Posts Tagged ‘Twitter’
Posted by terrepruitt on September 25, 2014
I have asked on Twitter time and time again. I have received no reply. Perhaps people thought it was a rhetorical question. Perhaps no one else has experienced this. Perhaps they thought I was joking. Perhaps it was such a “No duh!” to them no one has bothered to answer. But my question is: Do people . . . owners of websites . . . pay other people, primarily those who do not speak English as their first language, to go onto other people’s blogs and leave comments? I get the weirdest comments. I get comments that have NOTHING to do with the post. I get comments where the person posting states their name is Samantha Garblygook, with an e-mail of habeebsrab@xxx.com, and the web address will be for Youtube. Odd stuff like that. I have received comments FIVE paragraphs long about washing machines or some computer part. And the way they type the comments is obvious that they are typing them in a way so they can search for them. With every “the” spelled tthe, with every “are” spelled arre . . . stuff like that. I cannot imagine people just doing this on their own. I can’t imagine Samantha or Habeeb (whatever their real name might be) going onto the internet to leave a comment to promote an appliance repair site or a lawyer’s site just to be nice. Just because. So the site owners must be paying these people, right? They are having people go out and comment on a lot of blogs to try to get traffic back to their site, right?
Sometimes the comments make sense, but they have the mismatched name and e-mail, as I have mentioned. Or they have the purposefully misspelled words as I have also mentioned. But sometimes the comments are just gobblygook. They make no sense at all. They are just words strung together. Or there might be one sentence or a two or three word combination that MIGHT sort of make sense but not really. So odd. Actually the ones that make absolutely NO sense at all are becoming fewer and farther between. Now it is more of the comments that have NOTHING, NOT. A. THING. to do with the post they are commenting on or they have a huge number of words crafted with misspellings. I am getting a lot of these lately.
I probably get at least 10 a day. That is a lot. It makes me laugh because some of them sound like nice comments. They sound sweet, but “I reallly love tthe way you expose tthe information to mme on this terriffic site. It is clear tthe information meanns allot to you. Could you tell mme tthe best webblog to use? You will be famous withh your blogging.” is clearly spam. Ha! Yes. I love exposing information and I am famous. Sigh.
I used to get excited when I saw that little number that indicates I have a comment. Now I know it will just bbe a spaam comment. I used to wonder why they typed like that because it is clearly calculated then my hubby said it was so they can search for their specific comment. The type-os would be unique to them. Yeah, makes perfect sense. So, I think once or twice, the comment sounded nice, so I edited out the type-os and approved it. 🙂
The comments today are hilarious. Once goes from talking about hair to digestion and then back to hair. Two talk about streaming movies. One actually says, “Try to knife him to see that he’s not down and out just yet.” WHAT???????
So is that what is happening, are people PAYING other people to leave these types of comments? Do you have a blog? Do you experience these crazy comments on your blog?
Posted in Misc | Tagged: blogging, crazy comments, gobblygook, paid comments, paid spammers, spam, spam comments, spammers, Twitter, web traffic | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on February 13, 2014
Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day. So today in the San Jose Nia Class we danced to a playlist of songs with Love in them. Our focus was Love. Self-love. Love with respect and non-judgment. We just moved and had fun. Also, since it is Valentine’s Day tomorrow I thought I would honor my valentine by sharing with you a story of his gallantry and bravery. This happened a very long time ago. Before Twitter and Facebook. It is kind of nice to have stories to be able to tell, huh? Now-a-days things are shared pretty-much instantly so it cuts down on the story telling. This is one of my favorites. If we have ever met in person, you probably have already heard this. And I really thought that I had posted it, but I cannot find it. If this happened now there would be pictures because it really could have gone in the The Guinness Book of World Records. My hubby is my hero, even before he was my hubby. He saved me from the biggest spider I have never seen!
When my husband and I were dating I lived in a small apartment. The kitchen was tiny. It was a galley style kitchen, ya know, like a narrow hallway, but it was not a hallway, there was only one in and one out. If someone was at the stove cooking, someone else could not be at the counter preparing unless both persons stood off center. The fridge was super small. The stove was a four burner, but all four burners practically touched each other. Here is where I practiced deep squats because you could not bend over and look in the lower cupboards. There was not enough room to fold OVER, you HAD to squat.
One day . . . I don’t even know what I was looking for, I reached into one of the under the counter cupboards and I felt something odd. Something hairy. I drew my hand out with it in my hand. Now here is where it gets kind of fuzzy. I am not sure what I did with it. But I do know, I stood up, I shut the cupboard and I thought that it was the biggest spider leg I had ever seen. I decided to leave it for my boyfriend to take care of for me. Now . . . as I mentioned . . . it was a very small kitchen. From that cupboard in the corner to the end of the counter was probably two steps. I can say that by the time I took the third step out of the kitchen I had forgotten about the fist sized spider in my cupboard.
Did I see it? No. How did I know it was fist sized? Well, from the size of its leg . . . it was AT LEAST the size of my fist. How did I live in my apartment knowing it was there? Well, like I said, on my third step, I forgot about it. I chalk that up to my survival skills because seriously, if I’d have thought of the fact that there was a HUGE spider in my cupboard, I would have not been able to live there. My boyfriend was not coming over for a couple of days. I HAD to forget about it and move on!
Now at the time I didn’t know my boyfriend was afraid of spiders. I mean, really though, unless you LIKE spiders, there is going to be some wanting-to-avoid-them . . . especially if the leg is 3 inches long. I believe it was a long time after (probably a hundred spiders later) when my husband admitted to being “icked out” by spiders.
I don’t remember if I asked him on the phone if he would help me or if he was there. I kinda think I completely forgot until he was actually THERE. I think we were talking and it dawned on me that there was a spider in my cupboard. I do remember he put on a brave face. Now remember, my kitchen was SMALL. There was no way and no WHERE to run or move. To get the spider he had to get down on all fours — or at least a squat — and put his head practically IN the cupboard.
Being the supportive girlfriend I was, I left the room. (Don’t judge! It was the biggest spider leg EVER!!!!!!!!)
Now again, I am not sure exactly what happened next. If he reads this he might pipe in. All I know is that he got down on the kitchen floor and attempted to rescue his absent damsel in distress. I think he might have screamed. Then it was followed by laughter. Ok, I don’t remember except there eventually WAS laughter. He was so brave and kind and gallant. He rescued me from a petrified potato! We were both very relieved. And . . . he was the hero even though it was just a vegetable he saved me from.
He is still my hero.
(Happy Valentine’s Day, Love!)
What stories do you have to share? Any about your Valentine? Any that make you laugh?
Posted in Entertainment, Misc | Tagged: biggest spider EVER, brave boyfriend, damsel in distress, Facebook, hero, HUGE spider, Nia Classes, Nia playlist, Nia San Jose, rescue, San Jose Nia, small apartment, The Guinness Book of World Records, Twitter, Valentine, Valentine's Day | 10 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on January 16, 2014
Whoa. I have a Twitter account and I follow a lot of Nia people, of course. The other day one of them, Jennifer Hicks post a link to a fact sheet about skin. Many of the things I knew such as skin is the largest organ of the human body, the three layers of skin, feet have the thickest layer, over 50% of the dust in homes is dead skin (ewwww!) and some others. But I don’t think I knew about each hair having a muscle. It makes sense because how else could it “stand on its end” if it didn’t have a muscle to help it stand? And ear wax is actually produced by a type of sweat gland . . . did you know that? Everyone has the same number of melanocytes. Melanocytes are the cells that produce melanin and melanin is the protein that gives skin its color. Wow! So since everyone has the same number it is the activity of the melanocytes not the quantity that determines skin color. You can see the information for yourself on the Elephant Journal’s website, click here. What REALLY fascinated me was the “skin replacement”.
When I read that I thought, “What? Replace your skin?” So, of course I had to look it up. Then I thought, “Ohhhhhhh! I get it.” It is amazing. Sometimes I don’t think about some of the stuff that needs to be done. And let me tell you, I am grateful for not having to know. But if you have a need for skin it makes sense and this sounds really cool. Well, cool once you get over the “gross factor” and the “sad factor”. But this “replacement skin” is actually considered a “wound care device”. So this company called INTEGRA makes the INTEGRA™ Bilayer Matrix Wound Dressing which can help with severe wounds.
The product acts like skin so the wound has a better chance of healing without infection by blocking bacteria and helping control ” water vapor loss”. Wounds including: abrasions, lacerations, second-degree burns, and skin tears. It allows the skin to breath and move, as your real actual skin does. It is made up of two layers, one is silicon and the other is collagen and glycosaminoglycan. The silicon layer is removed after about 21 days of healing. Then the other layer is expected to help provide a structure for the body to build onto, so that layer gets absorbed into the body. Which for me – at this point, having no wounds needing something like this – is a bit icky as it is bovine collagen and sugars. But I am certain if I needed something to help a serious wound heal, I probably would tell myself it was like eating a steak.
But anyway . . . this interested me and intrigued me. It also helps remind me of how incredible our skin is. I mean there are 50 facts that Catherine Beekmans shared with us/reminded us of, but then also that it can heal from such deep and/or severe wounds such as those that would require something like the product mentioned here. I am sure many of you know of this product or others like it, but sometimes I am happy I don’t know these things. I am happy I have never had an occasion to be introduced to this type of thing. But then again when I do learn about it, I am just amazed.
What about you? How many of the 50 Skin Facts did you know? What about this “replacement skin”, do you think it is amazing?
Posted in Misc | Tagged: 50 Skin Facts, Elephant Journal, heal serious wounds, human body, Nia, Nia people, second-degree burn help, three layers of skin, Twitter | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on July 2, 2013
I am so grateful that all of the Nia classes I teach are in air conditioning because it is has been really hot the last few days and the weather predictions for the next few days are just as hot if not hotter. I know that a lot of areas get hotter than us, but we usually don’t have such hot weather. Since the San Francisco Bay Area doesn’t always get into the triple digits it is not uncommon for people to NOT have air conditioning. We don’t have air conditioning. Usually with the few days of heat that we do get it is ok. Our traditional — and wonderful, I might add — weather patterns consist of cooled off nights even when the days are blistering. But sometimes or when the days of heat drag onto six or seven days in a row, it just doesn’t seem to cool off and it makes sleeping difficult. I often see posts on Facebook and tweets on Twitter about how people can’t sleep because it is too hot. When it has been too hot for me to sleep it is usually immediately. As in when I go to bed it is too hot for me to fall asleep. I have a little method of cooling down that at least allows me to sleep. I wanted to share it in hopes that it might allow you, if you are too hot, a few hours of sleep.
Even if this is not new to you or sounds elementary, it might help someone. I know when I mentioned it to someone once they said, “Oh, I never thought of that.” So — hey, it might help.
So what you do before you go to bed is take a cold shower. As cold as you can stand. Now I don’t know what it is about showers, but the other day I got into take a shower and even though the weather was really hot I started taking a warm shower, then I realized that it was really hot and I should try a cool shower at least. So when I say take a cold shower, I really mean COLD. As in jump-in-the-pool-stop-your-breathe type of cold. Now if you are actually taking a shower than I supposed that would be long enough, but if you are just in there to cool down stay as long as you can to actually get cool maybe even chilled. Once you are done don’t dry off all the way. Yeah, that is the big part of this. First cool your body down. Drop your temperature as low as you can in cool/cold water then don’t dry off. Then set a fan up to blow on you while you are in bed. Then go to bed, wet hair, damp body, and all.
Part of the sleep process is lowering your body temperature so when it is hot outside and your body can’t cool down it makes it difficult to sleep. But if you HELP your body’s natural sleep process by cooling your body down you are a step closer to sleep. The fan is an added bonus to help keep you cool. Of course have the air blowing on you however you prefer. I don’t like it on my face and I don’t care for it on my back so often I just have it on my feet, either in a constant rush or the breezy kind.
So this is a simple procedure that might assist you in getting to sleep. For many people once they are asleep they can stay asleep, but if you wake up because it is too hot at least you got a few hours (hopefully) in. You could always repeat the process if you’d like. Usually it helps me get through the night.
What do you think?
Sweet dreams.
Posted in Misc | Tagged: air conditioning, Bay Area, Bay Area Nia, can't sleep, cool down for sleep, Facebook, Nia, Nia Classes, Nia Teacher, San Francisco Bay Area, sleep relief, too hot to sleep, tweets, Twitter | Leave a Comment »
Posted by terrepruitt on April 23, 2013
Wow. This past weekend I went to an event a friend of mine invited me too. It was very cool. I had learned about walking the labyrinth not too long ago (about four years). I found it very fascinating. I love that you just walk the path and it is yours. You walk, you experience whatever it is you want to/need to experience. There are many different types of labyrinth. The first one I experienced was at the Center for Spiritual Enlightenment in San Jose, CA. The labyrinth was in their garden. Their garden is an oasis in the middle of a noisy city. 
The labyrinth I walked on Saturday was at a church, First Congregational Church. It is a stone labyrinth. Walking the labyrinth alone is a special thing in itself, but this event was sound healing while you walked the labyrinth. I had heard of sound healing before but didn’t really have an idea of what it was. I really had no idea what this event would be like, I just wanted to go because the one time I walked the labyrinth I really enjoyed it. The event was planned two months ago and in those two months . . . .wow! At this time I am just going to say that I felt this was the PERFECT time for me to be attending this event! There were four women that played their Crystal Singing bowls, drums, rattles and other sound healing instruments while we walked the labyrinth. It was a wonderful experience. Their intention is to hold this type of event every other month. I will be posting the information as I learn of it so anyone who wants to join can do so.
Crystal Singing bowls are very beautiful LOOKING and I was attracted to one so I went over to talk to one of the women about it. Since I didn’t know anything about the bowls I wanted to learn more. She shared with me the vibration of the bowl called “The Divine Mother”. She told me what it was made of and shared the sound with me. While she made it sing I was holding it. It was very warm. Then she had me hold it in one hand and strike it with the mallet. Then she took the bowl and held it in her hand and struck it while I held my hands close to the bowl but not touching. That was amazing. I felt the energy, the vibration from the bowl push against my hands. I had to give a little resistance so my hands did not move away from the bowl. The sound is very beautiful, but I was very intrigued by the energy coming from the bowl. She was very kind and she allowed me to experience this for a while. Then she had me turn in a circle while she moved the bowl up my body and down my body. It is kind of surprising the force I felt from the bowl as she did that. It was not strong as if to move me, but there was something and that really surprised me. I felt the vibration from the bowl.
At this time with what is going on in my life and what is going on in the world, I am open heartedly accepting it as healing sound and vibration. What is really is and what you want to believe is up in the air and up to you. I am just sharing that I knew nothing of this type of “healing” and was really just surprised and amazed by the sense and the feeling I got. I was just WOWED! Really. And I felt really good and relaxed after. The morning was emotional and a bit stressful and after that little session I was back to relaxation and joy.
So, a portion of my walk in the labyrinth was that of thankfulness and pure gratitude. But it was a — to me — a big labyrinth so I was also able to concentrate on some healing thoughts for someone else. Then while I walked I began so sense my feet and I took a little time to focus on self-healing. I walked the labyrinth both ways so I was able to do what I felt necessary.
Whew! It was an awesome experience. I look forward to attending more walks with sound healings. I will put the information regarding the next event up somewhere (here, my website, Twitter or Facebook) when they have the details worked out and have let me know. So check back if you are interested. I honestly can’t wait. I really felt some healing from the lovely sound and enjoyed the walk and the support of all those that gathered.
What do you think? Interesting? Interested?
If you are interested, there is a walk on Saturday, August 17, 2013, 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm. Click here to go to Facebook Event!
Posted in Misc | Tagged: bowl energy, bowl vibrations, Center for Spiritual Enlightenment, Crystal Singing Bowls, Divine Mother bowl, Facebook, First Congregational Church, garden, healing, labyrinth walk, oasis, Sound healing, The Divine Mother, Twitter, walking the labyrinth | 8 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on December 24, 2011
It is Christmas Eve and while I never really take time off from Nia and being self-employed, I am posting about decorations again. Another post inspired by yet another blog friend. My friend shared her snowmen with us on her blog and I told her I wanted to share ours. I wasn’t sure how, but I took pictures anyway. I was just going to e-mail them to her, but then I thought I should just post them on Facebook. But then I decided that snowmen would be a nice little Christmas Eve post. Some of my favorite decorations that we have are snowmen. We have one set in particular that I always receive compliments on. They were our first set and they are simple and sweet. They always go in the same place every year. Some of our other snowmen migrate around the house. Sometimes I forget where I put what so things are not always the same. But these ones always go in the same spot — basically. They might end up on the left or the right or the center, but they are always on the same shelf.
So funny . . . now that I am actually looking at them while cropping the picture, they aren’t really even snowmen, are they? They were labeled snowmen when I bought them (I think) so I think of them as the family of snowmen. Well, whatever they are they are cute and sparkly!
You might notice that a few of our snowmen are snow angels. I really like that. They are so cute. I actually didn’t put up a set of our hanging snow angels. I didn’t put up a lot this year. When I was decorating I allowed the fact that our tree was dead three days after we bought it to put a damper on my Christmas decorating spirit. I didn’t put as many ornaments on the tree as usual because the more it was touched the more the needles just fell off. I was afraid it wouldn’t last until Christmas. With this being our first Holiday Season without John’s mom, the whole tree thing made me sad. Then since we weren’t going to have anyone over during the Holidays I decided the less I put up, the less I will have to clean around and the less I will have to take down. I do have a goal of “Christmas everywhere you look” so I did that, it is just not as much as usual. But it is just fine. I do “tests” and turn my head this way and that, and YUP! still Christmas wherever I look so it’s grand!
There are snowmen in various spots of the house. I believe last year these (the ones directly to the left, pictured in front of the sleigh) were our latest addition. I do not collect snowmen, nor do I particularly fancy them, there are just some that I see and I like. But I don’t like all snowmen. I like sparkle, glitter, shine, and blue. So I really love that they make so many Chanukah decorations because the color scheme for that seems to be blue! So yay, more blue!
Do you decorate for Christmas? Or for the Holidays that you and your family celebrate?
I wish you a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and peace and joy throughout the year!
Posted in Misc | Tagged: angels, Chanukah decorations, Christams Eve, Christmas, Christmas decorations, Facebook, Facebook Friend, Hanukkah, Hanukkah decorations, Happy Holidays, Nia, snow angels, Snowmen, Snowpeople, Twitter | 10 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on December 22, 2011
I first want to say that Nia in San Jose is on it’s regular schedule even with the surrounding Holidays. Next, I want to say with so much holiday stuff around me it is more fun to post about decorations, cards sent, cards received, gifts given and received, Christmas Trees, ornaments, lights, and the cheer, than about how to exercise “off” those extra calories you might be consuming. It is better to avoid eating too much than to try to work it off. Many websites give you advice on how to avoid over indulging at parties, I posted one myself last year. They are articles of advice on how to keep motivated during the holidays everywhere you turn. As you know I like to post about other things. I love Christmas and all of its decorations and cheer that it brings. I love how people get creative with gifts and decorations. When I first saw this I wanted to post about it. But I often hesitate because I do also want to post about exercises and working out, but this kept popping into my head. I love it that much.
I have a friend I know through blogging. I believe I “met” him on another friend’s blog. I forget exactly how the timeline went but we started following eachother on Twitter and we are friends on Facebook. He is one of those people that seems to be everywhere. I don’t know how he does it, but he comments or “likes” my posts and my photos on several sites. He is one of those people that is very supportive. He is always there to support me in my internet dabblings.
He takes great pictures. I am always amazed at the shots he gets on his morning walks. But the latest photo that had me clapping with glee and I just can’t get out of my head is the photo of his book tree. I keep thinking, “Who would think of that?” Well, the answer is a man that works in a bookstore, but still, I love it. It is so cute and so imaginative. Really why can’t you decorate anything, right. I also kind of think of it as a bit of a joint effort. He, of course, came up with the biggest part, putting it together and stringing it with garland. I just make a tiny suggestion of using paper clips (or a strong wire) to hang the ornaments.
This is one of those things that just makes me happy. Do you have simple things in your life that make you happy and make you smile? This is one of them. Simon is often making me laugh and smile, but I really loved this one and wanted to share. I received permission to post his picture here. You can see it here (click) on one of his blogs.
A note to Simon: Simon, my friend, you are a constant source of smiles and laughter to me. I appreciate how you are always so supportive with your “likes” and comments. I think you are a great photographer and look forward to the pictures of your morning walks and all your pictures. Thank you for this lovely book tree, it makes me giggle when I think about it.
_____________
I hope you all enjoyed his little book tree. I hope that no matter what holiday you celebrate at this time of year you are having a happy and peaceful time. Thanks for being here!
Posted in Misc | Tagged: a book tree, a tree made of books, Christmas, Christmas decorations, Christmas Ornaments, Christmas Tree, Facebook, Facebook Friend, holiday stuff, Holidays, Nia, Nia San Jose, San Jose Nia, Simon's Book Tree, Twitter | 6 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on December 13, 2011
I teach Nia at a studio in San Jose. The studio is in a part of San Jose called Willow Glen. In January (2012) I will have been holding Nia classes there for three years. It is a studio that is owned by two women who teach and perform belly dancing. One woman is named Hala and the other Amanda. The name of the studio is Halanda. See how they did that? Well, every year they have a Holiday Party which is like Christmas Parties at offices once were, a BIG thank you. The teachers come together to display their talent in front of the audience made up of students, other dancers, and neighborhood people. It was an awesome show and a great party.
As I mentioned in a previous post, this is the first year that I have been able to attend. I was very amazed and impressed. I am going to spend from now until the next party telling my students they really want to attend next year. It is a busy time of the year, but it is so great to come and see all the beautiful dance we have going on in the studio.
There was a lot of food. As you can see there were vegetables, fruit, meat, and cheese. There were several types of crackers. Someone brought sandwiches. Someone brought spanakopita! There were trays of cookies. You can see the huge trays of turkey wraps. There was so much food. As one dish was emptied something else would replace it. The table was like the never ending table of food.
As you may know it is difficult to watch something AND take pictures at the same time. So I really rushed through taking pictures. I was using my phone and my camera. I was taking pictures on my phone and posting them to various social networks, like Facebook, Twitter, and Streamzoo. In addition to this being a “thank you” party, it is also a networking party and a way to try to get people interested in taking classes at the studio. So I was trying to watch at the same time I was Facebooking, tweeting, and posting to Streamzoo. All of this in addition to the fact that the subject(s) are shaking, shimmying, bouncing, and jittering caused me to have mostly very blurry shots.
The first dance shot is of Farima and her Students performing a Silk Road Fusion.
Then there is Marie Manila showing us what Hot Hula is. It appeared to be hula dance, with her telling you what muscles you are working. Maybe they repeat some moves more than they would in a typical hula dance.
Then there is a picture of Farima and some more of her students. They are doing a Persian Dance and they are dressed like princesses. I think the costumes are one of my favorite things about belly dancing. They can be very sparkly and shiny. I love that.
Here is a shot of my friend Laura Thompson. She is multi-talented. Here she is dancing under her stage name, Setareh , with a sword. I have known here for years and I have never seen her dance. It was awesome. Her other passion is jewelry making and her talent lies not only in the beautiful pieces she creates, but in the way she can tweak one of her creations to match you perfectly.
Here is Amanda, a co-owner of the studio, doing a Turkish Dance. 
Below is photo of Vy performing an Egyptian Oriental Dance.
Next is Hala, the other co-owner, doing Egyptian Bellydance.
And then a shot of Michelle and her students. Michelle teaches something called No Rules Dance, which I believe is for belly dancer who have belly dancing experience, but want to learn new things and “break” the rules.
I didn’t take pictures of all the performers, plus some that I did take were too blurry to post. Every dance was a delight to see. So much talent at the studio!
I did a two song Nia demo and many people joined me. It was awesome. We had a great time. I was so happy to be able to share Nia with so many people.
Well, I will probably point you to this post as NEXT December nears so that you can be reminded of what a GREAT time the party is and maybe (if you are around) you will attend. It really is a treat to be able to see so many different types of dance and belly dance all in one show. Thanks always to Hala and Amanda for having such a great little place we all can dance!
Posted in Exercise and Working Out, Nia | Tagged: Amanda, Belly Dance, Certified PiYo Instructor, Christmas party, CPT, exercise, Facebook, Hala, Halanda Dance Studio, Holiday party, http://www.HelpYouWell.com, Los Gatos Nia, Nia, Nia class, Nia Dance, Nia San Jose, Nia studio, Nia Teacher, Nia White Belt, No Rules Belly Dance, Performance, Pilates, PiYo/Pilates/Yoga, San Jose exercise classes, San Jose Nia, San Jose Nia classes, San Jose Nia Teacher, San Jose Workout, social networks, Streamzoo, Terre Pruitt, Twitter, Willow Glen Nia, workout, www.HelpYouWell.com, www.NiaSanJose.com, www.TerrePruitt.com, Yoga | 6 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on October 4, 2011
If you follow me on Twitter, are a Facebook friend of mine, or look at my website, you will have seen that my Nia students and I have been doing Nia in the park. I teach Nia at two different facilities. There is my Monday and Wednesday class that meets at 9:00 am. We meet in a little dance studio in an area of San Jose called Willow Glen. The studio is about 900 square feet, it has a laminate floor and a large mirror. It is long and slightly narrow. It is a nice little place. I have been teaching there for over two and a half years. Some of my students have been dancing Nia with me for that long. In November of 2010 I started teaching Nia on Fridays at a different studio in Los Gatos. It was a different type of studio . . . it was more of an exercise studio where exercise classes are held. They had a separate room for Pilates Reformer classes. Well at the end of August this studio said they were moving. When they would be done with the move and how it all was going to work was very up in the air. At one point I was told by one of the owners that we would only miss one Nia class. So I just decided that one class would be ok to miss. It would not be worth the time involved to secure another place to hold a class. But then the next week we were told it would be at least another week. So I asked my students if they wanted to hold a class in the park. Many students are wanting to participant in Nia three times a week so they said yes. We decided to try it.
Well, I think that not having Nia that one Friday really helped us all realize that we do like to have it three times a week. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday just seems pretty perfect. On the Friday we met in the park we didn’t know how it would go. We didn’t know if the weather would cooperate. We didn’t know if there would be too many people for us to dance on the volleyball court. See that is one thing, I have often entertained the idea of do Nia in a park, because grass really sound likes a great place to dance barefoot. Natures cushioned dance floor. But I have always been concerned about holes, bumps, and ruts. The thought of someone turning their ankle on the grass has always kept me from following through with it. Plus, the idea that was tossed about had always been an evening class. I imagine parks being really busy in the evening.
This park that we have been at is really close to the studio in Willow Glen. There is a basketball court and a volleyball court that have been empty in the mornings. I imagine the basketball court is occupied in the evenings, but while we are there it is empty. The volleyball court is somewhat in the shade and provides us with a smooth flat surface to move on. The park seems rather busy the hour before we arrive. Seems like many loving dog owners take their dogs out for morning exercise. There are mother’s and children at the playground. We have had to dance without music when the lawnmower has obliterated the sound. But that was only once or twice for a song or two.
The studio has been closed for longer than we had anticipated. So we have been doing Nia in the park for four weeks. The weather has been very nice. Once it was warmer than we like, but so far we have had great temperatures. This week it is raining. The forecast is saying that it will be sunny on Friday, but we will see. The studio has also announced that it will not be open for two more Fridays. So we might get this week in at the park and next week. I have been leaving it up to my students. If they tell me they are going to be there, then I say, I will be there too!
I have really enjoyed our time at the park. I sort of wish that we could do it there all year, but with winter coming, although winters in the San Fransisco Bay Area are not full of snow, we do get rain and I don’t think we want to dance in the rain. So I am sad that our time in the park is ending. I hope that we will be inspired to do Nia in the park again at some point after these next two weeks. I am really doing it because my students wanted to do it because we love Nia. I know that some classes take place on the beach and other outdoor places. I am so happy that I have been able to experience Nia outdoors and share it with my students.
Yeah, this is me sharing. 🙂
Posted in Nia | Tagged: beach Nia, dance studio, Facebook, helpyouwell.com, Los Gatos Nia, Nia class, Nia Dance, Nia Los Gatos, Nia Movement, Nia San Jose, Nia students, Nia studio, Nia Teacher, Nia website, Nia workout, park Nia, Pilates, Pilates reformer, San Francisco Bay Area Nia, SF Bay Nia, Twitter, Willow Glen Nia | 4 Comments »
Posted by terrepruitt on August 23, 2011
I have stated before that I joined the world of social media to promote my Nia business. Nia has been around for almost 30 years, but not a lot of people know about it. It did not have the marketing push of Zumba. Nia is a fitness/wellness practice that includes a cardio dance workout. I grudgingly joined FaceBook, Twitter, Wellsphere, Merchant Circle, Yelp, Youtube, and many more to share things about health and wellness, and yes primarily Nia. What happened, of course, was I found friends on FB both new and ones I had lost touch with. I made friends through my blog and other people’s blogs. I connected with many people on Twitter. With all of these real friend connections I often get distracted with conversations on these social media sites. But then again, I don’t really think of them as distractions because these are my friends now. They might be people I may never meet face-to-face, but I care about them and — lucky me — they care about me. But I do still have to try to learn things. Today I listened to a Guinness World Record-breaking webinar hosted by HubSpot and presented by Dan Zarrella . It was really interesting. He shared how a lot of things you might hear are myths.
The presentation was labelled “The Science of Social Media”. I guess the “science” came in because Mr. Zarrella compiled a bunch of figures from research. I am gonna share some of the things he stated that I found interesting. Ok – really I am stating interesting facts off the slides because he talked so fast I missed a lot of what he said. AND they had an earthquake in Virgina before the webinar and it was felt where the presentation was taking place. They said the audio was having issues because of the earthquake. But when Mr. Z slowed down, it was fine.
He had a lot of charts graphs and all types of things explaining how he came to these conclusions and these were the times when his rate of speech doubled so I think he was very excited about how he came up with this info but it also made it very hard to understand. But . . . this provides a great opportunity for me to let you know that Hubspot is going to post the webinar so you can listen to it yourself. I am just pointing out some highlights and what I got out of it. It is always better to listen to the source when you have the opportunity.
Here are three myths:
– Engaging in the conversation is the most important thing.
From what I understood, he was saying this is not true IF you were trying to get huge exposure. We are all on social networks for our own reasons. So this MIGHT be a true fact for you, but in Mr. Z’s context he was saying it is NOT the most important thing when you are trying to get exposure.
– Don’t call yourself a guru.
His research showed people calling themselves gurus had HUGE followings. So as long as you follow up your “guru” claim with good/valuable info you can call yourself that.
– Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays are bad days to publish.
He said he found this not to be true. He explained people can spend much more time on things (posts, links, e-mail, etc) because there is less traffic on those days. So it sounds as if so many people believe this to be true so they don’t publish on those day which actually makes it false.
Additional points:
– Highly followed accounts tweet a lot of links.
Well, for me as a follower, if that is all that I see in a twitter stream I usually don’t bother following. So, as I said, we all use social media for our own purposes so not all of his information applies to everyone. He was sharing what his research showed by the numbers he studied.
– Don’t tweet “over” yourself.
If you tweet out a link or information, let it set a bit. Give people time to see it before you tweet more information. Some of this I think you just learn as you go.
– Don’t talk about yourself too much and
– Positive tweets and posts are what people want to read
These two points I thought were funny because I think of them as obvious as the sky. But maybe it was stated for people living under a rock. And there is a fine line, which was not actually addressed. I think the fine line would be more educational. I mean, people DO want to hear about you as a person, but how much is the question. And people also don’t care to read false positives. I mean life does have some negative aspects and sometimes it is ok to share them. Again, the question is: how much?
– Write to the 5th grade level.
Regardless of what your audience’s education level may be this is a widely used level.
– Asking for a retweet works.
He said when you ask nicely for followers to retweet or share they do.
These are highlights of what I found most interesting. There was a lot of information to support the busting of each myth, but that information you can hear when you listen to the webinar yourself. You’ll will want to, if you have time and you are interested in learning more about social media. HubSpot is a great tool for learning about social media. They often have free webinars and downloads. You might want to visit their site to see all they have to offer. Thanks again, HubSpot and Mr. Dan Zarrella, as always I received some great info from you!
Here is the link to the webinar, http://www.hubspot.com/science-of-social-media-thanks/
Posted in Misc, Twitter | Tagged: #smsci, cardio dance workout, Dan Zarella, Facebook, fitness/wellness practice, Guinness World Record-breaking webinar, health and wellness, HubSpot, Merchant Circle, Nia, Nia business, Nia Dance, Nia for health, Nia Practice, Nia workout, retweets, social media, social media exposure, social media gurus, social media tool, Social Networking, The Science of Social Media, Twitter, twitter stream, Virginia earthquake, webinar, Wellsphere, Yelp, Youtube, Zumba, Zumba dance, Zumba workout | 4 Comments »
Terre Pruitt's Blog 
Paid Gooblygook
Posted by terrepruitt on September 25, 2014
I have asked on Twitter time and time again. I have received no reply. Perhaps people thought it was a rhetorical question. Perhaps no one else has experienced this. Perhaps they thought I was joking. Perhaps it was such a “No duh!” to them no one has bothered to answer. But my question is: Do people . . . owners of websites . . . pay other people, primarily those who do not speak English as their first language, to go onto other people’s blogs and leave comments? I get the weirdest comments. I get comments that have NOTHING to do with the post. I get comments where the person posting states their name is Samantha Garblygook, with an e-mail of habeebsrab@xxx.com, and the web address will be for Youtube. Odd stuff like that. I have received comments FIVE paragraphs long about washing machines or some computer part. And the way they type the comments is obvious that they are typing them in a way so they can search for them. With every “the” spelled tthe, with every “are” spelled arre . . . stuff like that. I cannot imagine people just doing this on their own. I can’t imagine Samantha or Habeeb (whatever their real name might be) going onto the internet to leave a comment to promote an appliance repair site or a lawyer’s site just to be nice. Just because. So the site owners must be paying these people, right? They are having people go out and comment on a lot of blogs to try to get traffic back to their site, right?
Sometimes the comments make sense, but they have the mismatched name and e-mail, as I have mentioned. Or they have the purposefully misspelled words as I have also mentioned. But sometimes the comments are just gobblygook. They make no sense at all. They are just words strung together. Or there might be one sentence or a two or three word combination that MIGHT sort of make sense but not really. So odd. Actually the ones that make absolutely NO sense at all are becoming fewer and farther between. Now it is more of the comments that have NOTHING, NOT. A. THING. to do with the post they are commenting on or they have a huge number of words crafted with misspellings. I am getting a lot of these lately.
I probably get at least 10 a day. That is a lot. It makes me laugh because some of them sound like nice comments. They sound sweet, but “I reallly love tthe way you expose tthe information to mme on this terriffic site. It is clear tthe information meanns allot to you. Could you tell mme tthe best webblog to use? You will be famous withh your blogging.” is clearly spam. Ha! Yes. I love exposing information and I am famous. Sigh.
I used to get excited when I saw that little number that indicates I have a comment. Now I know it will just bbe a spaam comment. I used to wonder why they typed like that because it is clearly calculated then my hubby said it was so they can search for their specific comment. The type-os would be unique to them. Yeah, makes perfect sense. So, I think once or twice, the comment sounded nice, so I edited out the type-os and approved it. 🙂
The comments today are hilarious. Once goes from talking about hair to digestion and then back to hair. Two talk about streaming movies. One actually says, “Try to knife him to see that he’s not down and out just yet.” WHAT???????
So is that what is happening, are people PAYING other people to leave these types of comments? Do you have a blog? Do you experience these crazy comments on your blog?
Posted in Misc | Tagged: blogging, crazy comments, gobblygook, paid comments, paid spammers, spam, spam comments, spammers, Twitter, web traffic | 4 Comments »