Tag Archives: iPhone

Freshly Pressed x 3 and What Became of Joe?

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Life is good. I’ve got a song in my heart and the world on a string! Joy has come in and asked me to dance. Yes, if you ask me, everything’s coming up roses!  For, this past Friday, I was Freshly Pressed, which means my blog was featured on the WordPress.com homepage. And you know what they say—third time’s the charm.

Yes! I have been FP’d three times! The trifecta of all Freshly Pressed presses! First to receive FP notoriety was my On Notice post, which I wrote on account that I had a bone to pick with Mr. Stephen Colbert.  Then came one I wrote, in which I confessed to re-writing my family history by conjuring up The “Fake” Family Tree. And now, my Broken Hearts & The Road Not Taken post. Being pressed can be addictive, so I better put a reminder on my Outlook not to let this all go to my head.

What do you mean you can't take me out to pee because you've been Freshly Pressed and have to stick by your computer? What about me and my needs?

Best of all, I was pressed on a Friday, and that means my blog was in the WordPress.com spotlight ALL WEEKEND LONG! And that means I’m probably headed for my 15 minutes by now. Note to self: check out Wikipedia tonight and see if I’m in it, because, if you ask me, that’s the truest benchmark of recognition.

So how did I find out, you ask?  Well, I had just posted my story early Friday morning, and was getting ready for work.  I checked my emails for any messages about comments.  There were two from my regular readers.  Nothing unusual so far. Then, as I’m out walking Henry, my Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, on his morning constitutional, I check my email on my iPhone. Lo and behold there’s a message from Erica, the Story Wrangler at WordPress.com:

“Congrats!” she says. Your post has been promoted to Freshly Pressed on WordPress.com. Keep up the good work!”

That’s when I start jumping up and down and screaming like a clown who’s oversized foot has been run over by two Volkswagen Bugs.  My brain goes into hyper-drive and my heart skips into a state of complete apoplexy. Suddenly, I’m too excited to walk Henry and plead with him to hold it in. I run to my computer, leaving Henry downstairs, with his leash still on. I shout to him to close the front door, which in my haste I forgot to do. In typical fashion, he ignores my request.

So thank you, thank you.  Thank you, WordPress for seeing something good in my post. Thank you, too, to all my wonderful readers and fellow bloggers who contributed to my more than 9,000 views!  Thanks to the 140 of you who “liked” my post, and to the more than 130 of you who left comments on my blog, 74 of you who became subscribers on a whim–or perhaps on a bet–and 35 of you who took the leap of faith and decided to follow me on Twitter, thus assuming I have something important or even pithy things to say in 140 characters or less.

What Became of Joe?

I loved receiving all of your thoughtful comments and responding to each and everyone of you who wrote. Quite a few of you said you want to know what happened next, and I promise you, you will soon. Others wanted to know what became of Joe.

Well, after I moved to Seattle, I lost track of Joe, but, as a result of this post, I have rediscovered him on Facebook.  Joe’s a published author and a photographer, living in another part of the country and seems to be enjoying a very fulfilled life. I’m happy to say he read my Freshly Pressed post and hit the “like” button! So I’m pretty sure that means he liked my post and is glad we have reconnected. Better late than never, if you ask me. Oh, and Joe has a blog of his own, Long Tale Short.  Check it out! The man definitely has a way with words. But here’s the strangest part of this story: All these years, Joe also has kept a copy of The Washington Book Review (which was the name of the newspaper we worked on together), and had just happened to come across it again, barely a few days before I contacted him on Friday, out of the blue.  A bit freaky Friday-ish, I’d say.

She Writes Volunteer Coordinator

Well, this has been an amazing ride. Best of all, it happened on the same day that She Writes Founder/CEO, Kamy Wicoff, announced that I have been selected to serve as the first-ever Volunteer Coordinator for She Writes, along with Amber Medina West.  Yep, she’s a Medina too, but we’re not related. Just a happy coincidence. By the way, you can visit a post I wrote titled, She Writes! to find out what I think of this resource for writers.

So, if you ask me, it’s like I won the lottery. Fame, fortune and the paparazzi surely must be just around the corner!

Gentlemen, Start Your Engines!

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I’ve figured out a way to get more traffic to my blog.  Turns out it’s all in the search engine terms. Paul, my award-winning blogger pal of The Good Greatsby fame, gave me the idea.

Here’s all I need to do to make this happen. Write a post, chock full of popular search engine terms, and the visitors will flock in.  They won’t even know what hit them! They’ll be perusing my blog in search of the information they just need to have and, before you know it, they’ll be so intrigued by what I’ve written, they’ll forget all about their search.  It’s that simple!

So forgive me, if this post doesn’t make any sense, but I have to ask, what’s the worst that can happen? I’ll be like Lindsay Lohan and the judge will send me to jail? No way. Or maybe I’ll get assassinated like Gadafi’s son just did?  Fat chance. You know people will be going crazy wanting to know more and that will lead them to me!

Which reminds me, why is Trump cursing these days on his pseudo-presidential stump?  Did you hear him the other night? He dropped one heckuva curse bomb, if you ask me. Maybe he was thinking, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. Guess he forgot it was being recorded just like everything else is nowadays.

Anyway, has The Donald given up on the whole birther strategy? I mean, come on, just because President Obama, finally released the long form of his birth certificate (which is actually shorter than the short form, according to the talented Comedy Channel host, Stephen Colbert), I’m sure this conversation isn’t over. So, by all means, Mr. Trump, keep the investigation going! I know you and your Trump hair will get to the bottom of this birth thing.  It’s the only way to keep the media interested in your fake run for the presidency. Remember, the 2012 elections are just around the corner.

Of course the biggest news of the week trumps anything Trump is talking about. I’m talking about the fate of Osama bin Laden. And how about them Navy Seals? Thank goodness they didn’t ask me to help because there’s no way I could have kept that a secret for so long. Those Seals are like Nancy Drew. She, too, knew how to keep a secret.

As the president said during his speech Sunday night, “Justice is served.”  Amen, to that. Though it’s worth noting that if you visited Sarah Palin’s Facebook page Sunday night, when the news broke, you would have seen how her page was abuzz with her fan base thanking the president. President Bush, that is.

Trending: Royal Wedding couple and one miserable flower girl.

Oh, this is so much fun! It’s making me think of all the current events I know.  It’s making me wonder whether Kate and Wills went to the Bahamas or Bahrain for their royal honeymoon. Who knows? And who really cares? I mean, aside from Elton John and the Beckham’s, that is.

Wherever the royal newlyweds are, I bet they haven’t yet heard the rumors about the Apple iPhone 6. Yep, you heard me right. The iPhone 6 is all the buzz, despite the iPhone 5 having yet to be released. It’s the iPhone 6 that is trending on Twitter.  I’m still on the iPhone 3 and was planning to replace it with the 5, but now I better wait until next year for the 6.  Or should I wait for the iPhone 7? I like to be on the cutting edge, after all. Don’t you just love Google?

Rick Springfield, trending on Google after his arrest for a DUI on same weekend of killing of Osama.

Visitors to my blog have already been finding my Tangled Web by using Google’s search engines.  Here are some of the search words that have brought them my way. Some make sense, as they relate to posts I’ve written.  Others, well, see for yourself:

Clowns

Boardwalk empire sets

Fake family history

Colin Firth pride and prejudice

Henry Ford’s siblings

Rocky Balboa stairs

Tangled Chargers

Grumpy sweatpants (What’s this about? Have they seen what I wear on the weekend?)

Screaming fans in the stands for Cincinnati Bengals

Mexican fugitives (huh?)

Tangled hidden Mickey

Cavalier King Charles Spaniel always sleep

Watching a murder outside window (What the–?)

So I’m pretty sure I’ve thrown in everything but the kitchen sink into this post. Now, I think I’ll just sit back, relax and rest on my laurels, as I watch my WordPress site statistics skyrocket from visits by all those lost souls searching for information on Google. And all I can say is, Gentlemen, start your search engines!

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Addicted to Amazon

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I have an addiction and before we go any further, you should know, I don’t plan to give it up.  Yes, I am addicted to Amazon.com. They make it so easy.  They bend over backwards to keep you happily connected to them, while seemingly oblivious to all the money you’re spending, so that you want to shop there.  Again and again.  I imagine the folks who work at Amazon gather in a large meeting room with their mugs of Seattle-brewed coffee and put their feet up on the table (people who work in web jobs tend to be über casual) and come up with a slew of ways to make connections with each customer. Well, whatever they do, it works on me.  They had me at hello.

Here’s why:  Amazon makes me feel like we’re in a relationship, emailing me everyday, noticing what I buy, what I like, complimenting me on the wise shopping decisions they say I make, then making recommendations for me based on past purchases. “As someone who has purchased fiction from Amazon, you might be interested in…”  They never ask if I actually had time to read all the books I’ve ordered.  No guilt, no making me feel bad about the stacks of books piling up, waiting for me to read.  They just want to make sure I buy more.  My inbox is filled with emails they send me.

Amazon is also like having an executive assistant: they remind me about birthdays so I can buy Amazon gifts from the recommended list.  I don’t have to even think about what to get, Amazon takes care of that for me.  This comes in handy, though I do wish they could also remind me about upcoming doctor appointments, when my car’s oil needs to be changed and when I need to make an appointment with my hairdresser because my roots are showing.

Say what you want, but I really enjoy shopping on Amazon, especially since I became a Prime member.  Prime means “first in importance” which is what I must be to them now that I’ve plunked down my $79 a year for this service.  I’m always guaranteed two-day delivery, except on the weekends, or I can get overnight delivery for an extra $3.99.  No sooner do I click to make a purchase that it’s boxed and shipped out in minutes.  No fuss, no muss.  No chance to change my mind! It’s as if they’ve assigned me one person to be at the ready for when I’m shopping on their web site.  Someone who’s never asleep at the wheel, a job I would fail miserably doing.  I click and they’re already processing my order and withdrawing the funds from my bank account. Seconds later, the email arrives that my order is ready to be shipped.

The iPhone, makes it’s even easier to buy on Amazon.  The other night I was watching The Daily Show and Jon Stewart was interviewing an author whose book seemed intriguing.  I picked up my iPhone, went to the Amazon app and found the book.  Then I just clicked “Buy Now.” There’s no need to add it to my shopping cart, no need to sign in.  Amazon knows me.  So I just click “buy now” and voila! The book is on its way!

You can buy just about anything from Amazon.  My friends laugh at me because I buy my cereal on Amazon.  I’m on the Subscribe and Save plan for my cereal and also my vitamins, which means I get 15% off and I set the terms regarding when they should send me my next shipment (about every two months).  And if I need them faster, I can click “Ship Now.”  I could explain why I can’t buy my cereal locally, but that’s another story.

I’ve been an Amazon enthusiast (to call me a “customer” doesn’t capture the depths of this relationship, if you ask me) since November 30, 1998.  That was when I made my first purchase, some holiday VHS tapes, which clearly dates me and my relationship with Amazon.  Since then, Amazon has supplied me with countless books and supported me through my transition to DVD’s.  Amazon also sold me a 40-inch HD TV, followed by a blu-ray player, orange sandals, a filter for my air conditioning unit, several pedometers, a Hoover vacuum cleaner guaranteed to pick up pet hair and so much more.

Let it be known:  if it exists, you can probably buy it on Amazon.  And that’s why I’m sticking with my addiction.