I was right.

Soon after I joined Triond I wrote my first masterpiece entitled "Treatise on Love."  I figured it would be an instant hit.  Unfortunately it didn't catch on right away, but I wasn't worried.  I just figured I would write something equally fascinating to get my career started.  A few days later I wrote an essay concerning the futures of single parents.  It received 4 views in the first day.  

THIS IS NOT WHAT I EXPECTED!

I'm about a week in to my new career and I have made about two cents, American.  At my old job I earned about 350 dollars weekly.  As you might guess this is putting considerable economic stress on my family, which consists of me, my dog Shasta, and my three goldfish, who are particularly disappointed at my recent failures.

Though I intend to continue my work on Triond I now know that I must find an alternate means to keep my family afloat.  I figure I should be a pretty high-profile find for any employer; I graduated Cum Laude from my high school and was a member of our FBLA for the last three months of my senior year.  

I had a friend who has been blogging for a year, she's a good and decent person and I take my cues from her. She's often witty and acerbic but still offers a touch of feminity and kindness that you often don't find in this mean old world of the internets; and from her I learned a lot.

If there's one thing I've learned is that blogging can be used for anything, and boy do I mean anything! From recipes to lol cats all the way down to just random thoughts being placed down where others can read. It's like a personal journal you want to share with the world. People in Rome talking about their city life, people in Cali talking about the latest gossip of Jennifer Aniston, that person in Texas talking about how to get stains out of a leather couch. You name it.

I find the whole thing fascinating yet intimidating. There's some big names out there in the blogging community and to stare at those names and wonder if you could ever be like them is a frightening thought. I guess the better question is, would I want to be like them? Is what do I have to say equally as important as their opinions? Could I possibly have something to say someone would want to read?

Yes, I think I do. I hope I do anyways.  Making waves is apparently a speciality of mine, or so my friends have said. I wouldn't really know as I consider myself a rather quiet person until you get my hackles up. Then the kid gloves come off and I come in swinging.

But I'm not here for that. I'm here to learn and explore and hopefully communicate with others like me. Others who find life fascinating and enriching. To reach out to a community with the hopes of learning something so that at the end of the day I can say "I learned something today" and share it with others who are like minded.

What advice can other bloggers offer? What little gems of wisdom could someone give to another person who's trying to put thoughts into words?

It's easy to type, it's a simple act of the brains impulses putting your ideas into words on a screen. But to get the true meaning down to where someone else can say "hey I get it!" is an entirely different thing.

Many are searching for an easy way of gaining money and here many are caught by the bait. People using the internet, will think that it is the best way to make money effortlessly from the comfort of their home. Now a day, there are many website programmers that make a good design to bait the people by a wonderful well created program that promises thousands of Dollars in a month. For example, few days ago I came across a very well made website, which promises online work of data entry from your home. Yeah I study it, and it had even a demo to see how it really works. After I read throughout and tried the demo, I decided to give it a try. I send the money and as it was written after 24 hours I received the e-mail to activate the work.

I was really happy, because as they say I begun to work from my room, as it was like the demo I tried. I made 3 days, 5 hours a day typing. There was something strange, the work was just to type an article in a format to write it in Microsoft office format without making any type of mistake, like full stops, comas, and more. While I was writing I noticed that the articles have many grammatical errors and missing full stops and comas. I thought that something is wrong. I checked about the website on other websites, I search discussions on forums and I search help from websites I am member of.

I found that the website was a well programmed scam. Yeah it works, you work for 2 months and at last you will never get paid. You will danger your health by making hours in front of a computer, much more the eyes for nothing, you will lose money, because you have to pay in advance for the company to send you the activation to begun to work and at last you feel that someone else got your money, you work for two whole months for nothing.

The moral is that whenever you try something that it is too good to be true, just do not stop on the website itself, but make more research on other websites and forums. Do not be fooled as I had been.

First and foremost, anyone with the number 69 in their user name isn't a keeper. If anything, its a guarantee that the person in question is a sex-crazed teenager looking for a new play thing, a middle aged man who thinks blatant sexual references are a sure fire way to attract women, or someone who just plain has a lot of growing up to do before they are ready for a serious relationship. Additionally, I'd like to point out that this comes along with a 60% chance that the person is overweight. You should also avoid names such as "Hawtblonde," "Sexygrrrl," and any name that references body parts.

The next thing to watch out for -and this is a big one- is people who use constant abbreviations instead of full words. I know it's all the rage amongst the younger crowd, but if you receive a message that says "ur pic is hawt u r a qt" you might want to start looking somewhere else for a mate. Adults use real words to communicate. If they can't communicate like an adult, they aren't ready for an adult relationship. There is one exception to this rule: brief messages coming from a cell phone are acceptable. Typing full words on one of those things can be infuriating, but I'm talking brief messages. You want to communicate with your cell phone? Dial the number and make the call, stop the texting foolishness and leave the abbreviations to the 14-year-old girls. God help them if they say an abbreviation out loud instead of speaking the full words. People who do that deserve to be smacked.

Once you meet that special someone and you start spending some time together, there is one last thing to keep an eye out for. If all you ever seem to talk about is sex, chances are they aren't looking for anything else from you. They may not be willing to admit it to themselves, but the chances of it turning into something more meaningful is slim, especially after you start having sex. It isn't impossible to salvage this sort of relationship, but it's going to take a lot of effort, so be sure they are worth it.

It can take a lot of effort to find someone worth pursuing a meaningful relationship with. It's important to remember that not everyone is looking for the same thing you are, and not everyone really knows what they are looking for. It's okay to meet up with Hawtblonde77 or bigJohnson69 from time to time for a good time, but it's important to remember that a good time is likely all they are looking fro from you. Heed my advice, and you might just find yourself a keeper.

Until next time, braaiiins...

Pretenders

First and foremost, you have to watch out for underage kids, married adults, foreigners looking for a free ticket into the country, dirty old men pretending to be young girls, and classmates or co-workers looking to have some fun at your expense. All of the above will be pretending to be something they aren't and will be looking to take advantage of you in some way or another. There's no real way to know if anyone is being truthful with you over the internet, especially if you don't know them from your day-to-day life. If they are too eager to please you, or vague about how they got your information in the first place, it's a good indicator that something is amiss.

A friend of mine once told me about his younger brother and his forty-year-old internet girlfriend. In this case, we have not one, but two people pretending to be something they aren't. One is a 15 year old boy claiming to be 18, and the other is a married woman with three sons (all of which are older than the boy in question), pretending to be single. As you can see, this was a disaster waiting to do some serious damage. Luckily, a few days before the boy was supposed to meet this woman in a hotel room, he bragged about it to his uncle, who then went to his parents and made sure it never happened. Instead, the uncle met the lady at the hotel room and explained to her that she was about to commit statutory rape because of her carelessness on the internet. This is how the details about her having a husband and kids came to light. Imagine the damage that could have been done if they had met and gone through with their little encounter.

Photos

Swapping pictures of each other always seems like a good means of being sure the person is who they say they are. Remember those horror stories I was telling you about? Many of them revolve around pictures being different than the genuine article. It's easy to fake this sort of thing. Fakes can range from real pictures of the person when they were younger or thinner, pictures of the person's friends or family instead of themselves, or even just pictures they found on the internet. Ask for more than just a single picture, preferably ones with friends or family involved. It's a lot easier to fake a single picture than a family photo album. Short of a live webcam, though, it's going to be hard to be 100% certain, and even that can be faked if they are willing to put forth the effort. Doesn't hurt to do a quick Google image search for words they might have used to find the picture by the same method either.

I knew a guy once who thought he had hooked up with this hot redhead. He would talk about how great she was at length and eventually they started engaging in cyber sex. Next thing he knows, his cyber sexploits are posted all over a former friends blog about how he duped him into falling in love with a fake girl. Had he bothered to do a quick image search for "hot redhead," he would have found the exact picture he had fallen in love with.

Obsession

If you find yourself in a relationship and things are going well, the next thing you need to start looking out for is drastic changes to your daily routines. If you find yourself sitting in front of your computer for hours on end, just waiting for your other half to sign into instant messaging or reply to  an e-mail, it's not a healthy thing to be doing. If your whole life turns into sitting in front of the computer, waiting for the next bit of interaction, no matter how small, you need to rethink what your life has become. If you're doing these things because the person on the other end demands it of you, then you definitely need to reevaluate the relationship.

A guy I met through an online college course fell into this trap, and it did some serious damage to his life. This guy was in his second semester of his first year of college, sitting pretty with a full-ride scholarship to a fancy state university. He met this girl in a chat room, a high school junior, and everything in his life changed.

Everyday when she got home from school, first thing she did was to sit down in front of her computer, do her homework, and chat with friends. This is where the problem started. The guy had a class that starts 5 minutes after she usually signs into instant messaging. It didn't take long for him to start blowing off the lecture except during tests, and soon he didn't even bother showing up for those. Before long, it spread to skipping his other evening class to spend more time online talking to her, and ignoring any homework or studying for his other classes. By the time the semester ended, she had broken up with him for some guy at her school, and he was looking at failing grades in all his courses. He lost his scholarship, and last I heard, has made a career of living in his mom's basement and flipping burgers, all because of some girl he barely knew.

In Conclusion

These are, in my opinion, the biggest dangers of internet dating. It can ruin lives if you're not careful. Like it or not, if you find yourself reading this and it sounds a little too familiar, you might want to take a closer look at how you're living your life. If you do you might be able to salvage something good before it's too late, or save yourself a lot of pain or humiliation down the road.

Until next time, braaiiins...

1. Get started the right way.

   Accurately describe your item. If it is new say so, if it is not also state that. An accurate description will ensure that the buyer knows what they are getting.

2. Have great keywords in your title.

   Look for an item just like yours in an eBay search. See what comes up. Using great keywords will get your item further up on the search listings. People can only purchase your item if they can find it.

3. Use pictures.

   Now that the gallery is free, there is no reason not to use pictures. A digital camera is all you need in order to take a really great photograph. This is what will tell your buyers about your product. Get this right and your item has a much better chance of selling.

4. Accurately list your shipping and handling charges.

   Buyers are turned off when listings are obviously padding their shipping. You are entitled to have the buyer pay for the actual shipping plus reasonable handling charges. Another option may be to have a buy it now option with free shipping. This marketing tool really works well.

5. Use an online payment service like PayPal.

   Many buyers do not want to bother with a check or money order. They want to make an online payment. PayPal is safe and you can start with a personal account and move up to a premier or business account at a later date. It is difficult to work from home on eBay without an online payment solution.

6. Promptly ship your items after you receive payment.

    A delay in shipping will result in unhappy buyers. This is very important. Make sure you list all shipping options. It is always a good idea to offer an expedited service as well as standard. Always ship your item with a form of delivery confirmation. Require insurance on fragile items.

7. Keep good communication with your buyer.

   Email them to let them know payment was received. Contact them to let them know their item has shipped. Send them a follow-up email to be sure they were happy with their purchase and ask them if you can put them on your email list.

8. Create an email listing of your customers, with their permission.

   Let them know when a similar item is for sale. For example if you sold a customer a Limoges box, let them know when you have similar items for sale. Developing a list of happy customers is a great way to get repeat business.

9. Stay informed.

   Use the eBay Forums and community links to stay on top of what is going on in the eBay community. You will know when specials are offered to buyers and when there are events. Workshops are a great way to learn more about eBay. The more you know the better you can run your business.

10. Know what is hot on eBay.

    Visit the What's Hot page daily. Make sure you know what is selling well in your category of items. Developing a niche market is important. You cannot cover every category. Choose an area of expertise. Write an FAQ or an informative article and post it to eBay. All of these tips will help keep you profitable.

Follow these 10 steps on how to work from home on eBay and your business will be off to a great start. It takes hard work to build any business. Building one on eBay can be rewarding and fun.

OKAY I know there are two guys on one guitar. That already rocks. One guy for bass and the better of the two picking out banjo like melodies. These guys really have their stuff together. The song that they chose to cover is Jerry's Breakdown written by Jerry Reed and together is spot on. Very nice.

Impossible guitar work, or at least sounds that way... Damn this guy can tap his fingers on that fret board like no other. His sound is very unique and along with that acoustic guitar makes a nice listen.

Andy is and will always be my favorite acoustic guitar player. He used something I never thought possible, a creative and awesome tap-style guitar along side his hand slaps for a drum beat. WOW! I dig how the song sounds like a rainy day but not dark almost like the sun is still shining.

Rick Renstrom is the best guitarist ever. The End.

To prove my point about the social networks, I actually made a fake profile. I created a fake email address, then found a stock photo of someone and used it as my picture. It's that easy. And it's that scary. Everything I posted on this fake profile is all a lie. No one asked for my age. I can be anything I want, and no one would question me. If I can do that, then who's to say there aren't people out there, grown people, pretending to be children; just waiting for the perfect moment to abduct an innocent child, or even worse.

I created this profile just to see if it could be done. It was so easy. Someone with excellent computer skills could do all sorts of horrible things, as I'm sure they already do.

It's important we talk to our children and let them know that if they have a profile on one of these social networks, that they only talk to people they know, and keep their profile private.

Even doing all of these things, it can still be dangerous. You never know what some sick people do to get to children. I know these social networking pages will never be outlawed, but they need some type regulation to keep children safe. The rules they have now are just not good enough.

What can I give Him,
Poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd
I would bring a lamb.
If I were a Wise Man
I would do my part,
Yet what can I give Him?
Give my heart.

(Christina Georgina Rossetti)

Low Prices on Custom-Made Gifts:

1. Post a description at Etsy of the item(s) you would like handmade, and crafters compete for your business.
2. Handmade rings, necklaces, soaps, candles or other accessories starting at just $10.00:
   • Craft Mall
   • Arts E-Fest.




3. Want an old fashioned hand crafted toy? Find stuffed toys, animals, trains, and board games at Craft Toys.




4. If you want to select hand crafted beaded jewelry for your gift giving try DJ Jewels. These earrings sell for just $5.00.
   
   

Christmas on a Budget

Is your Christmas gift list larger than your budget? With over 5,000 items offered, and some as low as 80 cents, this might be right up your alley: Red Tag Promos. They have a nifty way to show you what your logo would look like on an item, so you can decide whether to personalize or not. They also offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee.

Christmas Stationery/Cards

1. Order your Christmas cards on line at Vista Print. Greeting cards made of heavy stock paper come personalized with a message of your choice, and you can even add a photo. Prices start at just $3.99 for 10. They also offer a design and copywriting service
2. Find free Christmas stationery, games, downloads, craft ideas, screen savers, coloring pages, fonts, decorations, recipes and more at The Holiday Spot.

The Top 10 Places to Shop

1. According to the Love To Know editors the top ten places to shop is found here and they claim to ship for just $2.95.

Dessert

Now that you have sent out your Christmas mail, and cards, printed up pages for the children to color, and wrapped your presents, you deserve to enjoy something special.

And what would your celebration be without the Christmas goodies? All Recipes or Better Homes and Gardens site at Better Recipes.

Have a Merry Christmas!