Drawing close to 1 a.m. and I can't go to sleep because I am watching Deadliest Catch on the Discovery Channel.
Normally, I would just twitter the link to this video, but we're keeping it quick and dirty here at Velveteen Mind now, right?
Related posts:
Mike Rowe, the Queen is Requesting Your Attention.
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I quit one of my writing gigs. Why? Because I couldn't bring myself to post here at Velveteen Mind when I knew I owed a post elsewhere.
I told a friend today that it felt like calling in sick and then being caught 
shopping at the mall, wandering around with a Diet Coke and a Double Doozie from Great American Cookie, a satisfied grin slapped on my smug little face.
What I am saying is: my plan is to start posting here at the ole joint with the tattered book more like 3 times a week, rather than the usual 3 times a month. Hence, the cutting back of distractions. And if I don't? You can call me on it.
Mrs. Fussypants certainly already does call me on it. So does Missives from Suburbia. And damn Jennifer from Playgroups are No Place for Short Blog Titles. If she suggests one more time that posting frequently is a great way to build a good blog, I'm going to poke her in the butt with a fork.
Um, so yeah, I know I should post more. I totally get that. (I'm planning on memorizing Jennifer's Blog Tip Sharing series. I see that she has up a post about maintaining uncluttered Sidebars. Good Lord, do I even want to know? Jennifer, side offer: if you will come over to my blog and critique it, I will offer you my butt's ability to warm a bed for 3 nights at BlogHer. You in?)
The irony is that while you may think I've fallen off of the blogosphere, the reality is that all I have been thinking about is blogging for the last month. I'm talking about Blog Nosh Magazine... again. 
I keep mentioning it because a lot of work is going into that project and I am not only inundated with emails every day from bloggers and editors, but I am also flooded with pride and a fiery passion for all that we are banging out and building up.
Not to mention The People's Party. And, yes, I will be mentioning BlogHer a few more times (insert laugh here) in the next few weeks. I'll try to do it without annoying those of you not going, but talk about a huge project! And worth every second.
So while you have been seeing no new updates at Velveteen Mind, I have been thinking about you for hours every day. Thinking of how to best promote your work on Blog Nosh Magazine, how to entice the most click-through to your blogs, how to let you shine. I've been thinking about meeting you at BlogHer, helping to make you feel welcome, introducing you to our sponsors who are interested in you, plotting ways to keep you entertained and engaged, all the while taking into consideration how to include those not attending the conference.
Speaking of you broke folk (holla!) and shy peeps not going to BlogHer: Don't forget to send me your bloggy business cards for distribution at The People's Party if you are unable to attend. Just email me for my address. And you absolutely have to tune in to the live feed of the party (details soon), 
call your friends-in-attendance and encourage them to make fools of themselves on camera while giving you a shout-out, and see that, "Hey, I should go next year because it's not that big of a deal."
(and if this isn't the most arrogant post ever, I don't know what is--- just bear with me, because I am trying to convince myself that I can pull my weight despite my traffic currently being dismal --post more post more post more-- and my patient readers growing impatient... hey, look! another cookie distraction!)
One more thing: Jennifer from Playgroups are the Longest Blog Name in History also says that all of our posts don't have to be long and eloquent. She encourages us to keep it quick and dirty.
If anyone has a needlepoint that I could hang over my computer that says "Keep it quick and dirty," I'd love to have it.
*Double Doozie photos via the flickr page: turbo binge
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You see that blue gummy bear? The one passed out on the floor?
That's me after the last couple of weeks.
What do I have to show for the pass-out-worthy work I've been doing? Aaaaah, something mighty tasty, ya'll...
Head right over and let us know what you think!
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Two weekends ago, we fulfilled every man's dream at our house: We cleaned out our garage. Our lives will never be the same.
Okay, that might be a slight exaggeration, but not by much. When we moved into this house, we did it very quickly, more or less just bringing into the house the essentials and stacking the rest in the garage to unpack at a later date.
For instance, maybe next year.
Fortunately for us, my dad knows me better than I know myself, so he called us up and said that the garage was getting cleaned come hell or high water, so get on our wading boots. No one can focus with half of their life piled up on the other side of the wall.
I agreed to this Mississippi-heat-endurance-test because he also mentioned the two most beautiful words in the English language: pressure washer.
Aaaah, he would be bringing over his pressure washer, which meant I could blow the old-lady stink in the garage to high heaven and enjoy the endless satisfaction of blasting years of ground-in muck off of our driveway, one slice of the water wand at a time.
Five paragraphs later, I have now told you that we cleaned out our garage. Look, when you bring gas-powered water blasters into the picture, my prose gets a little flowery, so bear with me.
An unexpected result of cleaning out our garage, other than eliminating the constant noise in the back of my mind, was that we started spending more time outside. Much more time. As a family.
It started when the boys realized that they could ride their bikes on their own again, alternating the heat of the driveway and the cool of the garage. This clearly meant I would benefit from two exhausted boys ready to crash at naptime, so I grabbed the book I am currently reading, an Adirondack chair from the yard, a glass of ice cold Coke with crushed ice (dear God, I love having an ice maker again), and set up a little space of my own in our blindingly clean garage so that I could keep an eye on the boys.
Because no matter how many times you say, 
"Do not drive beyond the car in the driveway, boys!" all they hear is, "Feel free to ride your bikes in the street because you are magic and no cars will splatter you on the road."
This is how I want our summer to be: all of us outside, sweating, enjoying the fruits of our labor, me reading books, enjoying our sons beat the tar out of each other, and my scaring the daylights out of them with threats of Blood on the Highway.
I'm trying to raise men here. As far as I can tell, that begins by raising boys. 
Boys who play outside, dig in the dirt, climb trees, hit balls over fences, destroy the grass with sprinkler-produced mud puddles, and fight off the mosquitoes until the light has finally failed for the day. Boys who get cuts and scrapes and bruises, but are too busy playing to report them to their mother, let alone whine over them.
The book I am reading right now is Boys Should Be Boys by Meg Meeker, MD. 
This will, quite frankly, be the theme of our summer. Walking away from anything that requires electricity and embracing everything that eventually requires bandages.
I want to raise men. Real men. True men. Strong men. It starts now. It starts in this garage, extends to the make-shift ball diamond in our backyard, drifts to the creek full of crawfish behind our house, and hopefully takes root in the core of our sons.
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Come to find out, Father's Day is tomorrow. As in this Sunday. As in, "When did that happen?"
Need last minute ideas? I have a great one for you and it is free! Did you catch that last part? It's FREE!
The best part is that it will also give ole dad exactly what every man really wants: an ego stroke, a shot of pride, and a little coveted spotlight attention!
Sprout, one of the awesome sponsors of The People's Party (a pre-BlogHer party I am co-hosting along with some much hipper bloggers), is celebrating dads this weekend with a special Father's Day event taking place on The Sprout Sharing Show being broadcast LIVE from 3pm - 6pm ET on Saturday, June 14 and Sunday, June 15.
This is your chance to make Dad feel famous! You know, just like you. ;)
Children, with help from an adult, can submit a Father's Day greeting to their dad, grandfather, uncle, or male dad-like person and have it appear live during the show. Viewers can also call-in during the live show and share their wishes and fun stories about dad by calling 877-242-DADS.
To submit a text greeting or find out more visit:
http://www.sproutonline.com/sprout/stunt/fathersday.aspx
If you don't have Sprout, you can call 866-9-SPROUT to request it. Which is what I'll be doing just as soon as I sign up for cable again.
Seriously, I want to be on TV. So you know your husband wants to be, too! Make it happen with Sprout!
<This ends my desperate attempt to make up for the fact that I could have sworn that Father's Day was later this month... or maybe in the winter? Happy Father's Day, Maguire! If we had Sprout, you would so be on TV, along with pictures of your massive muscles and hot mug!>
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| Accolades & Shiny Stuff | [−] |
Look, Ma! I made the news!
For blogs that rock your world. Hard.
Featured Blog of the Week Issue 7
May 7, 2007 Pour Your Misery Down on Me
| Threadworn Blogroll | [−] |
| Community Lovin' | [−] |
Meg Meeker: Boys Should Be Boys: 7 Secrets to Raising Healthy Sons
Still reading this one, but seriously, check it out. Just click the link if you have boys.
Neil Gaiman: Stardust
Fell is love with Tristran Thorne in the movie version and am falling madly in love with him in the book. If you want your heart to feel light and your head full of sparkles, read this book. Perfect summer book. (****)
Lots more to browse
including movies
in addition to what you see below.
Let me know what you think, too. We'll have our own private book club... just me and you!
