FeeFiFoto Blog

There's More To April Than Taxes

Making personalized calendars even more personal with the addition of peculiar dates; here are some for April.

FeeFiFoto has been producing personalized photo calendars as a core part of our business since we were established about five years ago.  For a long time our designs and features were relatively unchanged, but last year we added a bunch of new templates, a thousand or so pieces of clip art, and the capacity to arrange photos in collages instead of being limited to a single photo per page.  We've always had a feature that lets you enter your own family birthdays, anniversaries or special events.

Think about how smart and well-informed you'll be appear when you casually flaunt your knowledge of such esoteric dates as National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day, or Jayne Mansfield's birthday.

Here's a list of essential April dates.

April

1
One Cent Day
Sergei Rachmaninoff, b. 1873

2
National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day 

3
Tweed Day
Don't Go To Work Unless It's Fun Day
Washington Irving, b. 1783

4
Tell-A-Lie Day

5
Go For Broke Day
Booker T. Washington, b. 1856

6
Sorry Charlie Day

7
No Housework Day

8
All Is Ours Day
Sonja Henie, b. 1912

9
Winston Churchill Day
Name Yourself Day 

10 
Golfers Day 

11 
Eight-Track Tape Day 

12 
Look Up At The Sky Day

Tiny Tim, b. 1912

13 
Blame Somebody Else Day
Thomas Jefferson, b. 1743

Go ahead -- blame Jefferson if you must.

14 
National Pecan Day 

15 
Rubber Eraser Day
Leonardo Da Vinci, b. 1452

16 
National Stress Awareness Day
National Eggs Benedict Day 

17 
National Cheeseball Day 

18 
International Jugglers Day
Paul Revere's Ride, 1775

19 
Garlic Day
Jayne Mansfield, b. 1933

20 
Look Alike Day 

21 
Kindergarten Day 

22 
National Jelly Bean Day
Earth Day

23 
Read Me Day
World Laboratory Animal Day
William Shakespeare, b. 1564

24 
National Pigs In A Blanket Day 

25 
National Zucchini Bread Day
Ella Fitzgerald, b. 1918

26 
Richter Scale Day
National Pretzel Day 

27 
Tell A Story Day 

28 
Great Poetry Reading Day
Kiss-Your-Mate Day 

29 
National Shrimp Scampi Day
Duke Ellington, b. 1899

30 
National Honesty Day

See also: Strange Holidays

Be honest: did you know that April 30th was National Honesty Day before I told you?

Visit FeeFiFoto to create personalized photo calendars with all kinds of unusual holidays.

I'll Have The Rice, Please

The ultimate in personalized gifts

Now I’ve seen everything I’m destined to witness and I don’t have to pay attention any more.

My kids and I were strolling on Venice Beach last week, as I attempted to steer Cleo away from anyone offering to pierce body parts or paint her with henna, and distract Robespierre’s interest from objects that even my inexperienced eyes could identify as drug paraphernalia, when we came upon Vivianne Robinson, the "Nice Rice Lady", who will write your name on rice.  Not a bag of rice, or a pound of rice, or a sack of rice that the Japanese send to their relatives to announce the birth of a baby, or even Free Rice, but One. Grain. Of. Rice.

Cool.

Cleo was in the market for a gift to bring back for Rock Star, and Robespierre suggested that this might be just the thing.

Since I'm always hyper-aware of anything hinting at personalized gifts, this caught my attention.

Vivianne tossed a small handful of rice on her table and selected a likely candidate, which she gripped lightly but firmly between her thumb and first finger.  (This is the point where the grain would have shot out of my grip into the sand, over and over and over again.) Then, using a pen with a tip no larger than the tip of a needle (and I mean a sewing needle, not a needlepoint needle), and without even holding her breath, she deftly printed Rock Star’s name and then Cleo’s name on separate grains of rice in perfectly formed block letters. (This is the point where my hand would have shaken so violently as to render any letters more complicated than “.” as a puddle of microscopic blotches.)  Next she filled two tiny pink glass heart-shaped pendants with a few drops of baby oil, slipped one grain into each, capped and sealed them (I would have gooshed oil all over my fingers), and suspended them from black leather cords (this part I could have managed with the aid of reading glasses).  The oil preserves the rice and the writing and magnifies the name.

You can click on the photo to see the writing on the rice full-sized.  One of the things I like most about these little gems is that the printing is so small that a stranger would have great difficulty making out Cleo's name; concern about nosy strangers is the main reason I've never allowed my kids to wear personalized stuff.

Could your name fit on a grain of rice?

Visit FeeFiFoto for personalized photo gifts.  We can't put your name on a grain of rice, but we can make a nifty Disney photo plate off of which you can eat rice.

Beam Me Up

Just drove from LA to San Diego in afternoon rush hour traffic with one potty break and only one wrong turn because the sign for the 405 was obscured by a shrub, in approximately somewhere between 2.25 and a bazillion hours, which if you get out your calculators and slide rules and carry the two although I've never understood why anyone should have to carry a two, you'll find I was driving somewhere in the neighborhood of 80 miles an hour some of the time and zero miles an hour the rest of the time.  I'm tired.  How tired?  Too tired even to punctuate.

Why drive so fast?  Because while I like BEING there, I hate GETTING there, no matter where THERE is.  When they finally perfect that "Beam me up, Scotty" business, I'm going to be first in line.

Are you tired?

Cheers.  Maybe I can be more coherent tomorrow.  In the meantime, visit FeeFiFoto and buy lots of personalized photo gifts because I'm too tired to give you a reason.

Wordless Wednesday: Excellent Advice

Just in case you weren't sure:

Again with the Frostfire Zoo

Read See more Wordless Wednesday

Thoughtful Mother's Day Gift

Special Mother's Day gifts

I saw this last year but it's so priceless I just had to post it for anyone who might have missed it.

 

See also: Collecting My Thoughts, The Right Gift

What's the most meaningful gift you've ever given or received?

Once you finally get a good picture of everyone, visit FeeFifoto and put it on a porcelain plate for Mom, Grandma, Aunt or Just-Like-Mom.

Blogroll Friday: Daisy The Curly Cat

We all have some favorite blogs we read before anything else.

How often do you click on someone else's blogroll?  It's a way less stressful way to make connections than sending fan letters to movie stars.  Sure you might get an autographed photo, but they never call, you never get invited to their parties, and sometimes they even call the police.

This week I'm continuing my practice of pointing out that I'm way smarter than you list of suggested blogs with another favorite:

Ah, Daisy, Daisy, Daisy!  Daisy The Curly Cat is a remarkably clever kitty who composes her own blog, complete with pictures.  Even though she weighs barely six pounds Daisy is a tough kitteh who's not afraid to give a lizard the serious whomping it deserves:

"Before we start with today's Monday Mystery, I must give you a warning: If you are squeamish, do not read any further. I mean it! I am not joking! This is very, very serious.

Another lizard got into my house! I was just sitting nicely looking at him, and he opened his mouth in a very MEAN way.

 

Then, the lizard BITED me! Right on the paw.

This left me with no choice. I had to teach him a lesson...

The thing I like most about Daisy is that I can read her blog with my kids.  They appreciate her tone and humor and I never have to worry about having to explain snarkiness or questionable language.

Read more about valiant Daisy's determination to teach that lizard meanie some manners.

Find more Friday California Blog Roll here.

Those lizards!  Will they ever learn?

Visit FeeFifoto and put a photo of your favorite lizard cat on a photo cookie tin to hold lizard kitty treats.

The Hills Are Alive With The Sound Of Noise

Is The Sound Of Music boring?

Cleo and I watched The Sound Of Music together for the first time; she's eight and although she knew a couple of songs I'd never been able to convince her to see the movie.  She enjoyed it but I had to maintain a steady patter of explanation in a desperate casual attempt to hold her interest.  The same thing happened yesterday with Rear Window, and last year when I tried to convince my kids of the merits of Miracle On 34th Street.

I shouldn't have expected more from either of them, considering what they routinely watch on television.  Robey is partial to flash-and-blast hero programs where someone always manages to SAVE THE DAY before the last commercial break, while Cleo could watch Hannah Montana or the Wizards Of Waverly Place slip on banana peels and fall into cream pies all day long.  They're unaccustomed to any exposition lasting more than 22 seconds and they seem lost without copious amounts of cacophony.  The first time we saw A Charlie Brown Christmas I kept trying to turn the volume up; since we gave up on Barney and Teletubbies years ago I'd forgotten what a peaceful kids' program could be like.

I clearly recall enjoying The Music Man and The Great Escape when I was their age.  I can only hope that sooner or later they'll begin to appreciate more subtle entertainment than they do now.

Do they outgrow the need for constant noisy stimulation?

Visit FeeFiFoto and put your favorite kid's photo in a 30-minute action-packed Spiderman cartoon DVD.  If you can't beat 'em ... well, you know.

Sorry -- Wrong Number

Restraining over-enthusiastic preteen text messagers

Cleo and her BFF, "Rock Star," learned how to send text messages in November.  They can text, email and talk on the phone all at the same time -- not that they have that much to say to each other, but still...  Cleo hunts and pecks on my formerly state of the art Razr, while Rock Star uses her father's iPhone, allowing her to whip out message after message while Cleo's trying to answer the first one; this causes Cleo to melt down and slam my phone rhythmically into the nearest hard surface, which I suspect can't be too good for the phone.

Here's a verbatim transcript of the latest conversation monologue by Rock Star; you can guess how it ended:

After approximately two hours of back and forth (mostly forth) between Cleo and Rock Star:

"'stop texting for now
Rock Star's dad'
5:27 pm 3/18/08"

At this point Rock Star presumably sneaks the phone away from her dad:

"'Never mind!'
5:33pm 3/18/08"

And she's exuberantly off and running texting again:

"'Let's text!!!'
5:35pm 3/18/08"

But Cleo's been in another room and Cleo's mother has been ignoring the persistent twangs from the Razr that inevitably indicate a fresh supply of messages from Rock Star.  Thus:

"'CLEO?'
5:36pm 3/18/08"

Finally the text hits the fan -- Rock Star is apprehended and her wings clipped:

"'Cleo Rock Star is not allowed to text For one week. Mom.'
5:52pm 3/18/08"

As for me?  I'm relieved.  Confidentially, I think Cleo is too.

See also: Cleo

Has this 8-year-olds texting business gotten out of hand?

Visit FeeFiFoto and put pictures of your daughter's BFF on a personalized photo charm; we did.  You can even use photos from your iPhone.

Wordless Wednesday: Easter's Not So Happy If You're An Egg

From Frostfire Zoo, again.

Tackle It Tuesday: Entrecard

Day 24:  Nope -- still not writing about Entrecard

I'm still not climbing on the bandwagon and beating that dead horse -- I'm refraining from singing the praises of Entrecard, mainly since everyone else out there is doing such a good job of it that anything I could add would be -- well -- not much.

But, I would like to point out that in the less-than-a-month I've been at it I've managed to move FeeFiFoto to the top of my category, which originally was Business but now is Women's Interests because FeeFiFoto is all about shopping and strangely the shopping sites seem to end up in the Women's Interests section.

Don't believe me?  Here's actual unretouched proof that took me about 45 minutes to figure out but I learned something because now I know how to make a screen shot into a jpeg so yay me!

Thanks to cool dude Bob Rankin for showing me how it's done.  How'd I do?

Read more about Not Blogging Entrecard

Are you still not blogging about Entrecard?  If not, why not?

Visit FeeFiFoto and design a beautiful microfiber handbag with a favorite photo for Mother's Day.

Our First Site Visit

No, not a web site -- we're looking at Bar Mitzvah party sites.

There's an astonishing museum in our city designed and built in an abandoned warehouse by a madman who apparently never outgrew playing with Legos.  It opened about ten years ago with a kind of indoor playground that resembles what I imagine a Dungeons & Dragons set might look like (not that I have the vaguest idea what Dungeons & Dragons is like -- I was a different kind of nerd.)

There are fountains and hollow trees and haunted caves and rope ladders, all made from discarded building and restaurant and factory components and decorated with wondrous mosaics made from broken dishes and glassware.  There's a slide made from the closely spaced rotating thingies on conveyor belts, kind of like these, except without the wimpy padding and each one painted with abstract designs:

They have a small train circling one of the floors, a one-ring circus, and rotating exhibits involving things like atrocious bridesmaid dresses or a collection of extravagant vintage evening bags.  The building is decorated with reclaimed architectural features like columns and gargoyles.  When the place opened my family was convinced it would close within a year; nobody, we were certain, would want to schlep all the way downtown just to play in a warehouse filled with entertainments made from junk.

How wrong we were!  The museum is thriving, adding new attractions and features all the time, and has become a destination for weddings, parties and celebrations.  What a fantastic location for a bar mitzvah party, huh?  We wouldn't have to decorate much, as the building sort of speaks for itself, and as long as none of the guests loses a limb we'll be in good shape.

Robespierre and Cleo and I are taking a tour next week.

Read more about our Bar Mitzvah hunt.

What are those conveyor belt thingies called?

Visit FeeFiFoto for personalized Bar Mitzvah party favors.  Put photos of the guests on ceramic tiles for a great commemorative gift.

Another Blogroll Friday

We all have some favorite blogs we read before anything else.

How often do you click on someone else's blogroll?  It's a way less stressful way to make connections than selling Girl Scout cookies.  I was one of those not-so-aggressive salespeople who'd let my finger hover over the doorbell for what felt like half an hour.  If someone actually managed to answer the door before I could sneak away I'd say something forceful like: "You don't want to buy Girl Scout cookies, do you?"

This week I'm continuing my practice of telling you what to do list of suggested blogs with another favorite: Antique Mommy, one of the most graceful writers I've ever read.  She writes mostly about her treasured four-year-old boy, Sean, whom she loves so extravagantly and overwhelmingly that it hurts.  Her stories remind me of life with Robespierre when he was very small.

"Earlier in the winter, Sean and Antique Daddy set about the task of planting a small seedling in our backyard. When they were finished, they stood back, hand in hand, to admire their work. Antique Daddy bent down on one knee and pulled Sean to him. “Sean,” he said, “Some day, a long time from now, when you are an old man, as old as Papa George, I want you to come back here to this very spot.  I want you to look at this tree and remember that you and I planted it."

Sean made that awkward long face that he makes when he's trying not to cry.  Then he looked up at his daddy with big fat tears threatening to tumble down his face.  he shrugged his shoulders and held out his hands with his palms up, the universal gesture of bewilderment.

"Sometimes," he whispered and then paused thoughtfully.

"Sometimes I want to grow up... and then sometimes... I don't."  And then he shrugged again.

Oh Sean.  That's exactly how your mommy and daddy feel.  Sometimes we want to see you grow up into a man with a life of your own.  And sometimes we want to keep you a little boy forever."

Are you crying?  I am.

See more Friday Blogrolling

Day 20: Not Blogging About Entrecard

Learning to use Entrecard

I belong to the rapidly shrinking minority of bloggers who haven't yet written about Entrecard.  I'm sticking to my guns (so far, although I'm not sure why) but today I would like to mention that one of my new EC (that's short for "Entrecards", for those of you not yet part of the gang) friends, Saphrym, has mentioned one of my recent posts as a recommended read.

Yay me!  Yay Saphrym!

We're arranging an online playdate for our kids.  I'm bringing virtual snacks; he's responsible for virtual drinks.

Are you not writing about Entrecard?

Take a break from Entrecard and visit FeeFiFoto to design personalized photo mousepads that will make your Entrecarding more fun.

Migratory Morphin' Flu

Poor baby -- still sick

Apparently Super Awesome Fever Girl has special heretofore unrecognized morphing powers: tonight she transformed into The Incredible Vomiting Woman.  The root cause of this metamorphosis was prolonged exposure to the toxic effects of the dreaded Migratory Flu in its diabolical campaign to RULE THE WORLD: it starts as the Evil Fever, which leads to the dreaded Villainous Headache; before long they are joined by the sinister Nagging Cough and its fiendish sidekick Laryngitis.  You battle valiantly with every weapon in your arsenal: Advil, Sudafed, Robitussin, ice packs, tea, popsickles and your super-secret nuclear weapon: Mawmaw's Homemade Chicken Soup (recipe classified Top Secret; don't forget that little sprinkle of dill).  Just as you think you've got them all cornered they gang up on the sinuses and have to be removed by force must be waited out until they lose interest and prospect for another fortress to invade.

No school tomorrow.

See also: Super Awesome Fever Girl, Part I, Super Awesome Fever Girl, Part II

Don't you just hate the flu?

Visit FeeFifoto to design personalized canvas photo totes to carry all your tissues and medicines.

Be Careful What You Wish For

Ahh -- grandmothers -- where would we be without them?

Cleopatra-Queen-Of-The-Nile, alias Super Awesome Fever Girl, tried to return to school yesterday.  She made it to school okay.  She made it to her classroom okay.  She made it to her desk okay.  She put her head down on her desk, not so okay.

She lasted about ten minutes.

Headache.  Coughing.  Luckily I was still there.  I canceled my massage appointment (*sigh*), loaded her in the car, and brought her to my parents.  Cleo climbed into her personal pink bed in her personal pink room, and my mother, Schpilkes, commenced the Grandma Dance, which is quite remarkable for someone with two fake knees.  "Honey, would you like another pillow?"  "Honey, would you like a pancake?"  "Honey, eat your raspberries" (at $3.99 a carton).

I dedicate this post to my mother, and to all moms and grandmas out there dancing attendance on their little darlings.  I found these at Little Aussie Cynic; read the rest here.

 

See also: Sleeping With The Fishes

Do you have a favorite memory of being waited on hand and foot taken care of by your grandmother?

Visit FeeFiFoto soon to design personalized photo gifts for moms, grandmothers and aunts for Mother's Day, May 11.

Into A Nearby Telephone Booth ...

... and out comes:  Super Awesome Fever Girl, the passive-aggressive superhero.  Dressed in a flowing purple nightie cape, fueled by raspberry Jello, fortified with Advil, she flies to the rescue armed with her secret weapon: The Cough Of Power.  One cough from Fever Girl will bring enemies to their knees, begging for mercy, in five to seven days.  By then she'll be long gone, fighting the never-ending battle for liberty and germstice for all.

I Talk Good

Your Vocabulary Score: A

Congratulations on your multifarious vocabulary! You must be quite an erudite person.

How's Your Vocabulary?

Blogroll Friday

We all read some favorite blogs before anything else.

How often do you click on someone else's blogroll?  I used to do it all the time when I began blogging; it's way less stressful than approaching a table full of strangers and asking if you can join them for lunch.  Eventually I became devoted to my particular favorites so by now I pretty much ignore everyone else's and just visit those on my list.  It was quite helpful when I needed to build myself a friendship club but now that I have one, or at least a stalkerhood, I visit new blogs only when they come highly recommended, or I if happen to trip over them while playing a quick game of Entrecard or Stumbleupon.

So I was thinking that it might be fun to feature one or two of my favorites once in a while, just in case you're looking for something new to tickle your fancy.  Besides, with my impeccable taste (okay, barely peccable) how could you go wrong?

So, let's start with Dorky Dad.  Since I'm somewhat deficient in 'splaining skills, let me introduce an excerpt from one of my recent DD favorites by pointing out that Dorky Dad's blog avatar is a photo of the original Darren Stevens clearly in the throes of shrieking: "SAMANTHAAAA!"

Why should you visit DD?  Well, in case because I said so isn't convincing enough, read his blog because he's spit-take funny.  Observe:

"I live in Minnesota, and in case you hadn't heard it's cold here. For a large part of the year you risk your life by engaging in the simple act of going outside. Merely getting the paper on a January morning can result in the loss of a limb or two.

As a result, a lot of things here are built indoors. A person can take a tour of each branch of the state government in St. Paul and tour several buildings without breathing fresh air, thanks to a series of tunnels. Our downtowns are marked by skyways that keep people entrapped like well-dressed hamsters. We have a large number of indoor pools and water parks so people can get their e-coli infections without freezing important body parts.

The indoor nature of our state enabled me and The Boy to go to an amusement park today when The Boy's day care was closed. It's inside a place I will simply refer to as The Mall. So I spent several hours shoehorning myself repeatedly into seats built for someone considerably smaller so I can get hurled around in a circle a half-dozen times until I either barf or die of sheer embarrassment.

At 3, The Boy is still a bit too young and too small to go on the big rides. And even the small kiddie rides he typically must ride with a chaperone, which is always me even when The Wife is along, which she wasn't today.

Some of these rides are OK, like the merry-go-round. Yet some, like The Boy's favorite -- a race car ride -- require me to fold myself into three and dislocate a handful of joints to squeeze into the car. And then that ride tosses me around like a lottery ball for several minutes until my face is a nice shade of green.

Others are just annoying, even if I don't have to chaperone, like the semi-truck ride. Each seat in the ride, and there are about 50 million of them, has its own high-pitched horn. And every kid on that ride spends every second of it honking like they're stuck in New York City traffic. Just a couple of minutes of that had me reaching for one of those cheap, plastic pirate swords so I could commit hari-kari. I can't imagine what life would be like for the poor sap who has to run the ride all day.

Still, it was all worth it. The Boy had fun, along with an amusement park experience that will be vital to his old man's future happiness.

After all, somebody needs to go on a roller coaster with me."

There's more but I bet DD would prefer you read the rest on his blog, so pop on over there and tell him he's funny.  And tell him I sent you.  And ask him to turn the music down after 10:00 p.m.  Thanks.

Do you have favorite bloggers, aside from yourself?

Visit FeeFiFoto to design personalized photo gifts for Easter or Mother's Day.

Thursday Thirteen: I Watched Way Too Much Television As A Kid

I like Pokey; Gumby, not so much.

"Fruit Juicy ... Fruit Juicy.  Hey!  How about a nice Hawaiian Punch?"
"Sure."
"BAM!"

"III'M COMIIIING BEANIE BOOOOY!"

Remember when the sugar content of breakfast cereals was trumpeted from the rooftops?

 

Ray-sins

Bonus round: anyone remember the name of Elsie's husband?

Half the fun of having feet is Manolo Blahnik Red Goose shoes.

A bit eerie ...

 

These two came as a team. /\ \/

Ahh -- Reddy Kilowatt was my childhood idol.

Buster's dog Tige looks a little bit crazed.

Ten points for Gryffindor if you can tell me what "ZIP" stands for, and no fair Googling.

Did your favorite make the list?

Visit FeeFiFoto and design a cotton canvas tote bag with a picture of Reddy Kilowatt, or your favorite cartoon character.

Personalize Gifts To Help Customers Remember You Fondly

Personalizing corporate gifts has become very easy.

From Biz Gift guru:

" ... While many other promotional products come and go, mugs ... seem to be always in. The shapes, the colors, the designs may change, but the mugs are always around. Why is that ?

• First of all they are relatively cheap to make ...

• They provide large area for branding. Whether it is just a simple logo or all around photo imprint, the branding on the mug is visible. Many people keep their mugs on their office desk where others see it.

• The mugs are useful and practical gift and people usually like getting them ...

• Although the mugs are relatively cheap, they do not (or should not) look cheap if well made. They are a decent gift by themselves, but also a nice part of a gift set ...

• The mugs are also mass marketing medium ..."

FeeFiFoto originated as a personal gift business -- customers found us in the early days via the minimal G.00.gull advertising we did at Christmas time, and used us again in subsequent years if they could recall our name, which at the time was PhotoGiftPlace.  Occasionally purchasers bought sets of calendars or tote bags or caps to give to their customers or associates or as party favors or family reunion favors, but most of the gifts were bought in ones and twos for family and friends.

In case you haven't noticed, I've been flaunting a new marketing widget on this blog in the upper right hand corner.  As the business of personalized photo gifts has become more competitive and dye sublimation has become more prevalent, it's begun to make sense to produce dye sublimated corporate or customer gifts.  One of the best characteristics of dye sublimated items is the permanence of the image and the high quality of the reproduction.  Not only can we put your favorite photo on a mug or tote bag, we can also incorporate your logo or tagline.   

Why not branch out and give something to your customers or potential customers that will remind them of you and your business every time they see it or use it?  Pens are nice; mouse pads are better because you look at them all day.  Notepads are nice (we sell them too with your photo on all four sides of a note cube); mugs or totes are better because they're permanent. 

Promote your business through the use of wisely considered souvenirs that will be useful to customers over time and help them remember you.  If you make it appealing enough to them they'll use it and carry it around with them instead of just sticking it in a drawer and forgetting about it.

See also: The purpose of a tagline

What's the best logo gift you've ever received?  I got a really cool fountain pen once for flying a certain airline.

Visit FeeFiFoto to find all sorts of gifts to personalize with your photo, logo or tagline.