It's gotta be a decision. It has to.

Fourth CCP skills attempt down... and I mean DOWN. Fallen like a diaper full to its 15- pound capacity.

Granted, I've had some lousiness lately--my steno writer went on the fritz, so I had to send it away for repair--it came back quickly, but in the meantime I had to get readjusted to writing on a Stentura, and then re-readjust to writing on a LightSpeed again.

And a couple of tornado warnings.

Not to mention the dent I put in a nun's car door a couple weeks ago. But anyway.

I did all the right things. I practiced high-speed material EVERY DAY. I've been CARTing nearly every day the past month. I did my best to entertain only POSITIVE thoughts and avoid negativity. My CART output gets better and better.

So it's test day, and I practiced some high-speed material beforehand. I printed out an encouraging e-mail from a friend. I played positive, upbeat music in the car on the drive over. I wore my Test Shirt. I set up my laptop just like I'm CARTing, any other day, no biggie, no problem. I wrote my affirmations on a piece of paper to put where I could see it during the test.

One of my affirmations is "I am the best in the world at what I do." I ripped off borrowed that phrase from wrestler Chris Jericho (he says this catchphrase a lot), and wrote that phrase by his picture, which I put on the table as well.



You know, for inspiration.*

And the test began, and I made errors, but soon I hit a stride. I did have stretches where I nailed that thang! Problem is though, the stretches weren't five minutes long. I did my best to LET IT GO. If I made an error, fine; move on. Relax. RELAAAAAX!!!!!

It's hard to stay positive. But I've got to DECIDE to stay positive. I've got to. That's the only way I'll ever kill this thing and move on.

I come home and find this article from Cracked Magazine. (Mind you, this humor site in general isn't for young kiddos or people who are allergic to cuss words. But this is a good article.) Getting a BIG SKILL will take BIG EFFORT. I'm NOT one hundred percent engaged in practice. I'd say I was about 80 percent engaged.

So I'm going to work hard and practice hard. And I'll take it again. And again. As many times as I need to.

That's my decision.


*Don't be nailing me for reposting the pic, Men's Fitness. It's free publicity, and you know it.

Answer the Door When Opportunity Knocks.

At the very end of the movie Dumb & Dumber (SPOILER ALERT), the two protagonists are hitchhiking home after a good movie's adventure and musing over the fact that they never catch a break and some people have all the luck.

Soon Hawaiian Tropic's tour bus full of international bikini models pulls up alongside them, and several shapely young ladies mention that they're in need of two guys to be their oil boys for the tour.

Our heros helpfully point their way to a nearby town. They keep walking and musing over the fact that they never catch a break and some people have all the luck, While we, the viewers, are *facepalm*ing or *headdesk*ing at their blindness to opportunity.

If you're reading this and you're a court reporter, do you think you'll move into providing CART or captioning "someday"? Will you provide realtime "eventually"? Are you going to compete in state or national speed contests "when I'm fast enough"?

Opportunity doesn't give a rat's nest about "someday." Opportunity will knock when opportunity decides to knock. It's up to you to be ready and have your luggage waiting by the door.

Here's how I got started in CART: I answered the door. Last year one of my clients, a deposition reporting firm, received a last-minute inquiry about CART services for a three-day class. They received the call on Friday. The class started Monday. My client called me because she knew I was interested in CART, and I took a deep breath and said YES.

(Obligatory Doctor Who reference: It was a "Turn Left" sort of moment.)

Why could I say YES rather than "No, I'm not ready for that," or "No, my dictionary is full of too many conflicts," or "RUN AWAY!! RUN AWAY!!"?

Because I've been packing. Ever since I'd heard about the concept of realtime translation in steno school, I've been wanting to write realtime. (I'm including CART & captioning when I say "realtime.") I even bought the Stentura 500--yes, 500. Remember that? The first realtime-capable student machine?

In the eleven-and-a-half years since school I've been building my dictionary bit by bit, adding words that don't normally come up in depositions. (In that first CART job the teacher said the word "albatross," and by golly it translated correctly. I did not have to fingerspell it.)

I "packed" my dictionary a little every day, and I still do so to this day. Today someone mentioned "vichyssoise" in their Facebook status update, and I put it in my "Words To Add To My Dictionary" notebook.

It's not just dictionary building either; I've had my eyes on speed contests since I heard about them, so I've been doing my best to practice, at least a little, every day as well. It's not burdensome or a chore. If you do a little every day, all you have to do is a little every day, whether dictionary building or practicing or laundry.

But that one job, that one time saying "yes," opened up the CART work for me. One year later, I'm providing CART regularly. I LOVE IT, I love helping someone participate, I love seeing the words translate correctly, and I love getting better every day.

I'm so glad I answered the door.

Most of the time when I blog . . .

Most of the time when I blog, I like to sit down beforehand and think a little bit about my topic and what I want to say about it.

With this entry, however, I will be employing an oft-used technique known as "pulling it out of my butt."

It occurs to me that the better I get, the better I have to get.

When I was satisfied with my career of plain vanilla deps, I could go a week without touching my machine (when business was slow) and come right back without any appreciable drop in skill.

When I became a freelance freelancer and an RMR, I noticed that during slow weeks, I really ought to get in at least a couple of days' practice here & there, or my speed will suffer a bit.

When I began doing CART work, if I missed one weekday of writing or practice, my speed dropped. But I could still rest on Sundays.

Now I'm doing speed contests and CART, and if I miss ONE SINGLE DAY of at LEAST a few minutes' practice, my fingers all turn into thumbs the next day.

I didn't set out to turn this into a Magnum Steno promo, but I'm the type that if I don't have a gym membership, I won't work out. I have unused weights in my house, and I have the physical stamina of a bag of wet laundry. When my husband and I belonged to the health club, we'd weight train three to four days a week. I had no joint pain, and I entered a powerlifting competition (and won a couple of trophies). When my band did traveling gigs, I could easily lift the big ol' bass amp that would have usually been moved by a man. But once we had to cancel the membership, pfffffft.

So I have my membership in this steno health club, and I like to log on to see what the trainer has to say. And I get faster and better.

But if I skip one day--ONE DAY--my writing goes to poopy. This is my experience.

So I go to the club and work out.

And maybe someday I'll get a trophy.

And I can write it when attorneys talk really fast.

Good day.

Two Weeks to the Speed Contest!

In two weeks I shall make my premiere at the National Speed Contest. While I did compete in last year's state speed contest, I've not ... done .... the ......

*looks at calendar*

Two weeks to contest.

TWO WEEKS TO CONTEST???!?????

GAAAAAAAH!!! TWO WEEKS TO CONTEST!!!!!111

*flailing*

*panicking*

*hand-flapping*

Waiwaiwaiwaiwait. Calm down. Breathe in; breathe out. As Mark K says in the Magnum Steno videos, "You are a Super Reporter." Because I've been practicing, have been since the beginning of this year, and practicing high-speed material at that. Speed Contests have only been my goal ever since I HEARD about them.

I AM prepared. I'm NOT a Yorkie at a police dog competition. I AM ready to run with the big dogs. It will be good.

It will be good.

*pause*





GAAAAAAAH!!! TWO WEEKS TO CONTEST!!!!!111

*flailing*

*panicking*

*hand-flapping*

Chuck Norris

Chuck Norris CAN write two people talking at the same time.

Chuck Norris doesn't add "So help you God" at the end of the oath. Chuck Norris doesn't even give the oath. You do not lie before Chuck Norris.

AudioSync uses Chuck Norris for backup.

The judge rises when Chuck Norris enters the room.

The LightSpeed wishes it were as fast as Chuck Norris.

Because Chuck Norris writes so fast, he turns in the transcript before testimony begins.

LiveNote pays Chuck Norris for a token when he realtimes.

Chuck Norris doesn't have to scope his rough drafts. He stares them down until they correct themselves.

Chuck Norris passed the CRR with a manual writer.

His tripod is comprised of nunchucks, which he uses to beat down attorneys that talked too fast...even though he can write 1,000 words a minute.

Due to the California budget crisis, Chuck Norris discontinued the office of the Governor.

NCRA actually stands for Norris, Chuck, Reporters Association.

My Goals, or My Court Reporting Bucket List

I do a lot of thinking and reading, 'cause that's just the person I am.

In my thinking and reading, two ideas keep surfacing: (a) You must have goals in life, and (b) You must WRITE THESE GOALS DOWN.

Zig Ziglar: "If you aim at nothing, you'll hit it every time."

So I put virtual pen to virtual paper and present my personal Court Reporting Goal/Bucket List. It'll differ from yours, but that's okay. Some items I can get taken care of; some items will take a while to achieve. Well, doggone it, that's the way it goes. One step at a time. Before Frodo dumps the ring in Mt. Doom, he's gotta first turn left.

1.) Publish at least one article in the JCR. (Originally I also had "publish an article in the ILCRA newsletter" but got that done.)

2.) Place in the National Speed Contest. (My actual goal is to WIN the speed contest, but for the Bucket List, it's just to place.)

3.) Place in the National Realtime Contest.

4.) Be PERSONALLY requested by attorneys/clients for at least one realtime or CART job per week. (because I don't have or seek my own clients--they must ask one of the firms I'm affiliated with)

5.) Earn enough income to (a) support my husband and me financially and (b) cashflow attending State and Nat'l conventions each year.

6.) Get the CRR, CBC, CCP, and RDR certifications.

7.) Earn the Distinguished Service Award for both ILCRA and NCRA. (For doing precisely WHAT? I have no clue. We'll find out.)

Lofty? Sure. I'm not putting this out there to brag. (Ferkryinoutloud, I haven't DONE any of these yet.) I want to get the ball rolling, if you will, for each of us as individuals to think about our own goals and dreams and aspirations, and then to WRITE THEM DOWN, and then to say them OUT LOUD (even if it's "virtually" out loud, like this) so we can encourage one another to reach for them.

So click on your blog and blog about YOUR goals! And then update that blog as steps are taken towards that goal. The KRORPG community at large is so encouraging to students; let's bring that encouragement to our fellow reporters/CARTers/captioners/etc. as we strive to improve our craft and advance our careers.

Here's a stip and a challenge: If you comment on THIS blog, you MUST post your own goals on your own blog.

Go!

Speed Contest Dream

On October 3, 2008, I entered my first ever speed contest.

Being one of the fastest court reporters (if not THE fastest court reporter) has been my goal ever since Theory Class back in the fall of 1993. I got my RMR this May, so the next step was to enter Illinois' Gary L. Sonntag Memorial Speed Contest. And by golly, I qualified on the literary portion, so I'm well on my way!

But the night before, I dreamt...

Back in Anaheim, Melanie and Mark hosted the Speed Contest. (Do I really have to explain who Melanie and Mark are?) Since the weather was beautiful, they held the contest outside in the hotel's courtyard. Mark greeted me with a solemn, Eeyore-ish, "Bueller? Bueller?"-like statement: "I neeeeed to inspect your macheeeeeeene pleeeease." I explained that I was writing on a LightSpeed (which I was going to do in real life), and he brightened up and waved me through.

I took my seat in the left front row of about three tiered rows of seats. No one brought any practice material, so someone found a 12-year-old skateboarder punk. He was given dictation material and instructed to read clearly and loudly.

Zero for two. "Wouldyewplzstatyrnmfrtr..." he said at speeds that would make Mark cry.

Ten seconds of this, and I stood up and announced, "What the HELL is he SAYING?"

They got rid of the kid, more material was found, and warmup began in earnest. I hoped I was taking it down well, especially since my laptop was connected to the overhead projector. "Melanie" wasn't tranning correctly. I was horrified. Even more so when the keys started falling off my writer.

The LightSpeed had completed its metamorphosis into the wooden puzzle you find at Cracker Barrel, the one with the golf tees. They started falling out and scattering none too silently.

I finally thought HECK with it, yanked the remaining keys off the machine, and switched seats. I figured the sensors underneath the discarded keys would still work, so I moved to the tier just below Mark. Maybe some speed and talent will flow downhill to me. Maybe. The Band-Aids covering every one of my fingertips impeded this, so I ripped THOSE off.

But now my denuded machine and fingers were all sticky, so I moved back to my original seat, hoping to salvage SOME of this experience.

At least we had a great view of the wrestling ring. The Rock came out and walked RIGHT BY ME! OMG!

And then I woke up.

And the speed contest went off without a hitch.

You know, we've all had the standard court reporting dreams of machine malfunctions, indiscernible speakers, et cetera, but this is the first time I've had them all in one package.

But I don't know why The Rock made an appearance, when my favorite pro wrestler right now is Shawn Michaels. I'll have to think about that.