Wednesday, October 27, 2010

BlogHerrrrrr!

Big news (for me)!  Yesterday, I received my first paycheck from Lunchbox, which means I can purchase my ticket to BlogHer '11!  Some of you had previously mentioned an interest in going, meeting up, sharing hotel rooms, etc., and since I'm a planner (the conference isn't until August of next year), I thought I'd gauge interest now.  After all, the Blogger Early Bird rate is only good through March 1.  And that's only...4 months away.  Ok, I'm a little early.  But what if they sell out?!?

Anyway, if you are planning on going to BlogHer '11, please fill out this little form below (or click here to fill it out on a separate page).  As it gets closer, perhaps all of us can plan to meet up, or share hotel rooms, or have a drink, or attend sessions together, or or or who knows?  And if you're a blogger who is interested in going to BlogHer, please feel free to share the link to this form with your readers so we can have one, big, happy BlogHer family!  Or don't, do your own thing, whatevs.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

A Winner!

Congratulations to Leanne, the winner of the latest giveaway from CSN Stores!  Leanne found my blog through REI's Facebook page, when they randomly linked to my post about the How to Ride a Bike class I took last year.

Thanks for playing!  Hopefully there will be another giveaway soon!  :)


PS - REI also linked on Twitter. Tee. Hee. Hee. Tweet.

PPS - Wow, that's a lot of links.

PPPS - REI's website is making me want to go to the snow.

Friday, October 22, 2010

Knitting!

Knitting on BART is fun!
With the weather finally being all gray and rainy (I wore a coat three times this week!), my knitting instincts have started to kick in.  It's hard to work up the desire to knit when it's hot out, especially when there are all kinds of excuses along the lines of "but the knitting stuff is all put away, and it's so messy in here, I don't want to take anything else out right now".  You know, excuses.  Justification.  So easy.  But now the weather is of the sort that encourages warm and cozy feelings, hot chocolate and apple cider.  And of course, knitwear.

Also encouraging me to knit is the Patternworks chemo cap donation program going on right now. Their goal is to collect 1,000 chemo caps by October 29, to send to Cancer Treatment Centers of America, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. In addition, for every cap received, they will donate a portion of the yarn sales to the American Cancer Society.


Last night, I sat down to work on my chemo cap, since it's due soon, and I realized I was only halfway through with a baby hat I started months ago. I don't even remember who I was making it for, or if it was for a specific person, but I had to finish it.  You see, this chemo cap pattern calls for the use of size 6 circulars and size 6 DPNs, and those just happen to be the needles wrapped up in this unfinished hat.  Oh, the troubles! Such struggle! Such a hard life!


Anyway, I'm working on finishing this hat (should be done today) so I can get started on the chemo cap. This hat is a simple roll-brim baby hat; I've made several of them over the last few months for the long list of friends with new babies.  I love making them because the yarn is so soft, and the colors are so cute, but I'm excited to try the ribbed pattern of the chemo cap.  We'll see how it goes - I'm glad to be getting back into knitting!  

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Happy News!

From Twitter:
ComedySportzLA ComedySportz LA
Thx 2 our loyal fans, we're extended thru Dec! We still need your help so buy tix at http://OurLoyalFans.com & help us win this!#iLoveCSzLA

As you can imagine, I am very, very, very excited and relieved to hear this. I'm going to the show on 10:30pm on Saturday night (yes, I will briefly be in LA), and I'm just so happy that the theatre has another few months. The fight's not over yet, and who knows what will happen post-December, but this is definitely good news!


PS: Don't forget to enter my latest giveaway! $30 to CSN Stores! Entries close at 11:59pm PST on Monday, October 25 :-)

Monday, October 18, 2010

That Announcement!

Last week, I made a pre-announcement on Twitter.  Announcing a forthcoming announcement is kind of a mean, teasey thing to do, I know, but I was feeling feisty.  So sue me.  I bet you'd already forgotten about the fact that I had an announcement to make, hadn't you?  Ha ha, joke's on you, I didn't forget! I'm going to announce it! Right! Now!

A few months ago, I was contracted as a copywriter for a new iPhone app/website: GroceryGuru (check out the "I also write for" bit in the left column now, and PS, new articles are also up at Valley Loop).  The exciting thing about these GroceryGuru articles is that I am actually getting paid to write them.  You know this blog doesn't make me any money (and I'm not just saying that), and I mostly just write for fun...but to be paid for writing is just glorious!  The money from these freelance writing assignments will cover my ticket to BlogHer 2011 (hell yeah! no begging for money!), and some of the additional costs as well (such as hotel, possibly flight), and jeez, that is just the most exciting thing ever.

I'm not looking to be a full time freelancer, by any means (have I mentioned that I love my new job? And that we're hiring? Come work with me!), but it is a fantastic source of additional income.   The irony of writing grocery shopping/lifestyle articles geared towards moms is not lost on me (see: not a mom, reads too many mommyblogs, has a thing for homemaking, ovaries that feel like they do this when a baby -or small boy dressed as superman- is near), but I know what I know, right?

Anyway, it looks to be a pretty sweet app, so please check it out and share it with your friends (download from iTunes here).  I have an article up this month*, another due to be published next month, and another in February, I believe.  Yay!  If you don't have a smartphone, you can also read the articles online here.  And if you're on Twitter, you can follow the app here.

I know it's a massive screenshot, but look at that! It's my name!

I'm learning a lot about writing for specific audiences, and about the highs (published! payment! my name on an iphone app!) and lows (giving up control over your words, waiting for revisions to be made, fretting over what The Public will think of you) of copywritership, and I'm excited about the possibility of writing more articles for these nice people!

Thanks again to the kind folks at Lunchbox and GroceryGuru for bringing me on board, and thanks to you readers for letting me toy with your emotions (ha ha yeah right) and for reading the blog!


*at this point, it appears that articles are posted to the mobi site, while the actual app is for managing your grocery lists. to view the articles on your phone, go to http://www.groceryguru.mobi/ from your mobile device.

Ok, Ok, Ok

Ok. I know. I have been promising new posts full of pictures of plants and the apartment and other such awesome things. I have not been living up to those promises. I've been busy, and I'm going to stop doing that thing where I just post an apology for not posting, because who wants to read that? Y'all know that eventually (ooh maybe tomorrow? I don't have plans tomorrow night!*) I will post things...and I may even write a bunch all at once and schedule them to be posted every couple of days. That's fancy! And efficient!

Anyway, instead of blah blah blah-ing about how I have been too busy to post, I'm going to share with you a hilarious email my friend received in response to her Craigslist Ad (she's giving away a TV). Her ad, and the response below. Enjoy!


The Ad:
free tv!
Yes, you read that correctly. I have a broken Sony Trinitron flat screen (NOT flat panel) with remote (see below for pictures of the TV containing my creepy silhouette and computer glare). The TV turns on for a second and immediately turns itself off again. The internet says that this is likely due to a problem with the power supply. Dimensions are approximately: 22" high, 30" wide, and 21" deep. The screen is about 27" diagonally. Perfect for anyone who has the time, skill, and patience that I lack to either figure out how to fix it or hire someone else to fix it.
The TV is extremely heavy - probably around 120 pounds - so bring someone to help carry it out of my house! Sorry, no delivery available. Please email to schedule a time to come by, thanks!


The Response:
Hi,
I just seen you CR ad. Well just to let you know. You have to think of TV's as light bullbs. Because it will last for so many hours. And when the picture goes. Well. You are better off buying a new one most of the time. And one can buy a tube for the CRT tv or just look around on CR for another one. And they sell them at the Goodwill and at Pawn shops. My mom likes the old type. I did buy an LCD Tv for her. But she did not like it.


I mean...WHAT? I love Craigslist.

*Don't get your hopes up though. I mean, you just never know.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

More from CSN Stores!

The fabulous folks at CSN Stores (where you can find everything from console tables to immersion blenders to children's toys to furniture to luggage to...) are offering up another giveaway on my little blog!

The winner will receive a promotional code (like a gift card) for $30, which can be used at any one of their 200 online stores! There are TONS of great items for under $30, but the prize can be applied to a larger purchase as well.  The winner will be chosen at the merciless hand of the Random Number Generator on October 26, so get those entries in by 11:59pm PST on Monday, October 25!

To enter, leave a comment on this post telling me how you found this blog!  For extra entries, you can tweet this giveaway, or mention it anywhere else online (facebook, your blog, etc). Just leave a comment for each extra thing you do. For example, if you comment a happy thing and tweet the contest, you'd leave two comments.  Easy as pie. Well, easy as eating pie.

Friday, October 1, 2010

Iceland Wants to be Your Friend

Iceland (yes, that Iceland) has just launched the most brilliant marketing campaign ever.  Iceland Wants to be Your Friend is a social media, internet, comedy mashup of adorable, and it absolutely makes me want to go to Iceland.  Nice work, tourism board.

Check it out at www.icelandwantstobeyourfriend.com (also on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Vimeo, Flickr, and a blog).  I am loving it so far.  So very much.

A snippet of the lovely that is this advertising campaign:

Halló. I am a very old island, and I do not know much about your inter-nets.
But I have heard that many people use e-mail to tell other people what to do, and to try to sell them things, and to talk about themselves.
I do not like to tell anyone what to do, and I don’t have anything to sell. But sometimes I like to send my friends emails about myself.
(They are good emails, with many good words in them, and even some pictures of me and my friends. Like this one. And this one. And this one.)

So go forth and enjoy all that is Iceland.  Online!