Learning to Mind Your Own Business

Check it out~This is my business partner Amanda Abella of Digital Zen Ink

Things are evolving so fast, I'm still scrambling to get my head on straight.  I have a million different things to do, to learn, and to experience in the next few days.

I want to say a really big THANK YOU to all the people who have been tuning into my blog.  You're support keeps me going.  Now that I've got a wonderful business plan set up with a wonderful business partner, I'm not feeling like I'm floundering so much.

Big things are happening so fast!

Rockwell: The Soundtrack to My Childhood Nightmares

As a kid, we're all taught not to take candy from strangers.  Although statistically we are bound to be kidnapped by family members or already known acquaintances, our parents instill the fear of God into us in this area.  Candy from strangers will kill you.

And while I laugh at the picture because of it's obvious mock on our childhood lessons, there is a car that cruises my tiny town that I absolutely, without a doubt, would never go near. 


Readers, may I please introduce you to my neighborhood Rasta Rape-Mobile:

Note that I'm not the only one shooting pics of this monstrosity.

I have spotted this mobile cannabis/Bob Marley limo/destroyer of childhood dreams all over town.  Bubba's BBQ?  Yep.  Wal-Mart parking lot?  Ditto.  Ballet studio?  Sweet Jesus, yes, and save the children in there.

 

Kiddo: Mom what's he breathing into?  Me: He's playing a musical instrument.

Ironic bumper sticker "Look twice, save a (motorcyclists) life."

But as for your kids, I'll sell them weed and give them candy.

Pay attention: this is a union truck! 

Consider yourself warned: Hire a license contractor or else. . .


I'm thinking the trail of bloody hand prints will lower the trucks resale value.  Honestly, this car looks like Wild Bill drove this around before rounding up his Silence of the Lamb victims. 

The trail of bloody hand prints 

I'm betting the owner never looses the car at the mall, yet I still hear Ashton Kutcher's voice, "Dude, where's my car?"

"I always feel like somebody's watching me..."

And just like my parents, I will scare the crap out of the Kiddo and warn him never take candy from strangers or go near cars that were driven straight out of a B-horror movie.

Like A Little Girl With Her First Diary

I am so freaking giddy right now!!!

Less than 24 hours after Amanda and I have launch Digital Zen Ink, we are seeing huge results!  I've gotten traffic from Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, China, Iran, and other countries in just one day!  Her web site views have gone up 75%

I just emailed out our first proposal, so fingers crossed and prayers said, I'm hoping to get a response by the end of the week. If I'm given the green light, I'd be writing 2 articles a week for this website, which would equal $50 a week.  Yea, $200 a month! 

Now obviously, $50/wk aint gonna cut it for paying Momma's bills, so that's why I've gotta get my hustle on.  But if I can get a start on smaller projects, bigger fish are bound to come buy.

So in the meantime, say some prayers (or even donate to my Support My Dreams Fund) that Amanda and I keep up this momentum and bring in the Benjamins!

Who's the Boss?*

I'm the boss!

I'm the boss of this apartment house, I'm the boss of my Kiddo, and now I get to be my own boss in the business world! . . . Well, co-boss in any event.

I've joined forces with Amanda Abella to create Digital Zen Ink.  While we don't have super hero capes (yet) between the two of us, we have some pretty super powers.  Our mission is to help small, independent businesses get off the ground through providing web content, blogging, social media, and English/Spanish translations.  Basically, we're looking to take care of the little stuff, so they can focus on their bigger pictures.  

She's the other boss.

To kick off our joint endeavor, Amanda suggested we do a give away.  I suggested we give away unwanted, snarky advice to passers-by, but she thought a book would be a better incentive to earn intrest in our business.  Note: this is why she's responsible for more of the marketing.  If marketing were up to me, I'd probably have as many books thrown at me as I was trying to give away.  (No joke, a college professor threw his chalk across the room because I got him so pissed off).


(And here is where I blatantly steal content from my business partner, because she was way ahead of the game, and set up the rules for this give-away).

"In celebration of launching our co-op efforts we will be hosting a giveaway of one of the best freelancing books around, The Money Book for Freelancers, Part-Timers, and the Self-Employed.

It is because of this book that Amanda started getting her finances from freelancing in order. In her opinion, it is a staple if you want to be successful at a side hustle or running your own business.  (Side note: Maybe I should read the book?  I wonder if I am disqualified from winning the book because technically, I'm supposed to be giving it away).
 
So what do you have to do to enter and hopeful win this life changing book? By doing one or all of the following.

1. Tweet about Digital Zen Ink. Make sure to mention @amandaabella or @serial_writer so we know you have tweeted. (1 entry for each Tweet)

2. Follow Digital Zen Ink on Twitter. (1 entry)

3. Blog about Digital Zen Ink. This can be an entry about digital entrepreneurship or Gen Y side hustles. (3 entries)

4. Send out an email about Digital Zen Ink. You can find a template here. (5 entries)."

So the task is up to you.  I love free stuff and I'm betting you do to.  It can't take more than 5 minutes to Tweet, Facebook, or email your entire address book about us.  The more you spread the word, the better your chances are of winning this book that Amanda swears by.  (I should read this thing!)

The winner will be selected after I consult my Magic 8 Ball and Amanda does her thing on Random.org. 

Thanks for playing and spread the word!

*Did we ever get an answer to that question?

Of Cheese Addictions, Easter Candy, and Cancer

First off, Happy Easter to all my readers!  I hope your kids got jacked up on as much candy as they could before you had to usher them out the door to the Easter church service of your choice.  Because mine did, and I'd hate to think that anyone missed the fun of having to hiss every 2 minutes, "Sit still!  Stop growling, you're not a dog.  Don't give me that face.  Pay attention to God, He's the reason you're here, but I'm ready to send you back!"

Really, I can't blame anyone else except myself for the Kiddo getting a high on sugar.  I'd split up the jelly beans, gummy bunnies, Peeps, and malted milk balls between 24 plastic eggs, so he was obligated to open each egg to discover the treasure within.  What I didn't realize at 1AM as I filled these 'spring spheres' is that he would insist on having to taste test all the contents within.  Before I realized it, he had in inhaled 4 peeps, a fistful of jellybeans, and a half dozen bunny gummies.

So between fighting with a fidgeting child, rolling my judgmental eyes at some of the Easter 'fashions,'and struggling to stay focused on the homily and wondering if the Deacon would drop the chalice, I didn't really have a holy experience at Mass.  I know the graces were there, but I didn't have any happy warm fuzzy feelings.  Guess that's why it's a good thing I am already intellectually convinced of my faith.  Because if I had to survive on the warm and fuzzies, I'd be out of church so fast, I'd set a new land speed record.


Speaking of religion and graces, I'm happy to announce that Brenden McGuire received some very promising news regarding his tumor.  Per his post on Facebook, "The bad news first--the treatment method for my cancer will be extraordinarily intense inpatient chemotherapy, plus surgery (-ies) at some point over the summer. So I will be in the hospital, off and on, for the next nine or ten months. The good news, however, is that the tumor has been confirmed to be non-metastatic (i.e. it hasn't "spread" to my lungs, brain, liver, etc.). Thus, according to my oncologists, the most likely outcome of the treatment will be a cure. That can keep one going through anything."

Thanks so much for the prayers for this young man.  Please continue to pray for his recovery and that his family will have the strength for the long haul ahead of them.  Within the next month or so, I will be working to establish a foundation for donations for the McGuire family.  When I get that up and running, I hope you'll be as generous as you can.  He's the sole breadwinner and will be impacted as the months continue.  The college will work with him to keep his job available, but cancer treatments are anything but cheap.  


Now for the hardest part of this post, admitting my shameful addiction.  I am a cheese whore.  I LOVE cheese.  The sharp smell of red hoop cheddar, the creamy textures of fresh mozzarella, the chalky rind on brie tantalize my senses.  When I picked up Edward Trencom's Nose: A Novel of History, Dark Intrigue, and Cheese from the dollar bin at Books-A-Million I didn't expect much, but I really was enchanted with the colorful, intoxicating descriptions.  I had found a novel that verbalized my insane fascination and desire for all things dairy.  (When I was expecting my son, I had the most insane cravings for semi-soft cheeses, forbidden to pregnant women.)

When I go to the grocery store, I'll linger in the 'fancy' cheese department, which sadly consists of 1/4 of a display case.  (I almost married a boy who lived near an incredible food market with a fancy cheese section that was larger than my entire apartment house.  We might have been unhappy, but I would have had some awesome cheeses to console me).


So if you'll excuse me, I'm off to eat a wedge of brie and an apple.