Everyone thinks they can write. We are all taught to do it in school from our earliest years. We write shopping lists, essays, thank you notes to Grandma, love letters, letters home from war, term papers, Christmas letters. We all write.

A few people dream of transcending all that ordinary writing into art, and even fewer achieve that.

But turn the question around into any of the other arts. Theater. Ceramics. Oil painting. Wood carving. Music. Singing. Composing. Pen and ink drawing. Ask the question, "How can I tell if my (ceramics, paintings, compositions) are any good?"

There is a huge, tangible difference between Uncle Pete who plays the fiddle now and then, and any musician who actually makes a living at their craft. And I'm not even talking Itzak Perlman, just anyone good enough to pay the bills and not starve. They're not just good, they're damn good. You and I know they're a world away from Uncle Pete. They have poured every ounce of their lives into that craft, practiced, taken lessons, played alone and in groups, for most of their lives before they get good enough to make money.

Somehow, many writers, perhaps this LW, think they can skip all that. They write some essays, they fill up a journal, then ask the equivalent question of "Why can't I play in Carnegie Hall?" A much more appropriate question to ask is, "Is my writing good enough that anyone, anywhere, would pay for it?"

If it's not, you start that slow progress that any musician would do. Lessons. Scales. Etudes. Years and years of practice. Reams, reams, and reams of words that no one will see. Get a copy of Stephen King's "On Writing," better yet, get the book on CD (King narrates it himself), and listen to the first half. He describes his own development as a writer, where he essentially spent decades teaching himself to write before he published anything. I'm not a King fan, but his "On Writing" is excellent.

Hire an editor if you can afford one. Join a critique group. Take cheap writing classes at your local community college. Read, read, and read. Turn off the TV. Immerse yourself in the world of writers and writing, like a pianist would immerse him or herself into the world of music.

If you want it that bad, you will learn the craft.

I'm a freelancer. I work at home. I chose this, and some days I wish I had an office to go to, just to get out of the house! So my kids see their mom hard at work every day.

My husband is a nurse. Can't bring kids. They could visit for 5 minutes on a break, but aren't even allowed in the part of the hospital where he works. No can do.

The countries listed at the end of this piece, in Western Europe, New Zealand, Australia, and so on, all have nationalized health systems. Everyone has access to at least some health care. It's a well-known problem that poor and low-middle income people don't have access to adequate health care, or money to pay for expensive prescriptions. The British have better lifelong overall health as a population than the US does, even without the same level of high-tech medical machinery that we have.

We have the best health care in the world, for people who can afford to use it.

Target started producing wedding dresses a couple years back, for about $200. Decent, classic, not a lot of frills. I remember thinking they looked fine. There's nothing wrong with a $200 dress! Go Target.

(My wedding dress was homemade. Thanks mom.)

We're in the process of putting in commuter rail (in addition to the region's existing light rail system). This is a train line from suburb to suburb (Beaverton in the north-west metro area to Wilsonville in the south), along existing tracks which have to be upgraded. The point is to avoid putting extra lanes in an already overcrowded freeway system with nowhere left to expand.

Of course the naysayers think the whole plan is nuts. Who is going to ride it. People just want to drive. It's not convenient. Yadda yadda yadda... No one was planning on $4+ per gallon and rising gas numbers when they planned this a few years ago. If this really is the end of cheap oil, and the costs will continue to go up and up, this rail line is going to look smarter every day.

One of the superdelegates in my state wrote an editorial in the local paper... she's not declaring until after the state votes. Which hasn't happened yet. I think she's right, and has the right attitude. Let's see how the whole state goes, then decide.

So... sorry Howard Dean. There are a few states out here that have yet to have an election, and we deserve to have one. I specifically do not want a superdelegate from my state just picking their own personal favorite without seeing the will of the people first. Yes, she has the right to make up her own mind. I appreciate that she's taking the state's vote into account.