26 Paychecks

Annette , here is my completed task. I've sent the emails, and below is a copy of those texts.

This was a big task for me, and I have endeavored to give you a thorough rendering of it.

Blessings,

Jay O'Toole

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1. Review of Humming Bird 's Portfolio:

Humming Bird, I am sending you this review to accomplish the current task for the group, 26 Paychecks. I'm glad to have the privilege of learning more about a member of our group.

You have a portfolio, that is enjoyable to look at. I especially like the name, Humming Bird, and the picture of the hummingbird. These are some of my favorite birds, too.

I see that you have been a member of Writing.Com, since 2005. Since your description says, that you are in your early 30s, and you will be celebrating 21 years in this wonderful writing group in August, then my math tells me you would have been in the middle grades of seventh or eighth (as we number them in the States) or maybe in the first years of high school when you started, here. That is quite a commitment, and I'm sure you have learned a great deal of English on WDC, which makes you rather fluent, even if English is a second language.

I used to be an ESL teacher with students in China, and even one in Singapore.

"Blessings," "bright side of life," and you "love...challenges" mean, that you have a healthy perspective on life. Congratulations for that.

I see, that your Review Requests are on, and by perusing some of your given reviews you review style is short, to the point, and mostly submitted to the group, Good Deeds Get CASH!

Your Biography page tells me, that you are from Bangladesh (as did your Portfolio's opening page). Your hometown is Dahka. You were born in 1986, which tells me I can amend my first assumption, that you were still in the elementary grades when you started at WDC to my corrected belief, that you were 19 when you began, and are presently approaching 40. You will be 40 in April of this year, which is three months away. May I be the first to wish you a very Happy Birthday on this most unique and important milestone in life.

Congratulations on the tenacity I see in your About Me heading. You appreciate classic authors, like Charlotte Bronte & Charles Dickens. You love family, music, and painting in addition to writing. Excellent. I, too, enjoy working with acrylic paints.

You have a very good notebook, which is full of many announcements you have made about your many creations as well as the well-wishes received about your birthdays and WDC Anniversaries. This page is well-stocked with great things.

Your blog is quite nice-looking. I especially like the Logo picture of the ballet angel with the words, "What a Wonderful World!" Indeed, that applies the world in general as well as the world of your blog. Kiyasama does good work. This is a beautiful banner.

You have many good blog entries, and I see, that you have quite the affinity for

FORUM

The Bard's Hall Contest  (13+) MARCH PROMPT: Children's Story! #981150 by StephBee

Your entry, "Destruction Versus Construction" is quite sobering. I am sorry for the pain of your "partial paralysis." I hope the massages help you very much. My wife gets massages most weeks because she is a hair stylist, and her muscles get very tired.

You have three native languages of Bengali, Hindi, and Urdu. I am confident, that you are quite fluent in English with more than 20 years of Writing.Com to your credit. Excellent to know about your linguistic skills.

I am fluent in Basic American English, but the many dialects of this give me challenges. My ESL students would often ask, "Can you teach me to speak like a native speaker?" In my mind I would chuckle, I'm not sure I know how to speak, like a native speaker. Change region and we change the language quite a bit. I, also, speak Spanish, but I am not as fluent as I would like to be.

You have a great blog!

Your Community Page is filled with many colorful Merit Badges, 360 community recognitions, and very close to 2000 Public Reviews Given.

Thank you, Humming Bird, for the privilege of walking through your portfolio to read, peruse, and review.

You have spent your time well, during these years so far as a member of Writing.Com.

Sincerely,




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2. Review of KingsSideCastle 's Portfolio:

KingsSideCastle, I'm sending you this review to accomplish the current task for the group, 26 Paychecks. I'm glad to have the privilege of learning more about a member of our group.

I see where you've done some cleaning on this Portfolio to make it more usable. That's a good thing. Maybe I should do more of that on mine, too. Thanks for the suggestion.

"Use it sparingly guys." Taking this sentence from your description, I was left wondering, "Is this a confession or an admonition? Do you use your portfolio sparingly? Or are you requesting/urging others to use your portfolio sparingly? I suppose both could be important because with your email account displayed, you seem to be interested in doing much of your writing/communicating off-site.

Your Review Requests are set to the ON position. That's a good thing. You do seem willing to review the works of many other writers. Commendable. However, there is no description or explanation of writing style on this page.

Your Public Reviews range from quite lengthy to single sentences. The shorter reviews seem to follow the principle, "Less is more" because they seem to be short and accurate. Thank you for being encouraging in your reviews.

I see that you've not set up your Biography Page, yet. It's true, "Privacy is often a comforting blanket when one is online."

Your Notebook is very active. I see you giving away a lot of Trinkets, while receiving many well wishes from other WDC members, regarding your WDC Anniversaries. That's good to see. Wonderful activity between you and others on the site.

Your Blog has some interesting entries. You like chess. I do, too. My dad taught me to play when I was a child.

Your Blog states its purpose as "to organize my thoughts, storyboard ideas and conserve portfolio space." Excellent! These are all worthy goals.

The blog posts I've seen appear to all be in response to various groups' writing prompts. Putting these in a blog is definitely a space wise idea, considering how much space separate static items can use. Great choice!

Your Community Tab is filled with many colorful merit badges, and awardicons. You have 779 Community Recognitions, and 632 Public Reviews Given.

Congratulations! You are quite active in the community, and it shows.

I appreciate the privilege of walking through your Portfolio to read, review, and complete this activity for 26 Paychecks.

Sincerely,




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3. Review of Jeremy 's Portfolio:

Jeromee, I'm sending you this review to accomplish the current task for the group, 26 Paychecks. I'm glad to have the privilege of learning more about a member of our group.

Jeromee, I see from your Portfolio Tab, that you are an artist, who believes in Minimalism. "Stories matter. Tell yours. (Heart)" That is definitely succinct, and filled with meaning. From your profile pic you must be youthful at heart from the looks of the hoodie, your brunette hair is well-combed, hazel eyes, pearly white teeth, and your face has no wrinkles. What's your secret?

This portfolio is filled with community activities, but so far, I have found few of your own creations. I would assume that means you are others-oriented.

Your Review Requests button is marked ON. That's a good sign. The reviews shown on this page are quite colorful, and use unique fonts and colors. From what I've read so far, you are quite thorough, while being "helpful and uplifting" as advertised.

Thanks for sharing your Biography. Born November 4, you live in the suburbs of Chicago. Winter must be filled with snow, especially this year. I even had some snow last night down in Georgia.

It's nice to know, that writing is not just a hobby for you. Writing may be considered threads woven throughout your life. Excellent! You've been writing long-form prose, since age 14. Now, that is a long-term commitment.

Your interests, like creative writing and travel, and your favorite genres, science fiction and fantasy no doubt provide a wealth of material for your stories.

Jeromee, you have quite an active notebook, and thank you for the early Myspace photo. Your profile pic is quite accurate, even if in cartoon (animated) form. As with the other pages of your portfolio, this one is filled with color, which certainly draws the eyes into the page to read it.

Your blog is filled with pithy sayings, and intriguing scenarios. Your way with words shows, that you have been writing for quite awhile. I'm not sure I've seen a blog quite like yours. "It's essentially an idea journal." I heartily agree.

With nearly 300 reviews given, and over 2000 forum posts, you are certainly active in the WDC Community. Once again, this page is filled a lot of color, and interesting things to see. Snaps on "A gentleman's hat that's full of ideas" Portfolio Award. I'd say that sums up your skill as a writer in specific as well as your Portfolio overall.

Great Portfolio, Jeromee! WRITE ON!