Monday Morning QB 13.11.1

Wow!

My last blog post was 2.13.09...

There is a whole lot to go over and I am certainly not going to be able to do it all in one day– I have work to do. But I do realize how important writing is on so many levels so I am really determined to get back into it. My plan, going forward, is to publish three original posts per week and a repost on Throwback Thursdays. We will do the old Monday Morning QB (obviously) on Mondays and Things We Like/Let's Roll on Fridays with another cool feature on Tuesday or Wednesday. How does that sound?

I need to explain all the changes that have gone on in our life over the last four years but, as I said, it may take some time to go ever all of it.

• I have gone into business for myself- The biggest single thing and reason for me not having time to post is A Skeetz Production, LLC. It has been a tremendous challenge but a gigantic blessing at the same time. I will write about the experience and so many things that I have learned that I want to make others aware of in the near future but as difficult as it can be, it has been one of the best decisions I have ever made.

• We have Guy- I have never thought it best for my family to publish the names of my boys but I have two of the best young men that seem to grow up so fast every day. I love them more than I could have ever imagined and if I wasn't so old, I would have a half dozen more. I'm sure that I will have a lot to write about those experiences too.

• Facebook- and such... I was just getting into Facebook, LinkedIn and then Twitter when I stopped writing in the Blog. I actually have a draft with a bunch of notes that I had on the new technology from over four years ago. I have lots to say about social media and how it has become such a huge part of our lives.

• Other Stuff- In addition to the big stuff I have a ton of thoughts on other stuff that I can't wait to share! So much stuff that I can't even think of it all but some if it includes:
• House Guests- I have become an expert on this
• Business Networking- I want to do a weekly feature with guest contributors
• Duck Dynasty- and other hillbillies taking over pop culture
• Plus- my usual stuff: sports, music, God, trivia, movies, TV, T-shirts, friends and fun...

I will quickly try to figure out how to incorporate the Blog with all the other social media that I am involved with. I would like to invite you all to follow this Blog by subscribing at the top of the right column and to check out other articles listed by topic further down in that column.

Peace.

Let's Roll! 1.10

I wanted to take this opportunity to tease a special story that I will post sometime next week. It is a special follow-up report on my driving series that was published last year. As I was driving home from work on I-70 at 22 miles per hour, I did some quick calculations in my head and was astounded at the amount of time that I spend in my car! I am taking some time to do a little more research and put together a another piece commenting on our commuting habits.

I came down with some kind of stomach bug that has put me out of commission for some time this week, but I still hope to get this post out before Saturday. Because I'm doing a Let's Roll, MLW will not read it anyway but, while doing my research, I have stumbled across several Websites that I wanted to feature today. They include a tool to improve your Squidoo experience and a couple of tributes to the best decade in the history of the world. Let's Roll:

SquidUtils-

Squidoo supplies users with an abundance of tools for use with the application but SquidUtils takes it a few steps further with an extensive list of utilities and very simple explanations of how to use them to work for you. An Advanced Dashboard, as well as tools for lens building and maintenance will allow you to determine the needs of your individual lenses and a directory to make your lenses available to other users with similar interests. There is also a chat room, other plug-in extensions and an interesting little forum where you can buy and sell lenses in an auction-type setting. If you have created lenses on Squidoo, you should have this Site bookmarked.

Stuck in the 80s-

I have to mention my disclaimer again-- I don't like to list other people's blogs because you have no idea what type of person the writer really is. I have read through a good number of entries on this site, however, and not only does it seem fairly family friendly, it is also very entertaining for a child of the 80s, such as myself and the online editor who was kind enough to feature my Shermer High School Bulldogs T-shirt in October. Along with his commentary on all things eighties, there are links to the official Websites of the decades bands and personalities... Totally Rad!

David Lee Roth Running with the Devil Soundboard-

The epitome of a rock 'n' roll front man, Diamond Dave filled the airwaves and concert halls with an loud, arrogant, flambouyant personality. His sound bites were a hard to avoid plastered between music videos at the peak of MTV popularity. (Yes... they used to play videos on MTV.) I can't, possibly, believe that this is really digital sampling of DLR's distinctive vocal stylings, but if it's not, it is certainly a good impression. I like to pull this up when I'm at work and try to use one of the 37 Davisms as a response to all of the stupid questions I am asked during the day.

How to Tight Roll Pants-

I here it is coming back into style and if you have not been properly trained in the technique, you should not try this with you fine denim-wear. 

Short but sweet this week because my Wife doesn't like these. Read this. Buy T-shirts. Peace.

Let's Roll! 1.09

I've got two or three articles in the works that I have not been able to finish-up or publish, for one reason or another this week, including my Designs We Like blog exchange review that was supposed to go out the third Wednesday of the month. 

That's, probably, the biggest challenge in being a Mac user in a PC-Internet-sales-world. There are some really cool applications-- such as this one-- that are not fully-functioning on this platform. In this case I trade-off the ability to paste text from another source in order to be able to key-command bullets. (See ••••?) I would much rather be allowed to paste because then I would be able to copy and drop-in the blog exchange information and get that posted so they don't throw me out of the group. I promise, guys, that I will do it as soon as I can get access to a PC!

In the mean time I have, again, run across some pretty cool stuff in the past week so... Let's Roll...

Eight Guinness World Record Attempts That Failed (Hilariously)

I usually try to avoid listing another blog in this one-- especially if I don't know the author-- because there are just too many sickos out there. This one, however, I couldn't pass up. It features people trying to break eight world records and have their name recorded in the famous Guinness Book. Most of them are your typical half-wits who forget to check what the record was, if someone else had broken it recently or how to do some dangerous stunt like fire-walking, before attempting the feat. Then there is the group trying to break the world domino toppling record and killed an endangered bird that flew into the building before it knocked everything down only to be invaded by animal rights protesters aiming to sabotage the effort. 

Nothing, though, beats the guy trying break coconuts with his bare hands! I have watched this video several times and it only raises more questions each time. Is this some kind of ninja stunt because it looks like he is wearing martial arts gear and a black belt? Had he ever tried to break a coconut with his bear hands before? Does he break any with his karate chops? Did he just miss those coconuts, altogether? And most strange to me, why does he move on to the next one if he doesn't get the first one? Does he think his miss wasn't caught on film?

I don't get this guy but, even though it is in another language, you don't need sub-titles to tell the reporter is thinking, "This guy's a tool!" If you don't do anything else with this article, check out this video and tell me what you think is going through this dude's head besides... oww!... oww!... ouch!... boy that hurts!... oww!...

NORAD Tracks Santa

The kid's know more about the Internet and the computer than the adults anyway so they probably already know about this one. NORAD has been tracking Santa for many years now because they are pretty bored since the end of the Cold War. There is a countdown clock for the big day, an activity page for the kids and this year, starting on Christmas Eve, you can use Google Maps to track Santa in 3-D! I don't know what, exactly, that is but anything to occupy M3S until he is worn out enough to crash is good for me.

NorthPole.com

Built for the little ones but there are plenty of tools here for Mom and Dad too. Visit Santa's Secret Village to read stories, play games and activities, cook-up a Christmas treat or even check out the weather at the North Pole. In the Mailroom you can write to Santa or send e-cards to friends and family and in the Workshop you will be able to search special toy collections and find online resources. Maybe too late for this year but you can bookmark the page for '09.

SantaClaus.net

Similar to the previous site, this one one has a much slicker graphic interface but that may be contributing to the lag I was experiencing. It has a lot of the same games, songs and activities, a Santa Tracker of it's own and, as it looks, the real North Pole weather forecast but this has an option for a telephone call from Santa, as well as the letter. I am a little unsure who sponsors either Website, but this one interrupts some of the activities and such with ads and the other one asks for donations so I'm sure the Claus clan is not behind either.

SkeetzTeez

Hey-- it might be a little late for this year-- but remember there are specials on last-minute, express shipping and you can always give gifts after Christmas-- SkeetzTeez has the coolest, pop-culture T-shirts and gifts you can find just about anywhere!

I better say Merry Christmas now in case I don't get a chance to write again in the next six-days... Merry Christmas. Read this. Buy T-shirts. Peace.

Let's Roll! 1.08

I figured I would go ahead and do a special edition Let's Roll for the holidays now because there is so much cool stuff that I run across on the internet this time of year and I don't know if or when I'm going to have another shot to get it all in. I have included a wide variety of links with everything from ideas the get your shopping list going and tools to make shopping easier to places to shop online and fun stuff that is used to entice you to shop at a certain store. I'm sure glad that shopping... I mean Christmas, hasn't become commercialized. Let's Roll!

ElfYourself- If you have been sent this via email in the past, there is a good chance that you deleted it as spam, an e-chain letter or just another annoying e-greeting card that you wish no one would send because then you feel obligated to remember to send them one on their birthday. This one is actually pretty cool, however, and may be worth a few minutes of screwing with. It's free to elf yourself and send the short movie to your friends, though, it'll run you $4.99 to download the dance and more if you want to buy product with your elf pic imprinted on it.

PaperSnowflakes- Ever make paper snowflakes as a kid? This site is titled Paper Snowflakes for Children but I cut one for a project at work and it took me 45-minutes and I have take college courses on how to cut paper. It provides folding and cutting instructions as well as patterns to make about 600 different designs and tips and tricks from the pros (do you believe that there are professional snowflake cutters?) that will soon have you on the level of Will Ferrell in Elf.

2008 Christmas Specials TV Schedule- I made mention of this site in a posting earlier in the week, The Twelve Days of Christmas Specials: My Top Twelve Holiday Programs, but it is worth another plug. It has an extensive list of movies, special presentations and even regular programming holiday episodes by date with times and channels. Be sure to check out some of the old reruns of shows like Three's Company, Green Acres and The Beverly Hillbillies, to name a few, Christmas shows on TVLand.

Amazon.com- is one of the biggest e-retailers in the world so it wouldn't be surprising if you had heard of them or even made a purchase from the Website in the past but, until I was laid up last year and did all my shopping online, I was unaware of the many member features that the industry leader offers. Gift and wish lists based on your buying and searching habits are pretty common now but Amazon takes it a step or two further with special Gold Box discounts on merchandise on your list in addition to the Deal of the Day and Lightening Deals up to 66% off regular pricing.

Also when you are shopping at Amazon or similar sites, check the More Buying Choices sections. You can often find the same item in a new or like-new condition for a fraction of the price. When purchasing merchandise with this option, though, be sure to look over reviews of the seller and read things like the shipping policies to make sure you know what your getting into.

SkeetzTeez- If you are reading this blog because you enjoy it and not just because you're my wife's second-cousin, you feel sorry for me, or you owe me money-- I absolutely, positively guarantee that there is something that you or someone on your holiday shopping list (probably someone that is usually very hard to buy a gift for) is going to really dig at SkeetzTeez! I am still adding new designs almost every day but there is a ton of cool stuff to choose from, including the new seasonal stuff featuring Will Ferrell's Elf- Cotton-Headed Ninny-Muggins and Pete Schweddy's Balls shirts. Other popular items this holiday season include TV's Smallville and Suck It Trebeck, movie's Shermer H.S. Bulldogs and Slapshot's Charlestown Chiefs, the Old Time sports collection as well as some really smart, cool fashion designs.

SkeetzTeez has all kinds of T-shirts, sweatshirts and hoodies, hats, office accessories, drinkware and other fun items for adults and kids, men and women, boys and girls, babies, expectant moms and even something for the dog. You certainly won't regret giving these unique, custom holiday gift items this year-- and if your are my wife's second cousin, you feel sorry for me or you owe me money... you might even find something you like.

Read this. Peace.

Let's Roll! 1.07

Cafepress revealed the new Website design this week. I was concerned, at first, that the navigation was misdirected because I didn't make a sale for the first two days after the change but then my old standby, Big Brother '09, came through for me last night. Americans must not be too worried about the economy because they are still having babies and there is a lot of maternity and children's stuff that sells on that Site. I would assume that now since Halloween and the election are over the Big Brother and Big Sister along with a few of my designs for expectant mothers will be my top sellers until the holiday season.

Speaking of the holiday season, I guess all of the stores now start pushing Christmas sales in October. They might as well include Halloween with Thanksgiving in the holidays. 

This is my first year being involved as a Internet retailer but, from what I gather from more experienced shopkeepers, it is not uncommon to have sales from November 15 to December 31 that equal all the sales from the rest of the year so I'll be ready. Be sure to keep SkeetzTeez in mind when you are looking over your gift giving lists and check back often to see all of the new designs for the Winter! Let's Roll.

Michael Jackson- Thriller

Yes-- he's a freak but this 13:41 video was the most anticipated release in the history of MTV and is still regarded as one of the best even though it was premiered over 25 years ago. Sure-- it's a little hokey for today's times. The outfits are dated, the acting is overdone, the special effects are antique and even the dance moves, considered cutting-edge in 1982, are punchlines for modern, comments on pop-culture but, back then, even though most people won't admit it, MJ and this video in particular, was the coolest thing around-- right Cox?

64-Voice A' Cappella Thriller

This is too cool and perfect for Halloween. One dude, self-recorded on 64 different tracks. He does all the vocals as well as the instruments and special effects with no assistance from any tools or devices. The guy is a little freaky (I think he's French) with his accent and there is an eerie picture of Michael Jackson in a werewolf getup from his 80s hit video, but this is just too freaking cool to pass up this time of year.

Filipino Prison Thriller Remake

That last one reminded me of this video which has gotten a lot of YouTube hits and been featured on a bunch of nationally syndicated entertainment shows. Again-- kind of freaky but, still, something about it makes you have a hard time not watching it all the way through. Go ahead... try it... See? I guess if you have to be in prison there would be a lot worse ways to spend your time than dancing to 80s hits but the orange jumpsuits look like they would make it hard to get your groove on.

Thriller- Wikipedia

Did you know?

• Thriller was ranked number 20 in Rolling Stone Magazine's list of Top 500 Albums of All-Time in 2003

• Several members of the band Toto were involved in the recording and production of the album

• Thriller was released and immediately went to number one on both the US and UK charts-- the first album to do that

• MTV played the almost 14-minute video twice an hour everyday for several weeks after the release to keep up with demand

Happy Halloweenie. Read This. Buy T-shirts. Peace.

Let's Roll! 1.05

I feel pretty darn stupid. I was supposed to bowl in the league tonight. I have been just terrible since the event but I expected to be better tonight because I have been seeing some improvement in the last few weeks and we were scheduled on lanes one and two tonight. I always bowl better on one and two and the games move along quicker because you only have to yield to the lanes on one side.

I think my excitement got the best of me because on my third practice frame I felt something pop on my approach. I wasn't doing anything weird or strenuous and didn't make any sudden moves or anything. I was just using my normal motion walking up to the line when was hit with a intense, sharp pain in my groin. I went ahead and followed through and, actually, rolled a pretty good ball, but that may have injured it more. I thought that I had it walked off, afterward, and tried to take another shot at it, but I was done for the night-- and maybe a few more weeks. Thanks to Bob for filling in for me.

Now I'm at home, sitting with a bag of frozen green beans in my crotch, watching the two-hour season premier of Survivor. It feels a lot better... as long as I don't move! Never again will I call a ballplayer a wimp for going on the IR with a groin injury. 

I'm a tool-- let's roll.

YearbookYourself

This one is a classic. I have seen similar applications but this one is user-friendly and produces some pretty cool results. Upload a picture of yourself, or a friend, spend a minute or two to make some simple adjustments and in a matter of another few minutes you have an e-album of your own yearbook shots in the style of the pop-high school styles for every couple of years from 1950-2000.

It's all free, however it is sponsored by someone-- I just can't tell exactly who! Anyway, the ads don't interfere with a few minutes or so of fun.

Squidoo: Shermer High School

For anyone that doesn't know about Shermer High School-- you should. Shermer, Illinois is the fictitious community that was the setting for many of, director, John Hughes' films, in the 1980s, including Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Weird Science, and the number one high school movie of all time, The Breakfast Club.

This lens has been getting a tons of visitors in the last few weeks and features a ton of stuff about Shermer, the flicks, John Hughes and the 80s. Anyone that was in their teens at that time is going to be able to relate. Along with custom Shermer Bulldogs gear, you can find YouTube videos, as well as, DVDs and other unique items available for purchase.

Palin Baby Name Generator

I posted this in a column earlier in the week but I find it funny and, with McCain/Palin ticket all over the news lately, I thought it would merit another mention-- besides, I got nothing else and I want to go to bed because my groin hurts.

Sarah Palin has picked an All-American set of names for her children with, Track, Trig, Bristol, Willow and Piper. Ever wonder what your name would be if the Vice Presidential candidate was your mother? Now you can find out with this simple, free name generator.

You can call me Chap Poach Palin as long as you... buy T-shirts. Peace.

Monday Morning Quarterback 1.04

I can't quite figure out how it seems we do nothing over the weekend and still I am so, so tired on Mondays. I mean dead tired! And all day long! I thought I was going to doze off driving to get something for lunch. 

If it was just because of the brain injury, you would think that it would be getting better instead of worse. I'm sure the meds have something to do with it and aging certainly doesn't help but I didn't expect it to be this bad yet.

I think we should bring back nap time. Remember kindergarten? We would get out our mats and lay down after snack time. I know I fell asleep. I wonder if everyone did and how long they let us lay there. 

M3S doesn't do very well with naps. I can get him to lie down with me but it is usually me that falls asleep first. Then he gets up and starts the party. He has this "night-hyper" thing going when he gets sleepy, he will get all excited and talk a mile a minute. M3S definitely has inherited this super power from MLW but I am more than familiar with the phenomenon because my brother suffered from it as a kid.

OK, my tired brain is starting to wander in too many different directions. Let's get on with my notes from the weekend:

• Two words regarding Tina Fey's job doing Governor Palin on SNL: Told ya.

• Stages of my life and Saturday Night Live viewership: 1) Too young to stay up to watch. 2) Old enough to stay up but not old enough to understand the jokes. 3) Old enough to understand but too busy to watch. 4) Time to watch but too old to understand the jokes. 5) Too old to stay up to watch. I'm somewhere between stages 3 and 4 with periods of 5.

• Unfortunately, I was a bit off on my comment, last week, that Brett Favre was a winner no matter what team he played for but I'm man enough to admit it and I'm still not giving up on him.

• It is also unfortunate that I was not off on my other football comments last week: the Rams suck and so does our Fantasy team.

• Hot: Urban Prankster Network Squidoo Lens. I have no idea why. http://www.squidoo.com/urbanprankster

• Not: How to Make a Suck for a Buck Squidoo Lens. I had to change the rating from R to G because it just wasn't getting any action. The pecker straws must have scared away a few people: http://www.squidoo.com/suckforabuck

• Happy Birthday to potential readers: Carrie Fitz, Our Cousin Vinnie and Jordo! Kareoke Saturday!

• Let me just say in my own defense and with all due respect, "Let's Roll" was not made up on Flight 93. It is not trademarked or copyrighted and, in fact, according to wikipedia, may have its origins as early as 1908 and has been mentioned in Farris Buelller's Day Off, Hill Street Blues and the Simpsons before 2001 when, on September 11, it became a symbol of heroism and self sacrifice. I had not intended disrespect in titling this Link Roll "Let's Roll" and sincerely apologize to anyone who may be offended.

• Phrase of the week that you haven't used in 20 years: Shoot the Chit. As in: talk.

• I joined Facebook to help promote the SkeetzTeez shop at: http://www.cafepress.com/skeetzteez. I put it off until now because I wasn't sure if it was appropriate for adults to be hanging out on a Social Networking Website, but a lot of successful shopkeepers to advertise. I will let everyone know how it works out but, in the mean time, it is yet another way that readers can give me feedback. I would love to hear from you!

Tryptophan!!! That's why I am so freaking tired. We had turkey for dinner last night!

Let's Roll! 1.03

Does it feel like this week went by really fast? Usually a regular week after a shortened one just drags on and on but yesterday I looked up and it's Thursday already! Before we look at our Link roll for the week let's go to the board and look what's happening on the Statcounter report:

Top five keywords that resulted in visits to SkeetzTeez or SkeetzTeez Blog:

5. brett favre

4. schweddy balls

3. Saracuda

2. land of the lost

1. suck for a buck

Top five designs sold at SkeetzTeez http://www.cafepress.com/skeetzteez

5. Favre Goes Deep (That's What Cheese Head)

4. Slapshot (Charlestown Chiefs)

3. Schweddy Balls

2. Big Brother (Sister) '09

1. McCain/Palin (McMaverick/Sarahcuda)

I am still a little unsure of what links I am going to include today. Is anybody actually checking these out? If you have links of your own that you would like to appear in this column, send them to me (in the comments section). I will pick one per week and run them with mine. Okay, Let's Roll:

http://delicious.com

del.icio.us is a Web-based bookmark application I have been using. It works, pretty much, like your bookmarks in your browser with a few extra bells and whistles but what I like best about it is the fact that you have the same pages marked on any and every computer that you sign on to. I am looking at the same list of Websites on my computer at work, at home or from the library.

You can download buttons from del.icio.us that can be added to your browser menu bar to post an address or view all your bookmarks with one click. You also have many preferences available to customize your saved files including the ability to tag your entries and then subscribe to tags (so when someone else uses that tag for a Site they found, you are notified) and network with other users. All-in-all pretty helpful, easy to use and free!

http://simile.mit.edu/timeline

To be completely honest, I don't know what this is, exactly... but it is cool. I was doing some research, recently, on timelines for a project at work and stumbled across this little gem. Obviously the work of a really smart kid (or more likely a whole team of them) at MIT, this Site presents research and samples of a study to improve on the standard timeline that you often see in reports like this. (Kind of like an surreal picture of a picture of a picture and so on.) 

A lot of it is way over my head, to tell yo the truth, but the timelines themselves are somewhat interactive and the live examples contain some really neat information including a minute-by-minute account of the assassination of JFK, a comparison of the Jewish and Christian religious beliefs and the history of the dinosaurs. Maybe it's because I'm a dork and I'm into history and science and stuff, but I thought this was a cool site. I wonder if I can get to other MIT files?

http://www.urbandictionary.com

This is a silly little sight that can actually be helpful on occasion-- especially to older folks, such as myself. These kids today... it's like they have their own language or something!

I couldn't see how many entries they had but it was a... a... a... lot! Oh wait-- there is is: 3,332,673 definitions submitted since 1999. The urban dictionary is available in a hardcopy as well as online and has definitions for words from A.N.S. to Zzang. They are user-submitted definitions but, for the most part, they aren't too ridonkulous considering all the attention whores out there. Besides, where else can a noob, cougar, geezer or soccer mom find definitions to words or phrases like: whale tail, shart, break your crayons, cock block, dutch oven and peeps? Not to mention: putting lipstick on a pig, Napoleon Dynamite, qwertyuiop, Vanessa Hudgens, xbx or flexitarian.

But then again-- Why would they want to?

BTW don't call me skeet skeet! Peace out.

Let's Roll! 1.02

Before we get into this week's links, let's take a moment to review a few trends recorded with last week's featured link, statcounter:

Top five keywords that resulted in visits to SkeetzTeez or SkeetzTeez Blog:

5. Maverick

4. Barracuda

3. Jonah's Brothers

2. That's what she said.

1. How to make a suck for a buck shirt.

Top five designs sold at SkeetzTeez: http://www.cafepress.com/skeetzteez

5. Cubs Fans Wear Jorts

4. Shermer High School Bulldogs

3. Big Sister '09

2. Big Brother '09

1. McCain/Palin

That McCain/Palin design– or should I say McMaverick/Sarahcuda design, only went up yesterday, and is already selling like crazy! Okay... back to the link roll:

http://www.blogger.com

I am, by no means, even close to a computer expert. As I have gotten into this internet T-shirt shop endevour, I have learned a lot but any success that I am having is the result of highly-advanced user-friendly web-based applications such as this.

Blogger.com is what allows me to publish this blog. It is a free service that makes it extremely simple to layout a page, control all of the settings and create and manage posts and comments. The set-up is as easy as registering and then selecting from a couple of dozen formats, adding fun gadgets, naming your blog and answering a series of simple questions to adjust your default settings. From there you just write– just like you would in an email or Word. There are similar tools to edit your type, spell check, and add pictures or movies. The program, then, converts everything to html (web code) so you don't have to (but allows you to if you want to mess with it).

I started blogging to promote the cafepress shop but it has, probably, been more fulfilling to just have a creative outlet to experiment with. I highly recommend that you give it a try! MLW started and, I think, is enjoying it also. If you decide to give it a shot, yourself, be sure to let me know so I can check it out!

https://www.twitter.com

I originally signed-up for Twitter as another way to promote the shop. I have seen a few hits from it but have, primarily, kept up with it because it is, kind of interesting.

I would describe Twitter as similar to Facebook or MySpace– a social networking site, that's based on the question, "What are you doing?" I pop onto the site a few times a day and enter something like, "Updating my SkeetzTeez cafepress shop with a new McCain/Palin design: http://www.cafepress.com/skeetzteez" in 140 characters or less. The entry is then posted with all of my other entries and anyone that is "following" me can see what I'm up to. I, in turn, can also "follow" others that may be into the same things as me or write about something I like.

I said it's like Facebook or MySpace, but it seems to be a little more mature. I don't think people spend hours a day surfing the profiles to find people to "follow" and the hammer them with emails and personal messages. Most users seem have an alternative motive– like selling something or trying to get the word out about their cause or candidate. I am following or have followers like the local news channels, people into fantasy football or selling on cafepress.

Did I mention that this one is free too? You can check it out at the link above or anywhere that you see "Follow Skeeeeeetz on Twitter" on my websites. If you join, make sure let me know so I can "follow" you.

Note: I don't know why, exactly, I put quotes around the word "follow"... I guess because it makes it sound a little bit like "stalking".

http://4q.cc/index.php?pid=fact&person=chuck

MLW recently purchased a couple of posters with random facts about Chuck Norris. I am not really a major fan of his, but I found the facts to be hilarious! There are tons– and I mean tons of sites out there with Chuck Norris fact generators but this one claims to be the original.

By the way, enter "find Chuck Norris" into Google and click "I feel lucky".

Have a good weekend. Peace.

Let's Roll! 1.01

I have another feature that I think we can do fairly regularly. Let's Roll! will feature links to websites that I have found. Some of them I have found to be helpful tools for my shop at: http://www.cafepress.com/skeetzteez, some I may find to be interesting or informative, and some I find to be very creative or just too darn cool to pass up and I have to add them to my ever growing bookmark page.

If you have favorite links that fit into one of these categories or that you just can't live without, I would love to hear about them!

Oh, and one more thing. I want to be, perfectly, upfront about this. In addition to being helpful, or interesting, or cool, some of these sites may be, somewhat, profitable too. I am not saying that I am going to get rich from you visiting the site but I may make a few cents if you click on a certain link or do a search for something using the search engine on a particular page. In addition, I may make a portion of the profit if you buy something from one of the sites that you access from my links. It is all pretty interesting stuff, now that I am starting to learn about it. I will try to write about it, further, in a future blog posting.

Editor's Note: I would be very interested in hearing any comments from readers of SkeetzTeez, so please don't hesitate to submit anything. All comments are reviewed, personally, by me before being posted for the public to read so if you do not want yours posted– just tell me so in the comment!

http://www.statcounter.com

Something happened last night that caused this blog to get more unique visitors in a few hours than in the whole previous month. I don't know what happened but, in a matter of four-minutes, there were readers from Illinois, Connecticut, Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas, Virginia, Canada, Hungary, Egypt, Columbia, Chile, Portugal, Ireland, Thailand and the Netherlands. I am also getting regular readers from St. Louis, Missouri, Olla, Louisiana, Redwood City, California and Marion, South Carolina. That is one of the coolest parts about having this blog– seeing where the people are reading from! 

Do not fear! I can't tell anything more about you than what city, state and country that your server is located and even if I could, I wouldn't know what to do with the information. If you have a blog or website of any kind, you can use the some product I do to track visitors. Go to: http://statcounter.com, register for free, download the code and paste it into your html code. You can then go back to the site to find out how many visitors you have and where they are from.

http://www.squidoo.com

This is one that is helpful, informative and cool, all rolled into a neat, little package. Let's see... how to explain this one. You register for free and then, immediately, start building your first lens (what they call a web page) using the provided modules featuring just about anything you can think of. The whole process is very user friendly and, dare I say, so simple that an adult can do it.

You will be amazed at the variety of subjects that lenses are created on. One of Squidoo's tag lines is "Everyone's an expert on something". I, for instance, started with a lens to promote my cafepress shop (http://www.squidoo.com/cafepress/skeetzteez) and now have a total of seven lenses on subjects ranging from "Giving it 110%" to "That's what she said" to "Jorts Fashion" and one Squidoo Group, the "Alliance of ShopKeepers on CafePress" (ASKCP) to cross-promote members' T-shirt shops.

Each lens has the potential to generate profits for the creator and, from what I am told, some people make a decent amount of jack from it (over 100 lenses owned gets you a title of Giant Squid). That would be nice but I am using it to increase exposure for http://www.cafepress.com/skeetzteez and I have seen quite a bit of traffic from it.

Please check out some of my lenses and then, if you would like to create your own go to: http://www.squidoo.com/lensmaster/referral/skeeeeeetz

http://www.humancalendar.com

This is entirely too weird to even begin to try to explain, but it is also too cool in a odd (almost scary) kind of way. You may have seen it before because, from what I understand, it is hugely popular, but for those who haven't... you've got to check it out. 

That's it for this week. I hope everyone has a happy and safe long holiday weekend. Why do they call it Labor Day if nobody works? I'll have to see how things go before I commit to writing on Monday or Tuesday. I will probably continue with my own blog policy: I'll write when I have something to say. Peace.

I have, absolutely, no idea, whatsoever, that picture of Ross Perot has to do with the rest of this column. I, simply, typed "Let's Roll" into Google Image Search and this is what came up. I thought it was funny and I figured that it was appropriate with all of the election stuff going on right now. Besides, that was a long time ago and most people have forgotten him or have no clue who the man is.