Leslie Lang | Talk Story Press

I could read about writing, sometimes instead of sitting down and actually writing, until the cows come home. (“What cows?” asked my then-four-year-old with a puzzled look, once, when I used that expression.)

Wow, this article, which my Twitter friend Pierre Omidyar posted about today,* really resonated with me.
It’s called:
 
and it’s by Paul Graham, and it starts like this:
One reason programmers dislike meetings so much is that they’re on a different type of schedule from other people. Meetings cost them more.

There are two types of schedule, which I’ll call the manager’s schedule and the maker’s schedule. The manager’s schedule is for bosses. It’s embodied in the traditional appointment book, with each day cut into one hour intervals. You can block off several …

Today is Day 2 of working outside of my home. I got a lot done yesterday, and am working on doing the same today.
I hope that in my last post I didn’t give the impression I have just been waiting for my daughter’s first five years to fly by so she’d be in kindergarten. They have been the best five years of my life, and I have so enjoyed being with her, watching her learn, playing with her.
In fact, I am a little bit mourning the loss of our …

My daughter went to her first-ever day of kindergarten today. It’s actually a sort of kindergarten orientation — two weeks of mandatory summer attendance where the kids get accustomed to their teachers, their classrooms and the routine, before jumping into school when it starts in August.
But it sure felt like real kindergarten this morning, as I walked her into that bright, cheery and busy classroom, and we put her change of clothes and sleeping blanket in her cubby, and learned where her box was for messages from the school. 
“Hi!” said …

Have you looked at my category at the top of this site? You know, where it says Copywriter?
I’m  never quite sure what’s best to call myself. Elsewhere, I have “writer and editorial consultant.” Which is clearer?
What I do is write for businesses.  

Here’s what you’d find if you read my Copywriting page:
These days it’s especially important that your business stands out. That it gets noticed. How do you make that happen?
We work together and make sure your potential clients know your story.
When there are two comparable brands of the same …

We are about to announce the winners at our On The Cheap websites. We had several contests — 14 in all — to celebrate our big launch. Did you enter?
Andy Bumatai is choosing names out of a hat for the Honolulu On The Cheap contests, and he’s doing it live and on the air today. Watch it at 1 p.m. HST; it will also be posted on The Andy Bumatai Show’s website after it airs.
Tomorrow our good friends at Hilo’s ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center are going to pick winners for our Big …

Leslie: “Oh, nothing much; what’s new with you?”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACTS:
Leslie Lang
hawaiionthecheap@gmail.com
808 964-1494
Twitter: @LeslieLang  
Kris Bordessa
hawaiionthecheap@gmail.com
530 295-0887
Twitter: @KBordessa
“On The Cheap” Websites Highlight Best Bargains on the Big Island and in Honolulu
Hilo, HI – March 6, 2009 – Tuesday, March 10th is the official launch of two new online sites – Big Island On The Cheap and Honolulu On The Cheap – which are dedicated to bringing Big Island and O‘ahu residents and visitors up-to-the-minute information on free, discount and cheap things to do and other local deals.
Motivated by the current coupon-clipping climate, Big Island …

Here goes: A “soft launch” of my new project!
I’ll bring out the balloons and party streamers later soon, but for now, I’ll just tell you: 
I’ve launched a new website. It’s called Honolulu On The Cheap, and it’s all about cheap, discounted and free things to do in Honolulu and on O‘ahu in general. It will be useful, I think, to both visitors and residents; I keep both groups in mind as I select what to post about.
I’ve just started putting up copy there, and here’s a sampling of what I’ve got …

One of my favorite jobs is managing the blog Ha Ha Ha! over at Hamakua Springs Country Farms, and this week I got to write a couple posts that I especially enjoying delving into.
The first was about Brudda Skibs, who recently participated in a sustainability festival Hamakua Springs owner Richard Ha helped coordinate. What an incredible person. Skibs and the crew he’s attracted over the years volunteer their time and labor to clean up Big Island lands near the ocean and turn them into beautiful parks. There is so much more to …

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this article Diary of a Self-Help Dropout: Flirting With the 4-Hour Workweek by Chris Hardwick, which is posted at wired.com. 
It’s about a busy freelancer who checks out three popular time-management systems and tries to apply them to his life. It’s a well-written and fun read, especially if you’re a busy freelancer yourself.
He writes:
…My days are like eBay shipments: a few tangible things and a whole lot of packing peanuts. I obviously need help being the boss of me. So I decided to try an experiment: I’d spend two weeks …