Ok so I’ve fallen behind a bit on my Doctor Who episode reviews, I think the last one I did was when Martha was still with the Doctor. But hey, it’s the finale, I need to vent my ‘omg-no-Doctor-til-Christmas” feelings.
I can’t believe that I’m counting down the hours until Doctor Who. 
I’m such a diehard fan girl, I really am. Last week’s episode had me in tears and complete ‘OMG!!! for about 3 hours after it finished.
Of course, the first thing that I did was hit all the DW communities that I’m part of to discuss the episode and all the possibilities and theories surrounding the episode which just got me even more hyper.
In case you’ve not seen it, I won’t go into details but all I can say is that the hand will save the day. Whovians will know what I’m talking about! Trust me, it’s all about the hand.
I downloaded loads of Doctor Who music remixes and fansongs the other day to tide me over to tonight’s episode but when I tried transferring them onto my iPod I realised that I need more laptop memory, because my poor wee Acer kept konking out on me. I’ve got a funny feeling that it’s just Vista being it’s usual crap self, if I put more than 50 songs into iTunes at once it’d crash on me. Uh, hello? I have around 100,000 files to put in iTunes. That’s going to take me while dude. But more memory can never be a bad thing. The computer I’m on just now (the boyfriends - he’s passed out on the bed, fully clothed after yet an other rather drunken night) has 4GB of memory and I’m running a zillion and one things and it’s fine. Saying that, this is running XP too. Don’t care what anyone says, XP Pro is a thousand times better than Vista will ever be.
So, only 8 hours til Doctor Who Series 4 finale, and I can’t wait. I’m going to read my new Who book that I bought last weekend til it’s on. And then cry a lot I think.
A few hours ago I opened up my GoogleReader and began reading through the 100+ feeds that I’ve managed to neglect over the course of the past 4 days. I was quite content reading away until I came across an entry from Nettuts.com about creating a layout. I loved the end result of the tutorial and ended up creating my own theme from the tutorial. It’s very similar to the tutorial, but at the same time, it’s not really. Uh, whatever. I love it and it’s staying for the long run (i.e. about 2 weeks).
I’ve got a couple of things still to add, my Reading Library to chane back to running off a plugin rather than a script from another site, and I’m not too sure about the text at the top…too much like a menu, maybe? I don’t know. I’ll see if it grows on me by the morning.
It’s a miracle that I’m still awake, I woke up pretty early this morning because the sun was blaring through my curtains. I’m impressed that the sun was shining on a Bank Holiday to be honest, such a shame that I had to go to work though - I spent half the night staring out the front door wishing I was sitting in a park, eating a picnic and listening to music with my mates! And after the chaos trying to get to work I really wasn’t in the mood to be working at all. I’m off til 4pm on Wednesday and I plan to fill those hours with as much as possible rather than my usual of sitting watching TV or reading a book.
I want to do all my laundry and take old clothes to a charity shop since I’ve got clothes everywhere which I hardly ever wear. And I really need to plant all the bulbs that I bought a few weeks ago in the front garden so that when summer finally arrives the garden will be nice and colourful rather than just grass and a few roses. I like having something pretty to look at when I’m sitting outside reading.
Other than that, I don’t know how I’m going to fill the next two days - I have no spare cash so anything that I can do must be free. If it’s nice again tomorrow I’ll probably take the dog down to the local country park for a while, I’m sure she’ll enjoy it and I could do with the fresh air.
I have had the busiest two weeks, ever. All I seem to have done is sleep for 6 hours, go to work for nearly 10, come home and watch some TV or bake a cake (more on this later) and then fall asleep again. Ugh!
I think that work has been so crazy because we’ve had visits coming up and for some reason all three of us (manager, other supervisor and me) have been in working moods - hey, anything to make sure sales are up and we get a bonus! - which doesn’t happen very often. Don’t get me wrong, we do everything that we’re meant to but usually one of us is hyper or something and starts suggesting hauling everything off shelves and washing them. Gosh, that makes the shop sound dirty and it’s not!
Typical, I’m off work for the weekend and I’m blogging about it. Must stop that.
Anyway, I have discovered that I can bake. From scratch. Using flour and eggs and butter. Seriously. I am so impressed with this considering I can burn pasta. 
Over the past few weeks I’ve make cupcakes, tray bakes and cakes. I’m especially good at making coffee cake. Two slabs of coffee flavoured sponge cake, one with sultanas through it and held together with cinnamon icing. If I could remember the recipe I’d post it, but I sort of just make it up as I go along!
So since I’m oh-so-good at baking I’m making the boyfriend a cake for his birthday which is next month. Anyone with any great recipes or ideas please let me know.
I know that a lot of bloggers who use PayPerPost get slated. I’ve seen it referred to as ‘just like adverts on TV that I flick past’. The person was explaining why they do not read blogs which have sponsored posts; which is fair enough - each to their own. I for one actually quite enjoy reading sponsored posts as they show how great (usually) the blog writer’s imagination is. It’s a skill being able to write a review of a product / service and incorporate it into your blog, personal experience, writing style and making it keyword heavy all at the one time. It’s a challenge sometimes, but that’s why you’re getting paid for it!
As avid readers of my blog (go on, you know you all love me) you’ll probably have worked out that I use PayPerPost from time to time. I made a pact with myself when I signed up for the site way back in July 2007 that I would only take opportunities that were actually relevant to me personally or my blog. I have no interest in garage storage
cupboards or homeowner insurance, so why on earth would I want to blog about them and bore you all senseless with my opinion on something I’ve never used or had an experience with? Unfortunately not all Posties1 do this, and all you get is page after page of sponsored posts about online gambling, poker websites and weight loss miracles2. To date I’ve been paid for just 12 posts, and made a grand total of 80GBP. Nothing life changing but that money has been put towards paying my credit card debt which is getting smaller and smaller by the month. Thus helping reinstating my credit rating, making me a happy girl again. Today I’m amused to see myself on the day’s top earner list. 3rd as well. And only from posting one post, sweet.
Anyway, I digress. And I’m starting to think that this post sounds like a sponsored post. I can assure you that it isn’t, I’m not getting a single penny for biggin’ up PPP, as I’ve already done that and been paid for it.
What I am worried about is that these random, not-so-frequent paid posts are discouraging readership. Don’t get me wrong, my life doesn’t revolve around how many comments I receive or my Alexa rating but I don’t like the thought of pouring so much time and effort into my site, as I have done since 1998, only to be shooting myself in the foot and loosing out on readers (and more to the point, new friends and blogs to read etc) just because I make a few bucks writing about things that people don’t want to read about.
So my question is to you, dear reader, is this. What do you honestly think of PayPerPost blogs. Not just mine, although do feel free to make your feelings known, but any blog that sides on the money making side. Do you have a tolerance level? Do you just skip the posts you don’t want to read or do you delete the blog from your RSS reader the moment a “This posts was sponsored by…” tagline pops up? Or do you not really care and read every post anyway?
I’m actually really interested in knowing what you think, good or bad. Everybody has their opinions so please share yours.
EDIT:This post has had over 200 views and only one comment, so I’ve added a poll for quick opinion posting. I like opinions, please pick one!
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1 Posties are the affectionate name for bloggers who use PayPerPost.
2Weight loss miracles do not exist. All you need is portion control and some exercise and commitment!
January 17th was mine and the boy’s five year anniversary together. Half a decade, nearly a quarter of my life. Great and scary all at the same time. It was spent with me having to stay late at work due to being the only person who could use the CCTV and the police needed a copy of a accident in the car park. By the time I got to the boy’s house he was crashed out in bed and I couldn’t wake him up! I spent the night online while he slept… oh how romantic are we?
Friday was spent with an argument about..uh, can’t remember. But my god we hurled some abuse and nastiness at each other - I even slapped him. Oops! Friday night we headed to our mates house and had an absolute blast and then came home and made up for Thursday night. And Saturday? More arguing. This time over a toy Brain Freeze / Slush Puppy machine that he had bought when he headed out to the shops. Fighting over the instructions, how much ice to use, what to put in it…after all the shouting the ice had melted anyway and it didn’t even work. Well seeing I have PMT.
Now it’s early Sunday morning and I’m sitting online, occasionally going back to playing Tony Hawks Downhill Jam on the Wii. I’ve been playing it on and off all day and I’ve nearly completed it with one character.
And all I really want is a cuddle.
Lack of access to a computer, never mind the internet, is taking it’s toll on my blogging. It’s not, however, taking it’s toll on my writing - I’ve discovered writing in a diary again after about 3 years of publishing my thoughts only online. When I first started blogging I kept up a hand written diary, a warts-and-all LiveJournal and a less personal blog. I must have had so much time on my hands then!
My laptop, which I thought I had finally fixed, is well and truly dead. There’s nothing. Nada. Won’t switch on, won’t charge up. I think I might just take my hard drive out of it and sell it on eBay for spares/repairs. It’s a shame, such a great laptop! I miss my little Inspiron.
Won’t be getting a new one for Christmas though - I’m getting a kick ass digital camera from the boyfriend though. I can’t wait, I love taking pictures but my camera got dropped a few weeks ago and now it’s really blurry and taking yukky pictures. I’m hoping to get a Flickr Pro account in the New Year too, and start taking at least one picture every day. I want to be able to look back in five or ten years and say ‘Oh, that night was awesome…Nintendo Wii’s are sooooo old skool’ or something! And laugh at dodgy haircuts!
Can’t believe that it’s Christmas so soon, thankfully I’ve finished my shopping though - I’ve spent nearly £600 on presents mind you! Well worth it, everyone will adore their presents since I put a hell of a lot of thought into them. That’s me penniless til the next pay day mind you - in January!! Hopefully I can convince one of my mates to have a house party so I don’t have to borrow money to go out. And then I get to watch the Hogmanay edition of Still Game.
This is strange, I’m in the boyfriend’s house and I’m the only one here. His mum and sister are away to London and he’s at work. I stayed last night since I’m off work today and decided to stay all day until he gets home.
I’ve been busy mind you. Washed our bedsheets, washed half his clothes that were lying about the floor. Thrown out 2 bin bags of sheer rubbish from his room (why he has 10 empty 2litre bottles under his desk I’ll never know) and washed, dried and put away all the dishes that were in his room. Seriously, we are pigs sometimes. Last night we drank Tia Maria (me) and Vat 69 (him), ate mint choc chip icecream and re-watched series 4 of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. I woke up a few hours ago to empty glasses, a tub of ice cream that had turned into water and an overturned ashtray and the TV blaring ‘Who Are You’ by the Who since we obviously forgot to switch it off. Hah, ohwell. The room’s tidy now.
Work’s been crazy, my manageress (also a good friend) has moved to an other shop and I’m gutted. The new manager is nice, I know him already, but doesn’t start for 3 weeks. Which means the shop comes down to the other supervisor and I. Great things to look forward to… stock takes, store visits, lack of staff. Joy.
I have great plans for this site. Just watch.
Everybody loves a good gossip, wither it’s about the next door neighbours nightly visits from a strange young man (ie.. my happy-married-mother-of-5-neighbour!!!) or the latest scandal about Britney’s custody battle. It’s human nature, really. Hell I know that I’ve spread gossip on my blogs before…mostly about celebrities and their scandalous lives mind you, not about my neighbours. Don’t think that’d go down to well if they ever found my website. When I come to think about it, every single magazine that I read is full of celebrity gossip.
That’s why I can’t wait to see the new TV show from the creator of The OC, Gossip Girl on The CW. It premieres tonight in the USA so I’ll probably need to wait for ever to see it over here in Scotland. Still it looks awesome, it’s based on the books by the same name and is about extra privileged teenagers who live in Manhatten’s Upper East Side. They find out that the local party girl is back in town via the blog of an unknown, going by the name of ‘Gossip Girl’. She relays all the town’s gossip via her blog, where every body logs onto to find out who’s fallen out with who and who’s asking who out!!
Sounds like an awesome idea for a blog, it’d be cool to find one based on my town…as long as I was never mentioned!