Silent Sunday. It’s BACK. And it’s bigger, bolder AND SMELLING LESS LIKE AFTERSHAVE.

February 20, 2012 By 12 Comments

When I ditched the Silent Sunday linky back sometime in 2011 (I can’t remember when), the sigh of relief was so big, caused a hurricane in the middle of the pacific ocean. No one was affected though, because I don’t like world disasters and being responsible for mass death and destruction; it just makes me uncomfortable. The very same day that it was announced, approximately a zillion people got in touch asking if they could “take it” so I wouldn’t have to deal with it.

Ahhhh there’s the problem.

Much as I didn’t like the linky and the epic shit that came with it, I was genuinely sad to cut people off. I don’t think I fit in very well with the “mummy blogging” “community”, and rarely seem to fit in anywhere else on line. So to sever the last chunk of communication with the blogging world, being my love of photography, was a wee bit sad. However, Silent Sunday was always my blogging baby. And you know when you give birth, and have the newborn, and someone comes along with some hideously strong perfume or aftershave and leaves your bubba wreaking of that, rather than the natural essence of the thing you created in the first place? And all you can smell is the wreak, and not your lovely bubba? Well it’s the most bizarre analogy ever, but it’s the most accurate analogy ever.

Silent Sunday was not for others to take off me and leave their smell all over it. The end.

AND THEN, along came Love All Blogs a couple of weeks ago, asking if they would be allowed to host The Linky for me, so that my meme (meem? MeMe? Mehm?) could be resurrected properly, without being taken away from me. Am I possessive? Hell yeah. But if you know me, if you’ve spent the time reading my blog, if you have the vaguest idea of the sort of person I am, you’ll know why a SILENT Sunday is so important to me. Why I was (and still am) so particular about it.

There are shit loads of people out there whom I know for a fact snipe at Silent Sunday for whatever reason. “What’s the point? It’s just a photo.” Or, “Geeze this blog is dull, it’s nothing but photos and no words. What am I supposed to read?” Or maybe “Why should you have to follow rules to post a photo? Over on my blog I can do what the hell I like.” If those are your views, then that’s absolutely fine! I’m not going to slate you; the world would be dull if we all thought the same, no?

But I would like to say this. First – I’m a photographer. I can express myself very well with photos alone. I don’t expect you to do the same. Second – I’m crap with words. I’m not a writer. I’ve never declared myself a writer. If you want something to read, go find another blog. I promise I won’t be offended. Third – Of course you can blog what you like! But may I remind you that the rules do not stipulate that if you post a photo then YOU MUST link it up to something. Just saying. You don’t have to link it up if you don’t want to follow the rules. So please. Please show some (A LOT) of respect over on Lovel All Blogs.

Annie at Love All Blogs pitched to me absolutely perfectly, was bloody lovely about it, and was brilliant in “asking me first” if it was ok to go ahead. I have a lot of respect for her for that. And so, the Silent Sunday linky is back, and can be found on Love All Blogs Silent Sunday Linky, and the badge as ever can be found there or here. Ok, much like my tagline, I’m emitting all manner of crap now. So go. Do your Silent Sunday.

The Rules still apply. Why wouldn’t they? It wouldn’t be Silent Sunday without them.

Filed Under: actual happy times, asshats, AWESOMENESS, Blogging, mocha beanie mummy, neurosis, photography, Silent Sunday, Ultimate Stresssss

THE (yes, THE) Blogger Calendar HAS LANDED!

December 9, 2011 By 11 Comments

You know when you’re chatting to a mate and you come up with a WICKED idea, and you’re all “YEAHHHH!!!!! RAWWWRRR!!! AWESOMMMMME!!!!!!”

Well that’s exactly what Tara “Sticky Fingers” Cain and I did at the start of this year. We talked a bit about the blogs we’d found and liked to read, and wondered about “collecting” them all into one place, and finding the faces behind the blogs.

Thus, THE (yes, THE) Blogger Calendar was born.

Tara and I ran round like crazy people, trying to get everyone in the right place for their photos while the conference continued. Tara told people of for turning up at the wrong time, while I told people off for pulling faces at the camera and pointing the wrong way (I can see you when you stick your tongue out or hold a moustache to your face, y’know…). Then Tara liaised her PR skills and gained the support of online photo service Snapfish (www.snapfish.co.uk) by HP who very generously offered to make the calendars for us and print 100 to distribute, while I edited people’s faces to make them look very silly, collected the best of the worst photos into my secret blackmail folder, and feverishly set about editing the “real” photos for the calendar.

Oh how I laughed.

By the way, Snapfish are the world’s largest online photo service with 85 million members, offering quality prints and unlimited photo sharing and storage. Which is pretty cool. (And they didn’t pay me to say that.)

snapfish

AND NOW HERE IS THE CALENDAR AND HOW TO GET ONE!!!! It’s easy.

First: post a photo of your blog’s inspiration. So, your baby/babies, where you live, your vegetable patch, your novel, your native flag, your phone – whatever you feel is the main subject of your blog.Whatever, it’s entirely up to you.

Second: Post a basic blog CV. In a fashion, it could describe why you chose the photo you did. Explain your blog, the who, the what, the why – your call.

Third: YAYYYY it’s a Linky. You need to do is add your post to the Linky below, either here or over at Sticky’s, and the first 100 in the Linky before 16th December will get themselves a calendar (postage is £1.99. Because you know, give a little, get a little). And you don’t even NEED to have appeared in the calendar to apply for one – it’s open to all! Awesome, yes?

Well it doesn’t end there. Snapfish are also offering you 50% (FIFTY PERCENT) off any of their calendars (excluding post and packaging) for readers of mocha beanie mummy and Sticky Fingers.

Head on over to the Snapfish site, design your calendar with their online tools, and then use the code TARAJAY at the checkout. Hurry up though, the offer is only valid until December 18, 2011. So go now. Go. Go!!

Filed Under: Blogging, Mommy blog

Check-In

June 23, 2011 By 4 Comments

I’ve not been here much lately because I have been BUSY innit. So I’m just leaving a mental note here of all the stuff going on.

First of all, for the first time in maybe 10+ years, my weight is LOWER than it was pre-pregnancy. I woke up this morning 1lb less than my pre-preg weight. OMG, THINKING SLIMMER. That is all.

Next up, the Blogger Calendar categories with Tara and Snapfish have been announced. I actually have a HEADACHE from trying to keep up with the shit load of tweets on twitter. Holy crap I can’t believe how excited they all are! Tis awesome. Sorry to the peeps who missed out, but there may be opportunities for other stuff next year. Photos taken over the weekend, then I edit the crap out of them for about 4 months. Nice and easy. Hah.

Also, buh-limey, I’ve been busting my ass on my pro site. It’s had a COMPLETE overhaul, and it’s not done yet. I’m trying so hard to throw myself into the wedding market, and I’ll be honest, it’s a struggle. Or (most likely) I’m just very impatient. I know I’ve barely finished my first year with 9 weddings under my belt, but even so I wants MORE. So I’m quietly slogging away. 2am has become a good friend of mine. I bloody hate it. But at the same time, I love it. It’s oddly satisfying, eh?

Curiously, I’ve been burying my head in the sand wondering just how much I can actually teach people without talking a load of crap. I have a (my first EVER) photography workshop at Cybermummy. I’m obviously excited to be doing it, and hope to help out loads of people with their photography. However, I just hope people actually understand what I’m trying to convey. I’m also hoping I don’t say fuck, shit, cock, what the fuck, bastard, wank and variations on the themes. The very lovely of will be live blogging my workshop, so I guess she’s the one to lurk near on twitter on the day.

On the list is a thank you to my sponsor Love it, Love it, Love it enough for helping me get to Cybermummy. I’ve got outgoings left right and centre at the mo, and the financial situation for me personally is really shitty. So Ruth? I bloody love you lady. Thank you.

MBM Sponsored by Love It Love It Love It

Then, of course, there’s the biggie (for me). My Dildo Decorating Party on Saturday night, courtesy of Eden Fantasys. Admittedly I’m terrified as I’m a very rubbish host. I am fast starting to understand why The Bloggess stays in the toilets whenever she hosts a party, it makes perfect sense. I have two boxes of goodies for the party, with some daft games, prizes and other treats. I don’t want to give anything away just yet, so I reckon I’ll do all the writing malarky after the weekend, you know, when I’ve stopped drinking. Dildo Bob is primed and ready to go. In fact, I suspect he’s very excited about seeing new family members being born. Must remember to prod him to keep tweeting from , too.

If you’re expecting a Silent Sunday linky bright and early on Sunday, you can piss right off. That won’t show up until lunchtime. Maybe.

I am exhausted. But I think, I think, I am ok.

 

Filed Under: actual happy times, AWESOMENESS, blogger, Blogging, COCK., Cybermummy11, decorating, Dildo Bob, Eden Fantasys, Jay Mountford Photography, Love It Love It Love It, mocha beanie mummy, photography, photos, pimping myself rotten, PR, Silent Sunday, , weight

Mother’s Day and @InterfloraUK and @Tara_Cain and AWESOME.

March 24, 2011 By 7 Comments

Mother’s day comes but once a year, and I never really think much about it. Despite being a mum for 3 years now, I never expect anything, and am always making sure the boys have cards to give to their grandmothers.

So when these arrived from Interflora, I was chuffed to BITS.



I see people in the blogging world getting tons of freebies all the time. I get some once in a while, usually stuff that has no interest to me, or offers that just aren’t relevant. Every so often one comes along which is BRILLIANT. If I’m honest, it’s the freebies from very thoughtful people who have taken the time and effort to get to know me that mean the most. So when I saw that Tara had nominated me to receive some flowers from Interflora for Mother’s Day, I was chuffed to bits.

Tara is a bit awesome and stuff, and I love her to bits, but don’t tell her I said so. I don’t want her to think she has a stalker or anything. But I must say, the flowers are very gorgeous and have really made me smile this week.

Thank you VERY MUCH Interflora and Tara for your lovely kind thoughts and generosity! xx

Filed Under: actual happy times, Blogging, mothers, photos Tagged With: Interflora

SILENT. SUNDAY.

March 20, 2011 By 83 Comments

There are SO MANY memes and blogs and things out there at the mo. As most of you know, I currently run Silent Sunday. You can read about it all here, or you can click on that tab which says Silent Sunday just up on the right hand side there.

*waits for you to go read*

Done? Ok.

Now, I’ve got to be honest, I think it’s really cool that loads of you want to be involved. It’s fab. Encouraging people to grab a photo of that moment in the week that meant something to them, then that’s BRILLIANT. But it’s a meme….and there are rules. And what really sucks is when people break those rules, when others are making a fantastic effort to stick to the rules, and enhance the meme theme.

…I really don’t like the word meme, but whatever.

RIGHT. Let’s just go over a few things. First and foremost, it is called SILENT SUNDAY. This means there are to be NO WORDS IN YOUR POST.

NO. WORDS.

NO.

WORDS.

As of Sunday 27th March, this will also include the title. There are to be NO WORDS.

PLEASE.

NO.

WORDS.

I know some of you like words. Some of you LOVE words. If that’s the case, then why do you not do a Silent Sunday, and then WRITE about your photo later in the week? Or if you don’t want to post the same photo twice but the photo means that much to you, why don’t you write your post, with words, and then schedule it for in the week? You still get to use your photo AND you can post something else to Silent Sunday with NO WORDS.

Did I mention NO WORDS, by the way?

NO. WORDS. No videos, songs, text, quotes, NOTHING. NO. WORDS.

I got very sad when I read this post from Nickle – er – Nickie at I Am Typecast. I couldn’t decide whether I agreed or disagreed, as I don’t see anything wrong with photo posts at all; I think they’re great. I do my own 365 Project, and am excited to look back on it at the end of the year – my year in photos. Photo blogs rock; I’m a photographer, I’m bound to love them. But part of me agrees with one of the things she asks: “Are we getting lazy with blogging?” And that’s where her post struck a chord. Some don’t seem to make as much effort with posts and even photos any more. She also asks “Does a picture really speak a thousand words?” I believe it can. In yesterday’s Silent Sunday post, some of you pointed out things in the photo I hadn’t even appreciated. And I’m seeing the same thing happening with others, usually those who have taken the time behind taking the photo, or where you can see it meant something to the poster.

These are the ones that stand out to me. Those are the one’s where I think, “yeah…that’s really cool. I totally get that.” Sometimes I don’t get the picture. But somehow you can still see that it means something to the poster. But lately I find myself not bothering to “read” some posts because I don’t want to look at words. I just want to see a photo that was a significant moment from your week. Nosy? Hell yeah.

Silent Sunday is a moment from your last week (yes, this is a rule to Silent Sunday also. Something which happened in the LAST 7 DAYS LEADING UP TO YOUR POST) and it should be a moment significant to you. Many talk about “bending the rules” – why do that? Why not just stick to the rules and do another post as well? Is it laziness? Can people not be bothered any more, and so try to find an easy work-around? Are people stuck for ideas and don’t know what to post? If that’s the case, why not just leave Silent Sunday for that week and find something worthwhile to post the following week instead?

Also, if you used someone else’s photo, do you know the law will come down on you like a ton of bricks if you choose photos that you’ve snatched from someone else? If I ever found my images being posted on someone else’s blog and them passing them off as their own, or without my permission, do you know how fast I will be on the phone to my lawyer? And yes. I have a lawyer. And no, I’m not shitting about when I stress this rule. It is important. For very good reason.

Of course, some people have several moments from their weeks that have been awesome or poignant or significant or whatever. So you have more than one photo to use. Perhaps you could choose the ONE PHOTO ONLY which speaks the most? The ONE PHOTO ONLY which obviously doesn’t need any words, including “This is a photo of the sun” or perhaps “I took this photo with a camera”? Because Silent Sunday is JUST ONE PHOTO ONLY. If you have other photos, then surely/possibly/maybe…you could blog about them, on your blog, in the week? Isn’t that part of what blogging is about? Isn’t it more respectable to give the other photos the justice and space they deserve by writing a full post for them?

Well wouldn’t you know it, this post has been anything but silent. And with good reason. The Die Hard Silent Sunday Purists have spoken, me being one of them. So from now on, if you wish to take part, OBSERVE the rules:

You use just one photo in your post.
You must have taken the picture – you cannot use something you found on the internet or a photo that belongs to someone else (*ahem* COPYRIGHT *ahem*).
Use a photo taken in the week leading up to your post.
You don’t have to do it every week.
It’s Silent, isn’t it? So please, please, please… no words in the post OR the title.

I do go and look at every single Silent Sunday post. If you are found to be breaking the rules, your post will be removed from the Linky. If you’re having trouble with the linky, out of courtesy, please don’t be a stress head in the comments on my Silent Sunday posts. You can always drop me an email, find me on twitter, or leave a message on THIS POST.

Thank you for listening to me shout. I need to go lie down now, because Monday is kicking my ass.

Filed Under: Blogging, photography, Silent Sunday, Ultimate Stresssss
« Older Posts