How many games can you play with an iron?

Again, starting to look a little better, right? Not sure what's going on with the top border not showing, though. I'll get this straightened out eventually. Well, or scrap the idea completely. I'm working on it! Hehe.

So that first link is disguised as a recipe link, but if you check it out, it's actually a woman who uses her old bridesmaid dresses in every day life. As in, she cooks dessert in her formal wear, etc. No need in letting the dresses go to waste!

Quirks of the Day Culinary Concoctions by Peabody - Always a bridesmaid.... August 14, 2010 at 12:53 PM Flowtown map of social networking sites August 11, 2010 at 11:25 AM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Games to play with an iron | Life In a Shoe August 15, 2010 at 3:49 PM

The advantages and disadvantages - Is there a difference?

The advantages of doing more of these compiled posts like this: 

• You guys get *way* more content. I have thousands of bookmarks and tabs saved at this point of things I meant to share with you, but just can't get to. :( 
• Almost daily posts. There's still more work involved but some of the nitty gritty stuff is eliminated, so I just have to make sure I show up and write a bit. 
• I get to do more of the fun stuff and less of the really annoying stuff. The biggest time consumer when writing posts is for me to upload and transfer photo links. 
• Posts are more in "real time" than me scheduling a month worth of posts in advance and you guys reading stuff that I saw a couple months ago. If I see something today, you guys see it tomorrow...or within the next few days. No more links to things I saw and that suddenly lit fire across the web....only for you to get them really, really delayed here. 
• I can spend more time on writing what I want and working on other quirky stuff (like Quirky Cookery)

The disadvantages of doing more compiled posts like this: 

• You guys get *way* more content. Isn't it a bit overload? I mean, I see hundreds of things daily and only hold onto a handful in comparison, but for the rest of you, maybe this is a lot. 
• Almost daily posts. Do you really want daily stuff flooding your feeds? 
• I get to do more of the fun stuff. Is that a good thing? Won't I get myself into more trouble? :P 
• Posts are more in "real time" Lolcats are timeless. Does it really matter? 
• I can spend more time on writing what I want. Pfft, I enjoy what I do already. If I can't spread my time out evenly among other interests, that's my own fault, right? 
• Also, there are some other actual disadvantages, and not just the same things as the advantages. I don't have all the photos saved myself elsewhere. Some sites aren't getting the full "feature"/description/attention that they deserve. SEO and such flies out the window. And I sorta feel lazy, even though I know I'm putting in even more effort right now. 

http://asset.soup.io/asset/0935/9734_74ab.jpeg  July 24, 2010 at 8:18 PM 0 reviews http://asset.soup.io/asset/0742/4491_b502_500.png  July 24, 2010 at 2:20 PM 0 reviews Thirty Books Everyone Should Read Before They're Thirty - DivineCaroline July 24, 2010 at 12:47 PM 31 reviews In Persona - What's in your bag? | Ubersuper  July 24, 2010 at 11:53 AM 46 reviews http://asset.soup.io/asset/0944/2093_9fba_500.jpeg  July 24, 2010 at 10:23 AM 1 reviews Atmospheric July 24, 2010 at 10:20 AM 93 review Mila's Daydreams | Fubizâ„¢ July 28, 2010 at 8:23 PM 17 reviews Kool-Aid Dyed Playsilks - Tried and True July 28, 2010 at 8:23 PM 5 reviews Design*Sponge & Blog Archive & custom fingerprint papercuts July 28, 2010 at 7:31 PM 0 reviews Vitality - Yahoo! News July 28, 2010 at 7:27 PM 10 reviews

ZOMG SPELING ERORZ!! - For all the bloggers out there

If you have a blog, you especially know what I'm talking about. :P

Clicky the link for a full size, easily readable, much better quality version. ;)

National Bloggy World Delurker Day - The one where everyone's supposed to comment

So apparently a month ago when I was writing several sets of posts to be scheduled here, nobody thought to tell me that a month later, it'd be Delurker Day.

It happens every year and I never pay it much attention. In the blog world, it's a day where tons of bloggers post about the day and insist that all their "lurkers," or people who read them but never comment, come clean and comment just this once. I try to comment on a few, but I follow so many blogs that it's impossible to comment on all of them anyway, much less all on one day while trying to remember who I've commented on before...and who I've just be secretly stalking lurking around.

I've never made my own post about it either. And considering it's the night of the 14th, I had no intentions of doing it this year either. I saw others turn it into "Delurking Week," but meh, matters not.

Then I saw the logo above and just had to share it. In order to share it, I had to tell you about the day, right? For all you readers (see how I'm pretending I have lots of lurkers? ;) ) in the non-bloggy world who might not know. It's all about the quirky logo that was circulating this year. Isn't it perfect!?

Creative Blog Titles -- Part 3

I get a lot of people coming to my blog because they search for "creative blog titles" or some other similar phrase. I've done a couple quick posts like this before, but I wanted to pass on some more ideas for people who were looking for inspiration.

In the fast pace internet world where most pieces are skipped over quickly, there's a lot to be said for people who can draw you in with just their creative names. These are a few people (a couple repeats from last time) who got me to stop and read some of their posts after all I'd seen were their quirky blog names. Sometimes I'm wrong, but most times it turns out that an interesting blog name is reflective of interesting material inside, and of course I want to read more of that!

Always listen to your pig-puppet
Fairy Hedgehog
What's large, grey, and doesn't matter? (An irrelephant!)
Indecisive Peach
I'll get you, my witty (and your little blog, too) (which is now Closet Narcissist)
Plastic Alligator
Functional Shmunctional
Fairy Blog Mother
Ficken Chingers
The Secret Government Eggo Project
Randomability

If you think your blog name is particularly creative or you know another blogger whose title is silly or interesting, please let me know and I'll check you/them out. And hey, who knows, maybe I'll include the name/link in my next quirk about it!

Quirky Jessi Site Updates

(Obviously, this isn't something Dave sent me....I think you'll survive anyway)

Yep, it's one of those posts. The kind where I tell you what I've changed around here and pretend that you might actually care....except this time, there are a few changes you're going to like.

First up, we have a completely new layout. If you haven't been to the main site lately because you're viewing from a reader, you're definitely going to want to check it out. There's still some tweaking to be done, but I love how it's looking.

With that comes some slightly different navigation, as well. You should be able to find everything you need up top....how to subscribe (including email), search, where to find me outside of QJ, and a few new features. Even Quirky Lurky is still there.

You'll also see that I've started a Quirky Tumblr. One of the reasons I get behind with posting is that I have 'so' much I want to post, but sometimes I end up with things that don't really need a full post to describe or it's just a picture or two that I hang on to until the appropriate topic comes up. With Tumblr, you'll get to see many of those silly pictures or random links that don't need any explanation.

If you visit QJ itself, there's a widget in the sidebar that displays thumbnails of the most recent pictures, too. I'm still looking for a better format for that, but for now, it gets the job done and you can click through to the Tumblr site for the larger pictures. Once over there, you can comment on individual posts or subscribe to the RSS feed, just as you would here.

Right above that, you'll also notice a new Top Commenters area. Once upon a time, I had a CommentLuv-like widget, but it didn't work the way I wanted it to, so I dropped it. Now it's back and right near the top so if you're one of the top commenters of the last 100 comments, viewers are going to see your link almost immediately. I love when you guys comment, so I want you to get some traffic out of it, too.

Alright, for now I think that's about it. Let me know if there's anything not working the way you think it should or if you'd like me to add anything else.

CommentLuv for Blogger and Blogspot

Wordpress users have been using CommentLuv for a long time, but there was never a version for Blogger. Well now that Blogger has added the option to embed comment forms below posts, you'll be happy to know that they created a version for blogspot!

It should take less than 15 minutes and you can find the instructions here. There's a tutorial video, too, so if you're overwhelmed by there being several steps, don't worry. It's actually really easy and it takes you step-by-step.

Happy Blog Birthday to Quirky Jessi

Or is it blogaversary? I don't know, either way, 2 years ago during this month is when I officially started Quirky Jessi. I had some posts from somewhere else, so I don't really specify one day....but simply somewhere in this month.

I know, October is almost over, so this is a bit late, but I wanted to do a gathering of sorts of some of the fun stuff I see in my stats. All of the stuff listed below will only be from last October until now....a year in quirky review. No need in going back to the beginning when things have changed so much from then.

It's always interesting to see how people got here. Some of obvious connections....and others, well....sometimes it's just plain scary how people get to QJ. Especially when there are search results that I have no idea why a person would be searching for it.....and then I realize that 'several' people have searched for it, yikes!

Enough rambling....here's some fun stuff I learned:

• Apparently I was wrong. People 'are' interested in being able to bake single slices of pie and keep searching for the pans....which leads them here.
• People love fruit protectors, too.
• They're horrible at coming up with their own creative blog names. I really, really, really have to get that next post about them written soon.
• And they're freaked out about the airborne recall/refund that happened 7 months ago. Several hundred people have came here to QJ alone about it.
• People aren't over the Numa Numa craze from years ago. And because I'm ranked on the first page for the lyrics, yep, that's right....a whole bunch of people fell here.
• Banana face masks are still popular. Really, really popular. Don't forget the Do's and Don't's.
• Breaking up in creative ways is apparently a high priority.
• Taco Bell Fruitistas are desirable. But they aren't free any more. Sorry guys, the promotion ended
• Momofuku will be missed. He will live on in his ramen noodles, though. Well, not really....that could be a bit creepy!
• The Munchlers were a huge hit.
• Letting an electronic device tell when the meat is too green and fuzzy to eat....is better than sniffing it for themselves.
• Women and/or wives getting nose rings sends people off searching. Every possible combination of these words "nose, ring, piercing, pierced, wife, woman, women" were used to take people to a really old post (old as in, written a couple weeks after I started QJ two years ago). Really guys, it's fine if women want to pierce their noses. Everyone will live.
  And no, 40/45/50/55 and all the other numbers are not too old. Do what you want....it's your nose!
  
• People are concerned about the songs played at their weddings.
• One is not the lonelinest number. There are several pages worth of searches involving "100 this, "1001 that, "100 most things here" and "top 10 whatevers there." I didn't know I'd even blogged about that many! 101 lists that Quirky has blogged about anyone?
• Other Blogger users were just waiting for the automatic posting option, too. I don't know if they were as happy as I was, though.
• Favicons are an absolute must. I love them myself (rely on them, actually), but it seems like everyone is getting into them.
• Hundreds of people to my blog alone are looking for ways to keep their homes warm without heaters. I'll probably post about this again soon.
• All those people who automatically spell my name "Jessie" or "Jesse" even when they see it written in front of them.....makes me appreciate all those who were searching for "Jessi"s without 'e's.

And here are just some of the random searches I pulled. There were thousands of unique searches so I didn't scrutinize every single one, lol.

• grasshopper spit
• interesting urinals
• she ran over a possum
• 5 foot giant toothbrush
• adult sheep finder (is it sad that I'm 4th in Google's search results for this?)
• dead people webcam
• do lemurs attack humans? (hope this person found the answer)
  
• high pitch voice molestation (um...?)
• lol cat encouragement (yep, I'm first...although not relevant to what they were searching for)
• necklace of human tongues (I didn't blog about that....did I?)
• "hot fruit" humor pics
• "lsd simulator" drug
• "sad bye bye" emoticon
• "pictures of women urinal peeing" (I really don't think that's what they were going for)
• tears do not cure cancer
  
• are bowling balls dishwasher safe? (uh, check with the manufacturer?)
• are ducks gang banged? (yes, yes they are.....another early post)
• are norwegians sexier (sexier than what? sheep? yeah, probably)
• bathroom etiquette sexuality
• bathtub mold make me sick (that's normal....just clean it)
• boob vs boob
• bukkit loss support group help (does the walrus read my blog?)
• can you arrest a cop?
• cat australia cocaine hiss
• cats pink uv rays
• child molestation tickling/kissing/photos (not cool guys....not cool at all)
• cool ways of spelling jessi (hmm...jessi, jesse, jessy, jesy, jesi, jessie, jehsee, jehhhssseeee....)
• do you have to rinse bananas (no, but it won't hurt anything)
• dummies for a housewife
• eraser jessi
• evolution of dance pony
• final exam buoyancy
• fly in urinal
• foods to eat after inner lip tattoo
• fruitista and how to make (give the cashier money and someone will make it for you)
• goats and ducks be kept together
• horomes in trees
  
• hot tub chicken
• how a baby looks when it is one month and in the womb
• how to make honey non-sticky (not gonna happen)
• let go of my ears
• looking to buy jesus bandaids
• mooning duck tours
• nippon ayurveda school
• no longer want nose piercing (so don't get one...or take the ring out)
• quirky mondex
• ragu sledding yay! (hmmm)
• shakespeare gangbang (there were lots of searches with the 'g' word, but this ranks pretty high on my wtf meter :P)
• spicey boobs of china womens (yeah, this one, too)
• the power of beef
• torcher and women's haircuts
• tree chemo
• virtual nose piercings
• "propithecus verrauxi coronatus" + photo
  

All in all, it was a good year. I have about 3 times as much traffic as I did last year, I still enjoy sharing all the little quirky products and websites, and I'm loving all the people I've met so far!

Thanks to all those who read regularly.....and to all those who accidentally stumbled here after searching for something really quirky. ;-)

Want a free .com domain?

No really. Completely free from GoDaddy just for signing up for a newsletter. I thought there'd be some sort of catch, too, but I did it last night and didn't even have to put in credit card information. If you already have a GoDaddy account it's even easier because you don't have to register....sign in, pick your domain, put in the source code it sends you, and voila!

It covers registration for one year ($9.99) plus the ICANN fee. After a year, you'd have to renew, but hey, if you no longer want it or you didn't ever get around to using it, no big deal...let it expire and you still don't have to pay anything. There's no harm in snatching up your domain now, though, so you might as well grab it -- at least that was my reasoning and I didn't need any more domains than I already have! Lol.

Here's the link.

It'll ask you to put in a friend's email address, too, but you can simply put in another email address of yours if you don't want to share. They can get a free domain or other discounts, too, though, so if you know anyone who is interested, pass it on. There's also IndyCar discounts (which is what this promotion is all about....IndyCar Series), so you might want to check out the link regardless of your domain desires.

And just so you know, I don't get anything out of giving you the link other than being excited about new domain names because I was thrilled to get a free one myself. There's no affiliate link, no spamming, no extra bonus for me. I just think it's really cool and I know some people are hesitant about getting their own domains or putting out the upfront money....but it's like a free year trial here, so I'm sharing the wealth, hehe. Enjoy! And let me know if you run into any problems or need help.....and especially let me know about your new sites so I can come check them out once they're up and running!

Special thanks to Kat for mentioning it in the first place. :)

You guys should be so proud of me!!

With all the stuff that's going on right now, I was beginning to wonder if I'd be able to post ahead like I was hoping to.

Well wonder no more! A couple nights ago, I spent a few hours getting posts made up. Yes, I should've been packing or writing papers or preparing for the summer or doing all sorts of other things.

But I didn't. I sat down, opened up my folder of "things to blog," and went at it. I wrote up 15 posts (still shocked I got through that many!) and spaced them out so that I have posts no more than 5 days apart (they're 2 or 3 days apart in June, and more spaced in July in case I have some time to make up more posts).

I'm quite happy with all the stuff I got posted about, but now I'm antsy because I want you guys to see some of it 'now', not 2 months from now, lol. If you want a sneak peek, you can get a taste of the pictures I'm using for some of them in QJ's photobucket account.

Automatic posting finally!

So I haven't had the chance to really stack posts yet and I haven't in the past because if I have to stop by to manually post it, then I could just write the post then.

Now that Blogger has finally made it possible to future date posts so that they'll automatically post on that date, I'm thrilled. It's been my biggest, and pretty much only, complaint about Blogger. It seemed like every other blogging platform had the feature, so even though I preferred using Blogger, I was always jealous of that feature.

Once again, this summer I'll be away working at a camp, and won't really be here to post a whole lot. I'm really hoping to have the chance to get at least a few posts made up in advance, though. I haven't been here much lately because life is too hectic, but that means my "to blog" folder is absolutely overflowing. I have so many things I want to post about -- it's insane!

Cross your fingers that I'll catch a break between now and the time I leave, so I can get a few more posts ready to go and this place won't fall apart while I'm gone.

Creative Blog Titles--Part 2

~Edit June 14, 2009)~ Since this quirk was written, I've done a new post that includes several examples of creative blog names here. I hope they give you some inspiration!~~

Back in November 2006, not long after I entered the blogging world, I made a quick post about creative blog titles I'd run across. There were only three and it was a tiny post, but little did I know that it would bring daily traffic here as I'm the top search result for "creative blog titles."

Given that the previous post doesn't do the topic justice at all, I want to do a revamped version, with more of a "how-to" twist, because that's usually what people are looking for. I have another short list of blog titles that fit the category of "creative" like llamib....or "llamas are missing in bangladesh."

But before I start, I want your input. What are some "creative" tips you'd give and are there any really out-there blog titles that are worth mentioning and I might not know about? Here's your chance to give some blog love to your pals or even toss out your own blog name (I know you lurkers are there, hehe).

Meet me (and all the other bloggers) at Bloggeries

Bloggeries

I really meant to get this posted sooner guys and the delay has been for the simple reason that I wanted to put an in-depth review and reasoning for posting it.

But that hasn't happened and I'm never going to get this out here if I don't just write something up and post it.

I previously posted about a forum and later on, decided that I didn't want to support it after all. I'm not one to make the same mistakes twice, so I've given this one plenty of time before endorsing it.

And by "endorse," I mean, "give free linky love because I can't offer much else," lol.

So what is Bloggeries? The main site is a blog directory, but it's the behind-the-scenes forum that really has my attention. I've been posting there for months and met a lot of great people while gather tons of helpful information. It's one of those places where it doesn't matter how new or old to the world you are (in this case, the "blogging world"), you still have a blast and get something out of it.
Rob is running a contest this month for referrals and while I don't usually jump in on referral contests, I figured it was perfect timing to let my blogging friends here know about it. The idea is to get people to sign up and make at least 10 posts, which is easy to do once you get in there because there's tons of stuff to post on and you won't even notice you're doing it. The 10 posts is so you can post in the section to "show off your blog" and avoid those spammers.

You'll get hooked before you know it anyway because it's not one of those forums where it's all about spamming your link all over the place. If you're into making money tips, it's there. If you'd rather learn the basics of blogging, that's there. Considering podcasting or selling your blog? There are sections for those, too.

The best part is, I'm there, hehe. Okay, so maybe that's not the best part, but it's a perk, right? Please say yes, lol. Within a few weeks of actually posting there, I earned the name "resident smiley queen" because I add in quirky smileys where ever I deem appropriate around there, so I've got the fun and games part covered, too. If you're into just hanging out and getting to know other bloggers (like me!) in an atmosphere different than blog posts or following around comments, head on over.

Let me know you're there, too, so I can bring a quirky smiley just for you. ;-)

Unsent Letters--Quirky Style

Just wanted to let you guys know that I've finally started working on one of my other blogs. I don't have much time to dedicate to any one given site right now, but I hate just having a dead domain sitting there with no life.

I'll be offering up the chance for people to guest blog and post their own quirky letters at some point (with links back to your place, of course), so keep that in mind for the future. :)

Unsent Letters

Check out Ferox

Ferox and I cross paths on a couple of sites, but I don't think I've ever linked to her blog here before. After seeing the image above, though, I couldn't put it off any more. Isn't that amazing? She has a couple different blogs (including one she writes as a vet student and another on D&D) and writes for Associated Content, so be sure to look around and explore all she has to offer. You won't be disappointed. :)

~Edit~ I had this postdated for today, but it looks like Ferox is the first guest blogger over at BlogEngage now, too. Perfect timing, I suppose.

PJC--T-Shirts for your blog

B-Tees has several t-shirt designs for bloggers with catch phrases like "I blog to myself." From what I heard through the grapevine, he'll do requests, too, so if you're interested in, check him out!

(Are you guys open about your blogging practices to the "outside world"? Would you wear blogging related products? The site also has bags and such, but I know a lot of people don't talk about it offline...)

Photo Journal Challenge

February was a slow month around here and part of it was because I decided I'd jump on the bandwagon for March. NaBloPoMo has gone monthly, but posting every day, all year long, is not my thing at all. I just don't have the time for that. Allison decided that for March, why not just do photos, though? Pictures are worth a thousand words....so why not just let the photos speak for themselves?

Well, knowing me, I won't do too well with 'just' posting a photo, but I don't think I'll be writing novels this month either. I'm gonna do what I can to post a photo a day, with or without words. Considering the majority of this blog has a photo with every entry anyway, that part won't be hard at all. This time, though, I'm gonna 'start' with the photo, and go from there, I think. Depending on my time and schedule, though, there will likely be non "PJC" posts along the way, too.

I probably should've told you ahead of time, but it's just now the weekend for me to get around to it! If you want to join in, come on in and start posting those photos! It'll be fun. :D

My Brand New Brand--Having Trouble Coming Up with a Domain Name?

Having trouble coming up with a site name or just wanna see how many variations a keyword comes up with? My Brand New Brand seems to have it all. If you're interested in the domain part of things, you can also quickly check to see if each name suggestion is available. It's a UK based site, so the price quotes aren't right for many of you readers, but you get the idea. I wish I would've seen this site before because I probably would've used some of the names instead of quirkyjessi. So many choices!! (200 suggestions using the word "quirky"....I never would've been able to decide!)

Wanna Be Lazy at the Office but Not Get in Trouble?

This gal links to a YouTube video that shows some funny tips about how to look busy, but not really 'be' busy. Most of them look like so much work that I might as well just work and get it over with!

The exception to that rule that many of you bloggers/blog readers might appreciate is this site, though. It's a website that will transform any website to look like it's in a Word document! She gives some great screenshots over there with the video, so go check it out.

The YouTube link won't play within the post, so here's the direct link to it.

New Year's Non-Resolutions

I considered doing an "end of the year" type post, but then put it off long enough that I didn't have the time to....and was glad I hadn't after seeing everyone else in the internet world doing a million and one lists of "end of the year" type compilations.

But then I was tagged.

I was called out.

I was infected.

Ew.

And now I feel this strange urge to follow the instructions I was given. I blame this chica.

It's all Emily's fault.

Hmph.

Alright, so enough whining, pouting, fussing, link lovin', line draggin', puttin' it off. Here's the meme:

What you do is list 7 New Year’s resolutions you are not going to do in 2008 year based on 2007’s results......~Well, and then a bit of instructions about who I'm supposed to tag, but I don't tag, so uh, nevermind.

I haven't really done resolutions the last few years....but these are non-resolutions, so they're okay, right? Stealing Emily's format with a quick copy and paste, I'm also going to steal some of her non-resolutions, too. How's that for creative laziness? :P

1. I will NOT check my multiple email accounts, blog stats, discussionboards/forums every chance I get. The world will not come to a crashing halt if I do not reply to something right away. (This is so hard to do with a straight face/cooperating fingers....)
   
2. I will NOT spend my every waking hour either online or thinking about the online world.
   
3. I will NOT break out into hysterics the next time I talk to the tech lady who informs me that she doesn't know when my internet will come back...and suspects it'll be at least a few more hours (after almost all day of it already being off!!)
   
4. I will NOT dehydrate myself because I don't want to part ways with my computer to go fill a water bottle down the hall.
   
5. I will NOT break every healthy eating rule in the book because I'm too comfy in bed with my laptop to bother to move for something more complex.
   
6. I will NOT spend my time at work doing menial things online instead of working hard on my school work.
   
7. I will NOT base whether my day is good or bad according to what happened online or whether my day was "online-worthy."

Okay, so they all revolve around my online activity...what can I say? I'm addicted. And I'm okay with it. Hehe.