It's Pastille Day!

UPDATE: This contest is closed. Six winners have been chosen. Their names were announced in a post on 7/19/2010.

No, it's not. Though some pastilles would taste lovely right now. It's Bastille Day, actually, and some prison food, even French prison food, would not hit the spot.

For me, it's Blogiversary Day!

Six years ago I finally got over my technical and creative shortcomings and I opened a free little blog that I decorated all in pink. My blog could be going to first grade in September. My blog would so fail first grade. It would sit in the corner and pick its nose and eat paste. Poor little thing.

After some indeterminate amount of blogging many people worry because, "Now whenever I experience something I'm evaluating its blog potential." I see where they're coming from but, for me, it was kind of a godsend. It gave me a focus because I did that evaluating and crafting and shaping thing long before I, or anyone, had blogs. I was working out something to say at a party or to a friend or at school so I'd have something useful to share in the least embarrassing way possible. To be sure that's not always worked out well either before or after I had a blog but it's been the way my brain works.

I am terrible at parties (yes, I will be at Blogher) until I can glom onto someone who directs the conversation a bit. Then I am only pretty bad at them. So on my way to any sort of gathering (yes, even if it was just the two of us and we were going to have lunch, and yes, even if we're related) I would watch everything around me and then maybe, I'd have to slam on the brakes for a black cat or the woman in front of me in line spilled a slushie or I passed an incredible street performer, and I'd mush that around in my brain, molding it into some kind of conversation-starter. Generally I'd use it the moment I walked in the door, petrified of forgetting the exact way I should tell it so spewing it out in monologue form, rather than waiting until the conversation lent itself to such a tale and using it to further an exchange. See above re: bad at parties. I'm getting better but, woof, I panic, what can I say?

Now I have a blog so I can collect these stories somewhere and not lose them. Having hundreds of friends and strangers read them is a damn nice bonus, too.

It's been a heck of a year for me blogging-wise, too. There are plenty of new eyeballs and voices here, many because of the time I got to spend at The Women's Colony, and that's started me down a whole new path. As a matter of fact, the new web site just showed up on my blogger dashboard this morning and I got a little choked up over it. JRH has been slaving away making a banner for it for almost 24 hours so things are really starting to happen! The site isn't live yet but soon. Soon, my friends, I promise. And you know what else will happen soon? This blog is going to get its very own, proper, no extension url! I bought it this morning. Just a few weeks before my first Blogher attendance and I'm starting to feel like a real, live blogger.

Crap. I still haven't made business cards. Anybody good at that?

Enough about me, though, I'd like to talk about you or rather I'd like to thank you actually and talk to you. How about a little giveaway then? Perhaps that will further the conversation. Since this little blog is 6 I'm going to give away 6 (very small) gift cards. Leave a comment on this post* before midnight on Sunday and on Monday I will randomly select 6 winners. Each winner will be able to pick the kind of gift card they would like. Dunkin' Donuts? Amazon? Donors Choose? Loew's? For an extra entry you can tweet about the contest (I'm @Kizzbeth over on Twitter).

If you'd like a little commenting inspiration I could use some input on the following:

• Should the Kizz & Tell site have a tag line?
• Should 117 Hudson have a new tag line?
  
  
  • What should those tag lines be?
• Who are you?
  
  
  • Where are you from?
• How did you find 117 Hudson?
• What is your favorite Harry Potter movie?
• Clooney or Pitt?
• Sarandon or Mirren?
• Grey's Anatomy or ER?
• Buffy or Twilight?
• You could ask me a question. Questions are fun.
• Throw me a good party conversation starter, clearly I need some.
• Just say hi.

Thank you for sticking around. Thank you for reading. Thank you for commenting and caring. I'm really excited about the next six years.

*I understand that some people are having trouble commenting on the site. I'm trying to fix it but haven't worked it out yet. If you try to comment on this post and are unable send me an email at isabeau6 at hotmail dot com. I'll publish your comment for you and get you into the contest.