msdanielle - just another ego blog site

This has been one crazy month so far. Just in the past couple weeks so much has happened, I thought I’d lump all of the more poignant moments into one big update post.

Grandma’s right — we are a good looking bunch!
Last weekend I went to Las Vegas for a huge family reunion. Most of these relatives I’ve never met, and the best part was meeting all of my “new” cousins. There were 17 of us, to be exact, a mixture of first, second and third cousins. Some weren’t able to make it, so I don’t even really know how many of us there are. Including the parents, aunts and uncles, there were 50 who attended the reunion.

Meeting new family is great, especially when there’s lots of love and positive energy floating around. My adorable grandmother made a speech at the reunion dinner, announcing in an evenly-toned manner, “I am so proud to be part of such a wonderful family. Everyone likes each other. We’ve got doctors and lawyers, students, and others who are still trying to find what they want to do [not to mention teachers and a tv newscaster!]… And, we’re a good looking bunch.” LOL I almost fell out of my chair when she said that!

Here’s a group shot of most of us cousins on our way to Stratosphere. There are three rides way up on the top (one goes up and down the red pointy thing in the background!), and we had the greatest time bonding and screaming our heads off at the same time.

And here’s something else that wasn’t so cool, but both aggravating and entertaining enough for me to capture and write about — the most annoying car to drive behind in the fast lane on the way to Las Vegas. This video is 5 seconds long:

Microsoft Zune Contest Nearing the End
I announced the end date of the MS Zune giveaway, and just wanted to remind you guys that I’ll be randomly pulling a name out of a hat next weekend to see who’ll be getting it next. Thank you so much to everyone who’s participated! This thing sort of took on a life of its own after John Chow, Jane May, and a few other popular bloggers announced the contest. I will note that having a substantial prize helps motivate people to enter, as well as spread the word, and the fact that it first came from John Chow also helped a lot. I don’t have an exact count at the moment, but there are probably about 60 entries at this point, which is still good contest odds for winning a nice prize like the Zune. If you’re still interested in entering the contest, feel free to post your entry and let me know by next Friday.

Enkay Analyzes Ms Danielle dot com and Finds a Typo
That’s right people. It’s true. “N-K” of Enkay Blog has sifted through a majority of my blog posts and has found two typos that I let slip by. Why did he do this? Because I challenged him to find a typo in my blog, and if he found one, I would do a site review of his site. To make a long story short, somewhere I’ve misspelled “participated” and left out an “s” in pictures. Therefore, he gets his well-deserved review.

I believe I was first contacted by Enkay via MyBlogLog (which you all know I love). Subsequently, NK, as I’ll call him, submitted an entry for my Zune contest that I found personally entertaining. Not only does his blog cover a range of interesting topics like blog tips, entertainment, and technology news, he reports them in a way that’s very enjoyable to read. I find that the most refreshing writings are those that sound like people are conversing out loud to a group, and not just writing for the sake of putting something on their blog. Imagining that you’re addressing a group helps create a model for dialog exchange, which carries over into the tone of your writing, since you are addressing a pretty big group — the entire www. My only issue is his header which I think can be better branded. Other than that, it has potential to gain a very loyal readership.

Get a Free Review at Cash for Comments
My friend Prija recently started a blog called Cash for Comments. No, he doesn’t actually get paid to comment. But I have to admit it’s a very intricate yet simple plan to help everyone increase content and SEO value. This is how it works:

1. Leave five valuable comments on his blog and contact him to get your free review.
2. He will write a 200-word review of your site.
3. Let your readers know that you’ve been reviewed by Cash for Comments.
4. He will leave five valuable comments on your blog in return.

What are the benefits? Well, first of all, we know as bloggers that “content is king,” right? Well, commentary also counts as content. A large number of comments equal added value, therefore both sites benefit by gathering additional content. Second, both sites receive in-content links, links placed withing the content on the main body of the page. Google likes these kinds of links, and they will help your site’s SEO. Check it out if you want a free review and extra content on your blog. At the very least, it’s free!

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