Category Archives: Personal

Correcting Misconceptions about Me

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The other day a fellow liveaboard said that, because I was a girl living on a boat, I must be “liberal and wild.” I swiftly corrected him for I am neither of those things, then thought, Huh, perhaps that is the general assumption. Most of my posts talk about topics other than my personality, so I wanted to put who I am and who I’m not–for any non-liberal and non-wild girls thinking of living aboard a boat–out there. Where there’s one (me) there are others. And I also wanted to make it clear to any single men around here looking for a liberal and wild gal: don’t come knocking on my boat, dudes, there be no partying aboard Libby. I listen to music (often classical, Bach anyone?) at appropriate decibels, read books, write books, and generally stay silent except when I’m talking to Riley. Continue reading →

My First Seven Months as a Liveaboard

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courtney kirchoffSelling furniture, giving away clothes and pitching stuff in the garbage isn’t something most girls dream of.

But last August I did just that, all so I could move aboard a sailboat and leave land behind to search for adventure. My decision to live aboard a boat had nothing to do with my thoughts on materialism, consumerism or any other philosophical examination of our culture; living aboard a boat is a cool place to live at an even cooler price, and would allow my aspirations and experiences to grow.

Read the rest of the article on Three Sheets Northwest.

Sailboat Art Freebies

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baba 35 sailboatHere’s what happened: last week and into the beginning of this week we saw perfect weather. Sun. Clear skies. Temperature in the fifties. In FEBRUARY! Pacific Northwesters just cannot handle this kind of weather, our brains explode. We get all frantic and excited and run outside with nothing to do, so we’re just out there, wandering around, soaking it all in, blubbering and crying about how that big, burning yellow thing in the sky is warm and makes us all happy! Productivity? Puh-lease. The sun, it’s out! Even if you chained yourself indoors, your mind would drift and think of running through fields of sunflowers while “California Dreaming” echos through the sky. Continue reading →

Robert Perry, I Salute You

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I’ve lived aboard my boat for about six months now, both in summer and winter, and have come to the conclusion that, though the S/V Libby is a great boat and a cozy home, she’s also my starter boat. When other liveaboards would say “It’s your first boat,” I shook my head at them, whispering: “My only boat,” like I didn’t want Libby to hear such words. Continue reading →

Creating a Book Trailer

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book trailerI’ve been meaning to make a book trailer for about a year now, perhaps longer. Lots of things have been stopping me, the biggest hurdle being I don’t know how to make a book trailer. The software I have is limited (I want Adobe After Effects, but my old Mac is incapable of supporting it), I’m a writer and not a video editor, and the only voice I have for the voiceover work is my own. Continue reading →

I’m not alone in being alone!

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I’m an introvert. I proclaim that proudly and un-loudly, and I wish our culture would embrace introversion rather than putting so much value on extroversion (“people-person”, “charismatic” etc.). I wrote a post a while ago about Why I Hate Meetings to essentially stand up for myself and my introversion: meetings are useless; innovation and creativity do not come to me while I’m a meeting, they hit me when I’m alone. So it was with great pleasure that I read an article by Susan Cain on the New York Times website about the New Groupthink. Read it, it may be enlightening. If you’re an introvert, you’ll nod your head and say “Amen.” If you’re an extrovert, maybe this will help you understand why so many of us despise “brainstorming sessions,” or “team meetings,” or “group projects.”

Ignore the Naysayers

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The gist: happy people want everyone else to be happy. Successful people want others to find success. Unhappy people want everyone else to be unhappy, and do their utmost to bring the high achievers down. If you’ve encountered naysayers on your way to fulfilling a dream, or are frustrated with who the naysayers are (like your family or friends) read on. If the last four sentences made you yawn and you’re wondering why I’m not writing about sailing (because it’s 27 degrees outside, who sails in that? I don’t!), or something else semi-adventurous, then thank your lucky shooting stars you didn’t read the rest of this post, because it’s a doozy. Continue reading →

“How are book sales going?”

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I’m asked this question a lot: “How are book sales going?” I know when people ask, they mean well. They know I’ve written and published a book, and they’re making friendly conversation, being supportive, and so forth. I know that, I know that, I know that. But that’s not how I hear the question.

***EDITED NOTE added Jan 11: I got a comment (you can read it in the comment section) suggesting that this post has me come off as defensive and negative. That was never my intention, as I strive to make all of my posts swing more positive, attempting to execute my mission through humor and dry wit. Therefore I’ve since gone through and colored the existing jokes green (because green is a nice color) and even added more jokes to it alongside the existing joke by using parentheses (I love parenthesis, can’t you tell?), so you know I’m not a meanie or constantly feeling sorry for myself. I say “constantly” because sometimes I do feel sorry for myself. Especially when it’s cold and I’m hungry. Who doesn’t? But I didn’t write this hungry or cold. I’ve also highlighted some important text blue (blue is another fantastic color) so it jumps out. If there is bold blue text beside it, that was added. Anything bold has been added to the original post. END NOTE.***

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Hodge Podge

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It’s best practice to focus a post on a topic, a theme, an adventure, a something. I decided to heck with that―it’s my blog, I’m the goddess here, so I can make up and amend the rules whenever I gosh darn feel like it. There are a number of things that have happened in the past few weeks that I wanted to share in a hit-and-run sort of way. None of them are particularly important, or life-changing, just the little things. Continue reading →

What’s the Deal with Coffee Mugs?

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Sometimes I feel like I’m taking crazy pills. Even though I live in a small space and only have so much room to dedicate to all things coffee, I can’t seem to lose the mugs. Why? When I lived in my apartment I hoarded them, like some caffeine-addled dragon in her lair. Something about coffee mugs, the larger ones (not those pansy little ones) just have me hooked. I agonized about parting with many of them when I moved aboard my boat. I had to give them to my mother, so I knew they’d go to a safe home. Seriously. I’m such a freak.

Read the rest on True Northe.

The Value of Talent & Skill

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Just this past summer I was requested to be an editor for a non-profit client’s new high school curriculum. Since I supported the organization’s work, and needed the money, I said I’d take a stab at a couple of pages to see a.) how long it would take for me to edit, and b.) if the organization was pleased with my work.

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Darkness Takes Over

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When I moved up from sunny California, I experienced something different, which I relive every year. I moved up here in February when the skies were clear, the air crisp. Even though it snowed in April, while I was stringing a fence for Dante, the real change didn’t happen until summer.

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