Moore War Run Number 1

When the WHS Alumni Association decided to host a joint 5K with our rival school's Alumni, I thought it sounded like a great idea. I also thought there is no way in hell I'm getting out there to run. Sorry guys.

I did show up at an ungodly hour (6:45 am!) to volunteer, though. And it was awesome!

I think it may have been the best volunteer experience I've had. I was told where and when to show up, and I got a reminder the day before. Once I got there, the gals running the show gave me instructions on what needed to be done. They doled out tasks one at a time, so it was easy to keep track and not get overloaded with information.

I got a t-shirt and lots of thank yous the day of and after. They even let me wear this nifty orange vest. How'd they know I love orange?


I want to say thank you to Kelly and Holley for organizing before and the day of. These ladies did an amazing job, and the first Moore War Run was a huge success in my opinion. We had more than 250 runners!

Back to School

Ok, so technically, I am not "back to school," but all the OSU students are. After 14 years of living/working/going to school on a college campus, I still love the start of the fall semester.

How could you not feel the excitement in the air. The start of fall term marks a new beginning for so many people and it always reminds me of my first week here on campus. It makes me nostalgic as I see all the new students navigating campus.

For a college campus, the start of term is a little like a second New Year. It's a fresh start for everyone: new students and returning students, even the staff and faculty. I love working at a place that has this kind of annual reset as part of the culture.

Homeless in My Own Home

This week John and I had a some construction project completed in our bedroom. Which means all week my living room has been filled with our queen size mattress, and all our bedroom stuff is piled high in the breakfast nook.

It's a little like being a house guest in my own home. I have no alarm clock and no nightstand. My routine is completely off. And the huge light-up Jesus cross across the street is keeping me awake at nights.

But it'll all be worth it tonight! Our bedroom has a beautiful new ceiling and all new grown-up bedroom furniture is being delivered as I type this. Tonight John and I have a date to assemble a bedroom suite. Pretty romantic, huh?

A spacious living room is dramatically reduced by a spare queen-sized mattress.

Where did all this come from? I had no idea we were hiding so much stuff in the bedroom.

My First Meme

One of my favoritest bloggers posted a meme the other day. I thought, hey, a meme! I was hoping to do one of those during my 30 day blogging challenge, when I was trying out new blog tricks! Well, the 30 day challenge is over, but I'm finally getting to post my first meme.

Here's the deal. You (in this case me) post a casual around the house photo of yourself. Then follow it with pics of celebrities you've been told more than once that you look like. Bonus, if you can post the most flattering celeb comparison and the least flattering celeb comparison.

Here's me, at my desk. I took the photo with my blackberry at arms reach. Doesn't get more casual than that.

Here the first celeb comparison I get: Cate Blanchett. I actually haven't gotten this one in a while. I think it's because she hasn't been a redhead in a movie for a bit.

And the next one I get (I think more now because she has been a redhead lately), Kirsten Dunst. But really, I think my sister Sarah looks much more like her than I do.

Your turn. Post a link to your celeb comparison in the comments.

Hiking up to Howth Head.

We spent the better part of today exploring a little fishing village north of Dublin called Howth (pronounced Hout). It was really fun. There's a series of hiking trails that trace the coast and run up to a summit. There was wind, cliffs, rain, sea gulls; it was beautiful. On our way back down, we found a small cemetery with plots ranging from the 1700s to today. We also made our way over to the town's castle. You couldn't go inside because people live there. In a castle!

Then it was back into Dublin, where we hit the Bram Stoker Dracula Experience. We weren't sure what to expect, but it was fun. Part museum exhibit, part spook house, with a documentary screened at the end.

We wrapped up our time in Dublin by visiting Temple Bar. Honestly, I wasn't that impressed. It was by far the most touristy place we've been (boo). It's also basically a bar strip (boo, again). We did find an only moderately crowded pub with live music, so that was nice.

Waiting for my Guinness to settle. It takes about 3 minutes to pour one and another 2 minutes for it to settle into the foamy black and cream goodness.

All my Ireland photos are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bonnieann/sets/72157620775704825/.

A Jet-Lagged Report on Day 1 in Ireland

It's hard to believe we landed here just 14 hours ago. John and I packed so much into our first day in Ireland, but the jet lag has seriously kicked in and we are fading fast. I'm uploading some pics from today to my Flickr photostream, so you can follow along here.

Getting to the Hotel
This was adventure in its self. Note to future Ireland travelers: you cannot get out of the airport with out cash (euro cash!). Eek! I really thought we'd be able to buy shuttle passes with a credit card, but noooo. Culture shock #1.

Then we had a hellava time finding the DART station because there are NO street signs and even if there were, places don't have addresses. No seriously, no addresses. You might get a street name (which won't be labeled), but no number. Culture shock #2. Everyone is really friendly and happy to give a hand, though which is nice. But Irish people can't give directions (might have something to do with the whole no street signs and no addresses thing) and in their minds everything, even a few blocks, is "a reeeeeeally long walk."

A REAL Irish Breakfast
We got a real taste of Ireland right off the bat by sharing a "Jumbo Breakfast" at a local pub. It included tea (for me) or coffee (for John) toast, fried egg, baked beans, mushrooms, sausage (a lot like little smokies), rashers (thick cut bacon), white and black pudding (not pudding at all! more like a cross between sausage and polletta), hash browns and fried tomatoes. See why we shared? It was all good, a little strange, but good. I have to say it was definitely meat overload for me, but a fun experience just the same.

Kilmainham Gaol
This stop was awesome! We had an amazing tour guide and she packed so much Irish history into this tour of the oldest jail in Ireland.

Dublin City Hall
We saw the beautiful rotunda and looked through an exhibit on the city's history. The highlight though was when we asked to see the Council Chambers, and we got a special sneek peek. John even sat in the Mayor's chair.

Dublin Castle
We weren't even planning to go here but we were on a roll and it was on the way. We miraculously snuck in with the very last tour of the day just as it was starting. Another stellar guide took us on a tour of this "castle" (technically not a castle anymore, long story with explosions!) that served as the Irish white house when the country was under British rule. It's still used for official state business.

Random Observations
There is no smoking in indoor public places, but everyone seems to smoke. I even saw a pregnant lady smoking. Culture Shock #3

Even though technically, they are speaking English, half the time I can't understand anything they say. Culture shock #4. John is doing a bit better and caching at least 2/3rds. After checking in we literally both looked to other and said did you understand anything she said? I'll never again get frustrated with a foreigner who just nods when they really don't understand you. Sometimes, it's just easier to figure it out later.

Pitching to Bloggers: Hey I Did That!

Lately, I'm seeing a lot about how to pitch to bloggers. I find it interesting because I've actually had good luck with this. So, I thought, it's really not that hard, why not share what worked for me.

1. Be Super-Targeted in Your Pitch
First off, I don't pitch everything to bloggers. I look for stories that are a good fit for the medium (these may not come up often), and I only pitch stories that fit with a certain blog's niche. Which brings me to #2.

2. Research the Blogs
Every industry has blogs, good ones and bad ones. I found library blogs by asking librarians. Radical, I know! I found someone in leadership who reads a lot of blogs, comments on those blogs, and even personally knows some of the bloggers. She helps select the right blogs for a certain story. Then I go and actually read the blogs I'm pitching. I read the "about the blog" section and the "about the author" sections, too.

3. Get an Introduction and Start Building a Relationship
I was lucky that I knew someone who knew the bloggers and was actually connected to the first story I was pitching. She e-introduced me and set up the story I was sending. Then I send a personalize hey-this-is-why-you-care bit and then included the press release.

Side note: yes I send bloggers a press release, and yes they actually run it. It works because I still send a personalized pitch. The release is added to the bottom of the message, with a "If you'd like a little more background, here's our official press release" note. I'm mostly pitching to info tech blogs and they do semi-regularly run a release and cite it as such (which I knew because I'd researched them)

I follow up and thank them when they run the story and ask if they'd like to hear about similar stories in the future. I've always gotten an enthusiastic "yes, please." Bloggers often have quotas, so just like traditional media they need story ideas.

In my limited blog-pitching experience (about 3 stories, so far), I've had about 150% success rate. That's because not only has every blogger I pitched, picked up the story, it'll also cascades into other blogs I hadn't even contacted. Got to love that.