It time for the T&T report. This month has been better than the last but I saw areas where I need to work more.

Triumphs:

Landed my second gig: This ones  a lot better paying! But the work coming isn’t as much as I’d like. Upon inquiry, its not because of the quality of my work (thank God!). I’ll just have to be patient.

Increase in inquiries through my ‘Contact Me’ page. Not necessarily about work. But definitely related to freelancing, blogging, and much to my delight, reading!

Due another pay day! Woohoo! This is my favourite part of the end of the month.

Made my first ever online purchase from my own hard earned money! Yes, incidentally, it was also my first online purchase ever. But I was so excited! What did I buy? I got myself the SEO Ninja book by IttyBiz.

Twitter: I finally got the hang of it!

Trials:

Revenue Sharing Sites: This one is going to turn into my pet peeve. People I know from back home are referring me to people who’re running revenue sharing sites. Its very difficult to explain why I won’t even come near a revenue sharing freelance writing website. They need to realize that there are better opportunities out there and that if they’re writing for revenue sharing sites then they’re selling themselves short!

Adsense: This is related to my blog. I’ve been trying to figure out how or why my Google Adsense ads have disappeared. See that empty square on the right hand? Yeah, that one. I’ve made new ads and put in the codes etc, but still nothing.

Lack of Comments: I’m obviously doing something very wrong to not be able to spark a conversation. I need help in figuring out what it is. Is my writing sub standard? Or is it the fact that its just not interesting? I’m asking because I want to improve.

So there you have it. Another month gone by. It’s been rewarding in some ways and a little frustrating in others. How’s your month been?

With my deadlines met, and no immediate work due, I am free to laze around and work on a few personal projects (aren’t they the best kind?). In between enjoying the great weather that comes before the winter in UAE, pursuing my own projects and lots of parties and picnics, I’ve found enough time to spend time browsing randomly.

From all the end-of-the-year roundups happening across the web, Boston.com’s The Big Picture was the best of my finds. They did a three part series which features 120 pictures in all, of the news throughout the year.

The pictures are breathtaking, awe inspiring and some were even horrifying. There are some that had a warning on them. I only clicked on one, and couldn’t bring myself to click on the others because I didn’t think I could stomach the horrific images the warning was about.

If you barely followed any new during this year, it will tell you some of what you missed.

Check out part one, two and three.

Found any yearly roundups worth sharing?

Today was a good day. In fact, an excellent day. It rained all night which, in my desert land is almost a once a year occurrence. The chill in the air and gentle warmth in the sun had me dragging my desk in front of the window to enjoy the day while I worked on the new template.

Remember I offered 5 hours for Thanksgiving? Well there were no takers and so I was thrilled to give those hours to myself. The result of 3 of those you can see. I have to say I’m mighty proud. Even if all I did was follow instructions! I forgot to screen capture an image of my old blog template so new readers won’t have anything to compare

There’s still quite a lot to be done. The banner at the top is not mine. It came with the template, which came for free. However it’s very cool as the ads keep on changing with every page which is why I haven’t removed it completely. I need a little help with figuring out how to place ads or if affiliates would be better. But since I barely get enough traffic signing up for affiliates might be too early.

I couldn’t wait to update my weblog style in Windows Live Writer. The blue and grey looks great! All right, I’ll stop gushing about the new template. I need you guys to tell me how it looks, what I can do to make it better and/or if something is not working like it’s supposed to. The help would be much appreciated!

Small changes and tweaks will keep on happening so if you happen to come by and find something horribly out of place, please don’t think its bad designing. It would just be my rusty html skills!

Tony tagged me with a meme. And since he very sweetly said that he was tagging me because he wanted to learn more about me, I’m obliging. According to the meme, I get to list seven random or weird things about myself. This one came to me (in the form of 5 weird things) a few years ago when I had braces and was in college – I’m now married and have perfect teeth. How time changes! The following list is in no particular order.

• Till I was five, I couldn’t string two sentences of English together. All of that changed in a matter of weeks once I joined grade school. After that, as is quite obvious, there was no stopping me.

• I don’t like chocolates, dislike chocolate ice-cream and absolutely hate chocolate chip ice-cream. But, I love chocolate chip cookies and I’ll fight you over a brownie.

• After spending years trying to gain weight, I finally gained enough to need to lose a few pounds.

• I’m forgetful. But if I scribble something down in my own hand, I’ll remember it. Which, by the way, is a good thing because I’ve been known to lose my notes.

• I love mornings yet my best work is produced at night. It’s been a love hate relationship so far.

• You’ll never find me without my cell phone. It’s my address book, alarm clock, browser, planner, calendar, camera, recorder and anything else I can use it for. But I’ve never played games on my phone.

• I plan on learning Arabic.

The last part of the meme was to tag seven people. I’m tagging everyone who wants to do it. Just leave a link back so I can read yours.

The triumphs and trials report will be published at the end of every month to record my (you guessed it!) triumphs and trials as a freelancer. Did I land a gig? Missed a deadline? Impressed an editor? Had a difficult client? etc. So without further ado, I present to you my report for November.

Triumphs:

• Landed my first gig. Pay is less, but it comes with editors and online help. Perfect for a new fish in the pond.
• Got my first freelance work enquiry through my blog. I polished my blog to some semblance of respectability and within a few days of publishing it, I had someone email me making inquiries about my rates.
• Will get my first pay! I’ll update this point once the pay is in my account. But I’m due a payday!

Trials:

• Clients who hire you, ask you to sign up someplace and then disappear. This seems to have happened to me for the 10th time! I keep wondering if I’m doing anything wrong.
• Gigs that only offer revenue share as compensation. This was a lesson only time and experience could have taught. Or a mentor, but since I don’t have one, I figured it out only after I’d accepted the work.
• Spam Filters. As heaven sent as they are, every now and then they become responsible for major goof ups. I’d been waiting for an assignment for four days and Had decided to mail my contact on Monday. By chance, I decided to check my spam on Sunday, and there it was! It had been in my spam filter for four days and it turned out that the deadline was for Monday! Phew. Close save!