Halloween Eve

Deep and introspective realizations this Halloween:

Skittles are much more popular than Transformers Candy Shields.

$15 worth of candy lasts about an hour. Trick-or-treating goes on for at least two.

You can recognize experienced trick-or-treaters. They carry pillow cases, not cute little buckets. They’ve learned that capacity is more important than aesthetics.

Walking across my lawn is perfectly okay. Grabbing candy or leaving before saying thank you? Not so much.

You can tell how cool a neighborhood you are by how many cars actually drive from their neighborhood to yours, park and unload their kids to trick-or-treat. We had a good year this time, with a near traffic jam. Must be those Skittles.

The suicidal beetles that dive bomb my front door as I sit on my porch to hand out candy are a buzz kill. And they creep me out.

A warm Halloween does have one benefit: the chance to chat with neighbors I usually only see as we’re backing out of our garages on our way to a kid activity.

Three good things about Halloween:

1. It’s over.

2. The kids don’t like Snickers, so I get my pick from their goody bags.

3. Thanksgiving, a holiday all about food, family and relaxing is coming up.

I can handle that one.

 

Halloween Fright

This is bad. It’s the day before Halloween, yet there are no pumpkins on my front porch. The kids don’t know what they want to dress up as, or even if they want to dress up. Heck, I don’t even have a bag of Halloween candy.

Yes, in all our busy-ness, Halloween has snuck up on me. (Really? The 31st of October is here again?) But the truth is that as a mom, I’ve never liked Halloween.

I like to think that my lack of creativity and ability to do crafts has led to this situation. Sure, you can plop down $20 or more for a store bought costume. But even the most expensive ones pale in comparison to the ones some parents whip up on their sewing machine.

With four kids, I’m not spending a lot on costumes for one day. At the same time, my sewing ability is limited to buttons and hems.

So Halloween brings out those feelings of insecurity (along with the annual doubt: did I buy enough candy?)

My kids are at an age where candy doesn’t hold the same mystique it used to. They can walk to the store and buy it on their own. We typically still have Halloween candy around the house a year after it was collected.

Dressing up isn’t as exciting either. Kids this age want so much not to look dorky or stand out that is really limits the costume choices.

Maybe we’re all moving to a new stage where my kids are more the givers of candy and not the takers. And maybe, just maybe, one Halloween my fantasy will come true: we’ll leave candy on the porch and my family will go out to the movies until all the trick or treaters have come and gone.

 

Writer’s Review of Content Current

There are several ways to make money as a freelance writer.  One is to write short articles for different content organizations, which then sell them to businesses to use on their websites. Demand Studios is an example.  Once you’re accepted as a writer, you can choose a specific article topic to write about.  For maybe 20 minutes of research (because really, who knows all that much about pre-natal paternity testing?) and 30 minutes of writing and editing, you can earn a whopping $15.  Still, it’s money.

So I tried a different place recently, called Content Current. Not everybody can write there.  You have to submit an application and samples. Then they give you a specific article topic to write about, as a test.  Online animation colleges was my topic.  I wrote it.  Got no response.  Did they like it?  Did they not?

Weeks later, I got an email asking me to resubmit it taking out all external links (you know, the links that show my work was original?  The links that provide the reader with more information?) But in the spirit of the customer being right, I did it.

Then, nothing.  Did that mean I was accepted? Rejected?  I know– I’ll contact them.  But there’s no way to reach the editor on the website. Oh, but the editor reached me.  With a friendly letter that must have gone to all of the writers (and apparently, the writer applicants) warning of the dangers of plagiarism, and the importance of turning work in on time.

Well, considering I hadn’t plagiarized and my work was turned in by the deadline, I’m guessing they weren’t talking to me.  But I wonder– if I were an employee, would I want to be talked to like that?  And as a potential employee I’ve got to think of that as foreshadowing a very bad relationship.

So when I got another “no reply” email asking me to remove the external links (which were already removed the last time) and asked to stuff the article with more keywords, I realized: Content Current is just not worth $50 per article, much less $15.

But, if anyone has a question about online animation colleges, I’ve got some info for you.

 

Note to Self: Leave Kelly Clarkson’s Photo Alone

It’s the same old story, with a twist.

Singer Kelly Clarkson appears on the September cover of Self Magazine. You know Kelly. She won American Idol and proved herself the real deal with #1 recordings and Grammy Awards.  Unlike many of her contemporaries, she is not stick thin.  In fact, her weight fluctuates frequently.  And she says she’s okay with that.

But apparently, Self Magazine is not.  On the cover, a curiously thin Kelly appears.  Airbrushed, re-touched, Photoshopped.  But Kelly didn’t ask for it.  Self Magazine, the one that promotes nutrition, fitness and health gave Kelly a virtual makeover.

“Did we alter her appearance? Only to make her look her personal best,” said Self editor in chief, Lucy Danziger, in her blog.

We’re not talking about a pimple , red eye or a stray hair here.  We’re talking a good 20 pounds. So in other words, you’re only your personal best when you’re the weight that Self thinks you should.

Maybe the magazine editors thought that Kelly, with her more voluptuous size, didn’t represent the magazine’s philosophy.  If so, WHY have her on the cover?  Why name her one of the ten Most Inspiring Women of 2009? Oh.  Because she’s popular and people will buy the magazine and she’ll make the magazine money.  So they want her, but they want to change her to fit their image.

You know what that’s like?  It’s like going to a party with your date, but when you get there, knowing your date doesn’t fit in.  Maybe he doesn’t have a white collar job, or didn’t go to college.  So you lie about what he does  so that you– not he– can feel better.

Nice to see your true Self. And you’ll understand why, next time I pass the magazine stand, regardless of what you’ve done to the photos, you’ll go untouched by me.

Kelly Clarkson "After"

Kelly Clarkson "Before"

 

Breastfeeding Dolls?

Yes, I am a proponent of breastfeeding.  That’s how I fed my children, influenced by research that proved that breastfeeding is a wonderful way to nourish your baby.  (Important to note– it’s not the ONLY way to feed your baby.)

I hope my daughter will consider it, many years from now, when she’s a mother.  Interestingly enough, she may get a chance to experience it sooner than we thought.  Turns out, a company in Spain has come out with a doll for young girls, Baby Gloton,  that simulates breastfeeding.

Girls wear a flowered vest, and hold the doll close.  When close to the flowers (which are right where the breasts would be), the doll makes a suckling noise.

From years of nursing my kids, I know that breastfeeding is absolutely normal.  I know that other dolls simulate other activities, including crying and peeing.  But, tell me, am I the only one who finds this a little, um, creepy?

What do you think?

 

Who Cut the Cheese?

Kraft has recently come out with a repackaged version of their shredded cheeses. But wait! That original 8 ounce package for the 2% milk version–which was so perfect for those cheesy recipes requiring 2 cups of cheese –has been shrunk to 7 ounces.

What about my macaroni and cheese?  I guess it just won’t be the cheesiest after all.  I wonder if they talked with their biggest users (Moms) before they made this decision.

 

Is Twitter Any Good for Regular Folks?

The last few weeks, I’ve been trying to get proficient with the microblogging tool called Twitter.  Actor Ashton Kutcher uses it.  President Barack Obama uses it.  Athletes like Serena Williams and Chad Ocho Cinco use it.  Why shouldn’t a 40+ freelance writing mom of four use it too?

But here’s the dilemma: all of the above have fans who, for various reasons, hang on to their very words.  I don’t.  I have Facebook friends, but these are people I actually know, and might actually care that I had a turkey sandwich for lunch.  Or, maybe not.  But they do cheer me on when my child has a softball tournament, or talk with me about current events.  The Twitter environment doesn’t do that.  It’s set up for bigger news items than the usual ones occurring in my life.

In addition to celebrities, businesses use Twitter.  They use them to communicate directly with their customers.  But, a new study by Harris Interactive shows that only 8% of advertisers think Twitter is effective in promoting products.  But even more interesting is that 34% say that Twitter is NOT very effective.

Not surprisingly, younger advertisers were more positive about Twitter than older ones.

In my own very unscientific poll, I asked several people I know– regular folks– if they use Facebook.  About 60% of them said yes.  I asked if they used Twitter.  Nope.  Not a one.  Not to lurk, not to spy on Ashton, not to get an inside line on a good deal.  They said that Twitter was too time consuming, and that Facebook suited their needs.

As a writer, I do like the ability to have a steady stream of information coming in to my computer.  By downloading Tweetdeck, I can categorize the folks I follow and save searches so I have more control of the stream.  I can connect with other writers and marketers and newsmakers.  But for regular life, I have to admit, Twitter is beyond my needs.

Your thoughts?

 

A Little More Tweet Time

The more I learn, the less I know. And so it goes with my Twitter project. Although I’d originally planned to try Twitter for a week, it’s going to take longer to get a hold of this. One thing I’ve just tried is TweetDeck, which is a program you can download to organize the tweets. Let’s give that a try.

I’m also getting a few new followers– Thank you!

As you can see on the right side of this blog, there is a new column for tweets. Progress, little by little.

 

Cardio Jump– For Imaginative Rope Jumpers

As they say, only in America.

If you want to get in great cardio shape, jumping rope is known to be one of the best ways.  It raises your heart rate quickly to burn calories, it strengthens your legs and tightens your core.  But for people who want to jump rope without actually having to use the rope, there’s Cardio Jump.  You hold the two handles in your hands like you would rope handles.  Then you jump over….nothing.  There is no rope under you.  You just pretend.

And this can be yours for only $29.99.  I think I’ll skip it.

 

Twitter for Newbies: Tweeting Right Along

Yay!  I have one new follower.  Someone I have worked with on a writing project asked to follow me.
Which brings up the question– how do you find people to follow, and who do you let follow you?  I started by finding people I already knew (Twitter can pull names of current users from your address book).  But in my world, there weren’t that many.  Then I added people who were experts in areas I wanted to learn about. Casey Hibbard (casey_hibbard is her Twitter name) writes about creating customer success stories.  Marva Goldsmith (marvagold) is a guru at personal re-branding.  Local professionals Kella Hatcher and Maryann Perrin are at Balancing Professionals (balancingprof), guiding people to workplace flexibility.

Then, I added some news sources like MSNBC and ESPN– and to make sure I stayed current, yes, I added People magazine.

Finally, I added some writers I like, such as Celia Rivenbark and Jen Lancaster.

So right now, I am following 32 people, and am being followed by 12.  I’m pretty sure that MSNBC and ESPN are not following me back.  Which begs the question- do you only follow people who reciprocate?

David Risley, a professional blogger, asked that question and found that some people did.  For some users, it was all about the numbers– getting the biggest number of followers. It was seen as an insult when the one you love doesn’t love– ahem, I mean, follow– you.  But others thought that if a person was interesting enough to be followed, it didn’t matter as much if they followed back, because followers could learn from the person anyway.

Golden Blogging, a website for bloggers and microbloggers (like Twitter users), has a useful post on finding ways to connect with local Twitter users.

I’m going to go take a look at it right now–got to get today’s tweet in!

Follow me? Come to Twitter.com, user name: pameladel.

C U there.