laurenspuhler.com

I love Twitter. And though it’s down more often than it’s up lately, I still love it.

Recently, I’ve really been enjoying the connections I’ve made via Twitter to my home in South Jersey/Philly.

My two favs are the Philadelphia Inquirer feed, and another by book author Jen Miller, a Jersey girl who covers the heck out of South Jersey (my old stomping grounds). Both give me a good mix of local news and local goings-on, in Twitter-style brevity.

And both make me envious, yet exceedingly proud of where I come from. It’s amazing how often I need to defend my homestate and town. I’ve lived in five cities since I moved away from Jersey, and Knoxville, Tenn. is where I’m most on the defensive. Oftentimes, I’m talking to people who’ve never even been to New Jersey. Sigh.

While I love my new home in Knoxville and the fabulous things it offers (free, live music, top-notch concerts, fantastic friends/co-workers/family), it’ll never replace New Jersey’s spot in my heart.

Today, I watched one part of a new video-blog, in which Miller travels the South Jersey shore. I loved it, because it makes South Jersey look exciting and beautiful. She also visits The Pier in Atlantic City, the most upscale shopping destination in that part of the state and my favorite new place to visit when I head home.

She’ll be travelling South in upcoming episodes and will eventually reach my hometown of Wildwood. I’m a little nervous to see that one, since I get the vibe she’s not a fan. Wildwood definitely has it’s tacky, tourist-trap parts. But I can’t wait to see if she plays that up, or if she looks at it’s best feature: HUGE, free, clean beaches.

Either way, all I can think about now is my trip down the Jersey shore later this month. Thanks, Twitter!

And the someecard that inspired the cake’s message:

Everyone who knows me, knows I’m addicted to someecards.com. It’s my personal black hole. I go there and have no idea where the times goes. And I’m sure I annoy everyone when I go on my card-sending sprees.

Someecards is nominated in the humor category for a 2008 Webby Award. As I eagerly scrolled to that section to cast my vote, I was shocked to see it was up against I Can Haz Cheezburger.

Obviously, I should have expected as much. But this could create an interesting dynamic in our online department at work.

I Can Haz Cheezburger is my co-worker, Jigsha’s, addiction and I don’t know which will win. The furry cats have a leg-up with the cuteness factor, but I would argue almost everyone can relate to someecards. It has an uncanny way of tapping into exactly how people think and feel, especially when they “care enough to hit send.” I think my boss is on my side, though.

Just last night someone who shares my addiction wrote me:

If you know a better Web site than someecards, let me know, because if I were stuck on a deserted island and could choose only one Web site, right now I’m picking someecards (with the New York Times coming in a close second).

Anyhow, these two sites aren’t without competition. The three other nominees are:

I just got in an invite to tagged.com.

It was from a friend I don’t hear from often, so I figured I check it out. I’m always down for more time-wasting, social networking sites after all.

I would have clicked “sign me up” until I read the “About Us” section:

Tagged provides a fun, safe, and exciting environment for people to showcase their personalities and talents, and to connect with friends and meet new ones.

Fair enough, but then the kicker:

Tagged is experiencing dramatic growth Advertisers love Tagged because they get clear, uncomplicated access to our audience. Our team is dedicated to making every advertiser successful and can develop and support any type of ad campaign.

I don’t know about you, but I hate giving advertisers “clear, uncomplicated access” to me. I get enough SPAM and junk mail as it is.

And here’s the Wikipedia criticism:

There have been several critical articles[3][4][5][6] written about tagged.com’s policy toward their users’ email address books. These policies have been described at best as spamming, and at worst as phishing attacks.

Eeek!

Today I assigned the first blog assignment to my students in JEM222.

They’ll be pretty green with it, as only a few have their own blogs. I encourage you all to check out the blog and share some comments with them. They’re a quick bunch, so I’m looking forward to some good commentary and thoughts about the multimedia industry.

We’re busy, busy, dreadfully busy
You’ve no idea what we have to do.
Busy, busy, shockingly busy
Much, much too busy for you.

-Veggie Tales

I’m sure I wouldn’t be too busy for you, but 2008 has already been a hectic year. Some things I anticipated going in and others happened unexpectedly. On a side note, my friend has a 5-year-old, hence the inspirational song lyrics.

I’ve gotten behind again on updating my blog, so for starters, how about a candidate video? Or 34? Or 50? The number keeps growing and I lose track.

And here’s a white chicken chili recipe I’ve definitely got to try next time I attempt the dish. My flaming version from several weeks ago still has my throat fearing of my combo of chili powder and cumin.

And since I love chocolate and coffee, I took on Coffee and Chocolate, a new shop in downtown K-town.