I just got back fromt he vet. Pico has not really been eating much for the last few days, and started moving very slowly this weekend, and not interested in his usual things (food, catnip, and going outside) $400 later, the vet can't find anything wrong with him.

Of course, I fed him some special cat food when we got home, and he gobbled it up. Maybe he's just a very expensive fussy eater.

I think I need a scotch.

So, if anyone has done this kind of freelance work and can give me advice on how to figure this out, I would very much appreciate it.

quester, in terms of *design* only, not editing -- how many pages is it, and what is the layout like? For instance, since it's a book, I'm assuming that the design/content of each page is more or less the same (unlike a newsletter/brochure/etc.) Which would make it less time-intensive than a project where the contents of each page are variable.

If that's the case, can you do a quick-and-dirty test case to see how many pages you can reasonably do in an hour? Then you have a rough time estimate for the layout part of it.

$30 an hour is the lowest I go, and that's for the nuns whose newsletter I do, since they run the high school I attended. It's a combination "friend"/okay-I-won't-grift-nuns rate.

Pricing for editing is a hard call. You *could* fold the editing into the overall rate. Say, $40/hr, design and editing inclusive, depending on how much editing the thing needs.

I have a hard time with quoting freelance rates, too.

I don't know how many of these links are still active, but here's a site with some resources on how to price your freelance work: [link]

Here's another article (from 2000) about how to charge: [link]

Here's a page from 2007 with sample rates from around the country for design, desktop publishing (it annoys me that these 2 are separate, but whatever), and web design: [link]

t edit Seattle Writer Grrls have an excellent resource page: [link]

Oh, Shir, if you want to post red dress options I'm sure people will help you out. I LOVE vicarious online shopping!

The problem is that what I want doesn't necessarily mean it will look good on me, and that I'll get it from a real world store, not online one.

But hey, that doesn't mean we can't play "fantasy dress", for I'd love to see some of your suggestions! What I have in mind now is a foldy (is that a word?), knee-height with wide straps (or just short sleeves), and a good cleavage. With heels it should be perfect for weddings, with boots for rock shows. I have no idea if such a dress will look good on me, but that's the fantasy.

But hey, that doesn't mean we can't play "fantasy dress", for I'd love to see some of your suggestions! What I have in mind now is a foldy (is that a word?),

I'm not sure what you mean by foldy. Do you mean pleats? Like on the skirt of this dress?

[link]

Also, regarding real online cloth shopping, I'm looking for this shirt for a friend of mine as a birthday present.

Any ideas? I'm sure it's not the only site that offers this design.

I'm tired, more than I thought I'll be by this time. Probably won't be cooking tonight, call it an early night, snuggle with a book and stop researching for the center I volunteer for. Looking at the monitor for so long hurts my eyes.

link

YES. Only I had in mind more pleats, and a darker shade of red. I'm going for drama with this dress, but then again, most chances what you just posted will look wonderful on me, and it's a lot cheaper than I thought it'll be!

'm going for drama with this dress, but then again, most chances what you just posted will look wonderful on me, and it's a lot cheaper than I thought it'll be!

Sometimes the internet is magic!

Jesus. Just off the phone with my sister. Apparently one of the members of the Milwaukee Symphony was murdered by her ex-husband after the concert on Saturday night. She was in the parking garage getting in her car and some friends saw the ex going into the building and called 911, but by the time they got up there he'd slit her throat. Fucking hell.

Holy shit.

Oh dear.

In other news, I'm sitting out in my backyard with the laptop, and the new wireless modem that I bought is doing a fine job. And it's about 80 degrees, but low humidity AND there's enough wind to make it perfect, at least as long as you don't have paper or napkins to blow away.