So Close

Apologies to the no-kid wanters

Stupid, irritating, childish poll has been messing me around terribly. I tried to enter ‘0’ as an answer option in the ‘how many kids’ poll, and only noticed later when I went to have a look at the results, that it took it on itself to ignore ‘0’ as an option.  I then tried to amend the poll SEVEN times, trying “zero”, “none”, “NONE” etc but it wouldn’t update. I even created a brand new poll, putting the “None” in from scratch, but it wouldn’t update. I then got pissed off and went out for lunch.  Kid-free with lots of wine. And then of course I forgot all about it.  Sorry!

 Apologies to those who choose to live kid-free. I didn’t mean to exclude you. Clearly it is Bravenet (poll host), who hates you, not me, promise.  

 Am deleting that poll IMMEDIATELY. Stupid poll.

Bored?

Go read the updated Official Gorgeous and Divine Blog Roll.

I've added a few new blogs for your viewing pleasure.

Sorry things look a little untidy.  A v kind blog reader came up with a cunning way to do the blog roll that would eliminate the messiness but (a) I was too stupid to figure it out on my own, and (b) I then lost her email address (please email me again!)

Admin

 

My blog doesn’t hate you. Well, it hates YOU, but not you and you. Typepad went down yesterday and for a while you couldn’t comment. I also lost some of my posts and I couldn’t be assed to follow the 745 step procedure to recover them.  I got the gist of what you were saying about the Community Announcement posts.

 

Secondly, those effing counters. They are slowing my blog down, aren’t they?  Shit, I love those counters, love seeing all the countries represented. But they really are fucking around with the speed of my blog.  Is it revoltingly slow with the counters up? Should I take them down? Why aren’t you all on broadband? Fire those Ibex!! Get broadband!

 

And how about those “continue reading” type posts?  I used them so that I wouldn’t have loooooong posts taking up space but if the blog is loading slowly, and they are irritating you, I will stop doing it.

 

Community Announcements

I have a dilemma that I need to discuss with you. Just about every week I get an email from someone who either themselves are in need, or know of some one or some cause that desperately needs some help. These are not whimsical wants or fancies; these are mostly desperately sad stories of terrible tragedy, or loss or devastation. And sometimes there are personal stories of pain that touch me deeply. Some people send me a note just to bring things to my attention; others just want some kind words of comfort or prayers. But mostly the senders of these emails want me to say something on my blog about their plight, or the cause they are highlighting.

 

And I am always so torn. I don’t know what to do. My gut says that you guys wouldn’t want every second post of mine to be about some cause or plight, and yet I feel as if I should raise these issues in some way. Because maybe someone somewhere can help, or in some cases, the stories the emailers want to raise could serve as a warning to others and prevent similar tragedies. And sometimes the person just wants our collective prayers and good wishes.

 

I wish I had a section on my blog I could allocate to these type of issues – a page or section where I could put up these stories and pleas, and readers could go there if they wished, or if not, could ignore it completely. I don’t think it is possible in Typepad – unless some clever person out there knows of a way. Because that would be first prize for me. The greatest thing about the Blogosphere and the Internet in general is that there is this awesome collective power of good that exists out there – you guys showed that with Julie’s baby shower, with Boulder’s quilt, with Rose’s breast surgery and with the poor new moms in South Africa. I am sure there could be some collective support for any of these causes somewhere out there.

 

However, in the absence of a separate page or section, how would you feel if posted these pleas or notes as a blog post? Would you prefer not to read these on my blog? Or don’t you mind. What I could do is a weekly or monthly community / goodwill type post where I put the stories in one post? Perhaps I will do a poll and ask you guys that way.

 

I know this is my blog, and I can do as I please, but I would be lying if I said your opinion didn’t matter to me. 

 

The way things work around here

aka Tertia’s Blogging Rules

I thought it might be a good time to have a little chat about the way things work around here.  Not for any particular reason other than the fact that Typepad have introduced this cool new thing where you can make a post ‘sticky’, keep it on top or something like that.  Anyhow, I have been thinking about this for a while and I’ve decided now might be a good time to talk about this.

Calling all South African bloggers!

 

Hello all South African bloggers. I have a favour to ask of you. I would like to collect a list of all your email addresses. Not so that I can spam you with naked pictures of myself, well not a LOT anyway, but because I want to set up some kind of SA blogging network where we can reach the locals.

 

As you know, blogging is still pretty much in its infancy here and I think we could do some pretty cool stuff if we network together. Part of my intention is self-serving. For example, as part of my book launch I would like to have a virtual book tour, like they do overseas. Because it is a bit of a girl’s book, I am sure many of you would not be interested, but there might be some of you who would be. Get a free book (mine) and then tell other people to buy it so that I can retire review it on your blog. 

 

Then, an ex-colleague of mine has launched a really cool local IT product that I think people will love here. I would like to tell you all about it and see whether you would be interested in blogging about it. There might be other people who have similar type of local interest things who would want to reach the local market.

 

If we had an email list we could send out requests to the group and people could choose whether or not they wanted to participate in virtual launches or tours. I am big on ‘local is lekker’ and I really think this would be a cool way of supporting local initiatives and each other. 

 

I see that some of you have long local blog link lists on your blogs, but short of clicking on every link and trying to find the email addresses, I am not sure how to contact everyone. I tried yesterday and it took me 30 minutes to try and find two email addresses.

 

I really don’t think it will be spammy, and you could always have the option of opting out / ignoring / deleting etc.

 

If you are keen, please would you email me your email address and blog address and I would be very very grateful if you could pass this on to the other local bloggers out there, or perhaps post something on your blog about it. If people are willing, we could share that email list among ourselves. Or not. 

 

What do you think? 

 

Brief for the poll

There are only four men left on earth; you HAVE to choose one to live with (and shag) for the rest of your life. Which one would you choose? Go do the poll!

 

Candidate A: Severely overweight short man with poor personal hygiene and an abundance of body hair. Likes to cuddle and wants to call you ‘mommy’, especially during sex. Comes with a small dick and a fancy sports car.

Candidate B: Hypochondriac with permanent postnasal drip and hacking cough. Lives at the doctor’s rooms, convinced he is dying. Is also soya / wheat / lactose and gluten intolerant. Expects you to cook. Comes with an extended medicine cabinet full of potions and pills and poor medical insurance.

Candidate C: Cowardly mouse of a man with several phobias, including the fear of socializing, public places and housework.  Comes with a live-in, interfering mother-in-law who encourages his neurosis.

Candidate D: A self-proclaimed frustrated artist with no talent. Believes that getting a job is selling out. Lies on the couch all day, waiting for inspiration. Expects you to provide money, meals and blowjobs.  Comes with a group of equally useless ‘artist’ friends who camp out on the rest of your lounge suite.

 

Go do the poll!

Go do the poll.  Now! We are going to talk about this later.  

 

Faster!  Or else more scrotum pictures.

 

Admin

A quick admin note. If you’ve sent me an email and I haven’t yet replied, apologies!  I am getting so behind on my email correspondence, and when I get really busy and stressed I adopt the sensible approach of drinking more and doing less.  Hence v little action on my part. (Besides pouring and lifting of glass action)

 

However, it is something I intend remedying as soon as I get a chance.

 

To all of you asking to be added to the blog roll, I promise to do something about it soon. If you don’t see yourself there within a week, email me to tell me how much of an asshole I am. Just don’t expect a reply in a hurry.

 

The rest of you….I hope you are supporting the incredibly talented and unbelievably good looking bloggers on the official G&D blog roll.  Make it your mission to find at least one new blog a week.  Now go! Click away! Or else I will be forced to regale you with more navel gazing. You have been warned.

 

In the meantime, to keep you busy while I clean up my inbox, guess what body part this is!  First prize: A weekend away with Julie. Second prize: Two weekends away with Julie.

News from Karen / Naked Ovary

 

She is fine. Karen is a survivor and thoroughly classy woman.  She is busy processing everything that has happened and will be posting an update soon to let you all know how she is doing.

 

She said to tell everyone that she is so honoured to have your love and support. And that everyone’s emails and messages have made all of this so much easier to deal with.  (You are welcome to leave a supportive note here; I’ll make sure she gets them all.)

 

As I said, she is a classy woman.  She will come out on top.