I heart Craigslist

Oh, Craigslist, you miracle of free Web sites where I can get rid of crap. Months ago when my mom helped me remove buckets and buckets of white landscaping rocks that were uglying up our front flower bed, Craigslist's "Free" section found me multiple takers.

Mom kept asking, as she lugged buckets of rocks to the backyard for storage, "Where are you going to get rid of these things? Who will take these?"

"Craigslist, Mom. Never doubt the power of Craigslist."

The next day I put up a post in that section and within 10 minutes had about 15 emails asking for them. The rocks were gone that evening.

Last night, in a recent effort to rid myself of endless clutter in my house, I decided to again test the Craigslist free section. This time I had collectible bottles to offer. I'd found them at antique places or collected them myself over time. They are in the photos, which show the front and back of each bottle. Some of them were pretty cool - like the commemorative 7up bottles from the 70s "honoring" Notre Dame's 1973 championship season, or the 1978 Indy 500. And then I kept the three 1970s 7up bottles that I really wanted (not in the photo): The one marking Ohio University's centennial, the one marking Ohio State's championship football seasons, and then one that just had the Cincinnati Bengals logo and game schedule on it. Those three went on display in our office, and they look pretty nice.

Anyway, I posted the photos and descriptions of the rest of the bottles and within an hour had eight emails asking for them. Today when I left for work, I left the box of them on the porch for one guy who wanted them all. Craigslist, you rule.

The next challenge for Craigslist - selling! I'm selling some old football and hockey card sets I have from growing up (again, time to clear the clutter). Today I posted them in the collectibles section, so we'll see if anyone responds to Craigslist when there's a price attached.

Tornado cake!

I can't believe I didn't blog about this as soon as I got back. It's that amazing. My friends know me too well. When I was in Chicago over Labor Day weekend, Amber made me a tornado cake.

It was delicious and destructive all at the same time. Amber, you rule!

I'll post more of my Chicago trip pics later, we've got some good ones. The tornado cake is the best, though. Or should I say....it takes the cake? ZING!

I'll be here all week, folks, tip your waiters. Try the veal!

Something to do with myself

I'm 29 now. I now have just over 50 weeks to do something with myself before I turn 30. I'm not viewing turning 30 as some end of the world, but rather as a challenge. I've done well so far with my "Get off your lazy butt and read" campaign I started as a New Year's Resolution (just finished book #31 for the year), I figure I can do something good with myself in the year before I turn 30.

Thing is, I can't figure out what I want to do. Rather then making the "figuring out what to do this year" my actual challenge before I turn 30, maybe I can open it up to suggestions or voting.

So far I've thought about these options:
-Write something on my blog every day you possibly can. Doesn't have to be amazing, just something.
-Learn a/some new skill(s) via class(es). A language? Carpentry? More basic home wiring? Cooking? I don't know.
-Learn a new fact each day and post it on my blog.
-Try to walk/run/bike a certain number of miles in a year. Maybe make it a goal of doing the same number of miles as walking across a state or the U.S.

That's all I have so far. Votes and ideas, folks?