Short blog post this week. I have so much to do! GoGameFace has consumed a lot of my time. Our new site will be launching in about a month, make sure to go check-out our current placeholder site! It looks great:
The author, me and friends will be out and about visiting cities to throw "GoGameFace" parties at local popular bars. As of now we will be visiting:
New York City
Bethlehem/Lehigh Valley
Philadelphia
Boston
Chicago
Pittsburgh
Cleveland
Cincinnati
San Diego
Orange County/Los Angeles
San Francisco
Other Possible Cities: Phoenix, Dallas, Detroit, Denver
So Excited! More information, including venues, to follow in later posts.
New writing application - not sure if I want to push my writing up on a website yet or not...I am still content with a word doc.
For fun and time-wasting (it most definitely wastes your time) here is the falling sand game: http://chir.ag/stuff/sand/
On a personal note (and really, it's MY blog so it's all pretty much a personal note): I fully intend to run a 5k before the move to Istanbul. Maybe October? I am currently regularly running 2 miles! Very exciting for me. Though it takes me about 24 minutes to run 2 miles, so hopefully I can try and get faster and eventually run 3.1 miles under 30 minutes.
GoGameFace! I have been an extremely busy girl as of late because of GoGameFace work. I am so excited about this project and it looks like we are getting some book tour/GameFace parties mapped out so I should have more info in the coming weeks. Facebook! As I have written in previous posts, I become easily distracted by Facebook. The most recent application that has me fascinated and gave me quite a bit of laughs is the "Flair Button" app. There is one button that I just love, "Strange women laying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government."
Also, I added the GoGameFace flair button!! Go add it to your profile. Um, seriously go now. :)
Instant Messenger Madness!! I am looking for a PC chat client (instant messenger) because I am so sick of AIM crashing on me or preventing me from IMing people. I will see someone online and think "I can't wait to tell them about that cool movie I just saw." I click on the person's name in an attempt to begin the chatting ritual and "DENIED." Literally it just refuses to open the window. I can look at their profile and invite them to a have a "proper" chat in a chat room but I can't just casually IM them. So Lame.
Elance! (www.elance.com) After reading the book that has pretty much changed my life for the better, (or at least so far it has) "4-Hour Work Week," I started looking into things that would create efficiencies in my life. One of them was Elance. If you ever needed research done on the cosmetics industry or need a temporary worker with strong writing experience this is the place to go. It is all about outsourcing and having personally used this site I have to say I love it. I had posted a project for $50 total to find out the cosmetics industry including big manufacturs, industry trends, online presence, ingredients, etc. I got back about 20 pages of very insightful research in approximately 5 days. I have added a little Elance button on my right rail if you want to check it out.
Here is an excellent and very funny (like laugh out loud type of funny) by the fabulous writer/author AJ Jacobs about outsourcing in Esquire/Smart Money section: http://ur.lc/33 Kawaiinot by Meghan Murphy Meghan is a great illustrator with killer wit to match. If you have an opportunity definitely go check out her sites. Her personal site is http://www.murphypop.com/
For more kawaiinot comics like the one posted below (so funny, right?) go to: http://www.kawaiinot.com As stated on her about/FAQ page, "Kawaii Not is a four panel webcomic, typically featuring cute versions of everyday objects doing and saying some crazy stuff. Hopefully it's funny. Or maybe you're just dead inside."
In closing - Dimitri "the stud" To finish up this post I leave you with something truly spectacular. I am not sure if this is real or fake, but it is absolutely funny and I have met some "interesting guys" before with Egos the size of Texas so I feel like this guy could be completely serious. It is posted on fellow blogger's, The Sherman Foundation's site. Hit play, sit back, and question humanity.http://ur.lc/2d Also my Dimitri confirmed it wasn't him. Whew. haha
Plans have changed, but only slightly. Instead of leaving at the end of August for Istanbul, I will instead be leaving at the end of October for a November TEFL course. I am going to be working in marketing/promotions for my Aunt's new business venture that includes a book tour in September. More information to follow in later postings and hopefully some of you will be able to attend one of the events!
In my search for some interesting applications to assist in promotions and event planning I ran across:
This seems to be a pretty good site for adding and finding events nearby even in international locations. I will be posting some dates and locations for the book tour route over the next couple of months.
Other applications that continue to hold my attention:
1.
There is fantastic art displayed here and also it's pretty easy to work with the drawing tools. Needless to say, I wasn't constructing anything even half as good as some of the displayed work, but fun and time consuming nonetheless.
2. As a friend stated when I mentioned this new application, "the names of these applications are getting to be more and more ridiculous." Though I kinda agree I still really like this new application quite a lot. Xoopit finds and shares pictures, videos and files buried in your inbox. I discovered some old JROTC pictures that I totally forgot about. The video I posted of the banned Skyy video was shared quite a bit via Xoopit.
3.
Facebook...totally sucks me in. I login and then it's, "oh, Stacey changed her profile pic." Next thing you know I am browsing through wedding pictures of some girl who lives in Texas that I have never met. I find myself thinking "nice flowers." Caption reads "Aren't they cute together?" and I find myself slowly shaking my head, "yes they are." Ridiculous.
4. Though not a social media tool, I have been using the URL compressor quite a bit this week...pretty handy. Take a look at these "before" and "after" celebrity TMZ images that held my attention for way too long via the "compressed URL:" http://ur.lc/2b
Bad news was received in the form of an email. The Lehigh professor helping me with the Fulbright decided, after looking over everything that I would have a difficult time being able to win the scholarship. My pursuit of a business degree and work experience in advertising didn't exactly hail me as the most likely of candidates, but I feel so passionate about working and "giving back" to the world right now I figured it would be enough. Apparently not. I will find another way or the European Union may just be ruled out for a while at least.
In other news - I have continued my soziety.com interactions. There are a limited number of Americans who speak English on the site so I usually am bombarded with people wanting to chat via Skype. Currently I am chatting with Miguel from Seville, Spain the most often. He works as a financial controller, is 36, likes long walks on the beach...just kidding.
I am starting to consistently talk/IM via Skype with the same people and my only fear is that I may run out of things to say. They want to hear the English words for familiarity and I can't just spit out random sentences because that's not really helpful. Yet, there is only so much of "how are you," "what is your favorite color," "it's Friday night in (European/Asian country insert here) so why are you on Skype learning English and not out having fun?"
I may be delaying my move to Turkey because of an opportunity (to be discussed later as it develops) that may take place during the month of September.
I am continuing to read my grammar books and need to crack open my "Younger Learners" book just in case little ones are in my teaching future. Also, I fully intend to practice my guitar more often than I have been. No more excuses. (I say this more to push myself than as an interesting sentence for the readers).
The Turkey soccer game is coming up soon for the Eurocup and I fully intend to watch! Hopefully some of you will as well.
Some funny items listed below:
One very funny comment I saw on the Facebook SpeedDate application that I had mentioned on Twitter and Plurk - Please read the the 4th comment: http://ur.lc/1r
I just found out about this fun site: http://www.soziety.com where you can practice a variety of different languages via Skype. I just registered and plan to try it out when I gain the courage to practice my Spanish. Go ahead and click on the logo and check it out!
After browsing around for a little bit I ended up chatting with someone from Argentina named Diego. He was really friendly and spoke English pretty well. i think he thought I was lying to him, but truly he did a pretty good job. There was just one point where I think he was displeased that I was asking too much about the "command form" of a verb. "No need to worry about stupid things like these" were his exact words. Yet, it was followed by "don't worry about making mistakes or anything, you are doing really well." So, the sting of being called-out for an obsession with verbs diminished and my pride has remained unscathed. We are chatting again tomorrow early evening and I am actually excited!
I found out about this great site via another super informative site that I must give credit to: Spainexpat.com.
Also, I am getting really into the need to up my karma points in Plurk. There is a regular "chat" type demeanor within this application that I am really quite fond of. Though some would say it is a twin of "Twitter," I feel like I use the two applications very differently. Twitter is much more about stalking and reading up on interesting news and random stories. Plurk seems to be about responses and philosophical queries. I heart them both!
Though my Fulbright essay revisions are complete and I feel good about that, I still feel pangs of guilt at any one time for not doing one of many other things. Practicing Spanish, practicing Turkish, practicing English grammar, organizing my mementos, reading up on teaching English, blog writing, ebaying, emailing, plurking, twittering, etc. There is always something I can be doing in preparation for my move and I am not very good about just relaxing and letting go.
Also, with the influx of emails from prospective companies (that normally I would be super interested in) emailing me, I have a constant state of "is changing my current career path the best choice?" I absolutely think it is only because I think I will come back stronger and better than I was before. I feel really good about the impending move and know that though it will be a challenge and very tiring and frustrating at times, that it will forever change me in the best of ways.
26 years old. Previously worked in eMarketing and interactive advertising. Exploring new career path as a teacher of EFL in Europe.
Moving to Istanbul, Turkey at the end of August.
I am sarcastic. I love my cat, Isabelle.
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