Then, I decided screw it, I was going to do my own thing on this site. I didn’t care what happened, didn’t care about PR scores or SEO wordings, keywords, none of it. I figured that if I was going to spend all my time blogging, I’d blog about something I enjoyed, or that totally burned my backside. Then, I found the wonderful world of giveaways and contests. Well, ok, that’s not exactly true. I’d already found them, but finding my way back to them gave me a whole new inspiration to achieve.

I’ve had a ball the past few weeks finding new giveaway and contest blogs. I’ve listed most of them on my other blog, ChristineSenter.com. But, I thought I’d go ahead and list a few here. I love this blog, and it was originally supposed to be a review blog. But, I tried so hard to make it SEO precise and perfect that I lost interest. I’m so glad I came back to it. Especially now.

As I’ve been finding a few of these giveaway blogs, I’ve noticed a cute little button on some of them. It linked to a blog hop called Friday Follow. I wasn’t sure it was something I wanted to get in on, but today I changed my mind and said what they heck. Maybe it’s because everyone else in my house is gone and the quiet gave me the nerve, or maybe it’s because I’m a social creature and wanted to be part of something bigger than myself. Oh who am I kidding, I crave attention and that’s why I did it. LOL

Now for the kicker. I hadn’t even posted the link to my blog for a full 5 minutes when I had my first follower. Thanks Katrina for making me see that I’d made the right choice. I may not get anymore followers, but you totally made my day.

So, how does it work you ask??? I’m glad you did. Here’s how it goes. First of all, you check out the list of other bloggers on the McLinky list. Next, follow the first three blogs on the list as they’re the sweethearts who put this thing on. Nice ladies, the whole lot of ‘em. Then add your link to the list and see how many others follow your site. Follow a few others on the list as it really does something for the mind to know that someone out there is following you. And not in a creepy bad way like at the mall or something. It’s a good feeling. However, there are more than 400 links on the list, so take your time and really check out the blogs.

There are a lot of people in the SEO industry that will say this isn’t the right way to gain followers. I say, um, well just imagine me giving those people the raspberries (or the bird). Anytime you can become part of a group, go for it. And for any mommy bloggers out there reading this, this is a great opportunity for you. It’s a way to network, find new ideas, and you might even make some new friends.

Anyway, this is about one of the giveaways she’s got going on at her blog right now. Our Fairy Blog Mother, aka Annette, is going to give one of her lucky readers a gorgeous Crystal T-Shirt of their choice from Sparkle Plenty. I went over to check out the site and they’ve got some of the most beautiful t-shirt and tank tops I’ve seen. They create beautiful appliques with Swarovski crystals for all kinds of shirts. They also make jewelry and temporary tatoos with the crystals. I totally fell in love.

The giveaway is for the crystal t-shirt of the winners choosing, but I’d have to go with the one found on Annette’s site. Being a Boy Scout leader, I’ve got a thing for the Fleur de Lis motif. That and it’s always reminded me of the Three Musketeers (the one with Kiefer Sutherland in it…LOL). So, in the off chance that I might actually win this contest, I’m going for that t-shirt. But, giveaway aside, you have to go check out Annette’s blog. I laughed til my sides hurt. I’m going to do a full write up about her blog at a later date, but I had to get over here and tell you about this awesome giveaway. So what are you waiting for, get over there and get signed up. Or, just sit back and wait until sometime after the 26th of Feb (end of the giveaway) when I can post pics of myself wearing this way cool t-shirt. You’ll be so jealous. LOLOLOL

After updating to the newer version, I noticed that it took forever to even get online. Now, it could be that I did something wrong, or because I live in the middle of nowhere and our Internet connection pretty much sucks. Whatever the reason, all hell broke loose last night. In the middle of what I was doing, FireFox totally broke down and crashed. I couldn’t even get back online with this browser. So, I said screw it and decided to use IE.

I haven’t used IE in a very long time, so I kept getting messages to update to the latest version. Finally, I gave in and updated. That was a huge mistake. After completing the update and restarting my computer, I found that I couldn’t get online at all. IE doesn’t work at all now and I still have problems getting on with FireFox. So, what’s a country girl to do??? She joins the 21st century and downloads Google Chrome.

So, I am now using Google Chrome. It’s kinda cool, but I’m having trouble getting used to a few things. Finding all my favorite sites is a little annoying, but I’m getting the hang of it. It’s a lot faster than either of the other browsers, but I’ve noticed that some of the pics on certain sites don’t load completely. Not sure why, but haven’t completely ruled out operator error. LOL

I’m not exactly advocating Google Chrome, but I can say that out of the three, it is the only one that has allowed me to get online in the past 48 hours. I have to use it for awhile before I can truly say whether or not I really like it. For now, I’ll use it and see if I can’t figure out all the in’s and out’s. And if I can’t, I’ll have my kid come in and teach me how to use it. LOL

I found the coolest site in the form of The Gathering Nest. Site owner, Debby Harriettha, creates some of the most beautiful postcards I’ve ever seen. She combines patterns, pictures, and textures together and takes her work beyond that of mere postcards, but works of antiqued art. They’re absolutely gorgeous.

This Libat postcard is the creation and sole property of Debby Henriettha and The Gathering Nest. This image is used with permission from the owner and may not be reproduced without the owners expressed permission.

I can’t post any pictures at this time, but have requested permission to do so. I’m hoping to hear from Deb soon, and if allowed, I’ll post one of the post cards she’s produced.
UPDATE—I’ve received permission from Deb to use one of her pics.  Thanks Deb, I really appreciate this.

I invite you to run over and check out her site. And if you hurry, you can get in on her current giveaway which will run through the 19th of Feb. Winner will be chosen on the 20th. And no, I don’t get another chance of winning by posting this review, I’m only doing this because I think the site is so cool.

If you have a thing for the nostalgic look, you’ve got to check out The Gathering Nest. This site oozes class, beauty, and bit of the odd. I was totally at home. LOL

As I said in my last post, I always check the spam comments on my writer’s site. I had gotten a notice in my email that I had a real comment over there, so I had to go check it out. And true enough, it sounded like a real comment sent from an actual writer who had started their own site. Problem was with the post the comment was linked with. Don’t tell me that “you and your wife found this site both informative and deserves mentioning elsewhere”, especially when the post you’ve left the comment on has to do with writing ideas for the month of December. Would have made sense 2 months ago, but not in February.

So, I checked out my spam folder and found the exact same comment listed 7 times. Word for word, all from the same website, but all different names and addresses. Oddly enough, they all came from the same ISP address. Wow, that’s just fricking amazing. I know I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but come on. I’m not that fricking stupid. And yes, this pissed me off. Each of those comments was linked to a different post all around my site. Was almost like saying, if I work at it, maybe I can get at least one of them to go through. NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I decided to go check out the site and see if it might be worth a shout out. Then I decided screw it, I wasn’t giving this person the satisfaction. What really upset me was the sneakiness about it. You’ll notice that I’ve not mentioned the name of the site, and I’m not going to either. Even without a link to the site, I’d still be giving this person free advertising, and I’m not going to do that.

Normally, it wouldn’t bother me a bit to help out a fellow writer. I’d be more than happy to check out a website and tell the rest of the world about it. But, because of the way this person went about it, I’m not going to help. Piss on ‘em. If you want my help, hey, just ask. But don’t try to sneak in through the back door and make a name for yourself through me. I’ll throw you out in a heartbeat.

Maybe I shouldn’t take this so personal, but I am really upset by this. Yes, the writing industry is a tough niche and it’s full of competition. Getting your foot in the door isn’t easy, and unless you’re associated with the right people, you might never get noticed. And more than that, I’m not exactly the most well-known member of the online writing community. But, I have built up quite a little following at my writer’s site and I don’t want a bunch of crappy comments killing that for me.

So, anyone out there actually reading this, if you have a writing related website and would like for me to check it out, just ask. I’ll be more than happy to look at your site give it a little free publicity. I can’t promise you’ll end up a giant in the writing industry, or that you’ll even find a way to earn money writing. The only thing I can promise is that you won’t end up a long-ass rant on this site.

I have 5 different blogs, but my writing prompt blog gets about 25 to 30 spam comments a day. And I’m just weird enough that I actually go in and read them before I tell Akismet (or as I like to call it, Ass Kiss Met) to kick em out. So, this post is dedicated to the dorks, morons, and idiots who actually think that I’m going to fall for their BS and let their spam comments to get through.

The truth of the matter is that most of them crack me up. For instance, when I get 5 comments in a row that all say the exact same thing, and from 5 different email addresses, do you really think I’m gonna see that as real? Not a chance, my friend.

Then there are the comments that say things like, “I’m so glad I found your insightful article while searching for this issue in Google”. Then I look to see which post the comment is linked to and it’s posted to go to my site disclaimer, or worse, my contact page. Excuse me, what issue were you looking for?????

But, my all time favorite spam comments from my writing prompt site have to be the ones that say things like, “I left a comment once before but it must have been filtered into your spam file”. Duh!!!!!! Or the comments that say “I respect your opinion on this matter but think you should take the time to look at all sides of the issue”. That one really cracked me up when I found out it was set to go with a post about October holidays. Um, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize that posting a list of International holidays would be such a problem for someone who wanted to get their crap posted on my site. LOL

I know there’s no real way to keep from getting stupid spam comments on any of my blogs. So, rather than get all freaked out, I’ll just keep reading them and laughing at them, right before I hit the delete button.

Ok, maybe it’s because I’m at an age now where every time I land a new writing client, I feel like a million bucks. “What, you want me to write about tree bark toilet paper? Sure, no sweat. Been writing about it all my life”. I know I’ve never written about it before, but I still have to make my clients look and sound like genius’s. That’s the life of a ghost writer. But I’m thrilled to be writing anything. So I’m not writing the great American novel. Yes, I tried but I have these strange beings in my house who seem to think they have to eat everyday AND wear clean clothes. Man!!!

I like to rummage through the various sites for writers all across the Internet. Most writers forums are basically like walking into a bookstore full of those uppity-ups that think their smarter than you because they use big words. Hey buddy, read my lips, unless you’re making a million bucks telling everyone else what they’re doing wrong, shut the hell up. I have no patients for people who think their better than everyone else, especially when they’re 20 years younger than I am. No, I didn’t go to Harvard or Yale, but I pushed two living, breathing human beings out of my body and I did it without drugs. I wanted drugs, but that’s a different story.

I guess I’m just getting old. I hate getting old, but at the same time I’m starting to see some advantages to it. I now understand all those weird sayings that used to come out of my father’s mouth. I’m finally at an age where I can look forward to my children moving out on their own, and actually enjoy the idea. I’m almost old enough to qualify for life insurance without a medical exam, and I can finally tell my mother to quit complaining because “I have the same problem and bitching don’t help”.

I guess my problem isn’t with the pieces that these young writers are putting out there, I have an issue with the way they do it. I never thought I’d be the “old chic” sitting in the back of the room wondering why the hell I came to this show. I always imagined myself the young, hip chic who knew it all. Well, I finally do know it all. Too bad I lost all the damn questions.

These kids are depriving themselves and/or other kids of air, simply to pass out. This little game is video taped then uploaded to the Internet to be seen all around the world. If you’ve got kids in the house, you’ve got to talk to them about this. I couldn’t believe the things I saw these kids doing on TV. Choking each other, pressing against their chests until they pass out. Then laughing about it when they regain consciousness.

As I sat there and watched that episode, I could only see the face of my own daughter in those videos. I couldn’t even imagine coming home to find my child dead because of a game. This isn’t something that can be ignored. Even if you’re the coolest parent in the world, this isn’t something you can overlook.

Please, if you have kids, take this seriously. I’m not the kind of person who gets up on a soap box about a lot of things, but this one just kinda got to me. My daughter may end up hating me, but we will be discussing this issue when she gets home from school today. I never want to come home and find my baby gone.