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.

Crochet Scarf of the Month

Happy 2009!!! I hope you all have a blessed New Year. I'm starting this year off with a crochet project. Every month I'm going to make a scarf. Some I will keep or use for gifts and some will be donated to charity. If you love to crochet then join me for this fun project.

The January project is is called Easy Lacy Shells and can be found here. It's a very pretty skinny scarf. The designer of this pattern is Sandi Marshall and she has some wonderful patterns whether you are a beginner or an experienced fiber artist.

I'm making mine from some yarn I have in my stash that is a mixture of earthy colors. I'll be posting my photo soon. Send me your photo and I'll post it here on my blog. Happy crocheting!

Update:

I finished my skinny scarf! (Modeled by my DD) It worked up really fast. I'm thinking of making another one since this one was (pardon the pun) scarfed up by my sister. hee hee

I think my next one will be another version of the Easy Lacy Shells listed above called, Easy Lacy Double Shells .

Now...where's my hook.

UPDATE:

I finished my second scarf . This one is called Easy Lacy Double Shells which is basically the same as the first skinny scarf but doubled.

I've already picked out the scarf for February. Check back on the 1st for the new pattern.

Magnum Steno

I haven't posted much this week because I've been so busy. I've been studying my theory mostly. My goal is to type 50 pages a day of practice drills. Magnum Steno a.k.a. Steno Master is the theory I'm working on. I just need to build some speed to get through lesson 9.

After I reach my goal for the day I mess around a bit by listening to the radio and picking out any words or sentences I know.

Sometimes figure out some new words on my own based on what I know of the alphabet and vowel sounds.

Can you guess what this says?

It says: Kim's book reviews and more

It's a whole new and different language. I have to admit that I love learning to write steno. I love my lightspeed writer and I truly enjoy learning this craft.

I hope to begin lesson 10 soon.

If anyone would like their blog title or their name turned into steno just leave a comment and I'll make it for you. ;D