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

January 27, 2008

My Wooden Spoon

I’m really excited about all of the great cooking blogs that have been popping up lately. In the past I’ve gone to some bigtime cooking websites when I needed a recipe or some other bit of culinary knowledge, but blogs give “real people” recipes and advice that is so much more in tune with the way most of us eat and cook. Lori’s My Wooden Spoon has only been around a few months and is already chock-full of great recipes, tips and advice that you can use even if you haven’t been to cooking school. I’ll tell you about some of my recent finds, but first I need to make sure you know about her big contest.

I worked in a commercial kitchen a few decades ago and I’ve been wanting a stand mixer ever since. They’re efficient and incredibly easy to use, but so expensive that I’ve never been able to justify getting one. Hamilton Beach makes one of the best available and Lori is giving one away! Click her graphic above to get to the contest details. The contest ends on January 31st, so you’ve still got time. If I were you, though, I’d go enter today so I won’t forget! This is a fabulous prize that I’m hoping to win for myself, but I promise I won’t begrudge you the win if it works out that way.

One of the features I love at The Wooden Spoon is Lori’s Tuesday Tips. I especially enjoyed the recent roundup of baking tips. I don’t care how experienced you are in the kitchen, you’ll learn something new and interesting from that post. I’ve been making frosting since I was a kid and only just learned (from Lori, of course!) that a pinch of baking soda will help it stay moist and keep it from cracking. I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks! Make sure you check out each of her Tuesday Tips posts. Every one of them will teach you something useful that will make your time in the kitchen a better experience.

My Wooden Spoon also features wonderful recipes, from appetizers to desserts and everything in between. I’m going to be trying her very own Hot Sauce Recipe soon. As a native Texan I know I’m supposed to love salsa, but I just don’t care at all for chunks of tomato and onion in my sauces. Lori’s recipe is blended smooth and gets rave reviews from all of her cowboys, so I’m looking forward to trying it.

My Wooden Spoon is beautifully designed and efficiently organized. Finding just what you want is easy with her “Courses” sidebar links. Recipes broken down by course, of course, but she’s also categorized tips, tools and cookware, so remember to check her site next time you’re ready to shop for something new for the kitchen. Go spend a little time at My Wooden Spoon. You’ll thank me for the best tip I’m offering today!

Technorati Tags: blogs, cooking blogs, cooking tips, recipes

January 15, 2008

Tammie Beagle

Having spent a good portion of my working life partnered with a working dog, and those dogs always being beagles, I learned to love the breed. My Lancelot is a beagle and very typical of the breed: handsome, intelligent, scampy and affectionate. I’m a sucker for a good beagle story. Naturally I was attracted to a blog that carries that illustrious name, but alas - not a canine beagle story to be found. There is affinity in more than name though, because Tammie Beagle happens to be handsome, intelligent, a touch scampy and bountifully blessed with an affectionate nature. Come take a stroll through her little corner of the blogosphere with me and I think you’ll agree.

Tammie made it easy for me to find the essence of her blog when she recently participated in the Archive Meme, which asked her to list five of her favorite posts. You’ll get a good snapshot of Tammie as a person and as a blogger when you see what she had to say about family, friends, herself, something she loves and … somthing else. I found out that Tammi and I have a lot in common with the first of those posts. She dedicated her family post to the memory of Heidi, her sweet dachshund. People who aren’t dog-lovers might not understand that pets are as much a part of our families as people are, but Tammi and I both get it. Having just lost my own beautiful Buddy I also understand the grief that comes with the loss of a cherished furry companion. It’s my sincere hope that time has softened the pain of Tammie’s loss, as I also hope it will eventually do for me. The other posts she selected for the meme each help define her, and the collection as a whole will give you a good picture of who she is and what makes her tick. I was recently tagged for the same meme, so look for it here someday soon.

It’s always a joy to visit a blog written by someone who takes pride in their words and makes the effort to carefully craft each entry. Tammie is just such a blogger. With a background in education and broadcasting, she certainly has the technical expertise to handle words well. The added ingredient that makes her blog irresistable is the hard edge of honesty that compels her to share herself openly with her readers. Her spiritual nature gets equal billing with her more worldly side, allowing her readers to come away from a visit with a well-balanced view of Tammie, the person. There are blogs I visit for professional and technical knowledge. I don’t tend to spend much time with them - only as long as it takes to find what I need before I move on. Then there are blogs that I read for the sheer joy of the writing, the person and the stories they weave. Those tend to become time-sucks because I find it hard to close them and get on with whatever bit of my own life I should be living. Tammie Beagle.com is one of the latter. She’s gotten away with four hours or so of my life today that I’ll never get back. That’s okay. She’s worth the time.

Technorati Tags: blogs, blog review, persoal stories

January 10, 2008

Share Some Good Stuff

Sometimes we get so overwhelmed with the bad news that we forget that there are good things going on around us all the time. We can’t change the headlines, but we can seek out that which is good, that which is uplifting, that which shines with a positive radiance - the good stuff. Here are some recent feel-great stories:

“Sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me. ” We’ve all heard it, and we all know it’s false bravado. Ugly taunts do hurt and can lead to a lot of misery, especially when the target is a child. Val is sharing the news about No Name-Calling Week. Read the story and mark your calendar. Val wasn’t sure this qualifies as a good-news story. Huh? Sounds like Good Stuff to me!

My old Buddy dog will be going to his final sleep tomorrow if he makes it through the night tonight. It’s been hard watching him become more and more frail and knowing that this tme was coming. He quit eating two days ago and there’s nothing more I can do for him except to ease this last journey. I’m especially tuned to animal stories these days, so the recent news about a man who went the extra mile for a dog in trouble really lifted my spirits.

Have you checked the back pages of your local paper lately? Do yourself a favor and make it a point to find the good news that never makes the front page. Those little tidbits are a great antidote for the depression the “big stories” seem to leave in their wake. Make sure you send me a link when you’re moved to blog about something good going on in your community. I’ll hook you up the next time we Share Some Good Stuff and then we can all feel a little better about what this world is coming to!

Technorati Tags: good news, current events, local stories, meme

January 4, 2008

Four Foods on Friday #11

Val has once again invited us to play with our food via her fun Four Foods on Friday meme, which runs each Friday (duh!) at Fun, Crafts and Recipes. There’s still time for you to play, too. Do a blog post answering the four questions below, then post your link as a comment to the meme thread. Val will do a roundup of answers this evening and give you a couple of links for your trouble.

#1. Brownies. From a box or from scratch?

I usually take the easy way out. Costco has a really ono mix that has chunks of Ghirardelli chocolate - yum! Broke da mout!*

#2. Chicken noodle soup. Does it cure everything? Do you make it from scratch, from a can or from a package?

I make it from scratch. The canned stuff is mushy and too salty. I don’t know if it really does cure anything, but it’s a wonderful comfort food when you’re feeling icky. I also make Hot and Sour Egg Flower Soup (from an envelope) when I’ve got a stuffy head. Opens things right up!

#3. Red skin potato salad. Do you think the red skin provides flavor or color?

I don’t “do” potato salad, but I like red skins. My most recent favorite way to fix them is to cut them into chunks, toss them around in a baggie with a little olive oil, chopped garlic and Hawaiian sea salt & then roast until crisp on the outside. I leave the skins on. Adds a little hint of earthiness to the flavor, but mostly I do it for texture and color.

#4. French toast. How do you make yours?

I beat an egg in a little milk (maybe half a cup?) and add a tablespoon or so of sugar and a sprinkle of cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg. Fry in real butter until brown on both sides. Pancakes and French toast are the only things I always remember to drag out my countertop griddle for. I don’t make either very often, just because I live alone & it’s a lot of trouble to make either just for myself.

Ono = Really tasty; yummy!

Broke da mout = Ohhhhhh so ono!

Technorati Tags: blogs, food, meme, recipes

January 3, 2008

Share Some Good Stuff!

Sometimes we get so overwhelmed with the bad news that we forget that there are good things going on around us all the time. We can’t change the headlines, but we can seek out that which is good, that which is uplifting, that which shines with a positive radiance - the good stuff. Here are some recent feel-great stories:

I think that I’m as excited as Val is about the search engine that is helping her support her favorite local charity. This is something we all can do, folks, so make sure you check it out!

Martin knows good citizenship when he sees it and wants to commend MIT for giving their course materials to African shcools that would not have been able to access it through regular online resources.

I can’t quit smiling about the recent news of a Hawaiian Monk Seal sighting on one of our local beaches, though I’m disappointed not to have seen it in person.

You don’t have to share your own local good news if you’re shy, but I hope you’ll make it a point to seek it out for your own benefit. I guarantee you’ll feel better about life once you’ve basked in the glow of some feel-good news. And hey - I’m here for you if you do want to share it. Send me the link to your good news story and I’ll include it in our next roundup of The Good Stuff

Technorati Tags: good news, current events, local stories, meme

Puss Reboots - again!

The last time Sarah won my Tuesday Teaser I just couldn’t do a review of her blog. That’s because she wins so often that I needed to wait awhile and let her get some new blog content. Being a bit of an airhead lately, I kinda, sorta lost track of where I was. I never intended to wait this long, honest! Mea culpa, Sarah! Mea maxima culpa!

Sarah has been blogging at Puss Reboots since 1997, so there’t a lot of history and a lot of content there. It’s generally broken down into several categories. First and foremost, Sarah is a prolific reader and she reviews each book she reads. How prolific, you might ask? Take a look at her reading list for 2007 and you’ll get an idea. If I added correctly, Sarah read and reviewd 380 books during 2007. How she manages that with two small children, a husband and a home needing her attention, I just don’t know. Her slowest month for reading last year was December, when she only logged thirteen books, but maybe that was because she was exhausted from reading her highest monthly total of forty-six in November! Yet she still manages to lead a very full life outside of her literary journeys. Her blog is also a journal of her personal life, so take a scroll through her December archives if you don’t believe me. Make sure you check out her entry on December 26th where she looked back at her year in review. Road trips and children’s activities and vacations - she must be the master of time management to do all she does and still find time to read at all.

Puss Reboots is also a showcase for Sarah’s digital art. You can see all of her eye candy displayed at the above link. Being a generous soul, she shares some freebies with her doting public, but she also sells some of her work. It’s easy to lose several hours browsing and gazing. I’m just warning you so you can plan your time before you click the link! Oh, and since you’re going to be there anyway, check out her free tutorials while you’re there. I’m telling you, the woman should be declared a national treasure.

I’m sorry to say that it’s too late to win Dragonhaven, which Sarah gave away at the end of December, but she’s got two new giveaways in the works, so get yourself over there and register to win How Big is Your God (drawing to be held on January 7th) and Four Wives (drawing on January 17th.) See, I told you she’s a generous soul! Go check her out!

Technorati Tags: blogs, digital art, reading