Fun Places Where I've Been Spending My Time

Thanks to Jayne of A Light in the Dark for sending me the link to Glogster. You can check out my first poster here. It's a tribute to my pups, so for those who are curious, you can see what all four look like.

Thanks to Some Go Softly for telling me about Pandora. It completely rocks. Unless you're not into rock and then it does whatever it is that you like best. My station rocks though.

While doing some research for my gaming blog, I came across Fate. If you like RPGs, I highly recommend it. Also, it's only $20 to own the game, which is a lot better than you'd pay for similar games in stores, so it's a good deal on top of being a great game!

Contest: Giving Away Half the Loot

This post will remain at the top of my blog until the contest is over. Please scroll down for newer posts.

Those of you who have been paying attention will note that on Christmas Day I announced that I intend to share some of the proceeds from my JoeTech win. What better way than to run my own contest??? I've decided to give you folks plenty of opportunities to win, so this contest will run through the end of January. Here are the ways to earn entries:

• Blog about this contest with a link to this post (10 entries)
• Blog separately about any other post on this blog (10 entries)
  
• Blog separately about my games blog (10 entries)
• Have an ad approved* to run on my EntreCard widget (10 entries)
• Comment on this post (1 entry)
• Comment on another post on this blog (1 entry)
• Comment on my games blog (1 entry)

Leave me a comment listing all of the items you have completed and links to them (where appropriate) or just a link to your blog if you are only leaving comments or advertising. If you do not have the EntreCard widget displayed on your blog when I check, you will be disqualified. (This is how I will be sending out the credits) Each item can only be done once during the contest period for entries. All comments must be relevant to the post on which they are made. Spam comments will be deleted and not awarded any entries. On the February 1st I will draw one entry to win 500 EntreCard credits and send them to the winner. Simple, huh? Well, get to it!

*note: not all ads that apply will be approved. If you apply and are turned down, I will give you half credit -- 5 entries.

UPDATE 1/30/08: Tomorrow's the LAST DAY folks, get those entries in soon!

The Tail Saga Continues...

And just when I thought it had been dealt with and now we would just have to wait for the stitches to come out... This morning, we couldn't find the cone to put around Jared's head to keep him from chewing off the bandage on his tail. No problem, I work in a very dog-friendly environment, so I called my boss and asked if she'd mind if Jared came to visit for the day. She said that would be fine, so I figured I could keep an eye on him today and get a new cone for tomorrow. Shoulda been easy, right? These things never are.

As I was about to leave for work, I grabbed the leash and called Jared. Jared, like most dogs, LOVES his leash. He knows it's his ticket to the world of "outside" and it means he's going to get to go somewhere. So his tail started wagging. Furiously. Yup, you guessed it, OFF came the bandage. I had no idea where it went, and I couldn't really have done much with it anyway, so I wrapped his tail in some clean paper towels, secured them with bandaids, and we left.

Stopped at the vet on the way in to the office (after calling to let the boss know what had happened and that I'd be a bit on the late side). Took Jared in to the vet and got it re-bandaged. I think it looks a lot more secure this time around. Hopefully this one will last a bit longer. In case it doesn't though, Grump got all the supplies to take care of it here at home, should it come off again.

But I really really hope it doesn't. Poor guy.

Jared's Tail Adventures

One of my dogs, Jared, had a rough day yesterday, then had to spend the night at the vet, and now has a bandage on his tail and stitches under that and will be on pain meds for a while, so he's a bit on the loopy side. If you want the full story, you can see it at Grumpamoose's blog, but I just thought I'd post a couple of pictures to document the whole thing.

Here he is, home, safe and mostly sound. Poor guy. He seems more nervous than he usually is (and he's usually pretty tightly-wound so that's really saying something!) but I don't know if that's an effect of the meds or just him being afraid of getting hurt again.

And here's a close-up of that tail. They've got it wrapped pretty well, but I'm still gonna have to make him wear the lampshade when we're not home and he's going to have to be separated from the other dogs too because they're just too curious about what's under there.

We Need One of These For Bunnies!

I found this through the bunny/wildlife rescue group I work with. We SO need one of these for bunnies. Anyone out there want to take on the project???

Sign-Ups Are Open

I'm taking part in Mystery Topic Challenge #7. If you want to join me, just visit the MTC Blog today and sign up!

Sunday Seven #126

I can't believe I forgot to blog yesterday! I had been doing so well with the daily thing too. Well, the rules of Blog365 say I can just post an extra one today and backdate it, so here's yesterday's post:

This week’s question might turn a few people off. Not everyone is willing to go on record over politics, and I understand that. So if you want to bow out of this week’s edition, I’ll understand. Just be sure to be back next week!
For those who don’t mind talking politics, you’ll need to take this candidate quiz. Starting with the top match, name the seven candidates the quiz says most closely match your views.

As we all know quizzes are imperfect at best, but here are my results:

1. John McCain
2. Mike Huckabee
3. Rudy Giuliani
4. Mitt Romney
5. John Edwards
6. Ron Paul
7. Dennis Kucinich

Truth is, I haven't actually made up my mind yet. Pretty sure it won't be McCain though. For an alternate view, I also took the presidential candidates quiz here. Here's how I scored:

Photo Hunt: Old-Fashioned

For this week's Photo Hunt theme, old-fashioned, I'm showing off one of my favorite Christmas presents from this year. My Father-In-Law gave me this amazing antique tea set. I have a small collection of tea pots, cups, etc. so it was the perfect thing! Most of what I have though is just items I've picked up in my travels, but this set really piqued my interest. Grump decided to do a little searching to see if he could tell how old it was and where it came from.

Of course, the first thing you start with is the label on the bottom. Turns out this particular set is quite old. Here's what he found:

From 1843 to 1862, the company was under the management of Edward Challinor using the mark E Challinor. Likely Charles Challinor owned the company, and Charles was a coal industrialist. In 1862, Charles and Edward became partners, and moved from making Earthenware to Ironstone China, and goods were marked E& C Challinor. Partnership dissolved sometime in 1891, as company products bore the mark C Challinor for 4 years until it ceased in 1896 (source) Also, it says Fenton, rather than England so it is pre -1891

Quite fascinating if you ask me! Tune in next week for "narrow".

Friday Quiz: The Geek Quiz

60% Geek

Music Videos

I created a playlist on Gaia.com today, and just thought I would share it with everyone here. I get a lot of flack when I tell people I listen to Christian rock. Generally I get one of two responses. People either tell me that Christian rock is an oxymoron, or they assume I mean stuff like Michael W Smith and Point of Grace. I assure you, Christians CAN rock. Here are a few of my favorite songs to prove it.

dNeero Survey: Movies Outside the Movie Theater

Survey time again! This one's about movies and the out-of-theater experience.

1. Do you buy DVDs of movies you missed watching in theaters? No, I usually rent them. Then, if I like em enough, I may buy them.
2. Do you have an HD Video player (Blu Ray or HD DVD)? I answered no, but now I'm thinking I might... My mother in law got us a new DVD player for Christmas, and it might be high def. I guess I could go look at it and see, but I'd rather not, and it doesn't really matter all that much to me anyway.
3. Do you invite friends over to watch movies in your home? No. Or at least, not very often. We have done so a time or two, but it's been a while.
4. Do you watch more movies at home or in the theatre? Regardless of your answer, please explain it. At home, thanks to NetFlix.
5. Are you choosy in watching movies outside of movie theaters? Not really. I used to be when we were renting from Blockbuster, but now it doesn't matter how many I rent, it's the same price every month, so I can afford to rent stuff I'm not sure I'll like.
6. The movies I watch ouside movie theatres depend upon ... I chose mood, preference for type, preference for actor and other. The other is random. Since I do most of my renting through NetFlix, it just depends on when a movie lands itself in the top of my queue. I kinda like the surprise, so I usually don't look to see what's coming next.
7. Do you get your movies back to the rental store on time? I answered "always" but really, there should be a "not applicable." There's no due date with NetFlix.
8. Would you appreciate a cell phone text message from the rental store that reminds you about rental return due dates? No. In fact, I'd stop renting from any store that insisted on doing this.
   
9. Theatres are going to be obsolete with the advent of internet rentals. FALSE. No matter what, you just can't duplicate the big screen experience at home. Well, at least not without a LOT of space and a LOT of expense.
   
10. Why do you see a movie outside the theater AFTER you have already seen it in the theater? I think one of the truest tests of how good a movie is, is whether you'd watch it again or not. The best movies reveal new things with each viewing. There are some that I've seen so many times that I know every word of dialog, and others that I wouldn't watch more than once.

Wow -- looking that over, the whole thing kinda reads as a NetFlix ad, but I assure you it's not. I just really really like their service, and I use it a lot. If you use NetFlix too and would like to add me to your friends list, just click here.

Entrecard stats...

Well I went ahead and added my gaming blog to Entrecard the other day. I've never done very much to promote it, so it's always had pretty low traffic. Saw a serious jump the day I added it though! Here's the stats for the past week:
Pretty easy to tell which day I added the Entrecard widget, huh? I guess if I had any qualms about Entrecard before, this would have taken care of them. Thus far I've really enjoyed taking part in the Entrecard community, and I've found several very good blogs in the process. Yup, I'm hooked!

Voting time!

For those that missed it, yesterday I posted my entry to Mystery Topic Challenge #6. Today, voting is open! Things are a bit different than they were last time, so please visit the Mystery Topic Challenge Blog to view all of the other entries. Once you've read them all, please be sure to vote HERE in the Sidebar for your favorite.

Sunday Seven #125

This week's question:

Let’s suppose that you make an ill-advised bet, and discover exactly how ill-advised the bet actually was when you lose.

And let’s suppose that in your infinite confidence that you’d never lose, you agreed to bet that you’d get a tattoo if you didn’t win.

Name your top seven tattoo designs you’d get if you had to get a tattoo. (For extra credit, note whether you already have the tattoo(s) you list.)

Let me first disclose that I am completely and totally terrified of needles, or I'd probably already have at least the first one on this list. As is, I don't think there's any chance of me ever getting a tattoo, but it's fun to think about what I'd get if I did. So, here's my list. Click on the name of each to be taken to an example picture.

1. A triquetra, centered around my belly button. For those that don't know, a triquetra is an old Celtic symbol, adopted by the Christian church to represent the trinity.
   
2. A Celtic cross on my ankle. Hmm... I sense a theme here.
3. A dragon circling my upper arm (couldn't find a picture of exactly what I'd want, but something simple like this, wrapped around my arm)
4. My favorite scripture verse at the base of my neck
   
5. Wings on my back
   
6. A sun around my belly button
7. An Icthus over my heart

Mystery Topic Challenge #6

This challenge question was posted by Jester. I'm going to give you the preamble to the question too, as I think it'll make more sense that way.

You know how you can be driving along, just minding your own business and suddenly a song will come on the radio that transports you through space and time so clearly and throughly that you miss your exit or rear end the car in front of you?

Here's your topic: What song transports you through space and time, and where do you go?

I didn't even have to think much about this one really. There's a song that does this to me pretty much any time I hear it. It's as much a conditioned response as anything Pavlov ever taught to a dog.



This one takes me back to CN Skate Palace circa the mid-to-late 80's/early 90's. It was THE place to be on a Saturday afternoon if you grew up where I did. Everyone would show up right when the place opened and the line to get in the door would often stretch farther than the length of the building. All the kids had their birthday parties there. Everyone else just came to skate with their friends. And every week every person in line would be wearing the strangest socks they could get their hands on.

You see, there was a contest for the funkiest socks, and everyone was in on it. At some point during each skating session the DJ would announce that he'd be playing "Gator" next and everyone would ready their socks, pulling them high up above their skates so they'd be easily visible. This was in the days of neon colors and layering multiple pairs of "scrunch" socks together. People would wind glow necklaces around their ankles to grab everyone's attention.

Then "Shake It Up" would begin. The skating floor would be packed. Everyone in the place was out there, along with all of the staff acting as judges. During the verses of the song, the DJ would say things like "everyone skate backward" or "spin in circles" and you had to follow his commands. Then, in the chorus he'd say "GATOR" and everyone would lie on their backs on the floor and kick their skates in the air. The judges would skate around and look for funky socks. At the end of the song, a few kids would get picked to win prizes like food bar coupons and free admission.

I can still hear the DJ yell "GATOR" every time I hear that song. And I can still feel how heavy those skates were. Especially after you were already dizzy from spinning in circles and such.

dNeero Survey: Marketing with Text Messages ? Well, what did you expect?

Personally, I use my cell phone to make and receive calls. And that's about it. I know, I'm sooo technologically backward. (insert eye roll here) I just don't get the appeal of texting. So when an advertiser chooses to use my cell phone in a way that I don't like, I'm less likely to use/buy/subscribe to their product. Anyone else out there like me -- completely annoyed by the whole text messaging thing???

Photo Hunt: Important

For this week's Photo Hunt, the theme is "important." This was a bit of a hard one because it's somewhat an abstract concept. It means different things to different people. So I was trying to think of what is really important to me, and the one thing I kept coming back to was my faith.

Unquestionably, the most important thing in my life is God. But how to take a picture of God? I mean, he doesn't exactly pose for photo ops, does he? So I decided to take a picture of the Word of God: the Bible. I could have taken a shot of the cover, but that's not really the important part. That's just the wrapping. The important part is what's inside. So I decided to photograph my favorite verse (which I've then digitally highlighted). So here you go:

It's Philippians 4:13 for those not familiar. The text reads "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." This one little verse has gotten me through so much in life. Anytime I think I just can't do something, and I'm about to throw in the towel, I remember this verse and with a prayer, I press onward. It's amazing how true it is. I really can do anything, face anything, as long as I draw my strength from Him. So that's my "important."

Stay tuned next week for old-fashioned.

Friday Quiz: The Synesthesia Challenge

70%

Mesa Dating

Where I've Been Spending a Lot of My Online Time

A blogging friend recently posted about a site called FanPop, and of course I had to go give it a try. It's kind of a fun place to hang out. The idea is kind of like a social networking site, but everything revolves around what you're a fan of. You can join "spots" for your favorite artist, hobby, movie, book, color, etc. and answer polls, post videos and images, and participate in forums. Then you can earn medals based on your participation. Kind of a neat way to find others whose interests are similar to yours.

The PAW Act

I was tipped off by Katreader about the following petition. While I know that internet petitions don't often lead to change, I do think it's important spread the word about issues like this one and a petition is a great way to do it. So take a look and pass it on!

Alaska is the only state in the nation where trophy hunters can gun down wolves from airplanes or chase wolves to exhaustion and then shoot them from the ground.

Alaskans have voted twice to end the state's brutal aerial hunting program, but state officials continue to let it happen by exploiting a loophole in federal law. This year's hunting season has already begun, and hundreds of wolves could be killed yet again.

Please sign this petition to urge Congress to close the loopholes and end aerial hunting of wolves: http://go.care2.com/PAW_Act

Wolf opponents in Idaho and Wyoming are eager to follow Alaska's cruel example. Hundreds of wolves could be killed in the Northern Rockies if these states get their way.

Please sign the petition to save America's wolves and end aerial hunting:
http://go.care2.com/PAW_Act

Win an ad on impNERD

You all know how I'm a sucker for a contest. Well, impNERD is giving away a month-long 125x125 ad on his site. So of course, I'm entering. If you want to win, go ahead and follow this link to the contest. Good luck to all!

He Was a Quiet Man... Also Kinda Creepy!

Ever have one of those memories that just doesn't make any sense whatsoever? I swear I've seen the movie "He Was a Quiet Man." I can tell you the entire plot. I can remember specific scenes and dialog, and way more than would ever be included in even the most thorough of previews. I know the movie inside and out. Here's the kicker: the last film I went to was The Bourne Ultimatum last August. I'm pretty certain I haven't been in a theater since. He Was a Quiet Man didn't hit the theaters until November 23rd according to IMDB. I haven't rented it. I don't own it. I didn't see it at a friend's house. In fact, it only just now is coming out on DVD. But I KNOW without a doubt that I've seen this movie. The entire thing. So I'm hoping someone out there in blogland can explain this to me. It is an independant film after all. Was it maybe released to television before it hit theaters somehow? Does anyone else remember having seen this movie prior to its actual release date? I know it's been longer than just since November. Or maybe I'm just losing my mind. Very possible.

Sunday Seven #124

Well I had every intention of going with the same meme as I used last week, but it seems there aren't a new set of random questions for today. Sooooo... I picked another to try out: The Sunday Seven at Patrick's Place.


This week's question:

Name the seven highest-rated websites that you never or hardly ever visit.

Here are mine:

1. Windows Live -- Just not that big a fan of Microsoft. I avoid them when possible. Since I'm running a Windows machine, that's not always, but I really don't tend to hang out at their site.
2. Megarotic.com -- NSFW!!! 'nuff said. (I can't believe how high this one is on the list of most visited sites on the internet!)
   
3. AOL -- aka the evil empire. I hate AOL more than Microsoft.
   
4. Megaupload -- never even heard of these guys. I don't really do much file sharing though, so that's no surprise.
5. go.com -- I had a go.com email address once upon a time. That time was like seven years ago. Haven't spent any time there since.
6. Photobucket -- I use my Xanga site for photo hosting. No need for Photobucket here.
7. CNN -- Yuck. Just yuck.

So there's my list. If you're wondering what exactly this is all about, go ahead and click the logo to be taken to this week's question posting where the question is explained in a bit more detail. Also, if you have participated, leave me a comment and let me know!

I'm Voting For Tyler Cruz.

For those who haven't heard, Tyler Cruz and Gyutae Park of Winning the Web have decided to have their very own Battle of the Blogs. They're even giving out prizes to those who vote. For more info on entering the contest, click on the title to this post or on either of the links to the blogs involved.
Really, neither of these blogs are my standard fare, and neither will ever have a chance at being included in my RSS reader. Simply put, they're blogs about earning money from blogging. I'm less than thrilled with that entire genre. I think it's mucking up the blogosphere for those of us who blog for the sake of blogging and are simply happy if a dollar or two happens to come our way because of it.

That said, I went ahead and had a look at the two blogs in question, and read a bit of what each had to say. While neither are thrilling reads, and neither writes on topics that I find interesting, I do find that I appreciate Tyler's writing style a bit more than that of Winning the Web. Tyler's posts are easy to read and easy to understand. They break things down so that even an internet n00b could "get it." Gyute's on the other hand, seem to be overly written and overly complicated.

The other thing I took into consideration is design. Tyler Cruz has a nice graphical header that appears to have been custom made for his blog, and shows a friendly, fun representation of the author of the blog. It sets the stage nicely. His colors are all of a complimentary palette and have a welcoming feel. He ties the whole thing together by using bits of his header in each of his sidebar sections. By contrast, Gyute has a picture of a car in his header. This would be fine if the site were about cars, but it's not. It's about blogging. His template appears to be the same as most any other blog out there, and shows little or no effort put into customization.

So, my vote is for Tyler Cruz. Good luck Tyler!!! I could really use that $100!

In Other News: There will be no Photo Hunt this week. I couldn't come up with a single idea for "skinny" other than re-posting my tree pics from earlier this month. If you're truly desperate for Photo Hunt, go look at that post, cause that's as close as it's coming.

Friday Quiz: Which Crayola Box of 8 Color Are You?

You are most like: Black
You are bold with a dark side. You make clear lines wherever you go, though you color outside of the lines. Many people may just see the surface of you and think you are merely plain, but you have a lot of depth to you as well.
Take this quiz: Which Crayola Box of 8 Color Are You?
Visit Toys For Your Blog.com for more blog quizzes

SimCity Societies

I'm a gamer, through and through. I waste more time on games than practically anything else in life, often to the consternation of my hubby, but that's just me. I'm not such a fan of the typical shoot-em-up types though. To me, a game has to have a mental challenge involved to be interesting. My favorite games also have one other thing in common: many ways to play, so you can tailor your experience to your own personal tastes.

The Sims franchise is a great example of the custom-tailored gaming experience. It offers a nearly endless realm of possibilities. I can spend hours building the most fascinating houses, or trying to balance my sims' needs, or moving them through generation after generation to see how the great-great-grandkids resemble their ancestors. And after all of that I still haven't exhausted all of the possible gameplay options.

Another thing I look for in a game is a focus on strategy or logic. The Civilization series is great for this. You have to plan from the very start what you intend to do with your civ, in order to set up the proper technologies and diplomacy to accomplish your goals. Do you want to be a military might? Better work on building up your troops early on or you'll fall behind. Prefer to peacefully absorb other nations' cities? Invest your research efforts into the arts and build up the cultural centers of your cities. Again, plenty of possibilities, plenty of planning needed.

So now there's a new game coming out that has my full attention. It's no secret that I'm a huge Maxis fan. I've been playing Sim City since it came out on the SNES way back when. Of course, at the time my greatest joy in the game was building up a huge city and then setting lose a tornado or even Godzilla to wreak havoc on my helpless populace. These days though, I require quite a bit more from my gaming experience, and the last few Sim City releases just haven't really felt quite up to par.

Recently though, there's been a shakeup over in Sim City. It seems that there's a new guy on the block, by the name of Tilted Mill. What will this mean for our beloved City??? Well, apparently a whole lotta good. The headlines EA has been putting out concerning the newest Sim City offering, SimCity Societies, have been intriguing at least. Their ads have piqued my interest. Until now though, I wasn't sure if I'd bother. I mean, if it was going to be just another Sim City game, I have better places to spend my time (and money).

I've just read the write-up in Games for Windows mag, and I am SO on board with this one. Gone are the days of land zoning. Gone is the complex infrastructure. Gone seem to be all of the things that have been around in the franchise for so long that most of us just groaned when we saw they were still there (and not getting any better either) in the last game or two. It looks like SimCity Societies has cut through all the crap features of the older games, and added an amazing set of new features. This may just be the boost our good old City needs to bring it up to par!

Less cut-and-dry balancing of city needs and more social engineering are what make this one a game I'm sure to give a try. There are six social energies that drive the game play of societies: prosperity, spirituality, authority, productivity, creativity, and knowledge. Deciding the balance among these energies will shape and mold your society, and therefore your city. Each building you add to your city changes this balance one way or another, and also requires other changes in order to function properly.

Unlike most city-builders, this game pulls off the custom-tailored feel of the Sims, allowing you to manipulate your city building-by-building, until you've created the city that YOU want to design, rather than simply following a formula for success. Want your factory next to your elementary school? Go ahead. Rather keep your tenements on the opposite end of town from your cultural centers? Your call. Want your city to live and breathe the almighty dollar, or rather have them focus on The Almighty? Up to you. And of course, this IS a Sim game, which means you can also create your own content for the game, or download things that others have created.

As was true of its predecessors, SimCity Societies also allows for a lot of strategy and planning. After all, there is a delicate balance to be maintained, if you want to keep your citizens happy and your city functioning. It's important to have goals in mind, and to keep those goals at the forefront of all of your decisions, or your city may take unforeseen turns into something completely opposite of your intentions.

All in all, the guys at GfW gave the game a 7 of 10 rating. Since Sim City doesn't really fall into one of their typical genres, I consider that high praise indeed. Yup, soon as I can cough up the $50, SimCity Societies will become my distraction du jour.

dNeero on TV/Entertainment

So, here were the questions:

1. Which tech company creates the brightest future?
I answered Google. No real surprise there. I LOVE Google. They consistently come up with top-quality applications, then they give them out for free. What's not to love?

2. What do you think of these prime time TV shows?
Prime time TV is not my favorite thing in the world. Most of the shows are just horrid, imho. I want to watch Moonlight, but I never remember when it's on. I'll probably catch it on DVD when NetFlix has it. I should also qualify my answer about Heroes -- I don't currently watch it. I've watched Season One, and a couple of the episodes from Season Two, but that's it. All in all though, I do like the concept and execution of the series. It's much better than your standard prime time fare.

3. If each of these sports events were being run at the exact same time, which one would you watch?
I don't like watching sports on TV. If I was given tickets to my choice of major sporting events, I'd go, but I wouldn't choose any of these. I'd pick Stanley Cup Finals every time. Hockey's about the only sport that actually interests me at all. And even then, I have to be at the game, not watching it on TV.

4. Which holiday do you like best?
Not sure how this question got into this list, but Christmas is, and always has been, my favorite holiday.

Three Quick Things...

1. New design. Ok, so it's a lot like the old design, but there's a third column. It's not as simple a change as it seems. Don't believe me? You try it sometime! Feedback as always is welcome.

2. Now accepting entrants for Mystery Topic Challenge #6. The Blog Ninjas decree that all who wish to follow in the path of the ninja shall take upon themselves the challenge. Find out more here.

3. If I had to list my three favorite tastes for candy, it would be dark chocolate, mint and caramel. Leave it to Dove Chocolates to satisfy all three. I heart Dove Dark Chocolate Mint Caramels. It's like they pulled the idea straight outta my head or something.

How To Become a BunGirl Supporter

Many of you may have seen the widgets put out there by Scratchback. If you've been paying attention, you've even noticed that there was one in the sidebar of this blog for the past week or so. After going back and forth with someone from Scratchback today, I still couldn't get any help in making the widget actually WORK on this blog. Quite frankly, I'm so annoyed with the whole thing that I've decided to scrap it. So why am I writing about it, you ask? I'm scrapping the widget -- not the idea. I don't need a middleman anyway.

So, now if you look over there in the sidebar, you'll see a widget entitled "BunGirl's Supporters". It consists of a list of five links and a PayPal button. It doesn't have all the fancy graphics that Scratchback had, and it's not automated, but you can actually read the text, so I consider it a huge improvement. Also, Paypal's customer service is MILES above Scratchback's, and there won't be an extra cut out of what is donated, so more of the money will go straight to me, instead of making someone else rich.

So how do you get on that list, you may ask? Pretty simply actually. Just click on the PayPal button and donate $1 or more. Wait for your confirmation email from PayPal. Then email me (bungirl at gmail dot com -- it's also at the top of the PayPal form) and tell me three things:

1. The Transaction Id (found on your confirmation email).
2. The link you'd like posted.
3. The text you'd like me to link.

So, for instance, your email should look something like this:

Transaction ID: XXXXXXXXXX
Please link to: http://featuredgames.blogspot.com
Text: BunGirl's Featured Games

That's it! Then, I'll post your link and it will remain on the list until someone else knocks you off. I'm guaranteeing at least 24 hours, but I'm betting most links will stay there quite a bit longer than that.

Oh, one more thing. I won't be linking to any sites that display objectionable content. I won't refuse to link to anyone based on their race, creed, etc. but no hate sites, no spam sites, and absolutely NO porn. There will be no refunds for links I refuse, but I will give you a second chance to link to something else.

Sunday Randomness

I've decided to test drive a new meme today... so I give you Sunday Randomness! Will I be doing this every week? Maybe... not sure. Just trying it out for now. Of course, as is it just lacks something, so I've added a bit to it... you'll see what I mean.






Week of Jan 6.08
What is your favorite?...name one of each:

1. food?

2. book?

3. item of clothing?

4. actor?

5. movie?

6. color?

7. time of day?

8. season?

9. holiday?

10. animal?
OR

Well that was fun. 'Till next time...

Photo Hunters: Delicious

This week's theme is "delicious," and since I can't afford an evening at my favorite restaurant right now, I decided instead to browse the pictures on my camera. Of course, a large number of those are from my trips to Russia.

This is one of my favorite Russian foods: Blini. Blini are basically extremely thin pancakes. We've seen them served as breakfast food, party foods, used like tortillas to make yummy lunches, or here as a part of a school cafeteria lunch. The ones in this picture are filled with apples and dusted with sugar, but they can be served with a seemingly endless list of toppings/fillings. We've been told that each Russian woman has her own style of making blini and the recipe is usually a closely guarded secret shared only with family. Too bad -- I'd love to learn to make these!

Friday Quiz: What Year Do You Belong In?

What with being the first quiz of the new year and all, I figured this quiz was mighty appropriate:

You Belong in 1954

You're fun loving, romantic, and more than a little innocent. See you at the drive in!

What Year Do You Belong In?

Please leave a comment and let me know what year you got if you take the quiz too! (Or a link to your post if you post it on your blog...)

Trees in January

Last year Grump and I purchased a membership to the Arbor Day Foundation, which then gave us 10 free trees. There were several groupings to choose from, but we picked the "Autumn Classics". Well, the trees arrived about a week ago and last weekend Grump planted them. They were tiny when they got here -- looked like a bouquet of sticks, painted different colors so we could tell them apart. Still, they're guaranteed to grow, and if you can't trust the Arbor Day folks when it comes to trees, who can you trust, right? So, for now they're all in the back yard, right near the fence to provide them some protection from the elements. I've decided I'm going to document their growth, taking pictures of two of the trees at the beginning of each month, so we can see how they grow. Right now they're not much to look at, but if we've done everything right they will be eventually. So here are their "baby pictures"...

This first is the smallest of the bunch, but also the one I'm looking forward to the most. It's a White Flowering Dogwood. You can barely even see it in the picture, but it's the long stick that's sticking up in the middle of the green circle. We're eventually planning to place it out front. I can't wait 'till it blooms!

This one's a Red Maple. It should be gorgeous in the fall, once it has had a chance to mature. It's a little easier to see, but I highlighted it with its own circle too.

New Years Resolution

Most years when New Years Day comes and goes, if I bother to make any resolutions at all, I keep them to myself. Most often, my resolutions are pretty personal-type things, so that works well. This year however, I've decided to share my resolutions...

1. I WILL blog every day. Every day. All year. If I can't blog on a certain day, because things do happen, I will make up for it by blogging extra when I can. But whenever possible, I will post at least one thing per day.

2. I will spend more time with Grumpamoose. I suppose I've been somewhat lax about all the relationship maintenance stuff of late, and that's just not fair to either of us. So there you go honey -- you have it in writing.

3. I will try to remember what the truly important things in life are. Really, number two falls into this one, but I figure it's important enough to earn its own number.

dNeero Social Surveys

With the beginning of the Blog365 challenge at hand, I know I will soon need some kind of source of content. Something that will inspire posts. I found it in dNeero Social Surveys. Yes, there are about a billion paid survey sites out there, but this one is a little different. You get paid a certain amount for taking the survey, sure. But then you also get paid a little more for posting your responses on your blog. Here's what the post looks like:



So anyway, I don't plan on blogging this often, once a week at most, but when there's a survey that inspires me to write about it a bit, you can expect to see it here.