1. Roast Duck with a red wine sauce
2. Shrimp Alfredo
3. BBQ Chicken
4. Prime Rib, Baked Potato, Green Beans and a Salad
5. Lasagana
6. Chicken Dumplings
7. Chicken Pot Pie
8. Poptarts
9. Pancakes (or waffles)
10. Pan seared chicken and cuscus
11. Roasted Pepper Rotini with Chicken
12. Ramen Noodles
13. Hamburgers, french fries and potato salad

Links to other Thursday Thirteens are in the comments!
(leave your link in comments, I’m a dofollower!)

1. Using a popular theme – Yes. Its extremely easy to use a theme that is widely available and very popular. Maybe you like the colors but so do 100 other bloggers and the problem occurs that all the blogs start to look the same after a while. Choose a theme that makes your blog stand out. If everyone is using three columns this month, switch to two. If the trend is towards lighter fonts on darker backgrounds, change it up. Be different. Make your blog stand out and your readers are more likely to remember your blog.
2. Agree with everything everyone says – Sure. Its nice that you and John Chow happen to feel the same way about a product or a website. However, writing a post that agrees with something that the major players say will gain you far less readers than writing a post disagreeing with them. The person you disagree with is also more likely to pay attention to you as well, especially if your counter argument is well formed and supported. Don’t just post “John Cow said this, but I disagree.” Back up your argument with examples and facts.
3. Widget Love!! – There comes a point when there too many widgets are a bad thing. This is especially true in the case of thirdparty widgets that load from someone else’s websites. Issues can arise that cause your site to never complete loading. Plus, your readers aren’t there for the widgets. They’re there for the content. CONTENT should be THE most important thing on your blog (yea, the widgets are nice, but really, out side of a select few widgets, they’re more for you than your readers!)
4. Once its posted, thats it – Don’t let the conversation stop once the post is published. Get some good dialouge going in the comments on your more popular posts or post a question regarding peoples thoughts on some less popular ones. The more you get people active on your blog, the better your blog will do.
5. Doing it for the money – Yea, money is nice and its always good to be able to pay the bills so the lights stay on, but if you’re blogging strictly for money, your posts will show it and you’ll get tired of blogging.
6. Talking above your readers – If your posts read more like a college textbook than a trashy romance novel chances are your readers are few. Don’t go all academic on your blog, keep it real.
7. Constant Tinkering – Do not constantly tinker with the theme, layout, plugins, etc. Thats what a dev blog on a subdomain is good for. The biggest reason for this is a simple mistake (you accidentally erase something, or add some code and something goes horribly wrong.) Its easy these days to setup a second “development” blog where you can test new themes, plugins and whatnot with out damaging your main blog.
8. Trying to make everyone happy – You can’t so don’t. Besides, if people like the drama thats going on on your blog, they’re more likely to return to catch up on it. That does not mean you have to pick fights with anyone who leaves a comment, but don’t bend over backwards either. Remember, its your site, you’re the only one who has to be happy.
9. Not Promoting your site – Unfortunately, your blog is not the Field of Dreams (such a good movie). If you build it, “they” will certainly not come, at least not with out a little help. You need to promote your blog. Use entrecard, use bloglog, blogcatalog, bloggingzoom. Hit your favorite message boards (don’t be spammy) or community sites. Post comments on OTHER blogs. Spread your link around and then they will come. Its simply not enough to simply build it these days (especially since EVERYONE has a blog).
10. Taking yourself too seriously – Seriously. Unless you’re a nationally syndicated columnist, you shouldn’t take yourself too seriously. When you start to fret more over what your readers think then whether or not you’re having fun blogging, its time to reevaluate things. The important thing to remember is that when it comes to blogging, the next guy is just as important as you are (doesn’t that make you feel better??)
11. Blogging about things you don’t know – Never a good idea. You wouldn’t get up in front of a group and talk about a subject you don’t know anything about (well, unless you’re me and its a college history class you need to pass) so why would you blog about something you’re not even vaguely familiar with? Before you blog, do your research. Better yet, stick to things you know (that means a car mechanic should talk about fixing cars and not about fixing the space shuttle)
12. Tire of blogging – Its tough blogging once or twice a day but you need to at least update a couple of times a week. Never let more than a few days go by with out posting. If you know you’re not going to be able to for a while, ask some other bloggers if they’d like to guest post. Give your readers a reason not to forget you as the saying goes, out of sight, out of mind!
13. Blog about the current hot topic – Did you see what Britney did to her children with that monkey?? Chances are if there’s a hot topic going around the internet (say, the google pr bitch slap) then there are tens of thousands of similar posts going on about how so and so was hit hard by the PR update. Instead of writing about the same thing as everyone else, come at it from a different angle. If everyone is writing about HOW they were affected, write about what you’re going to do instead. Hot topics are nice, but if the market is saturated with posts about it, your won’t stand out. I came across a really good post @ problogger about this very topic…

1. Find a Niche. Pick a subject (or a couple of subjects) and blog about those specifically. Don’t jump from Britney, to Politics, to Software reviews to auto racing on the same blog. Your posts would be everywhere and no one would be able to follow. If you want to blog about a variety of subjects, create multiple blogs (they can all be subdomains!). Look at the big guys, they all have a fairly narrow subject and they stick with it.
2. Blog regularly. Regular blogging helps keep you on your toes. It provides more content for your visitors and it gives them a reason to keep coming back. Not to mention, but it looks really bad when there is a month span between posts. Almost like you don’t care to blog.
3. Write about what you know. I’m a dad, a history major, a backpacker and an IT guy. It would be insane for me to blog about cars or soccer or even milking cows when I know very little about those things. However, I can blog about family experiences, computer related topics and even history and politics to some extent with a little credibility. It helps to sound like you know what you’re talking about. You wouldn’t go to the Doctor for a physical if his doctorate was in poetry would you?
4. Communicate with your readers. This is one thing that a lot of bloggers fail to do. Yea, you’ve written the post. Maybe your job is “done” but it shouldn’t stop there. If susie leaves a comment on your post follow up. Either a reply in the comments or an email to susie thanking her for her comment and commenting on it goes a long way to gaining a new reader. Besides, your readers are more likely to check back if they know you’re going to reply.
5. Don’t do it for the money. Yea, money is nice and its always good to be able to pay the bills so the lights stay on, but if you’re blogging strictly for money, your posts will show it and you’ll get tired of blogging. Not to mention, your readers will get tired of reading the CRAP you put out.
6. Relate to your readers. I know it sounds silly, but the better you relate to your readers, the more readers you’ll have. Instead of spouting off statistics, numbers and links, try and tell your story (think of each post as a story) on a personal level. If you add a bit of personality to your writing your readers will be more likely to relate to the post and find that nugget of wisdom in it you want them to have.
7. Post things you like. If you like something, chances are your readers will too. If you’re disgusted by something, again, chances are your readers will be too. One of the best things you can do is post about things you like (it goes back to posting about what you know).
8. Keep a journal. Call it what you will, but journaling on paper was the precursor to blogging as it is today and it still has a valuable place in every day life. Unless you’re a hermit living in your mother’s basement (sorry Gruntled) you’re not going to live connected to your computer/blog 24/7. Keeping a small notepad on you will help you remember what you wanted to blog about the next time you log on line (like that outfit the really fat guy was wearing at the mall today, or something your professor said in class about making sausage). Its easy to come up with ideas to blog about, its harder to remember them.
9. Write as though you’re having a conversation with a friend. This is a tricky one that could get a lot of bloggers in trouble and it shows in the blogs that use broken English as their main language. The trick is to write so not to seem stuckup and snooty. If you write as you talk (make sure grammar and spelling are correct) your readers will have a much easier time reading and will be more likely to come back.
10. Do not use a FREE blogging site like wordpress.com, blogger, livejournal or myspace. If you really want success as a blogger, pony up the $10 a year for a domain name and find some inexpensive hosting. Know though, that as with most things, the cheaper the hosting the cheaper the service. If you go for a cheap hosting plan, don’t be upset when you experience outages, downtime and poor customer service. The cheaper hosts aren’t concerned about quality so much as quantity.
11. Have fun. I mentioned post things you like above, but you also need to have fun. Successful blogging is a job (whether or not you see it that way) and as with most jobs, the more you enjoy it or have fun doing it, the more likely you are to continue doing it. Imagine that instead of blogging we’re talking about making widgets. You spend every day punching a time clock and standing on a manufacturing line making these widgets. Every widget is the same as the last. For the sake of arguement, lets say, they’re money making widgets. Each one is the same color. The same size and shape. After a while, the newness of the “job” wears off and you hit the snooze button in the morning because you really don’t want to make widgets again. Blogging is a lot like that. If you don’t enjoy blogging (I mean really enjoy blogging) it becomes a chore and one thats easier to give up than most. Don’t constantly blog about the fact that you aren’t making any money. Instead, blog about things like what you did with the little amount you have made. Blog about your children, pets (well, dogs really) or your favorite pair of shoes. Blog about things that are fun to blog about.
12. Comment on other blogs. Establish a network of blogs you visit daily. It doesn’t take long to pop in to five or ten blogs and leave a comment. Even if its just a “hey, this was a good post” comment. Almost every blog around will at least let you drop a link to your blog back in. Some of the cooler ones let you drop a couple. And every link counts.
13. Make social networking your friend. I don’t mean myspace. There are plenty of other SN sites out there. FaceBook (there is a really cool WordPress plugin for facebook), entrecard, digg, thoof, bloggingzoom, sphinn. These should all be your friends and you should be visiting them daily. One of the best ways to gain readers is to figure out what the hot button topics are and post about them. I don’t mean the “John chow said” type posts, but blog about the hot stuff in your own voice. Yea, hot button topics are good, but the same old crap isn’t. Bring a new and different (conflicting?) view to the scene and more people will visit and comment.

1. starting over – I started the blog with a clean slate in January of 07. Here’s the first post from the new blog.
2. Back to linux – I’ve been playing with Linux on and off since 2000. This time, I made room on the second disk in the laptop and installed sabayon with all the eyecandy (which reminds me, I should really give vectorlinux a try).
3. It Could Happen to You – We had a harddrive die last year and its like loosing a member of the family…
4. When Tech Support Isn’t – I had to provide my own support when my host couldn’t get my box booted…
5. WUBI!! – WUBI is a Ubuntu on Windows installer that virtually gives you ubuntu on your windows install. It was cool.
6. Tower Power – Someone was trying to put up a cell phone tower on some property across the street from our neighborhood….
7. 4th of July to Forget – Our fourth of July adventures on the high seas!
8. Blogday 07 w00t! – I listed a list of the blogs I visit on a somewhat regular basis. Check them out.
9. IWTGBTP!! – I finally got to take amy out west and she got to see the splendor of Colorado and New Mexico…
10. So Many Plates – Life is like a balancing act…
11. Three Must See Shows – Not that I’m likely to see the complete seasons this year (thanks you greedy money grubbing studios) but these three were the standouts in a season prematurely ended…
12. Playing Catch up – This one is kind of cheating. Its was the first link in the series about our trip to Disney World for Thanksgiving and has links to the other posts…
13. Make EntreCard work for you – A post about entrecard and how to make it work…

1. The celebration of the new year is the oldest of all holidays. It was first observed in ancient Babylon about 4000 years ago. In the years around 2000 BC, the Babylonian New Year began with the first New Moon (actually the first visible cresent) after the Vernal Equinox (first day of spring).
2. During the Middle Ages, the Church remained opposed to celebrating New Years. January 1 has been celebrated as a holiday by Western nations for only about the past 400 years.
3. The Babylonian new year celebration lasted for eleven days. Each day had its own particular mode of celebration, but it is safe to say that modern New Year’s Eve festivities pale in comparison.
4. The Romans continued to observe the new year in late March, but their calendar was continually tampered with by various emperors so that the calendar soon became out of synchronization with the sun.
5. In order to set the calendar right, the Roman senate, in 153 BC, declared January 1 to be the beginning of the new year. But tampering continued until Julius Caesar, in 46 BC, established what has come to be known as the Julian Calendar. It again established January 1 as the new year. But in order to synchronize the calendar with the sun, Caesar had to let the previous year drag on for 445 days..
6. The Tournament of Roses Parade dates back to 1886. In that year, members of the Valley Hunt Club decorated their carriages with flowers. It celebrated the ripening of the orange crop in California.
7. Although the Rose Bowl football game was first played as a part of the Tournament of Roses in 1902, it was replaced by Roman chariot races the following year. In 1916, the football game returned as the sports centerpiece of the festival. (Personally, I’d like to go back to the chariot races!)
8. Many parts of the U.S. celebrate the new year by consuming black-eyed peas. These legumes are typically accompanied by either hog jowls or ham. Black-eyed peas and other legumes have been considered good luck in many cultures. The hog, and thus its meat, is considered lucky because it symbolizes prosperity. Cabbage is another “good luck” vegetable that is consumed on New Year’s Day by many. Cabbage leaves are also considered a sign of prosperity, being representative of paper currency. In some regions, rice is a lucky food that is eaten on New Year’s Day.
9. An artificial spider and web are often included in the decorations on Ukrainian Christmas trees. A spider web found on Christmas morning is believed to bring good luck.
10. The use of an image of a baby with a New Years banner as a symbolic representation of the new year was brought to early America by the Germans. They had used the effigy since the fourteenth century.
11. It was once believed that the first visitor on New Year’s Day would bring either good luck or bad luck the rest of the year. It was particularly lucky if that visitor happened to be a tall dark-haired man.
12. Many cultures believe that anything in the shape of a ring is good luck, because it symbolizes “coming full circle,” completing a year’s cycle. For that reason, the Dutch believe that eating donuts on New Year’s Day will bring good fortune.
13. Other traditions of the season include the making of New Year’s resolutions. That tradition also dates back to the early Babylonians. Popular modern resolutions might include the promise to lose weight or quit smoking. The early Babylonian’s most popular resolution was to return borrowed farm equipment.

Have you made any New Years Resolutions you plan on not keeping??

Links to other Thursday Thirteens are in the comments!
(leave your link in comments, I’m a dofollower!)

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

 

]]> http://delusionsofgrandeur.org/2007/12/27/thursday-thirteen-13-facts-about-new-years/feed 5 http://delusionsofgrandeur.org/2007/12/20/thursday-thirteen-13-facts-about-christmas http://delusionsofgrandeur.org/2007/12/20/thursday-thirteen-13-facts-about-christmas#comments Thu, 20 Dec 2007 15:04:50 +0000 mcangeli http://delusionsofgrandeur.org/2007/12/20/thursday-thirteen-13-facts-about-christmas Thirteen Facts about christmas!
In no particular order…

1. Gospel writers Mark, Luke, and John don’t even mention the Three Wise Men. The one who does mention them, Matthew, does not specify how many wise men there were. We came up with the number three. In fact, historical accounts reveal the Wise Men and the shepherds visited the Christ child at separate times. There were no warm, sentimental manger scenes as depicted in today’s art.
2. Jesus was probably not born in December, but we do not know for sure. We know for sure more about the time of year when he died than when he was born. December 25 was a man-made date.
3. “Wassail” comes from the Old Norse “ves heill”–to be of good health. This evolved into the tradition of visiting neighbors on Christmas Eve and drinking to their health.
4. A traditional Christmas dinner in early England was the head of a pig prepared with mustard. (YUCK!! We’re going to be having London Broil for dinner and Gruntled will probably have tofu!)
5. According to the National Christmas Tree Association, Americans buy 37.1 million real Christmas trees each year; 25 percent of them are from the nation’s 5,000 choose-and-cut farms.
6. Alabama was the first state to recognize Christmas as an official holiday. This tradition began in 1836.
7. Although many believe the Friday after Thanksgiving is the busiest shopping day of the year, it is not. It is the fifth to tenth busiest day. The Friday and Saturday before Christmas are the two busiest shopping days of the year.
8. America’s official national Christmas tree is located in King’s Canyon National Park in California. The tree, a giant sequoia called the “General Grant Tree,” is over 300 feet (90 meters) high. It was made the official Christmas tree in 1925.
9. An artificial spider and web are often included in the decorations on Ukrainian Christmas trees. A spider web found on Christmas morning is believed to bring good luck.
10. An average household in America will mail out 28 Christmas cards each year and see 28 eight cards return in their place. (we mailed out around 36 cards)
11. As early as 1822, the postmaster in Washington, D.C. was worried by the amount of extra mail at Christmas time. His preferred solution to the problem was to limit by law the number of cards a person could send. Even though commercial cards were not available at that time, people were already sending so many home-made cards that sixteen extra postmen had to be hired in the city.
12. California, Oregon, Michigan, Washington, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and North Carolina are the top Christmas tree producing states. Oregon is the leading producer of Christmas trees – 8.6 million in 1998.
13. Candy canes began as straight white sticks of sugar candy used to decorated the Christmas trees. A choirmaster at Cologne Cathedral decided have the ends bent to depict a shepherd’s crook and he would pass them out to the children to keep them quiet during the services. It wasn’t until about the 20th century that candy canes acquired their red stripes.

And here’s a bonus one!

• The “Twelve Days of Christmas” was originally written to help Catholic children, in England, remember different articles of faith during the persecution by Protestant Monarchs. The “true love” represented God, and the gifts all different ideas:
  1. The “Partridge in a pear tree” was Christ.
  2. Turtle Doves = The Old and New Testaments
  3. French Hens = Faith, Hope and Charity– the Theological Virtues
  4. Calling Birds = the Four Gospels and/or the Four Evangelists
  5. Golden Rings = The first Five Books of the Old Testament, the “Pentateuch”, which relays the history of man’s fall from grace.
  6. Geese A-laying = the six days of Creation
  7. Swans A-swimming = the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, the seven sacraments
  8. Maids A-milking = the eight beatitudes
  9. Ladies Dancing = the nine Fruits of the Holy Spirit
  10. Lords A-leaping = the ten commandments
  11. Pipers Piping = the eleven faithful apostles
  12. Drummers Drumming = the twelve points of doctrine in the Apostle’s Creed

what are you hoping to get for Christmas? As long as I don’t get any fitness equipment I think I’ll be ok this year…

Links to other Thursday Thirteens are in the comments!
(leave your link in comments, I’m a dofollower!)

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
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]]> http://delusionsofgrandeur.org/2007/12/20/thursday-thirteen-13-facts-about-christmas/feed 7 http://delusionsofgrandeur.org/2007/12/13/thursday-thirteen-13-wordpress-plugins-worth-using http://delusionsofgrandeur.org/2007/12/13/thursday-thirteen-13-wordpress-plugins-worth-using#comments Thu, 13 Dec 2007 14:47:50 +0000 mcangeli http://delusionsofgrandeur.org/2007/12/13/thursday-thirteen-13-wordpress-plugins-worth-using Thirteen WordPress Plugins worth Using
In no particular order…

1. Akismet – Akismet comes default with wordpress installs these days. Its one of two plugins that do. Akismet is perhaps the single best tool against fighting blogspam that we have available today. Why my install of akismet has already blocked over 6,000 spam posts and blocks at least 100 a day. If you’re not using it, you really, really should be.
2. Commentluv 0.993 – CommentLuv is perhaps one of the coolest plugins I’ve installed to date. What it does is scrape the url you submit when you make a comment and it gleans the last post from your feed and adds it to your comment as a “Last post from” type addition. So you get some really good back links over time if you keep commenting on my site. I’ve received a lot of positive feedback over this one…
3. Comment Timeout 2.0.1 – This is another great comment plugin, this one though helps with spam like Akismet. Comment Timeout does what it says. You can set an amount of time (I think I have mine set to 30 or 60 days) that comments are open on a post before they are closed. Certain triggers like a large number of comments will cause the comments to be kept open on a single post, but for the most part this helps prevent spammers from going through your old posts and adding comments. Its helped cut down on the spam a lot as well.
4. Douche Bag – I haven’t used this one a lot but its fun to have. The guys at YoungGoGetter came up with a way to label comments you don’t like.. You simply add a tag to the comment and the image of your choice is shown (currently its a brown bag with the word douche on it).
5. WeatherIcon – This one isn’t so much a do something plugin, but I’ve had it on my blog for virtually ever. Its nice to know the weather here in teh ATL and I can, all I have to do is hit my blog. Besides, its pretty cool. Isn’t it??
6. WP-Polls A good way to encourage participation on your blog is to give people something to participate in. From time to time, I like to run a little poll to see what the general masses are thinking (I am in no way associated with any official polling company). Thats where this gem from Lester Chan comes in to play. You can specify the items in the poll and display them in a sidebar or a post. Its pretty nifty.
7. WP Grins – Clickable emoticons for comments. What more could you ask for??
8. WPG2 – I use gallery (menalto) for my image management and I needed a good way to integrate it in to the wordpress site. The team working on WPG2 has done an amazing job at making things work the way they need to. Could ask for a better gallery plugin.
9. wp-recent-links Some people use their wordpress install for little more than listing links every day of places they like and visit. I like to use my blog for blogging, but the wp-recent-links plugin works wonders for when I find that little nugget of gold on the web that I want to share with people I know (I was going to say like… but then I remembered Gruntled. I simply add my link and a description and bam. Its posted for the world to see. Plus there’s a cool link archive page.
10. Show Top Commentators – I’m not sure what a commentator is (I believe its a normal tator…) but I do know I like to show the top commenters on the site and this plugin does that. Its great for keeping track of monthly contests.
11. Wordbook – Recently, I created a facebook account (facebook is so much cooler than myspace) and this plugin allows me to post my blog posts on facebook with out any extra work on my part. Now thats nice.
12. Quoter -Allows commenters to quote other comments (dynamically or server side if they have Javascript disabled) and any other text in a page (Javascript only). Is nice when I want to specify what the heck I’m replying too.
13. In Series – I’ve used this only once since I added it (my posts about Disney) but its nice and for sites that are posting series of how-to’s its a god send. You can specify which posts are in the “series” and it adds a table of contents to the post making it easy for your readers to read all the articles in the series.

To see all the plugins in use here visit The Plugins Page

What plugins can you not live with out??

Links to other Thursday Thirteens are in the comments!
(leave your link in comments, I’m a dofollower!)

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
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]]> http://delusionsofgrandeur.org/2007/12/13/thursday-thirteen-13-wordpress-plugins-worth-using/feed 7 http://delusionsofgrandeur.org/2007/12/06/thursday-thirteen-13-awesome-christmas-gift-ideas http://delusionsofgrandeur.org/2007/12/06/thursday-thirteen-13-awesome-christmas-gift-ideas#comments Thu, 06 Dec 2007 15:31:59 +0000 mcangeli http://delusionsofgrandeur.org/2007/12/06/thursday-thirteen-13-awesome-christmas-gift-ideas Thirteen AWESOME Christmas Gift Ideas
In no particular order…

1. c.1970′s Bloomingdale’s Red Long Hair Sheep Fur Coat – This is for the pimp (or fraggle) in your life. What outfit is complete until you add this bundle of red long hair sheep fur?
2. volcom clothing – The ultimate outer wear for the snowboarder in your ilife who like likes to shred it up on the slopes or for those of us who want to pretend (it doesn’t snow here…)
3. Film is not Dead 2008 Wall Calendar a series of cool photos to help you remember that Film is not dead.
4. Tokyo Flash “Twelve 5-9 B Version” Watch #TWELVE-5-9-B Be the coolest spy on your block with this very James Bondish looking watch from Japan. Its so cool you know you want one… (I do if anyone wants to buy it for me…)
5. 160gb Black iPod – I know. The touch is sooo much cooler. Yea, it is, but for the same price (if not less) you can get 10 times the storage space than the touch. And besides, retro is cool.
6. AeroGarden Herb Kit its an HERB garden yo (not that kind). What gourmet chef would prefer to use dried herbs when you could give them fresh herbs year round??
7. Nintendo DS lite – Nintendo has done it right with their consoles lately (the wii rocks) and the DS is perhaps one of the best portable devices around. Even cooler is that they’re marketing them to my parents these days (have you seen the memory builder ads?)
8. Cuisinart® Grind ‘N Brew® 12-Cup Automatic Coffeemaker – Coffee Lovers everywhere know that the best cup of coffee comes from FRESH Ground beans (right gruntled?). The 12 cup Grind ‘n brew is the best thing since sliced bread for coffee lovers. Nothings better than waking up to a cup of freshly ground coffee in the morning except waking up to 12.
9. A Large handmade gift basket full of coffee (over 4 pounds) biscotti and more. Goes really good with the 12 cup Grind ‘N Brew…
10. Dark Chocolate Espresso Beans – Dark Chocolate has been found to help generate gray matter in brains. Espresso beans are really good at getting you going… why not combine the two in to the perfect Stocking Stuffer??
11. Lobster Gram – This really only works if you know someone who likes lobster, but Lobster Grams are a good way to send the one you love a nice meal that you two can cook together (be careful if cooking neeked…). I’m also pretty sure that if you type hannity in to the coupon code box you get a discount…
12. Red Swingline Stapler – If I need to say more, you need to watch Office Space.
13. Visa Gift Cards – yea, they’re a little impersonal and they kind of scream “I DON”T HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU WANT FOR CHRISTMAS”, but sometimes, thats just the gift we need to give. Besides, what do you give your postman?

Happy thanksgiving!!

Links to other Thursday Thirteens are in the comments!
(leave your link in comments, I’m a dofollower!)

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
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]]> http://delusionsofgrandeur.org/2007/12/06/thursday-thirteen-13-awesome-christmas-gift-ideas/feed 8 http://delusionsofgrandeur.org/2007/11/29/thursday-thirteen-13-photos-from-walt-disney-world http://delusionsofgrandeur.org/2007/11/29/thursday-thirteen-13-photos-from-walt-disney-world#comments Thu, 29 Nov 2007 19:14:34 +0000 mcangeli http://delusionsofgrandeur.org/2007/11/29/thursday-thirteen-13-photos-from-walt-disney-world Thirteen photos of our trip to Disney!
In no particular order…

1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 
5. 
6. 
7. 
8. 
9. 
10. 
11. 
12. 
13. 

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The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

 

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