Post about 101 Tofu on Epinions

Hi Anne and Donna,

I added a comment on the other post but didn't know if you would go back into it to see it. I thought I would try Epinions, which is a good site for doing reviews particularly because it gives me a bit more indication of what the reaction is. There is an evaluation feature which gives reviews a grade. Helium doesn't really rate or evaluate reviews unless there is more than one per title. So far the review has been rated 'Very Helpful,' which is probably a good sign, and there is one comment on it so far that seems positive.

Hopefully there will be more to follow and that can help to shape future efforts. Next I will come up with something for Amazon and whatever other review sites. Eventually I can do more posts on Helium with indivisual recipes, which will be a great way to get more traffic because people look those up all the time, then they can refer them on to the book. When I get going I will do recipes, which I should be able to really easily as soon as I figure out my laptop cam.

And Anne, congratulations on the latest edition.

http://www.epinions.com/review/Book_101_Things_to_Do_with_Tofu_Donna_Kelly_Anne_Tegtmeier/content_428052352644

Trying my vidblogging capability

I have no idea if this is going to work so I am throwing up a silly video of Drake and Harry watching youtube.


Obviously it doesn't work quite yet, anyone know anything about how to make sure these are in the right format?

Also Cool & the Gang:

Hey I just won a writing contest on the topic of 'International Business.'

http://writing-contests.helium.com/marketingcontest/leaderboard/388?cms=channel-champions

Kind of scary because I know absolutely nothing about International Business. Hey JPH3, take a look at the one entitled 'Doing Business in Japan.' I threw it up in a half an hour and have no idea whether any of it is true. You might want to let me know because I would hate to fool anyone actually seeking business advice like I fooled the judges. It needs serious revision.

Anyway, these contests are totally hit and miss. I know a lot about hamsters but I only got second in that one this week. Maybe it is good for me not to know a certain amount about something. Point of diminishing returns, probably.

Anyway, back in the USA and glad. Tomorrow we go home to end the boys' momless revelry.

Totally Cooleo

I just discovered that the new laptop Slade just got me has a video cam! Without the hurdle of transferring video back and forth (I know it's easy I just won't do it), video blogging will be coming very soon. Or at least videos of us doing funny stuff. I got a classic one of Harry barking at other dogs on Youtube the other day.

If it's not Scottish...

Well I am winding up my trip in Edinburgh. I was lucky to get here because I took a long bus ride with some Scottish guy that had to pull over and look at the map on the way.

I liked my first two experiences staying in hostels but the last one is pretty bad. Still, 11 pounds a night can be pretty bad and still be worth it because of the exchange rate.

In a gift shop yesterday I saw a sign that said 'there will be no alcholol sales before 12:30 p.m. on Sundays. Needless to say that didn't affect my travel plans that much.

Man, I am in cool accent heaven out here. I could barely undertsand most people that I talked to. There was one hillarious incident on the bus where a bunch of rowdy scotts got on and one had a restaraunt glass full of beer that he continued to down on the drive. I wish I had videoed that.

Dem English is Wak

Or whatever my bro said in his post.

Actually they are pretty nice, but I feel like I have a sign on me everywhere that says 'I am an idiot American.' I have to admit, I can't always rule out the idiocy, and I can't ever rule out the American.

Today I went to Hampton Court Palace and it was so great I am planning to go there again tomorrow after church. They did an all day Tudor Coking demonstration where they did it in authentic costume and with authentic tools and everything and then eventually sat down to a meal like they would eat everything. Very awesome.

In the UK is wak section, the big news story today was that a mother donated her kidney to her daughter to save her and the NHCS decided the kidney would have to go to some other person, not her daughter. Isn't that like kidney harvesting, using live kidneys from healty people without their consent? Very scary. I would accept a lot of problems with the health care system to avoid the scariness factor that that has for me.

Oh, and I am staying in a HOSTEL! Like dorm style. I am quoting the info I got on check in 'If there is someone in YOUR BED, please notify reception.' I actually don't mind it. I did a few hotels to break me into things and I imagine I will do amix of this and bnb's because the dollar is so bad, everything is painfully dear. I actually like a lot of things about the hostels. I just had a two hour conversation with some guy who thought he believed all kinds of things. Showed him. Just kidding, but a good anonymous conversation is very liberating, you don't have to worry about running into them later.

UKing around

After a while trying to coordinate a trip together, Slade and I decided that it would be more merciful for me to go by myself. At least for him. I like having him along, but he just hates it. As much as I miss him I can picture the drag in his step if he were to be doing the things I am doing.

So it really doesn't make any sense for either of us to be tortured, him by sightseeing or me by not. So today I write from London, and am pretty excited about the things I have been seeing so far. Today I went to Hever Castle, the childhood home of Anne Boleyn that was built in the thirteenth century. Yesterday I went to Battle, the town that marks the site of the 1066 Battle of Hastings.

The great thing about going myself is that I don't have to do things that first time visitors do like the Tower of London and the changing of the guard. I can knock off the things that I want to see but no one else would.

One funny thing that happened yesterday was that I got hushed by a bobby, a London policeman, because I was audibly asking him a question while someone was protesting the Iraq war in front of parliament--with a megaphone! I certainly hope that the US government never gets to the point where the definition of free speech is not saying whatever you want to whomever you want (from the posters on the subway that remind visitors that it is not ever ok to say anything even THOUGHT to be offensive) like it should be, it involves active assistance and resources to CERTAIN people saying CERTAIN things. Speaking of Henry VIII, civil rights in the UK are headed right back there, it seems.