Live and Let Di

Parallel Universe

It is with no small amount of relief that I announce that Ruth from Winchester, VA won the copy of Parallels 3.0 for Mac that I offered in my contest last week.

The relief came when, after I pulled her name from the metaphorical hat (using my handy-dandy =RANDBETWEEN function in Excel...sometimes even I think I'm a geek!) I saw that she clearly understood what it was that she was winning.

Ruth won the copy of Parallels 3.0 for Mac in the foreground NOT the MacBook Pro in the background. Some of the contest participants were a wee bit confused and wrote heart-rending pleas that I "randomly" draw their names to win my MacBook Pro. I would probably not even give my MacBook Pro to my own children...in my will!!!

But anyway...thank you to all of those who participated! Stay tuned. You never know what I'll be giving away next. Anyone need a husband???

Di

Thursday Thirteen (Vol. 81)

When lame Thursday Thirteen topics are discussed, 13 Things on My Desk is usually considered one of the lamest. But I'm going to do it anyway (hi Nicholas!)...AND make it interesting!!! It's a lame Thursday Thirteen! It's a contest!

13 THINGS ON MY DESK
(ONE OF WHICH I AM GIVING AWAY TO A RANDOMLY SELECTED COMMENTER)
***Please indicate in your comment if you actually WANT this thing so I don't give it away to someone who will then have it cluttering his/her desk. Contest winner will be drawn on Monday, June 16 at noon!!!***

Here's the big picture...and following is a list of 13 items in the picture...kinda like Where's Waldo for people with messy desks.

1. Parallels Desktop 3.0 for Mac -  This software is touted by MacWorld magazine as one of the best for running Windows programs on a Mac. I bought it when I thought I needed such a thing and then, before I even loaded the software, found a different work-around for what I was trying to do. I've lost the packaging, but everything else is there and unused...CD, User Manual and Registration Card. So just leave a comment saying that you want it and you might be a winner!

2. Eight Below - waiting to wing its way to the winner of last week's giveaway.

3. Reading Woman Postcards in picture frame - from my Mom. It will be the first thing that gets put up in my study when we move into the new house.

4. My beloved MacBook Pro...with my desktop picture of my beloved children and nieces and nephews.

5. Origami Lotus Flower - yes, I am a frustrated teacher or something. I've created a bulletin board for our Ladies' Golf group where each lady who makes a birdie gets an Origami bird and each lady who makes a par gets a...prepare yourself..."par-tunia," indicating the name, date and hole on which the feat was accomplished. The Origami lotus flower in this picture was for practice.

6. Logitech Pure-Fi Anywhere speakers - purchased on a whim at the Apple store. Love it! I can listen to tunes on my iPhone while I'm working.

7. Staples Splat calculator - pink.

8. Magnetic Note Pads - one with my last initial and a shoe and one with the header "momneeds" from Triangle Mom2Mom where I am a contributing blogger. The latter has the addresses of the three places I took my daughter and her friend on a last-day-of-school outing! Keep that in mind when Mother-of-the-Year nominations come around.

9. A Disney coffee mug filled with pens (that probably don't work) - I've had this cup for probably 20 years. Someone brought it back from Disney for me when I was working my first "real" job after college.

10. A portable phone - that is actually on its base!!!! This is a rare occurrence at my house. Savor it.

11. A birthday card and bookmark from my Mom & Dad - my Mom is so good about cards. I am so bad about cards. But I really appreciate the wonderful cards they send me!

12. A Mother's Day card that I bought for my Mom and forgot to send - see...I'm really bad about cards. I'm going to send it right now. Do not keep this in mind when Daughter-of-the-Year nominations come around!

13. A black tape dispenser (laying on its side) and a red stapler - it is highly unusual for these items to actually be where they belong instead of on the floor in the living room or in one of my kids' rooms. Please note that there are no scissors to be seen so the universe will not implode due to the juxtaposition of three impossible events coexisting in one place!

I hope you've enjoyed the tour of my messy desk. When you leave a comment, feel free to tell me about anything interesting on your messy desk. And BE SURE to let me know if you want to be entered into the drawing for Parallels Desktop 3.0.

Di

 

Eight Below...we have a winner!

We have a winner in the exciting Eight Below Giveaway!

We had a record-breaking 198 entries!

Two entrants got extra entries by posting links on their own websites.

Thanks go out to:

Jennifer at Random Thoughts & Suggestions

Barbara at Momfor3

The winner was Jean from Toledo, Ohio!!! Jean's copy of Eight Below will be winging its way to her sometime this week...when the heat breaks and I can bear to get in my car and go to the post office!

I always love doing contests because I hear from people who don't normally comment. I loved some of these comments:

"It just laid around in your junk drawer unopened? I need to come raid your junk drawer! Mine is full of paper clips, bits of paper receipts and pencil nubs." - I will be giving away paper clips, bits of paper receipts and pencil nubs NEXT week!

"I would like to win this for my daughter; she's a Bruce Willis fan." - Bruce Willis is in no way associated with this movie, but that's cool!

"anything that is free, isn't lame!" - good point!

"As a dog lover I would definitely enjoy winning this movie. I'd love to relax with a bowl of popcorn on a rainy afternoon and bring some sunshine to a rainy day with a delightful movie." - sounds delightful!

Thanks to everyone for entering! And check back for more contests!

Di

Can't teach an old reader...

...new genres. I really tried. I had the highest of hopes.

The Stone Gods seemed like the perfect book to expand my reading repertoire. The description and reviews made me think I could branch out into Science Fiction. Words like "witty," "satirical" and "provocative" put this book on my TBR stack.

Unfortunately, I seem to be incapable of forging new trails in my reading world.

So, I am offering this book to a randomly-selected reader who already loves this genre or wants to expand his/her horizons to include a new genre.

Here's what you can win:

1. A hardcover copy of The Stone Gods by Jeannette Winterson shipped to you via the cheapest possible postal method. (Sorry. Live and Let Di is a self-indulgent, non-income-producing blog, so I can't afford to be crazily magnanimous with my postage.)

2. An invitation to write a review of The Stone Gods which will be published here on Live and Let Di.

Here's what you have to do to win:

1. Leave a comment. Get one entry for a simple comment like, "I want The Stone Gods." Get two entries for a more detailed comment like, "I want The Stone Gods because...[articulate, witty response here.]" Get THREE entries if you leave a detailed comment AND indulge me with some shameless sucking-up. FOUR ENTRIES if you do all of the above AND leave a comment on another post within Live and Let Di. FIVE ENTRIES (OMG, do the opportunities ever cease????) if you do all of the above AND link to my contest on your blog (You need to let me know if you've done this so I can click over and verify...I will click over anyway because that's just good blogiquette...you just need to let me know to look for it.)

That's all...carry on!

Di