About MyrnaMinkoff

Professional smarty-pants

Recent posts

• Comment on Kristin Bell's answer…

  1 0 Totally off topic, but Kristen, your new profile pic is really lovely and beautiful! MyrnaMinkoff commented 10 days ago

• Comment on Tom's answer…

  0 0 Ha! Awesome. :) MyrnaMinkoff commented 14 days ago

• Comment on Tom's answer…

  0 0 Uh, are you single? This sounds like the best date idea I've ever heard. MyrnaMinkoff commented 15 days ago

• Follow Following 1

  Should I explain or expose my mental illness to potential employers upon interview?

  1 0 Yep. Going to join the chorus of people and say that no one cares about your GPA. The only company that has *ever* asked me for my GPA was Google, and it was such a dumb-ass competitive and pretentious thing to do that it totally turned me off possibly working for them. (Although, now that it's been a few years, I've met a couple engineers at Google who did not even graduate from college.) There are many, many brilliant people in this world who were kind of fuck-ups in college. Did you get your degree? Will your university attest that you got your degree? Fine. That's all they need. (Side note: I went to school in Canada. For my last employment background check, the employer tried to verify that I graduated. My university told them that the information was private, and that the employer should request a copy of my diploma or transcripts from me. And I thought privacy was dead!) As for the mental health thing...no way. Do not mention it at all. It's illegal for them to ask. It is also illegal, by the way, for them to ask your age. Don't mention it, and don't worry about it! Be brave and confident. One last thing: I work as a technical writer now for one of the companies you mention. If you'd like some tips or general advice, feel free to reach out directly: heartsandletters (at) gmail (dot) com. MyrnaMinkoff answered in Job Hunting 21 days ago Answer, comment & read 8 more answers »

• Follow Following 1

  Snowy music - what do you listen to?

  1 0 Oooh, my favorite is the Stars' album, Heart. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_(Stars_album) I listened to it non-stop the year I was in grad school in a very snowy place, and it will always remind me of the snow. MyrnaMinkoff answered in Whatever 24 days ago Answer, comment & read 3 more answers »

• Follow Following 2

  How's the tolling working out?

  1 0 So, I'm one of the people who is directly affected by the tolling. I live in Greenlake, and commute to Bellevue. When I did the math, if I continued to drive myself alone to/from work each day, it would have added nearly $200 a month to my expenses, which is more than I'm willing to stomach. However, I've been taking the bus recently, and although it is waaay slower than driving (an hour and ten, vs. 25 mins driving), I find I'm using the time to work, read, listen to podcasts, etc. While it's not ideal (I really, really, really wish there was a bus that went from a park and ride north of Montlake directly into Bellevue without first going into downtown Seattle), I'm making it work. I do also drive still one day a week, but that's usually on days when I have errands, so I'm not hitting the tolls at peak times. One of the benefits of occasionally driving is that the drive is now WAY faster -- 15-20 mins, compared with 35-40. If I were moving and expected to live in Seattle and work on the Eastside, I would make sure I was moving somewhere with a transit option that I could be happy with. MyrnaMinkoff answered in Cars & Motorcycles 29 days ago Answer, comment & read 2 more answers »

• Comment on Marty Unger's answer…

  2 0 "Celebrations" seems like a great idea, though I don't know if we get enough questions to warrant multiple sub-categories. We do certainly get a TON of questions like, "I need a restaurant that'll take a reservation for 40 at the last minute..." MyrnaMinkoff commented about 1 month ago

• Follow Following 1

  Does anyone have experience getting a coat re-lined?

  0 0 I've done it for coats that I own. It's a pain in the ass, but very doable. You might be able to bring the price of the work down by buying the fabric ahead of time and taking it to the shop where you get the work done. Also, if you buy the fabric yourself, you can ensure that it's sturdy enough to stand the test of time. If you're here in Seattle, you should call up Nancy's Sewing basket up on Queen Anne and ask them what they've got -- you should look for a silk or a heavy satin. There are cheaper light-weight lining fabrics out there, but those will shred within a year of wearing the coat. The people at Nancy's know their stuff and will steer you right. If you take in the coat with you, they can give you guidance on the length to buy, too -- expect somewhere between 2-3 yards. Finally -- whatever fabric you choose, don't expect the lining to last forever. Good (expensive) coats are made in such a way that the lining can easily be replaced, as they are expected to wear out after a certain amount of time. MyrnaMinkoff answered in Clothes Clean/Fix about 1 month ago Answer, comment & read 2 more answers »

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  how to publish article

  1 0 Sorry to be a bummer, but it's pretty unlikely it will get published in the Stranger. The Stranger already has a full staff of writers, which means that most of their needs for content are being met already. However, if you have a piece you want to write, and you want to get it published, your best bet is to send an email to the editor with a proposal to write a piece for them. You can include the piece you've already written, though if they accept it, they may ask you to rewrite it substantially. While I don't know what the process is for the Stranger, many magazines have a strict process for accepting requests to write for them -- you have to send them a formal query. See this for how it works: http://www.the13thstory.com/articles/10_steps_Mag_Query.html You can do an internet search for "submitting query letters to magazines" to see more. Try MediaBistro.com, a site for freelance writers in the publishing industry. Expect lots of rejections, don't get discouraged, and continue to build your portfolio. One other thing I want to clarify: you can typically only publish a piece in one venue. So, if you publish it in the Stranger (for example), you couldn't send a query to the NYTimes Sunday Magazine and have them re-publish it. The exception here are the newswires (AP, Reuters, etc.), that often have syndication agreements with various newspapers. Best of luck! MyrnaMinkoff answered in Whatever about 1 month ago Answer, comment & read 2 more answers »

• Follow Following 2

  Is there a political issues website minus trolls?

  2 0 Read The Economist. Though they're a little right leaning, they are considerably left of the center here in the US, and their reporting is top notch. They cover news and events around the world, especially those that pertain to politics, diplomacy, and economics. Unlike, say, Time or Newsweek, it's 50+ pages of solid news and commentary every week. I've heard it said that if you want to join the Foreign Service, your best way to prepare is to read the Economist cover-to-cover every week for two years. The bonus of reading the magazine? No comments from blowhards to wade through. MyrnaMinkoff answered in Intl/Ntl News & Politics about 1 month ago Answer, comment & read 4 more answers »

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