Update

So I got my book School Works - Other Essays published through Lulu.com. It can bought at: http://stores.lulu.com/kakonged. I plan to do a podcast about it too to put up on that site which is: http://kakonged.podomatic.com. Yesterday I was teaching my students all about blogs and making money from blogs, so I might as well get right into it myself. Plus, it's a lot of fun.

Still have the marking to do and the email to send out. I will do that right after this. I'm also doing some editing on a former student's script that looks amazing so far. I will be doing training with my web designer later in the day so I can do the updates myself with my official website: www.donnakakonge.com. I need to update my resume on there, as well as feature the new books I have done.

School Works - Other Essays

Yesterday I had two classes to teach at Seneca College. They went well. I did more talking in these classes than in the first classes because I had to lay down the groundwork of the some fundamental knowledge, however the class still did go well.

Today I hope to publish my book School Works - Other Essays. I have some editing to do with that book, plus a whole lot of marking to do for assignments at Seneca College. I am hoping that the students understand that if I give them a week to hand in an assignment, they should at least give me a week to mark it. I hope they understand that is fair. I will send out an email about that just to clarify, in case anyone is expecting to get it right away.

Other than that, things are going well. I have a lot of work to do today and have organized many of my stories to put together for my new website (or really revamped from an old one) Donna's Salon Utopia. I have also assembled some stories for my main magazine Donna that I plan to start rolling out closer to June. I would like to work more on podcasts, as well as video work, which I definitely will do. Things are going well. I cannot complain.

Inspiration All Around

I just got a really inspiring email from Worldwide Freelance Market while sitting here and listening to Duke Ellington's Black, Brown and Beige. They discussed the common traits of successful, best-selling authors. One of the things they mentioned is perseverance and how important this is. They also mentioned how writing often and wanting to write often is also important. I guess I should see the free time I have right now as a blessing to allow me to get the book I am working on done. Wow...it is funny how a simple email can help to put things into perspective.

I remember a job I had working in a visual library with a public broadcaster - I was dying to write every day. I would spend every available moment I had writing and understood that if I did not do this - my spirit would kind of die too. Now I have more time with a lighter teaching schedule and can make this happen. However, if you are like me the real challenge is to do things when you have less time, not more time. Meaning, I find that with my nature, I am actually more productive when I have more on my plate to deal with.

Well, I am going to get back to writing that book. I would love to hear from you about how your writing, education or other creative projects are coming along. Feel free to be the first to comment on this blog.

Going Back to School

This morning I got up early as usual and wanted to write on my blog right away. I was stumped. I did not know what to write about. With the summer here and things getting quiet, there really does not seem to be a lot to write about on my end.

One thing I can mention though is that I will be going back to school. I will be doing a second master's degree in education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto. I had received entrance into different programs there since late 2007 and if I had just taken the original offer I could probably have completed my degree by now. Oh well, I guess everything happens for a reason and I hope this degree will help with more financial security for my future.

Why else does anyone go back to school, except to mainly secure a financial future for themselves? Paying for it will be slightly stressful, however I am hoping I can do it without loans because from what I hear - getting loans can be a really stressful experience once you need to pay them back. I have had luck with the two loans I have taken out before and have been able to pay them back relatively quickly.

Part of the reason I did not accept the admission offers I received in the past was because I was determined to do my PhD at U of T, or another school within Toronto. The good thing is that it looks as though I will be able to take doctoral-level courses while doing my master of education. More and more colleges are requiring that professors and instructors have doctoral-level degrees.

A lot of people go back to school in these economic times. I hope for all of you doing it that the silver lining will be there for you once you graduate and you will get exactly what your heart desires.

Seneca College and Trent University

Now Seneca College students have a chance to do a liberal arts diploma and a degree at Trent University in four years.

This move goes along with the trend many universities are taking so students can receive a college diploma and a university degree at the same time. Seneca College has also partnered with York University for a journalism diploma at Seneca@York, as well, Centennial College has partnered with the University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC) campus for a journalism diploma at Centennial. Students can receive an arts degree at UTSC.

For private education that is top-quality, there are schools such as Trebas Institute that offer one-year programs in such areas as entertainment management and film and audio production.

Advertorials on Donna Magazine

Things seem to be going well with finding a lot of talented people to add advertorials to my other online magazine called Donna. I feel really good about it. Although it is not a get-rich quick scheme, I think the writers who put in the work and deliver good stories will have a lot of fun doing it and it will add more interesting content to that site.

Embarking on a new endeavour always has the bit of fear that goes into it that it may not work out. I am feeling the positive feelings more that this will work out. I have been thinking about it since 2005 and it really should work out. There is so much talent out there and I know they can make doing advertorials for Donna Magazine a win-win situation all around.

The Magic of the Telephone

I hope you have been having a great long weekend. To make sure I would save money and have time to do work from home and close to home, I decided instead to keep in touch with friends by telephone.

I spoke to a friend in New Brunswick, a friend in Montreal, a friend in London, England, as well a friend right here in Toronto. The telephone is a wonderful way to keep in touch and I have a flat rate with my long distance company that is good for 50 countries worldwide.

Enjoy looking at the fireworks - I am going to create little ones of my own.