It might be possible to be more excited than I am right now.
But I doubt it.
Chipmunks, the internet is about to get EVEN COOLER. Marlene Rhein, or Myra, from the blog, My Parents Are Crazier Than Yours, is planning a [fictionalized] web series based on her life. If you’ve not read her blog, please trust that this is like finding out Halloween was extended an extra day. Or seven.
In order to get this fantastic project off the ground this October, she needs help. That’s where Kickstarter comes in; Kickstarter is a web site that helps artists raise money and give back to their supporters with fun incentives like swag or even cameo appearances.
Myra quickly met her initial goal of $8,000, but actually needs about $11,000 to properly fund the pilot and pay her staff their normal rates, which she’d really like to do. (Kickstarter won’t pay out if you don’t meet your goal, which is why she set a lower target.)
If you’re not sure you want to get involved, please check out the pilot previewnonetheless, because it’s THAT GOOD. And if you can’t swing a donation, your enthusiasm and support are just as appreciated, by both Myra and me.
Myra’s even letting me do some Production Assistant work! Did I mention I couldn’t be any more excited? Yeah. Life is good. Even with crazy parents.
Something old: Well, not that old, but never you mind. Kate runs a very fun ‘Scribble Challenge’ on her blog. This weekly writing prompt encourages you to hush your inner critic because you’re on a time crunch – you only have 15 minutes. Let your creativity wander in whatever wacky and wonderful direction it chooses!
Something new: Kate’s blog design! Go ogle. Go compliment. It’s snazzy.
Something true: Kate’s a med school student, an avid reader and apparently a cartoonist. If she tells me she models in her spare time, I’m going to jump off a bridge. Look what she drew for me us! (Kate, please tell me where I can send you some complimentary ‘stache glasses and slap bracelets.)
After a year and a half of bloggy friendship and two NYC meet-ups, JM and I have officially crossed over. Get ready for raging jealousy: I met #5! The infamous, hilarious, bacon-loving #5! He showed me his fort!
In case you’re confused, JM numbered her stepkids 1-5; number 5 is the youngest, and only boy. He’s almost 10. (I was put to the test on Sunday night, trying to keep the names of 2 adults, 5 kids, 2 dogs and one AWESOME 1966 Mustang straight. I think I’ve got it.) I met nos. 1-4, too, and they were all sweet, social and funny. And seriously handy when it came to housework.
#5 (putting leftover steak in a large Ziploc bag and getting some ‘juice’ on the tablecloth): It’s okay. It only cost $12.
I can’t think of any stronger endorsement for JM than the truth: Thanks to this Freshly Pressed post, hers was one of the very first blogs I read and fell in love with. My best friend, Jenn, a talented writer herself, will tell you the same. JM’s not only a wonderful person, but an extremely gifted writer.
She also knows the best pie EVER when she tastes it.
Nothing says ‘fun’ like Renee. (Exhibit A: Her winning ‘guilty pleasure gift basket giveaway’ entry.) I had the pleasure of talking to Renee on the phone for the first time recently, and we had so much to say, I killed her car! For reals. Her cell phone was plugged into her car and both batteries died.
But Renee’s internal battery never dies (eh? Like that?) – she’s full of positive energy and humor, just like her blog. If you’re not already reading, please head over there and say hello. I’m a huge fan of her direct (yet often poetic), funny and heartfelt writing, and she’s got something for everyone (that’s what she said).
And guess what? Even though Renee just had to splurge on a new car battery because of me, she still sent this!
Thanks, Renee! Too bad it’s just going to collect dust since everyone knows I don’t drink!
The quality of this photo was saved only by Peppermeister’s photo bomb. Side note: This is as full as our wine rack ever stays.
Back Cover
Why have one ‘stache picture in this post when you can have three?
It’s that time again, you hungover, sunburned burned-out Chipmunks (…just me?)!
These may get old eventually, but I doubt it.
To win fame and fortuneSun-Staches glasses like these, tell me in the comments section below about a conversation bomb you’ve witnessed. I’m talking about those conversation-stoppers that leave everyone scratching their heads, unsure whether to laugh or cry. (If you’d like some examples, why, allow me: Click here or here.)
I’ll choose a favorite and make their wildest dreams come true on Monday, September 3, 2012. This winner can pick a pair of ‘stache glasses (by browsing here), and I’ll have them shipped as a gift, from my guilty pleasure-full heart to theirs.
Click this fine piece of chipmunk tail and you’ll be rewarded with an Alexha Sun-Staches bikini pic. You’re welcome.
Deadline: Midnight EST, Friday, August 31, 2012.
Print that’s way less fun than talking bears: This giveaway is open to anyone who is willing and able to enter, and to email me their address in the event that they’re the winner. If you have any trouble leaving a comment in the comments section below, you can enter via email: Julie(dot)Davidoski(at)yahoo(dot)com. One submission per person.
I love you so much.
I think about you all the time.
It’s time to ditch your insignificant other and come live with me.
Editor’s Note: Your favorite blogger (ahem) did an ongoing slap bracelet giveaway this year, but the bracelets feature my old blog name, “GoGuiltyPleasures!”. For a full listing of all Slap Bracelet pictures and posts, please see my Slap Bracelets page.
Lily is a relatively new blogger and a fellow Jersey girl, and I could tell you how sweet, supportive and fun she is. I should do that. Right now. But you’re not going to believe me once you see how f&@#$% hot she is in one of my slap bracelets.
I should charge you to view these. But why don’t you pay Lily instead, in compliments (in the comments section below)?
She will store your compliments in here.Screw honey.Annnd THIS is what I’m saying. Pay up.Oh, Lily. Can I quote you on that?This is perfectly normal, Lilykins. I mean, it is Tuesday morning, right?
Love & Lunchmeat is badass. There’s really no other way to put it. Both she and her blog are fresh and funny – as if you couldn’t tell by the name. She claims to have a favorite kid and has been skydiving, for starters.
She was also recently Freshly Pressed (i.e., featured on the homepage of WordPress.com)! And more importantly, Babs (my mom) likes her.
Here’s a sneak peek of what Love & Lunchmeat orchestrated all in the name of slap bracelets! Click the picture to see the rest. (I mean, the blog post title is “Because Bacon is Sexy.” C’mon.)
I hope this one is the favorite.
That Fun and Quirky Last Page of Every Magazine – Erin from Catstache
And it’s STILL one of the greatest things I’ve ever seen.
Her chipmunkitude so does not stop there. She’s a very talented photographer (I’m especially fond of these pictures), and she just, you know, gets me. I mean, she recently gave this Pot Head something to really geek out over.
It says my devotion to chipmunks, slap bracelets and second husband, Darren Criss, have earned me a Prefect position in the Gryfffindor House. You know that’s right.Instagram and I tried to make our pictures pretty for you, Erin.Erin, you put the magic in my wand. Or something.
My first and only husband, Peppermeister, is hosting a photo contest on his blog. Email or Tweet him your best pepper pics by noon EST Sunday, August 26th and you could win a pepper roasting rack!
Click the ‘stache glasses to check out the contest details:
He’s practicing safe salsa.
Summer is almost over. OMG. What are you still hoping to do? …Oh, what’s that? Win some ‘stache glasses? Well stay tuned this Thursday, Chipmunks!
I started this blog in February 2011, but wanted to wait for a special occasion to share some of my favorite Google search engine terms. I’m talking about those unusual things you people type into Google late at night and think you’re stealth.
If that search led you to GoJulesGo.com, I know alllll about it.
I believe you were looking for this.
Consider yourselves busted, you sweet, sick, twisted li’l Chipmunks.
Keep up the good work. I live for this shiz.
Do you have any search engine/internet stories? (PG-13, mmmkay? My neighbors read this blog.)
P.S. – I promise to stop putting up posts now. Until next week.
I mean – look at the types of things I have up my sleeve (ha ha. I don’t even wear pants. Like I have sleeves) for this week and next:
You have no idea how hard it is for me not to ask you a scandalous question since I’ve shut down comments on this post. (C’mon. It would be the ultimate tease!)
This is a post I wrote many moons ago and never published. Its alternate title is Filler Post #198 So Jules Can Get To Her 200th Blog Post This Week. I respect you too much to lie about this.
There is something endlessly appealing about the rock star dream. The thing is, we can’t all be Justin Biebers and Selena Gomezes. The rest of us get to pay $12 a month to secretly screech ourselves hoarse on SingSnap, playing back the audio as we bemoan the injustice of our pitchiness and lackluster tone.
Yes. I’m talking about a karaoke website. And it’s one of my all-time favorite guilty pleasures. I’ve subscribed for several years, and show no signs of stopping. In fact, they recently ran a great deal and I signed up for a whole year.
I’ve always had the good sense to keep this hobby to myself, but often wonder how many skills and blessings I would gladly give up for the gift of the golden voice. Oh, to successfully sing a run, or master Whitney Houston!
First Husband getting his sing on.
It’s no surprise, then, that both my best friend and First Husband are talented musicians/singers, and that I’ve religiously watched American Idol since its inception. I’ve seen Glee live in concert. Twice. I even have my favorite amateur singers on YouTube. (I totally own the bragging rights of, “I subscribed to Alyssa Bernal when she was still just hchsknights08.”)
Because it doesn’t really matter how much you practice, or how badly you want it, I’ve set my sights on other goals. Like getting maintaining my Project Management Professional (PMP) certification. And baking. You should try my carrot cake, it’s really filling.
I mean, fulfilling.
I made this. It’s carrot cake.
What’s your rock star dream? You know, the thing you wish you could do but are pretty sure unicorns would cry if you did?
I feel less than chipmunky for putting up a new post before even responding to your kind comments and well wishes from my last post, but, psst…
…I have something in the works for later this week, and it requires me to get to my ‘200th blog post,’ which means putting up three more posts before the end of the week.
Wait. That came out wrong. I just really wanted to share some highlights from my extended anniversary weekend (truly extended – we decided to stay an extra night and just got back today!) in Long Island.
We were fortunate enough to stay in a family-owned summer home, for free, alone. It’s the same house my dad spent every summer in as a kid, and where my paternal grandparents lived full-time later in life, so it was a booze-filled terrific walk down memory lane.
I had a wonderful time, but I missed you so much that I kept seeing mustaches everywhere:
I had big plans for this chair. Then I just got drunk.
I also had the opportunity to reenact a tragic moment from my childhood – when my sister got clocked in the head by a mini golf club. Let’s just say my brother had an overzealous swing.
This would have been a better reenactment if we had had fake blood. A LOT of fake blood.
Oh and there was this – bonus points if you know who I’m impersonating:
I’ll give you a hint: WHOA.
Also? Lest you think I said I had gone drinkin’ in vain…
Day 1.Day 2.Day 3.
Oh my gawd. I almost forgot. Peppermeister (Husband #1) didn’t want me to say that he likes to take ‘arty’ pictures, so, um, I made this collage instead:
Speaking of not arty pictures, Uncle Jesse wants you to know he also had a great time:
Have you had any memorable (and/or guilty pleasure-ful) trips or experiences so far this summer?
P.S. – If you’re wondering about the title of this post, I don’t want to talk about it.
Let’s just say we found this secret garden and it’s full of secrets.
The title of this post implies that I’ve gone off to do something I don’t normally do. Ha ha. Well. Let’s go with it.
That’s right. I’m going fishing drinking.
Peppermeister and I celebrate our 4th anniversary today, and we’re headed to Long Island ’til Sunday. My extended family has a little house by a bay where I haven’t visited in 10 years, so I’m pretty excited to return. Even if the weather is crap.
This piece of Schmetz is my anniversary present. …What? The artist’s name is Schmetz!
The house doesn’t have internet access, which I’m nervousdepressedconfused about okay with. We’ll have, um, cruiser bikes…and bocce ball…and love. So that’s something.
L to R: Misty’s Laws, Accidental Stepmom, Thoughts Appear and Go Jules Go.
Right now I’m imagining all of you charming little chipmunks scurrying around, cursing the copy machine, looking for your red staplers and hating The Man.
Meanwhile, I’m kicking off my first two-week vacation in a thousand years. Instead of doing this yesterday and scheduling it to publish at 6am EST today, I decided to write this post when I got up and see what happens.
Wow. I feel so daring.
In case you missed my fancy sidebar widget and my last post: I attended my first blogging conference, BlogHer ’12, on Saturday. I left bright and early to take the train from New Jersey into Manhattan, armed with ‘stache glasses and a lightness of heart only vacation time can bring. By 7am, it was already as hot as Hades, so I went to that special place in my mind. You know the place – it’s normally reserved for Second Husband and talking animals.
The ONLY way to make JM any more awesome is with ‘stache glasses.
I was more excited than nervous. I’d met JM from Accidental Stepmom twice before, but was meeting Thoughtsy from Thoughts Appear and Misty from Misty’s Laws for the first time. Of course I worried I wouldn’t match up to their expectations (and maaaaybe stressed about all of the unflattering pictures they’d take and post on their blogs), but we’d
Misty gives THE coolest gifts (that’s a phone case!). Even if they make you feel old.
already established a bond online, and had the bloggy business in common.
At the Hilton, I registered and waited for Misty and JM to find me. Misty is anonymous on her blog, so I had no idea what to look for. A purple-clad vision of loveliness suddenly accosted me. Thank gawd for Misty.
Thoughtsy makes me think happy thoughtsies.
She’d been there since Wednesday night and knew all the ins and outs. There were several sessions throughout the day, in different ‘break out’ conference rooms, as well as tons of expo centers where you could stock up on free swag.
After the gorgeous and altogether badass, JM, showed up, Misty said we should
skedattle to make sure we got seats in our lectures of choice. We split up and I went to a session on ‘branding your blog.’ Thoughtsy joined me there, and let me tell you she’s one sweet li’l chipmunk. First of all, she gave me these:
The eyebrows and mustache MOVE. Did you hear me? They MOVE.
And THEN she gave me this:
It’s like people think I drink a lot or something.
I love you, Thoughtsy. Look how happy we are (we’re even happier later. In the bar):
I didn’t learn anything new in the lecture, except that I really need to start a Go Jules Go Facebook account. Apparently Facebook is the number one way bloggers get traffic and buzz. The other advice will probably sound familiar to you, too:
Be consistent both in voice and lay-out
Use the same name across all social media sites (if only that Mexican dude would give up his @gojulesgo Twitter handle! Por favor?). In other words, make it easy for people to find you
Keep your design/lay-out simple and fresh (no colored font on black backgrounds, I’m afraid, and no music playing!)
Post regularly
Don’t be self-depricating; believe people want to read what you have to say
The second lecture I attended was about when to spend money marketing your blog. The advice can be boiled down to:
Consider your time as money
When you find yourself spending more hours on marketing your blog than you can ‘afford’ to, it might be time to invest in someone to help you (if you don’t think you market, remember that every time you read and comment on another blog, you’re advertising yourself)
If you’re on a self-hosted platform (like WordPress.org), hire a web designer (it sounds like it’s a few hundred bucks)
After that it was time for lunch and guest speaker, Katie Couric. Katie defies the laws of nature; she is ageless. We were all the way in the back, so I didn’t hear much, but got to meet some other wonderful bloggers at our table (this is where the business cards came in handy!).
Thoughtsy, JM, Misty and I weren’t really interested in the next panel of ‘celebrity’ speakers, so we loaded up on swag instead.
This was my favorite swag piece. Uncle Jesse immediately claimed it as his own:
My favorite part of the day was hitting the hotel bar to chat (why do you assume I suggested this? Well… you’re right). We plopped down in a circle of comfy chairs around a low table; it was mellow and quiet – the perfect atmosphere for caring and sharing.
This was exactly why I came to BlogHer; not to network or take frantic notes, but to meet JM, Thoughtsy, Misty and a few of their bloggy friends. It was divine.
That’s a Long Island Iced Tea smile.
JM and Thoughtsy had to leave in the early evening, so I crashed a sushi dinner with Misty and the beautiful and hilarious Johi of Confessions of a Cornfed Girl. It was the perfect end to an altogether satisfying outing.
I am going to dream about this sushi.
In fact, I even saw Michelle Williams on the walk back to the train station! We made eye contact and I should have said hello. We have history.
And now, as promised, I’m about to stalk the shiz out of you and your blogs. I love you. (I really do. Well, some of you. Some of you I just like a lot and we’re not there yet. But I bet we’ll get there if you compliment me enough.)
P.S. – I apologize on behalf of both NJ and NY to any out-of-towners visiting lately. Yes, it really IS this humid and NO, you are not inside someone’s mouth.
In order to get this fantastic project off the ground this October, she needs help. That’s where Kickstarter comes in; Kickstarter is a web site that helps artists raise money and give back to their supporters with fun incentives like swag or even cameo appearances.
nonetheless, because it’s THAT GOOD. And if you can’t swing a donation, your enthusiasm and support are just as appreciated, by both Myra and me.
Go Jules Go 