I Needed Color -- Jim Carrey Paints

Did you know that Jim Carrey paints?
This video surprised and inspired me, so I added captions to it.

Some great Jim Carrey quotes from this video are:

• "What you do when life chooses you, you can choose to not do it. You can choose to try to do something safer. Your vocation chooses you."
• "I think what makes someone an artist is they make models of their inner life. They make something physically come into being that is inspired by their emotions or their needs or what they feel the audience needs."
• "Art has to be service. You know, it's like you're servicing your subconscious. And at the same time you're doing something that someone's going to relate to, hopefully."
• "The energy that surrounds Jesus is electric. I don't know if Jesus is real, I don't know if he lived, I don't know what he means, but the paintings of Jesus are really my desire to convey Christ consciousness. I wanted you to have the feeling when you looked in his eyes that he was accepting of who you are. I wanted him to be able to stare at you and heal you from the painting. You can find every race in the face of Jesus, and I think that's how every race imagines Jesus. They imagine him as their own."
• "Something inside you is always telling a story."

This took me 13 minutes to transcribe, which is roughly double the length of the video, and then another 42 minutes to clean it up, complete the sync, review, and publish. Enjoy!

Playing With Words

I've always loved word games, so here is a little nudge towards
playtime in the form of some scrambled words to unravel. Enjoy!

(Answers in English and machine shorthand after the jump break.)

The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog

"The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog."

"Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country."

I start just about every realtime translation by writing those phrases on my steno machine. The first is a pangram, which, I've written about before here, is a sentence using every letter in a given alphabet. They're often used for keyboarding practice and displaying typefaces, etc.

Hallelujah

 (This post contains affiliate links.)

(Source)

The song Hallelujah in the video below has a special place in my heart. It has such a beautiful and captivating melody! This is subtitled with Amara, a free Web based program for captioning videos, and the captions can be toggled on and off with the CC button located near the slider. I tried subtitling with Amara, and it was easy to work with and goes quicker the more familiar with the keyboard shortcuts I get and with the use of a foot pedal recently acquired at a second-hand store.

What a good song to practice steno to!

Beyond words

In the course of our careers, we stenographers get really good at sharing the narratives of others. Our brains and bodies work together with machine shorthand and turn sound waves into text on a page or screen to communicate what was said.

The testimony I hear and transcribe is often beyond words, and I couldn't talk about it even if I wanted to; so more and more, making art has become one of my favorite means for self-expression. This practice, whether it's sketching, coloring, or maintaining an art journal, puts me in a great mood, probably by helping to release emotions and pent up energy from working in this intense but rewarding field. When I'm able to creatively express myself, my days are just somehow more awesome.

What is your favorite creative outlet?  Feel free to share in the comments.

Work & (Game) Play

I used to think that work and play were mutually exclusive. Well, it turns out that they're not, so what would be better than combining the two? Not much. For that reason, I want to share with you an awesome way to practice steno while having fun. After all, time flies when the latter occurs.

The art of stenography

They say a picture speaks a thousand words, so I'll be brief.

This marker drawing of a Diamante steno machine was completed in honor of Court Reporting and Captioning week, February 14-20, 2016. It represents the amazing opportunities that stenography offers the willing student and shows my appreciation for it and all other forms of art. This design is available for purchase as wall art, a tote bag, travel mug, or even a throw pillow, so get yours now!

Hiatus

In every education, career, relationship, story, year, or life, there is a beginning, middle, and an end. In my case it's been a bunch of satisfying whirlwind middle where I could barely keep my hat on nor wipe the smile off my face.

A lot has happened since 2012, when I last wrote: I co-planned a high-class $4,000 wedding and reception in six months, got married, went on several vacations & business trips, bought a house, and gotten through some challenges that make me strive for continual improvement. Maybe I'll write about some of these things someday, but nevertheless this is adulting at its finest!

I've been through some self-discovery, my priorities have changed a bit, but my core being has remained. Steno and court reporting has been an amazing constant in my life, and I'm still a creator at heart who just wants to share my insight and experience with those who will listen, so I do hope you'll continue on this journey with me.                  

Nama-steno.

Free Steno Practice Material

Just a quick postaroo here about a great YouTube channel that's been brought to my attention. It contains a bunch of free practice material and videos about court reporting technique. Check it out!

Breck225's YouTube channel

Dirty Secrets

Source

I have a dirty secret: I have conflicts and slop in my dictionary.
There. I feel better now with that off my chest.

They had us doing realtime pretty much right out of theory at the school I went to, so having perfect notes and being conflict-free was stressed. That's a great teaching style, and I agree with it, especially in early speeds. You're more likely to pass tests if your fingers have been trained to go to the right keys and when you don't accept sloppy writing.

That said, there came a point in my 190s, I think, where I started adding to a separate slop dictionary my repeated keying mistakes in order to make defining my untranslates and editing easier. In the 210s or so, a few teensy-weensy conflicts crept in, and I have no* idea how they got there. *some

But this dictionary atrocity is what helped me pass tests and get through the last leg of school. In addition to lots of daily high-speed practice, of course. I'd much rather have two or three choices while editing to figure out what I meant to write there. I'd prefer to have my CAT software translate my common slop instead of fumbling around trying to find out what that word's supposed to be.

Just be cautious, is my advice. And don't take my advice blindly, either. Any of it. Every stenographer is different.

Playing Detective

Did you ever play detective as a kid? I grew up playing/watching Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego and reading Nancy Drew and Encyclopedia Brown books, which admittedly were a bit before my time, but were some of the best reading material around, in my opinion. Doesn't everyone fancy themselves a gumshoe?

Once upon a time, my dad and I played actual detectives. I was probably 11 or so at the time, and we were out walking during the winter and somehow found a Wisconsin Heights High School class ring near our house in a snowbank.

There's Method(s) to My Briefing Madness

Source

Briefing on the fly is a very important skill that any court reporter or steno student needs to learn to be good at. It's essential for keeping up with speech above your current speed level. I think even Mark Kislingbury is a proponent of briefing on the fly. It's how he gets through his 300+ dictations, by briefing "gold bullion" as TKPWOUBL or whatever brilliant nonsense he might come up with.

To start off, what is briefing on the fly? It means you're making up a brief or phrase as you're writing for something that keeps coming up over and over, like a three-word place name or technical term or just a common word that you never thought to shorten before. There's a few methods, I'm sure, but I'm going to spell out a couple for you that I've been noticing I've been doing lately when creating new briefs.

7UP, Break Up, & Make Up

To 7UP, to make up, or to break up? Hmm. Why can't you have all three? With steno, you can. If you guys are longtime readers of Court Reporter Bound, you know I like word families. This week's post is about a word family that comes up a lot and has so many incarnations; The Up family.

I think I was given a few of these while I was in theory class, though I don't know if they were part of Sten Ed or something my teachers threw at us. Whatever. Doesn't matter. The point is that sometimes you can see patterns in a list of similar briefs, and then boom, you add to the family following the same principle(s). Here's my non-comprehensive list of the "up" family. Feel free to add to this list in the comments if you think of any good ones.

7UP                         #UP
(lolJK. Just came up with that one, but I kinda like it for no particular reason other than my guy drinks it all the time.)
back up/backup       BAUP    BA*UP
break up/breakup    BRAIP   BRA*IP
broke up                 BROEP
check up/checkup   KHUP     KH*UP
clean up/cleanup      KLAOEP  KLAO*EP
close up/closeup      KLOEP   KLO*EP
come up                  KMUP
flare up/flareup         FLAIRP  FLA*IRP
follow up/followup   FLOUP   FLO*UP
give up                    GI*FP
grow up                  GROE*P (beware, RTers, of possible, um, conflicts.)
grown up/grown-up GRUP    GR*UP
hold up/holdup        HOUP    HO*UP
line up/lineup           LUP        L*UP
lock up/lockup        LOUP     LO*UP
make up/makeup     MAIP     MA*EUP
pick up/pickup/pup  PUP       P*UP      PUP/PUP
(Not a great solution, I know. Suggestions?)
screw up/screwup    SKRAOUP SKRAO*UP
shut up                     SHUP
stand up/stand-up     STAUP  STA*UP
start up/start-up        STARP  STA*RP
stuck up/stuck-up     STUP     ST*UP
walk up/walk-up      WAUP   WA*UP

Philosophy aside: Strange how powerful the word "up" is. For being just two teensy letters, it's very transformative. Every word in this list seems so final or powerful but wouldn't be so much so if it were on its own. Huh. Everything really is a metaphor for everything else.

The Waiting Game

Graphic as modified by me from the original version

Some things never change. When I was in school, if I'd take a test that I thought I passed, sometimes I'd almost be paralyzed in between its completion and when I heard back from my teacher about how I did. It was almost like a state of suspended animation where I didn't want to practice or do anything but see my results. Cue my current state of limbo while waiting to see the results from the November 5 RPR.

Thankfully, though, after several days off from practice, I started doing almost-daily practice again in the hopes of gaining additional speed to keep up with fast-talking attorneys. So as hard as it seems to keep practicing while waiting for your results, do it because you'll thank yourself later. After a small breather or reward of some sort, of course. Take a couple hours off, do something you enjoy, and then get back to practicing. You'll get through school faster and become a better, faster writer for it.

Gearing Up for the Big Event

How does a court reporter, CART provider, closed captionist, or student prepare for an important test? Whether its your national/state certification or your last test to move up to the next speed class doesn't matter. What you do to prepare is the same. After diligently training for weeks or months with a wide variety of material and techniques, you have built up your skill set, and this is what you have to work with on test day. You can't magically (physically) cram the night before and expect it to help you. Reviewing flashcards of steno outlines or reading steno notes can, however, benefit you.

How to Gain/Maintain Speed as a Working Court Reporter

So how does one gain or maintain speed on the steno machine after they've graduated and start working as a freelance court reporter? I've been seeking answers to this question myself. As a freelancer, you're not necessarily writing on your machine every day, unlike someone that works within the court system. Granted, you probably do spend a fair amount of time on the computer keyboard while transcribing, so that at least exercises similar muscles, I would assume.

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

Here are some briefs inspired by dialogue in my absolute favorite Halloween movie, It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, one that until recently I hadn't seen since I was a kid. So I guess I'm back blogging again. It's been a bit of a hiatus, but now seems like a good time to get back to it since things are starting to settle down at work. I finally feel like I have a handle on things and am excited about things to come.

Halloween WHAOEN
sincere SAOERNS
sincerity SAO*ERNS
candy KAEND
apples A*PLZ
Charlie KHA(*)ERL
pumpkin PRUFRP

Happy briefing and Halloween!

Right Brain/Left Brain and Steno

To be successful in anything, especially court reporting, CART, or captioning, one has to have both halves of their brain in on the deal. I found an excellent article online that explains the idea that we're really two different people coexisting in the same body. It says that because each half of the brain is wired to the opposite side of the body, one can actually express two emotions at the same time. That helps explain why when I force a smile occasionally, it comes out as a half-smile.

Putting on Your Court Reporter Hat

When I was a kid, I loved to watch Reading Rainbow.  It came on right after Sesame Street, if I can recall correctly.  My all-time favorite Reading Rainbow episode was one I remember seeing many, many times. The episode was called a Three Hat Day and featured the same-titled book, A Three Hat Day by Laura Geringer and Arnold Lobel. Something about that episode was so magical. I watched it every time it came on. When LeVar Burton, the host, put on different hats, he was transported to different places based on the hat he put on. He put on a jockey's hat and instantly he was riding on the horse in the middle of a race.  He put on a hockey mask and became the goalie in the NHL, and the last one, I believe, was putting on a train conductor's hat.

So the question occurred to me, what kind of a hat does a court reporter wear? And wouldn't that be awesome if it were that easy? To just put on a court reporter's hat and be done with school and be out in the working world would be pressing the proverbial easy button. Unfortunately such a magic bullet doesn't exist, so get practicing! Of course, you can finish reading this post. THEN get to practicing.

Figuratively speaking, a student does have to put on their thinking cap. Always be listening to others, TV, and radio for new words to add to your dictionary. Never hesitate to try a new steno technique out. Be a force of positive energy around your fellow students. Dress the part.

Or literally speaking, when it comes to breaking away from your loved ones to go get your practice hours in, you could don a favorite hat or sweatshirt to get in the zone, so to say. Then take it off when you're done practicing. (Wash it frequently!) Make a rule that there's no surfing the net or being interrupted in between takes while wearing your court reporting "hat." We have to learn to tune out distractions while working, so we might as well start now. Sorry, hun, for not saying hi right away when you get home. xoxo

Just like a runner can buy a new pair of jogging shoes or athletic gear to spice up their workout routine, we too can find "the magic" again and get excited to practice. These are what I throw on when I'm not to be bothered while practicing.

I made these. So happy w/ how they turned out!

Another Brick in the Steno Wall (Frustration!)

No one's immune to experiencing frustration and a lack of focus, even steno students. I've been experiencing a bout of steno ADD and a string of unsuccessful takes lately, but I'm confident that this, too, will pass.

Just like most get-rich-quick schemes are too good to be true, there's no magic secret to success as a court reporting or captioning student other than physically putting in the practice hours. See my 10,000 hours post on the subject.

If you're just passing through, or if you have already read it and just need a quick refresher, here's the long and the short of it: Like learning an instrument, the most important factor that determines someone's success in steno is the amount of focused, practice-with-a-purpose time put in. No one that puts in the hours should not succeed in becoming a stenographer and passing their state CSR and/or RPR test.

I replied to a fellow student's frustrated message on twitter the other day saying, "... every practice hour is a brick in the wall of success."

Provided that you have a good foundation (solid knowledge of your theory), lay your bricks straight (practice with good technique, and don't accept slop), use the proper mix for the mortar (practicing drills in all categories), and check it with a level as you go (reading back from your notes, noticing patterns of mistakes, & working on those), you will eventually finish your wall and get out of steno school so you can start earning money.


If you're in the same boat as me, check out these inspiring links that should get you focused and back on track to steno success.

Distracted by Facebook/twitter updates, the internet, shiny things, and just about anything instead of practicing? Check out this article to kick the habit.

If your mind wants to get out of school but part of you is holding you back, listen to this excellent radio show that @StenYes shared on twitter.

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." -Lao-tzu