brainstorming

MAWB Squad It Is - Here! We! Go!

Despite the stereotype that us women can't agree on things or make decisions, the ladies of the M.A.W.B. have decided on a domain name in record time.

For right now, you can find the new site here.

As soon as I get domain parking figured out, the new URL will be MAWBSquad.com

Once I work out the kinks on domain parking, the process will take about 24 hours for it to become effective.

Meanwhile we have all those decorating decisions to make.  (I imagine I'll push for antiques to clutter the place up and one of the others will lobby for a contemporary look.  If we stage a cat fight, we'll surely get the attention of these guys.)  In other words, the site is functional, and we can post on it, but we'll need to spiffy it up in the coming days.  Come on over and help us give the place that "lived in" look.

Still Messing Around

Ooooh.  Typepad has spellcheck.  Power windows and locks also come standard.  Heated seats extra.  (Feel free to delete this mess, DC.  I'm just playing around.)

Vote for a Blog Name

I've put polls up on the left and right sidebar for a MOB Ladies blog name.  We'll use these to pick the top names and then have a final run off.

I tried to weed all the suggestions that seemed to be serious from our various blogs and comments sections.  If you want something added, shoot me an e-mail or leave comments.  I can revise the poll and repost it.  (I didn't use up all my free polls yet even after my trial and error.)

I left out some names because when I checked the domain registration a dot com suffix was not available.

On a personal note, I'm not sure I want to be known in the blogosphere as a Chick or Babe.  Dames, Ladies, or Women would more suit my taste, I guess.

Of course the other ladies are more than welcome to post here to lobby for their favorites!

Update:  There are two polls because there's a maximum of 10 choices allowed per poll.  If you really like one name, it might be better to vote on only one of the lists.  I wanted to allow multiple choices, but it appears that's not an option.

More suggestions for blog name

MOBcap.com (those shower hat looking things that ladies wore in the 18th century). 

MOBette.com

Minervablog.com

Northstarlets.com

For the vote, let's do two polls, a first attempt then a run off of the top 2 or 3 since so many names have been suggested.

Am I late to the party?

How about remembertheladies.com (Abigail Adams admonition to John Adams when she pointed out that the women were just as important as men to the revolutionary war making gunpowder and bandages.)

Also Anniegetchergun.com or is that too 2nd amendment sisters?

The one thing with an acronym is that it's harder to remember for people who are typing it and harder to pass on verbally over the din of a bar.

Just my 1.5 cents

Morning Thoughts

I like MAWB Squad.

I've been playing with the thesaurus and looked up "publication", which gave me the following thoughts:

MAWB Skinny
MAWB Cast
MAWB Flash
MAWB Talk

I still think I like MAWB Squad better.  (What? No one went for Get Your Red Hots?)  I'd actually like to keep MOB spelled MOB for simplicity sake, but it would be harder to find a domain name starting with MOB.  (For example the MOB Squad domain is for sale with a starting price of $688.)

The way I understand domain mapping, we can choose whatever dot com address we want and have it automatically point to the typepad address.  I haven't tried it, but it can't be all that hard.

As far as the design,  my Typepad account supports multiple blogs, so we can go whatever direction we want:

-  Start fresh with a new design
-  Rework Brainstorming to suit our needs

If you noticed when you posted, you have the option to date stamp when the post appears.  So we could actually transfer over all the posts from our archives if we wanted and have them show up when they were originally posted.  I would guess there's actually an easier way to import them if anyone is interested.  We'd have to check with Typepad.

FYI, My nephew did the current header on Brainstorming.  We could use a standard template until we had a new one designed.

Also, I would guess some of the women of the MOB might want to keep their current blogs and just contribute to the new site.

Update: Hewitt's been on the "swarm" concept.  Mob Swarm might be another option.

Update II:  Believe it or not, mobsters.com doesn't come up when I try to load it.  Could this domain be available?  I like the simplicity of it.  It could also make for a fun blog theme.  CORRECTION.  Not available.  I've started to use a domain name search and almost every variation of mobsters is taken.

Update III:  MAWBSquad.com is available.  MOBSquad is only available in .info or .biz configurations. Mobswarm.com is also available.

If we go with MAWBSquad.com, the next thing we need to decide is whether to redesign Brainstorming or to start a new blog.  I want to do that before we buy the domain name because it looks like there's a registration site Typepad has worked with that will allow me to point it to the Typepad address as part of  buying the domain name and getting it set up.  So I would need to know whether to start a new blog under my account or point it to Brainstorming's URL.

MOB Women Joining Forces

In case you haven't heard, the MOB ladies are talking about joining forces into a group blog.  I've sent out passwords that will allow people to try out Typepad to the following:

Margaret
Cathy
Jo
Macaroni Penguin
Ellen
Mary
Peg

No final decisions have been made.  I'm really hoping at least some of us decide to group blog. 

By the way, I neglected to say in the invite, please go ahead and put a post up here on Brainstorming to see if it works for you.

Keegans' Trivia

I finally made it to trivia night at Keegan's.  I want to thank everyone there, and especially Jo, for going out of their way to make me feel welcome.  Our team didn't win, but then again neither did Fraters, ha ha ha.  (They did get 20 of 25, the same as the winning team. but they had five people on their team so the prize was awarded to their competition, a team of two.)  Our team came out of it with a presentable 18 of 25.

I got through some e-mails before everyone arrived thanks to the free wifi, which gave me a great excuse to blow off doing any work when I made it home.  Yeah!  If I keep this up, people might actually believe I have a social life.  (Well at least I can pretend.)

Update:  Policyguy, who was on the Fraters trivia team, informs me via the comments that they did win the prize after all. 

A Healthy Carnival?

This idea has been rattling around in my head for quite a while and it's time I do something about it.

It's a Carnival thing.  Now before you get all defensive, I know we have a ton of carnivals in the blogosphere.  The Vanities, the Capitalists, Recipes, the Liberated, etc.  How could we possibly need one more Carnival?

Because it would be good for us.  This one is for our health.

In the past year I finally decided to face my unhealthy lifestyle and do something about it.  For me that meant joining a diet plan and starting to exercise for the first time in my adult life.  Next on the list is to quit smoking.  (Horrors!) It also means that in order to maintain the changes I need to make, I will have to change habits for a lifetime.

With the New Year just behind us, many of us resolved to get in better shape.  I notice Steve blogging about exercising.  Chumley blogging on weight loss goals.  David telling us about sleep apnea.  That's just a sampling from a few local blogs.

We have Grand Rounds, but the posts are really from the perspective of the health care provider.

Normally, sitting behind our keyboards is not going to help us to be healthier.  But if we use this medium to share information and motivate each other it could be a good thing.  Think of all the possibilities:

• Atkins? South Beach? Slim Fast?  What plan did you choose and why?  Is it working for you?
• Do you have a favorite exercise video?  Is it for the beginner or someone more advanced?  What makes it great?
• Have you taken a favorite recipe and reduced the calories? Share it with me!
• Have you found new favorite products that fit into your goal of losing weight?
• How do you stay motivated?
• What health care problem went undiagnosed?  I've seen bloggers talk about OCD, Panic attacks, etc.
• What do you order when you eat out?

I'm not good at naming things.  Maybe it would be best to leave it at Carnival for Your Health.  I'm open to suggestions.  I'd appreciate it if you find the idea interesting if you would publicize it on your site or leave a note in the comments.  If there's enough interest, I'd like to have the first entries submitted by Friday, Feb. 4, with the first Carnival to be posted on Monday, Feb. 7th.  I'd also be looking for other bloggers to host each week going forward. 

So, drop me a line and we'll see if it's just me.

Saturday and the M.O.B. Party

So I think I've mentioned before that I practice extreme sleep deprivation throughout the work week and then make up for it by a major crash on Saturday morning.  (Except during soccer season, which calls for early Saturday morning games.  I either nap or exist in a fog.) How major?  I think the record was last Saturday when I got up at the fine hour of 3:30 PM.  (Please hold your applause until the end of the post.) Of course, that wasn't in the cards this past Saturday because it was the day of the big event at Keegans.

Part of adapting to life in the country is making the most of your trips to the city.  (Some locals seem to be able to shop for all their needs close to home.  As an imported country dweller I'm not so adept.)  Even though I get down there about once a week, it seems there's always a long list of things I should get done.

So I set the alarm for nine, overslept, and finally got out of here about one-ish, dropped off the Girl's pals that spent the night and headed out.  Turned on the NARN show for the drive to Forest Lake and started on the "list."

• Get nails done - (I got sick of cringing at my fingernails when I'd notice them during meetings.)
• Office Depot
• Cub - New parents kit consisting of one meal, appetizers to desert, that requires no more work than turning on the oven.
• Order Savoy to pick up when I get to St. Paul.
• Drop off dry cleaning - Did you know Gold Eagle in Roseville does dry cleaning by the pound?
• Pick up Savoy - Good thing we didn't try to eat in.  Only 5 o'clock and I had to park a block and a half away.
• Stopped by my cousin's house to meet her new baby boy born on Christmas Day.  What a cutie.  (Yes! I held it. Yes! I smelled it!  Luckily I am to the point where I'm past wanting another one of our own.)

Finally off to the M.O.B. party at Keegans!  Our social life these days consists of work, kids, and family.  So it's a little scary to venture into the outside world, especially to meet a group of people who is so on top of things, but well worth the effort.

I spent some time talking to David Strom about sleep apnea, which I'd researched previously.  (I'm really pleased to hear he got diagnosed and is taking care of it.) Blogging celebrity Scott Johnson stopped by while we chatted. Then I stopped and met David's lovely wife Margaret.  Their party round up, with lots of pictures, is here.

Off to chat about home security measures with Cathy in the Wright, trendsetting in her flanel PJ's, but we both got caught up in other conversations.

It was a pleasure to meet Mama Ellen and Doug from Bogus Gold.  I commend everyone brave enough to try home schooling.  I forgot to harass Doug for virtually blowing me away in this post.  You just don't get the intriguing psychology of watching the stone cold bluff, eh?

Jo and I talked about dogs.  (Jo has a houseful of critters.  We had to get rid of the Puppy for going after the Boy.)  She then kindly pointed the way to Mary!  Mary and I have missed meeting each other at blogging events for the last year or so.  We were both flying solo at Keegan's, having left our non-blogging spouses at home, so we shared life stories and teamed up for the remainder of the evening.

We had the pleasure of sharing a table with Swiftee, John of Crazy But Able, Captain Fishsticks, a reporter from Grand Forks and his companion.  (I thought his name was Lee, but I can't find him on the Grand Forks Herald site.  If you stop by, drop your name in the comments.)

I did stop by and tell Lileks that I bought Interior Desecrations for my nephew for Christmas. We had a great time passing it around and cracking up.

Other sightings:  Mitch was a great host as always.  Of course the Fraters crew were all in attendance as was King from SCSU Scholars.  I missed Captain Ed.  Maybe he left before I got there. I met the guys from Freedom Dogs.  (Is it just me or does it take their site forever to load?)  I'd met Doug from Belief Seeking Understanding at the last M.O.B. gathering. 

I'm really sorry I missed meeting Peg from What If, Noodles from People's Republic of Minnesota, and Kelly from The Patriette among others.  Speaking of The Patriette, did you read the great news? Josh proposed on Saturday night and she said yes!

  Sincere Best Wishes to you both!  I'll definitely be praying for you during his tour in Afghanistan.

After Mary and I shared one of Keegan's tasty Corned Beef Sandwiches, I had to head out about 10:30.

What does one do after a M.O.B. gatering?  Stop for groceries at CUB of course.  Last item on the list for this cities trip.  Got home about 1:15.  Turned out the lights about 2:30.  Up for church at 7.  Yes, I napped yesterday afternoon.  Why do you ask?

Update: Added some of the M.O.B. links to the sidebar as I typed this.  I also forgot to mention we need an open mike or master of ceremonies or something at these gatherings so we manage to meet everyone.  How many of us are planning to be at the Hugh/Beinart debate?

Update 2: Learned Foot at the Kool Aid Report deserves special mention for this write up of the M.O.B. party.