Archive for June 2011

Tomorrow, my husband and I celebrate 22 years of wedding bellissimo. I don’t know how I landed such a great partner in life, but I do all I can not to take him for granted. I’ll stop with the mushy gushy. Just know that I did. I am. I will.

Yes, another short note. I had a post for this week all figured out in my head, but no time to type it up and present it to you. It’s bad enough I went to bed late a couple of times this week because of The Hunger Games and Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins. What do you know? I started writing about the book and it turned into a post on book summaries and editorial reviews.

On with the links!

Brain food…

• Six Reasons You Should Stick with Legacy Publishing: Yes, rejection is so rewarding.
• How to Be a Successful Ghostwriter: If I had the time, I’d love to pursue ghostwriting. I write because I love the work — not because my name is in print or e-ink. Then again, I may not be the best ghostwriter because it usually involves many phone interviews and listening to recordings. Not an easy feat for moi.
• How to Write Short Stories: “Dear Michael, The dog is in the oven. Don’t open it, it’s too late. I’m sorry.” Quite an opening, eh?
• 10 Facebook guides and blogs posts every non-profit should read: Great resource.
• Do welcome popups work? Personally, I close the popups without a glance. I’ll either leave the site immediately or read the article I came to read and leave. But you can’t argue data. Never hurts to test.

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• Wave at the Bus: For 170 days, a dad wore a different costume while waving to his 15-year-old son as he stepped into the school bus.
• 12 Geekiest Wedding Proposals: How appropriate: geek and wedding. As you know my husband and I celebrate our wedding anniversary this weekend and we’re geeks. We met the geeky way: on a BBS.
• 10 Weirdest iPhone Apps: Another from Oddee. I knew about several… but the others… odddddd… here’s one more: Kick to Pick App that lets babies choose their own name.
• Infographic: Left-Handed Facts and Statistics: Southpaws ROCK! Yes, I’m one of ‘em. If one parent is left handed, 33% of their offspring will be left-handed: My own personal data. My mom is a lefty, Dad wasn’t. They produced TWO lefties out of three kids. Dear husband is a righty (I know! Mixed marriage.) and I’m a lefty. We have three kids and 0 lefties. Yes, I know we supposedly have a lower lifespan than righties. That’d because everything is designed with a right-hander in mind and we have accidents as a result.
• How to Draw Creative Caricatures: I’m a lefty, but I never could draw decent stuff.

I went to bed late a couple of times this week because of The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins. Great series — so far. I’m just getting to the meat of the second book (Catching Fire). I knew the games and themes in the series resembled the The Running Man, but couldn’t imagine why it was a best seller. “The Running Man” was a good movie, but I didn’t love it and post-apocalypse themed stories tend to be depressing. After finishing the first and digging into the second, I got my answer.

But I don’t think everyone would love it especially my mom. I’m curious to know what she’d think if she reads “The Hunger Games.”

Anyway, I accidentally learned the result of “The Hunger Games” when I was reading the synopsis of “Catching Fire” on Amazon’s page. (I looked at it to see if I wanted to read the series.) Despite knowing the result, the book gripped me to the end. Some of us may read the synopsis for an entire series to see if we want to read it or not. You can bet I’m not reading the synopsis for the final book, Mockingjay.

Thinking about this, I checked out the synopsis for “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” series. I’m at a disadvantage because I’ve read the whole series. After reading all three summaries, I believe they don’t contain spoilers. I tried to do the same with Harry Potter, but again I’ve read them all and may not be the best person to judge.

The synopsis from “The Hunger Games” also gives away a couple of things. However, these happen near the beginning of the book and not knowing these things beforehand adds to the surprise. Then it dawned on me to “Look inside” for the official blurb on the book’s jacket. The blurb revealed little compared to the “Editorial reviews” that I often refer to for the summary. I never had a problem with reading these until this happened.

The editorial reviews read like a summary not a review. A review gives an opinion. The two summaries only have one line giving an opinion and they reveal nothing about the plot. Did the rest of the summary need to reveal so much?

Amazon lists editorial reviews before any other content and doesn’t display the blurb anywhere on the page. The customer reviews appear further down the page. All this time, I saw them as summaries and rely on them to give me an idea of what the book is about without any spoilers. Not every book has a preview aka “Look inside,” so we have to rely on something to help us decide to read or not to read.

I checked Barnes and Noble’s summary on its website. It was almost identical to the blurb on the book jacket. Same for Borders’ website except it included an extra paragraph right before the blurb. I like Borders’ the best of the three.

So why does Amazon post editorial reviews instead? What do you think? Should Amazon post the blurb in place of editorial reviews and move the editorial reviews elsewhere? Have you ever read a blurb that contained too much info?

• @EmpowHER Are you having a chat today? I was adding #herchat to the chat directory, but see no mention of one today. #
• Considering The Bachelor series rarely produces happy endings, why does the show continue? #bachelor #
• @bradshorr But the happily ever after happens on the show. The break up typically happens later after show has ended. in reply to bradshorr #
• Not all teen fiction is supernatural & dark. RT @elizabethscraig: Ignoring the Light in YA Fiction: http://bit.ly/kO8cam #amwriting #
• #wordpress Website so overloaded with workarounds that most plugins don't work right. Spending hours trying to resolve. Oi. Help. #
• Kind of political, isn't it? RT @aswinn: You'd think the opposite, but I find writing acknowledgments harder with each passing book. #
• Many writers do it for the love, not the fame. RT @brianklems: How to Be a Successful Ghostwriter – http://bit.ly/jFrcja #
• @empowher Updated Twitter Chat list http://bit.ly/twitterchats to include #herchat Let me know if you want to add more info. in reply to EmpowHER #
• Depends. Good lesson. RT @dougkessler: Are all negative reviews harmful? http://t.co/DbmnWYK via @Econsultancy #
• Say something positive to everyone you meet today RT @iconic88 #RAOK #
• Love it! http://waveatthebus.blogspot.com captures a father wearing a different costume for 170 days as 15 yr old son gets on the bus. #
• How to run a successful online business with @TrophyCentral on #smallbizchat tonight 8PM ET http://bit.ly/sbchat106 RT @smallbizchat #
• +1 RT @micheledortch @googlebooks I like this! I am not afraid of tomorrow, for I have seen yesterday and I love today. http://goo.gl/SsKTh #

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Hotel Dash 2: Lost Luxuries

Hotel Dash Suite Success must have been a big enough success to warrant Hotel Dash 2: Lost Luxuries. I’ve lost count how many games Flo appears in, but PlayFirst has a winning character in its hands and it’s smart to take advantage. Even after playing many games starring Flo, I never tire of her. She’s just one of those likable people. I’m talking about her like she’s real, aren’t I?

Restore five nature-themed hotels in Hotel Dash 2: Lost Luxuries, a fun and exciting Time Management game! Help Flo excavate themed hotels and turn them into exotic resorts in hopes of hosting the International French Fry Festival! Glide down zip lines to prep rooms, cater to guests’ requests, and renovate hotels with unique accents. Will DinerTown finally win the honors of hosting the festival? Find out in Hotel Dash 2: Lost Luxuries!

Alien Hallway

Talk about a strange name. “Hallway” evokes images of walking down many a bland hallway. Some felt sterile with all white walls, lighting and floors. Some felt heartwarming with family photos and color on the walls. So I’m seeing aliens fighting in a white hallway. The reality is you defend the planet from alien invaders. Wait. Men in Black? Independence Day? Scores of other alien invading movies?

Control the entirety of Earth’s army and defend the planet from the green invaders in Alien Hallway, a fun Action and Strategy game! The fate of all mankind is in your hands as you try to destroy the evil aliens before they demolish Earth! Upgrade your base and units to improve your troops and give humanity a fighting chance! Blast your way through countless enemies and save the day in Alien Hallway!

World’s Greatest Places Mahjong

How I miss playing mah jongg every Wednesday morning with a rocking group of gals. Occasionally, I’ll see announcements for mah jongg games or tournaments (that don’t occur on a weekly basis), but I never join them because I’m not fast. My Wednesday group has taught me a lot about the game, but I have a lot more playing to do before I can play in tourneys.

These games are nothing like solitaire mah jongg, which I played many times before the kids came along. I had one edition that came with a zillion tile themes ranging from sports and flags to cartoon characters and cars. World’s Greatest Places Mahjong (yes, different spellings) combines the Seven Wonders with the tiles. Not original, but still enjoyable when you add power ups.

Dive into a world of Mahjong and learn about the new Seven Wonders of the World in World’s Greatest Places Mahjong! 100 million people have voted, and seven new locations have been chosen. Use your Mahjong talents to clear the boards and discover which locations were picked by people all over the world!

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School is officially out on Monday. We had to make up two days due to the FIVE snow days we had this year. Although I like the school year schedule, I’m glad it’s out for a little bit as the kids need a break. No more nagging about homework and studying for a couple of months. Nonetheless, wish school would be year around with more breaks instead of one long break and two medium ones. But I know that’s not efficient for a lot of reasons and summer gives kids a time to take part-time jobs, go to camp or do special programs.

What’s one of your most memorable last day or last week of school memories?

Brain food…

• 10 Modern Dilemmas Twitter Presents on a Daily Basis: Thanking for tweets is a big one. I tend to limit that to DM or if it’s something different, I’ll do it in public. Don’t want to add noise to stream thanking for my own stuff.
• Words We Don’t Say: Hugo Lindgren shares a list of words and phrases left by the previous editor. Words You Don’t Say: People wrote in sharing words they never want to read again. The one word I always change in every article I edit… “utilize.” I think that’s my ultimate cringe-worthy word.
• B2B Fail: Confessions, Apologies, and Questionable Motives: Did you get a bunch of “Are you taking on clients?” emails? Me, too. The story behind that…
• Nurse reveals the top 5 regrets people make on their deathbed: In the past few years, I’ve been making an effort to live my best life so I don’t have these regrets.
• Top Ten Myths About the Brain: All those characters conking their heads and forgetting their life? Myth. Writers, find another gimmick. [Link: Diana Adams]

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• 10 Amazing Ultrasound Photos: I think the rock it dude is really doing the I love you sign.
• The Value of the National Spelling Bee in the Age of Spell Check and Predictive Text: My almost third grader is the only one of my three kids to learn how to write cursive in second grade. It used to be covered in third grade, but with so much more material to cover and the use of computers — they changed when they learn cursive. I’m just glad schools still teach it. I hope the handwritten note never goes away. I get chills whenever I come across something my dad (in loving memory) wrote as he had a writing style that I always knew was his. Actually, every member of my family does except me.
• How to Make Harry Potter Butterbeer: The weather grows warmer and the last film comes nearer. I actually made this for my family using this recipe. The whip part was the best. I stirred the whip into the drink, but just didn’t quite warm up to it. Very easy to make.
• Douglas Adams … on Kindle … how meta is this? [Link: Esther Schindler]

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I’m sure you haven’t been keeping tabs on how often I blog or noticed fewer blog entries lately. Most people don’t for most blogs, email updates and websites. We get so much information that we don’t stand by wondering where the latest update is from so ‘n so.

It pangs me not to keep this blog updated much lately. But then I remind myself that I’d rather deliver nothing than something useless to you even if it affects search engines.

You don’t need a reminder of the advantages of consistent updates and blogging. What about making time for it? All the experienced bloggers tell us to make time for blogging and to stop making excuses that you don’t have time.

I do that for family.

I do that for volunteering and giving back.

I do that for clients.

I do that for exercise.

I do that for sleep.

If we “make time” for everything we want to accomplish, soon we’ll find ourselves losing sleep and overdoing it to the point that our brains feel overloaded. Speaker and author Jill Konrath wrote about this in The Year I Lost My Brain and How I Found It Again. Then today I read the top five regrets people made on their deathbed.

Multitasking is not always a good thing. It divides your attention, thereby sacrificing the quality of the two or three things you work on at the same time.

Oprah is right when she says, “Live your best life.” And that means sacrificing blog entries. If I work to accomplish all the things I’d like to do, it’d sacrifice at least one of the above and that would not be living my life. I’m not going to put off things just to make something happen.

I don’t want to regret not spending more time with my kids at every age. I already wish I had spent more time with my daughter who was growing up while I still had a corporate job and less flexibility. By the time my boys came along, I had the flexibility and fewer regrets.

In the past year, I’ve made time for things we hadn’t done together as a family. We saw the Harlem Globetrotters. We went to the State Fair. We went to the city’s International Festival. We went to the Texas Tornado hockey game. We went to LegoLand.

What will you make time for? What will you let go? How are you living your best life? How do you feel about blogging regularly or inconsistently?