That & This Random Bits

Just for you -- some pop culture bits and apps to entertain and make online life easier.

Gangnam Style

I guess Gangnam Style by Korean artist Psy has made it to mainstream America since it inspired Team Gangnam Style on Week 5 of Dancing With The Stars.

If you're gaga over everything Gangnam, then read Annoy Everybody With Infinite Gangnam Style on MakeUseOf.com. The article gives too many apps inspired by the Psy worldwide hit that are designed to be infinitely annoying.

Google Chrome Add-On

If you like using Google Chrome and want to start populating your browser with Add-On's, here's one to use to add to your Amazon Wish List.

Monetize Your Blog

Monetize means earn revenue from one's website using from advertising. I've been getting some requests from advertisers to place ads on SlingWords. I started accepting advertising on a very limited basis a few weeks ago. In the past, I had monetized my now-defunct blog that I used for clients.

In the new year, I'll pay more attention to monetizing and will also start blogging about it. The one thing I insist upon with advertising is that it be organic to this blog. That's tricky, and it requires control of the advertising which is why I usually focus on private clients rather than allow advertising via direct feed.

In the meantime, here's a link to BuySellAds in case someone is interested in getting a jump on the process. 

Website Update

I'm squeezing the task of updating my woefully out of date website. I haven't updated JoanReeves.com since April. Many of the links no longer work, and I haven't sent out a copy of Wordplay, my newsletter for readers, since April.

Website Update is getting added to my 2013 Goals. Somehow, I'm going to start updating the website and sending a new edition of Wordplay at least every quarter.

Takeaway Truth

Have a great weekend. Don't forget to read SlingWords.

Milly Taiden: Tips For Novice Writers

This morning SlingWords has a Guest Blogger who writes hot, spicy romance. Please welcome Milly Taiden who also writes as April Angel.

Milly told me that she was born in the prettiest part of the Caribbean known as the Dominican Republic. She grew up in New York, Florida and Massachusetts. Currently, she lives in New York City with her husband, her bossy young son, and their little dog Speedy.

Like many of us chicks, Milly confesses that she is addicted to shopping for shoes, chocolate (but who isn’t?), texting with her BFF in England, and Dunkin Donuts coffee. (I'm with you on all those, Milly.)

Details

You can find Milly on Facebook and Twitter or her website http://millytaiden.com/.

Sharp Change (Black Meadow Pack) is a shapeshifter romance that's sizzling hot.

Mr. Buff is a sizzling novella written under her pseudonym April Angel.

Now, here's Milly with some writing advice.

Tips for Novice Writers
by Milly Taiden

I still consider myself a novice. Every round of edits is like a punch to the stomach and I question how good I really am. With that in mind, I’d like to point out a few things that I’ve noticed since my first book got contracted and I’ve just finished my sixth book edits. Here are my top five tips for novice writers.

1. POV (Point of View). Read, read, and read. Make sure that you’re speaking from the right point of view. One character cannot see his eye color or his face scowling. Ensure that when you’re describing you are speaking in the proper character.

2. Ownerless Body Parts. Novice writers (me included) have a tendency of wanting to write so eloquently that we use body parts to do things without their owners. Example: His hands slid up her body. Whose hands? Where’s the rest of him? So ensure that whenever you’re writing, there’s a body attached to those hands, eyes and lips.

3. Overuse of words (as / and). New writers tend to overuse these two words so much that it can give a reader a headache. How to stop it? Do a search and highlight. See how much you’ve used these words and re-read and replace with an even better one. If there’s a way to reword the sentence so you don’t need it, that’s even better.

4. Telling vs. Showing. One could say: She kicked the door down. Or, you could say: She kicked, a swift movement that splintered wood, bringing down the door with a groan. So often we tell what’s happening versus showing. As writers, it is our job to ensure the reader can visualize what we’re saying. So we need to make sure our descriptions are apt and interesting.

5. Be willing to make changes. It’s hard when you have this idea that you have a great story and then you get a contract. Yay! But then edits begin and you realize that your perfect story needs a lot of work. Don’t get stuck! Editors are only there to make your story better so it can sell. Be sure that you have an open mind and are willing to work with them. Their vision is to keep your plot as you imagined, but ensuring that it sounds crisp and interesting.

Finally, don’t lose hope. I stated above how hard edits can be, and even with the best editor (which I truly believe I have) it can still make a writer wonder how good a writer she/he really is. But you have to just keep going. Take each of the comments/revisions from your previous book into consideration for your next story. It will make edits in the future that less painful. Keep your dream alive.

Takeaway Truth

Thanks, Milly, for visiting today.

Awesome Insults

I'm heading to the massage therapist later for some much needed therapy on my back. The more I spend in front of the computer, the more my back hurts.

I was feeling a bit grumpy this morning so I pulled up my Humor File and found this that my husband had sent a while back. Most of these are familiar, but they're still funny -- and smart.

Awesome Insults

An exchange between Winston Churchill and Lady Astor.

Lady Astor: "If you were my husband I'd poison your tea."
Churchill: "If you were my wife, I'd drink it."

A member of Parliament and Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli.
Parliamentarian: "Sir, you will either die on the gallows or of some unspeakable disease."
Disraeli: "That depends, Sir, on whether I embrace your policies or your mistress."

Walter Kerr described a man thusly: "He had delusions of adequacy."

Winston Churchill had a way with words: "He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire."

Attorney Clarence Darrow of Scopes Monkey Trial Fame: "I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure."

Author William Faulkner who truly disliked Ernest Hemingway had this to say about Hemingway: "He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary."

Mark Twain never hedged when he stated his opinion:"I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it."

George Bernard Shaw and Winston Churchill frequently had words to exchange.
Shaw said: "I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play; bring a
friend... if you have one."
Churchill responded:"Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second... if there is one."

Irvin S. Cobb said of an acquaintance:"I've just learned about his illness Let's hope it's nothing trivial."

This one is so good, it gives me shivers.Paul Keating said: "He is simply a shiver looking for a spine to run up."

Producer Billy Wilder said of an acquaintance: "He has Van Gogh's ear for music."
The great Groucho Marx said something I've often thought: "I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn't it."

Takeaway Truth

Smart people really know how to insult.

Holiday Bells Toll For Slackers

Yep, those Christmas bells are tolling for slackers like me. I'm always late getting everything started and everything finished. From Thanksgiving to New Year's, it's a flat-out race to accomplish everything. I've been known to mail Christmas cards on New Year's Eve.

So. . .

This year I thought I'd get an early start, but, apparently all the retailers are beating me to it. Christmas trees are already decorated and in many stores. Gift suggestions are already being blasted from television.

Is it me or is that just a little too much?  I feel like an absolute Grinch when I grumble that I wish they'd move Thanksgiving to October. That would give us a break and some breathing room. Hey, if it's good enough for Canada, then it's good enough for me.

But. . .

No one's going to listen to me. I can either jump on board now or get run over by Santa's sleigh. Today, I just put Alvin & The Chipmunks on singing Christmas Don't Be Late and did some early online shopping.

I always do weekly posts during the holidays with gift suggestions for writers and readers. Today though, I'm going to post a few things that I found today.

Here's a great Pumpkin Ring Cake recipe.

Fabulous Christmas Music Only $5 Bucks. Yep. That's true. Kiddie music to Josh Groban. Get it today.

In fact, I'm feeling so efficient, I just ordered my 2013 planner -- AT-A-GLANCE Triple View Daily/Monthly Appointment Book. This is my favorite format, and I use the same one every year.

Takeaway Truth

Now, I feel so smug after taking the first steps into the holidays that I think I'll celebrate with a Butterfinger Snack Bar leftover from Halloween Trick or Treat.

Clean Up Your PC with CCleaner

Good morning! It's Monday -- stating the obvious -- so it must be time to tell you about a free app that will make your life easier.

Piriform

Piriform is the creator of CCleaner, the world's most popular tool for cleaning your PC. Piriform makes this statement because CCleaner has been downloaded over 950 million times! This free software will clean out your registry, keep your privacy safe online, and make your computer faster and more secure.

You can get the basic software free. If you want support from Piriform, pay for the upgrade.

If you like CCleaner, then you'll also like their other free apps:

Defraggler, their defrag software

Recuva, their File Recovery tool,

and/or

Speccy, their System Information tool.

Takeaway Truth

I love free software that works effectively and easily. I've used CCleaner for years on every computer. I recommend it.

Daylight Shifting Time

Happy Daylight Savings Time! Yep. That's today. Did you remember to fall back and indulged in that extra hour of sleep? Yeah, right.

Time may shift around according to government edict, but time is never saved. Andy Rooney spoke for many when he said, "Daylight Savings time doesn’t save #*&%. All it does is screw the clock up and piss me off, but it’s either do it or be early for everything."

I think about some elderly family who have long since passed, and I begin to believe they had the right idea about Daylight Savings Time. Gundaddy Lofton, Big Daddy Sims, and my Papaw never changed their clocks or watches. They always said they'd be correct for half the year. Many people of his generation, most of them country people who lived close to the land, had the same attitude.

The older I get, and the more oppressed I get by too many tasks and not enough time, the more I think they had the right attitude. I doubt any of them ever thought or said, "I'm so stressed out."

Takeaway Truth

Spring forward? Fall back? Maybe just maintain your temporal balance and enjoy life more.

Review: How To Deep Fry A Turkey by Justin Lee

We are now in the month of feasting with Thanksgiving only 3 weeks away. Now is the time most of us home culinary geniuses are planning our holiday menus from appetizers to desserts.

At this time every year, Allstate begins showing the commercial with Dennis Haysbert, one of my favorite actors, where he talks about how many people decide to fry turkeys for Thanksgiving and how many of them end up burning down the garage. Cooking with the threat of eminent destruction hanging over the home chef must be why this form of preparing a turkey is so popular with men.

I don't know if fried turkey is popular in other parts of the U.S., but it's always a popular alternative for the Thanksgiving bird here in Texas and in the rest of the South. Both my brothers always fry the turkey, but the process is rather intimidating to anyone who hasn't attempted it before.

So, today, I'm reviewing a great book with a really long title: Turkey Fryers & Deep Fried Turkey: How To Deep Fry A Turkey- Complete Step By Step Instructions To Cooking Your Tastiest Turkey Ever!. Written by Justin Lee, let's just call this niche cookbook How To Deep Fry A Turkey.

As is my custom when I review ebooks, I give the Kindle Buy Links or the Audible Buy Links since I read most books on my Kindle or listen to them on my iPod or iPhone after purchasing from Audible. However, I'm certain every book I review is available at most ebook sellers, and audio books are also on iTunes so look for them on the platforms that match your ebook reading or your buying preference. Click here to shop for your very own Kindle.

This little book gives very clear, specific instructions on how to fry a turkey -- safely. Even better, the book contains a link to step-by-step instructional videos you can download as a bonus of buying the book. Also, for your entertainment pleasure, the author includes links to some turkey-frying escapades that have gone viral on YouTube.

The author covers everything you need to know: safety, equipment, preparation, the frying process, and clean up. More importantly, he removes the intimidation factor and makes the reader think that he can do this. So what are you waiting for? Grab a copy of How To Deep Fry A Turkey by Justin Lee today and start planning your holiday dinner.

Takeaway Truth

Women, if you buy the book for your hubby, you may turn him into a turkey genius. The bonus is that you won't have to cook the holiday bird!

Day of the Dead

Today is Day of the Dead, and that's pretty much how I feel today. Too many late nights and early mornings! Maybe let's just call it All Souls Day. Sounds better, huh?

We had the smallest turn out ever for Halloween. No one until after 7. Maybe a dozen little ones and 2 dozen teenagers. After 8:30, only big kids were coming around, driving up and parking in front of our home then trolling for free candy. So I turned off the outside lights. Those kids can drive to the store and buy their own candy.

Celebrating Today

Here in Texas, many celebrate November 1 as the Day of the Dead, or Día de los Muertos as they do throughout Mexico and around the world in other cultures. The holiday isn't as macabre as it sounds. It's actually a day for friends and family to gather and remember loved ones who have passed on. That's kind of nice -- a day of remembrance in effect.

Día de los Muertos is celebrated in conjunction with the Catholic holidays of All Saints' Day (honoring the saints), also November 1, and All Souls' Day (briefly simplified, a day of prayer and special services to help cleans the departed of their sins) on November 2. All the celebrations share in common the purposes of honoring and offering respect to those who have died.

Takeaway Truth

Take a moment to honor your departed loved ones and say a prayer for them. Take an even longer time to honor the living rather than taking them for granted.

Set Up A Home Weather Station

My brother who lives in Colorado set up a home weather station when he first moved to his mountain. When my darling hubby and I bought a weekend place in the Hill Country, we thought about doing the same.

This past weekend, I started researching equipment and found Weather Shack, a website that has a great education section. The website also has a Comparison Chart so you can find the kind of equipment you need as well as equipment that fits your budget.

I want to connect the Home Weather Station to my computer so I can monitor it when I'm at home in the Houston-area which means the data has to be uploaded to a website where I can view it. I haven't found exactly what I want yet, but there are a lot of websites that offer home weather station equipment so I'll keep shopping around.

If you're interested in amateur meteorology and want to set it up at home, Weather Shack or a similar website probably has what you need.

Takeaway Truth

You don't have to be a meteorologist to monitor the weather. In fact, it just migt make a great hobby for someone.

Cold Weather

We went to the annual Mushroom Festival at Madisonville, Texas,  yesterday, and it was a lot of fun -- but it was also cold. Considering a few days ago, the temperature was 90, this blast of frigid air threatened to put a damper on our fun.

The latest Blue Norther had blown in Friday, bringing lots of cold wind with it -- straight from Canada I imagine. We had planned to spend the day browsing through the vendors' stands, eating lots of really bad junk food, and sampling all the offerings from the vineyards who show their wares. Plus, the classic car exhibit and the local museums are always a lot of fun.

The cold wind and intemperate weather reminded me of what Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote: "The cold, inconsiderate of persons, tingles your blood, benumbs your feet, freezes a man like an apple."

Yep. We kind of  felt like frozen apples after a day there.

Takeaway Truth

Small town festivals are as much fun as a yard full of roly poly puppies.