Disclosure: This post is brought to you by Full Moon Bar-B-Que, but all opinions are my own.
Happy Labor Day Lady Bloggers, Boss Ladies, and Writeous Babes!
My Labor Day will live up to its name as I will be hard at work all day. I have blog posts to write, emails to answer, and events to plan. And, of course, I’ll be preparing for the launch of my new e-course Lady Blogger to Boss Lady. Can you believe enrollment opens THIS SATURDAY?!
Just because I’m working all day today doesn’t mean you should, too. My days of calling myself Javacia “No Days Off” Bowser are long gone. Even a girl boss needs to take a break. The only reason I’m spending my holiday working is because I didn’t do any work AT ALL this weekend.
In fact, I spent most of Saturday watching college football. ROLL TIDE!
Just as runners training for a marathon (or football players prepping for a big game) need to take rest days, so do women chasing their dreams.
I know that when you’re doing what you love it can sometimes actually be tough to take a break. A labor of love doesn’t feel like work. But a break is important nonetheless.
I used to have an all-work, no-play attitude. Then I hit the wall. I broke down. I got burned out and discouraged and wanted to quit EVERYTHING. Even my health was affected. It was not pretty and a lot of crying was involved.
After that I committed to taking off one day every week and that has made all the difference. I think you’ll find it actually makes you better at what you do. Writers and artists call these breaks a creative pause because as you’re resting you’re actually allowing your creativity to flow more freely. So when you get back to work your ideas will be bigger and better.
I don’t always keep my promise to myself to take a day off and when I don’t I certainly notice a difference — the tears and self-doubt quickly come back.
Even today I took a break from my to-do list to grab lunch at Full Moon Bar-B-Que with the hubster because no holiday is complete without barbecue.
This fall I will most likely spend my days off watching football…and eating barbecue. If that sounds like a good idea to you, too, be sure to check out Full Moon’s tailgate menus specially designed for Alabama and Auburn fans.
Follow Full Moon Bar-B-Que on Instagram @fullmoonbbq!
How did you spend your Labor Day? What do you do on your days off?
I’m pretty sure my husband thinks I’m crazy. He thinks I’m doing way too much!
The past month has been filled with trying times for our family for a myriad of reasons. To say I’ve been stressed would be quite the understatement. So it would make sense for me to take it easy in September.
But that’s not how I roll.
In the interest of self-care, I will be getting a massage in September, but I’m also hosting not one, not two, but THREE See Jane Write events! (Maybe I am crazy!)
On September 12 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., at the Homewood Public Library, I’ll be hosting another Lady Blogger to Boss Lady master classon how to turn your blog into a business. This event will also be the kick-off for the launch of my Lady Blogger to Boss Lady e-course. This event is free, but registration is required. RSVP here.
On September 24 from 7 – 9 p.m. at the Wine Loft See Jane Write will throw its first Scandal watch party! And this will be a Scandal watch party unlike any other!
Of course, there will be networking but also I’ll be giving a10-minute master class appropriately titled “How to Be the Olivia Pope of Blogging.”
At 8 p.m. we’ll watch the season premiere of ABC’s Scandal while enjoying red wine drink specials from Wine Loft and delicious popcorn by Naughty But Nice, A Kettle Corn Co.
This is a free event, but space is limited. RSVP here via Facebook.
And on September 29 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at DISCO we will host a memoir writing seminar with Amy Bickers, author of The Geography of You and Me: A Memoir.
Bickers will share the story of how she completed her memoir in spite of obstacles and objections and how she funded the publication of her book through Kickstarter.
If you’ve been thinking of writing a memoir but you’re not sure where to start, you don’t want to miss this event. If fear is holding you back from completing or publishing your memoir, Bickers will give you the courage you need to move forward. And if you need tips on how to run a successful Kickstarter campaign, Bickers will tell you how she raised more than $13,000 to fund the publication of her book. Learn more about Bickers and order tickets to this workshop here.
In addition to all these events, I’ll also be hosting weekly #SeeJaneScope workshops on Periscope. Tuesday at 7 p.m. I’ll do a special broadcast to help you set your blogging, business, and writing goals for September.
Also, please join me at the next Women Business Leaders meeting, 6 to 8 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 3 at the Homewood Public Library. I’ll be speaking on finding freedom through faith and feminism.
What are you doing to make next month a September to Remember?
The other day I came across the high school yearbook from my senior year. My senior quote was this: “If you always do what you’ve always done, then you’ll always get what you’ve always got.”
This quote has been attributed to nearly a half dozen people, but regardless of who said it first, it’s great advice. Teenage Javacia knew it was great advice and, fortunately, grown-up Javacia knows that, too.
And so I’m always eager to try new things and eager to encourage others to try new things as well. If you’re a writer or blogger, here are five things you should try next month:
As a writer and blogger I live my life surrounded by story. Not only do I read and write stories, but I enjoy watching them on screen, too. I love movies! If you’re a film lover too and based in the Birmingham area, then you’re probably quite excited about the 17th Annual Sidewalk Film Festival, taking place this weekend, Aug. 28-30.
There are so many films showing this weekend that there’s chance you feel overwhelmed by all the festival has to offer.
Fortunately, one of my colleagues at the Alabama School of Fine Arts is also on the Sidewalk Film Festival staff and when I asked him to put together a list of must-see movies he was happy to help.
Corey Craft has written about film since 2009, for five years as the primary film writer for The Tuscaloosa News and now exclusively for the upstart arts and entertainment website artsBHAM.com. He also teaches a history of film class at ASFA and has a degree in telecommunications and film with an emphasis in critical studies from the University of Alabama.
Here are five selections that Corey thinks you’ll enjoy at the 17th annual Sidewalk Film Festival and what he had to say about each film:
“Welcome to Leith”
Not only one of my favorite films in the Sidewalk lineup, this documentary is one of my favorite films of 2015 so far — but don’t think that means it’s easy to watch. “Welcome to Leith” charts the invasion of a small North Dakota town by white supremacists, seeking to buy up as much land as possible and transform the sleepy little burg into a haven for the politically like-minded. Tensions rise between the few residents of Leith and their new neighbors, all shot in a you-are-there style by its brave filmmakers. This is an important, terrifying movie that reinforces, particularly after a year that has seen plenty of racially-motivated violence, that America’s past legacy of hate is still very, very present.
Screening at 3:10 p.m. at Red Mountain Theatre Company and 9:45 p.m. at the Birmingham Museum of Art on Saturday, Aug. 29.
“Queen of Earth”
A terrific psychological thriller with overtones of dark comedy, “Queen of Earth” features two outstanding lead performances in its ice-cold story about two codependent friends struggling as one of them teeters toward complete mental collapse. This is maybe the best performance its star, Elisabeth Moss of TV’s “Mad Men,” has given in a film to date, and her co-lead, Katherine Waterston, more than realizes the promise she showed as a drugged-out femme fatale in last year’s “Inherent Vice.” This isn’t going to be to everyone’s tastes — it’s mean, if not outright misanthropic — but it creates an astounding tension that’ll hold you in its grip from start to finish.
Screening at 7:10 p.m. at the ASFA Black Box Theatre on Sunday, Aug. 30.
“Do I Sound Gay?”
After a breakup, filmmaker David Thorpe sets out on an unusual odyssey to discover the origins of the stereotypical gay male voice in this funny, fascinating documentary. Dissatisfied with his own voice, Thorpe interviews prominent gay writers and performers — including Dan Savage, George Takei and David Sedaris — and a number of speech therapists and pathologists to examine the societal forces that have led to one certain sound being thought of as traditionally gay. “Do I Sound Gay?” is insightful and amusing, a film sure to be of interest to anyone interested in contemporary cultural studies.
Screening at 2:15 p.m. at the Carver Theatre on Saturday, Aug. 29.
Saturday Sidewalk Shorts
I worked this year for Sidewalk as the short films co-programmer, so I would say that if you attend any of our short films blocks, you’re in for a treat. But I’ll highlight the Saturday Sidewalk Shorts block as being representative of the variety of excellent films we have throughout the weekend. This has a really satisfying mixture of films that will appeal to all tastes: you’ll see “Enfilade,” a visually stunning science fiction short from Australia; the dark comedy “Contact,” about an optometrist seeking revenge on an old rival; the action romantic comedy “Hotwire,” in which a man flips between fantasy and reality on the eve of losing the love of his life; and “One Night in Aberdeen,” a sweet comedy-drama about two lonely souls meeting in the bar of a Super 8 on August 8, 2008.
Screening at 10:30 a.m. at the ASFA Black Box Theatre on Saturday, Aug. 29.
“Raiders! The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made”
This year’s opening night film is one of the biggest crowdpleasers Sidewalk has ever brought and a true testament to the power of cinema. It’s a documentary about a group of Mississippi teenagers who, having their minds blown by Steven Spielberg’s “Raiders of the Lost Ark” in the early 1980s, set out to make their own version of the first Indiana Jones adventure — shot for shot. The film’s only half the fun on opening night; Sidewalk is hosting an Indiana Jones costume contest, and after the film moviegoers can walk right outside the Alabama Theatre to a massive opening night block party on Third Avenue North with free food, drinks, music and more Indiana Jones-themed surprises. You won’t want to miss it.
Screening at 8 p.m. at the Alabama Theatre on Friday, Aug. 28.
Check out the rest of the schedule and purchase tickets and passes to the films, parties, panels and other events at http://www.sidewalkfest.com.
Corey Craft has written about film since 2009, for five years as the primary film writer for The Tuscaloosa News and now exclusively for the upstart arts and entertainment website artsBHAM.com. He and the Tuscaloosa News staff won the Pulitzer Prize for breaking news journalism in 2012 for their coverage of the April 27, 2011, tornado outbreak. He has a degree in telecommunications and film with an emphasis in critical studies from the University of Alabama and now teaches world literature and the history of film at the Alabama School of Fine Arts.
