My parents have three kids, four grandkids and four granddogs. Three of those kids would be my fault. The fourth is my 14-year-old niece who is exactly 18 months older than my second child. Like the rest of the US, I’m melting. Even the pool is too warm for me, and I’m one of those who needs it to be at least 95 degrees outside to go in the pool. It’s so hot that the nearby water park pour ice into its big pool.

Credit: http://alles-ausm-kopf.de

Drink lots of water and check on others who may need help especially seniors.

It’s so hot … [fill in the blank].

Brain food…

• Why I’m Loving Google+. Debbie Ridpath Ohi, author and illustrator, shares her views of G+. I’m still figuring out how to make it work for me. My problem is that I’m spending more time in social media and that’s not good because it cuts into other things.
• 3 Types of Savings Every Freelance Writer Needs. Very important especially when it comes to quarterly taxes.
• 8 Reasons Books Fail. Focuses on self-published books. Bad cover art is a biggie. I know … I know … don’t judge a book by its cover. An author who doesn’t put effort into producing a catchy cover expects us to invest our time to read it. I don’t think so.
• Memorial researchers get the cinematic treatment. Who says the annual report must be a snore? Memorial University doesn’t. LOVE it. [Link: Daphne Gray-Grant]
• How to Make Your Own Book Trailer. Excellent recipe.

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• Voice Actors: The Voices of Our Childhood Heroes. It always surprises me  when my husband tells me, “Hey, that’s so ‘n so’s voice.” I can’t fathom being able to recognize an actor’s voice. I can believe people recognizing the voices of family and friends — but famous people? There are so many.
• 12 Most Creative Origami Towels. I went on my first and only cruise in 2000 and I looked forwarded to my origami towel surprise every single day.
• The Real Cost of a Hogwarts’ Education. Have you considered room, board, uniforms, wand, accessories, books and all that? Yikes. And pet not included!
• Final Scenes in Movies. Can you guess what they are? Answers way down at the bottom of the post.
• Summer Nights from Grease in Lego Stop Animation Motion. I <3 musicals and actually know this song from Grease. Totally enjoyed. Even reflects every little move from the movie. Except, I think it missed Sandy crossing her arms. Legos don’t bend that way.

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011 Meryl Evans

You know March roars in like lion and goes out like a lamb? Not this time. It feels like the month whizzed by unless you’re in Japan. I’m sure it’s been a long couple of weeks. I’m thinking of the folks there every day.

The second Legoland Discovery Center in the US comes to Dallas. My family heads there tomorrow as part of a special preview for Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts. I can’t believe Lego built the second one here. Here’s hoping it’s a memorable experience for the boys. I’m sure they’ll be asking for this ‘n that as Lego wouldn’t have this place and no Lego for sale.

The youngest got his braces on this week. He got tired of everyone asking, “Why do you need braces?” Severe overbite in his case. That will be three braces for all three kids.

I hope the younger two won’t need them again in the future. The older brother’s permanent teeth haven’t all come in yet and the latest round tried to mess with his teeth. Poor guy had to have three teeth pulled to prevent damage. Orthodontia has changed since I’ve sported railroad tracks. They put braces on kids sooner because they’re waiting until they’re older and baby teeth fall out can do more harm than good.

Brain food…

• 6 Strategic Approaches for Using Twitter: What I like about this infographic is that it covers customer relations, crisis management, corporate reputation management, event coverage, product promotion and sales and issue advocacy. Applicable to almost everyone. Key: Don’t wait until you need it to use Twitter. Start now.
• America’s 100 Best Small Companies: If you’d like to learn about how small companies succeed, these are a good place to start. Some known and some not known.
• 7 Different Types of Writing Gigs for Freelance Copywriters: When I spoke to second graders, first thing I asked was what kind of writers do they know about? Answers: book authors, newspaper writers, magazines. The usual. You know we can do much more and here are some ideas.
• Is a public post a quotable source? Due diligence in sharing information: Depends on the quote selected and where content posted. Newspaper, blog, testimonial, company website, Twitter etc. [Link: Arik Hanson]

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• 20 creative guerrilla marketing campaigns: I must live in a dull place or don’t get out much. Never see creative campaigns like these around town.
• 14 Funny Warning Signs: Thank you for noticing this notice. Your noticing this notice is noted.
• Angry Birds Papercraft: Made my own! No, I didn’t suddenly find myself with free time on my hands. Need to make ‘em so I could throw ‘em around when I get angry at the game instead of breaking my iPod.
• Magazine grammar fail: Eat, Ray, Love — that works, but they forgot the rest of the commas.
• Star Ways John Williams Tribute: Even Wookie captions! (Thank you, Corey, for captioning the video.) [Link: Lori Widmer]

I debated whether to attend this annual sale after ridding my house of 300+ books. George Angus convinced me. I survived the sale and walked away with just FOUR books! It’s amazing when you find a book that you have on your “to read” list.

My youngest went to see the new Dallas Cowboy Stadium. I have yet to get there myself. He also met former Cowboy receiver Michael Irvin. For non-sports fan, Irvin was a former Dancing with the Stars contestant.

Brain food…

• 9 Expert Tips for Better Writing: Love the quotes that accompany each tip.
• A Good Edit Would’ve Fixed That: April Hamilton, judge for self-published book awards, shares common problems she sees in the submissions — not your basic typos. [Link: BubbleCow]
• Best WordPress plugins for writers: Got some of these loaded already… need to check out AP Style Dates and Times. I tend to follow AP Style. However, I prefer am/pm to a.m./p.m., but I understand AP’s thinking behind this.
• A Novel’s Setting Can Be Your Marketing & Promotion Linchpin: How a self-published author sold almost 50,000 books. Inspiring success story!
• Unmask Parasites: I hope we never need this, but might be worth saving. If you think your site has been hacked, run this. [Link: Alan K'necht]
• 18 Things I’ve Learned About Book Marketing: Very detailed tips that includes a script for calling book stores. [Link: Debbie Ohi]
• Social Media Content Worksheet: Although from Jay Baer, I’m sending you to Georganna Hancock’s Posterous as she has great stuff and she’s worth following. [Link: Lori Widmer]

For fun because we’re allowed…

• Lego Movie Posters: I gave my son a cool LEGO Star Wars: The Visual Dictionary (affiliate). (Even I liked browsing it.) It’s incredible how Lego spun off a whole new world with its movie versions of the toys. I enjoy building them with my sons, but I don’t like that they fall apart easily.
• Funky and Fun Keyboards to Brighten Your Day: Browsing these cool keyboards will put a smile on your face unless you don’t like Star Trek, Garfield, The Simpsons, etc. etc.
• 80+ Creative Geek T-Shirts: I recognized a bunch (I love looking at geeky things) and discovered a few newbies. Always loved the “There’s no place like 127.0.0.0.” Also love the typographic tees.
• 7 Ridiculous Products Licensed by Major League Baseball: Hey, what’s wrong with Mr. Potato Head? [Link: Blair Semenoff]