Change has come to the White House! Check out President Obama’s inauguration video here.

And on a much tinier, more minute scale: change has come to Thriving and Transcribing. Yep. Check out my new site, Thriving and Scribing. I’m doing more writerly things and less transcription things. Am I still transcribing? Yes! Just a have a whole new focus now. And I do need to update the Thriving and Transcribing site — it’s on my list on things to do.

P.S. I realize I have a whole collection of Web sites. That’s what happens when you take Blog Design Bootcamp classes, I guess!

Hello, everyone! It’s been a while since I’ve checked in for sure.

I’ve been pursuing interests other than transcribing, to put it bluntly. Yes, I’ve been doing some transcribing but the bulk of my time seems to be on developing new business plans and creative projects.

I’m on an email list group for transcriptionists and a while back someone posed the question, “What’s your Plan B?” This Plan B would be all the business ideas one has other than transcribing. A bunch of very creative responses ensued. Pets would be walked professionally; books would be written.

I’ve been keeping busy doing a little bit of work for some New York City art galleries. I created a new blog site for that here. I’m still pursuing my tarot readings, which has its own blog site. And seeing that I keep creating all these new WordPress blog sites, I’ve decided to offer that as a service I provide. Want your own WordPress dot org blog? Talk to me about it. I’m still building up my portfolio, so my rates are most reasonable. Contact me at diane [at] thrivingandtranscribing [dot] com if you’d like to discuss that further.

Technorati Tags: creativity, wordpress blog sites

Yes, I do quirky things. You probably were all giggling at me when I mentioned Tarot for Obama, where I read cards for three hours Friday night for a donation to the campaign. Well, now it’s being featured on the CNN.com Web site! For the full story, click here. And for more pictures of the night’s events, please click here.

Technorati Tags: tarot for obama, obama brooklyn fundraiser, cnn

Let me guess. It doesn’t actually take my psychic abilities to determine that you’re probably worrying about money right now. In this economy, everyone is! Well, I have some info that might be of use to you.

I just heard from my friend, Cindy Morus, the Money Minding Coach of Mend Your Money. Cindy coached me on finances two years ago — and I’m still reaping the benefits of what she taught me! Like how? Like, for example, it wasn’t until she explained things to me that we signed up for a flexible health spending plan. With that, you can use your pre-tax dollars to pay for medical expenses not covered by your health insurance, such as co-pays and even vitamins. Cindy’s got tons of smart ideas like that, so that’s why I am not hesitating to tell you about her Pay Debt Quickly teleclass that she is holding on October 21 at 6:30 p.m. Pacific and 9:30 p.m. Eastern.

If you’re worrying about your bills and debts, Cindy tells me she’s going to teach you how to get off the credit card debt roller coaster and create a new way of thinking and behaving about money. I hear she’s even going to give a few tips on how to outsmart the credit card companies! (Now I remember: Cindy’s advice also had us shaving some points off our interest rates on credit cards as well.)

I can wholeheartedly recommend this class! The cost is $39, by the way, but the value is much more. If you are bothered by debt, I urge you to check this out by clicking here. And let me know how it goes!

Technorati Tags: cindy morus, money minding coach, mend your money, debt reduction, get out of debt, teleclass, tips to save money

You may officially freak out now. If you haven’t done so already. Continuing to be a little ray of sunshine here, I just finished reading an illuminating-in-a-scary-kind-of-way article in today’s Washington Post, Retirement Wreck. I am currently pondering things like:

Teresa Ghilarducci, a professor of economic policy analysis at the New School for Social Research in New York, provided a bleak assessment for what might happen this time around. She calculated what you would end up with in 10 years if you had $100,000 in your account in August and lost 20 percent of it last month. If you were paying 2 percent in administration fees, as many 401(k) plans charge, and the stock market remained flat for three years, a real possibility given how it has performed, and then earned 1 percent per year, as it did in the 1970s, you would have $67,000 by the end of the decade, she said.

“With a flat market at best and high fees, it is likely they will have less than they and their employer put in,” she said.

Well, actually, that’s okay because most transcriptionists I know say they are going to work forever anyway. As long as they can find work, that is. Okay, I’ll stop now. Wait! I have one more thing to say: Whoever said that we should privatize Social Security? It certainly doesn’t sound like the best idea to me this morning.

Technorati Tags: retirement, 401(k), mutual funds, your 401(k) in this economy, privatize Social Security

October is upon us! And it’s a wonderful and mystical time of the year, the time when the veil between the worlds grows thin…

What veils? What am I talking about, anyway?

I am trying to make an intro to announce that I’m going to be involved in two superlatively supernatural events in one action-packed weekend this October — one in person right here in New York City, and one virtual.

On Friday, October 17, I will be joining several other tarot readers for It’s in the Cards: Tarot for Obama. This fundraiser with take place in the Ditmas Park section of Brooklyn at its premiere gallery, Art and Words. A $20 admission fee garners you wine, cheese and unlimited tarot readings. This event has been organized by the ever-dynamic Kris Waldherr.

Then on Saturday, October 18 at 3 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, I will be hosting a Virtual Tarot Salon. Ooooh, what’s that? It is essentially a teleconference call where I will pick folks at random to ask their questions and perform tarot interpretations of about 5 to 7 minutes each. Sound like fun? Hop over to my Wavelength Tarot blog for more information. I would love to hear from you then!

What about transcription? Do I still even do transcription? Yes, I do. Indeed, I’m waiting to hear how a bid goes right now to find out if I’ll be starting some new work. I made that connection through Twitter. So ha! to all you social networking naysayers! It is possible to network online with tangible results…

Anyway, I certainly hope you have a lovely October and if you are able to partake in one or both of these events, please do so!

Technorati Tags: tarot for obama, tarot fundraiser NYC, virtual tarot salon, free tarot readings, tarot teleconference, kris waldherr, art and words

Short and sweet here. You have just a few more days left to enter the Startup Nation’s Homebased Business Competition. There are several categories that your business can fall under including Boomers Back in Business, Most Slacker Friendly and my personal favorite, Wackiest. No, I am not entering — not even under Wackiest even though (can I give it one more plug?) I recently started my new blog site for tarot reading. Hey — you cannot blame me. The economy right now is tricky and I am simply diverisfying my talents. Sure!

Technorati Tags: homebased business competition, wackiest home business, tarot reading blog

So the economy’s gone to hell in a handbasket. For the past several years, it can be argued that the collective American psyche has been preoccupied with “the power of positive thinking,” and therefore many could not even imagine the situation we face today. Maybe it’s time to come down to earth a bit…

The New York Times recently ran an excellent piece on The Power of Negative Thinking. I agree with the premise that all this positive visualization certainly did nothing to shore up reserves for when times would become difficult:

No one was psychologically prepared for hard times when they hit, because, according to the tenets of positive thinking, even to think of trouble is to bring it on.

As a result, many people are unprepared for the new economic realities. What’s obviously called for now is a healthy dose of realism:

…realism — seeing the risks, having the courage to bear bad news and being prepared for famine as well as plenty. We ought to give it a try.

I agree. And sorry I couldn’t be more cheerful this morning.

Technorati Tags: economy, wall street crisis, negative thinking, positive thinking

You’ve heard me report on what I learned in Blog Design Bootcamp (plenty is one way to put it!) and now you might be feeling like you missed out…

Don’t worry! Blog Design Bootcamp is now a self-study course!

Do you want to learn how to design a blog for your own business, for your clients, or for a hobby or interest?

Have you given up because of cost, difficulty or Just Pure Frustration?

I’d like to let you know that there is relief… in the form of a 10-hour intensive Blog Design Bootcamp.

Erin Blaskie has created pure magic with her latest training program called the Blog Design Bootcamp.

Erin teaches entrepreneurs, virtual assistants and anyone else who is interested in blogging and blog design how to install, setup, customize and work with the hottest blogging platform on the Internet today.

The Blog Design Bootcamp is perfect for you if you have ever experienced the following…

**  Frustration with waiting for your blog site to be finished.

**  The stress of knowing how much blog design and blog site design creation can cost you.

**  Wondering how you’ll update and make changes to your blog now that you’ve finished it.

**  Not knowing where to start when a new client comes to you wanting a blog.

**  Disappointment at not having any high-end services, like blog design, in your portfolio of offerings.

These are all common issues we are faced with when it comes to blogging and creating this technology.

Luckily, Erin’s here to tell you that it’s okay… you can breathe a sigh of relief and know that Erin is going to do something she never thought she’d do.

She’s going to teach you everything she knows about customizing blogs and blog sites so that you can in turn do this for yourself, as a service or for fun!

Find out full details and get in on the special pricing by visiting Blog Design Bootcamp today!

By taking this training, you’ll be able to…

**  Charge a lot of loot for a service that is in high-demand but has low supply in terms of service providers.

**  Save time by not relying on your blog or web designer for their time and availability.

**  Save money in your budget by not having to pay out another service provider to do your work.

**  Increase your incoming client flow and overall exposure with improved and amazing Search Engine Optimization that is done automatically with this technology.

**  Become known as an expert in your industry for adopting the art of blogging into your business.

Find out full details and get in on the special pricing by clicking here today – and finding out why I gave Erin not one, but two testimonials on that site.

When you walk away from this training program, you’ll be able to install, customize and utilize fully your blogging software which will save you time, money and stress. I did — I created my new blog that is up and running today. And I just “graduated” from the program last week!

So, get in on the Blog Design Bootcamp now!

Technorati Tags: blog design, blog design classes, blog design course, blog design bootcamp, Erin Blaskie, wavelength tarot

Okay, so loyal readers of this blog knows that every once in a while, I blog about something completely out of left field. What can I say? — I have eclectic interests. Well, today is the Autumn Equinox, or first day of Fall. And with that, I joined some special friends for — what else? A blessing on the New York Stock Exchange! Really, take a look-see right here. Right in the fun blog I created for myself last week as a result of going through blog design training. Happy Autumn!

Technorati Tags: autumn equinox, new york stock exchange, wall street blessing