WOOHOO! My blog got an award...

WOW! I got a blog award. it came from one of my fellow bloggers Jewels at Jewels turning 30

Here's what she wrote about it

"This is a blog award for the blog you run to read... the topics of the blog do not need to be "sweet" you just have to be hopelessly addicted to the blog you are awarding it to.   The rules are that you pass it on to 6 other bloggers and then confess 5 of your guilty pleasures. "


So I am extremely honored and more then up for the task of paying it forward. Tho I did find out it's only 3 bloggers instead of 6. I also have many guilty pleasures and have no problem sharing 5 of them with you. Look for that post with the award recipients and the guilty pleasures. I will be posting it later on today. 


For now tho - many Thanks to Jewels, who rocks! Please check out her blog. Jewels Turning 30 She's a fabulous girl who is from this area, loves sports (yay) and writes some damn funny and good blogs. She even drinks occasionally at my favorite bar! I found her blog during a google search while researching the book. She has some of my quotes up on her page...and the rest is history. 


So seriously cool to get this! 

The joys and truths of being an adult...

I got this today from my cousin Barb so I can't take credit for writing it.(tho I added all the pics) It's friggin hysterical tho and I haven't seen it all put together like this before. And I agree with every single one of them. If I may add to number 1 tho - every best friend should be a "shovel buddy" in case you die. They should clear out your computer but also should know where all your 'toys' and porn are so they can clear out the drawers and cabinets, BEFORE your family gets there. Oh you laugh now... but you're thinking about it. I have one... Her name is Tami. And if we should happen to be together when we enter those "spirits in the sky" I have a back up too. One of my ex boyfriends who shall remain nameless. But he knows his job. LOL!! I hope you enjoy these as much as I did! ~S

** Adult Truths ***

1. I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history of all porn, if you die.

2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.

3. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

4. There is great need for a sarcasm font.

5. How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

6. Was learning cursive really necessary?

7. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on # 5. I'm pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

8. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died..

9. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

10. Bad decisions make good stories..

11. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.

12. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don't want to have to restart my collection...again.

13. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page technical report that I swear I did not make any changes to..

14. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

15. I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

16. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lite than Kay.

17. I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Crack Houses" routing option.

18. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

19. How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear or understand a word they said?

20. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars team up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers and sisters!

21. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.

22. Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

23. Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey - but I'd bet everyone can find and push the snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time, every time.

24. The first testicular guard, the "Cup," was used in Hockey in 1874 and the first helmet was used in 1974. That means it only took 100 years for men to realize that their brain is also important.

Thanks barb!!!

Just the Stats ma'am... A peek under the covers

I have been writing this blog now for almost 8 months. I still consider myself a newbie. Especially when I look at some of my fellow bloggers designs. I don't yet know how to properly monetize things,add on certain gadgets that would look fun or even really advertise it (not counting on facebook). All things I need to learn, almost like you learn a business, fromt he ground up. I have wanted to make my blog more of a money making business, but I am afraid it would then affect my writing. A usual push/pull that comes along with being a Libra. or maybe with just being me.


But that's not the subject of today. todays subject is my blog stats. One of the things I like about writing on Google / Blogger is the stats page. You can find out about a lot of different statistics on the blog, individual posts, who's reading it and where they are from. Now before you get nervous...NO i do not know specifically who reads my blog. I can't say oh yeah i see that so&so read it at 8:14 this morning. I simply get areas of the world and page hits.


Being a numbers person, who worked in statistics and formulas and number crunching in a few of my jobs over the years, I find this stuff fasinating. So just for fun and interest, here are a few crazy and not so crazy statistics about my blog...


~In the 8 months I have been writing, this blog has had 2,638 page views. Averaging it out thats 330 a month. Not too impressive. BUT in December alone it had 687 views.
~My most viewed blog post w/ 118 views was " And A Merry Cliffmas it is" http://thisismedamnit.blogspot.com/2010/12/and-merry-cliffmas-it-is.html ...my philly sports fan love fest when we drafted Cliff Lee to the phillies
~2nd most viewed blog post? "Copyrights and lawyers and trademarks, Oh My!" http://thisismedamnit.blogspot.com/2010/12/copyrights-and-trademarks-and-lawyers.html with 61 views. That one was my ongoing struggle to own my own words...and by the way, I have an update on that issue coming up in tomorrow's blogpost.

~Most of my readers are Windows PC users... 90% actually. Followed by 5% Mac users. Hmmm interesting. Not too many have embraced the mac op system yet... 2% use an IPhone and the remaining 3% are reading from a Blackberry, Ipod or Ipad. 


~I get most of my reader traffic from Facebook. Thank you my facebook friends!! But I get some from Blogger itself, individual bloggers who reccommend my site (thank you ladies) Yahoo's search engine and last but not least Google searches. You can find a list of blogs I recommend in the right hand column of each blog post, just scroll down to find it. Read them - they are all awesome!

Ahhh the Google searches. When you have traffic on your blog from Google they also give you a list of the phrases people use in order to find you... or to find something else but stumbled upon you in a search.
Those are fun! A small sample of mine (with my own thoughts) would be...

• flyers (really? no phillies or eagles but Flyers?)
• beer posters (i have no idea... but i like it)
• merry cliffmas poem (damn - there was a poem?)
• this is me damn it. i (from my quote i am guessing)
• "stacey gates charter" (yep that's me)
• damn it this is me! (LOL like this one)
• high fidelity sexiest songs (ok really? sexy High Fidelity songs?)
• i's time to stand up and shout stacey charter (i thought i heard someone yell my name...)
• merry cliffmas song (and now a song?)
• operation 7 (really no idea...kind of spy-esque tho isn't it?)
• colleen cahaley (um what?? This one of my utha daughters..one of the kid's best friends. wierd)
• i want my facebook (hmmm instead of our MTv now it's facebook)
• an old ass picture (yeah f. u. google for this one...)

It just cracks me up that someone can type "Operation 7" into Google and find my blog.

~Now the last, but not least, of the stats. Where do my readers live. Surprisingly, all over the world. I KNOW! I find it hard to believe too. I could see all over Pennsylvania, maybe even the United States, but the world? I love it!!  This week alone I have had readers from the French Riviera, Australia, Columbia, Vietnam, India and Croatia. WHAT?? How friggin' awesome is that?  

Some other places are - in order of views-

Canada

United Kingdom

Denmark

Slovenia

Germany

Russia

Argentina

Italy

While most of the blog readers are from the US (25 different states represented) I am amazed at an international audience. Welcome to all!!  

Oh one other quick stat that pleases me. Out of all the blog readers, most use Google Chrome to connect to the interwebs. Twice as many in fact as those that use Internet Explorer. FYI I strongly dislike Internet Explorer because of all the slowness and bs that you deal with. If you are looking for another internet browser think about switching to Google Chrome. You will be thrilled with the difference, it's free to download and it only takes about an hour or two to get used to it.

So that just the stats ma'am!  A little peek under the covers of my blog.   Please feel free to suggest me to your friends, follow my blog, comment a post or link to This is me Damn It in your own blogs. 

Thanks to all of you who stop by to read my ramblings.

I love my bed...

I love my bed. I have come to that conclusion after spending the better part of today in it. The cold I had weeks ago is still hanging around, like an annoying drunk that keeps hitting on you in a bar.Ugh go away , yay it's gone, damn it it's back. I think it's turned into a sinus and ear infection, if the pain in my head and the fever I am running, is any indication. But since I am still unemployed and because of that, uninsured, I can't afford a Doctors visit. See this is probably why my mom always told me to marry a Doctor.


So today, I spent the day in bed and it was glorious. I truly do love my bed. It's old as hell, I can't even remember where I got it to tell you the truth. I think it was from the beach house when mom and dad replaced  the cheap beds with pillow tops. Or possibly an extra from the farm. It's a double or full, which can be inconvenient - especially when sharing it with (a man over 6 foot) a 65 lb dog and two cats. Sometimes all at the same time, (just the animals - not the over 6 ft man )which is always interesting and quite possibly the beginning of world war 3. 


Living with my daughter again, I find the need for quiet and my bedroom is my sanctuary. My bed my oasis. I write in it, read in it, talk on the phone... I used to watch tv but comcast sucks and there's something wrong with the mini digital box in my room now so...


My bed is my boat on the ocean - and with my feather bed on top of it all fluffed up, I think pretty damn comfortable. But then I slept on a sofa bed in a one bedroom apartment for 2 years(the kid got the bedroom deservedly so) when we went underground to hide from the stalker. So park benches feel comfortable after that.


Eventually, when I have some extra money, which with any luck and a lot of praying will be soon, I am getting a queen sz bed. An Adult bed I guess. Which means more room for the dog, the cats and an emotionally and legally available, snuggle loving,fun as hell,handsome, over 6 foot... ok over 5'9" tall man. Hey, everybody needs a goal.




PS: I have taken a pledge to write a blog everyday. Today it's about my bed. They can't all be literary masterpieces.That is all. 

...the BEST is yet to come!

So another Christmas has come and gone. I think a lot of people feel a little bummed after all the planning and the hype, and excitement. Then bam, it's done and you feel sad. Nothing left but the clean up. But this year, for me, I don't feel that. It's different for me for some reason.


This time last year my life was VERY very different. I had a job that I thought was secure. I had a relationship, was in the process of falling in love and I thought that was secure too. My parents were both working and living on the farm. My bills were paid , my life was orderly and i was happy.


Then January came and most of that changed. I lost my job. Laid off thanks to the economy. Apparently when the money is bad the marketing department is the first to get laid off. My relationship changed... and for the most part ended. Tho i would allow it to drag on for another 4 months, I think i knew in my heart he was lying to me and instead of going forward with his divorce and some sort of thing with me, he was starting to think about getting back together with his wife. Which is exactly what happened when I finally pulled the plug in April.


My dad scheduled his knee surgery and was told he would be forced to retire in September of 2010 so my parents rented an apartment around the corner from me in the same building. With no money coming in other then unemployment, i was struggling to even put food on the table. it was a bad month, to say the least.


Then i started working with a life coach who began to point me in the right directions. I started writing my book, which will be published and available for sale before or on my birthday in October of 2011. I developed new friendships, reconnected with old ones and started dating again. Found some fun and some great sex and even better guys then the one I was leaving behind and that helped me move forward and get over him...for the most part.


I love having my parents live so close and enjoy every minute I get to spend with them. Dad seems to be enjoying retirement but seems to be ready to get something part time soon. I've started studying to be a life/business coach myself and look forward to finishing that up and moving forward with that new challenge.


And so as this January roles around, and I put Christmas behind me again, I find an excitement for what's to come. Not a sadness at a another year gone by, but pride at what I have been able to accomplish. I've learned that change is good and freeing and healthy! I have an undeniable sense that the best is yet to come and it's just waiting for me to find it. And find it I will.


So bring on 2011... it's gonna be fantastic!

and a Merry Cliffmas it is...

As most know, or will know after reading my blogs, I am a sports fan. HUGE sports fan actually but then living in the philly burbs usually goes hand in hand with a love of all sports philly style. It also should lead to an all consuming love of cheesesteaks, soft pretzels, cheezwhiz, Rocky and the Mummers but that's another blog topic. Being a philly sports fan means loving The Eagles, The Phillies, The Flyers and the Sixers. (tho personally i hate basketball... sorry). It also means a hatred of all New York teams (and New Jersey teams that say they are new york teams) Like the Yankees, Mets, Giants, Jets, Rangers and UGH The DEVILS!!! Oh and Dallas Sucks! Please ...we are born saying that in this city LOL.

Just to clarify tho, I am not one of those people who love the latest hot player**(see bottom note). I think sometimes, because I am a girl, guys will think less of my sports opinions. But rest assured, I know my shit. I may not be able to spout statistics like a guy (an enviable trait btw) but I can sure as hell hold my own in a conversation and may even offer up a new insight or two. I also admit and ask about something I don't understand (mostly weird new stuff in football LOL). I love the sport, the give and take, the symmetry and symphony that goes into playing it. I want to know the stat's and the odds and figure out what makes a team tick.

As a Philly sports fan, this past week has been probably one of the best in a while. First off, one of my favorite baseball pitchers, Cliff Lee, says NO to the Yankees and for less money comes back to play for the Phillies. HAH! in your face Spankees...see money can't always buy your perfect team. Oh the joy that is involved in watching Cliff Lee pitch. He is truly amazing. Poetry in motion! And fast too, 1,2,3, bam back in the dugout. no fooling around with him. And he makes it look so effortless. I was sad to lose Jayson Werth to the Nationals, or as I used to call him... ma huzzzzzband. It seems when I follow a player they get traded. But having Cliff come home to philly to pitch with Hamels, Halladay and Oswalt gives my Phillies one of the best pitching line ups in the league...perhaps in the history of the league. And if you know baseball you know- you can't win without good pitching!

Secondly, the flyers are kicking some major ass! I love to see them winning! I admit I don't follow them as closely as I should until after the Superbowl though. My brain can only handle so much. I enjoy seeing my facebook friends get Flyered up about the games and i keep tabs on how The Flyers are doing. I think hockey is an amazing sport! Complex but simple at the same time.And the fights?? Woohoo! Ya gotta love a good hockey fight. (and yes I know they lost... I wrote part of this before the game, but they are still doing great! #1!


And third...you know what it is don't ya? THE MIRACLE IN THE NEW MEADOWLANDS!! 

The Eagles scored 28 points in a little under 8 minutes, the last 8 of the 4th quarter i might add, to win the game and become 1st in the division. The adjectives don't describe it - fantastic, miraculous, historical, impossible,
magical...i could go on but i won't. i was helping out a friend so i had to listen to the first 3 quarters on the radio. When I left to come home we were losing 24 to 3 and even Merrill Reese said he knew we couldn't perform the impossible so that meant we were gonna lose. But then, it happened. I don't know what IT was, but something changed. And as if on script we performed, the Giants didn't and BAM! We were walking away with a 38-31 score. The idea that every thing has to be done exactly right, timed perfectly in the universe, for this to happen amazes me. Down to the fumble by DeSean on the kick-off return. if he hadn't fumbled, he would have been tackeled. Then we would have had to hail mary it for a field goal attempt...you get what I am saying. Everything just clicks and the magic happens!


SO all in all it's a pretty damn good week to be a philly sports fan! Merry Christmas to us!! Or should i say...

**ok so i picked Jayson Werth to cheer for because he is friggin hot AND he shakes his junk over the plate before he swings. just clarifying here...

Copyrights and Trademarks and Lawyers, Oh My!

So I am working on branding myself, my words, my website etc. In the world of marketing and advertising, branding yourself is the best way to gain some success. It creates that first and lasting impression, makes your product memorable and helps you stick out in a field of similar products. For me, my brand is my quotes, my affirmations. What I am putting in the book. It's what I want to be able to help drive my message of positivity that will get me in the door and on the stage to give motivational speeches. You get what I am saying right? So the first step is to actually have something you can trademark, something that makes you recognizable. for me that is the phrase, This is me damn it! So I start to do some research on my phrase and see if trademarking is a viable option.


Keep in mind I have my words copyrighted. but as we will find out, that just isn't enough. 


So in my research I come across a cool website called blurb.com. It started as a way to make actual books out of your pictures and has grown into a self publishing website. If you want one book or 1000 it has the goods to make it happen. I have looked into this website before, when I decided that the tone of my book was going to be heavily artistic with drawings and pictures to accompany  my words. What I missed on my first pass thru it tho, was a book I had now found called, This Is Me Damn It! 


http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/712839


Yes - let me let that sink in for you.... My book title - already produced. FUCK!!!


Ok I think - lot's of people have ideas for titles and books can be called the same thing. Anyway, i have a secondary title that goes with my book, something along the lines of "Surviving & thriving no matter what life throws at you" (something like that...I am still ironing that part out). I can still possibly trademark it. And then I look inside the book...


http://www.blurb.com/books/712839


This book isn't just titled This is me damn it, It IS This Is Me Damn IT! it's my quote, my words in someone else's book.  Double FUCK! If you can, click on the links above and preview the book. If you can't, well basically a 21 yr old girl in England took my words and combined them with individual pictures to create a book. The idea itself is great, but ... and this is a BIG 'OL BUT... THIS IS MY STUFF DAMN IT!  I am at least thankful that she credited me in the last 2 pages of the book, but come on! 


So I send her a few comments and an email trying to get her to discuss this issues with me and i get no response. So now, it's time for the lawyers. I contact a copyright & intellectual property lawyer explain my situation, agree to pay his fee and then receive his answer about 4 hours later. My question was" I had my quote copyrighted and now this person has used it for their own monetary gain. What is my recourse?"


His answer was...
Copyright normally does not cover short phrases or titles, unfortunately. So if all you have is copyright, you might not have a good legal response. Your best bet would have been to use state or federal trademark law -- assuming you either registered (which you didn't) or used the phrase to identify your products in the marketplace (which it doesn't sound like you did either.) It's discouraging, I know, but clever titles and short quotes are just hard to protect in isolation. The law leaves them out in the cold. Sorry. Good luck.


In his defense, I was told if I wasn't satisfied with his answer that i didn't have to pay his fee. But come on, this is me we are talking about here. Of course I paid his fee. Just because it wasn't the answer I wanted doesn't mean he didn't work for me to get it. Now the fee was only $30.00. Which is reasonable. And I got my answer in about 4 hours. but it was $30 I didn't have to spare.


To me it's just so bizarre that I have to pay a lawyer to find out that my own stuff, my intellectual property, my heart and soul and work, is not just my own. It could be used anywhere that anyone wanted to use it.


Very discouraging to say the least. So needless to say, I am now on the path of researching how I can trademark all of my writing. I have found out, that it would be easier & less expensive, if i just wrote a book and owned the copyright (and therefore the rights) to all of the content. Hmmm write a book? Now there's an idea. Sometimes, when you least expect it, the universe actual comes full circle.