HubSpot for Beginners--Master the Basics by Thalita Milan is a great introductory course that can be found on Udemy.
In this course, Milan discusses how to create a free account and how to use basic features e.g. manage contacts, manage marketing strategies, and follow up on leads.
She briefly introduces Hubspot's Ai layer, Breeze. She also covers GDPR compliance settings.
Source: Untapped. Dir. Josh Kahn.
Untapped focuses on Yearup.org, a program designed to help close the opportunity gap.
Young people from low-income backgrounds are given tools and the opportunity to intern for Fortune 500 companies.
Untapped endorses skills-based hiring because there is so much untapped talent and so many jobs going unfilled.
The documentary follows six young people who are trying to succeed in the Year Up United program. One of the participants, Lamia, is pictured above. Other participants are Zane, Brianna, Megan, Simge, Andres.
The documentary is peppered with advice from CEOs like Mary Barra of General Motors and Byron Auguste of Opportunity@Work.
The documentary is inspiring and motivational. Though these internships are highly competitive, there are some local alternatives if New York is too distant.
After watching Untapped, I did some research on the non-profit. Year Up United, partners with community colleges, like Dallas College in Dallas, Texas.
Hopefully, many more non-profit organizations like Year Up will give young workers a path towards success.
Mr. Roger's Neighborhood is looking for new voices and new perspectives.
This is an amazing opportunity for those who want to work as freelance writers in children's media
Opens April 1 and closes May 1, 2026.
Spec. scripts must be based on an existing live action or animated children's show. 11 to 22 minutes long.
2026_Welcome | Fred Rogers Productions' Writers' Neighborhood
Not surprisingly, typewriters figure prominently in The Typing Lady: and other fictions.
In “The Typing Lady,” the lady collects typewriters. When she types, though, an uncanny thing happens.
The typewriters write stories of their own — emotional tales that she cannot control. The “typing lady” takes the typewriters apart, looking for the mechanism that accounts for the literary outpouring, but she cannot discover the source.
In “Leafblower” Mel uses a manual typewriter, a Remington Rand, to type poems, her real love, and a laptop to earn a paycheck as a technical writer. She also takes care of an elderly couple in exchange for a cheap room over their garage.
In one of the best stories, “Ships in the Night,” Cayenne, an aspiring romance writer, has a portable pink Olivetti. She wants to launch a career as a writer so her daughter can have a more stable life.
In “Feelings” two mean-spirited girls decide to engage in a school project. They are to write a report about an act of compassion they undertake in their community. Kai types a letter to a lonely classmate on a 1964 IBM Model C Executive.
Ozeki’s stories are filled with aspiring writers who try but fail to send deeply personal letters. In The Typing Lady characters write deeply personal missives that they can never send (“The Anthropologist’s Kid,” “Feelings,” and “One Art”).
More than that, though, Ozeki’s stories are filled with writers whose writing ambitions will never be satisfied. Cayenne, who wanders between lovers, keeps changing the plot of her novel. The daughter in “Ships in the Night,” knows her mother will never finish her romance novel.
The last two stories even more directly deal with how difficult it is to lead a creative life. The couple in “Where Ambition Goes to Die,” have a strained relationship because of the husband’s ambition to write fiction. In this story, his ambition becomes a black-haired girl filled with daring and impulsive ideas. The couple is calmer now that the black-haired girl is gone. After she disappears, they sleep “unhaunted.”
In “The Problem of the Body,” an author plans to fake her own death to avoid going on a book tour. She also appropriates her granddaughter’s dating app. She goes to cafes and chats with boys who think they are meeting her granddaughter. Though she knows its creepy, she does this until one of them recognizes her as “that writer.”
These stories are impressively complex and nuanced. Each story is in some way related to the art of writing, storytelling, and communicating in an increasingly confusing world. Much like Colm Toibin’s stories, they explore the drama of what is unsaid or the meeting that never happens.
I’ve always been drawn to typewriters. With typewriters,
words hit the page with a noticeable “thunk.” Words cannot easily disappear the
way they can with word processors. Typists have to backspace and type X’s or
use corrective tape which gives writers pause and time to revise. Typed words
have a permanence that cannot be found in today’s word processors, tablets, and
phones.
My mother had a Remington Standard typewriter from the 1960s
that she treasured. Even then in the 1970s and early 1980s it was a relic. The
typewriter weighed a ton so moving it from the desk to the table required
considerable effort.
The Remington had green, gray keys. The rubber carriage
moved along with the words. When it was fully extended, writers heard a small
ding telling them it was time to reposition that carriage. In a way, that
simple act was electrifying for me as a kid. Pushing that slight metal bar and
repositioning the carriage was like reloading a gun. Not that I had guns or
knew anything about them.
The physical motion of moving the carriage was empowering
because it meant I had accomplished something. I had expressed something
exciting and tangible on paper.
I must confess I had an unrealistic view of writing and was
often disappointed with my creative output. When I started a new story, I felt
like the writer in the Carol Burnett and Harvey Korman skit who could create
worlds as he clacked away. But just like the writer in that skit, I was rarely
happy with the results.
I didn’t become the writer that I dreamed of becoming, yet I’m still drawn to typewriters. Many fantastic works of fiction depict typewriters prominently.
One of these works is Suzanne Rindell’s The Other Typist. This novel features Rose who becomes obsessed with fellow typist, Odalie's world. Both are typists for the New York City Police department who type the criminals’ confessions in the 1920s. Told from Rose's unreliable perspective, this work is a fascinating psychological novel.
https://medium.com/@chantal.walvoord
Designing a project is essential.
Rich Armstrong who describes himself as a multi-hyphenate artist and career coach has written a book about designing the perfect 100 Day Project.
More tips for creating a successful 100 Day Project:
https://craftindustryalliance.org/tips-and-tools-for-creating-a-successful-100-day-project/
https://designobserver.com/five-years-of-100-days/
I'm frankly surprised that the 100 Day Project is not embraced more by public libraries. One library that does a 100 day project is the Daniel Boone Regional Library. Kudos to them.
Suleika Jaouad explains how the 100 Day Project helped her during a particular low point in her life in The Book of Alchemy.
https://medium.com/@chantal.walvoord
https://medium.com/@chantal.walvoord
Image by Robin Higgins from Pixabay
We’ve all had that narcissistic boss who plays favorites, who sends passive aggressive emails, or who forbids anyone from taking time off. We’ve all had that nosy, antagonistic, or lazy co-worker who relieves us late and does not even have an excuse. We’ve all been there; or, otherwise, movies like Office Space and shows like The Office would not resonate the way it does.
Crucial Conversations by Kerry Patterson and Working with Difficult People by Amy Cooper Hakim are two of many books on workplace conflict resolutions. A relatively new book addresses the topic from a fresh perspective.
How to Work with Complicated People by Ryan Leak changes the “difficult” to “complicated.” Leak, an executive coach and transformational speaker, concedes that complicated people in workplaces result in business losses. Complicated people can result in “lower morale, eroded unity and trust, lower job satisfaction.”
In spite of this, Leak does not advise trying to change or reform complicated people. Instead, he argues there are certain techniques that will allow us to deal with such people effectively. Learning how to deal with complicated people can lead to great self-awareness, and, in that way, it is a gift.
He admits that he is himself a “complicated” person and that most of us are too. He writes we are all “weird, odd, irritating or baffling to someone else.”
Avoiding complicated or problematic people rarely ends well. Changing them or trying to cancel them also does not work in our favor. So that leaves only one option left — understanding them.
Though no one should tolerate a toxic situation, Leak insists that improving strained relationships will make everyone like their job more. Complicated people also serve a purpose — they bring a unique perspective.
No one has to accept workplace abuse, yet they should make generous assumptions about their coworkers and bosses. That irritating colleague who is late may actually have a valid reason for their tardiness.
Those who seem off-putting due to their differences can actually bring value. Diverse viewpoints add value because the last we need is “groupthink” or forced consensus. He urges employees to bring healthy collaboration to the table. Having a collaborative mind will help build bridges rather than silos.
The best chapter is the last one. If all techniques fail, he urges forgiveness rather than bitterness. Even if its justified, bitterness should have an “expiration date” because ultimately hostile feelings keep us prisoner to our emotions.
The white stag, in Celtic mythology, symbolizes mystery and a spiritual quest. In Celtic tales, the white stag leads visitors to Annwn, the Welsh Otherworld, a fairy land where no one gets hurt or dies.
According to Jones’s Celtic Cyclopedia, the white stag is also a component of Hungarian mythology, French lais, and even Christian iconography[1]. Hildegard of Bingen depicts Christ as a red stag[2]. In later Christian iconography, Christ is depicted as a white unicorn, which more directly reflects the Celtic white stag.
The white stag of Celtic mythology is known for its elusiveness and its regenerative powers. The stag can be chased but never caught. The Celts believed that worlds can exist simultaneously, and that certain animals, namely the white stag, can pass between worlds.
The white stag, who can move freely between worlds, acts as a guide during the hero’s transformative journey[3]. In Arthurian tales, the Mabinogian, and the legend Fionn mac Cumhaill, the stag leads the hero to an Otherworld. The hero’s courage is tested as he follows this mythical creature into the forest.
In the last chapter of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Lewis appropriates the white stag symbol. Instead of going towards a supernatural realm, however, Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy, are leaving one behind. They are crossing from a magical world back into the ordinary world.
Unlike other animals, a stag’s antlers reappear every season; and, thus, they are representative of spiritual renewal. In Lewis' The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, the stag is not just a liminal beast that can move between the seen and unseen world. In Lewis' novel the stag represents a spiritual transformation that the children have undergone.
The Headlight Review.
https://www.headlightreview.com
Kelp Crime. If you write crime fiction, this one's for you. They are seeking previously unpublished micro, flash, and short fiction in the crime, thriller, detective, and noir genres. Prefers conservationist, oceanic, and social justice themes.
https://www.kelpjournal.com/copy-of-about
Neon Origami. Decision within two weeks.
Brit Bennet. Vanishing Half.
Celeste Ng. Everything I Never Told You.
Lisa Jewel. The Family Upstairs.
Kim Edwards. Memory Keeper's Daughter.
Min Jin Lee. Pachinko.
Non-fictional memoirs that hinge on dark secrets are equally mesmerizing.
Dorothy Allred Solomon. Daughter of the Saints.
Anna LeBaron. Polygamist's Daughter.
Dani Shapiro's gripping memoir, Inheritance, details the repercussions of taking a simple DNA test.
Anyone interested in family secrets should watch John Baime's notable documentary, Filling in the Blanks.
https://medium.com/@chantal.walvoord
Rowlett Public Library promotes the arts with this writing contest every year.
With the publication of Code Breaker, Isaacson focuses, for the first time, on a female innovator and businesswoman, Jennifer Doudna, the co-winner of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2020.
Isaacson's portrait of Doudna, who co-created CRISPR is balanced and nuanced. Isaacson describes the career difficulties she faced, her competitive drive, and judiciously considers the claims of her detractors.
According to Isaacson, there have been three revolutionary discoveries--the discovery of the atom, the bit, and the gene--that were watershed discoveries.
The discovery of the atom in the beginning of the twentieth century led to many inventions, including the atomic bomb. The digital age ensued from the discovery that a "bit" that could encode information. Lastly, the discovery of the gene led to the knowledge of the genetic code.
Isaacson captures details about her early life that prefigures her future success. He explains that Doudna became inspired to study science not only because she explored Hawaii's wildlife but also because of a seminal work, The Double Helix by Francis Crick. Doudna's father left the book on his daughter's bed when she was a pre-teen because he knew it would fascinate her.
Ignoring a school counselor's misgivings, Doudna majored in chemistry at Pomona College. From there, Isaacson takes readers on Doudna's intellectual journey--her early successes and triumphs--while also revealing her competitive spirit.
Doudna's first husband did not share her drive and that ultimately led to their breakup. Her second husband shared her enthusiasm for RNA--a molecule that would become her primary focus. While other scientists were content to read the genetic code, Doudna wanted to edit it using RNA.
To be fair, Isaacson has long recognized the accomplishments of women. His book, The Innovators, for instance, warmly commends Ava Lovelace and Grace Hopper. Code Breaker is, however, the first time Isaacson focuses exclusively on a female innovator.
Choi, Susan. Flashlight. A novel about family crises and family secrets. The novel is fuller rendition of her 2020 story, "Flashlight."
Desai, Kiran. Sonia and Sunny.
Kitamura, Katie. Audition.
Markovits, Benjamin. The Rest of Our Lives.
Miller, Andrew. The Land in Winter.
Szalay, David. Flesh.