What was the other thing I was going to say? Oh, registry. Yeah, I sent the gift for the wedding I just attended directly. Mostly because I was lazy and didn't get it done in time. But also because it was the awesome noise-making Tardis cookie jar from thinkgeek, and the wedding was all family, who may not have appreciated it as deeply as I know the bride and groom will. I eschewed their registry, because I knew they are geekier than they were letting on. Plus, it's housewares.

I would agree with that hunch. Franny wanted to dress up as WW for Halloween when she was 6.

I dressed up as Catwoman for Halloween when I was almost 12, but that was two decades ago, so I'm not sure how useful a data point it is.

Oh no. Lonesome George has died. [link]

I had never heard of Lonesome George before, but to think about the end of a species, or subspecies, is sad.

From that site ita linked to:

In one word... Site Build It!

Should someone tell him how to count?

Yikes, Dane Cook.

Home from the family birthday party for two of my aunts. It was nice, but I was basically in no mood to be social. I ran the grill, and I totally get why guys hog the fire-making part of cooking out. Good times.

Lonesome George has died.

Nooooooooo!

why isn't, at least, Jilli making tons of money with much nicer content and presentation? Oh, yeah. It might have something to do with not being hideous and plastered in irrelevant and distracting ads.

Oh, I've thought about monetizing the GCS site with advertising, believe me. But I worry that if I go down that path, the credibility of what I'm doing will take a hit. Which also strikes me as slightly ridiculous, but Pete has even stronger feelings about the whole thing than I do.

Someday I need to sit down and talk to other bloggers/subculture folks, and see what they think about advertising on their sites. Pete and I are probably being unreasonably hypersensitive about the whole thing. But oh, the navel-gazing I went through when I decided to start doing reviews of things sent to me. Hi, I overthink things.

Not to be obvious, but I'm pretty sure there's not a professional blogger out there who doesn't have paid advertising on their site. I mean, that's how you get to do it full-time.

I think when you're marketing a brand, one you not just put your face to, but *you*, then you have to be really picky about advertising. You can't just slap on a google adsense snippet of javascript and be done with it.

I'd imagine that whatever schtick/script that guy's doing is something he claims a passion for (it's at least part of the sell he was giving it on that page), but I don't think it's remotely the same as self-as-brand which is more like what you have going on.

However, I'd bet that the search-engine-optimisation he's using is down to a science, and that might be helpful for you. I mean you still want an effective googlebomb, even if the result isn't "monetized" in page views. The more pervasive you are (on your own terms) the more you can establish your fiscal worth.

I'm pretty sure there's not a professional blogger out there who doesn't have paid advertising on their site. I mean, that's how you get to do it full-time.

Mark Reads is currently selling me underwear, so maybe I take back a shitload of what I said...but then again, he's not doing product evaluation of the same sort you are, Jilli. But, your average cosmetic rec site will have targeted paid ads, won't it?

I'm recusing myself know. Have confuse.