I created this North Pole image 8 years ago. (I added the text and starburst today.)

The bummer is that I also created a snowman. I built a virtual 3D snowman from scratch. All by myself!

It was so cool.

Unfortunately, I have no idea whatever happened to the file. I used this same North Pole background for the snowman. That is, I had the snowman placed elsewhere in this same image. So, the snowman would have been out of the camera range in this shot. And, if you’re looking at the snowman, the North Pole is out of the camera shot.

So, there is the possibility I didn’t save the file after adding the snowman, which is a possibility. I still have the North Pole file, so it’s possible I didn’t save it after doing all the work on the snowman.

Doesn’t seem likely as I typically save everything, but it is a possibility.

However, I also cannot find the 3D color rendering with the snowman. Additionally, I used the image (in black & white) for a client’s newsletter that year. That B&W version is MIA as well.

I’ve looked on backup disks and such, but no sign of the snowman.

So, the snowman has completely vanished. He’s digitally melted away.

It’s a shame, because he was pretty cool. Of course, that could just be my memory speaking…

What do you want?

You want the booth?

You can’t handle the booth!

Here. Have a chair.

Nifty title, eh? Just popped into my head. I surprise myself sometimes.

Though, it really has nothing to do with the blog post, but, still, cool title.

And, you know what song that almost comes from, right?

Anyway, so what’s been going on in the Blogosphere? Well, in the interest of what you’ve done for yourself lately, I’ll start out with my own little blogosphere…

First of all, on my WordPress blog (the other one), I did an article titled “Way to Focus!” which covers the stuff I did (or didn’t do) this week.

Over on Tumblr, I wrote about “The Value of Early Organization“. The content mostly delivers what the title promises, so no need to explain.

I was going to have a post on my LiveJournal blog, dcrWrites, but I haven’t finished that one yet, so you’ll have to wait.

Elsewhere in the Blogosphere (yep, going from my little blogosphere out into the wild blue Blogosphere–is it blue? I don’t know. Sounded good.), Speedcat talks about the local cat-magnet.

Speaking of cats, JD is trying to find a home for someone else’s cats. Looks like they’ve already found a home, but I’ll still link anyway because that’s what I’m doing here. I retweeted and Stumbled it earlier in the day, only to find out shortly thereafter, and possibly because I didn’t read through all the comments before Stumbling and retweeting, that the cats had a potential new home. But, in case they don’t, you know, read that post.

Continuing on the subject of cats, looks like the Catlady is too busy with cats to update her blog.

Never mind what you’ve done for yourself lately, Michael Kwan advises you to not bother trying to find yourself. Because, you know, where ever you are, that’s where you are. Of course, he makes some more interesting points than that, so check it out.

Michelle effectively declared war by trying to take scifi away from me by blogging about vintage Alien toys. Well, then, I’ll just give a link to TV & Film Toys’ review of the Princess Leia (Jabba’s Prisoner) figure. Let’s see which of those links gets more clicks…

Well, I got distracted reading some other reviews on the TV & Film Toys’ site, so I’m going to close this post now. I’m sure there’s been more stuff going on in the Blogosphere, but you’re just going to have to do some surfing of your own to find it!

If you let 1,000 monkeys pound at computer keywords for 1,000 years, they will eventually–through random chance–manage to reproduce the works of William Shakespeare.

The remainder (that is, everything that is not the works of William Shakespeare) will be the equivalent of the Internet.

Yes, I realize the picture is not of a monkey. Deal.

Recycling images. Cool, eh? Just used that one last week. Bet you didn’t even notice…

Anyway, you remember our friend, the Assassin Bug?

Well, Daevid (that’s his name!), has been busy. Well, when he’s not sunning himself on leaves, that is, which he hasn’t done much of this week, since there’s not been a lot of sun, though there is a bit today, but it’s cold out and I digress…

Anyway, if you’ve ever been keen on getting into affiliate marketing, or wondered what it is, Daevid’s put together The Internet Marketing Bug’s Affiliate Guide, which tells all. Or, at least it tells you a bunch of stuff to get you started. “All” would be pretty big, you know.

Best of all, he’s giving it away absolutely FREE. Yeah, he’s nuts like that.

Well, you do have to sign up for his mailing list, but what’s so hard about that? Besides, he won’t bug you with new messages every hour. He’s not like that. You’ll get mail less frequently. Even less frequently when sunny weather comes. Probably.

Just visit the Internet Marketing Bug to sign up and get your FREE copy.

What could be easier?

FTC disclaimer: I own that site.

Would you like a delicious piece of Christmas candy?

Look at it.

Doesn’t it look good?

Don’t you want it?

Don’t you want to just grab it and stick it in your mouth?

Is your mouth salivating?

Can you almost taste it?

Did you just reach for it?

What is wrong with you? Did you remember nothing from yesterday’s post on how to lose weight?

You don’t wait until New Year’s. You start your resolutions now.

Focus. Focus. Focus!

Eyes on the goal. Get with the program.

And would you please stop licking the screen!

Walk on the moon! Ha ha!

Seriously, we are approaching the time of year when everyone will be looking for ways to change things. Some people start this around the holidays, wishing they could lose a few pounds before seeing other family members or wishing they could earn some extra money before Christmas and so on.

But, for most people, it really starts after the holidays with their New Year’s Resolutions.

And, as most of us know, those New Year’s Resolutions don’t stick.

You see, we try but most of us aren’t making a full commitment to sticking to those resolutions. Additionally, we pile on too many things at once. We want to lose 20 pounds, we want to make more money, we want to stop eating this or that, we want to exercise more, we want to spend more time with family, we want to do better with our home business, we want to clean out the closet, etc.

And, we start a few things but then it gets overwhelming and those New Year’s Resolutions get broken and tossed aside.

The problem is that we really haven’t changed our own mentality. Most of the problems are caused by bad habits. We need to break bad habits and replace them with new, good habits. For example, you might want to lose 20 pounds, but if you have a habit of wolfing down a bag of chips while watching TV at night, you’re not going to get there. You might try to start an exercise routine, but, when the pounds don’t come off, you’re back to scarfing down chips at the TV. Why? Because it’s less work and the results are the same! That is, you could exercise and not lose weight or you could not exercise and not lose weight. Which is easier?

Of course, a regular exercise routine can help you shed the pounds, but it will not be effective unless you stick with it.

So, you have to make exercise a new habit. You must make it so that doing it becomes natural to you–a habit. Likewise with any other significant change in your life. The thing is, you didn’t form bad habits overnight. They became bad habits over time. First, you sat down at the TV and had a few potato chips. Then, you had a few more. After a while, those few weren’t satisfying enough. What will a few more hurt? After a bit, you started eating the whole bag and were shocked when the bag was empty!

After that, you were no longer shocked when the bag was empty. That became your new normal. Then, you added dip. And soda.

After a while, you were making a complete fourth meal of chips, dip and soda while watching TV. That didn’t happen overnight. It happened over time.

That’s a tough habit to break. Most people cannot quit that cold turkey. You have to wean yourself down. Start new habits. You could start by swapping out the cola for water or unsweetened iced tea. Replace the chips with a variety with less fat, or substitute popcorn or something else that would be better.

Over time, you can create new habits. With that, you will have more success keeping your New Year’s Resolutions than trying to quit all your bad habits cold turkey and starting with new ones. It doesn’t work that way for most people! If it hasn’t for you, it’s time to try a different approach.

A lot of times, before you can whip your body into shape, you need to whip your mind into shape. This is something that is often overlooked! For more about getting your brain into shape, check out “How to Train Your Mind“, a guide which can help you increase your focus, overcome bad habits and be more efficient in your life.

You know, I’m not sure JD even realizes how many titles I’ve stolen from her over the years.

Neither did I until I put this list together.

“I Entered a Photoshop Contest So You Don’t Have To”
That was the first one I pre-stole from JD. I didn’t win, by the way. In fact, it still burns me because, not only did I did not win, but also the winning entry didn’t exactly adhere to the contest theme or rules! Lots of people were upset over that one. That was my first and last Photoshop contest I participated in on that one.

“I Suffer Hypergraphia So You Don’t Have To”
Would you look at that? I had a typo in that post. Shame! Apparently, I am suffering a bit of hypergraphia today.

“I Take Pictures of Bottles So You Don’t Have To”
I still do! You can thank me later. Or just send cash–it goes further than “thanks!”

“I Take Pictures of Manila Envelopes So You Don’t Have To”
Aren’t you glad I do these things for you?

“I Take Pictures of a Banana So You Don’t Have To”
That was a fun week. Send cash and I’ll buy some more bananas and take more pictures!!!

“I Wrote a Book So You Don’t Have to”
I’ve finished two, actually. Well, five, because the one “book” was actually four books and the other book was just one. You can buy them here: Internet Marketing Backstage Pass and How to Train Your Mind.

“I Eat Fungus So You Don’t Have To, or I Cut in Line So You Don’t Have To”
Look at that! I stole two titles from JD there!

“I Start Another Blog So You Don’t Have to”
That was yesterday, in case you’d forgotten already!

“Titles I’ve Stolen from JD So You Don’t Have To”
And, if you have a really short memory, this is the post you are reading right now!

BAA… BAA… BAA… That’s all, folks! (Until later…)

There’s your deep thought for the day.

You remember the old saying, “People in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones,” right?

Well, does that imply that people in brick houses should throw stones? What about people in stone houses? Wood houses? Basically, should people that live in any kind of house other than a glass house throw stones?

Because, if they shouldn’t throw stones either, the original saying is rather pointless, isn’t it?

It’s like being “head over heels in love,” isn’t it? I mean, aren’t you always head over heels? Except for when you’re standing on your head? Or, if you sleep with your feet elevated. But, other than that, you’re pretty much always head over heels, no? So, whether you’re in love or not, you’re still head over heels.

You can also be head over heels and not in love, right?

And, why would you want to keep your nose to the grindstone? Sure, you want to keep your focus on your goal, but putting your nose to the grindstone is a little torturous. If you want a smaller nose, see a plastic surgeon. It’d be safer and probably more hygienic.

I suppose that’s all for now. I’m in a non-glass building right now, so I guess I have to go throw some stones around…

As I’ve mentioned before (on Twitter, I think), I am taking over the Internet one step at a time! Muhahahahaha!

Well, really I am giving you multiple places to connect with me. Cool, eh?

That way, if this (or any) of my blogs should go down due to server problems or whatever, you’ll still be able to find me.

Plus, having more blogs lets me interact a little more, notably on Blogger where some bloggers are still living in the Dark Ages and not letting anyone other than other Blogger members comment. Geesh.

And, I am trying to add quality content on each of the other places. You know, unlike this blog where pretty much anything goes. And goes… And goes…

Mind you, I probably won’t be posting to these others on a daily basis, but will try to keep them updated frequently.

I already mentioned my other new blogs earlier in the week, so no sense repeating that here. Anyway, the newest one is on Blogger:

dcrBlogs: Believe. Act. Achieve!

Can you believe someone already had my dcrBlogs URL? Geesh!

Couldn’t get “dcr” either, so I had to go with “believeactachieve.”

Anyway, my first post there is “Focus on the Goal“. See how I’m writing quality stuff here? You should totally check it out.

I also set up two other new blogs, neither of which have content yet, so I’m not going to announce those yet. Soon!

Oh, and, after a little over an hour searching through stuff, only to find I had the thing setup under a different eMail address than what I thought!, I located and reactivated what I think was my very first blog! Exciting, eh? Will share soon. Probably. So, hang in there! (Don’t get too excited–it is really, really lame.) Plus I have two other blogs from way back when, one of which I think I accidentally setup (no posts). The other also has no posts but has a better title.

Oops. I guess the body of this post didn’t really live up to the title. Well, as I said, around here, anything goes!