Compost heap

Well, we're finally starting a compost heap in a corner of what we jokingly call a back yard. There's a little section in back of Paul's office that we'll never use for anything else. And between the bunnies' litter boxes, their salads, and our gardening we're sure to have lots of material to make it a big healthy pile of goodness for our gardens (both flower, in front of the house, and veggie in back).

Problem is, neither Paul nor I have any idea about how to start a compost heap. So we consulted wikiHow's article on composting and now have a good idea.

Here's the video from wikiHow:

If you have any tips for us, please comment and share! We'd like to learn all we can about it!

Al Gore's Boston speech, March 2009

Has it really been 4 months since I posted? Ugh.

The Al Gore speech/interview was just great! The interviewer wasn't so great, but Al was wonderful.

We recorded it so we could share it with you.

A very Harry Holiday

Best concert EVER!!! Harry Connick, Jr. was ON! He was alluring and gorgeous and magnetic and fun and amazing. It was hard to believe it was the last show of his holiday tour, because he was on such a role. His jokes were funny, his audience interaction was great (he couldn't get over some cookies that an audience member made for Harry and the band and Lucien).

He joked all weekend at this 3 Boston shows that he couldn't believe we came out to watch him. "If it were me, I wouldn't have come." A great stage performer makes jokes he's used for 3 days sound off-the-cuff. Harry is a great stage performer.

Happy Holidays!

OMG! OMG! OMG! We're going to see Al Gore!

I just bought tickets to see Al Gore speak at Boston's Wang Theater on March 30, 2009, which is, incidentally, the night before his birthday! But he's giving the bday present to US! I've been waiting just YEARS!!!! to see Al speak. I'm so excited I can barely type!

Only slightly less exciting (and only because we've seen him before in concert) is our upcoming Harry Connick, Jr. holiday concert this Sunday night, which I got last-minute tix to. I'm a bundle of anticipation!!!

Harry AND Al! I just can't wait!!! (Only have 2 days to go for Harry!)

We Are the Merry Fiskateers

In the first chapter of Secrets of Social Media Marketing, I wrote about Fiskars, the Finnish maker of fine cutting tools that uses a community of scrapbooking enthusiasts called Fiskateers to evangelize its products to specialty craft retailers. It's a perfect example of how to use social media to create street-level awareness.

Dana, wasted no time in applying to become a Fiskateer, and last weekend she attended a gathering of her fellow crafters in central Massachusetts sponsored by Fiskars. What a bounty of gifts they received! Dana counted no less than 15 raffles for the 28 attendees. She won four of them and carted home about $500 worth of swag. Above is a photo of the goodies.

Fiskars sent lead Fiskateer Kelly Jo as well as one of its "Fiskaneers," which is what the company calls its engineers There was also a representative of Brains on Fire, the media agency that conceived of the community. Fiskaneer Doug chatted with the group about ideas for new products, yielding great insight from dedicated crafters. The attendees were treated to plenty of food and a trip to the nearby Yankee Candle superstore. The spent the rest of the afternoon crafting together.

Did Fiskars overdo it with the sheer quantity of stuff it gave away? I doubt it. These 28 women have already declared their allegiance to the brand, and giving them more incentive to promote Fiskars through their online and offline social networks can only help boost word-of-mouth marketing. The group has been designated "crafting ambassadors," only it's clear that the brand they favor is Fiskars. By harnessing their enthusiasm, Fiskars can extend the value of a few gifts to a much broader audience. The cost of goods for this exercise is cheap compared to the value of good cheer the participants will spread.

Bandit's an inside kitty now

On September 8, I brought Bandit to our vet to get her checked out and then brought her inside. No longer is she sleeping in open garages or under our back deck. Now she's got comfy rugs and cushions and toys and windowsills. And, remarkably, my allergies haven't flared up ONCE since she's been in our home. True, I keep her brushed and I wipe her every now and then with these moist kitty wipes to keep her dander at a minimum, but I also smoosh her and cuddle her and hold her and pet her like crazy and I don't react. Could this be a touch of fate, that I got a cat I'm not very allergic to?

To answer your questions preemptively, no, the bunnies have not met her yet. She's such a sweetie, though, that I'm confident she'll be appropriately pushed around by the bunnies. Especially the toughie, SweetPea! You want the predator animals to be below the prey animals on the pecking order in any house. Otherwise, you have a very dangerous situation.

Her name is Bandit not only because she needed a tough girl name outside, but also because she stole my heart. Damn cat. ;-) Thought you'd like some pictures, so here you go:

I maul Bandit (and she loves it!):

She looks like a very big cat here. She's like 9 pounds and actually a very small kitty:

Bandit's closeup:

My beautiful kitty:

Purrrrfectly happy (she hardly ever stops purring):

"I'm a model? Of course I'm a model. I couldn't care less."

Naptime (it's always naptime):

"Hey, whatcha doing? Is it playtime yet?"

"It's my house now!"

FramesByDana.com

They say that many successful Internet voyages begin with family and friends. You tell your circle, they tell theirs, they tell theirs and before you know it, you've got a great audience. I'm hoping my blog friends will tell their extended family and friends about FramesByDana.com, which I've just spent 3 days updating. It now has a shopping cart, a wedding section, and a streamlined frames section.

Please tell people about the site. It's what I love doing. And I don't know what better thing you can say about an income stream than that.

If you're wondering why I redid the site this week, between 2 big vacations and while researching our book, it's because I've taken an ad on a local deli's paper placemats. There's 800 placemats, I think, which should last Kugel's Deli about 8 or 9 months. My ad is top and center, so should be very visible. I'm hoping to get real business from that investment. I've known all along that my site gets WONDERFUL SEO (search engine optimization) -- that is, Google loves me. But the lack of constant ordering is because I don't have what you expect at a commerce website: a shopping cart. Well, now I do. So with the site now at over 17,000 page views, I decided to add it and give myself a real chance at this.

I hope you'll help me by simply telling people about the site.

I still have much to add to the site -- a greeting card section, for one -- but I wanted to get what I've been working on the past year (the wedding section) online and also add the shopping cart. So stay tuned for more goodies in the months to come. And make sure to navigate all the pages/sections. There's a handy-dandy nav bar on every page so you don't get lost. Tell me what you think about the new and improved site!

Thanks for any publicity you can toss my way! Or feel free to order something... :-)