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How short can you write?

I have this sentence down to 16 strokes as shown below.  Can you write it shorter?

Do you recall -- strike that.  Do you remember, as you crossed the intersection, the stoplight being a green light or a red light?  

Do you recall   TKAOURL
-- strike that.  STRAOEUBGTD
Do you remember   TKAOURPL
,   RBGSZ
as you   S*U
crossed the  KROFTD
intersection   SPWERBGZ
,   RBGSZ
the   T
stoplight   STOPLT
being   BG
 a   AEU
green light   TKPWRAOEPBLT
or a   AO-R
red light   RELT
?     STPH

Briefs 6.1.13

direct examination   TKREGS

DIRECT EXAMINATION   TKR*EGS

cross-examination   KROFGS

CROSS-EXAMINATION   KRO*FGS

redirect examination   TKRERGS

REDIRECT EXAMINATION    TKR*ERGS

recross-examination   KROFRGS

RECROSS-EXAMINATION   KRO*FRGS

disadvantages   STKRAPBGSZ

Making your own briefs

It's so easy to make up your own briefs. If there's not a conflict, then go for it. Make it fun and easy to use and remember. Here are a few more of mine that I use frequently:

Since San Francisco is STPREUS, I simply add an asterisk for the City and County of San Francisco.

STPR*EUS  It's so simple and super easy to remember.

I recently had a job where they frequently said, Super Bread.  So I took the word super which is SPR and then I added a final B for SPR-B. Very easy to remember and saved me tons of strokes!

Steno briefs for dictionary building

My latest additions:

THE RESPONDENT:   R*PD

THE PETITIONER:  P*EGS

UNDERLYING   URPBLD

SURREPLY   SPHREU

New Briefs 6.20.13

black and white  PWHRABGT

7-Eleven   S*EFPBL

primarily   PRAERL

Route   RAOUT/RAOUT  (route with a capped R)

with all of the  WAUFLT

with all of   WAUF

with a lot   WAEULT

with a lot of the   WAEUFLTD

New steno briefs for speed building

Here are today's new briefs.  These were very helpful for me yesterday.

Compensate  KPEFPBT

Compensated  KPEFPBTD

Compensating   KPEFPBG

Compensates    KPEFPBTS

Protocol   PROEBGT

guilty beyond a reasonable doubt  KWRA*RGD

New briefs for today, Dictionary Building

I transcribe 2 business meetings every month for a particular client. There are multiple speakers but there is one speaker in particular who constantly uses the same phrases over and over.  You know the type. There's nothing wrong with that but it's wonderful to have a brief for those phrases. Here are mine:

with that being said,  W-BS or THABS

so, with that being said,   SWABS

with regard to  TWRARDZ  (embedded T for to) or:

with regard to  TWR-RD

with regards   WR-RDZ

with regards to   TWR-RDZ

I needed a brief for the abbreviation for number for marking exhibits:

No.  TPH*UPL

I also discovered that I didn't have a one stroke brief for Peace Corps.  Now I do:

Peace Corps  PA*EBGS

I needed a one stroke brief for Department with a capital D:

Department   TK*PLT

So, with that being said, that's all my briefs for today. 

Some steno briefs

In the course of my work I make new steno briefs nearly every day. I'm going to start sharing them here in the hopes it will help some one you. Please feel free to add your own in the comments section.
Most of these are briefs concerning health care. Some of them are quite common, others are not, depending on the work you do. These are common for me at least.

United Health Care  AO*UBG

Health Care Reform  H-RPL

Affordable Health Care  TPO-RBL

Health Service System  H*FS

Health Service Board   H-FPB  or  H-FB

Celestial Circus

Come and check out the Celestial Circus blog and become a follower. It's an awesome site.

http://celestial-circus.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2010-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&updated-max=2011-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&max-results=4

Candle Doily

Here is my latest doily that I designed. You are free to use the pattern for yourself or to make gifts, or to sell those gifts but please don't try to sell the pattern. Thank you!

CANDLE DOILY

by Kim Clay

I used size 3 thread and a size 5 hook to crochet the body of the doily. I wanted to use a thicker thread with the idea of putting a candle on the doily and having the thickness of the doily protect the surface from the heat of the candle.

For the edging I used a size 20 thread for the light lacy look of it. It worked out well using 2 different size threads for a doily.

1. Ch 6, join.

2. Ch 4, dc in ring (dc, ch 1) around.

3. Sl st in ch 1 sp, (ch 5, sc in ch 1 sp) around.

4. Sl st in ch 5 lp (sc, dc, tr, dc, sc in ch 5 lp) around.

5. Sl st to top of petal, ch 10, dc in top of nxt petal (ch 7, dc in top of nxt petal) around, join in 3rd ch of beg ch 10.

6. Ch 12, dc in nxt dc, (ch 9, dc in nxt dc) around, sl st in 3rd ch of beg ch 12.

7. (ch 6, dc 2 previous rows tog, ch 6, sc in dc) around. Join with sl st in base of first ch.

8. (sc, hdc, dc, tr, dc, hdc, sc) in each loop around. Join. Fasten off.

9. String 20 beads onto thread. Attach new color thread (with beads) to top of petal with a sl st (Ch 4, add bead, ch 4, sc in the top of next petal) around. Join, fasten off.

I would love to hear your comments if you make this. Let me know if you find any errors.

Also feel free to share your photos.

Stenomaster/Magnum Steno Update

To answer a few emails at the same time here is an update on my studies. I finished learning my theory in August. What a thrill. I'm working on building my speed now.

I've gotten as high as 120 so far. When I go back down in speed the lower speeds seem so easy now. :D

I study at the library several times per week or more if I can get away. My best study times are at the library and also early in the morning while the house is still quiet, the dog isn't begging for treats (yet) and the coffee is brewing. Love that first cup! It's the best.

I use my CD drills from courtreportinghelp.com They are so good. I recommend you check out their website. You can try out some lessons for free. That is what sold me. And they are not expensive.

I review, review, review my theory. When I get tired of all of this I put on some music (slow music) and try to keep up while transcribing it. I started out with some slow tunes by Pasty Cline and now I'm using Beatles music, some Wille Nelson, Queen, James Taylor, just a nice mix to keep me interested and wanting to practice some more.

I hope to some day soon be good enough to sign up for the lessons at Mark Kislingbury's Magnumsteno.com

Please stop by there if you get a chance. Mark is the man.

Thanks to everyone who writes to me about this wonderful and fun craft. I love it. Keep those letters coming as I love to hear from everyone as it keeps me motivated.

Kim

Stenomaster Update

I've been asked by a few of you for an update on my StenoMaster studies. For those that don't know me, I'm a student studying Mark Kislingbury's StenoMaster Theory. (Now called Magnum Steno)

Since there is not a school near me or online that uses this theory I have little choice but to learn it on my own. Mark has been very helpful to me answering any questions I may have.

I'm happy to report that I'm now on chapter 29 of 33 chapters! This chapter is called 1800+ Common Words that are not obivious to write! There are 22 pages in this chapter and I'm on the 6th page.

I don't worry about how long it will take me to get through it. I just chip away at learning each page, a little each day. I also study past chapters to keep everything fresh in my mind. And I have recently begun to practice basic sentences and phrases using a Magic Drill CD which can be found at courtreportinghelp.com. They also have free drills that you can download and try out. If you do that I'm sure you will be buying their CD's. They're awesome!

When studying court reporting you have to find the theory that works best for you and then throw yourself into learning and studying that theory with all of your heart. I recommend the StenoMaster Theory a.k.a. Magnum Steno because it teaches you to write short which means less strokes which equals faster speed. It just makes sense!

No matter what theory you decide to study you will do yourself a service if you stop by CSR Nation and join the Magnum Steno Fan Club. You will find a lot of talk about the theory, briefs and tips galore. You will find Mark there as well as he is always willing to help his fellow reporters with his wisdom and advice.

Leave a comment here if you have any questions. I'll be glad to help you!

Update on the Stenomaster Theory

I made to Chapter 21! Yeah! These last 2 chapters have been the most challenging so far. All in all I'd say that learning this theory has been easy for the most part.

It is so well written and has clear cut instructions making learning a breeze.
Don't get me wrong, it's very hard work. But if it's fair to say that this work is fun then that's what I have to say. I am really enjoying it.

I peeked ahead to the next chapter and it's all about numbers. I look forward to the next challenge.

March Scarf of the Month

Here is the link for the March scarf of the month. This scarf looks very interesting. I like the look of it. I'm thinking.....Christmas presents! It's never too early to get started. Here's the link:

http://www.crochetme.com/baby-it-s-cowled-outside

This scarf is really cool. It is a scarf without ends. No dangling ends. No scarf getting unwound and you having to wrap it around your neck again and again. And it looks very classy.

The Stenomaster Theory ~ Since you asked!

I've been getting emails asking about my progress on the Stenomaster Theory. I'm happy to report that I'm on Lesson 16 now! I breezed through the previous lesson. For some reason it just all clicked right away. Lesson 16 doesn't look so bad at a glance. I'm really happy about my progress. If you have any questions you can make a comment below and I'll get back to you.

February Crochet Scarf of the Month

Here is the link to the crochet scarf of the month for February. I made an afghan similar to this pattern for Kristen (my DD) and it was not hard to do. I copied the picture from the website to here. But you have to go to the site to get the pattern. ;D

The Stenomaster Theory a.k.a. Magnum Steno

When I first decided to learn court reporting it was from an ad I saw in the paper advertising for a local school. Since I had stenography in high school and I really liked it I thought that maybe this is for me. I went to an open house that was held at a local court reporting school to try and get an idea of what this was all about. When I returned home I looked up everything I could on the internet.

I found out that there was a thing called "theories". Which one was the best? I found the depoman and cheap and sleazy sites that gave me a wealth of information. I highly recommend you go to these sites to find out all that you can about this wonderful job of court reporting.

I also found out that the brick and mortar schools have a high drop out rate of 90%. I don't intend to drop out of anything that I start but this figure of 90% is quite scary! So I decided that I need to find out which theory is the best, which steno machine is the best, how best to study, etc. If you look up anything on the internet about court reporting you cannot miss a fellow by the name of Mark Kislingbury. His name is everywhere because he is the National Speed Champion many times over. As Glen Warner says at Cheap and Sleazy, "If you haven't heard of Mark Kislingbury, you must be living under a rock."

I decided to find out all that I could about Mark and find out what it is that he is doing to be a speed champion over and over.

I found out that he has a theory he developed called the Stenomaster Theory which is now called Magnum Steno. The idea behind his theory is that you learn to write short. The shorter you can stroke a word or phrase the faster you can write it.

Mark's book will show you all of his secrets to writing short. He also has many quotes in his book to inspire you and encourage you to continue with your studies.

The book begins with an introduction to the Stenomaster Theory and getting to know your keyboard and includes all of the lessons needed to learn Mark's theory, 1800+ most common words, reference tables and also includes information you need to know to become a court reporter! It's all here in this fabulous spiral bound edition that has a laminated cover to keep your book in pristine condition.

Please go to Mark's website at Magnum Steno. There you will find a phone number and an email where you can not only order this book, but you can read about "writing short", find out about upcoming events and read the testimonials and decide for yourself.

Here is a great interview with Mark at the Stenolife website. It will answer a lot of your questions:

http://www.stenolife.com/markk.htm

I'm learning this theory at home on my own. I'm currently on lesson 12. I don't move to the next lesson until I'm completly at ease with the current lesson and I can stroke the words and phrases without hesistation. To learn at home you must commit yourself to this project. I love studying this theory so it is easy for me to make time for it.

There is a book that goes along with this book. If you are a student this would be the next step in your studies. It is called Magnum Steno. I haven't purchased this book yet but I'm getting ready to soon. You can go the NCRA website to read a review and explanation of this book.

Basically it says that "The Stenomaster book was designed for students to learn the theory and this Magnum Steno is for those already writing and would like a faster way to write words and phrases."

But please go to the NCRA link to read the whole review for yourself.

Please be sure to order any of Mark's books through Magnum Steno which is the offical website of Mark Kislingbury.

January Scarf of the Month

I've updated my January scarf of the month posting:

http://bookreviewstoday.blogspot.com/2008/12/crochet-scarf-of-month.html#links

My butterfly Award

Thank you to Kelly at Enroute To Life for this awesome blog award! I'm so excited to receive such an honor. :D:D:D

Please visit Kelly's blog. It rocks and is lots of fun.