Happy Friday: Unseasonably Warm Temperatures Scare Me A Bit!

I don't know where you live, but in St. Louis right now? It's crazy outside. Today it's supposed to get up to 65 degrees! In January! In the Midwest! While I'm glad that (sadly) stray animals and (sadly) homeless people will have a nicely mild day outside, whenever it's this warm in what should be deep winter I start to think about tornadoes. We had so freakin' many of those last year, that I'd really like for that to not happen again.

I'm borrowing trouble by thinking about this, aren't I?

OK, then! On to some cool webby things for your weekend...

1) If you're looking to CONNECT more in the new year like me, Lifehacker might be able to help.

2) Entertainment Weekly rates SNL's best and worst sketches from 2011.

3) Wanna hear some new rock music that'll likely be completely ignored by traditional radio? Try Third Rock Radio.

4) There's nothing like a cute dog who appreciates a good tune.

5) Visit this fascinating peek at the lists of famous folk from decades past. Marilyn Monroe's is especially telling.

Ahhh...Now, get out and do some stuff! Have a great weekend, lovelies!

Happy Friday: Birthday Time!

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Well, looky there. My birthday is this weekend. Honestly, it's freaking me out a bit. Not to become a middle-aged stereotype, but the fact that I'm now close enough to 40 to give it a good smack on the ass, it is making me nervous.

In other news, did you know that none of you fabulous people took me up on the contest offer from last week? I know you can use some free art, right? Here are some things you can do with my photo if you win: give it as a gift, put it on your wall, use it to decoupage, have it turned into an awesome coffee mug/mouse pad/tee shirt, masturbate to it...wait, what? Who typed that? Wasn't me! I swear!

Anyway, be sure to enter by next Friday at 5 p.m. CST. Now, let's do some looking around the internet!

1) I love Louis C.K.

2) All you avid e-book readers should try Litfy for access to a lot of freebies.

3) I admit it: I am not a car girl. I just want something reasonably priced and reliable. But, if you are a car chick, look into VroomGirls.

4) Lit heads, design fans and foodies alike can get into this.

5) If you already like GiltGroup you'll likely enjoy their new fine dining site.

That's all for today. Get thee to something fun this weekend!

Happy Friday! New Things & The Contest*

Welly, well, well! Looks like it's Friday again, my friends. I've been working hard on Citygirl today to update some things. If you look right under the masthead you'll notice some nifty new pages that I'd love for you to check out. They'll tell you more about me and the writing projects I've completed. Plus! If you'd like to take advantage of my writing services there will be another page available shortly that'll spell all the options out for you. Yay!

Now, the contest! A few days ago I noticed something cool had happened with Citygirl; I've hit 30 followers! As a thank you for reading and supporting my work here, I'm having a little contest.

The first five people who email me at rockette74@yahoo.com with the subject line "Contest! Woo! Yay!" by 2 p.m. CST on Monday will be emailed a photo from my extensive library of the shots I've taken over the years. Just let me know what category of pic you want (Animals, Cats, Nature, People, or Inanimate Objects) in the email.

All photos will carry a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs license, which means you can do whatever you want with the photo as long as you don't alter it or make money off of it and give me credit for the image. You can check out my photo blog, A Girl And Her Camera or many of my previous posts here to see more of my photos.

Phew! Now, lovelies, on to some interesting things around the web!

1) Job seekers are getting creative.

2) Ever thought about starting a small business? These websites might help.

3) If you want to see a movie this weekend, you might not want to bet on Adam Sandler's Jack and Jill. It's getting zero love, friends.

4) Someone got inappropriately creative with a wedding dress.

5) Kate Moss has a modeling little sister. Unfortunately, "little" means only 13 freakin' years old.

6) Kim K. Just. Can't win. And I don't care.

7) Sometimes, Americans are stupid.

*Wouldn't New Things & The Contest be a cool band name? Just sayin'.

Happy Friday: Basically...

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Apparently, when you begin going gray, any and all hairs on your body are up for grabs. After getting side-swiped with a silvery eyebrow hair earlier this year, I now have another pale demon to contend with:

A GRAY MUSTACHE HAIR!

I swear to FUCK, you guys! It's bad enough that I have to deal with upper-lip facial fuzz, but now that shit is turning white on me? Insane in my membrane!!

Oh well, here I go, fighting nature again. Let's get to some linkage!

1) If you like Mindy Kaling (and if you like The Office, then you do) you might enjoy hearing about her new book and website.

2) Oprah's teaching the world again. This time she's using case studies from her old episodes to try to help folks live better day-to-day. I signed up months ago and then totally forgot about it, I'll get to it eventually!

3) Need more help making your life better? Try these other online resources.

4) Anyone interested in glam shots of African-American icons of the past should head here and learn some stuff.

That's all for now, friends! Enjoy your weekend!

Happy Friday: Round Up & New Stuff

Well, Happy Friday once again, friends! It's always a bit crazy how fast the weeks go by, isn't it? We are in full-on fall, and with the temps this week, it's clear winter is just around the corner.

I've been updating Citygirl, as promised. My About Me A Lot page (up top) has totally changed and I'll likely give it a new title as soon as I think of one. I've also added some of those ever popular social media buttons and a cool version of my resume under my profile on the right side. Before long I'll also be adding pages for links to my writing projects and the services I offer as a writer. So, Yea! EXPANSION!

On to some Friday fun links:

1) Apparently, folks are getting hot about the Dr. Pepper TEN ad campaign. I don't know why, I thought it was silly and funny. What do you think?

2) People are also pissy about this British singer, since she admitted that her image was manufactured by managers and the like. I think a lot of musicians have images that aren't completely in-line with who they really are. So, what do you think is bothering people, that she allowed the manufacturing or that she admitted it? More importantly, if you like the song, should it matter?

3) Steven Seagal just managed to get weirder.

4) Want to get your internet bookmarks anywhere? Try Instapaper.

5) Do you have a back-log of online videos you need to watch? With Radbox you can see those anywhere, too.

6) The TSA hates Afros! Honestly, would you hide something you didn't want found in such a conspicuous place?

Off with you, my lovelies! Enjoy a blessed weekend!

Happy Friday: Weekend Links

Happy Friday, everyone! The weekend has gotten off to a bit of a sad start for fans of '80s/early '90s R&B. Singer Vesta Williams was found dead last night in her hotel. I realize most of you had likely never heard of her; she never 'crossed over' to the pop charts, but was well known to lovers of soul and R&B. If you take a look at the videos, you'll see why.





What's sad for me is that, even though I liked her back then, I'd completely forgotten about Vesta until I heard the news today. She had been so completely out of the spotlight for the past 18 or so years, that her music got tucked away among all my other childhood memories and buried. I suppose it bothers me because it's so sad that she's gone so soon. Well, now.

Need some Friday cheering up on a gray day? Look no further:

* Want to create online music play lists and share music with friends? Spotify has you covered.

* Want some good advice and inspiration? Here you go.

* Another spot for cute photos and tips.

* I want all of her art on my walls right now.

* A little bit of fashion.

* A lot more fashion for the curvier lady or anyone who needs some color in their fashion editorials.

Enjoy a blissful weekend, lovelies!

Happy Friday: Web Wanderings & Panic Attacks

Happy Friday, all my peeps! I hope you're ready for a perfect weekend, because, why would your weekend not be perfect, am I right?

I had a bit of a wrench thrown into my perfectly planned day this morning. I had just finished brushing my teeth when someone called from a company I had applied for a job at last Friday. I know, this doesn't sound bad at all, right? Except for the fact that I have a tendency to over-think this job/money stuff.

After we got done with about a half hour of phone interviewing and I called PT to tell her what happened, I called HUBS. And as I spoke to him, I started to panic.

This hasn't happened since early this year, but now that I've looked it up on the trusty ol' Web MD, I can say for sure that I've been having actual panic attacks. Not just panicking or freaking out, but having actually medically defined PANIC. ATTACKS.


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I know what you're thinking, why would the first step of a job offer make me panic? Well, the job would be full time and require some Saturdays, meaning it would eat up all the possible times for me to interview my chefs and bartenders, meaning if I got it I'd have to stop writing.

And if I stopped getting paid for writing in order to take a "stable" job with a reliable paycheck that I'd undoubtedly dislike, I would completely negate the decision I made to leave my previous job to do more creative, enjoyable work. You know, just for the money. Which HUBS and I desperately need.

All these attacks start the same: a get a bit nervous, then fearful, and then I begin to pace and talk fast and my heart races as I become angry at getting scared and worrying before anything has even happened; I start to have trouble catching my breath and I sweat and talk even faster and start to cry and...You get the idea.

The only thing that calmed me down today was HUBS saying that he'd rather stay poor than have me take another full time gig I'd hate that would remove most possibility of me being able to get paid to write (in the capacity that I write now, anyway). Well, that and recalling the fact that TUX threw up on the living room wall as I was doing my phone interview. HUBS laughed and it was all good again. Thank God for HUBS, y'all.

Of course, none of that panic does anything. Especially considering that within an hour and a half of the interview I got an email saying other people were more qualified for the job, so phew! On the upside, all that pacing (about an hour's worth) gave me a good start on today's cardio. Score!

Aaaaaanyway...On to brighter things. This fascinating place we call the internet has recently offered up some new and interesting corners to explore and I feel the need to share with my lovelies. Do you ever feel like the web is overwhelming? I do. I sit down with a set idea of what I want to read/do online. But, suddenly I've got 18 tabs open that are filled with things I have to read even though I didn't know they existed just moments before.



Oh well! On to linkage and happy weekends!

*Free, downloadable music mixes!

*If you were a reader of Sassy magazine as a teen or Jane as a young adult, you'll probably did this.

*Meet Madeline, she just moved to a part of the country where she doesn't know anyone.

*Make your ideas happen!

*Handy guides to help us navigate the good stuff online and apply tech tips to our lives.

*This movie was amazing and I'll be getting the soundtrack as soon as someone sells it on half.com.

*All the cool business, tech, social media and design news/tips you could want in one place.

*25 FREE calling cards until 9/23!

That's all from me for now, but tell me: Does the internet ever overwhelm you?

Happy Friday! Meteors And Such

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Ah...Doesn't Friday feel nice? Especially when it's only 77 degrees and we get a little rain to take care of the cracked, broken ground.

My weekend is going to be filled with freelance work, seeing as how I got a new gig for the website I write with most often. And, I was even able to get some additional funding for the new story I'm working on. Yee!

I also think a trip to someplace outskirty to see more of the Perseid Meteor Shower would be fun. I told you yesterday about how I caught it by accident a couple of night's ago and now I want more, baby! I like the idea of taking a nap then waking up a couple hours before dawn to give a sky show a good shot. Here are some meteor watching tips if you're into sky watching.

Are there any sky nerds out there like me? As a kid I was sure I was going to work for NASA, until I realized how much math I'd need to know. My folks got me a telescope as a kid (which I still have, but admittedly haven't gotten out in years) and I've fostered a real love for NOVA Science Now and the occasional book about physics and astronauts.

Also blowing my star watching mind right now? Google Sky Map. You can even put an app on your phone, which I did and found Jupiter in the sky two nights ago!

So, get out there and do some meteor watching this weekend. Dream of the infinity of space, my friends. Enjoy!