Prissy Little Chloe

15 years at the Mic I've been so busy these past few days narrating the two audiobooks of my book series "Prissy Little Chloe". I've loved recording into a mic since I was really little -- except today I'm going to show you the prope r way to self-record any vocals, podcasts or audiobooks. Equipment    For starters, I recommend a USB mic, no more than $100. The best type is a cardiod (heart-shaped input) condenser mic. These are much more sensitive than diaphragm (stage) mics, perfect for home recording -- in a quiet place! That's why treating the room with acoustic foam works great; but a quick and easy DIY hack is to use a blanket over your setup or record in a closet. If you can, record in a room with carpet. A great entry-level mic I highly recommend is the Samson Meteor, which retails for $80. It's a USB mic that's extremely portable, as it has it's own fold-able mic stand and sounds professional. Setup Put your mic up in th

  A tireless tip, for endless ideas anywhere! Yesterday I was at a Christmas party. While most adults were socializing, I had to get my books ready for their Amazon release. Last step -- my cartoon illustrations. I had everything I needed. My portable Mac Air, my Wacom tablet and dedication! Too bad I left my stylus in my other bag I was thinking of to bringing with me. See, never second-guess yourself. That left me in a rut. But what did I do - something else creative, that would make give my childlike drawings a steadier hand. Okay, that's probably a little dramatic, all I'm saying is that I wrote another book. Mind you "Prissy Little Chloe" is mostly a cartoon per-paragraph, while the other is full a cartoon novel. So I'm really only halfway done. But I wrote it! (I started it in February, so I really only wrote maybe ten pages.) But it's done! Lesson here, when you get frustrated enough you'll find something else to do. No, that

Voice accounts for 38% of how you're perceived    You could say "I don't care what people think about me", which you shouldn't. But thinking and perceiving are different altogether. When people perceive you, right or wrong they're making subconscious - that they may not be aware of - judgements about you. Their mind sputters out all these arbitrary questions like: "Is he employed?", "Is she married?", "Does she have kids", "How much money does he make?" They don't have to make much sense, "What did he have for breakfast earlier?"or "Did she drive in to work today?". They all happen on and off, really fast. Body language, physical appearance and choice of words are one thing - but none of them affect the reception of conversation like the voice does. Mr. Monotony no melody   I'm not talking about an artificially bassy or sultry voice, but you're own voice - not use

No need for editing - get picture-perfect photos with these three hacks!  Ever miss the moment by just so little that when you go back to take a look at the blurry photographs later, you can hardly tell what they were even supposed to be? I can tell you it's terribly annoying; and the quick fix isn't to just take a course to become a better photographer. That could take months and what good is it if you're taking a picture with your  smartphone - no tripods here and laughing hysterically throughout? That's exactly where these three tips come in. Starting with DSLRs With the advent of camera phones, now called "smartphones" - everyone has access to a pocket camera, that can take studio-quality photos. I've always loved taking pictures - namely of my dog. Back when there weren't any phones with build-in cameras, I asked for a camera for my birthday. I got a grey, used camera, with no film - my mom wanted me to "practice" wit

 The "hyperactive mind" as Eckhart Tolle puts it, is a mind like mine - inner conversation that consists of meaningless rapid-fire thoughts. Now how do you slow them down or get rid of them, so you can stay present at attentive to what you're doing? Well first off, you don't want to be completely zoned-in - that's no better than being completely zoned-out (like me most all the time) - because then you won't know what's going on around you. So when a kid fly kicks a soccer ball to your head, you'll know why. You clearly need to balance the two - focused on the task at hand, yet alert enough to slap the soccer ball away over the neighbors fence, so that brat of a kid knows his place. What Eckhart recommends is to calm the mind by "spacing the thoughts". He suggests you divert from your diarrhetic thoughts - and your level of concentration instantly increases, you relax and become apt to communicate with yourself through clearer percep