time after that, whenever the song came on she’d start imitating me. Thanks for the complex Mama…lol
Show Me - Jill Scott: My first date with a guy last summer went off the original path he’d planned it to. As we drove around readjusting our plans, Show Me came on and for a moment I became lost in the music. It was at that point we discovered how deep our love for music ran and how much we had that in common. That song became a staple for my feelings about our relationship hence forth.
In Da Club - 50Cent: Go Shawty! It’s ya birthday! This song was big right before my 24th birthday. I had just moved back to VA after running away from Atl. My best friend, Tan , and I came down here for All Star Weekend and to celebrate my birthday. All weekend we PARTIED!!! I won’t talk about us dancing on the bars for shots, or in cages or any of that wild stuff, but every time In Da Club came on, we made sure everyone around us knew it was my birfday…lol
Closer - Goapele: I had already fallen in love with this song long ago. Goapele is a very slept on artist and it’s rare to hear her music on the radio or in a club. Out with the crew a few months ago, I heard it in the club and I rushed to get up and dance. it was the end of the night, I was feeling quite good I must say, and i remember my feet were hurting. but I had to dance to this song. As a rarity, Twilight was out with us and we ended up dancing together. it somehow became a very intimate moment between us, given our history. Anytime I hear that song, I’m instantly taken back to that night, that dance, that moment…very sweet.
Everything I Do - Brian McKnight: Ok I don’t have a memory for this song yet, but the words are so very moving to me that I hope that one day someone will love me enough to feel this way about me.
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Posted in at 12:05 pm by queent
Aight, this isnt like me and I don’t expect it to happen again.
I love to blog, love to write, but between being in and out of town, running the streets for this reason or that, writing and helping with website creations, and being somewhat under the weather, I am deferring the rest of the vacation to Twin. I mean she is Twin, what she said is what I woulda said anay. Besides she’s a much better story teller than I am. Enjoy.
Diamond & Hot Pant’s Big Adventure…Mommies in FL
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