Y’all know I’m not much for entering contests, but THIS one is special.Joshilyn Jackson, author of Gods in Alabama is running a contest for the remaining fox figurines she had her brother create, originally, as gifts for people at her publishing house and the booksellers who had been hand-selling her work.
LOOK at this foxy lady figurine!
Now, y’all know from my Facebook updates every time Joshilyn Jackson publishes a new book.…usually in the form of the Audible.com notice “Sherry just purchased The Latest Title” or some link to a signing or book talk she’s doing in the area.You all know I’m a fan of her work because I’ve recommended her books and audiobooks (especially the ones she reads herself) to pretty much all of you at some time or another.
You also know how much I love sculpting, though my own skills are pretty amateur.
Doesn’t that precious fox figurine just BELONG near my front door, welcoming guests into our home in Belly Acres, Alabama?
SO.Here’s the deal.The contest says that we must email Joshilyn Jackson and let her know HOW we “evangelize” her work, particularly, the new paperback of Backseat Saints.(Ok.That’s daunting enough because I’m a fan.…not a stalker, but a fan.It was hard enough to muster the courage to have a photo taken with her at a book signing years ago.)I will, however, email her shortly after publishing this blog post.
If you haven’t bought all her books already, I’ll provide links at the end of this post.Heck, even if you have them all, you can always purchase extra copies as gifts.(The author does live in the South.Chances are pretty good you could get them autographed, too.She lists book tour dates on her web site at http://www.joshilynjackson.com/tour.html.In fact, check with Alabama Booksmith in Birmingham if you can’t catch her live.The owner is really good at stocking and obtaining autographed copies of books by southern authors.)
Here’s what I need y’all to do (other than buy all her books).Let Joshilyn Jackson know that I am a long-time fan who always recommends her books to anyone who has an interest in southern lit, sassy southern chick lit, southern gothic, or just a dang good read.Comment here on the Belly Acres, Alabama blog.Tell your story.How did you first encounter Joshilyn Jackson?What do you like best about her work?
Comment here on the blog post, or email Joshilyn Jackson to campaign on my behalf.Ask Joshilyn Jackson to send a fox to Belly Acres, Alabama!
You can order each of her books from Amazon.com, or, if you like the audiobooks as much as the written copies, you can purchase them through audible.com.
For all my writer, blogger, and techno-geek friends out there… I’ve been using the Simple Folio WordPress theme on a niche site I’m still developing.
In the process, I needed to match the fonts from the WP theme to some print/pdf files for the site. Specifically, I needed the Museo font.
Since it took me a few minutes to find a safe/reliable source to download and install the Museo font sets, I slapped together a quick video on Downloading and Installing the Museo Font. …thought I’d share in case anyone else needed it, too.
Feel free to mute the audio. (It’s quite terrible, and I know. I’m very southern.)
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The Donate and Drive ‘Dega fundraiser Mother’s Day weekend raised a lot of adrenaline while raising a lot of money for the Red Cross / Alabama Tornado Victims.
The weekend event allowed folks to donate and drive the track, or be driven around the track by Jeffrey Earnhardt in the Camaro SS pace care OR in your own vehicle.
$100 for Jeffrey Earnhardt to drive you and YOUR car around the track
$10 for printed photo
Talladega Superspeedway has an article posted about the event and promises to announce future Donate and Drive fundraing events via Facebook and Twitter.
Some of my favorite comments regarding the event…
During the first lap…”Oh, I don’t know if I like this. I don’t know if I like this.”
“The banking is so steep, you’re driving sideways!”
“So cool! We’re going around 155/160 and he’s (Jeffrey Earnhardt) just driving along like normal.”
“Now that I’ve done it and know what it’s like, I want to do it again!”
“That first turn, I thought I’d poop my pants! It was awesome!”
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In my last post, I noted that just one day of a Facebook/word-of-mouth/drive-by campaign to collect bottled water for the victims and workers responding to the recent tornado outbreak collected and distributed 162 cases and 82 jugs of water.
A large part of that collection is attributed to the generosity of local stores and merchants. They very much deserve recognition and appreciation for thier assistance.
Near the collection point, as people drove by, they stopped at local stores to buy water to donate. As they made purchases, they mentioned the purpose to employees and fellow shoppers. Word spread quickly.
The local Dollar General helped spread the word of the collection point just down the road. MAPCO posted a sign promoting the collection and sent employees down with multiple cases to donate. Rumor has it that both stores ran out of cases of water as shoppers jumped at the chance to help.
After hearing about the collection from customers, the local Kohl’s also contributed multiple cases of water and offerred the services of employees and a monetary grant provided by one of Kohl’s MANY programs to help local communities.
To say the least, we were all moved by the utter generosity of the individuals and businesses jumping to assist. I know water sales had to help these businesses a bit, but they’ve earned even more appreciation than that from me.
Even during the response, life goes on, and I had the small pleasure of picking up a birthday gift today. The item I was looking for is actually sold by various local merchants, but when it came time to pick a seller, I gladly chose Kohl’s. The least I can do is return the loyalty and care they’ve shown. Similarly, I will continue to happily do business with the Dollar General, and just guess where I plan to buy gas next time.
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We’re all feeling pretty helpless after the destruction of the recent tornado outbreak. Even for those of us lucky enough to escape the major damage, our families, friends, and communities need our help, and we’re all looking for ways to contribute. Personally, we’ve been helping friends and local groups collecting water for the victims and workers/responders.
After just one day of Facebook messages and poster board signs by the road, 162 cases and 82 jugs of water were collected in Calhoun County and delivered to Calhoun County communities devastated by the storms.
Community centers and churches are functioning as collection and distribution points for donated items. In particular, bottled water is being used at the rally points/relief centers and is being sent out with workers as they are deployed to assist in search, rescue, and emergency cleanup.
Mountain View Church (behind Top of the River – 3300 McClellan Blvd Anniston, AL36201) and Harvest Church of God (520 Golden Springs Road Anniston, AL 36207) are still coordinating and collecting donations of water and other items as the needs are identified (ready-to-eat food, tanks of gas/fuel, chainsaw oil, sun block, tarps, contractor-grade garbage bags, etc.).
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I love the internet. All the connections are simply amazing.
For example, this Easter, I have a friend from high school who is making an italian cream cake (one of my hubby’s family recipies). She’s using a cake plate my mom gave her as a wedding present years ago, and the recipe is online in a friend’s cooking column (see page 5).
And how do I know all this? …Facebook. I love the internet. As for me, I’m making my Aunt Susan’s Sweet Potato Casserole, which, yes, I have in an electronic format on my desktop and email. It’s certainly shaping up to be a sweet Easter thanks to cyber connections. 🙂 Happy Easter y’all!
PS – If you’re looking for more good eats online, another friend of mine maintains a cooking column on Examiner.com. …good stuff.
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I’m asking fellow Alabama citizens to help us protect our public water ways and divers by requesting support from State Senators for HB-104…the bill to modify terminology for legal clarifications.
I’m not sure if everyone can see the Note I posted on Facebook about this, but here’s the link to the note:
If you’d like to help protect our public waters, feel free to copy and paste the email addresses and email body text from the sample below (the email I sent is included below)…to send your own email to our state senators requesting support of HB-104. NOTE: If you want to help and send this email to the state senators, please feel free to use my example below (copy, paste, and send) as this is up for vote VERY soon. These emails need to be sent within the next day or so.
Sample email to copy, paste, and send:
To: ‘senbedford@aol.com’; ‘dick.brewbaker@alsenate.gov’; ‘lindacoleman60@bellsouth.net’; ‘vivian.figures@alsenate.gov’; ‘trip.pittman@alsenate.gov’; ‘paul.sanford@alsenate.gov’; ‘bryan.taylor@alsenate.org’ Subject: Please Support HB-104
As a very proud citizen of Alabama (Calhoun County), I am particularly proud of our state’s natural resources and their availability to the public. It is our gorgeous parks, reserves, and public natural resources that help make our state one of the best in the nation for anyone who loves the outdoors. Outdoor opportunities in Alabama are clean, natural, safe, and accessible. I would very much like to keep them that way. As such, I am asking our state senators, and in particular, the Senate Government Affairs Committee members to please represent us, Alabama citizens, in support of HB-104.
Sherry Snider
Calhoun County
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We at Belly Acres have become quite fascinated by shopdogsam’s YouTube videos, especially his cooking videos. With Easter fast approaching, we HAD to try these deep fried boiled eggs.
So, the verdict? We LOVE shopdogsam’s videos. …battered, deep fried, hard boiled eggs? …not so much. Give ’em a shot if you want. It was certainly a fun project, but I think they may be an acquired taste. 🙂
Sweet! Most public libraries have been offering downloadable ebooks and audiobooks for several years now. The main problems have been device compatibility and interface/format. Now, it looks like Amazon is bringing Kindle into the equation.
We’ll have to wait and see if the interface to check out and download ebooks improves or not, but the fact that Kindle will be involved bodes well for the possibilities.
I’ve always thought that public libraries were one of the most undervalued resources in our country. Hopefully, this continued spread into the digital world will increase the public’s awareness and use.
I say, Get Caught Reading! …whether it’s on paper, digital, or audio. Kudos to the libraries and Amazon! 🙂
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So, a lot of folks are responding differently to the iPhone tracking feature. It seems that the iPhone logs locations (without telling it to) either through GPS or passively through cell tower triangulation. The data is also stored in iPhone backups when you sync it to your computer.
Many are concerned about privacy…the step-by-step daily route available to anyone who gets hold of your phone…and the fact that it seems to be logging locations by default…not offering the option to turn it off.
I understand the fears. I’m pretty darned careful to keep my phone IN my possession. With that in mind, though, I actually kind of like the tracking feature. At least, I like the idea that if I get lost or in trouble, my family and law enforcement could use my virtual map to help find me!
I do think owners should have the option to turn tracking off, so I expect that as the public responds, the option may be offerred in future updates.
What say you? Do you like the tracking feature or not?
Well, okay. Not really, but I’m workin’ on it.
SO. Here’s the deal. The contest says that we must email Joshilyn Jackson and let her know HOW we “evangelize” her work, particularly, the new paperback of Backseat Saints. (Ok. That’s daunting enough because I’m a fan. …not a stalker, but a fan. It was hard enough to muster the courage to have a photo taken with her at a book signing years ago.) I will, however, email her shortly after publishing this blog post. 
