I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas, is having a Happy Hanukkah or will have a Happy Kwanzaa this holiday season. I feel very blessed. It’s been years since I’ve had this much time off, much less Christmas off —- a hazard of being a copy editor.

However, I haven’t been bored once. I’ve been visiting friends (including the fab writer/editor Mary Ann DeSantis), traveling (Philadelphia, where I saw former colleague Jaime), spending time with my family and rebooting my yoga practice during my break. Tomorrow, I’m going to a Tweetup (a Twitter meetup). Then, on Jan. 3, I can officially claim my new title of “Associate Editor.”

Life is good, truly.

I did have a nice weekend, and again, thank you for all your hard work with the Florida Press Club. Too often, that sort of work goes unrecognized. I’ve coordinated some contests myself, and it’s a lot of work. In your case, it was a lot of extra work, because you also carried out your desk duties so well at the same time.

I hope you have a good time at the banquet.

Then today at the monthly staff meeting, I was named employee of the month for my work in the Sports Department! I’m very happy — and extremely grateful to the Sports guys who have been helping me learn all the sports lingo. I’m thinking of doing something nice for them. Bringing in food might be the way to go. … Isn’t it always?

(Of course, you should share good, relevant information and avoid anything inflammatory, but that’s a post for another day.)

When I go on Twitter, I usually go on it to either improve my skills or communicate something. I was lucky Sept. 14 when @Poynter (the voice of the prestigious Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg) tweeted:

Join us now for a live chat w @KimBui about what it takes to stand out as a community/social media editor: http://journ.us/rh1MtG

I asked, “Kim, what qualifications should someone have to be a community/social media editor?”

She replied:

First and foremost a sense of experimentation. You should also be active on most major networks (FB and Twitter) and have tried a few others. Have ideas about how to engage readers better and improve the final product through SM.

Also, network like you’ve never networked before. Most SM editors know each others, so if you know some of us, you’ll get an inside track.

Good, right? You really should read all of Kim Bui’s tips.

I feel like I’m on the right track. I’ve met loads of influential people through the #dbtweetup (Daytona Beach’s monthly Tweet-Up) and have already used my skills for the print product.

In fact, one of my awards from The Daytona Beach News-Journal involved, yes, using Twitter. The crew of the night desk expected it to be a calm Sunday night, but on May 2, 2011, President Barack Obama came on the air and announced the death of Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of 9/11.

The Associated Press sent out a scant nine inches right at deadline, so what did I do? As I replated the inside pages, I looked up the @whitehouse Twitter feed and found the exact contents of Obama’s speech to help fill the front page to get it out.

The next day, my former co-worker Kari saw The Daytona Beach News-Journal’s front page flashed on CNN.

Though journalism has changed, the fundamentals are still there, and social networking continues to give us options for improvement. On Sept. 14, I subscribed to Quora, a question-and-answer site. On Sept. 15, Facebook announced a “Subscribe” option, which is great for following a source without having to “friend” someone you don’t know well. Likewise, today, Sept. 20, I signed up to get a promo code for Mail-ette, a site for sharing graphic elements and gaining feedback.

In the future, I’m betting we’ll have better information and a bigger ability to distill and share pertinent information. News is still news — whatever the format.

Then we found…Blanket!

No, seriously, Ruth did bring in a blanket. Haha!

For starters, she sent a nice e-mail reply and wrote on her Drama Box (blog) about it being published:

I had a lovely interview with Sherry while on the road. She actually remembers me visiting [Daytona Beach] in 2006 for a romance conference, and it made for a nice chat.

I thanked her again in a comment (by Sherry) to her next post, where she talks about the chilly Michigan weather. (If you missed my previous post about the not included Q&A about her move, here that is: http://sherrymims.com/2011/03/21/kimharrisonqa/.)

I’ve always said it’s much more rewarding for me to write things people enjoy and thank you for writing — that’s why I became a features writer in the first place. Now that I’m a copy editor, I don’t get as many of those opportunities, but I’ll seize them when I can. (So, boss, if you’re reading this, please give me more “writing” days — as long as I can pick the topic!)

I could go on all day, but she is an amazing person to interview. Her answers were clear and concise. I really didn’t have to change much at all for the online version. (The print version had to be trimmed to fit the space.)

Here’s a taste of the article, which you can read unabridged.

The best urban-fantasy novels take readers to cities in a world much like our own — except vampires, demons and witches exist there, too. And no one writes it better than New York Times best-selling author Kim Harrison, who wrote “Pale Demon,” the ninth and best book, so far, in a planned 12- to 13-part series about witch and bounty hunter Rachel Morgan.

Rachel, who dabbled in black magic to protect the people she cared about, must get to a convention witches are holding in San Francisco, where she will be tried for using black magic. Roommates Ivy, a living vampire, and Jenks, a pixy, accompany her, as does Trent Kalamack, a sometimes criminally minded elf, who has his own reasons for heading west.

For my lovely, loyal readers, here’s a question and answer that didn’t make it in either the print or online version (it really didn’t fit in with anything else I asked):

Did I read that you had moved from Rock Hill, S.C., to Michigan? How are you coping with the weather?
We’ve had a nasty winter in Michigan. But I’m from Michigan, so I’m eager to see some snow. It’s been 13 years since I’ve had a real, solid cold winter. Fortunately, since my job takes place at home, I don’t have to get out, you know, and shovel the snow off my car every morning. If I did, I’m not sure I’d be appreciating the snow quite as much as I do. [Laugh]

Having said that, I am so ready for this winter to be over, it’s not funny. It had better be gone by the time I get back from this tour. I want to play in the dirt again.

***

If you didn’t read the full version, above, go to http://www.go386.com/culture/2011/03/-the-best-urban-fantasy.html, and better yet, buy the book, too!

The press release was made up of four paragraphs that gave the who, what, when, where, how and why, and it gave contact information.

See, we do use press releases, especially if they’re well-written. Together, with the help of the metro editor, this is what we came up with on the fly:

That rumble you may have felt as you passed the Ocean Center on Saturday probably came from the wall-shaking sound systems cranked up at the 25th annual Spring Break Nationals in Daytona Beach.

The event, which continues today from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., is a mobile electronics show with manufacturer displays highlighting automotive sound, vision navigation, Bluetooth devices and other products.

Organizers expect at least 10,000 spectators and more than 1,000 trade participants.

Daytona Beach-based International Auto Sound Challenge Association and two other industry associations brought judges from four of 28 affiliated countries to judge the “Soundoff” event, featuring hundreds of vehicles in a world-final competition.

DJs and performers keep the event lively as contests, custom-car exhibits and educational seminars take place on the convention floor.

Children 12 and under are free with an adult, whose tickets are $15, cash only.

For more information, go to springbreaknationals.com or call 386-767-3030.

(Posted on my website because my work disappears from the News-Journal website after two weeks.)

Then we see the “grand opening” sign as Amir and I drive in that Saturday for the lunch bunch review. Keep in mind, we are only supposed to review places open 4-6 months, and my review was due Monday morning.

Just in case, I secretly took pictures of the food, which was delicious by the way. We pay, and then after we leave, I remember I forgot to pick up an itemized bill. Unless I pick up an itemized bill, I can’t be reimbursed.

After consulting with the food editor, I write the review anyway. Just in case. It’s a good thing I did because there was no backup: The review had to run. Unfortunately, a vital part of the review was missing: Namely the name of the new manager. He had seemed suspicious of me asking about what happened to “Neelam,” so I hadn’t asked as many questions as I would normally.

Since I had to go back for the itemized bill, I thought, “No problem. I’ll ask for it then.”

Only after fighting Bike Week traffic in Daytona Beach — twice — did I realized the restaurant was closed Mondays, but it wasn’t a total loss. I went to yoga

The food editor agreed to let me plug in the information on Tuesday, and thankfully then, it went off without a hitch. The manager was very gracious when I asked for an itemized bill and spoke glowingly of his wife, whom he had been married to for 31 years.

End result? Despite the drama in finishing this “Lunch Bunch,” Amir and I loved “Aavtar” and would eat there again. You should eat there, too.

Enjoy the review here (because it’s only online two weeks):

Copy editor Sherry Mims and her husband, Amir Fleminger, braved the fierce Bike Week traffic on Atlantic Avenue to go to Neelam Authentic Indian Cuisine and were surprised to see a sign saying Aavtar instead.

Manager Vinay Rakesh says his wife, Shashi R. Bhardwaj, took over from another family member recently, but the restaurant will provide the same great food as ever.

How was the atmosphere?

We arrived for a late lunch around 2 p.m. and found the place clean and airy.

Toward the left side of the restaurant, there was a buffet with everything from the always popular Chicken Tikka Masala, chicken marinated in spices and served in tomato cream sauce, to Palak Paneer, a vegetarian dish with spinach, paneer cheese and peas, as well as desserts.

What did you order?

No surprise here — we went with the buffet ($8.95 per person) so that we could get a taste of everything.

After we filled our plates, we found warm naan, Indian bread, waiting for us.

It’s difficult to break down what tasted the best because we enjoyed everything we tried. The Palak Paneer was great, but the Samosa, a pastry shell stuffed with savory spices and vegetables, was my personal favorite. It was also quite spicy, so I was glad we had both ordered water to drink.

Amir had a tougher time deciding his favorite. “I liked all of it,” he said, although he added the halwa, a pudding-like dessert, stood out.

How much was it?

With tax and tip, the bill came to $21.06.

For all my longtime readers, go visit Kat’s blog: http://katherineclement.wordpress.com/. Kat has a variety of interests, so there’s something for everyone. She has posts not only on the difficulties in finding a journalism job but also her passion for running and fitness.

For you new readers wondering who the heck I am, I am a copy editor, page designer and sometimes writer (mainly features) for The Daytona Beach News-Journal. I’ve gone from putting the obituaries on the page to working the news editor position — one of the first women in years to have done so. Starting March 1, the copy desk will become a universal desk, and while I am looking forward to streamlining work, I remain nervous because things like that always take some time to show benefits. I am also the president of The Florida Press Club.

You might want to start with some of my most popular posts:

• “Kutcher wins Twitter war with CNN” In my pre-Twitter days, I just don’t get it. Actually, I still don’t get the obsession with the Celebrity Twitterverse.
• “Help Desk” helper” With the popularity of this comic, I’m guessing we’re all getting the same kind of “help” from the tech department.
• “What Eastwick gets right and wrong about journalism” Do not believe what Hollywood tells you about journalism. Mostly.
• LinkedIn: Hip networking or waste of time?” LinkedIn is useful for some, but don’t let it be the only kind of networking you do.
• “Clever advertising…for newspapers?” It’s not an ad for the latest Apple gadget. Instead, the commercial sells the old-fashioned newspaper in a new media way.
• “Kanye West: ‘I am a proud non-reader of books’” Even though books be too wordy, Kanye West writes a book and ticks off this reader.

…and here are a few of my favorites:

• “Who said print is dead?” I met a street performer in Honolulu, who has a creative use for newspapers.
• “Fun with Keynote et al” I was the voice talent for a promo my husband worked on for his website, Pilot’s Cafe.
• “Not feeling the love” A former co-worker reflects on our dysfunctional relationship with journalism.
• “Changes” After our third (fourth? fifth?) round of layoffs–hard to keep count–my job description changed. Then, more people were laid off, and I started working nights again.
• “Inspiration” After my grandmother’s death, I worked to regain focus and remembered her encouragement. (A year later, I miss her more than ever.)
• “Picture Perfect Shoot” I dance the night away in Daytona Beach as an extra in a spring break movie.

Happy reading, and please feel free to comment (or de-lurk)!

(To read “Warm Resolutions: New year means new weather” with the pictures and the cutlines I wrote with information from photographer David Massey, click here. The News-Journal takes down articles after two weeks, so I’m posting this here for posterity LOL)

After weathering the coldest December since 1935, walkers with possible cases of cabin fever took to area beaches and enjoyed the warmer weather that lingered in the 70s for most of New Year’s Day.

Foot traffic increased from Flagler Beach to Daytona Beach. Family pictures were taken. Others even braved the 57-degree water.

Expect the change to continue, according to AccuWeather.com. Lows will be in the mid-50s while the high will also be in the mid-70s.

For more information on today’s weather conditions, see our Weather Page

It’s nothing big, but I like having time to do something different!