All posts in category Contests

Oh, Alexa!

I have loved our Amazon echo since day one. It makes a great timer, weather forecaster, player of music, list keeper, game player, shopper, and so much more. It even has a random number generator, which I used to choose a winner for my CREATIVITY WEARS BOOTS book give-away; but more about that later.

Image result for free picture of lightbulb idea

Pic credit: freerange stock

When Alexa came out with smart light bulbs, I didn’t see the need. I’ve seen a lot of changes in my life. I used to have to get up off the couch just to change the channel on the television. Can you imagine! There is no way I’d want to go back to that kind of inconvenience. I do not, though, mind getting up to turn off or on a light. A girl has to get her exercise!

Then Christmas came and our son, Joe, gave us smart light bulbs. It was a great idea. He is always trying to smarten us up.

Bob toyed with them and really enjoyed tormenting me by turning them on and off randomly or changing their color. (I am very easily distracted.) Soon, we encountered problems with their compatibility with our upgraded Wi-Fi, so we put them in the drawer.

Joe has found that these bulbs have added simplicity to their lifestyle, so when he visited this summer, he installed ours and they work fine. There is something about being young that makes technology putty in your hands. (Sorry, Bob.)

I really love having Alexa turn on the pool lights which Bob installed over our pool. Before this breakthrough, we had to go all the way outside to turn them on. That involved about 22 steps, which I will have to make up for elsewhere.

Our lights on the bar in the dining room are the problem. There are two of them which are aptly named Light 1 and Light 2. I leave Light 2 (I think) on all the time once the sun goes down. Light 1 is only used if we have company and I want to balance the lighting. That may not sound like a problem to you, but I can never seem to remember which light is which. At the end of the day you will find me standing an arms’ length from the lights asking Alexa to turn off the one that isn’t even on.

Last night I heard Bob cracking up laughing when he heard me telling Alexa to turn off Light 1. He has suggested that we rename them, but I am bound and determined to figure this thing out.

Meanwhile, Alexa is getting a little snarky with me.

Me: Alexa, turn off Light 1.

Alexa: Are you sure you mean Light 1? It isn’t even on.

Me: Just turn off all the lights.

Alexa: A few things share the name lights. Which one did you want?

Me: Light 1 and Light 2.

Alexa: Hum, there is no light named And.

Me: Light 1, Light 2.

Alexa: What would you like me to do with Light 1, Light 2?

Me: Sobbing hysterically.

Alexa: Perhaps I should turn off all lights that are on or you could walk over and turn them off yourself.

Me: Bob, I’ll be a few minutes. I have to vacuum up some broken light bulbs.

*****

The winner of Robert Alexander Swanson’s new book, CREATIVITY WEARS BOOTS, is Doug Bonnette. I will make arrangements to get your book to you right away. Thank you to everyone who shared, commented, and began to follow my blog. You can order your own copy of CREATIVITY WEARS BOOTS by clicking here.

 

 

 

4 Comments
by Bonnie Anderson on August 29, 2019  •  Permalink
Posted in Contests, Stuff I Go Through
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Posted by Bonnie Anderson on August 29, 2019

https://lifeonthelighterside.com/2019/08/29/oh-alexa/

CREATIVITY WEARS BOOTS (a blog post and a give-away)

MobiriseI have a friend named Robert Alexander Swanson. Rob makes me think about things I don’t usually think about. He pushes me to do more in my craft. He is also the publisher of my book, Always Look for the Magic, as well as the leader of my writers’ group. His latest challenge to me is summed up in the following question:

Have you ever thought about what it means to be creative?

Let’s get more personal. Do you think of yourself as creative?

We can either think too highly of ourselves, or worse, not confess to our true talents. I think the latter is more of a problem. The right and proper answer to “do you think of yourself as creative” is revealed in Rob’s new book, CREATIVITY WEARS BOOTS. It’s a brain thing. “This book explains why you’re creative and how art is the birthright of every human being.”[1]

Twenty years ago, if you asked me if I was creative, my answer would have been much different than it is today. Here’s my current answer:

I am creative. I even call myself an artist, though that still feels a little strange coming out of my mouth after decades of denial. I am learning what it really means to be creative and how important it is to view oneself in that way. You can learn all about it in CREATIVITY WEARS BOOTS. Plus, Rob has sprinkled the book with profiles of several interesting artists throughout the book, including me! (I thought you should know!)

Learn more about this wonderful book by clicking here. You can also order directly from Amazon.

To celebrate Rob’s new book, I am giving away a copy of it. There will be one winner. Here’s how to enter to win:

  • Share this blog post on social media. One entry per share. Be sure to let me know in the comments that you are sharing.
  • Comment on this post either directly on the post or on Facebook – one entry per comment
  • Are you new to my blog? Follow me and receive a dose of Life on the Lighter Side in your email inbox every week. You get an entry for being a new follower. Please comment that you are doing so. That gets you even closer to winning!

The contest will end at midnight on Tuesday, August 27. I will reveal the winner in my blog next Thursday. Thanks for entering.

*Of course, it should go without saying that my family is not eligible to win, but since Bob let it slip that he was scheming to flood my blog with comments to win, I thought maybe I should say it. My family is not eligible to win. There you go!

 

[1] Quoted from the back cover of CREATIVITY WEARS BOOTS.

6 Comments
by Bonnie Anderson on August 22, 2019  •  Permalink
Posted in Contests, Friendship, Writing
Tagged , , , , ,

Posted by Bonnie Anderson on August 22, 2019

https://lifeonthelighterside.com/2019/08/22/creativity-wears-boots-a-blog-post-and-a-give-away/

Conversation Crisis PLUS We Have a Winner

Tuesday night was the State of the Union Address, and I was surprised it got the coverage it did with the big crisis going on in our nation. I’m sure you have been following the candy-heart crisis.

Evidently, the New England Confectionary Company (NECCO) abruptly stopped manufacturing its popular, not to mention iconic, Sweet Heart Conversation Hearts. I was shocked when I saw this covered on our local news. The shocking part was not that NECCO had stopped manufacturing candy. No, no. The shocking part was that this was called a crisis. The state of Valentine’s Day was coming into question. That’s what this world has come to. Seriously, folks, it’s not like M&Ms were going away.

Anyway, to confuse things further, just last week I picked up Brach’s Tiny Conversation Hearts at Target – crisis averted! NECCO did not have the conversation heart market cornered, though it looks like big conversations are now a thing of the past. If you are clever, you can string many tiny conversations together and make one normal size conversation. So, don’t despair, just join in a candy conversation of whatever size you can. Your Valentine’s Day should not be hindered in the least.

 

Now, on to more pressing things. Thanks to all of you who commented on my blog post last week and to those who shared. The winner of my book, ALWAYS LOOK FOR THE MAGIC, is Vanessa Marks. I will be in contact with you to get the particulars to send it to you.

 

2 Comments
by Bonnie Anderson on February 7, 2019  •  Permalink
Posted in Always Look for the Magic, Contests
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Posted by Bonnie Anderson on February 7, 2019

https://lifeonthelighterside.com/2019/02/07/conversation-crisis-plus-we-have-a-winner/

We have Winners!

I had the hare-brained idea to get my dad’s Bunny Rabbit out of retirement to select the names of the two people who have won a copy of my book. He was so excited, he spent all afternoon at the hare dresser.

(When you read my book, ALWAYS LOOK FOR THE MAGIC, this will make more sense to you, if you can’t figure it out already.)

Bunny Rabbit was always a wild and crazy guy. He’s a little unconventional. He usually made a huge mess when he would assist my dad with his magic act. He is soft-spoken (he does have a hare lip), but his heart is in the right place.

One at a time, Bunny Rabbit!

I put all the entry names in his hat and asked Bunny Rabbit to choose one and then another. I don’t think he entirely understood me as he immediately started throwing things around. So, I adjusted my plan accordingly and decided the last two names in the hat would be my winners.

Congratulations to Melodye Jones and Kim Sutter. You are the winners! I will contact you soon about getting a book to you.

Congratulations, Kim and Melodye!

Remember, Always Look for the Magic is available on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/dp/097932517X.

 

5 Comments
by Bonnie Anderson on February 1, 2018  •  Permalink
Posted in Always Look for the Magic, Contests, Writing
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Posted by Bonnie Anderson on February 1, 2018

https://lifeonthelighterside.com/2018/02/01/we-have-winners/

And the Winner is…

Competitiveness has taken on a whole new look in our family.  We all pride ourselves on being serious game players.  Whatever we’re playing and whoever we are playing against, we play to win.  I know we’ve passed down this quality to our kids (sorry, kids), and they’ve even married people who fit in with us quite nicely.  But, like I said at the outset of this post, we’ve just taken it up a notch.

At a recent family gathering my eldest son asked a simple question to his siblings, “How many of you have visited Grandpa at the Assisted Living Facility?”  It was a two-two split, with an edge given to the son who lives out of town and hadn’t visited the ALF.

I think the inquirer was hoping for a little company in his non-visiting status, but leave it to him to make a new competition out of the situation.  Next he asked, “Let’s see who the most pathetic really is.  Who reads Mom’s blog?”

Here he was left as the lone hold-out.  It’s not like he’s not supportive of my writing; he is.  He’s just not into reading blogs so I think he was a little surprised to be the only non-reader out of the seven kids.*  Surprised or not, he proudly declared himself the Most Pathetic.  Yep, that’s how our family is – if you’re going to do something, or not do something, do it all the way, you know, win.

I think we’re going to have to come up with new criteria for the Most Pathetic award, though, because the following week he subscribed to my blog.  He might even be reading it.  I guess I’ll find out for sure after this post, so this is my thank you to him for reading and a welcome to my blog.

*Four of whom I gave birth to, three of whom married my children, all but one of whom had actually read at least one blog entry.  Such reading may or may not have been coerced, but it still counted in the contest as points for having read my blog.  But now that I think about it, my one son-in-law was awfully quiet during this exchange, but since he had visited the ALF, he still was ahead.  The final opinion of the judges stands as no instant replay of this discussion is available.

3 Comments
by Bonnie Anderson on October 2, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Contests, Family

Posted by Bonnie Anderson on October 2, 2012

https://lifeonthelighterside.com/2012/10/02/and-the-winner-is/

Oops! Sorry Donald!

Hello again.  I just realized that I forgot to announce the winner of the contest from last week’s post .  The winner is Donald Brorsen.  I am so sorry for the slip-up, Donald.  Donald was the only person who calculated the correct answer.  As a matter of fact he was only one of two people who even attempted to do the math!  Way to go, Donald!  I hope my readers will check out his blog at Rebooting This Crazy Life.

I have learned something interesting from this little contest.  It seems most of my readers are a lot like me.  I’m not sure I would have done the math either.  Most likely I would have had Bob do it and then kept the gift card for myself.  I’m sure that’s what Bob would have wanted.

2 Comments
by Bonnie Anderson on August 14, 2012  •  Permalink
Posted in Contests

Posted by Bonnie Anderson on August 14, 2012

https://lifeonthelighterside.com/2012/08/14/oops-sorry-donald/