that gall-darned swine flu is giving swyyne a bad name! solve it by making me give up bacon
in addition to making people even more paranoid about kissing pigs (don’t they have it hard enough already?!!!), the swine influenza is really giving swyyne a bad name. or, as some of my closest friends pointed out, i gave swyyne a bad name when, fueled by my narcissistic tendencies, I created a word that when typed into google search, returns “did you mean sweyne?” as the first line. no, i did not mean sweyne. i didn’t even know what that was until i clicked on it out of curiosity, thereby convincing google that a person actually did mean sweyne. curse you google!
anyhow, a couple (true) friends and my marketing mentor jim hopkinson of The Hopkinson Report have pointed out that perhaps this unfortunate event is a blessing in disguise. after all, whether it be for health reasons or to pine for the mcrib like this guy, swine hasn’t been on most people’s minds since the last luau they attended. so i’m turning this frown upside down with a challenge that i hope most of you cannot refuse:
if this post receives 300 comments by next week, i will quit eating bacon. that’s right, off the pork, cold turkey. to clarify, i’ll still be able to eat cold turkey, just not cold bacon. heck, to make it even more interesting, i’ll cease all of my pork-eating forever or at least until i am older and need collagen to keep my face up. the one exception to this will be visits to the yuen household because if i can’t eat pork there, i’ll just be eating water.
is this a blatant marketing ploy? probably. but i really hope everyone thinks of it more as a way to promote a cleaner, less wasteful lifestyle. i don’t know, i just keep thinking about those pigs walking upright at the end of animal farm…with no pants on. i think about that a lot actually. it’s not healthy. here’s the segue - wait for it, wait for it…
and neither is living this unhealthy, throwaway lifestyle that we’ve all become used to.
so come to the site, comment, and look around a bit for tips on how you can clean up your act a bit. help me make living a lifestyle where we’re more conscious about where our stuff comes from and goes to when we throw it an epidemic.
and i’ll stop eating this:
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and this:
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| yes, that is a snout. |
but i probably won’t stop doing this:
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lendaround.com: like netflix meets facebook!
lendaround.com, a new web service that allows users to swap dvds with their friends in an organized manner, is the manifestation of the brilliant idea you had 7 months ago while eating cereal in bed but were too lazy to do anything about. the only difference is that tim jackson, the founder of lendaround, wasn’t eating cereal when the idea popped into his mind - he was in africa:
“coming back from rwanda or lesotho and looking around my home, i was struck by how much stuff we all own and take for granted,” he said. wouldn’t it be great if instead of leaving things to gather dust on shelves, we could lend them to our friends?”
tim’s simple idea could not have come at a more appropriate time. not only does lendaround speak to environmentalists and people who are just plain tired of consuming so much junk, it makes sense to those who are looking to save a buck (or $4.99) in a rough economy. by harnessing the power of users’ own dvd libraries, lendaround can offer their service for a song! that means free for anyone who was confused, although plans are underway to extend lendaround’s scope past dvds to include anything from cds to lawnmowers.
besides saving the energy, plastic, labor, money and other resources that go into making a dvd, lendaround saves fuel too. early data shows that about half of lendaround users walk their dvds over to their friends’ places. it’s a lot more conducive to socializing than netflix too. by helping out friends, lenders feel like they are doing something to brighten up someone else’s day.
so what about selection? true, netflix probably has a more expansive collection of titles, but if you’re friends with someone, chances are that you like some of the same movies that they do. and the cool thing is that when someone in your circle gets a new dvd, you can “keep it in the family” as if your shared lendaround library was your virtual media cabinet.
want to try? lendaround’s private beta is currently full, but swyyne readers have priority access! just email swyyne@lendaround.com with a list of your favorite movies to check it out.
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laid off? recycle your business cards for waste free catharsis
don’t throw those business cards away yet!
if you’ve recently been relieved of your duties, or if you decided to relieve yourself of your duties, your first instinct might be to do away with your leftover business cards in a less than dignified manner. after all, a job is not unlike a significant other, and most people think it’s healthiest to purge all reminders of an ex after a breakup, especially if it is a painful one.
but think back - you didn’t just throw all of hector’s stuff in trash did you? you responsibly peddled his flight of the conchords dvds on ebay and reuse his t-shirt as a kitchen rag.
you can employ the same strategy to recycle those business cards! after all, they bear your name and lend more credibility than scrawling on a person’s forearm. the fact that they are a free and do not promote arborcide (yes, that is really a word!) are icing on the cake.
step 1: cut away any parts of the card that mention your old company’s name or contact info. let this be a cathartic experience. breathe deeply or chant or something.
step 2: apply a thin layer of glue to the back of the card. i know, not as cool as step 1.
step 3: cut out a piece of recycled paper (i used old notepads that i had in my desk with my name on them) that match the dimensions of your card. you can get crazy with it and print designs, pics, or your logo on it first if you like.
step 4: gently line the paper backing up to your card and press in place.
step 5: flip the card over and write in any info that you cut in step 1 - but remember to use your personal info instead of your former employer’s.
et voila!
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swyyne etsy shop
the swyyne etsy shop had it’s grand opening over the weekend, and grand it was. well as grand an opening as an online shop can be, which isn’t really that grand, i suppose. wow, how many times did i use the word grand in that sentence? a lot.
anywho, check it out here.
we only have 3 items up so far, but i’m feeling ambitious, so there may be 4 by tomorrow. i’m nice like that.
the eat your heart out spoon necklace (in gold or silver). perfect for that pretty piggy in your life:
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the eat your heart out fork bracelet (in gold or silver). i’m more of a fork girl me’self.:
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the prisoner of love necklace (in gold). ’nuff said.:
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why is this a site?
swyyne has always been an experiment for me. with all of the other super eco sites out there, i've been feeling like i want to contribute something just a bit different. so for now, here are my random musings.
look for stuff
feed yourself