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Hello, People. I Work.
My kids now go to daycare two days a work, which leaves me with a blissfully quiet house and some time to get things done. Some of the time goes into coordinating the lives of my family… Bug and LadyBug have a seemingly neverending supply of appointments and paperwork and so on. And there are plenty of things that need to be fixed, maintained, etc. But really, the time at daycare is when I’m “at work.” In case you’re new here, I’m a writer. My primary gig is over at About.com where I write about Family Computing. I also write for a few other websites and am in the process…
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A World Without Garfield
I have to admit that I always thought Garfield was a bit grim. I mean, who really wants a snarky old cat who doesn’t really care about you at all? Most cats aren’t like that. Most cats have at least some affection to spare for one family member or more. Our cat (one of our cats moved to a new home) is a people person. She prefers to be sitting in someone’s lap, playing fetch or otherwise making herself the center of attention. Yeah, I got distracted. So, have you seen Garfield Minus Garfield? It’s a bit of genius, really. They have simply erased Garfield from the Garfield comics. All…
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A Smile Means Friendship to Everyone
Yeah, It’s a Small World. I say this quite frequently. It seems that I am particularly prone to overlaps in different areas of my life. My most recent example definitely takes the cake. By way of background, I currently have a prominent position in a local Mom’s group. My name appears in the newsletter, etc. About a week ago, I received an email from a pen pal I had when I was 12.  This is already strange, because I’m now in my 30’s. As it happens, I did not change my name when I got married and she knew I was from this area, so she gave it a shot. …
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September Search Engine Fun
My site doesn’t have a ton of hits yet, but I usually get a few a week from search engine queries. I have been thoroughly amused by the many ways people find my site, and thought I’d start sharing the fun with you. So far, for the month of September: 8 different keyphrases Search Percent razberry teether 4 36.3 % mom does not want me to have a destination wedding 1 9 % who knows mommy more 1 9 % campbell s soup commercial chunkier 1 9 % dead gross things 1 9 % back-to-school cake 1 9 % goodie bouquet 1 9 % babycrazy 1 9 % I suspect…
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Blog it Forward… Six Degrees?
In honor of the Blog It Forward phenomenon, which I think is great, and with a nod to the notion of “Six Degrees of Separation,†I’ve decided to start stretching my blog-view a bit. Not sure what to call it… maybe “Blog it Forward Six Degrees.â€Â  Anyway, I’m going to choose a blog from my blogroll, then choose one from their blogroll and onwards til I hit the 6th degree blog. I’ll then share a bit about what I found there. This could be fun, could be scary, but it will definitely be interesting… Off I go! Oh, and if you have a suggestion for another name, let me know!
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Do you Squidoo?
I have totally fallen in love with Squidoo! It’s very difficult to explain, but you create these webpages called “lenses†that are about a specific topic of interest. You can use different modules like a text box, links, photos, video, music, RSS feeds, etc. to tell about your topic. You can also include Amazon items, and other things for sale. Squidoo shares any profits made from affiliate links, google ads, and so on, with the lens makers – that’s us! Squidoo is a great way to advertise your business, market your blog, or share more about your favorite cause. If you sign up, do so through a referral link because…
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Dead and gross
When we got home, I went to check the pool. It was cloudy. And green. With things floating in it. Dead things… dragonflies, leaves, earwigs. Things like that. Oh, yeah, and a squirrel. So I have to ask… who goes away for five days and returns to a dead squirrel in their pool?! We haven’t had a dead animal in our pool in the year we’ve had it, so why did one decide to take the plunge while we were away? Big guy fished him out. Let’s face it, that’s one of the big perks of being married. =} Anyway, he left it on the side of the lawn and…
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Wiki-Wicked Cool
Massachusetts is known for using the word “wicked” to mean “really” or “very.” I haven’t used it much since the ’80s when “Wicked Awesome” was in vogue, but it still lingers around in some circles. It seemed appropos to use it to describe Wikipedia (you can search the Wikipedia for “Wicked” and see what I mean). The Wikipedia is basically a living online encyclopedia. You can contribute to it, edit it, or just browse the massive amounts of information included within. It is a community written, edited, and maintained reference source. I wouldn’t recommended it as a definitive source of information, but it’s a great place to learn more about…
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The true bottom of a bowl of soup
I forgot to mention where the reference came from on my last post. You may know that it’s from a Campbell’s Soup commercial. But it has a certain special significance for me. I used to teach religious ed (in a long-past life) when I was in high school. I worked with 4th grade kids and would frequently ask them to read out loud from the book. I had one student who flat-out refused to read. I assumed he had a learning disability or some other reason for being uncomfortable reading aloud, so I would gently encourage him to read just a sentence or two. Each week he would refuse. One…