I am writing on a local train from New Brunswick, New Jersey headed for Newark where I can take a light-rail subway and a bus to get home. I am using an Internet appliance. Uh, it is likely that this post will be remarkably brief. I hate typing with my thumbs, but I have already missed my deadline and, as I always say “The rules are your friends and anyone who offends your friends should be beaten senseless.”

I have been on the road with my freelance writing business for the past three days and, to be honest, I am getting a little too long in the tooth for this lifestyle. I qualify as a senior and get a good price on train tickets, but this running around the state makes me tired and I occasionally have one of those moments where I run into someone who says “Hello, Marc”, but I cannot recognize them. My strategy is to return their greeting warmly and hope that they will give me a hint of who the hell they are. Read the rest of this entry »

I know I am a day early on my deadline, but the baby boomers I work for are driving me nuts. I have been a journalist, off and on, for quite a while. The technology I use has changed a lot, but the basics haven’t. I have my telephone set up so that I can record phone interviews as MP3′s and my gear bag has a whole range of digital recording devices. I can even do video interviews on the web, but the process is still basically the same. You have to do research, you have to do good interviews that produce good quotes, you  have to check the facts. It does take less driving around, but producing an article on the web still takes the same fundamental approach. It is not just about good writing and fancy gadgets. Read the rest of this entry »