(Sunday Paper, Year V, Issue 6)

I probably heard it first while I was studying journalism in college…and then again working in TV news right out of college:

You need to know a little bit about a lot of things.

Sort of a variation of ‘jack-of-all-trades, master of none.'…except sometimes you do become a master of some.

But I’ve been thinking about that a lot again in my freelance writing - I find myself learning enough about different topics to be able to write about them capably.

Today, allow me to ask you to consider learning a little bit about a topic you may not have explored before.

You may remember, I used to listen to a bunch of podcasts…and then last year I really pared that down.

That’s been going well…except that last month I had to add a new subscription to my podcast app.

Kathy has started a podcast and I guess it’s keeping her busy because I asked if she wanted to write a guest post to plug it and she asked me if I could just do it.

So I’m doing that.

It’s called ‘Smarter Healthcare’, and it would be wonderful if you could download it, listen to it regularly, and then rate and review it when you have a minute.

Which brings me back to my opening bit here.

Healthcare is one of those topics I’ve had to learn a little bit about in order to write somewhat knowledgeably about it. It’s a complex topic and I won’t pretend it’s one of the topics on which I’ve borderline become an expert.

Kathy’s much more of an expert on it than I, but I would guess she would tell you she’s always learning about it as well.

And that’s kind of what this podcast is - it’s a look at the healthcare industry and the perspectives of the people who are making a difference in it. And it’s one of those things that I’m happy I listened to because I feel like I leave it knowing more about something than I did beforehand…and I realize that in many ways the healthcare industry is not all that different from any other industry.

So I hope you don’t just think, “Healthcare, ugh.” (Or however you react to something about which you might not be uncomfortable with or unknowledgeable about.) Give it a shot.

I think you might just end up as proud of Kathy for her work as I am.

You can click here to visit the podcast’s website and get all the information you need to know about subscribing, episodes, whatever.

Writing and Comedy

*This was kind of a rough week for both my writing (I know! after such a strong January) and comedy (a common theme lately). And I was kind of kicking myself for it. But by the end of the week I realized this: it was a busy week for Kathy - she was away Monday and Tuesday, and then she takes classes on Wednesday and Thursday nights, so the week was a wash and I should have known that before the week started. But I didn’t - I was only thinking about each day in terms of the work I didn’t do.

In a week like this my value isn’t so much in getting a ton of work done…it’s pretty much making sure the kids get where they need to be and that they’re fed and clean and all that. And then if any work gets done on top of that, well, good for me, I guess. But I think it’s really the exception in a week like this rather than the rule.

*It is worth mentioning that Saturday night was the February edition of Comedy Night at Exhibit ‘A’. It was another good show. I feel pretty comfortable saying I was the weakest part of the night…but I still did fine. I look at that as a win. Most months people aren’t there to see me.

*Another good show is on tap - tickets for the March show are already on sale at this link.

What I’ve Been Enjoying

*This weekend was my middle daughter’s musical - with fourth and fifth graders doing the acting. It was her first drama performance…and she was great. But overall the musical was really good. They put it together in, like, a month. So tons of credit to those teachers, because here’s a little secret: I went in expecting that show to be a disaster. And it was great! Way better than it should have been with that amount of time to prepare.

Thoughts On Dog Ownership

*Friday afternoon I had a great dog walking moment. The play group was canceled (bummer, considering the nasty weather on Thursday and Friday and an indoor play time would have been clutch), and it was rainy most of the day. But as I was resigned to just taking Tate out back for a quick pee as the rain came down, it let up for a minute. Then it stopped completely. So I rushed Tate out at 1:30 and we went for our walk and she got her exercise on a day when I was convinced it wasn’t going to happen. And then shortly after we were back inside…it started raining again. I was really proud of myself for getting that walk in.

Notes

*If I didn't do a good enough job of explaining Kathy’s role in healthcare and why she’s doing the podcast you can listen to a preview episode of the podcast and hear it in her own words.

*For any prospective freelancers out there who are wondering how I could write about something I don’t know a lot about, here’s my rule of thumb: For everything I write, I try to learn about it first, before I put the proverbial pen to paper. I obviously can’t learn every little thing about a subject, so I think of it this way - I try to learn enough that I can write the article (or whatever), and then make sure I know enough further that if someone asks me a follow-up question I feel comfortable explaining something that might expand upon what I wrote.

*While you’re subscribing to Kathy’s podcast, you can also follow the podcast on Twitter. (And while you’re sharing some social media love, go ahead and follow me on Twitter. And Like my Facebook page! )

*Hey, this is fun: Exhibit ‘A’ is starting a comedy open mic. Today’s the first day - it’s on Sundays at 4pm, with a list going out at 3:30. I’m going to try to make it most weeks and hang out, if you’re interested in checking out how the comedy gets made, and seeing some practice and enjoying some good beer…or maybe even getting up there yourself.