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Manic Monday

// August 23rd, 2010 // No Comments » // General

Manic Monday #219:

Fill in the blank: If I had a nickel for every time I… Got stuck behind some stupid slow tourist, I’d be a millionaire. If you want to gawk at the Amish, fine, gawk away, but pull the hell over and get out of my way first!

What do you think about while you exercise? To be honest, I don’t think of much! I usually zone out listening to music. Although come to think of it, I’ll think of family, swimming, smaller clothing sizes, and I’ll even draft future blog entries in my head (too bad I don’t have a way of writing them down, because I almost always forget them!).

What are 5 things you love about your spouse/partner/significant other (or children or pet)? I love how he smells, how good he feels to be close to, how he laughs over funny House episodes, how well he cooks (when he does it), and how much he loves me.

I am ready for the weekend.

// August 19th, 2010 // No Comments » // General

It has been a long week. No, scratch that: a long month. No, scratch that: a long year. I’ve dealt with a lot in the past year, including a family death, surgery, financial issues, job changes, etc., and man, I am exhausted. I look forward to the weekends, because it means being able to settle in and spend a lot of time doing very little.

What do you like to do on the weekends? Are you the type to kick back and relax — something I’m forcing myself to do more of, as I’ve turned into a bit of a workaholic — or do you keep on truckin’, even on the days of rest?

Should you get a netbook?

// August 17th, 2010 // No Comments » // General

Even if you already own a laptop, which is portable enough in its own right, you may still be wondering if a netbook is right for you. I’ve had an HP Mini 311 since April, and even though I have a laptop that I adore (I’m using it right now, in fact), I am still very glad that I have a netbook. While it doesn’t harness the power that my laptop does, it has more than enough to let me check email, surf the internet, do work-related tasks, even play music on iTunes and process photos (albeit slowly) in Adobe Photoshop CS.

My netbook has a much better battery life than my laptop — 4-5 hours, easily, as opposed to my laptop’s 2.5ish hours. Best of all, it’s small and light enough to stick in my purse and take with me!

So would I recommend a netbook? Absolutely. If you want one but don’t want to spend a fortune, check out this eMachines EM250 for just $209.00 from Buy.com!

Meme: Saturday 9

// July 31st, 2010 // No Comments » // General

Saturday 9: Love Hurts

1. Tell us about the last time that you got hurt in the arena of love.
Love always hurts, whether you’re in a relationship or not. Love is grand, but love is also sucky at times. When you love someone, everything they say and do means so much more to you, and can often result in misunderstandings and hurt feelings.

2. Have you ever been part of the wedding party, other than your own?
No, although my husband was a groomsman in his best friend’s wedding, and our children are going to be the flower girl and ring bearer in my brother-in-law’s upcoming wedding. But I did help plan a baby shower once! Granted, I only picked out the invitations and the baby shower decorations, but it’s still something. <3

3. Let’s say you find yourself in Hell after you die. Think about everyone you’ve known in your life. Who would be the one person that would least likely to surprise you by being in Hell with you?
Just one? Hmm. I’d have to say my mother’s neighbor. That woman is EVIL.

4. What brings you good luck?
The # 4.

5. Do you have a photo blog? If so, feel free to share the link with us!
No, but I do share thousands of photos on Flickr.

6. What is your biggest source of news? (Internet? Newspaper? Television? Radio? The Daily Show? Other?)
The almighty interwebs.

7. What’s the hottest you’ve ever been in your life?
Temperature-wise? LOL.

8. If you had to choose a theme song for your blog, which would would you choose and why?
Christina Aguilera – Not Myself Tonight, because I have definitely changed over the past year, and I proudly embrace the changes.

9. Who was the last person you had an online conversation with that you’ve never met or talked to on your phone?
Dez, an online friend of mine.

Do you RSS?

// July 30th, 2010 // No Comments » // General

I don’t know where I would be without my RSS feed reader. Once upon a time I used to visit blogs manually, but I could never keep up with all of them! Plus the varying layouts and colors and font sizes would give me a headache. These days I use Google’s feed reader — which syncs nicely with my phone, by the way — to keep up with my favorite blogs and websites.

Do you use a feed reader? If so, which one?

Product reviews — where do you draw the line?

// July 29th, 2010 // No Comments » // General

If you’ve been in the product reviewing world for any length of time, you will know that there are all sorts of products to review. Baby gear, cleaning products, cosmetics, jewelry, clothing, small electronics, and books just touch the tip of the iceberg. I have personally reviewed medications (OTC stuff, of course), eye and skin care products, even adult products and food.

Obviously, a line has to be drawn. Many bloggers are iffy on reviewing adult products, simply because they don’t feel comfortable sharing such intimate details of their life with their blog readers. Also, there’s the possibility of driving away more conservative advertisers if they read about your adult product reviews.

So, what’s a blogger to do? All I can suggest is that you figure out your stance and stick to it. It is entirely possible to review adult items, among other products, and still have a high status and popularity rating in the product review world, but you’ll have to work hard and word your reviews carefully.

My favorite Android apps

// July 28th, 2010 // No Comments » // General

If you have an Android-enabled phone, I highly recommend that you check out these awesome and FREE apps:

DailyBooth: the DailyBooth app allows me to upload a new or existing photo to my DailyBooth account

WordPress: WordPress has its very own Android app, so updating my blog and moderating comments is a browser-less breeze.

Mileage: the Milage app allows me to keep track of how much money I spend on fuel, and when, and the average MPG that I get with each fill-up, as well as the average of all of the fil-ups. You can track multiple vehicles, which is quite nice. I have been using this particular app since January 2009, so over the past year and a half my husband and I have been able to see – and cry at – just how much fuel we’ve purchased and how far it has taken us.

Facebook: the Facebook app does, as one might guess, what the mobile Facebook page does, except that it’s geared towards Android phones, and provides condensed, easy-to-access options and info

MySpace: ditto what the Facebook app does, only it’s for MySpace

Twidroid: a great Twitter app (note: newer versions of Android contain their Twitter app called Peep).

AnyPost: easily send updates (with or without photos – your choice) to Ping.fm, which in turn shares it with any connected social networks

Foursquare: a fun app that allows me to easily send updates and check-ins to my Foursquare account

WeReward: IZEA’s WeReward app is now available for Android, which means I can earn points (that can accumulate to be enough for me to cash-out for $10 via PayPal) for checking in at certain places and doing certain things.

My favorite social bookmarking sites

// July 27th, 2010 // No Comments » // General

I love sharing bookmarks via social bookmarking sites. There are literally hundreds to choose from, but here are my personal favs:

How to get started doing product reviews

// July 26th, 2010 // No Comments » // General

One thing I have been doing a lot of lately is product reviews. Any blogger can get started in product reviews, though keep in mind that most advertisers are going to be looking for certain criteria, including:

  • An active blog — preferably one that has been around at least several months, and has a decent following (at least 500 unique hits per month)
  • A Google Page Rank of at least 1 (remember, the higher the better!), and a decent Alexa ranking
  • Detail-oriented posts that show your willingness to research a product and thoroughly represent it to your readers
  • Interaction from your visitors

If you feel that you and your blog qualify, the easiest way to get started is to start contacting companies directly, pitch to them your blog and why it’s so awesome, and ask if they would be interested in coordinating a product review with you!

Too much, not enough

// July 24th, 2010 // No Comments » // General

Have you ever noticed that on those days that you have a lot to do you never have enough time to get things done? My weekends are like that. Then again, I have a habit of saving some of my freelancing projects for the weekends, which I really shouldn’t, since it’s on the weekends that I do things with the kids.

In any case, people like my mom drive me crazy, as it seems like she has nothing to do and all day to do it in, yet never gets anything done. Grr!

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