More news

More big things going on in my life, in different ways. One thing, which is not even my news, is that my ex-fianceé, Sylvia, is getting married this Sunday, to the guy who broke off their previous engagement. She seems very happy, though, and everything seems resolved, so I can only congratulate her and wish her the best. I'm glad we're still friends.

In more personal news, my girlfriend and I seem to grow closer every day, even though we are something like a thousand miles apart. She is perhaps the best woman I have ever met. She is a very spiritual person (which I value highly), but not at all holier-than-thou. I love her, and she certainly loves me. I must find a way to see her before May. That's just too long to wait! She keeps reminding me that this is building our patience, and our characters are the only things we will take with us to heaven, but I still don't want to wait. We've talked once a week on the phone since the day I asked her out, and we've been emailing and have also started chatting on MSN Messenger whenever we get the chance, but it isn't the same. And phone calls are so expensive, even with a phone card. If any of you have advice on a cheaper way to be able to call, I would love to hear it. I wonder if I got a cell phone if I could use the free evenings and weekends for that. Maybe they don't work internationally. I should look into that.

In other news, I am quitting one of my jobs, in exchange for the start of my own business: Cromwell Tutorial Service. Yes, I do take credit cards: Cromwell Tutorial Service has an account registered with PayPal where those credit card deposits can be made. As yet, my advertising is entirely word of mouth, among my friends and the students in my regular tutorial. I have decided to continue holding the writing tutorial I do for the school three nights a week (two hours a night), for several reasons: the tutorial is where I got my reputation for being good at helping students with papers (though I am willing and able to tutor other things, and have previous experience tutoring math and Hebrew, as well as instructing a lab for General Biology), and to keep my reputation strong, I will hold onto it. Also, I really enjoy doing it, and it gives people options. I don't mind it when people come to the regular tutorial, but there are several advantages to paying me to tutor you: my tutorial is available six days a week, not three; rather than waiting in a line which I may not get through for my help, you have my full attention for that hour; and the first visit with me is free, so if you don't like what I'm doing, you don't owe me anything, but if you do, the next time you can pay me. I really feel like it is a win-win situation. I'm currently planning to put up flyers on campus, to send out an email, and I'm looking into making a video ad also. Maybe it would be worthwhile to canvas the high school, etc. as well, or even put an ad in the local newspaper... If you guys have advertising ideas, I'd like to hear them.

I also have a new email address: cromwellt@gmail.com. Please use this address for all future emails to me. I haven't shut down my old one, but I'll be rarely using it in the future. I know I told many of you that I was planning on sticking with Yahoo forever, and I was even more sure of it when they upped their quota to 100 MB, but a friend of mine showed me Gmail (from the people at Google) and invited me to try it. Because it is a beta right now, you can only be a part of it if you are sent an invite, so it is very much like word-of-mouth. There are several things I really love about Gmail, including the 1000 MB quota, the searchable mail, the labels used instead of folders (meaning that one email can show up in more than one category; a great improvement IMO), and (last but not least) the new "conversation" format for emails. This conversation format is awesome: you can look at what you wrote to someone and what they wrote back to you, all on one page, and composing is right there on the same page, too! There are other cool things about Gmail, but this gives you a taste. I don't think I'll ever go back!

Live life intensely and don't stop dreaming!