Lexical Light

Help Webkinz Update

The Complaint Desk at helpwebkinz.com is still open. Though NOT an official Webkinz site, you can still get some satisfaction from posting there, knowing your two cents may add up to change a glaring weakness in an an otherwise fun website.

Helpwebkinz.com  has received over 200 visits its first four days, largely due to referrals from links at I, Lamont. That tells me there is some interest, maybe even need for it.

Webkinz Problems

If you're not satisfied with the customer support at Webkinz, head over to Webkinz, help! and file a complaint. It's a blog I started to compile Webkinz issues in hopes that Ganz will improve their customer service.

(There's no logic to why I'm blogging about this instead of other things going on. I guess it's light and easy. Maybe I'm just...oh, look...a chicken. Oh, yeah. Happy New Year. Oy vey.)

Is there a list of books in this book of lists?

I'm quite the list maker. Not that I finish doing things on my list, but I like making the list. I guess it makes me feel a bit in control - at least on paper. Now I can read a book of other people's lists, Sasha Cagen's 2nd book, To Do List.

Sasha first did a magazine of lists from 2000 - 2003. In 2005 she started a blog collecting people's to do lists. On November 6 of this year she released a book of 100 TDLs. No doubt her publication of the book was influenced by the success of the blog.

BTW, if you want to contribute a list to Sashas' blog, she's still accepting them.

Maybe Dave should do a Top Ten List compiled from Sahsa's book.

HT: Blogger Buzz, the blogger.com blog.

Time for a Bit o' Cheese

What can break my weeks of blog neglect?  TEAMWORK, of course!!!!! "A Chair for my Mother" is my favorite episode, in part because of this AWESOME video. I'm so pumped to have found this. It's not unusual for me to bust out the chorus when we're doing some work. After you've enjoyed the main video, scroll down for the video of the ending credits. Also hilarious.  The kids & I gave nicknames to the dancers: "Flippy Guy," "Bendy Girl,"  "Twirly Girl," and "Cha-cha Man." No offense to the dancers. They're quite talented. Blame it on the '80's.

Thanks to the youtube user who posted these.

Posting from the Library

Why am I posting from the library? Because I can. Yes, I'm a geek. During my blog presentation at the ETCWC I mentioned you could blog about whatever interested you. I thought out loud it would be fun to do a weekly post from my local library. (Not that anyone would read it.) Alas, it will have to wait until a different season in my life. For now, I'll stick with the occasional post from RR's sacred stacks. 

(Downside of posting at the library: they use Internet Explorer, so I don't have my friendly Firefox "Open New Tab" option for links. I tried to open a new window in IE, but couldn't get to it. Oh, well. We'll go w/out hyperlinks in this post.)

Back to the library. Emily and I ran up here so she could turn in her reading log. Our library has an awesome summer reading program filled with fun activities, goodie bags for each 25 books/5 hours read and the fabulous end of program party with Joe McDermott. All the kids got their logs on Tuesday, June 5th. Everybody had finished their first log (25 books/5 hours) by Thursday. Emily had finished 100 books by Saturday. Obviously, some of them were quite short. (I told her she could only read the board books once and after her first 25 books, no more board books.) Her and Alexa both read to Kara. Aaron fininshed Harry Potter, Book One, this morning. (when he finds a book he likes, he can read for hours at a time.)

Okay, I'm about to get kicked off the library computer. Better go save my post and get Em to the checkout. Rock on, readers.

A Simple Bit of Bliss

"Having fun isn't hard, when you've got a libarary card." - Arthur Read & friends

The library and the YMCA are two the things I enjoy most about my lttle suburb Even better is that they are both easily accesed from my house and about 2 miles from each other, w/the library being en route to the Y. I dropped the kids off at the Y for a few hours. (A sweet part of our membership.) Emily has basketball practice in the middle of our 4 hours, so I have to go back soon. Hanging out at the libary beats driving home and back to the Y. So, here I am.

Since I haven't posted much this week I figured this would be a great time to learn exactly how to utilize the grown up computers at the library and get a post in at the same time. (BTW, my first from our beloved local library.) 

I love libraries. The books. The quiet. The information. The computers. I really could hang out here a while. It's fun just to sit and look around. Look at the girl using the cool hole puncher with the erognomic handle. I wonder what precious documents she's hole punching? There's the express check machine they just moved from downstairs. I'll miss having two of them there. I wonder what those black cases are on the bookshelves over there. They look like laptop cases. I think I'll have to ask about them. It's interesting to hang out in the grown up part of the library. It was just the other day when I learned where the grown up magazines are. Still haven't made it over there read them, but at least I know where they are. Wow. I see the magazine back issues from my computer station. Arhritis Today. Austin Monthly. Organic Gardening. I really could stay here all day. (With breaks for food and beverage of course.) Yes, I'm a party waiting to happen.

Moments like this are a bit of bliss for me. The kids are involved in something good. Time, gas and money are optimized. I'm using technology at the library. It's all good. I'm quite thankful. I need to do this more often.

Meme: Top 5 Obsessions

I want to know, what your thinking. Tell me what's on your mind.--Information Society

I'm finally doing a meme. I've been tagged for memes before, but never answered them, more out of procrastination than not wanting to. Today, I meme.

A kindred spirit, Monica of "Books are Our Friends," tagged me today. As a means of escape from my 10 year-old son's 11 boy sleepover, I'm blogging the Top Five Things Consistently Popping Up in My Brain. I'll put the qualifier of "this week" on it.

1. Can I learn to really connect with the kiddos each day, one way being through writing?

2. Like, Monica, I think a lot about making time for things I need and want to do.

3. Will it hurt my newfound interest in running hurt my knees in the long run, even if I'm not going all Mary Decker Tabb?

4. Can I get my days ordered enough to pursue a fund raising business with cool crayons?

5. In 20 years I'll be 60. "The days go slow, the years go fast." (Not sure of exact wording & author.) I want to live them well - my days and my years.

Ta-da! That's my first meme.

Choppin' Broccoli

It made me laugh out loud. Now I can show my kids the inspiration for my outbursts about choppin' broccoli.

Though I'm quite wary of content on youtube, I do appreciate being able to enjoy & share things that make me laugh. Sigh. I have a feeling this will get some airplay on the outgoing phone message.

Addendum to My New York Dream Trip

I've mentioned the Library Hotel in New York and my dreamy idea of live blogging the first round of March Madness from one of it's rooms. Now I have something else to add to the trip: taking a few blogging seminars from Sree Sreenivasan, the Dean of Student's at Columbia University's journalism school.  "Figuring Out Blogs, Podcasting, Wikis, and Whatever's Next" is three hours and "Blogging for Journalists and Writers" is four hours.  That's a lot of blog talkin'. I could absolutely soak up the info, then retreat to my lovely hotel room to process it.  

American Idol Bobblehead Widgets

Yes. I have Idol bobble heads on my blog now. This was just too goofy not to put on my blog, though I don't know if it was worth 30 minutes of my time.Oh, well. It didn't take any longer to do this than it would have to watch the show, so it's not like I spent the whole evening on American Idol stuff.

(It seems I'm going through an experimental techie phase w/the blog. Let me know if it makes the page load too slowly - except my brother in East Texas on his high speed dial-up.)

Why are these three contestants blog worthy?
*Melinda is my favorite singer. Her humility is refreshing.
*Chris Sligh made the cut because I enjoy his singing and sense of humor.
*Sanjaya made it because of my kids - probably the same reason he's made it so far, because of lots of tween votes. I have to give him credit for going for it. Admittedly, he is kind of growing on me.

Now go have yourself some bobble head fun. (Click on a head to bobble it.)

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