So, I’m doing the Blogathon (7.29.06) again this year.  This will be my 4th one actually. I’m really looking forward to not only blog but also being a monitor again. In fact, I plan to devote a lot of my blog DURING the Thon (7.29.06) to supporting OTHER bloggers. Should be a lot of fun! :-) Course, I AM still going to blog for my OWN charity as well.  I just haven’t figured out what charity to pledge for.  I thought about doing it for the NORML Foundation, but figured I’d have to work really hard to sell the Making Pot Legal argument to people, ya know. This is where YOU come in. I’d LOVE some suggestions.  Nominations, if you will.  I need a 501.3C Charity Foundation to blog for during the Blogathon (7.29.06) . Clearly it’s got to be something I’d already support, but I could surprise you with what I would support. So, won’t you make a suggestion? Nominate a Chairty.  Oh, I hope to raise $150 for this charity and they need to have an online donation option. That’s about it. :-) You people rock my socks, ya know! ;-)

I’ve recently been reaseraching charities, cause I havent picked one yet for the Blogathon. These are ones I loooked at, and liked, and felt I should link.  No telling if I will pick any of these for the Thon. These are as much for my own memory, as they are for sharing them with you. :-)

• The La Leche League International mission is: To help mothers worldwide to breastfeed through mother-to-mother support, encouragement, information, and education and to promote a better understanding of breastfeeding as an important element in the healthy development of the baby and mother.
• Alpha House of Tampa‘s mission is to empower pregnant and parenting women in crisis to realize their ability to break the cycles of poverty and abuse and create promising lives for themselves and their babies.
• http://www.houseofruth.org/ - House of Ruth
• The My Stuff Bags Foundation provides comfort and a message of hope to abused and neglected children entering crisis and foster care through its unique program, My Stuff Bags.
• Free Arts NYC is a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing the healing powers of the arts into the lives of abused, neglected and at-risk children and their families. Through painting, dance, drama, writing, music, sculpture, photography and other outlets of creativity, Free Arts volunteers help children and families express emotions, gain self-confidence and develop positive methods of communication.
• http://www.masf.org/ - Caridad Center
• The Freedom from Religion Foundation is a national association of nontheists working since 1978 to promote free thought and defend the constitutional principle of the separation of state and church.
• Established in 1978, Friendship Trays delivers over 700 meals daily to elderly, handicapped, and convalescing people who are unable or greatly restricted in their ability to prepare or secure meals and who reside within the area designed to be served.
• Misericordia has been providing services for persons in need since 1921. Today, our network of quality care consists of two campuses that embrace over 550 children and adults challenged by mental and physical disabilities.
  Habitat for Humanity of Hillsborough County is an official affiliate of Habitat for Humanity International. Formed in 1987, the Affiliate builds homes throughout Hillsborough County and has chapters in Plant City and the South County area.
• The Humane Society of Tampa Bay, established in 1912, is dedicated to the welfare of all animals because of their intrinsic value and rights. Its primary purposes are the prevention of cruelty to animals, the relief of suffering among animals, the extension of humane education and the provision of shelter-based services.
• Harvesters: The Community Food Network is Kansas City’s only food bank. Our network includes more than 550 not-for-profit agencies throughout our 13-county service area, including emergency food pantries, soup kitchens, homeless shelters, children’s homes, homes for the mentally disabled and shelters for battered persons.
• Rose Brooks Center is a comprehensive domestic violence agency that provides a full continuum of care including prevention programming, crisis intervention and other supportive services to thousands of women and children each year.
• Special Olympics Missouri (SOMO) provides year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with mental disabilities, giving them continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, experience joy, and participate in a sharing of gifts, skills and friendship with their families, other Special Olympics athletes, and the community. More than 13,000 athletes, from around the state, benefit from participation in the program.
• The Cherokee National Historical Society operates the Cherokee Heritage Center, a museum of history with displays of artifacts and historical exhibits, and a historically accurate Cherokee Village known as Tsa-La-Gi, which depicts Cherokee culture in pre-Columbian America.
• Through research, education and support, Prader-Willi Syndrome Association (USA) strives to improve the quality of life for all individuals living with Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS).
• The National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS) envisions a world in which all people with Down syndrome have the opportunity to realize their life aspirations. NDSS is committed to being the national leader in enhancing the quality of life, and realizing the potential of all people with Down syndrome.
  

As you may have read in the side bar, the 2006 Blogathon is coming up soon. There are 42 days and 13 hours until the 2006 Blogathon!  What is a Blogathon?  This will be my 4th year doing something like this.  I had a hard time deciding on a charity this year.  I had first though about doing the NORML foundation, but decided against it. I did some researching into local charities and charities in my home town.  I didn’t find one that called to.  After out Trpoical Storm this weekend, I decided I needed to do something in New Orleans. After searching around The Network for Good I found The Arc of Greater New Orleans.  Once I read the population served by Arc-GNO, I knew this was the charity I was going to do this year.

One of the requirements of the Blogathon is that the Charity chosen must have a way to donate online.  Arc-GNO doesn’t take donations via their website, but via The Network for Good.  No need to send money yet, but if you choose to sponsor me, which I hope you will, that’s one way you can donation to them.  Sponsorship hasn’t yet started yet on the Blogathon site, but I will be sure to let you know when it is. My goal this year, like it ended up being last year, will be $250.  I hope sign-ups open soon! ;-) And, I hope I can count on your support this year! 

I don’t see my concerns as either political or religious in nature. My concern is that there needs to be a sort of accountability we share as participants in the Blogathon. I feel. Now, I speak as an individual; while I am a monitor my only role is during the event and I am not speaking for anyone at Blogathon.

I feel that if an organization/charity/mission uses lies to “help” it’s intended population; if it practices misinformation and disinformation to “help” it’s intended population; then the organization/charity/mission isn’t really helping anyone. Lies only hurt; in whatever the situation.  Helping people make INFORMED decision is paramount.  The minimum for support can’t just be that it has 501 (c)(3) status. That’s just a tax code and hardly says anything about the quality and the validity of the organization.

Now, I cannot stop anyone from raising money for whomever they wish.  But, this isn’t just on her own.  The Blogathon serves as sort of a support network for bloggers raising money.  I feel as a collective we have a duty to everyone involved to take an interest in the validity of organization we choose to represent.  We’re a collective because we’re not only working for our own Charity; we’re working as a whole to cross-promote the event and get lots of people to donate to lots of different charities.

I personally feel that if Prairierose whats to participate in the Blogathon, she should choose another charity to blog for. If she feels so strongly that she must blog these two particular organizations ( http://www.timtodd.org/ or http://www.thetruthforyouth.com/standard/main.htm) then I wish her luck on her own and I’m sorry she won’t be a part of this really cool and fun event.  While it’s not in the rules, I feel as though there is a minimum ethical standard for behavior of organizations we all support.  Lies should not be enforced. Differences of opinion are birds with other feathers. I speak of direct unthruths. Lies to manipulate and control. Hiding information doesn’t make it go away; it just makes it hidden. What we cannot see hurts us the most.

I know I’ve rambled a lot; but I am sure I am not the only who objects to this “charity”.  I don’t make the decision for the Blogathon organizers, and whatever their decision it won’t chage my participation in the Blogathon. Giving back to the world around us in incredibly important and I won’t be swayed, by anyone or even myself, from participating.  I hope that my objections don’t dissuade anyone else from participating.  While I may object; other may support you.  I just could not remain silent.

All righty. The Blogathon is coming up in about a little over a month now.  I’ve been reading through the forums getting some ideas for scthick during the thon. See - my plan this year, is to focus a LOT on my monitees and other participants in the event.  I will be blogging for a charity (currently* it’s The Arc of Greater New Orleans) though.  During the thon I’m going to combine my own posts with psots about/for other Thon.  Since I need to have a plan for my OWN posts, I figured I’d steal an idea I saw on the forums.  Alphabytes.  I’m asking for suggestions.  One or two word suggestions.  Example

• A : an anorexic athiest
• B : bunnies
• C : catharsis
• D : deadend dangers
• E : .....
  

You get the picture. So, Those letters are just examples. I’d like suggestions for A-Z.  First come first serve, but I may put in backups just to be sure. The more the merrier; multiple suggestions will give me options. Options are good! :-) I’m gonna make the whole list in the extended entry, so you don’t have to go in alphabetical order! :-) Thank ya. Your suggestions will really help me. (Just leave em in the comments!) Having these little slugs to sort of focus the entries on makes it more fun to write, more fun to READ, and most importantly, easier to write! :-) Trying to do 10 bazillion things in every 30 minute period can make a person go crazy! :-)

*I say currently because I may need to change the charity. One of the rules about charities during the Thon is that they must offer online donations. This charity only does via the Network For Good, and as of yet I’ve not gotten confirmation from THEM that they allow donations via that system.  Unless I know for sure that they do I will need to change the charity. I wrote a week ago asking, and I wrote today telling them it was time sensitive.  If the one month mark comes and I’ve not heard, I’m gonna pick a new Charity.  Which makes me sad, but whatya gonna do?

So, the signups for the Blogathon have opened and I’m looking for a few good sponsors! As of yet, I’ve got one sponsor and it’s me! ;-) I am going to be blog for the National Down Syndrome Foundation. I have a cousin, Matthew, with Downs and a blog-friend recently adopted two girls with Downs.  I felt like this was the year for this charity.

So, you want to sponsor me right? My goal is $250 and the event is 25 days and 13 hours away, as of this post.  If you’ve never heard of the blogathon, lemme tell you a bit about that too. It’s charity event. Every blogger blogs every 30 min for 24 hours for their specific charity. All monies will be sent directly the given charity after the event is over. No money comes to me, or the Blogathon site. It’s a fun way to raise money for charities.

This is my 4th Blogathon.  In 03 I raised money for the Ploughshares Foundation, in 04 I blogged for mfAR - The American Foundation for AIDS Research {link} and in 2005 I blogged for Amnesty International. {link}

So, you’re just itching to sponsor me now, aren’t cha?  Sponsor Me!  Oh, and if you have a blog, and you want to participate, signups are still open; the more the merrier.  Comments are open for questions or concerns! ;-)

So, for the last week or so I’ve been working on a New Blogathon Layout.  I decided against doing just a skin in favor for a whole new template.  Expression Engine, which is the software I use for my blog, has some features built in that make this pretty easy to do. I’ve got the template set pretty much how I want it now; just a few minor tweaks and it will be all ready. You can check it out at it’s current location. Come July 29th at 8am when you visit Incogblogo the blog will only look like that.  You won’t see any of the other layouts/skins unless you navigate OFF the main index and the comments. I’d love some feedback. I’ve spent FAR too much time working on that thing, not to desprately want to hear what people think! :-)

The comments look a little different - and you can check those out by going to That Link and then clicking on interact on this post. That comment will show up there, as well as here, since it’s all the same place, essentially. :-) I’ve changed things up a bit in the comments, adding a drop down for the smiles, as well as adding some cheerleader graphics. Lemme know what cha think. 

The Sidebars contain some new boxes, that are specific to the Bloga.  The first box being “What’s with Today, Today” box.  (That’s a quote from Empire Records. damn the man, save the empire) In that box is a brief (sort of) explanation of what my blog is, why things are different today, and what you can do.) It pulls down though, as to save space and whatnot. The second box is about my charity the National Down Syndrome Society. {sponsor me!} The next box in the sidebar is Exclusive Sponsor Box.  What I plan to do is sell that box. You pledge 10 bucks and I will link you there for 4 hours. I will link your blog, your charity and your URL. Hopefully I can raise $60 for NDSS that way. The next box will link my sponsors, and what my goal/total donation amount is. Currently we’re at $139 with a goal of $250 $500! Then it’s in the the regular incogblogo sidebars. With the online avatars, the basics, the navigation links, the search function, the your two cents feature, and the on this day feature.  I’ve also got stat and ads. I’ve left the ads on because they were paid for outside of the thon, and I cannot justify leaving them off when traffic will be so high. They’re really outta the way and most people will y hardly notice them, and they’ll go back to their regular place after the thon.

I’ve mapped out a plan for my posts; coming up with 8 basic types.  I’ve got two raffles that will be happening during the thon as well.  I will write about these, and some other suprises, in a subsequent post.

I’ve mapped out a plan for my Blog posts. I’ve done this for lots of reasons. Part of it really is that I’m just a geek like that. Another part is that I’m prolly gonna be really busy during the Thon being a blog, a monitor and possible radio host so having a plan is really good idea.  I’m not actually writing the posts - cause Pre Writing is forbodden, so I am just writing out the basic plot or theme of the post. I’ve come up with about 8 different kinds. I’m gonna talk about a few of them in this post.

The First is one I’m calling Feature/Link.  Several times thought out the day, 6 actually, I’m going to write a post soley about other Thonners.  The minimum I’d like is 3 for every post, and will link up to as many as 9.  So, if you’re doing the Blog, comment this post and I’ll try to include you in one of those posts. I’ll be surfing during the Thon, and before, to find blog to fill these posts too.  :-)

Another type of post will be Trivia.  I did Trivia during last years Thon and I sort of kept it up, more or less during the past year here on the Blog too.  People seem to like it. Usually I give out BLEX Credits to those who play, and I may do that during these games as well (again six of theme), but my basic plan is to link the winners in my sidebar for the duration of the Thon.  Each post will have 4 trivia: one music, one movie, one famous, and one gen trivia question.  (Those subject to change.) It’ll be one link per game, per blog. So hopefully lots of people will play at these! :-)

A third type is the Alpahbytes. These are to either creative writing, or regular blogging entries. I’m just going to use some alphabetical notes to theme them.  Like, the first one will be “brought to you by the letters Z, C , I and Q.” I’m still taking suggestions for this, on this post, feel free to submit some. The more the merrier! :-) I’m taking suggestions now so that, mostly, I can avoid the brain death that sometimes occurs when I go to write a post without some sort of idea.  :-)

It’s time to discuss Schwagg for the 2006 Blogathon! So far*, I’ve got Two different kinds of Blogathon Schwagg!  A raffle for a teddy bear, and prizes for trivia games.

This Bear is a Sponsorship Premium Raffle. For every 5$ you contribute you get one Virtual* ticket for this raffle.  After the ‘ (and it’s Sabbath schedule) are both over, I will print those ticket numbers out, cut them into little strips, and have my husband pull one out of a hat.  We’ll do pictures of this as well.  One winner willl win this ridiculously cute teddy bear.  It’s from the Build-a-Bear Workshop. I purchased and put together the bear with a friend. She’s a Cocoa bear dressed in a Pink Poodle skirt and a copper colored wig.  We’ve been calling her Penny - it’s short for Penelope. She’s even got her initial on her shirt - embroidered in pink.

*A Virtual Ticket is an email with the #’s of your ticket.  For an example. I sponsored myself for 10$ bucks, so I’ve got the number 1 and 2. I’ll send myself an email with my numbers.  (I am not going to participate in the drawing for the bear.)

These notebooks are prizes for the Trivia Games. There will be Six Games of Trivia were these notebook will be offered for prizes.  The first being at 9:30 am EST, 30 minutes into the Thon. (1:30pm EST, 5:30pm EST, 9:30pm EST, 12:30am (sun) EST 4:30am (sun) EST) During each game there will be several trivia questions.  The first commenter with all of those Trivia questions correct will win a notebook.  If the commenter so chooses though, I will sponsor their blog for $3 instead.

They’re All Cover Songs - Downloaded From http://music.metafilter.com/.  Three Different Bands

During the Blogathon I plan to have these Music Games - where the prize is $2 pledge to your charity (or the charity of your choice). I figured I’d get one ready before the thon, and do a Test Run if you will.  If you can tell me what these three song have in common* - I’ll pledge $2 bucks towards your charity OR send you 100 BE credits OR pledge $2 to the blogger of your choice!  Just put your entry in the comments.  Remember that non members comments are moderated, so someones answer may show up before yours. :-)

You Spin Me Round
{link}

Wonderwall
{link}

Welcome to the Jungle
{link}

*They’re in a set for a reason. So, what’s reason?  You’re gonna have to listen to the songs to find out.

What is Vox?

*There is currently a single account type available, the Standard account. Standard accounts are able to use all of the features in Vox, including blogging and adding items to their library. Members may also have the ability to send invitations.

lol I gues it would have been good to link Vox in the post! :-)

Sponsor Me!  Sponsor Me!  Sponsor Me!  Sponsor Me!  Sponsor Me! 

In years past there’s been a sort of “unoffical” theme song to the Blogathon!  I think that Lewis came up with it in a chat room a couple years back.  I figured I’d share.

Spongebob Squarepants Theme

I’m not sure how the Time Warp came about, but I am sure that someone mentioed it at some point! I’ve got a Remixed version of this song, but I’m not sharing THAT until the actual Thon! ;-)

Time Warp - The Orginal

Things today I got my dad to announce the Blogathon on his radio show. I hope it’ll help. I’ve also spent a lot of time ripping and downloading music - legally i might add - for games and MY radio on Saturday.  (Noon to 2pm EST {Blogathon Radio Link}. I’ve got TWO types of games with music : Music Match and Guess Theme/Title.  And since I’m weird like this, i know when I will posting these games and I’ve written a little schedule for you on the Blogathon Layout.  You’ll see that I’ve also got the Trivia Game Times listed as well. In those games you’ll can win actual physical prizes (and)OR sponsorship dollars! I’ve talked about these before, even posted pictures. {link} There will be lots and LOTS of filler posts in between the games.  Audio posts, pictures posts and musical posts too. It’s gonna be a crazy time here on Saturday. I sure do hope that you stop by, and stick around all day! 

Yay!  Now is the time to announce the next and some would say the BIGGEST piece of Schwagg I’ve got this year on Incogblogo - The Blogathon! 
A free “designers choice” custom template for you blog by Rachel of Weblog Design Studios! Here are the rules n stuff, written by Rachel herself! ;-)

Now, this isn’t as straight forward as the other Shawgg thingies.  This one will have rules n stuff and what not. But, since it’s all for people doing that stuff DURING the actual Thon, I’m not going to post anything more about it yet.  (And really, it has nothing at ALLL to do with the fact that I’ve not yet worked out the details of how I want to “give it away.” Not one little bit.)

Who lives in a pineapple in the time warp again?

It was time.

The SpongeBob Squarepants Theme

IS ALLLLIIIIIVE!  (what do you think?!?) check out all the sidebars and stuff. not only do we have wittier titles but weve got a new order and some new boxes. you can learn LOTS of things about when im doing stuff during the thon! :-)

Please note that I have now taken over this blog. You will all listen to me and my silly stories! bwahahahahahaahaha.

*cough cough*

Ok, sorry about that. I’m just making an initial test post to let you know that I will be making a post during the blogathon. I will not say what time, but instead you’ll have to anticipate it and wait for it.

I will be looking forward to saying some words to you all.

That is all. Move along now. Go on.

Testing… testing… 1… 2… 3… I think we’re clear.

Good evening ladies and gentlemen.

My name is Jono and I will be taking over for just a few seconds while Luka’s not looking… mwahahahaaaaaaa.

...to be honest, that’s all I’ve got to say. If you want more of my ramblings, I’m usually to be found over here.

Night all!