So My Sister Doesn't Send Out A Rescue Expedition

I got a text from my Big Sis all worried about me and Matt, so I guess I'd better post a quick update. Although I'm not sure anybody will actually see it, since I went and screwed up my domain name and all.

We're snowed in. We were stuck here for a while after last week's Snowpocalypse, but then on Saturday I managed to dig out the car and go to the store to re-stock some supplies. Which was a good thing, because then it snowed again, and we've been stuck here all week. We've still got plenty of food, but we're both starting to get cabin fever. It's starting to thaw, though, so I should be able to dig the car out again this weekend.

Meanwhile, I've been busy reorganizing things and developing some products over at The Web Wrangler and laying the groundwork for their marketing campaigns. One of those projects includes a new blog, Coffee & Soft Pants, that will focus on freelancing and working online. This is mainly because I realized that neither of my current blog audiences are really the right target audience for my e-book about how I started my business on a budget of zero dollars, so I need to go out and find that audience. Anyway, if you're interested in my business goings-on, here's a vlog entry I did about it.



I wish I could say that things are moving right along, but they've kind of stalled out this week. I'm not sure if it's because I overworked myself and now I'm a little burnt out, or if it's the cabin fever with a touch of SAD, or a combination of all of the above, but this week I've been struggling with a lack of energy and motivation and a fuzzy-brained feeling that's making it really hard to focus. I've managed to push through it to a certain extent, but mostly all I'm good for lately is lying around and staring at shiny moving pictures. It's a bit frustrating, with so much on my plate, but I guess my body's trying to tell me that I need a break, and I should probably listen.

So that's what's up lately. We're mostly good, albeit a bit frazzled and stir-crazy, and I clearly need to work on the whole work/life balance thing. I think that will get easier once I get these products launched.

And how are you?

I now have sadness. :(

I have to add several new subscriptions to my feed reader now. And why is this? This is for the sad, sad reason that my current favorite blog, the one from which I look forward to updates more than any other, Elastic Waist, is ceasing to be. Today is its very last day, and all of its contributors are posting their goodbyes.

Thankfully, they're also posting their personal blog links, and links to their other projects. And so to help out my fellow stalkers of awesome people, here's a quick list of where these awesome gals can be found from now on.

Weetabix - outspoken champion for positive body image

♥ Personal blog: That's My Bix

♥ Collaborative blogs: Product Anarchy, Dearest Mabel, Big Fat Deal, Forkful of News

Kim - Champion for health and fitness and bringer of the funny

♥ Personal blog: The Kim Challenge

♥ Collaborative blog: Forkful of News

Anne - Sassy champion for loving yourself just as you are, because you are loveable

♥ Personal Blog: Jen Larsn (Dot Net)

♥ Collaborative blogs: Dearest Mabel, Big Fat Deal

As sad as I am to see EW come to an end, I'm also thankful and relieved that these amazing women will still be around, writing with as much honesty and poignancy and hilarity that they brought to EW. They'll probably never read this, but in case they do: Thank you, ladies, for making the last couple of years brighter, and good luck in all your future endeavors.

Updateyness

I got busy last Friday and forgot to blog my new homepage at JMBauhaus.com. Content hasn't changed--it's still just a portal to my schizoid online personalities--but it's got a new design that I made all by myself, from scratch! It took forever to remember how to do some of this stuff, and I had to cheat and peek at other web sites' source code to see how some things were done. Oh, and I didn't design the background image myself; that came from a free blog banners site. So I guess I did have some help. Still, I'm mighty proud of how it turned out. In Firefox, at least. In IE, not so much, but even so: pretty!

My next project: this here blog. I bet you can't wait.

Also, I created a home for The Hero Factor on Livejournal, where I've decided to go ahead and post it in installments as I do the next draft (I still have to finish the first draft, though, so it'll be a little while yet). It'll be subscribers only, so if you don't have a Livejournal account or an Open ID, or don't want to get one, or do and just don't want to "friend" my novel, then you'll just have to wait for the eventual podcast version. I'm sure you're seething with bitter disappointment.

UPDATE: Sometimes it's a good idea to look back at what you posted last week before writing a new post. /UPDATE

Two sentences in this post are sarcasm. Can you guess which two?

In creative news that had absolutely nothing to do with me, my nephew and his wife's latest collaboration arrived safely into the world early this past Saturday morning, and she is a work of beauty. And adorableness.

Oh, and by the by, my little sister has a blog. Go say hi!

Thank God it's my Friday off.

I'm out for the next few days. Here's a fun retro kitsch blog to keep you occupied while I'm gone: Kitschy Kitschy Koo

Have a good weekend, everybody.

Hire yourself out with PayPerPost Direct

Sponsored post alert!


PayPerPost is at it again, rolling out yet more upgrades and somehow becoming even more awesome. Their latest feature is PayPerPost Direct, a new program that cuts out the middleman by letting advertisers hire bloggers directly to write blog ads. So if they're hiring you directly, do you really need to go through PayPerPost for that? Of course you don't need to in the strictest sense, but when you consider ease-of-use, the security of having an arbitrator to ensure that you get paid (or, if you're an advertiser, to ensure that you get what you pay for) and the fact that PayPerPost only charges a 10% fee (unbelievably low compared to the 50% and up charged by competitors such as ReviewMe), it begins to look like a pretty sweet deal.

So how does it work? Bloggers in the network simply place a badge on their blog advertising their availability. If an advertiser surfs across such a blog and sees what they like, they can just click on the badge to sign up and hire that blogger to advertise their site. It doesn't get much easier.

The other improvement this rollout brings that's got me all excited is the ability to reserve an opportunity for six hours. Six hours!!! This should make it much easier to nab quality opportunities that have actual relevance to this blog and to you, dear readers.

PayPerPost just keeps making it easier to make a good bit of extra income for just a little bit of extra work. Have you signed up yet? Why not? You can use any of the links in this post to head over there and sign up today, or if you feel like helping a girl out, you can also click the affiliate badge over on the side bar to send a little kickback my way.

Blog Hacks

Final post before I take off for the weekend. Promise.

Lifehack.org has an entire category devoted to improving writing and blogging skills, which might be of interest to anyone looking to grow the quality of their blog (or start one out on the right track).

Now I'm off, for a weekend of last-minute tax preparation panic. Whee! It's scary storming out there, so if anyone's of the praying persuasion, I wouldn't mind having some get-home-safe prayers sent up for me.

Have a good weekend.

Have you voted yet?

Sponsored post alert!

It's time for the first annual Blogger's Choice Awards! PayPerPost is sponsoring these blog awards, in which bloggers get to vote for the best among them (and nominate themselves to gain a little publicity, while they're at it). Awards will be given out in categories, which include fun titles such as "Hottest Mommy Blogger," "Hottest Daddy Blogger," and "Most Obnoxious Blogger," as well as standards such as "Best Business Blogger," "Best Entertainment Blogger" and "Best Celebrity Blogger," in which it pains me to see that Ross the Intern and Rosie O'Donnell are beating out both Neil Gaiman and Wil Wheaton for the top spot. That's just wrong, people.

Also sorely lacking is some Whedonverse love, which I just corrected by nominating Whedonesque, JaneEspenson.com, and Nathan Fillion's Myspace blog. If you want to tip the scales in their favor, then head on over to sign up and vote. You have to register with the awards site to cast your vote(s), but you do NOT have to be a registered PayPerPost member. Can you think of any blogs that deserve to win? You can also sign up to nominate your favorites. Heck, while you're at it nominate yourself! There's plenty of bloggy love to go around.

Winners will be announced at the first annual PayPerPost PostieCon, June 2nd in Orlando, Florida. You have until midnight on May 22nd to make your nominations and cast your votes.

(And yes, you can vote more than once.)