June 15, 2008

Her opinion counts

Chatbug Karen is an opinionated woman. She has something to say about everything. Do you want to know what’s right (or wrong) in pop culture? Karen will give you the scoop on movies, books, TV shows, games and music. Being a mature woman, she’s got enough mileage on her accumulated some wisdom over the years and honed her wit to razor sharpness, so it’s always interesting an informative to look at celebs from her viewpoint or to consult her opinion before you plop down your hard-earned bucks at the box office window. I enjoyed comparing our thoughts about American Idol during it’s most recent incarnation, and Karen is the one who finally got me interested in perhaps getting a Wii. I thought they were just kidstuff, but Karen’s post about family fun changed my mind, and her blog is where I found out that you can download games so that Wii has the stuff that really interests you instead of just the arcade and racing games they always show on their commercials. Maybe everyone else knew that, but I didn’t until Karen told me. Her blog is accurately called My Opinion Counts and it certainly does with me. I value her insight, and not just on the fun and frivolous stuff of life. As a small-business owner I really appreciate the stories she relates about the business she and her husband run. I’m still kind of new to it, so their years of experience operating a small business have taught me some things I would otherwise have had to learn by trial and error. Since I’m pretty much stuck on my little island, I also enjoy Karen’s travel reports. She’s a great resource for armchair travelers like me who don’t get out much. Her archives and categories are user-friendly, so when you find something you like it’s easy to find related posts.

A little criticism: Karen, is there a reason that your posts aren’t dated? I enjoy browsing through your blog, but it makes me crazy when I find an interesting news item you’ve referred to and I don’t know if it’s something that happened last week or last year. And about those news items: why no links? Some of the current events you provide commentary on are well known and I can make the connection, but some refer to stories that are new to me. I’d like to learn more about them, but never know where to start. How am I supposed to decide whether or not to steal your ideas if I don’t know where they come from, hm? Your story about con artists devouring neighborhoods is fascinating. I want to know more, but need a source, know what I mean? It’s not annoying enough to make me quit visiting your place - nothing could make me do that - but my visits might be enhanced if a little more information was provided. Some news sources like to link back to bloggers who mention them, so sending them some traffic them could bring some good karma your way, too.

Speaking of stealing content, Karen ran a hilarious but thought-provoking video a while back. I’ll paste it below so you can see. Well, no, wait - that would be so wrong! I want you to go visit her, so start with the video, then come back and tell me what you think about it. Take your time though. There’s a lot of good stuff over there that you’ll want to read. I’ll still be here when you get back. Go! Go see Karen!

Technorati Tags: blog reviews, blogs, reviews

June 4, 2008

Taking care of ta-tas!

When my aunt was first diagnosed with breast cancer back in the sixties there weren’t many options for treatment. She had double radical mastectomies which, in those days, frequently meant removal of massive amounts of non-breast tissue - muscles extending up into the shoulders, back and arms, for instance. She also had chemo and raditation treatments. She’s in her late sixties now and doing pretty well - she’s on a road trip this week to visit with one of my uncles and his family. When my mother got her diagnosis in the seventies, she didn’t want to lose her breasts. She did a lot of looking around and found a risky but promising research project that involved some new chemo drugs and two kinds of radiation treatment. She experienced a long remission following treatment, but lost her battle to breast cancer in 1988. We’ve come a long way since then. The “new” drug my mother recieved may very well be one that is contributing to the survival of many breast cancer patients today. Early detection is now a reality and most women in the US follow the now-standard recommendations for monthly self-exam, routine examinations by their doctors and mammograms every three years for younger women, every year for women over forty or in a higher risk category. Survival rates are up and increasing all the time. We still don’t have a cure, but we’re getting closer every day. It’s taken a lot of effort by a lot of people to get this far, but more is needed. Research, diagnostic procedures and treatment all carrry a hefty cost, and today I’m saluting some women bloggers who are helping to raise funds and awareness.

Colleen and Deb are both participating in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer this October in New York City. They’ve held fundraisers and collected donations amounting to about $1100 so far, and their walks are still a few months away. Each is committed to raising $1800, so they still need some help. You can support Collen’s efforts by going to her Avon Walk for Breast Cancer site and clicking on the donation button. When you’re done there, you can contribute to Deb’s walk with a single click, too. See how easy that is!

Laurie will be particiapating in the Dallas/Fort Worth area Susan G.Koman Breast Cancer 3-Day in November. A donation from you can be a part of helping Laurie’s walk. She’s already raised almost half of the $3000 she’s determined to generate in contributions.

Don’t have any money in your pocket right now? These women are holding bake sales and garage sales, selling merchandise and staging other events in addition to the walks they’ll be taking. These are things everyone can do in order to help raise funds. Summer’s coming and you’ll be needing things for the kids to do. Why not a joint family project dedicated to raising money to fight this terrible disease? You can make your donations in memory of someone you’ve lost, in honor of a survivor or even in gratitude for your own healthy breasts. Many people believe that we can find a cure for breast cancer in our lifetimes. I believe it. I don’t have a lot of money, but I’ll be having a garage sale soon. I’ve already sent Colleen, Laurie and Deb each a contribution from the money I expect to earn from clearing away the clutter. I’m not just talking to the women here, either. Men, you all love breasts, and you’ve all got a pair of your own (yes, you can get breast cancer, too.) I hope some of you will consider making your own contribution in whatever way works best for you. The ta-tas you save may be your own!

A big mahalo to Corrin, who won a linky-love review playing Tuesday Teasers. She asked me to use it this way instead of doing another review of her blog. Oh, hey, Corrin - you da bes!

Technorati Tags: Avon Walk for Breast Cancer, breast cancer, charities, fundraisers, Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer 3-Day

May 20, 2008

Jenn Cooks some more!

My pal Jenn is still hanging out in the kitchen and she’s still cooking. She’s gotten quite bold for a gal who couldn’t even make a decent grilled cheese sandwich last fall. I mean really - Miracle Whip on a grilled cheese? Blasphemy! I can forgive that travesty, though, because Jenn’s coming up with some pretty good stuff these days, and you know I’m all about good stuff. Her Monday’s Menu features whatever she’s eating or making on Mondays. No Hamburger Helper for our Jenn! She posted a wonderful Chili Mac recipe that makes it so much better than the junk that comes in a box. She’s as fond of chocolate and peanut butter as I am and has shared several tasty recipes that feature the two in combination. I’m not sure how I missed her Peanut Butter Fingers a while back, but I found them while I was researching this post and just had to copy the recipe.

That’s a peanut butter, brown sugar and oatmeal cookie bar, covered lusciously with chocolate and a peanut butter glaze. I’ll be picking up the ingredients next time I go to the store. Follow the Peanut Butter Finger link above for the full recipe. You’re going to want to try them, too!

Jenn’s become a sophisticated cook in just a few short months. Jenn Cooks is full of main dishes, desserts, quick meals, tips and lovely kitchen toys. Check her out. Be prepared, though. You’ll be saving and trying quite a few of her delicious dishes!

Photo byJenn (froggybluesock)

Technorati Tags: blogs, food, food blogs, recipes

April 15, 2008

TV Tuesdays #1

Ou gal Sarafina over at Speaking My Mind has started a new weekly meme called TV Tuesdays. I don’t usually do TV things online because they expect you to know all kinds of trivia, which I don’t. This meme is a little different and you don’t have to know stuff to play, so give it a shot. Write a blog post answering the questions below and then link your post to the comments for the meme over at Sarafina’s place. My answers are below. Now it’s your turn. Come play!

1. What TV provider do you use? (ex: Time Warner, Dish, Direct TV)

Oceanic Time -Warner

2. What’s your go-to channel when nothing else is on?

Bravo! There’s almost always something fun on, though I do wish they’d drop those prissy housewife shows.

3. What’s your favorite game show (current or past)?

I don’t really watch game shows anymore, but Jeopardy has always been a favorite.

This is not a private party where you need birthday invitations to join in the fun. Anyone can play, so take your best shot!

Technorati Tags: meme, television, TV

March 10, 2008

Another visit with Puss Reboots

The first thing you need to know about my friend Sarah at Puss Reboots is that she likes to give stuff away. Not just any stuff. Sarah like to give away books. Look for a sticky post when you open her blog and you’ll see her ongoing giveaways, along with links so you can enter. She’s got four books to give away right now. Go comment on her posts about the giveways and you’ll be entered to win.

Sarah loves books. A lot. Most of her blog is dedicated to book reviews. I don’t think she ever met a genre she doesn’t like. She gives as much weight (and blog space) to the books she reads with her kids as she does adult literature, so she’s a great source if you want to get a feel for books you are considering sharing with your own kids. She likes quirky characters in books, too. She mentions one who was a favorite of my sister’s when we were kids (still is.) I’m guessing you can probably figure out who that is. Sarah’s recently published proof positive that her love of literature is being perpetuated in her offspring. Her son, Sean, has published his first book, The Kirby Went to the Beach. His little sis Harriet is equally precocious and has been showing off her conversational skills. Her first best-seller can’t be far behind!

Understanding how your visitors find you is one way to increase traffic to your blog. I did a post about that recently when I discovered that a lot of my traffic comes from misdirected search results. Sarah has a better batting average. I know this because on Fridays she features recent search results that have sent people to Puss Reboots. I need to study her SEO tactics, because she seems to be doing a much better job than I do when it comes to getting search results for actual content. People who land at Sarah’s place after doing a search are finding just what they’re looking for. You probably will, too. Check her out and you’ll see what I mean.

Technorati Tags: blog review, blogs, Puss Reboots

February 26, 2008

Jenn Cooks

It’s hard to believe, but just a few months ago my friend Jenn confessed that she can’t cook. Nah, it wasn’t hard to believe that she couldn’t cook then - people aren’t born knowing how to saute and braise, after all. What’s hard to believe is that that was just a few months ago. See, Jenn is a pretty determined gal, and she made up her mind that she was going to learn how to fend for herself in the kitchen. She started Jenn Cooks less than six months ago, inviting us to share her learning-to-cook experience. The progress she’s made in that short time is what’s so amazing.

One of the earliest recipes she shared was for The Best Lasagna Ever. Now, I don’t know about you, but if I were advising a new-ish cook, lasagna would not be near the top of my list for recipes to try. I haven’t made a lasagna myself in quite a few years, just because it’s so complicated. Jenn didn’t ask for my advice though and that’s a good thing. She served up a successful lasagna (well, it had a few problems, but was successful by the time it got to the table) and got some well-earned compliments. Don’t listen to old fogies who say “you can’t, Jenn.” They’d be wrong. You can!

She’s mastered quite a few recipes since those early days, including a White Chicken Parmesan and a Turtle Pumpkin Pie, both of which I plan on trying out in my own kitchen sometime soon. She’s got more than just recipes on her blog, though. I really enjoy her bento posts. Bentos are a part of everyday life in Hawaii and have become trendy on the mainland in recent years. Don’t let the trendiness fool you - they’re a fun and practical way to pack and transport meals. Jenn has a cute collection of bento boxes and has some fun putting together creative lunches for work.

Go visit Jenn. You’ll find some great recipes, a few that didn’t work out so well, and a gal who knows how to have fun with food. If you have a recipe you think she should try, submit it to her Recipe Challenge and she just might take you up on it!

Technorati Tags: blogs, cookings, food, recipes

February 13, 2008

Footprints on the Moon

Footprints on the Moon is my friend Jennifer’s personal blog. She writes with a natural, conversational voice, so it feels like sitting down with a friend and catching up with her life each time I visit. We actually do visit with each other a lot. She and I both participate in Self Portrait Sundays most weeks and, of course, she plays Tuesday Teasers. She’s been my winner twice recently, so I’ll be reviewing one of her other blogs soon (I’m thinking her cooking blog.)

Jennifer is a strong-willed and opinionated working gal. She’s front desk receptionist/security for a large firm. If she had her way (and didn’t need her job) she’d kick a little butt and take a few names. Since she can’t do that, she’s opted instead to share an Open Letter to All Employees that anyone who’s ever worked a front desk will appreciate. Having done so in a past life, I’d love to have had her way with words back in those days:

1. Having a degree does not make you smart. Nor does it entitle you to anything. It simply makes you more educated.
2. The receptionist is not your personal secretary. If the company did not see fit to supply you with a secretary, this is likely because you are not important enough. You get to make your own phone calls, and pages, and I will not do them for you. This is especially true if YOU are someone else’s secretary. Doing your job is not in my job description.

Read the whole list. It just gets better and better. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry and you’ll know exactly who you’d love to send it to!

When she’s not at work Jennifer diplays her girly-girl side. Cats and babies play a big role in her life. She’s got a super-soft spot for her nephew Killian. He’s over-the-top adorable, just had his first birthday and makes frequent guest appearances on his auntie’s blog. He’s been training her so she’ll be a great mom when she has kids of her own. She’s still looking for the man who will play a vital role in that scenario, but her life is so full and busy she probably doesn’t have much time for him these days. She’ll make time for you if you go visit her, though. Make sure you leave her a comment when you get there. Tell her skeet sent you and she might let you look under her bed.

Technorati Tags: bloggers, blogs, women bloggers, working woman

February 12, 2008

Blogging with Cents

More and more bloggers are earning part or all of their income these days by monetizing their blogs. I do a little of it here with sponsored posts and contextual links, but those are by no means the only methods you can use to turn your blog into a valid income-producer. There are many marketing firms, affiliate programs and advertising opportunities available, but that also means there are a multitude of ways you can go wrong. Lori takes blog marketing seriously and has a blog that can help you sort through the dross and find the good stuff. Blogging with Cents is less than a year old but has already developed into a great resource, whether you’re a novice or someone with a bit of experience.

Affiliate marketing is one of the more common ways to make money with your blog and can be very lucrative. It can also be a very frustrating experience if you hook up with the wrong programs. Lori has just launched an affiliate marketing series with an explanation of what affiliate marketing is, how the various sub-types work and how they can help you make money. I’m looking forward to future installments of this series that will go into more detail and give us the benefit of her experiences. She also has some experience dealing directly with advertisers and has shared the basics to help you get started with that.

The first step to monetizing your blog is creating a site that advertisers believe will offer them some value. Lori routinely posts blogging tips that will help you get your blog ready for the big time. Take a look around her site while you’re there. You’ll see some of her marketing programs in her sidebar and find a wealth of additional information by delving into her category menu. She’s a pretty friendly gal, so don’t be afraid to ask questions in the comment field for any given post. She won’t bite - she wants to make sure you get the most out of her articles. If you’re looking for more comprehensive help, you can even hire Lori as your blog marketing coach to make sure you get off to a great start. Why stumble around in the dark when someone has gone before you and turned the lights on? Check out Blogging with Cents and you’ll see what I mean.

Technorati Tags: blog marketing, blog monetization, blogging for income, reviews

Where You Lead

I pretty much stay away from religion on this blog. Issues that I talk about sometimes touch on matters of faith, but I generally don’t address things from that angle. My system of belief is probably different from yours. My spirituality is a private matter and not up for debate. That being said, I frequently find inspiration or clarity from what others have to say about their own faith. I’m a frequent reader of my friend Marisa’s faith-based blog, Where You Lead. Each of her posts focuses on the practical application of Christian Scripture to daily life, but I believe the lessons can have meaning for all of us, regardless of the spiritual path we’re following.

One of her earliest posts brings home the wisdom of prioritizing our commitments to make time for those things which are most important in our lives. Most of us have lists of things we’ve intended to do, habits we’ve thought we should establish and good intentions that we really meant to follow-up on but never quite got to. It’s good to have a reminder that if we wanted to badly enough, we would.

The Bible speaks to one of the primary rules of good parenting and so does Marisa:

“It is so important that our children have the opportunity to see us putting into action the lessons we attempt to teach them. If we tell our children that it is wrong to seek revenge on someone, then we must be willing to walk away from the temptation to hurt those who hurt us. It isn’t enough to tell our kids to always tell the truth; they must hear us telling the truth even when it would be easier to fib.”

Where You Lead is first and foremost one woman’s exploration of her own spirituality within a Christian construct, but I’ve found that it’s also the wisdom of a friend who speaks gently to our shortcomings and boldly to our relationship with God. Marisa uses examples from her own life that encourage her readers to examine whether our day-to-day lives reflect our spiritual commitments, and to seek to make it so. I know of others who have found, as I have, that a visit to her blog provides a refreshing and uplifting change of pace from “the usual stuff.” Do yourself a favor and pay her a visit.

This review is a gift to Marisa from her friend and mine, Tammie Beagle.

Technorati Tags: blog review, blogs, religion, spirituality

January 29, 2008

Val’s Views

Y’all know my friend Val. She’s over here all the time leaving witty comments and winning Tuesday Teasers. I’m glad she has a lot of blogs because she’s won several reviews in the last few months. Not that I’d ever get bored visiting and writing about her blogs, but variety is nice.

One of her newest endeavors is Val’s Views, where she does product reviews. Next time she visits I’m going to have to sit her down in the corner & get her to tell me all of her secrets about how she gets products to try out and evaluate. She buys some items, but some are given to her and I’d like to get some of that action.

Though the blog is only a month old, Val has already started to build up some impressive content. She’s reviewed everything from cookies to pull-ups to a nifty bacon cooker. I found her crock pot review very helpful. I haven’t had one since back in the dark ages when they weren’t good for much but scorching perfectly good food, but I’ve about decided it’s time to have one again. Val was impressed with the Stay or Go clow Cooker from Hamilton Beach and her review answered all of the questions I would have asked.

One of the more innovative products Val has reviewed is the Caboose Travel Potty, a portable device for children being potty trained. Her review is thorough and will probably answer any questions you might have if you’re potty training a child, but make sure you post a question to her comments if you need to know more. Val is a nice gal and I know she’ll make it a point to help you out if you ask.

The design at Val’s Views is crisp and clean. The blog is well-organized and easily navigable. Val will take review requests, so if there’s a product you’d like her to try out and write about, just ask. As a matter of fact, I think I’ll do that right now. I’m going to be needing a new set of cookware soon and am totally baffled by all of the choices out there. Maybe if I ask her real nice Val will do my research for me!

Technorati Tags: blogs, consumer reviews, product reviews