Tomorrow is Thanksgiving in the U.S., my favorite holiday. No gifts. No services. No dressing up, no stress. Just family, friends, food and football. Yes, my family loves watching the Dallas Cowboys play on Thanksgiving and having a late lunch.

No matter where you’re from, I’m thankful for your time in stopping by here, commenting, contacting me, sharing posts with others. Those in the U.S., I hope you take the time to take in the day and relish it. Those outside of the U.S., I’d love to hear about your traditions or a day that just lets you be with folks you love without stresses of fulfilling duties.

Brain food …

• 10 Insanely Awesome Inspirational Manifestos. Great round up. I hadn’t seen these before.
• 5 Gobbles for Twitter this Thanksgiving. #4 is the biggest reason why I love social media.
• 100 Questions to Help You Write, Publish, and Sell Your Ebook. Title explains it.
• How to Craft Editorial Guidelines for a Guest Blogger. Here are the guest post guidelines  for this blog.

And for fun because we’re allowed …

• 9Gag. Found a lot of great comics here.
• Book Art That Will Melt Your Brain. Incredible details. That’s art I’d display on my shelf.
• 10 Amazing Facebook Facts You Probably Don’t Know (or Don’t Care). Facebook causes 1 in 5 divorces. Seriously?
• Dear Photograph. “Take a picture of a picture from the past in the present.”

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Before They Were Famous: The Oddest Odd Jobs of 10 Literary Greats reveals the jobs held by Kurt Vonnegut, John Steinbeck, Stephen King and others. They’re not that odd. Vonnegut managed a Saab dealership.  King was a janitor. Harper Lee handled reservations for Easter Air Lines. Still, it’s interesting to see what they did before becoming famous writers.

I’m no literary great, but I’d say the oddest job I held was working as a cashier and stocker at Toys R Us. Or maybe wrapping gifts in my mom’s little kiosk that she had for one holiday season. I also worked at Tandy’s offices (Radio Shack folks) as a file clerk. That’s about four jobs (not counting babysitting) by the time I graduated from high school. My high school senior daughter has had one job for three years: working at a brunch/lunch restaurant. She started as a hostess and she’s now the senior waitress.

The coolest pre-high school graduation job I had was data entry for an antique toy car catalog. Entering names and addresses sounds boring, but it paid well for a teen and I loved looking at those old cars. Barbie wasn’t my thing — AFX slot cars were. I loved taking apart the broken ones and trying to fix them.

Despite my preference of cars to dolls, I’m not responsible for my older son’s love of cars. (I can’t begin to give you an estimate on how many Hot Wheels we have between him and his younger brother.) One of my favorite clients just happens to be in the car business. I write content about the many cars his company sells.

For a long time, I regretted accepting the 20-minutes away Toys R Us job on the spot when I had another interview lined up with the public library two blocks from my house. Obviously, I love books plus I knew the staff at the library. I was 16. I didn’t know better. Besides, working at Toys R Us taught me a bit about business and retail. Learning the Dewey Decimal System would only help me find books faster.

What odd jobs have you had?

And now for your weekly linkage …

Brain food …

• The 7 Iconic, Transparent, Empowering Business Buzzwords That Need To Die. Never liked “transparency” in reference to social media. How about “honesty”?
• Twitterstories. Share your story by mentioning @twitterstories or by using the hashtag #twitterstories. Include a photo or video that helps illustrate your story.
• 18 Clever Organizing Tricks and Storage Ideas. My dad did the glass jars thing (#2). Maybe that’s where I got my organizational (obsession) skills from. My mom came up with #14 for our cookie / baking sheets.
• Free press release sites a detailed review. Reviews 60 free sites to identify those providing the best resource for searches, building links, etc.

And for fun because we’re allowed …

• What You Text vs. What I See. Hilarious and creepy at the same time.
• The Insane Choices You Face at the Drugstore. Dizzying. OK, what’s the cure for that? Infographic focuses on one symptom: headache.
• 12 Most Influential Perks for People with Low Klout Scores. You’re welcome.
• 24 Awesomely Awkward Vacation Photos. Got this one from my daughter.

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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 had planned a post using my trip, but I struggled to recover from my vacation all week. Although I didn’t think I needed a vacation from my vacation, my body thought otherwise. It wiped me out that I kept going to bed early and allergies took over. I had to modify my schedule to get things done. My body was probably in shock that I took the first real vacation in almost a decade that it didn’t know what to do when I returned.

The short version of the trip: Loved seeing and experiencing Boston while catching up with family in Nashua, NH.

Hope I get back in the swing next week… it may be tricky with holidays on Monday and Thursday. Happy Labor Day to all. And do take the day off. Everyone deserves a break.

Brain food…

• Make the Most of Your Memory: 10 Tips for Writing About Your Life: I ask family to fill in gaps when trying to recall a memory. People writing memoirs won’t get it perfect, but they can take steps to complete the picture.
• a brief guide to life: Trying to declutter and enjoy life more…
• Why & How Freelancers Should Exercise (from Fitness Expert Scott Tousignant): When I returned from Boston and Nashua, I felt out of sorts and had a hard time returning to my routine. While my exercise routine was off — I exercised for at least 40 minutes daily — maybe not what I usually do that day or as hard. The point was to do something and feel like I accomplished something.
• See How They Did It: 104 Social Media Case Studies: Not all 104 are on this page — it links to others elsewhere. Good resource for both B2C and B2B.
• Author Headshots: Also applies to any professional photos. I’m trying to schedule my family’s annual photos and get my professional headshots while at it because mine is from 2005. The hard part — finding the right tops for the family (we wear jeans) and for my professional photos. This part isn’t going well, but I might get some shots in my meryl.net tee (which I happen to be wearing in the photo).

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• 50 Best Websites 2010: According to Time. NO resource can truly name the best websites or best anything online… but at least, you discover a few goodies.
• Stay: From the 50 Best Websites. Wanted to bring this one out so I’ll have it for myself for the next time I travel. (By then, they’ll be 10 newer, better sites.)
• 12 Geekiest Fashion Accessories: Fun stuff, but I wouldn’t wear ‘em all.
• “Set” has the most definitions of any word in the English language: 464! Better make sure we clearly communicate what we mean when we use “set” in our writing.

A little LOST tribute there with wishes for my only bro. Tuesday, August 3, is older brother’s birthday. (I’m the youngest of three. Yes, I rub it in. Yes, he’s the father of the gal I mentioned last week.) Sending good vibes his way for another great year and many more.

Excited to wave good-bye to July as we enter the month that school starts up again! Was that too enthusiastic? I can’t help it — I like having a schedule and of course, I work better with the kids in school all day.

Anyhoo, back to work. Lots to do… so keeping this short.

Brain food…

• Create the Perfect Author Facebook Page: Captioned video! Just two minutes of your time.
• Think Small to Go Big: Sales for the Small Business Professional: Don’t overwhelm yourself. Great book on topic of starting small for all aspects of our lives: One Small Step Can Change Your Life: The Kaizen Way. Short, fast read. More short fast reads? Check out Short, Powerful and Favorite Books.
• How to Take Great People Photos When You Travel: Need all the help I can get before headin’ to Boston — the first new place I’ve traveled to in too many years. Hope I can capture good memories of Boston. When? Like I’m going to give burglars a heads up. P.S. Burglars, my family will be home. It’s just me doing the traveling.
• Book Bloggers: Oh my gosh… long list! Great for authors looking to find the right audience for book reviews or interviews.
• Five Personal Projects That Will Help You Find Clients: I often recommend to new freelancers to work with nonprofit as a way to start up business.

For fun because we’re allowed…

• World Record for Most T-Shirts Worn at Once: My daughter did this for a video in honor of a friend’s birthday where she put on ALL of her shirts, but it was more like 25 shirts.
• 13 Hilarious Headline Fails: I still wonder how such headlines make it pass the editors. I do placeholders like the “Think of a headline” one — but my editor catches me when I forget to fill it in.
• Google’s broken spell checker credit: Mark Hurst.
• A Pen Mightier Than Any Sword: I love a good pen that writes smooth leaving the right amount of ink behind.

I wrote about field day 2009 and what it was like in my elementary school. Now I’ve experienced two different elementary school field days. (My younger two go to separate elementary schools — by choice.) One school sets up stations all over its big, long field. The kids wear a color shirt based on the grades they’re in while 5th grade wears its class shirt. (5th grade at both schools gets unique class shirts.)

The kids have laminated cards that volunteers check off when they complete the station. They are free to roam the field from station to station. That’s the nice thing about this school’s big yard — you can see it all in front of you.

The other school has a yard that wraps around the sides and back of the school with many blind spots. Three classes from the same grade rotate from station to station together. They do activities inside and outside. This year, for the first time, the grades will wear the same color shirts.

Unlike the other school, we order a new field day tee every year. It has “Field Day” and the current year on it. (See photo for this year’s quasi-Survivor logo.) The image changes every year. Some good years and some dull years. I’d say this year’s is in-between. Best field day shirt ever: red, white and blue tie dye that I still wear. I volunteered today and worked the Speed Stacks station. Yes, lucked with an indoor assignment away from the heat.

Brain food…

• My Dialogue Sucks: Tips for Improving Dialogue in Your Novel: A wonderful collection of highlights from various articles around the web.
• 10 Marketing Resources Every App Should Provide: This is a fantastic resource for anyone involved with apps. I’m amazed how many don’t provide much. Most of us need details before we try it.
• 15 Gorgeous and Effective HTML Emails: Great examples. But reality… HTML-emails don’t look readable in all common email clients. I have found lots of funky-looking ones in Gmail, but they look fine in Thunderbird. First rule: Accept your HTML email won’t look identical in all email apps. [Link: BubbleCow]
• Five Reasons I’m Not Quitting Facebook: And I hope you won’t give up on it either.
• You’re Just Not That Into Me: the introvert’s guide to attending a conference: I have a good reason to avoid conferences — I don’t know if I can get my money’s worth considering deafness thing.

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• Awkward Family Photos: Some of the titles are winners. “Sisters of the traveling hands.”
• 15 Bizarre Prom Photos: Makes my ’80s prom photo look normal.
• Top Five Fonts You Should Never Use: Wish all the locals would watch this… not captioned, but easy to follow and still laugh.
• Recipe Look: OK, the web overflows with recipe sites. But every recipe in Recipe Look comes with adorable drawings. Got a favorite recipe, pencil and paper? Draw away and submit your recipe embellished with your art.
• The City Made of 100,000 Staples: Artist Peter Root plans another project using one million staples. And these things can fall like dominoes. He has worked with potatoes, soap and transformer laminate.
• Twitter Reacts in Horror to 2012 Olympic Mascots: Hilarious article. The new mascots make all the past mascots look like winners. Be sure to scroll through the slide show. [Link: Karen Swim]

What memories do you have of field day or other traditional school event?

Shout out to all colleagues and friends in NYC for the Writer’s Digest Conference including Jane Friedman and Christina Katz. I actually wish I could’ve been there and y’all know I rarely do conferences.

• Smart Money Answers for Writers: Fabulous tips!
• 30 Profiles of Resilience in Business: One pager of short, sweet and inspiring stories with links to detailed stories.
• Do You Know the Real Reason Not to Use Passive Voice? It ain’t cuz of awkwardness.
• Stephen Fry tweet sends book’s sales rocketing: He said he’d eat 40 hats.
• Surprise — Disrespecting Competitors Doesn’t Work! You shouldn’t disrespect people period. But you’ll go further if you play nice with competitors. Everyone’s product isn’t for everyone.
• 5 Cases When Social Media Isn’t Right for B2B: B2Bs are slow to adopt SM for a good reason. This explains why. It takes time for them to see how they can make the most out of SM.

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• How to Tie a Cherry Stem with Your Tongue: I didn’t know my spouse could do this until recently.
• Embrace Left-Handedness with These 5 Great Sites: Me proud southpaw!
• 15 Coolest Nail Art Designs: Some freak me out while others are WOW.
• Yearbook Yourself, Scooby-Doo Yourself and Simpsonize Yourself: Had the most fun with Yearbook Yourself! [Link: Bitrebels]
• 20 Most Bizarre Craig’s List Adverts of All Time: Accurate list… although, I’m sure some are missing from the list.

• Easy on the Hooptedoodle: How to be invisible when writing a book. You know… show instead of tell. [Link: The Blood-Red Pencil]
• Exposing Some Myths About Blogging Pay Rates
• 7 Ways to Rediscover Your Dreams
• Book Marketing 2.0: 5 ways you can use Web 2.0 tools to promote your book
• Namechk: See if a user name is available across many social networks.
• Twitter Logo Generator [Link: Crenk]

• Best Sites for Used Cars: Daughter has driver’s permit. Not gonna get her a new car. If anything, she’ll inherit hubby’s car once he gets a replacement.
• Star Trek does opera: Khannnnn! in Italian.
• Emo Babies: Not emo as in wearing black, but showing their feelings and emotions. Very cute.
• Wanna See a Kindle 2?

• Social Media and “The Flight Attendant Effect”: Excellent analogy that makes great sense. [Link: Scott Blitstein
• Five Levels Of Social Media Responses [Link: Dawn Foster]
• Children’s book writing month at Tumblemoose: Lots of advice, articles, videos and guests.
• Tweeting for profits: How retailers and other businesses are taking advantage of Twitter.

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• Darth McVader: This link is in memory of my dear friend Glenn.
• The Stapler Caper: Adorable wordless children’s book that encourages children to write the story. YouTube video tells more. Disclaimer: Creator is a dear friend of mine. Heard great story about a kid who hated writing. He actually produced an incredible story using this book as a tool. Wow.
• Tilt-shift Photos of London: Just makes me wanna get there ASAP! I love the UK and am eager to visit there as one of my first stops on the other side of the world.

My youngest, a kindergartener, had Mud Pie Day today (they do bubbles, throw footballs, play Frisbee, eat pudding, mess with sand and much more.

• 99 Essential Twitter Tools: Yikes! Sounds to me more like 99 ways to get sucked in twitter some more…
• 72 Stunning Business Cards That Will Blow You Away: Consider me blown.
• Alternative to expensive software: Don’t need to spend $$$ in Photoshop or need all of its power features? You can see a list of alternatives and filter them by license such as free, open source and commercial, by platform and by tag.
• 25 logos with hidden message: Cool stuff.

And for fun because we’re allowed…

• Amazing photographs from a high point of view
• You Can’t Please Everyone: One star Amazon reviews of movies, music and literature.
• Cards of Change: What people do to their business cards when they no longer work for the company on the card.
• Award winning stop motion: Do it again: Wow! Talk about patience!