Tuesday 12/22

Tuesday 12/22

Big fast-moving front should be here by this afternoon, bringing us rain, wind, maybe snow, and much colder temps (highs in the low 40s, below freezing at night). Front itself will be gone by Thurs, leaving behind cold.

Am sneaking up the idea of a "career" change. Have discovered the American Society of Indexers, which has a course and a certificate for those wishing to be indexers. Not cheap (about $500). However, this is something I can do on the computer anywhere anytime and doesn't depend on my physical state, so it's really something I can do for the rest of my life. Of course, the society doesn't find jobs for you, but it does have a "classified" section on the website and it does put you in touch with other indexers. Networking ta da.

One of the RVW women solos does this and kindly gave me the link to the ASI. I think I'll bombard her with questions. A computer program (such as Word) can be set up to index a mss. by choosing all nouns, but that's really not good enough to be a real index -- that takes a human. I think as an ex-typesetter/proofreader/editor and an ex-bookseller, I have the proper qualifications. Other things mentioned as traits of good indexers are crossword puzzles, reading mysteries, and cataloging/categorizing one's possessions. Guess which of these I have. Yep, got 'em all. I mean, I set up spreadsheets for fun.

I have discovered, though, that it's the setting up and testing that I like. I'm not too fond of the ongoing maintenance process -- that's just data entry. So indexing would be perfect -- studying the material, creating the concept, testing, refining, etc. And then you're done with it and go on to the next challenge. Perfect.