Cooler Than Me: My Guilty Pleasure Music

I'm not going to go crazy about my age, because I'm still a young guy. But I also know that all the kids at the dance clubs and the all ages shows look like "kids" to me. I'm not old, but I'm not a teenager either. Actually, I'm at that parenting age that brands me as uncool. (Let's face it: If we let ourselves, we can feel uncool and awkward at any age, can't we?)

Anyway, I've been listening to a lot of Pop 40 music lately, and here's my Top 10 list of guilty pleasures that I can pretend I only like because my boys like them:

1. "The Time (Dirty Bit)," by Black Eyed Peas (off The Beginning album)
2. "We R Who We R," by Ke$ha (off the Cannibal album)
3. "Dynamite," by Taio Cruz (off the Rokstarr album)
4. "Only Girl (In the World)," by Rihanna (off the Loud album)
5. "Cooler Than Me," by Mike Posner (off the 31 Minutes to Takeoff album)
6. "Teenage Dream," by Katy Perry (off the Teenage Dream album)
7. "Magic," by B.o.B featuring Rivers Cuomo (off the B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray album)
8. "Like a G6," by Far East Movement (off the Free Wired album)
9. "Club Can't Handle Me," by Flo Rida (off the Only One Flo - Part 1 album)
10. "Bottoms Up," by Trey Songz (off the Passion, Pain & Pleasure album)

Okay, these are my current guilty pleasures. Do you have any?

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Want a good way to share your guilty pleasure music with others?

Why not give them an iTunes gift card? In fact, you should probably get one for yourself.

Click to continue.

My 2011 To-Do List

Every year, I make a list of resolutions. Some things get done; others don't. That's how it's traditionally gone. This year, I'm going to see if I can get everything done. The great thing about January 1st is that about anything is still possible.

Here's my 2011 To-Do List:

• Publish a collection of poetry. A carry-over from my 2010 list, I'm currently in the process of making this happen. (Click here to learn how to pre-order a copy of the limited edition chapbook.)
• Get down to and maintain a weight of 185 pounds or less. At one point in 2010, I was down to 192 (using this diet), so I know it's possible to get down to this weight. The trick is staying disciplined enough to maintain that weight. If I do, I should be able to...
• Run a marathon. I haven't picked out a specific race yet, but some candidates include the Air Force Marathon (Dayton, OH), Chicago Marathon (run on 10/10/10), or Columbus (OH) Marathon. Training at a lower weight will help, but it'll also help if I can achieve this goal:
• Run 200 days. I've only accomplished this a few times in my life, but having a very consistent running base becomes more important the older I get if I want to avoid injury. Slow and steady finishes the race.
• Help Den 2 Tiger Cubs have a great year. I've been having a great time as a Den Leader for my Den 2 Tiger Cubs, and I want to make sure all the boys finish the year with their Tiger Cub patches and a bunch of belt loops--while having fun and gaining responsibility.
• Pay off all credit cards. Tammy and I have been collectively digging ourselves out of debt for the past few years, and this is the year we could finally pay off our credit cards. Of course, with our growing family, we'll probably off-set this financial accomplishment by taking out a loan on a minivan. So it goes.

There are other goals too, but these are the biggies that I'd really like to have crossed off when I make out my 2012 list.

Do you have any big tasks on your 2011 list? Share 'em below, and we can hold each other accountable.

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Follow me on Twitter @robertleebrewer

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Here are some of the cool gifts I received this year during the holidays:

• Flash T-shirt. My favorite super hero on an XL T-shirt.
• Pax Zhu Zhu Pet. Yes, I got my very own Zhu Zhu pet; a rock star Zhu Zhu pet, in fact.
• Cookie Monster Pajama Pants. "C" is for "cookie," and that's good enough for me.

Happy Birthday, Tammy!

Today is my beautiful wife's birthday!

Here we are a few years back (in our courting phase) in front of the NYC Serendipity 3 restaurant.

Besides the fact that she's beautiful, I could list off a thousand reasons why she's so amazing, but to keep it brief: She's amazing to me, because we're both in synch with each other all the time. Even when we don't agree on something, we talk it out until we do. When I'm feeling worn out, she lifts me up. When I'm feeling frustrated, she calms me down.

But she does more than just make me content. She also challenges and encourages me to take on new challenges. She inspires me to try things I never would've done before I'd met her. And she is just the sweetest person to ever walk this earth.

Anyway, I said I wasn't going to list out all the reasons (and I haven't come close yet). Let it just be said that she's a perfect fit for me, and that I'm so happy to have her as my wife and as a mother and step-mother to my boys (and I know they are grateful too).

Happy Birthday, Tammy! I love you!

Recipe: Super duper jambalaya

Merry Christmas! We actually have snow on the ground here in Duluth, Georgia, on Christmas Day (now evening), which just doesn't happen around these parts often. The last time it even flurried in these parts was 1993!

Anyway, we had a great Christmas and have just put Will and Reese to bed for the night. Tomorrow morning, I'll be headed up to Ohio to collect Ben and Jonah through the New Year. But before I go to sleep tonight, I wanted to give the gift of a great recipe I use to make jambalaya.

Why jambalaya of all things? Well, Tammy and I are on our second straight year in establishing a Christmas tradition of having jambalaya for lunch. If you've hit your limit on traditional holiday foods, such as turkey and ham, then jambalaya may literally spice up the holidays for you.

Here's my jambalaya recipe:

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil
8 oz diced ham
8 oz sausage
1 large onion (or 1 tablespoon of chopped onion seasoning)
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon thyme
2 tablespoon parsley
1-1/2 cups chicken stock
1-1/2 cups rice (white or brown)
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1-1/2 tablespoon hot sauce (I prefer Frank's Red Hot sauce)
14 oz can of diced tomatoes
1 green bell pepper
2 tablespoons dry white wine (I prefer chardonay)
4 oz cooked, peeled shrimp


Preparation:

1. Heat oil in sauce pan and fry ham, sausage and onion for 3 minutes.
2. Add garlic, thyme and parsley. Stir well.
3. Add chicken stock, rice, cayenne pepper and hot sauce. Mix well.
4. Add tomatoes with juice. Again, mix well.
5. Bring contents to boil while stirring well. Then, cover and simmer on low heat for 15 minutes.
6. After 15 minutes is up, stir in bell pepper and wine. Then, cover and cook for 3 more minutes.
7. Add shrimp to mixture and cook for another 5-10 minutes.

I find this dish usually takes me about 45 minutes if I'm keeping myself busy chopping up the bell pepper while step 5 is simmering. It's ready to serve hot off the oven and can easily feed four (or more if everyone's not stuffing themselves). Plus, this dish re-heats well in the microwave. In fact, the extra time in the fridge allows all the spices to mix together even more. Mmmmm...speaking of which, maybe I should re-heat our leftovers from earlier today.

You can add more hot sauce to this dish, but I find it's better to go easy on the hot sauce while cooking. After all, it's easier to add more spice at the dinner table than it is to take spice away.

Enjoy! And again, Merry Christmas!

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Follow me on Twitter @robertleebrewer

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Need cooking new or updated supplies? Check these out:

• Cusinart MCP-12 Multi Clad Pro Stainless Steel 12-Piece Cookware Set (Pots, pans, etc.)
• Ginsu 7112 Chikara 12-Piece Stainless Steel Knife Set With Block (for cutting your onions, peppers, sausage, etc.)
• Progressive GT-3520 International 19-Piece Measuring Cup and Spoon Set (for making all those measurements from 1/4 teaspoon to 1-1/2 cups of whatever)

SEO Tips for Writers (How to Optimize Your Site/Blog Without Getting Technical)

Most writers may already know what SEO is. If not, SEO stands for search engine optimization. Basically, a site or blog that practices good SEO habits should improve its rankings in search engines, such as Google and Bing. Most huge corporations have realized the importance of SEO and spend enormous sums of time, energy and money on perfecting their SEO practices. However, writers can improve their SEO without going to those same extremes.

In this post, I will use the terms of site pages and blog posts interchangeably. In both cases, you should be practicing the same SEO strategies (when it makes sense).

Here are my top tips on ways to improve your SEO starting today:

1. Use appropriate keywords. Make sure that your page displays your main keyword(s) in the page title, content, URL, title tags, page header, image names and tags (if you're including images). All of this is easy to do, but if you feel overwhelmed, just remember to use your keyword(s) in your page title and content (especially in the first and last 50 words of your page).
2. Use keywords naturally. Don't kill your content and make yourself look like a spammer to search engines by overloading your page with your keyword(s). You don't get SEO points for quantity but for quality. Plus, one of the main ways to improve your page rankings is when you...
3. Deliver quality content. The best way to improve your SEO is by providing content that readers want to share with others by linking to your pages. Some of the top results in search engines can be years old, because the content is so good that people keep coming back. So, incorporate your keywords in a smart way, but make sure it works organically with your content.
4. Update content regularly. If your site looks dead to visitors, then it'll appear that way to search engines too. So update your content regularly. This should be very easy for writers who have blogs. For writers who have sites, incorporate your blog into your site. This will make it easier for visitors to your blog to discover more about you on your site (through your site navigation tools).
5. Link back to your own content. You may notice on this blog that I don't just let a blog post disappear into the ether. If I have a post on Blogging Tips for Writers, for instance, I'll link back to it if I have a Platform Building 101 for Writers post, because the two complement each other. This also helps clicks on my blog, which helps SEO. The one caveat is that you don't go crazy with your linking and that you make sure your links are relevant. Otherwise, you'll kill your traffic, which is not good for your page rankings.
6. Link to others you consider helpful. Back in 2000, I remember being ordered by my boss at the time (who didn't last too much longer afterward) to ignore any competitive or complementary websites--no matter how helpful their content--because they were our competitors. You can try basing your online strategy on these principles, but I'm nearly 100% confident you'll fail. It's helpful for other sites and your own to link to other great resources. For instance, check out my Reading List (in the right-hand column of the blog) and this recent post on Top Tweeters for Writers to Follow on Twitter. I shine a light on others to help them out (if I find their content truly helpful) in the hopes that they'll do the same if ever they find my content truly helpful for their audience.
7. Get specific with your headlines. If you interview someone on your blog, don't title your post with an interesting quotation. While that strategy may help get readers in the print world, it doesn't help with SEO at all. Instead, title your post as "Interview With (insert name here)." If you have a way to identify the person further, include that in the title too. For instance, when I interview poets on my Poetic Asides blog, I'll title those posts like this: Interview With Poet Erika Meitner. Erika's name is a keyword, but so are the terms poet and interview.
8. Use images. Many expert sources state that the use of images can improve SEO, because it shows search engines that the person creating the page is spending a little extra time and effort on the page than a common spammer. However, I'd caution anyone using images to make sure those images are somehow complementary to the content. Don't just throw up a lot of images that have no relevance to anything. At the same time...
9. Optimize images through strategic labeling. Writers can do this by making sure the image file is labeled using your keyword(s) for the post. Using the Erika Meitner example above (which does include images), I would label the file "Erika Meitner headshot.jpg"--or whatever the image file type happens to be. Writers can also improve image SEO through the use of captions and ALT tagging. Of course, at the same time, writers should always ask themselves if it's worth going through all that trouble for each image or not. Each writer has to answer that question for him (or her) self.
10. Use your social media platform to spread the word. Whenever you do something new on your site or blog, you should share that information on your other social media sites, such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, online forums, etc. This lets your social media connections know that something new is on your site/blog. If it's relevant and/or valuable, they'll let others know. And that's a great way to build your SEO.

Programmers and marketers could get even more involved in the dynamics of SEO optimization, but I think these tips will help most writers out immediately and effectively while still allowing plenty of time and energy for the actual work of writing.

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Follow me on Twitter @robertleebrewer

Or check out my Facebook fan page by clicking here.

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If there's nothing you'd rather do than learn even more about SEO, then you can do so with these resources:

• Search Engine Optimization: SEO Secrets for 2011, by Mike Monahan
• SEO Made Simple: Strategies for Dominating the World's Largest Search Engine, by Michael H. Fleischner and Greg Wuttke
• Search Engine Optimization for Dummies, by Peter Kent
• Search Engine Optimization: Your Visual Blueprint for Effective Internet Marketing, by Kristopher B. Jones

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Also, check out these other recent posts of interest for writers:

• Facebook Tips for Writers post
• Don't Raise Red Flags on Yourself (or Your Writing) post
• Changes in Publishing (and What it Means for Writers) post

Updates on My First Poetry Collection

Wow! I can't believe how quickly people are reserving copies of my limited edition chapbook (click here to read the original post). 25 of the 101 copies have already been claimed. I'm still planning on releasing the collection on April 1, 2011, but I suppose if I sell out before then, I'll roll up my sleeves and try releasing the collection earlier.

If you're interested in reserving a copy, all you need to do is send me an e-mail at robertleebrewer@gmail.com, and I'll provide more details. As a parent, I know that finances can get pretty tight around the holidays, so I won't be sending around information on payment until after January 1, 2011.

Since I keep referring to the collection as "the collection," I guess you've probably deduced that I haven't given the collection a title yet. But don't worry, I'm sure the name will assert itself as soon as I lock down which poems will appear in the collection.

Speaking of which, here is my first stab at a line up of poems:

1. Solving the world's problems
2. At the arboretum
3. We woke up and fell asleep
4. A small tear in the pillow
5. my sinister is sparking
6. like apple cider spiked with spirits
7. They're coming to get us
8. 8
9. Watching the ice melt
10. Cold water
11. The world will worry for you
12. Eavesdropping
13. Father's shoes
14. Of summer
15. Dream
16. Waking
17. My Little Prince
18. One day we looked for the snow
19. I think the world is a pin cushion
20. The last bomb on earth
21. My Father

Many of these poems have found individual publication over the years in places such as Otoliths, MEAT, Barn Owl Review, DMQ Review, Words Dance, OCHO, MiPOesias, Escape Into Life, La Fovea, and of course the Poetic Asides blog. However, I believe one or two of the poems have only ever been shared at public readings.

As part of the process of selecting these poems, I left out many poems that had been published over the years, because I either felt they didn't fit with the others, or I felt I'd moved on as a poet. Plus, there is a series of poems I consider "off limits" precisely because they are written to be part of a series of poems.

Similar to how I feel when I judge poetry contests, there were some poems I wanted to include, but I just couldn't for space considerations. One of my goals was to be especially hard on myself in making selections.

So, I still need to decide upon a title for the collection, and I need to figure out my cover. But really, I've already got ideas, and those are fun parts of the process.

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By the way, the poem that is currently slotted to be the first of the collection was recorded and broadcast by its original publisher, Didi Menendez, yesterday--totally by coincidence! Great time, eh?

Anyway, if you'd like to hear Didi read "Solving the world's problems," just click here.

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Oh yeah, and if you'd like to reserve a spot on the pre-order list, just send me an e-mail at robertleebrewer@gmail.com and let me know. The first printing is capped at 101 copies, so it really is a limited edition release.

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Follow me on Twitter @robertleebrewer

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Want to know what I'm currently reading?
It's Aaron Belz's collection of wonderful poetry, Lovely, Raspberry, which was released earlier this year by Persea Books. I've been a fan of Aaron's poetry for a while now (he wrote maybe my favorite Godzilla poem ever). He writes poems that are funny, surprising and amazingly human--all while playing with pop culture. If you can, you should definitely check it out.

Happy Birthday, Will!

My youngest boy turned two today! Happy Birthday, Will!

As you can probably tell, he was a little tired by time we got to the cake. However, he had a great birthday filled with food, family, and presents.

Yesterday, Tammy did a great job of cutting Will's hair. As some of you may have noticed in my Happy Thanksgiving post, Will had some very long hair previously. In fact, I can't tell you how many times strangers have mistaken him as my daughter. That won't be a problem anymore, since he definitely looks quite boyish now.

Anyway, I just wanted to share the little man's happy birthday with the blogosphere!