Donna Freedman Since getting my candy/jelly thermometer from Amazon.com recently I have learned a new and entirely dangerous skill: making caramels for Christmas gifts.
I know they are dangerous because:
Today’s post is a bit of a grab-bag.
To anyone interested in joining Swagbucks: I might be able to get you 100 extra points. On Saturday evening I took part in an online chat about shopping/rewards sites. Those “attending” were given a code to offer to new referrals in addition to the usual 30-point sign-up bonus.
Yesterday I went into a drugstore and found several aisles completely stocked for Christmas: lights, ornaments, wrapping paper, toys, candy and, of course, traditional sacred images such as Mickey Mouse wearing a Santa hat. Sigh.
While too-early Christmas marketing and commercialism in general both bug me, I am also practical enough to acknowledge they exist — and to help a reader stretch his/her dollars to the utmost. That’s why I’m happy to announce a giveaway sponsored by the Consumerism Commentary blog: a $100 Amazon gift card, just in time for Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
At some point on Tuesday, Nov. 1, this site achieved a milestone: 500,000 page views. To say I was surprised would be putting it mildly. To say that I’m happy would be stating it precisely. That’s because 18 months ago I wondered not just whether I could sustain a personal website, but whether anyone would care if I did.
If writers are the most insecure people on Earth, bloggers are proof that self-doubt has a sub-basement. Like the 2 a.m. disc jockey a whole lot of us wonder, “Is anyone even listening?”
Chad Carpenter being Chad Carpenter, he just had to include a visual pun on the cover:
Look closely. If you don’t see it, you probably don’t deserve to win this week’s giveaway.
In my most recent Get Rich Slowly column, I offer five tactics to keep from spending money — but I also offer permission to spend.
Each of us who attended BlogHer 2011 found a “SinuSense” in our conference bags. The best way I can describe it is a turbo neti pot. In a good way.
Made by Waterpik, it provides nasal irrigation quickly and efficiently. You’ll want to stand over a sink when this happens, by the way, and far from relatives with cell-phone cameras and visions of YouTube stardom.
Why would you want to irrigate your nose? Because the Mayo Clinic says it is “a safe, inexpensive and easy way to relieve symptoms of nasal and sinus congestion,” that’s why.
I’m so tired. Madeline Kahn said it much more melodically as Lili von Schtupp in “Blazing Saddles,” but all I can do is say it outright.
I’d planned to stay in New York City (at a hostel, of course) for several days after SaveUp 2011. But I cut the trip short when I realized that I was dangerously tired.
Can’t-remember-things tired. Bumping-into-stuff tired. Tired past the point where sleep rests me. My brain feels like a glacier: cold and sluggish and with chunks calving off.
Lately I’ve felt unable to do what I consider good work on Surviving and Thriving. It’s taken everything I’ve got just to meet deadlines for the other three sites for which I write.
In fact, some days I feel like crying when I sit down at the computer. Not a good sign.
Wish you could have been at the SaveUp 2011 conference. This week’s giveaway provides a little SaveUp vibe. The chicken slingshot is a particularly nice touch.
Want to be a politician or raise money for a start-up? You need the Web Economy Bullshit Generator.