Friday, December 14, 2012

A few new rules and options for /r/blogtraffic.

I've been thinking of ideas and new rules for /r/blogtraffic for the last couple of days and here are some of my ideas:

A new rule will be that you can submit a specific post from your blog once every week. This helps you stay relevant and hopefully captures the interests of other bloggers.

Another new rule is that you must be subscribed to /r/blogtraffic in order to post your blog here.

A new option is that you may post a link to your blog in any comment you have on the subreddit as long as you give relevant and quality feedback to OP's post. Saying things like "cool blog" then putting your link is not allowed. Saying things like "I really like your post on photography in 2012, but I think you should make your archive more visible so more people can see the previous posts" then posting a link to your blog is an example of what you should do.


If you have any other suggestions then let me know in the comments on this post or on reddit.
Thank you!

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

I started a new subreddit called /r/blogtraffic.

I started a new subreddit called /r/blogtraffic and it's for anyone and everyone to share their blogs with the world. The point of /r/blogtraffic is to gain readers and possibly find people with similar interests in blogging on the topics you like or things you're interested in.

The only rules so far are
1. Tag NSFW posts appropriately.
2. No posts that are specifically for selling things.

Other than that, go ahead and post your blog and see how many people are interested!

Leave comments below if you have any questions or concerns.

How I feel when it's cold in the south.

I'm from Michigan and most of the people I've talked to in the south think 45 degrees is "cold."

Anyways, I'm about to go to some thrift stores to hopefully get great deals on old things. Wish me luck!

Sunday, December 9, 2012

This is why I hate fortune cookies...

This is NOT a fortune. And where do they get their "lucky" numbers from? I can do that too! Your lucky numbers are 34, 23, 45, 86, 26. I did that by closing my eyes, pushing my entire hand on the number part of my keyboard, then separating every two digits by commas. Go ahead. Use them to play the lottery if you want. See if you win...
(But seriously, if you win then kick me a few grand.)

Thrift store finds today!

I went out and about to different thrift stores today and I scored a copy of Pokemon Stadium 2 for around 2 dollars and a Gameboy Color for around 6 dollars.
Both working and fully functional. They both have a bit of wear and tear(scratches and stuff of that nature) but overall working and perfect for the price I paid.
On Pokemon Stadium 2 there appears to be the previous owner's pokemon so I don't have to worry about tracking down the thing that lets me import pokemon from the gameboy game.
Overall a great day.

Friday, December 7, 2012

Everyone knows the corner pieces on brownies are the best!

If you're like me and many others and you love the corner pieces of brownies, give this a shot:
That's right! A cupcake cooking tray. It makes awesome brownies all day long and there's no longer any arguments over who gets the corner pieces. It also makes it so you can use frosting on one if you want without frosting every piece. I prefer

Speaking of Christmas trees..

Here's a little thing I learned about Christmas tree lights: they ALWAYS get tangled. Here's something to remember to do when you go to put them away this year.
Wrap the lights around a piece of cardboard or styrofoam and push the plug into it to keep in in place.
See? No more problem next year. Simple yet effective.
Next year when you go to set up your tree or go to decorate outside you'll cut your time in half this way. I've found that it also helps prevent light bulbs from breaking or popping out. Be sure to put each bundle into a separate grocery store bag, too. That way there's no risk even if it starts to unravel on it's own.
What are some other neat tricks to help keep holiday decorations organized? Let me know in the comments if you want!

I just got 3 90 count bags of pizza rolls...

That's 270 crust wrapped cheese, meat, and sauce filled delicious pizza rolls.

I'm somewhat worried about my health now, or at least what it's going to be after I finish all these.

I think I'm going to do what I've never heard of anyone doing before: use pizza rolls as an ingredient in some recipe. Like a pizza roll salad, or a pizza roll chili. Or maybe I'll come up with a way to glaze them in ranch flavoring before cooking.

I've already discovered a ton of ramen recipes that don't sound good but turn out really tasty. Chocolate ramen is one of them. Noodles and chocolate shouldn't go together that well.

Any suggestions on what to add to pizza rolls to make a crazy recipe? Let me know in the comments section below!


Finally put up a Christmas tree!

It's not the best looking tree in the world, but it's good enough!
I don't even do the whole "gifts" thing anymore, I just really like the look of christmas lights on a christmas tree. Reminds me of my childhood I guess.

The one thing I miss a lot is the smell of a tree. Does anyone know of any good pine air fresheners that smell like the real deal?

Let me know in the comments if you do!

Tonight I'll be drinking hard "cider."

I will be trying out a brand called Woodchuck, though I have had their Amber flavor and not this Granny Smith kind I found in the store yesterday.
I'm pretty excited to try this because I love apple flavored things. Their Amber flavor is good, though it doesn't taste exactly like apple cider it gets the job done. I'm hoping this one tastes a little bit more like a nice green apple hard cider.

I love regular apple cider too, and I also enjoy nonalcoholic beer because I love the taste of beer so much that it doesn't need to have an alcohol content. But more on that later.

It's been about a year since I "quit" smoking.

I put "quit" in quotes because I didn't quit the habits or gestures(though I did quit the nicotine), I just switched to a different satisfaction called "vaping." You may have heard of electronic cigarettes, and you've probably seen people using them while out and about. If you're a smoker and you're tired of stinking, give them a try!
There are some DOs and DON'Ts when getting started that I would like to share with you.

DO

  • research what you want and what your options are. Do you want a cigarette sized device or does form factor not bother you that much?
  • research multiple vendors and look at reviews in reputable places.
  • go to the e-cigarette-forum and ask any questions you may have in the newbie section. 
  • ask me if you have any questions. I'd be glad to help you out!
DON'T

  • get one from the mall. They're generally overpriced and not very good hardware.
  • spend more than 50 dollars starting out unless the vaping community recommends the product and vendor.
  • expect it to feel exactly like smoking. It doesn't, but it's very close. 
  • and I mean DO NOT order anything if you're underage. 18 and up means 18 and up. 


I'll post more later about my personal preferences.

Playing classic video games on a Sega Dreamcast

Have you ever been to a thrift store and seen an old gray Sega Dreamcast and wondered about it? Well if it's under 20 dollars for the whole thing then I see it as a good investment.

The coolest thing? Being able to play backups of NES games and backups of Dreamcast games without needing a mod chip. Of course I'm not saying you should pirate games(since that's illegal) but if you own the Nintendo games and want to put them on one disc to play instead of putting wear and tear on your old NES/cartridges, it's a really great way to enjoy those classics on your TV. The homebrew scene was also really neat. There's a lot of cool programs and homemade games out there. Just do a google search!

This is what it looks like running on my TV.
Sure it's not a Wii or anything, but it gets the job done for a lot less money.

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Finding vintage video games

When looking for old video games, a lot of people tend to go about it the wrong way. You should not be looking in used game stores because they charge entirely too much.

The best places to shop? Goodwill and other thrift stores.

Here are two awesome finds I've come across in the past month:
1. Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask and a Nintendo 64 at Goodwill
Total amount spent? Around 12 dollars. I DID have to buy the expansion pak from a separate store, but still a killer deal. The game guide was a nice touch. I've been playing it for weeks now!
2. Pokemon Red and Yellow from a store called "Stuff"
As you can see from the photo, I spent 4 dollars for both games. They usually go for a minimum of 20 a piece in used game stores. 

Now will you always get lucky doing this? No, probably not. I've been to both stores several times and sometimes I don't find anything video game related. They always have really good deals on other things though, and if you're into looking at random things then it's just a bonus when you find cool video games like this. 


Welcome to my blog about everything!

Hello and welcome to my blog about everything.
I have many interests, some being common and some being not so usual.
A few examples of things I will write about include:

  • Vintage video games
  • Current video games
  • Outdoor activities
  • New technology
  • Different beer reviews
  • Trying different recipes
  • Random photography
and much more!