memes

Hello, friends. First, I must thank you for your patience and support while I dealt with my hosting problem this weekend. As you can see, the problem has been solved, at least for now. I strive to keep my site clean, safe, and fast-loading, and am continually making improvements toward those goals (like the new theme?). I won't bore you with additional details right now. :-) In other news, I've been tagged by Jolene, for the Seven Weird or Unique Things About Me meme. Here we go!

1. I love to put peanut butter, applesauce, and maple syrup, on my pancakes and waffles.
2. I'm terribly afraid of heights. I freeze up and can't move. For this reason, I don't like stairs with spaces between the steps. Yikes!
3. I used to be allergic to red food dye, which would cause me to break out in hives. No cherry Kool-Aid, popsicles, or Twizzlers for me.
4. I am a darn good pianist.
5. As long as I'm bragging, I was also valedictorian of my high school class.
6. I'm just 5 feet tall. I can only touch the ground with my toes when I sit in this chair.
7. I went to Space Camp in junior high, and loved every minute of it. But you already know I'm nerdy like that.

Now I'll pass this on to five lucky people, so we can learn how fascinating they are behind their blogs! techfun, mumsgotta, tipidmeals, fiveblondes, lisa365 Gotcha!

I've been tagged by Holly at Everything and Anything for the Crazy Eights meme. I don't think you really want to know that much about me. Heck, I'm not sure I can even come up with that many things, but I'll give it a go! Maybe I'll change this from Crazy Eights to Just Some Stuff About Me in No Particular Order... :-)

Things I’m Passionate About

• Playing the piano
• My family
• Eternity

Things I Want to Do Before I Die

• Get a Ph.D. in something
• Have grandkids

Things I Say Often

• I love you.
• Sometimes that happens.
• Clean up time!
• I need a vacation.

Books I’ve Read Recently

• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
• The Lord of the Rings (in progress)

Songs I Could Listen to Over and Over

• "When you say nothing at all," by Alison Krauss
• "Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing," by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir
• Anything my 3-year old sings

Things That Attract Me to My Best Friends

• Acceptance and understanding
• They laugh with me more than at me
• They have common sense

People I Think Should Do Crazy Eights or Just Some Stuff About Me in No Particular Order

• mummifiedtimesfive
• fiveblondes
• mommamuse
• kinagrannis
• suedoenim
• mamafasha
• daisythecurlycat

Have a wonderful weekend!

I've been tagged again, this time by Rudy. This meme required a bit of thinking, and here's what I came up with.

So what the heck is “blego”?

Blego (GeekMomMashup.com definition) - A mispronunciation of the name of Aragorn's horse "Brego," in The Lord of the Rings. I love that book!

Blego (evilwoobie.com’s definition) - n. an acronym of “blog ego”, which pertains to a blogger’s sense of self in the blogosphere.

Blego (Darkside-Dreamland.com’s definition) - n. a protologism combining blog and ego. Used to define the ego of a blog or blogger. Like personal ego, blego may be good or bad.

Blego (benbarden.com’s definition) - n. a toy for children to build with but with a B in front.

BLEGO (WoganMay.com’s definition) - abbr. Breaking Little Enterprises - Godzilla Organisations.

Blego (Blogosis.com’s definition) - n. An Eggo waffle and a blog mixed together. I don’t know what this would look like, but maybe I can come up with a prototype.

Blego (amid.com’s defintion) - expression. “Bleh, let’s go!” If you’re being forced to go somewhere or do something, by your spouse or friends, just slur those words together and get “blego”. It is usually said after a big sigh. For example, “Do I have to? Hrmph! Blego!”

As any meme, this one has rules.

1. The person tagged must copy the word (”Blego”) and paste the definitions of the word contributed previously by the people who did the meme.
2. Link backs would be nice, but not necessary.
3. The person tagged must then add her own definition in this format ‘yourname.com’s definition’ and place your link. Being creative with the acronym is encouraged.
4. Answer the following questions.
5. Tag 5 other people to do the meme.

For #4, here are the answers to the questions:

1. Do you know what your blog is really about, and you can write a one-sentence promotional material for it in a flash? If yes, write it here.
   
   GeekMomMashup is a blog about my life. "Life is a mashup of toys and gadgets, hobbies and recipes, kids and odd socks, all held together with love and duct tape."
2. Do you join social networks to promote your blog? If yes, do you hope to find friends in these social networks and in the process get regular readers of your blog?
   I've joined a couple of social networks, and every now and then, I submit my favorite posts. It's always a pleasant surprise to find out someone else has submitted my content! I'm not into myspace or twitter (at least not yet). To be truthful, I don't want anyone following me that closely! Plus, I'm not really that fascinating. People don't need to see every little detail of my day. It's boring. :-)
3. Do you or do you plan to join ranking sites that put your blog in competition with others for popularity? If yes, do you or do you plan to monitor your stats regularly?
   I don't think you'll see my blog in a cagematch any time soon. I do check my stats more frequently than is productive.
4. Do you tweak your blog often in accordance with the tips you get from blogging guides and gurus? If yes, list the bloggers you visit often to obtain these tips.
   
   There is almost too much advice for bloggers out there. I try to distill the huge volume of information and keep the best bits. I implement suggestions if they make sense for me. I don't like cluttering up my blog with lots of ads and widgets, and I'm resisting the big blog monetization movement. I have some ads, but mostly I just try to write well, about things I find interesting. I think the average reader appreciates a genuine, well-written post, without too much commercial content.
5. Do you think of your next post even if you have just written a new one? If yes, list your inspirations for posting, and/or some routines that you go through before posting.
   Yes, I always have a few ideas in the hopper. I seem to get lots of ideas as I'm trying to fall asleep at night. Thinking keeps me awake, so I scribble my ideas down on a notepad in the dark, and try to decipher them in the morning.

Ok, so now is the fun part. I get to tag 5 more people to follow this meme. I shall now ask:

• Bizzy Lizzie
• Everyday New: my project 365
• SlyMagpie
• Natalie
• Everything Skwiggle

There you have it! I'm looking forward to seeing what our fellow bloggers have to say!