Where's My Check? by The Overman Family and the Cerrillos Islanders

If you haven't seen this YouTube music video by The Overman Family and the Cerrillos Islanders yet, take 3 or 4 minutes and check it out! With its upbeat music and Hispanic beat, you can't help but sing along.



And the message is one to which almost anyone in America can relate, whether working above the table or below it. As the week's end approaches, so does that age-old question: Where's my check?

Dora, Dora, Dora, The Explorer?

My almost 2-year-old boy has recently developed an all-consuming obsession with Dora. We have Netflix, so he's been streaming the episodes to our TV through the Wii, starting with Season 1 and moving on up....and down....and up...and down...

Season 1 is pretty okay, I think. Granted, Boots is annoying and makes me hope desperately that my son does not try to emulate him. However, Dora is okay, and the show is definitely educational. I love the repetition of key words or points. The characters count everything there is to count, so I feel that the show is beneficial in that regard, as well as having the obvious advantage of exposing children to Spanish at an early age. I don't think the show is going to teach my son fluent Spanish, but even a small amount of exposure will help him more easily learn a second language later in life.

As the seasons progress, the repetition decreases, which is unfortunate. The characters still count things, but the shows feel rushed. The map's song and the backpack's song are shortened and faster. The shows begin to have more events packed into them, and odd things like star collecting are added in. I could definitely do without the "collecting stars along the way" portion. I don't find any benefit to it, and I consider it ridiculous. The show begins to include things that are more "cute" than educational, with talking insects and flying horses.

Now, I realize that I'm not the only one in the world, and that the makers of the show are trying to make more than a show - they're trying to make money. Therefore, I have no doubt that they are creating the changes that viewers claim to want. However, I don't necessarily believe that these changes are good for the children, and I don't believe that they are in line with the initial concept of Dora. What do you think?

The Quest For The Mighty Sword Review

Today, I thought I would turn on some instant play Netflix for the kiddos to watch while I worked on crocheting some gnome hats. Browsing through the selection, I ran across "The Quest for the Mighty Sword." This title reeked of low-budget fantasy junk. So I hit play.

This movie was not the most horrible movie I've ever seen. In fact, surprisingly enough, it wasn't even any worse than I expected it to be. I think they may have even had more than $10 to spend on graphics. The storyline is your basic epic tale of the boy whose father died, passing on to the young son the duty of claiming the magic heirloom sword and leading his people back to their homeland or some such.

Of course, I either missed the shot of "his people" or else they didn't really show them; but it did include a rescue scene of some scantily clad woman, and a whole lot of love going around. It also included some really ugly critters that looked kind of like the troll from the movie aptly named "Troll". I think these guys were a little uglier than that troll, but I'm pretty sure "Troll" based their troll on these. In fact, there were a lot of ugly people in this movie. I wasn't overly impressed with the hero guy, nor did I consider the female lead to be particularly beautiful. Not to worry - their acting wasn't any better than their looks; however, that said, I think they were the best actors in the movie, other than the pimply and/or scarred guy who liked to make statues out of people.

Overall, I'd have to say this movie didn't even give Ed Wood a run for his money. If you'd like to see a movie in a fantasy epic-style setting with bad (but not horrible) acting, pretty bad (but again, not horrible for the time) graphics, a sketchy storyline, and a scantily clad, not-quite-beautiful female lead, this may be the movie for you. Or you can save yourself the trouble and watch the old version of Clash of the Titans. You decide.

Helping Teachers Is Hard!

I sell things on eBay. It's not always the most exciting hobby, but I do often learn quite a bit in the process - not only about the items that I'm selling, but also about the eBay community, people in general, and life itself. One of the most recent things that I have learned is that it seems as though some teachers just don't want to be helped.

In the course of my eBaying, I discovered a nonprofit organization called Classwish.org. With this truly awesome organization, you can donate not to some nefarious organization that may or may not have children's best interest at heart, but rather to the teachers themselves! Additionally, you as the donor actually get to see where your money is going.

Here's how it works: a teacher signs up for the site and makes a wishlist from the catalogue on the site. A donor may then donate toward a certain item, or make a general donation toward a certain teacher. Once the teacher accumulates enough money to order an item, he or she may do so, and Classwish.org will send the item to the school that teacher works for. Now, I would suggest that the teacher wait until he or she accumulates an order of $60 or more so that there is no shipping charge!

And now for the part that makes it hard to donate to these teachers: most teachers haven't made wishlists! How am I supposed to donate to your classroom wishlist if you don't have one? If you're a teacher, get on that site and show me what you want. If you do, be sure to leave me your name in a comment so that I can actually donate to you. As it stands, there is only one teacher on there that I am interested in donating to. I'm afraid he's going to get all of the things he wants, and then where will I be?

If you're not a teacher, please spread the word to any teachers that you know, or let your child's school in on the existence of this site. Donate to your own child's teacher. It's the best investment you can make.

If I Were A Kangaroo Greeting Card Review

If I Were a Kangaroo.... A Limited Edition Love Card

As I wandered through this seller's store, this kangaroo card really jumped out at me! Yeah, I know...bad pun. I thought so too. As luck would have it, this card does not include a bad pun, but does include sparkly things. Who doesn't love sparkly things?

The sparkly things in question happen to be Swarovski crystals and they also happen to be randomly placed upon the kangaroo's shirt. Yes, I said the kangaroo's shirt. Why is this kangaroo wearing a shirt? The kangaroo may know, but I do not.

Now for the really cool part: If you want this card to include your very own very bad pun, you can buy it with nothing written inside of it! On the other hand, if you want it to include something slightly sappy, yet grammatically correct, this seller has a slightly sappy inner text already designed to supply you with.

In the tags area, this seller would benefit from combining the terms "cards" and "greeting" into "greeting cards" so that the tag "kangaroos" could also be added.

This seller ships everywhere, allowing for the greatest possible customer base by location; however, this seller only accepts Paypal as a payment option. Accepting another form of payment (such as the highly recommended money order) would open this listing to a wider potential customer base, thereby increasing the odds of a sale.

Plum Cozy Scarf Review

Plum Cozy Scarf

What a gorgeous color for a scarf! The main picture is very well done, with a nice cameo style fade. This listing makes me wish I had a mannequin to display my scarves on. Ah well, in the absence of a mannequin, my fiance makes a very pretty model, particularly for flowery hats and pink scarves. It brings out the color in his beard.

But speaking of pictures, this seller has done an excellent job of filling all the available picture slots. Every picture taken shows an alternate way to wear the scarf, and each of them are viable.

Concerning tags, there is no reason for listing the tag "handmade," since all items on Etsy (except vintage or supplies) are handmade. This tag slot could be put to better use by replacing it with another word such as "fall." Many people wear scarves in the fall as well as in the winter.

Shipping for this scarf is available anywhere in the world, creating the largest market possible by location. However, as I have a tendency to repeat, I recommend offering at least two forms of payment: Paypal and one other. Money orders are relatively safe, and many buyers who will not use Paypal will use money orders.

Beaded Dragonfly Pins Review

Dragonfly Beaded Bobby Pins (set of 2)

I'm generally not into "cute," but I have to admit: these little dragonflies are pretty cute. I can't imagine what use I would have for them, but I imagine that *some* people might be interested in wearing them in the hair, or placing a magnet on the back of them and using them as pretty little magnets. What a cool idea!

The pictures in this listing are nice, but I would like to see more of them. For instance, a more detailed view of the large circular bead on the dragonfly's back would be nice. I would also like to see a frontal view of the dragonflies.

The seller could benefit from changing the tag "beads" to "beaded." Since the next tag is "glass beads," the search for "beads" would already return this listing, so there is no need to write "beads" in the tags again. I would also like to see tags such as "insects," "bugs," etc.

This seller ships everywhere, resulting in the largest user base possible by location. However, the seller limits that base by only accepting Paypal as a form of payment. Accepting at least one other form of payment, such as the relatively safe money order, helps reach out to those customers who do not use Paypal.