This Thing Called Blog

Yes, I thought Sawing Blogs was a catchy title and a little silly. The votes are split on that one. What I am trying to do is find my blog in this world. I do a search and it does not come up with the current title. I have spun this web and still, can not find it. I can find my old blog name. Should I change this name too? Is third time the charm? I've got to contemplate. There are too many bleepin Sawing Blogs out there! Kellblogs Rice Crispies. Lincoln Blogs. Blog In. What About Blog. And So Blog. Is there Box People?
Box People. From the creative minds of babes comes the ultimate square family. My daughter and her friends are never bored. They are not smoking Marlboro Reds at the pavilion. They are not dressing up in their mothers clothes, painting face and strolling the streets of Forest Park. They are not calling boys, spinning the bottles or sneaking sips of whisky. They are using their brilliant minds and coming up with ingenious, innate forms of entertainment. They are producing the next Nick Jr., the next children's book, the next Mattel toy. They are introducing us to the world of Box People!
There is momma and daddy box, brother and sister box, cat and dog box and let us not forget Grampa box. He's pretty hip to be square. He can compute, in his block head, square roots like nobodies business. He uses a crane to walk. Family time consists of stacking each other up and knocking each other down.
"What do squares do?", my son asks. Squares are rocks. They are strong, independent quadrilaterals. They give us a heads up on the size capacity of ones habitat and they absolutely love to climb to infinite levels of grandeur. "And what do blogs do"?
What do blogs do? If I can only catch a glimpse of these little girls' minds. I can probably come up with a better name for my blog, and an explanation for my son, about this thing, called blog.

SEO, The Wave of The Future

No it is not, it is the present. SEO, also known as Search Engine Optimization, is the way web content gets thrown into search engines. Certain key words will help bring the article to the forefront of the search engine list. I guess it works in a mathematical, algorithm kind of way. It likes around 250 words, I think? It is also living and breathing, I think. I do not know much about it but I am trying to figure out how certain articles are in the top ten and some are in the bottom ten thousand in any given search. I thought I was finding gold with SEO but appears that my computer geek husband found it first. No-one told me! The reason I was getting excited about learning this system is one, I would like to know how blogs reach an audience other then the five that I have ( props to you all)- and two, I just was accepted to write copy content for a site called Text Broker. While I did not get the Demand Studio job, I did get this one and received my email this morning. I had to submit an article on my favorite city to visit and of course I picked Chi-town. I pulled three topics- shopping, museums and food and wrote a 250 word article on the sights to see.
Once their editorial staff reads a submission, and if it is accepted, they will give a rating of two to five. Depending on the number, one can choose from a list of topics needed for web content. The article will be edited and tossed into the marketing sea of dreams. If Textbroker's clients like the work, it is possible to work with the client independently for more money. Textbroker pays monthly to Paypal account instead of weekly like Demand Studios. After five articles they will rate again. If the the number goes up so does the money. I was rated a three which is labeled "good writer". Five is "professional writer". Those "professional" writers probably get paid more cents per word. My three rating will pay between four and six dollars an article. Pretty slim you are thinking? Think about it though. If I can write at least three an hour, that is fifteen bucks an hour and I believe they range from 250 words to 500. It is the experience I need to try again for Demand Studios and work for both. Demand gives bylines but Textbroker does not. I should not complain. I now have a "payed to write" job. Thankyou Textbroker. I just need to brush up my knowledge on Five Star Mead notebooks. Avo Uvezian Fine Cigars and FugiFilm FinePix A610 cameras. Welcome to the world of content writing!

If We Don't Know, We Cannot Grow. Why I Didn't Get Hired By Demand Studios.

I can only imagine what goes into the psyche of the thousands, millions of applicants who get denied for a position. "Thanks for your application. At this time we do not have work available in your area of expertise. We will keep your application for future reference." Actually them are kind words. Words softly blown with just the right amount of pressure to tap that ego and go huh? You know the rest. A quick sigh followed by a wake up call. A brief moment where your bubble gets burst, reality sets in and your superhero, mommy can do anything her heart desires mantra comes crashing down. Girl, wake up, you have not had anything tangible published in many years. Nothing, nada. The only thing published is the chalk written grocery list on your Picasso chalkboard paint in the kitchen. Chalk it up sister, compose yourself and throw away your "I can do anything" attitude in the compost bin. Be humble.
What does make us feel better is closure. That's right. Kulowzure. We want to know what is it in our resume that , plainly put, sucked! Was it the fact that we were overqualified. Yeah, that's it. My mom says that everything is done by computers in terms of the weeding out process. The computer looks for keywords and if those keywords fit the description of the job, you will then be weeded a bit more until basically you are bagged and tagged and ready for Mondays pick up. I think I will rest that theory. What is it? What is wrong with our resumes? OK. What is wrong with my resume? There were a gazillion freelance writing jobs available from a company called Demand Studios. Demand Studios publishes "eHow" type articles that employs talented writers and editors. I thought with my newspaper background I would land a position. Was it the application I filled out? I should say that my husband filled out part of it because I was having a hard time submitting it. It was getting kicked back to me. He did not capitalize certain proper nouns and if I was an editor, I probably would not hire me either. Did they look beyond that and check out my blog? Did they see that I am a mother, housewife, interested in mortuary science, worked for The Kane County Chronicle and loving blogging thus far. There is enough basic knowledge there to contribute to the WWW's gene pool without it landing in the dead pool. How hard is it to write informative eHow articles? Can I write an article on "how to find out why you are not qualified enough to write how to articles?" I still would like to write for them so I sent them a letter asking them why I was denied. I hope they will keep my resume and reconsider for the future. In the mean time, I will continue writing and growing and applying for other freelance postions. I also would like to hear constructive criticism from this company. I hope that businesses would give a more in depth rationalization as to why we are not hired. If we don't know, we cannot grow. That my friend, is closure.

Out Of The Mouths Of Cats......

Meet the Beatles. Yes it is true, they are truly living in my house. All four plus two more , possibly managers, not quite sure.... Still have the crazy mop top hair do's. Can't ever have peace and quiet in my own home. They are always making music, or some type of racket I suppose.... Getting calls in the middle of the day, most likely asking them to get right to the studio. There is this red van that escorts them to their destination. Must be the tour bus. Must have repainted it at one time, used to be sort of yellow, kind of submarine like. I would like to point out that four of them follow the managers like some kind of lost puppy, always asking to be dressed and groomed accordingly. Those managers cook and clean for them, bandage their broken hearts, and by golly one of those freakin Beatles is still in diapers! I kid you not! Yes, meet the Beatles right here on Gladstone for some unforseen reason.... All four plus two more.... OBLADI.... Orion, Bryce, Laila, Amy, Derrick and Indigo. OBLADA!

Thou Must Not Hate. Thou Must Tolerate.

I want to keep my blogs lighthearted so I will not go very deep into this discussion, nor will I research like a true journalist all of the intricate details on this case. I will ask some questions though.
Really, I want an objective stance on this Hate Crime bill. What rights would be taken away from the many Christians who are emailing me to sign a petition that objects this bill? What is the real fear? I am not sure I understand correctly? I am not writing this to start a debate. I would think the opposition to this "homosexual" addition is about freedom of speech and that should never be taken away. I guess some feel it is the fear of losing that first amendment in the name of religious freedom. Does this hate crime bill not protect religious discrimination? Do we all not want a little protection? I have read the articles from Focus on Family, the doctors who support NARTH - National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuals and their views, but I must be an idiot because I am not understanding it at all. Why would we not want to help those being discriminated against? Isn't that what a true Christian does? What I do understand is that I have compassion for people in general, the human race, all creatures great and small. It is the human condition. Everyone needs protection, help, a handout here and there. Everyone needs protection from violence, hatred. I surely can understand if this bill does infringe upon that right to free speech, that would be a problem. But isn't the ultimate problem tolerance?

Had to Add The Bowie....

Oh gosh, had to add the Bowie! Just playing around with this and looking at all the neat options. I will probably change the videos periodically for your listening pleasure. I will try and get some old stuff put on for my older followers and newer stuff put on for my younger followers (all 4 of my followers) LOL!!!

Knitted in the Womb Notes: My rant on Pitocin

Knitted in the Womb Notes: My rant on Pitocin

At Least There Are No Holes....

Hubby and I need clothes BAD, that's right who's bad, us, for putting it on a credit card and you know what, it was all clearance items!!!!! I probably would have spent five hundred or more but it was less than half that and I probably won't buy new clothes for another year!!!! (perhaps a few sweaters this winter). Did get three pairs of shoes to boot! We are the worst dresses on this block. God bless my sweet neighbor for handing down her handmedowns to both me and the baby. Boys and oldest usually get squat with the exception of our three year old, who once in a while, you gotta bless our other sweet neighbors for the handies. As for poor Derrick, he never can find a man to hand down a scrap of cloth, for he is a large mammal. He did get to get a couple of pairs of shorts and a couple of shirts, clearance, and bless his heart, they were clearance items from 1986...... At least there are no holes!