Sassea Sails

This is a ten minute exercise. No cross outs/corrections/don’t worry about spelling or grammar. Just keep fingers typing. Please understand I am showing this as an example of how the exercise is. If you are a beginning writer know that the purpose of sharing is for you to see an example. It will provide insight into my thinking. Most importantly it is hoped to be of value to you, my primary goal of this website. So here goes ten minutes of non stop writing following the prompt:  I am looking at….

I am looking at my MacBook Air. In my periphery are the keyboard, the empty box that contained new swim flippers, my headset, journals, the book I am using as my writing guide for this and future activities to be put in this website under the category of whatever I just named it. I think I named it memoirs.

The website is a challenge to organize and understand. My friend said it would be easy but what I am looking at now is not so easy. There is a blue banner above this window. This window is inside a bigger window overlaid upon the desktop of pretty blue. Like the blue of the crystal clear Bahamaiam waters I have sailed on. JPictures of two special people, Nicole now deceased and Joan. There is a folder also colored blue but a light er shade just light enough to contrast with the blue background. Theere are two folders one called Banking and the other called Movies. Safari is also designed with a compass icon surrounded by a darker shade of blue. The upper toolbar of the safari website lists categories familiar to most computer users, file, edit, view, history, bookmarks, window, and help. There is an apple icon with a bite taken out of it.

The use of the apple computer should be a reminder to eat more fruit. Why I eat more than I want in tmy body stored as fat is a mystery. Oh, most think I am fine. My stubby fingers remind me of my great grandmother, someone i now wish I got to know. I believe she had an interesting story to tell. The shortness of my lap top screen reminds me of her short stature.

Along the bottom of the computer screen are many icons. A smile in a square face a circles with an x, four lines extending outward one yellow one blue one red and one green: I have no idea what that icon is for. The mail icon of a postage stamp with a bird, perhaps an eagle or a vulture, not it must be an wage as its underbody is white with a black head. The bird is flying overhead so you see his belly. Next icon is a brown looking book with an @ sign which represents the contacts, then the calendar showing Jul 26. Next then is the journal pad, pages, iPhoto,  an icon with four graphs, a yellow which is the shortest next to it a red bar, then the tall purpose bar and finally on the opposite end of the short yellow is a taller, the next to the tallest or third to shortest in a light blue, baby blue I guess you could call it. The iTunes logo with a red circle and two eighth notes connected in which, the kindle icon, then the ibooks, icon, ayyyy yes the apple icon showing there is 1 update to be hd, a box with a bunch of stuff like a camera and maybe a paint brush and palette . Beside that moving continually to the right is the Nikon icon, followed by the safari compass. Hmmm, the safari compass appears on the bottom tool bar and on the right side of my computer screen.

Learning how to do anything can be simple or a challenge. Some things come easy, almost automatic for some people yet can be challenging to others. This phenomena is one of the many dynamics that make us an individual.

For today think of something that is a challenge. Learning how to make a successful website is foremost on my mind. Playing the piano, sailing solo around the world, and being a desirable mate are also on my list. For me, learning is a lifelong, daily endeavor. Whatever your take on learning is matters only to you.

What the research shows is that learning is best accomplished in small doses over a long period of time. One reason is that our brain needs time to process what is being learned. Another reason is that our memory needs consistent reminders to become ingrained. Some suggest fifteen minutes a day of playing the piano over a three or four week period is an effective way to learn a particular piece of music. Banging away at the keys for two hours one day, then not playing again for a month is most likely to yield poorer results.

With that example I am taking the liberty to learn to use the word press system for creating a successful website. A computer savvy friend suggested I use wordpress.com. “It will be easy for you. It is the one I use.”  Ha, ha, ha,,,,,,,,, whenever someone who is proficient at something tells you it is easy, be aware!

After struggling with near tears in my eyes I almost gave up producing a website using word press. Luckily before falling asleep that night I listened to an audio tape about living with grace  (http://choprameditationcenter.com). During the meditation my mind settled on my uncanny ability to persevere. “Never give up the ship,” is a quote I take literally and figuratively. The question then became, what do I need to do to produce a successful website using wordpress?

Amazingly when I woke the simple answer lurked at me. In the reflection of my pitch black morning cup of joe I saw an image resembling my degree of Doctor of Education. Duh? My speciality was (or is) adult learning. With that ‘aha’ I have embarked on a regiment of daily learning about word press. For me, it is a work in progress. It may take me a year, a month, a day or my lifetime. The time it takes matters not. That is, as long as I spend at least a few minutes three to five times a week I bet I will have a successful website.

Because today’s lesson includes adding a link. I present Skip Weisman a workplace communication expert. www.YourChampionshipCompany.com

In my first serious research about bottom paint I have learned that the first order of business is learning the language. To learn the language the first thing is defining the terms. Isn’t this always the case with learning something new?

About bottom paints. Start with what you know. As limited as that is, I already know there are two general types of bottom paint; hard and ablative. My choice is an ablative paint. Ablative meaning it sloughs off over time by the action of moving water and during wipe downs. Usually a soft cloth of scotch brite type scrubby works well.

What is not known is which ablative will best suit SPRAY’s needs. She lives in the warm brackish water on the Baron River in Everglades City. During the past four years she has sailed offshore to Bermuda then through the Bahamas and on to the Dominican Republic. For now, there is consideration of being sold. EEEEKKKKK, regardless her bottom needs some paint.

Two new terms are biocide and irgarol. Irgarol is a type of biocide that contains copper. Practical sailor has information on bottom paints and does a fair explanation of containments. It is still confusing as to which choice is best.

To be honest this little ditty about bottom paint is being presented as a way to also learn how to navigate and enhance my new website. After all if I am going to give up sailing, I guess I will pursue writing….looks like a further re-invention of who is Sassea the Sailor.

Hm, why is it we have to experience defeat? Why did it take Thomas Edison many, many failed attempts at creating the electric lightbulb? How come the oldest woman to circumnavigate by sailboat had to crash on her first attempt? Why, oh why do I have so many challenges making a successful website?

I can’t answer these questions. What I do know is that perseverance and a sense of gratitude pay off. Sailing presents the opportunity for many failed attempts as well as those rarely exceptional days of beam reaching along crystal clear waters. Metaphorically, sailing on reminds us to steer clear of obstacles that hurt. With a sense of humor my husband would remind me to stay away from hard objects!

It is with a sense of humor that I implore you to take each day in stride, sail with the wind, and appreciate what you do.

The primary purpose of this website is to be of value to others. Resources include Oprah and Deepak’s mediation that focuses on grace, friends who are teaching me to put others first, and family who reminds me of who is important. Best reads include Joshua Slocum’s Solo Circumnavigation, Boys Held Captive, and The Little Train that Could. Favorite songs include Patsy Cline’s “I Have Your Pictures,” Roberta Flack’s “The First Time Ever I saw Your Face,” and the Isley Brother’s “Twist and Shout.”

As we sail through life together we need to share our successes in order to minimize our defeats.

After I get the blog going, I will add categories such as beginning and advanced sailing skills, enhancing our lives, dedications, and things I haven’t yet considered.

Together we will surpass expectations. Welcome aboard s/v R & M (real and metaphorically).