Good deals on digital music? Yes please...

If you're on Twitter, you should think about following the Amazon.com mp3 feed. It links to the Amazon mp3 store which has a "Deal of the Day."

Generally speaking, it looks like Amazon sells digital music for cheaper than iTunes. Not in every case, but generally.

I'm also not sure about DRM with files you get from Amazon.

I don't think that Amazon will replace the iTunes Store for me. I am lazy, and the iTunes store is right in front of me when I've got iTunes open. Still, the Daily Deal is enough to at least make me look at Amazon's mp3 store when I've got an album I want but am not willing to pay $10 for.

I support 'Sound of Young America' awareness...do you?

Did you see the teal ribbon on my sidebar?

It links you to Maximum Fun's website which is kind of the nerve center of The Sound of Young America.

If you're not aware of TSOYA, you should be. If you're not, I'm beginning to think you aren't paying attention to me.

Anyway, click the link and show TSOYA some love.

Profiles in courage: Nie Nie Dialogues

I'll admit it: I came late to the party. I didn't know that Nie Nie Dialogues existed until I saw the "I read Nie Nie" patch on AnonymousK's blog.

I told y'all the other day about my love of blogs whose authors "keep it real." Nie Nie is the queen of Keep it Real-ville.

She's a wife and mother of four kids. She struggles with the same things that all women struggle with, only she seems to do it without breaking a sweat. It's not that these things come effortlessly to her so much as it's that she finds joy in it--even the messy, broken parts. She loves her life and exudes the kind of happiness that comes with true contentment.

In August, Nie Nie and her beloved Mr. Nielson were in a plane crash.

Now Nie Nie navigates marriage, motherhood, and the burn unit. And remarkably, even in the face of adversity, she still exudes joy.

Nie Nie's blog a well-written, compelling story about finding contentment wherever you are. Her blog challenges me to live authentically and to find joy in the midst of manure.

A non-sequiter of an observation

Do you know what I don't understand about athletes who take performance enhancing drugs and then say 'I don't know exactly what it was that I took'?

If you get paid oodles and scads of money based on how well your body performs, it doesn't seem natural to take something without knowing exactly what it is and how it will affect your body.

AnonymousK: blogger extraordinaire

I have this friend, AnonymousK, who writes a blog. In fact, you might be visiting my blog from hers as I was lucky enough to be featured as one of her Valentines.

I read a lot of blogs, most of which are written by people I don't know. I especially like blogs whose authors "keep it real." I like people who are self-assured enough to tell the truth, even when it's ugly. I find people like that inspiring.

AnonymousK's is not only a blogger with the courage to speak the truth, she is also someone I could email and not be embarrassed or fan girl-y about it. See, AnonymousK and I used to know each other well. We were friends 'back in the day.' What this really means is that she knew me at my most awkward and, as a result, has ammunition a-plenty. We lost touch, though, but through the magic of the Interwebs we became reacquainted.

The nice thing is, now we know each other as grown ups. What this really means is that we have decided to not bring up those awkward years and, instead, choose to relate to each other as mature, has-it-together versions of the people we used to be.

AnonymousK totally keeps it real. She talks about her life and her family (as a side note, AnonymousK's husband, Mr. K., was a friend of mine for many years. We were in First Communion class together back when I was Catholic.) She talks about her joys and her struggles. And she does it with a grace and authenticity that make me green with envy.

So go give AnonymousK some love, y'all! You'll be glad you did.

Mrs. Dude and the 'orgy of overshare'

I have this ridiculous love-hate relationship with Facebook.

I enjoy Facebook because I can stalk people catch up with people that I might not otherwise have time to stalk connect with.

The people in my life who are my Facebook friends fall into two categories:
1.People I am currently acquainted with either virtually or "In Real Life."
2.People I was friends with at some point in the past but with whom I will probably not become reacquainted with more than superficially.

There are some people who started out in Category 2 who have moved to Category 1, and for that I am eternally grateful for Facebook.

My problem with social networking is--

Wait? You're tired of hearing people rant about social networking?

Humor me.

--something I'd like to call the 'orgy of over-share.'

The thing that made me aware of this 'orgy of over-share' that Facebook is facilitating was that '25 things' meme that every. single. person. on Facebook is doing.

The gist is this:
Get "tagged" by your friend, make a list of 25 things about yourself that nobody knows, tag 25 of your friends.

I have enjoyed learning more about the people I truly am interested in. I even came up with 25 facts about myself. All of them were true, and most of them were dreadfully boring.

But it's growing tiresome.

There is now a 100-question meme and a meme for mommies about the birth of one's first child.

There's an A-Z meme and an iPod shuffle meme.

It's 'meme madness' people!

This giant orgy of over-share is making me kind of want some time away from Facebook. I like you, but I really don't want to know that much about you.

And I posted a status message yesterday that said something about stopping the 'meme madness.'

In response, my awesome friend Amy sent me a link to this article that included the phrase "virtual narcissism."

And that, my friends, is where we get to the heart of my beef with social networking.

For all of the awesome ways in which social networking helps us connect to other people, it's still just another way for us to talk on and on about ourselves.

It reminds me of that thought in psychology that when you talk to someone, you spend more time formulating your next thought than you do paying attention to what they're saying.

I know that I sounds like a hypocritical Jerky JerkFace by saying all of that after having participated in the 'orgy of overshare' myself.

I guess I just wish that all of us, myself included, were a little bit better about self-censoring and not so keen to share so much about ourselves.

January's epic failure, or, how I should never have resolved this in the first place

You know how I said that I resolved to read one non-fiction book per month?

You know what I'm about to tell you, right? That I'm not even halfway done with my book for January and it's February 2nd already?

I guess I could read two non-fiction books in February to salvage things. But that seems disingenuous somehow.

I'm kind of disappointed, but the truth is that I set myself up for failure. I should've started the month with the non-fiction book so that I had plenty of time to finish it.

In other news, I went on an awesome vacation that I plan to tell you about shortly.