Editor Afloat

Dedicated to Sticklers everywhere!

Monthly Archives: May 2013


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Can You Say Spoiled?

My Wyatt Earp Kitty sits on my desk every morning while I am editing or proofreading or writing copy for my clients. He often sits on the mouse or stands on the keyboard in an attempt to get close enough to the monitor to swat at moving objects on the screen. So ~ he now has his own monitor right next to mine where I play him bird and squirrel videos over and over. So far, he likes the busy scenes and the larger birds like doves. He fell asleep watching the hummingbird feeders. Fish aquariums seem to be pretty captivating as well. I’m getting a lot more work done the last couple of days. 🙂

My kitt watching videos.

My kitty watches videos.

Wyatt watching videos.


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Lead Character

As I was reading through the news releases about the tragic Texas and Oklahoma storms, I ran across an inspirational photo that someone had posted. It was cute – a little dachshund wearing a helmet and a superhero cape, standing on the top of a shopping cart so he could look over the fence. It was the caption, however, that grabbed my attention. It read, “I am the lead character in my own story.” I wrote it down and within a few days a this poem had formed.

Leading Role

I am the lead character in my own story,
When the credits roll, to whom will I give the glory?
I play a starring role on my life’s big screen.
When the curtain falls, who will be the hero in my final scene?

As I live day-to-day in my own reality show,
Just like Hollywood, it’s all in who you know.
I must pick and choose who will be the author of my play.
I want a number one show, worth tuning into at the end of the day.

So I struggle to be writer, producer, director – all in one.
But something is missing, it’s not good enough, when all is said and done.
I grow so weary, when will I stop to recall
That the One who came before, He wrote it all.

But God’s story isn’t popular with the crowd,
Lord, give me strength to fight, stand my own ground.
In all my acting let the world see Your love shine through,
Let me play the leading role especially for You.

God wants us all as co-stars in the world’s greatest love story
And to remember in everything to give Him all the glory.
I do not wish to wait until the final credits roll,
So, please Lord, direct my every act until Your face I behold.

Karen Olin ©2013


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Lovers and Lies

I thought he was such a nice guy,
Tell me why did he have to lie?
We laughed and shared so much,
I melted at his every touch.

As I drove across the lonely miles,
Thinking of him brought me smiles.
So why is it that she is here?
Why is she calling him “Dear”?

I was true, I never did stray,
What just happened here today?
My heart is blinded by the tears,
I wanted a friend for the years.

To some Love is just a game,
I played, so I am to blame.
Still I guess I cannot see
Why he’d do this to me?

TheEditorAfloat (Karen Olin) © 2013


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Words are Fun

Shel Silverstein has long been one of my favorite purveyor of words. He was a cartoonist starting out in the 1950s and also wrote many song lyrics. My favorite work was the 1974 poem collection, Where the Sidewalk Ends. I loved that book right from the title. I was such a country gal and felt my life pretty much began where the city sidewalk ended. Silverstein had his own style and for his children’s books, that mostly meant a whole lot of fun, sometimes nonsensical, always whimsical. I was kept away from “such books” as a kid but by the time I hit adulthood, I had developed a sharp sense of humor, favoring puns and one-liners. When I first read Silverstein, I knew I’d found a mastermind of silly. If you haven’t done so in awhile, spend some time Where the Sidewalk Ends, guaranteed to make you chuckle.

Here’s a joke for you, not one of Silverstein’s, but one that makes fun with words anyway. Enjoy!

“Once upon a time there was a farmer who married a pretty young lady. A couple of years later, his bride gave birth to twins. They were elated and named the boys Pete and Repeat. Two years went by and she gave birth once again, this time to twin girls. The couple named these babies, Joyce and (you guessed it) Rejoice. The following spring their prize goat had quadruplets. They named the kids, Eeny, Meeny, Miny, and George. They didn’t want no Mo’.”


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Takin’ it Easy

Sanibel seashells

Click on the link to solve this jigsaw puzzle!

Another rainy day in Portland but still a pleasant morning. Heading off to church, then to ride my horse. Thought I’d leave you with a jigsaw puzzle to while away the hours. This one is not as easy as it looks, but worth the effort. When I was in Florida a couple of years ago, some dear friends from the St. Petersburg area took my friend and I out to Sanibel Beach. What a delight! Seashells everywhere. Here in this puzzle is the essence of my collection. Enjoy!

Shells Jigsaw Puzzle


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Mass Appeal

We all know how much the advent of the Internet has changed how the world does business, connects with family and friends, goes shopping, entertains itself and a myriad of other things. It has also changed how we work in many cases and certainly how we search for employment. There are dozens of online employment agencies as well as classified listings, government positions, and job openings listed on many company Web sites. Once you have decided what it is that you want to do or perhaps where you wish to work, you must follow their hiring process. Typically, this involves filling out an application and often you are encouraged to attach a rĂ©sumĂ© to your file. Depending on the length of your employment career overall, your rĂ©sumé may be more of an overview while you rely on the application itself for specifics. In any case, most employment coaches suggest that you tailor the focus of your rĂ©sumĂ© to match the industry or position for which you are applying. Which leads me to the question of mass marketing yourself. What about the job agencies that have you post your rĂ©sumĂ© on their site, then push the ‘submit’ button to send your info out to thousands of potential employers at a time? How do you target any one specialty if you are attempting to appeal to masses of employers? Are hiring managers who read through these submissions really able to see what they need? Consider these questions, think about your approach and then decide what may work best for you.


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I Want ( a poem and an answer)

I want to know what makes you tick,
What makes you giggle, squeal and kick.
I want to know what makes you smile,
Is it natural, or for you a trial?

I want to learn to make you laugh,
It warms my heart, you don’t know the half.
I want to keep you by my side,
Are you for real, or have you lied?

I want to try to win your heart,
Be together forever and never part.
I want you to know I love you so,
Please hold me tight, don’t let go.

I want all this and your friendship too;
Just tell me what do I need to do?

By Karen Olin ©2011

My dear friend, Jeff Weiner (a published poet) wrote this answer…

Your heart and soul make my heart tick
infusing the Love we share,
Each day with you gives my life a kick
seeing how dearly you care.

Reality was just a dream
until you appeared to make it true,
The biggest truth that I have learned
is how much I LOVE YOU.

Now I dream of each next day
that we will spend together,
Every one better than the last
continuing on forever.

By Jeff Weiner ©2011

Jeff’s book, Poems of Life can be found at Amazon.com


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Mother’s Day Stats

In case you’ve been hiding under a rock somewhere and you don’t know that Mother’s Day is Sunday, you’ve just been warned. The day started as a holiday in West Virginia in 1910 and spread to the US Congress by 1914. The ‘founder’, Anna Jarvis was so disenchanted with the commercialization of her holiday that by the end of her own life, she was fighting hard to repeal the official designation of the day. Didn’t work. Today, Mother’s Day will generate $671 million on the sale of 140 million greeting cards. A total of $14.6 billion (yup, that’s a “B”) will be spent on the day in general, with $1.9 billion in flower sales.

Roses for Mama

Roses for Mama, photo by Gina Hansen Coulibaly

69% of all gifts bought for Mom will be flowers and almost 27,000 jewelry stores will place special orders for Mother’s Day sales.

A poll taken of mothers to see what they would like to receive for their ‘day’, reveals something a little different from what they get. 36% responded with ‘something homemade’, dinner was in the number 2 spot at 35%, while flowers came in at 5th with just 23% of Moms wishing for a floral gift. And guys – stay away from the electronics store – only 3% of Moms want something on this list.

Approximately one-fourth of all flower sales annually occur for this one occasion, it is the 3rd largest greeting card day behind only Christmas and Valentine’s Day. It ranks second in gift giving after Christmas and some 80 million adults (about 1/3 of the US population) will be dining out on Sunday. 34% will go for lunch, another 30% for brunch but only 5.5% will be heading out to dinner. Just so you know…

48% of people claim to be FACEBOOK ‘friends’ with their mom. There are even lists of Mother’s Day songs that you can play for her. Does anybody besides me remember the Country Classic by C.W. McCall, “Roses for Mama”? Good, it still makes me bawl. Thanks to statisticbrain, creditdonkey, and about flowers for the info on Mom’s Day.

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY to all you Moms out there!


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Proofread it. Do it again!

Earlier this week a major home improvement store chain here in the US launched a new advertising campaign. My roommate works at that store so I asked him what the slogan was supposed to mean. He said he had no clue, the same poster was on the break room wall and the employees all stared at it and tried to figure out where the thread was leading. Turns out, it was heading to nowhere. Two days after the Internet debut of the ad, it was changed. Clearly, the ad writer used his or her spell-checker. What was apparently not done, was a does-this-make-sense check. So many times in our typing, we either miss a letter (as in the case of this ad), or insert a completely wrong word. Then we hit the little ‘abc’ button, the pop-up congratulates us on no spelling errors and we’re done. Why does it seem like too much trouble to have another person read over our work and double-check it ourselves? Is it laziness or pure apathy? Fortunately for this store, the misspelled word only produced a non-sensical phrase and not something so awful as to haunt them for ad campaigns to come. When you write something to put out to the public, it pays to proofread it again, even after the spell-checker assures you that there is nothing wrong. The time you spend there may save time and embarrassment later after the whole world has seen the error.


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A Simple Love

One of the things my mother shared with us kids was a love of jigsaw puzzles. I can remember almost always having a puzzle-in-progress in our house when I was growing up and it’s something I would still do today if I didn’t live on a yacht where surface space was at such a premium. Maybe someday when the restoration work is over, when this place isn’t a constant construction zone, maybe then, I’ll figure out a way to have a puzzle table. For now, I have found the most wonderful Web site, Jigzone, where I may work jigsaw puzzles online. Not only do they have an awesome selection of stock puzzles but you may load your own photos as well. The fun doesn’t stop there either, Jigzone offers 35 different “cuts” for varying puzzle challenges. This is great fun. Be warned though, it is addicting!

Follow the link here to solve a pretty country scene – with a boat in it, of course!
Boat by Garden Jigsaw Puzzle