Borders Book Signing

Author and Childrens Motivational Speaker Dane Reid Makes his first appearance this year at a book signing at Borders Books in the Buckhead area of Atlanta. This is a great time to bring your kids out to meet the author of the childrens title “Dana The Procrastinator.” The event happens Saturday February 27, 2010 between 2-4 p.m. at 1745 Peachtree Street Northeast, Atlanta. For information call (404) 810-9004

Symptoms Of Summer Fever And The Common Cure

Procrastination Quote of The Week:
The sooner I fall behind, the more time I have to catch up. ~Author Unknown

Summer Fever
Its the kind of sickness that makes you feel good. It makes you feels so good that you can't get any work done. This is called summer fever. Although it is not a real illness, it seems to be spreading faster than other reported outbreaks in America. Even I have been infected by this beautiful weather and renewed sense of fun in life. The summer is a great time to do a lot of things that you were too cold to do in the winter. Who wants to see a baseball game or go swimming at the pool in 30 degree weather? But with all the picnics and vacations, and lounging around drinking iced tea, its hard to remember all that you have learned over the coarse of the school year. In fact over the summer break, you can forget up to 80% of what you learned in the past 180 days of classes.
So the best way to keep your mind sharp is to read. Over the summer, you will spend hours traveling in cars and planes to get to your destinations. While someone else is driving, pick up a great book. For those of you who aren't going anywhere, reading is a great way to get away without going through airport security. Plus when you read, you never have to ask your parents "Are we there yet?" Reading helps to improve your memory and to teach you new fun stuff that you never knew before. This summer, find things that you like to read.

Dana The Procrastinator Book Signing At Barnes & Noble Fayetteville
Thanks to everyone who came out and supported my book signing at the Barnes & Noble in Fayetteville, Georgia. The in store storytelling and signing went extremely well. It was a near sellout at the conclusion of the event. Look out for the next "Dana The Procrastinator" storytime and book signing at Barnes & Noble at Edgewood in Atlanta, Ga. on July 11, 2009 at 11 AM. See you there.

School Is Out
For some schools around the country, summer vacation has already started. Congratulations to all of the 5th graders moving on to middle school. A special congratulations to the teachers and school staff for another great year. For those of you who still have a few more weeks in school, please continue to work hard to cross the finish line.

Write Whatever YOU Want!

Procrastination Quote of The Week:
Nothing is so fatiguing as the eternal hanging on of an uncompleted task. ~William James

Writing Should Be Fun

Most of the time you write only because you have to. You are given an assignment and told to write about the topic that you are given. That’s never any fun. Who want to write about what the teacher thought about? After doing this over and over and over again, writing starts to be a chore. Well it doesn’t have to be. I started writing for fun when I was 7 years old. It was at the same time that I got a T.V. in my room and watched a lot of Transformers, He-Man and G.I. Joe. When the shows went off and I was left with my favorite action figures, I used to continue the stories that I watched on T.V. by acting them out with my toys. I did this all the time. But sometimes I would think of stories and I was nowhere near my toys to act them out. That’s how I started writing my ideas down. I would think of a story that I wanted the Transformers to do and I would write it down in a composite notebook. It was even better than the T.V. shows because I could let He-Man team up with the Autobots to defeat Skeletor and the Decepticons. Such a combination never happened in real T.V.shows. Later when the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles came along I put them in my stories too. Writing became fun because I could make up things that would never happen and put it on paper. You don’t just have to write stories. One of my classmates used to draw and write his own comics. Some of the other kids used to write rap songs and others wrote poems. You can also write letters and emails to friends or a book of jokes. Writing has become for me a way to get out all of the crazy ideas that I have in my head. Plus, the more you write for fun, the easier it is to write when your teacher wants you to write something that she thinks of.

Storytime and Book Signing

Dane Reid, the author of the book “Dana The Procrastinator”, a story of a boy whose chronic procrastination causes him to miss out on his own surprise birthday party, makes his visit to the Barnes & Noble at Fayetteville Pavillion. Dane Reid will appear for storytime, interactive discussion, Q & A and book signing at the south Metro Atlanta bookstore. Dane Reid’s in store appearance takes place on Saturday, May 9th at Barnes & Noble at Fayetteville Pavillion, 1415 Highway 85 North, Suite 200 Fayetteville, GA 30214 at 11:oo A.M.. For more information on “Dana The Procrastinator” logon to www.KidsReid.com and watch the book trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2tuvdwvIH0.

To obtain information about this event contact J.C. Barb at (770) 716-2593

Author Dane Reid Goes To England

Procrastination Quote of The Week- There are a million ways to lose a work day, but not even a single way to get one back. ~Tom DeMarco and Timothy Lister

Author Dane Reid Goes To England
Just weeks after the Obamas’ visited England, I decided to make my own trip to the Royal Country. I found it so fascinating. One of my favorite things to do in life is to travel and this was my first trip to England. The culture is very different from America’s. The English drive on the left side of the road so I had to look right first before crossing the street. The roads are very small there and gas is really expensive so the English drive very small cars. Many of those cars are not sold in America. Also measurements are different there. Instead of using gallons, they use liters and pints. The people of the UK are very hospitable. I visited a town called Ipswich and also London. While in London, I saw Big Ben and Buckingham Palace. Unfortunately, I didn’t spend a lot of time in London, but if time permits, I will go back one day.

Trivia Question: London is 5 hours ahead of New York. My flight left London at 8:30 AM London time and arrived in New York at 11:00 AM New York time. How long was the flight from London to New York?

Trivia Question 2: The English money is called Pounds. One Pound is equal to $1.50. While in England, I spent 120 Pounds on accommodations. How much is that equal to in dollars?

Congratulations to everyone who finished their yearly standardized test. Hope you all did great!

Taking The Test

Procrastination Quote of The Week:
Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday. ~Don Marquis

Test Taking tips From Dana The Procrastinator
While some tests have no time limit, most tests do. So it is important that test takers use every second wisely. Start by making sure that you have all the right tools for the test like several of the right kinds of pencils and scratch paper if allowed. This is so that you won’t have to waste time by asking for extra paper or pencil during test time. You don’t want to have any distractions that will make you lose valuable time. Next, if you find yourself taking too long to answer a question, skip it, so that you can answer easier questions and come back to the harder one if time allows. And lastly, don’t allow procrastination tricks to eat away your time. Procrastination tricks are things like dropping or breaking your pencil or going to the bathroom during the test. Standardized test are too important for students not to give them their all. Stay focused and do your best.

Procrastination is the Thief Of Time

If you are like me you find yourself putting things off as long as possible. Sometimes getting started on tasks is almost painful. It means interrupting something you really want to do or it means putting thought into something that seems so hard. Even starting this blog entry was put off for a few days. But often when you get started it's not that hard. Still, getting started can be really difficult.
Often we set a time for when we will accomplish things for way in the future. So for instance, today as I type this blog, it is Thursday. Well I have to pack for a trip that I have on Tuesday. I guess I could wash all my clothes and pack on Monday, right? But what happens if I take today off to just sleep and watch T.V.? Then tomorrow, a friend calls me and says that there is a really fun concert going on. Saturday I have to go shopping for some things for my house. And Sunday is Easter, so we go to church and have family time all day. Well, I still have Monday. Or do I? OOPs!!! I forgot that I have a meeting with someone on Monday morning.... and I have to get my car checked out that afternoon..... and I promised a friend I would help him move after six on Monday. Oh No!!!
My Dad was right when he said procrastination was the thief of time. If I put it off, the one opportunity I have to plan and pack may be lost. Today is a pretty easy going day. Why don't I pack now so on Monday I have extra time just in case things come up. I don't want anyone or anything stealing my time!

To prevent this, make a plan and write your plan down on paper. Consider all of the things that you have to do and want to do before your deadlines. Deadlines are times when things have to get done. Then consider several things that might get in the way of you reaching your deadline. Sometime emergencies beyond your control can prevent you from doing what you have to do. That's why you should factor in time for even these unforeseen events. And lastly, when you find yourself with just a few minutes of extra time on your hands, go ahead and sneak in a little bit of what you have to do early.
Don't find yourself wishing you could get back time. Its true, Procrastination is the thief of time.