Comment Battle - Crazy Style

Imagine yourself sitting in a room full of people. Perhaps you are at a PTA meeting or in a night class at the local college. Maybe you are attending a book club meetup.

As everyone mills around, chatting about their day, catching up on their lives and exploits, one woman, we'll call her 'Sarah', laughingly says to the people gathered around her, "I can't believe how much I hate the treadmill. It's like torture! I'd much rather be sitting on the couch eating cupcakes and watching a bad lifetime movie on television. You guys should join me! I'll share the chocolate!"

A few women around her laugh, nodding their heads in understanding. Their days are a cluster of appointments, obligations and work schedules. Fitting in a workout involves epic time management skills for they not only have to work around all their personal crap but they need to find an hour or so away from their little ones as well. And with a husband who works night and day at the office, well, you know how hard that can be. Sarah made them laugh a little. She has described what they would all like to do but are all educated and adult enough to know that it was a joke. Sarah isn't really advocating that her friends all stop exercising. In summary, most of her 'audience' can relate.

Continue reading to see how Jane reacts...

Sunshine on my Blog Face!

So Jennifer over at Mamawolfe gave me a Sunshine Award! Cuz I make people happy about all the things!

I am pretty happy to get this because (1) it's a pretty picture and it reminds me of my yard outside that I am ignoring because I am inside glued to my laptop as if it were a giant block of crack with a keyboard on it and (2) it feels super warm and fuzzy that someone enjoys my weird posts in the way that I intend.

So thank you Jennifer! Go pop by her blog - her writing is delightful and if you check out her About Me you will see that she is also pretty hot ;)  If you just read that in a creepy way then do not go over there. Leave her alone, you stalker.

Now - on to the questions that I must answer, for said award requires me to reveal some deets to you.

Looking for Guest Bloggers: Education Alternatives

Hola! I hope you all enjoyed your holidays, I know I did.

I've got a really exciting plan in the works for Scribblesaurus Me for 2012, including a tighter blogging schedule, participation in Project 365 (more on that later) and a few series for guest bloggers.

I want to address the guest blogger opportunity right away. 

The first series will be about alternative methods of education for your little people. Each guest will submit a post regarding ONE alternative.

Please contact me if you are qualified* and interested in writing about any of:

• Montessori
• Waldorf (Steiner)
• Homeschooling
• Charter
• Traditional Public
• Any other valid and accessible form

These posts will be released on a schedule of one per week once and if I have enough guests interested.

I would really like the articles to be written in such a way that as a whole they could help a parent research and choose a suitable form of education for their child, meaning the post would include:

• introduction/description 
• pros
• cons
• where to find more info

Please spread the word to anyone you think may be interested. Those wishing to participate should contact me at scribblesaurusme@gmail.com with "Education Guest Blogger" in the subject line and let me know what form of education you could write about, a short summary about why you are qualified and a link to your current blog. Helps me pick you out from the PR spammers wanting me to write about their landscaping giveaway or fart pillows.

*qualified does not mean that you have to be a trained educator in these fields, but you do need to be objective, have link-backs to a few valid articles and some personal experience with your chosen form of education.

Related articles

• A Quick and Dirty Guide to Your First Guest Post (problogger.net)
• Seven Tips for Presenting Guest-post Ideas to Bloggers (donbeehler.wordpress.com)

Finding the Courage to Blog in my Own Voice

As the new year approaches (holy shit it's tonight!) I find myself reflecting on what, if any, sort of new year's resolution I might make. Normally I don't make one at all, not since I was a kid. And those consisted of 'I will try not to lose my toys this year!' or 'Barbie will never again get her hair pulled by the vacuum cleaner because I left her under the couch'. I think my last one was about 15 years ago when I resolved to have more patience and then got bored of that somewhere around January 3rd.

So, contrary to my customary New Year nonchalance, I think I may have a good commitment to myself for 2012. A resolution that I really want to stick to, to give it my all. I want to promise to myself that this year I am going to make every effort, regardless of how scary it might seem, to continue to blog in my own voice.

You see, I started blogging as a sort of information highway from my brain to my computer. Journal-ling helps me to function, concentrate, focus and remain sane. It gets all that 'noise' out of my head and allows for a freer, more expressive way of living my every day life.

A short time into this interwebutized (<--new word) journey of self-discovery, I started reading advice about how to blog and how to get followers and all of a sudden it seemed like I should be writing what people want to read instead of posting my own thoughts and ideas that are important to me. So I've struggled to remain autonomous. I want to say what I really think and what I really feel because isn't that what makes me.. well, me?

For a while there I even started to rethink my opinions based on whether some stranger would agree with them. Pardon? What the hell? It's healthy to question ourselves to a certain extent and to be open to new ideas, but in the end our differences are what makes blogging and bloggers great! You can read and follow the ones you relate to, skip the ones you don't, or even possibly open yourself to another point of view. I know I have!

What's worse is when you question whether your friends will be supportive of, or offended by, what you write. Then I facepalmed and realized that these people all know me, like, personally. If any of them are surprised by anything I might say on this blog then they haven't been paying attention! I'm an idiot for crying out loud, it's hard to miss! But they love me in spite of my quirks and that's what makes them my favorite peoples ever, because I love them the same way.

It is important for me to have my voice heard and I am equally hopeful that I might provide some support, encouragement or at least a 'Hey, I've been there too, those pants DO look stupid on your cat.' to some of my readers.

So for 2012 I promise myself, and you, that I will continue to be as honest as possible. And to work on my drawing skills. You'd like that too, wouldn't you. Yeah, I know you would. I hope you continue to read me, laugh with me and enjoy the ride.

I wish you all a wonderful, fulfilling, happy 2012. Love and be loved.

My First Vlog! Three Things I Can't Live Without.

I decided to actually do a little Vlog just for fun and to try it out. I was inspired by Vlog Talk and decided to use one of this week's prompts, which is:

I couldn’t make it through the day without these 3 items. What are they? Show us what they are and tell us why.

So that's what I did! See for yourself.

Blogging Thoughts from a Newb

Scribblesaurus Me just had it's two month anniversary. Wooooo! Who cares right?

So because I'm such an old hand at this now *snort* I decided to give new bloggers or, dare I say, some old ones my views as a new follower! That's right! You want to know what a new blog reader wants and and does not want, right?

Buckle up, buttercup - here you go.

December NaBloPoMo - Just Get Writing

I've decided to participate in the December NaBloPoMo.




What is NaBloPoMo you ask? It stands for National Blog Posting Month. Bloggers commit to completing and publishing at least one post every day for the entire month. This is supposed to help improve writing skills and create the habit of writing every day.

I'm participating through BlogHer. The theme for December is, not surprisingly, 'Gifts' and BlogHer provides writing prompts on each week day. Bloggers are expected to do free writing on the weekends. The prompts are not a must, they are just there for inspiration for those who may need it. We are welcome to follow our own paths all month if we choose.

If you are like me and your head is constantly filled with random thoughts and ideas that you want to get on your virtual paper or rant from your internet soapbox, then these prompts aren't really necessary.

Or are they?

It's a lot easier to write about the things you want to write about. I'm going to say 'write about' just one more time for good measure. Anyways - as I was saying - we all have a multitude of topics that are pertinent to our lives that provide heaps of material for a short blog post. Heck - if nothing else we just post a picture of our kid or dog or a pretty tree, am I right?

It's harder to write on a topic that is suggested to you by someone else. At least for me it is. That's why for a few days every week I am going to force myself to follow the prompts. I believe that this will hone my skills as a writer and force me to put more thought and consideration into my subject matter. Maybe even dig a little deeper into myself - an exercise that isn't always pleasant for me.

I share too much. I don't hide a lot. I'm not afraid to be honest. But there are some parts of me that I keep guarded. I intend to dig into these areas and use NaBloPoMo as an excuse to probe into the uncharted territories of me.

So buckle up and let's see how this plays out! Oh, and December 3?  Nailed it!  

Note: If you are a reader but not (yet) a blogger or writer, why not tag along in a private journal of your own? Writing down your thoughts every morning is amazingly therapeutic - and who doesn't need a little of that during a crazy holiday month like December? 

Are you participating in NaBloPoMo? Have you completed (or not) one prior to this month? How did it go? Do you think you improved as a writer &/or blogger?

Related articles

• Join Us for Daily Blogging with December's NaBloPoMo (blogher.com)
• NaBloPoMo Soup: Add Your December Posts (blogher.com)

Holy Balls That Was UG-LAY

Wow - I really do have to apologize to anyone who had the misfortune to stumble into my blog this morning. I was trying to add a new banner and some of you poor people might have jumped on when there was a MASSIVE picture of my nose and part of my eyeball at the top filling up a good portion of your screen. You could probably see if I had a 'bad habit' if you know what I mean, and I think you do. And no, I don't - not that you could have discovered anyways since wine doesn't go up your nose.

Jeebus - my nose is big enough without the 700% zoom....

Please come back, I promise I won't do it again. I will leave the html editing to my husband from now on who, when he hears about this latest escapade, will look at me sort of how he looks at E when he's trying to learn new small motor skills. Related: I kind of like to pronounce 'escapade' as 'es-KAH-pod' since it sounds more exotic that way.

Pure sick, pet & husband hugging, book reading, puddle splashing, pregnant getting, snuggy wearing awesomeness. Or whatever.

I'm not feeling very artsy, rant-like (yes that's a word I just made it up) or coherent today so I thought I'd just post a rundown of random stuff that's happened in the past 24 hours. Read on at your own risk. You should probably grab a coffee or a drink or something first.

Puddle Jumping - Friday afternoon Ender and I went splashing. He loved it and I stood out on the street taking photos and vids of him in the puddle, babbling away at him with my wheezy sick voice. Several people went by, none said a word. They were boring.

Snuggies - I discussed the likelihood of owning multiple snuggies with a stranger on twitter.

Breakdown - Battling strep is really hard when you are single parenting because your husband works all the time and your toddler has absolutely no concept of how close to the breaking point mommy might actually be. So there I sat, crying because I didn't want to get up and switch the milk I already got for E into a new glass that had blue on it. The yellow glass was perfectly fine and I couldn't even really explain it to him because whispering doesn't get through to an insistent preschooler! Then I cried because I'm SICK and frustrated until my little hero put his arms around me and said 'don't cry mommy.... are you fine now?'. Then I felt like a shit for making a 3 year old feel like he had to comfort me. I'm SO winning mommy of the year this time around. Plus I secretly felt a lot better for gaining the empathy of a 3 year old and convinced myself I've done something right in raising him.

Conception - Rich came home late two nights in a row to a sweaty, feverish, lung-hacking mess of a wife waving a positive ovulation test at him. I was super considerate and left my t-shirt on to contain the vapo-rub and kept my filthy strep mouth shut while he squeezed his eyes shut and managed to do his part. Yeah - it was pretty hot. Rich said he hopes we get pregnant so he can always remember how beautiful the moment was. He is such a smartass!

Forced Pet Cuddling - No one else would enter the bedroom last night. My family sort of put me on quarantine. But I was feeling alone and needy so I ordered Kyssa to come up on the bed and cuddle with me for a kind of forced-spooning while I mumbled about how she's the only one who loves me or something. She can't complain though because when I was pregnant with Ender she curled around my tummy every chance she got. Tit for tat, dog.  Tit for tat. (now a bunch of pervs are going to land here through dirty search terms...)

The Art of Being Offensive - I posted a status update on Facebook that said "So boys in the locker room are the new altar boys". Holy tumbleweeds Batman. I expected some sort of debate over that but I think it was SO offensive that everyone just did that cat thing from Puss in Boots.

Borderline Awkward Hugging - This morning I accosted Rich in the kitchen for a hug. He felt sorry for his pathetic whiney wifebot so he wrapped his arms around me in an attempt to make me feel better. So then I just stayed that way. Hugging. For quite a while - waiting to see how long it would be before he felt it would be appropriate to break contact. Did I mention he's quite a trooper?

Preschoolers can outsmart you. All the time - I've been trying to read this book called How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk by Adele Faver & Elaine Mazlish. I got to a section this morning about a woman who puts a sign up on the entrance to her kitchen to keep her little ones out so she can make dinner. I decided to solicit Ender's opinion and said "Hey E, if I put up a sign that says 'Kitchen Closed Until Dinner' will you stay out of the kitchen?". He laughed and sort of regarded me with that expression that people get when they look at retarded kittens and said "No mommy, but I can make a sign that says 'Kitchen Open' for you.".  From the mouths of babes.

A bunch of other crap happened but that's all I have time for right now. Uber-awesome Rich took E to a motorcycle show today so I can drug myself with Nyquil and sleep. Oh sweet elusive sleep. For all our faults, I think I married well :)

From The War of Art