VOTE or STFU

CafePress has a new political design contest, where you can create your own t-shirt message in minutes and submit it for a chance to win pretty huge prizes.

Although I have entered a few of my own ideas, I want you to vote for a design that is NOT mine. There are many designs that do not deserve to be a finalist (any reference of a specific candidate is disallowed), but this one does:

Don't Pants America

Click the "stars" graphic below the image to rate the design with 1 to 5 stars.

There are a lot of ignorant and hateful designs up; names spelled wrong and brutal language. I haven't seen the N-word used in reference to one candidate, but I've seen the C-word used in reference to another. There is so much ignorance out there.

What is worse: there is so much APATHY as well.

"Who cares?" Are you serious?

People died so YOU can vote. People continue to die, today, fighting for the same freedoms we in America too often take for granted.

Do vote, but don't choose a candidate based on rumors, lies, age, gender, color, religion, sex appeal, net worth or popularity. Visit non-biased sites like FactCheck.org and OnTheIssues.org to see what each candidate is DOING versus what they are SAYING.

Then, either VOTE or STFU for the next 4 years.

I'm XP and I approve this message.

fundraising on CafePress

I'm not a caregiver. I'm not a nurturer. I am not good at hugs, or finding the right thing to say to someone who has lost a loved one or who is watching them battle cancer for possibly the last time. I'm simply horrible at that stuff.

So what I do instead, is try to raise money with online fundraising. One thing I don't have a problem with, is spamming my friends and family with my cancer fundraiser store links.

Making money to fight cancer

It's working. I have been successful beyond my expectations. When I raised my first $100, donated to the 2006 Relay, I was cautiously hopeful I could raise $500 to donate in 2007. Then, Google found my shop. Fellow shopkeepers linked to me. Other fundraising sites sent customers my way. October's Breast Cancer Awareness Month promotion was a huge boon to sales.

Funds raised (cumulative):
$392.55 (as of 10/1/06, payable 10/15/06; sales thru 8/31/06)
$538.51 (as of 11/1/06, payable 11/15/06; sales thru 9/30/06)
$716.32 (as of 12/1/06, payable 12/15/06; sales thru 10/31/06)
$1,274.93 (as of 1/1/07, payable 1/15/07; sales thru 11/30/06)
$1,479.97 (as of 2/1/07, payable 2/15/07; sales thru 12/31/06)

To allow for customer refunds/exchanges covered by their satisfaction guarantee, it takes at least 45 days after a sale before your markup 'clears' and is payable to you, and then checks are mailed the 15th of the month for whatever you'd cleared on the 1st of that month. That's why there is a 60 day gap in the dates above.

So, I need to raise an additional $527 by the end of March to meet my goal of $2,007 by 1-May, to get a check sent on 15-May. Will it happen? Please help spread the word, share the shop link, and I know it will.

Yeah, right, like I could do it too

There was no cash investment. Just time, some simple designs, a little effort, a bit of a learning curve in figuring CafePress out, but nothing significant for someone pretty familiar with the Internet.

Open a store. Basic shops are free. Premium shops start at around $6 a month. (CafePress might upgrade your Basic shop to Premium if you are raising funds for charity. They're still making money.) Check out the community forums at CafePress ... the answers you're looking for are right there, with input from actual shopkeepers using the software along with you. User tips are the best, and easiest to follow. Don't skip this step; I could have saved hours of effort by learning the shortcuts from the veterans first.

Noobs. Taste like chicken.

Finally got all of my son's Noobs designs transferred from freelief to freeliefkids.


Down With Noobs

Still have some tweaks, but things are coming along. It's gonna take a while to move all the other misc. kids designs, but I'll chip away at it. I wish it were easier to move entire sections between premium stores. It should be.

Did I mention he bought himself a Nintendo DS with the money he's earned from his two stores? Now he needs games for it, so he's still very motivated to come up with new designs and help with "marketing" where he can. Such a cute little entrepreneur.

amazing

Just blogging about being a slug actually motivated me.

I did some of those dishes, I finished some of that laundry, and I moved most of the kids' stores!

Opened up a new CafePress Premium Shop to house all of my kids' brilliant ideas. freelief.com designs should not really be in the "kid-friendly" niche, and this opens me up to explore the darker humor that is just waiting to be revealed. Bwah-ha-ha-ha ... ahem. Anyway. Here are the new sections at freeliefkids:


All About Soccer (DD-9)


Imaginary Friends (DS-11)


Molly's Mall (DD-9)


Waffle Mart (DD-13)

There are (at least) two or three more sections yet to come, but I am CafePressed out for the night. Watch for Down With Noobs, and Misc. Market, both creations of DS-11, who has made enough on CP to buy himself a Nintendo DS, and is quite thrilled by that. Plus a large generic section, that I think will have to benefit their college fund, which I better start thinking about since middle school has already arrived ... *sigh*

people I've brainwashed

I've gotten a few people to drink the CafePress Kool-aid. They are now under CP control just like I am. When CP is down, we are down. When CP is hot, we are hot. Resistance was futile. Visit their stores.

• Equi-Sense Gift Shop

• T & C Designs

• Ladybrinx's Designs

I'll be glad to assimilate you, too. Just click here (you know you want to) and become a shopkeeper and make bejillions of dollars. Or just a few dozen, if you want.