Today is Australia Day, a national holiday in Australia filled with celebrations. This is the Australian equivalent of the American July 4th holiday and commemorates the founding of the first white settlement in Australia in 1788. Formal ceremonies are held around the country, including citizenship ceremonies, flag raising and presentation of community awards. Fireworks displays abound, and more than a few barbeques are stoked - something I dream about on days like today where the snow falls constantly...
[technically speaking Australia Day was celebrated yesterday since they're in a different timezone, but it's still the 26th here!]

Over the weekend we bought a nice background scene for the aquarium, along with a Lionhead goldfish we've named 'Squirt' - he's the same species and colour as our surviving goldfish (Midas), only 1/3rd her size. I'll pre-empt any smart aleck remarks by saying that the name 'Mini-Midas' was considered and discarded ;)

Also over the weekend, Carrie's mum sent us a package with a letter she received from the American Writers & Artists Institute (AWAI), among other things. This letter was promoting a copywriting course put together by the AWAI with the help of some big names in the copywriting business. She thought this may have been of interest to me, and she was right :) After spending many hours looking into the legitimacy of this organization and course, I decided to sign up!

Copywriters are those people who write ads, or marketing 'copy', for business in order to sell products. Their goal is to craft sales pitches that'll bring in business and convince consumers of the merits of their products. Since the IT job market is still abysmal, I thought I might as well investigate other career options and this course sounded like something I'd like to pursue.

The copywriting course (focusing mainly on freelance copywriting) is in 13 sections, each mailed out every 3 weeks. There are various writing exercises and study assignments accompanying the material, and once completed these can be sent back to the AWAI for critique and assessment. The price seemed reasonable and comes with a 30 day money-back guarantee. I've read that the course comes highly recommended by many in the copywriting business and many students go on to have successful careers in copywriting. I should receive the materials in another couple of weeks, so I'll soon find out if it lives up to expectations :)

What I'm Reading:
Galaxy Magazine : The Dark and the Light Years, by David L. Rosheim
Talebones, Issue# 27 (Winter 2003)