back in the saddle

I'm back. After the marathon of September, back to school, back to soccer, Isaac's birthday, the Jewish holidays, and the usual various and sundry, October feels nirvanaistic. If that adjective exists. I haven't entered a sweeps since last summer. Off I go!

hiatus status

I've been on hiatus. It just sort of happened after I got busy with some family responsibilities. I plan to resume posting after Labor Day. Earlier if the spirit moves me. I hope everyone's been having a wonderful summer.

two nights in santa barbara!

Still busy, here's one for two nights in Santa Barbara, no air. OOPS. Link to come!

paris sweeps!

Too busy but here's a daily sweeps for a trip to Paris.
To enter, click HERE.

the most expensive trip in the world

Alas, no sweeps for this one, an Urbane Nomad extravaganza. This Singapore-based travel planner is brilliant but, not surprisingly, over-the-top expensive.

five nights in the maya riviera

Our “big” trip this summer was to Miami and the Florida Keys. Lovely, but my first choice was Tulum and the Maya Riviera. I chose Florida because of lingering concerns over H1N1 and drug cartel violence. I still want to go. Here’s a sweeps that might get me there: Five nights at the El Dorado Royale Spa Resort. It’s an adults-only property, it made Conde Nast Traveler’s Top 100 Reader Favorites so it must be doing something right. If I win, I hope they let me invite a friend.

To enter, click HERE. The sweeps closes September 4.

three sweeps from saveur magazine

Hometown Tourist: Isaac and I stopped by the newly opened W Washington Saturday afternoon to check out the view at the Sky Terrace. Great view, enhanced by glass siding, but the hotel has not figured out how to handle the flow of interested locals versus hotel guests. We shared the elevator with a man who’d been best man at his friend’s wedding at the hotel 10 years ago, and encountered several other interested locals during our visit. We were told the Sky Terrace was “fully committed” but upon entering saw numerous empty tables and couches. I decided not to press to be seated, we were really only interested in taking a peak, but I was thirsty and I did want to order a drink at the bar. Well the bartender acted like he was alone doing inventory. No eye contact with me or any of the customers trying to order something. I stood there for 10 minutes with zero acknowledgment. The place seems very amateurish. Also, why all the empty tables? And why not more tables? According to reviews on TripAdvisor, my experience is the norm.

Saveur Magazine, always a favorite, is sponsoring not one, not two, but three sweepstakes at the moment:
1. Three nights at the Lake Austin Spa Resort in the Texas Hill Country.
2. Two nights at the Phoenician in Scottsdale.
3. A week at the Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore.
I’m gunning for the one to Singapore. I’ve been to the Texas Hill Country, though not to the Lake Austin Spa Resort, and I’ve actually stayed at the Phoenician, for a writers’ conference. So Singapore is my Holy-Grail sweeps in this mix.

To enter one, two or all three, click HERE.

two nights at fairmont san francisco

This one’s for two nights at the Fairmont San Francisco, a hotel that likes to participate in sweepstakes as evidenced by the two sweeps I entered last fall and in October 2006. This time, the hotel is more than justified: this getaway, for two nights, is pegged to the release of CBS’s 1980's show Hotel, which was filmed at the Fairmont San Francisco. I never saw an episode. I wasn’t into prime-time television at the time. The prize also includes airfare and the DVD set of Hotel: The First Season.

To enter, click HERE. Enter once. The sweeps closes September 18.

four nights in madrid + a soccer match

This one is a little tricky. If you are an AA Advantage member, have your number ready. If you are not, be prepared to enroll if you want to enter. At least that's what supposed to happen. I'm not sure my entry is valid, because I clicked that I was not a member but I never got an entry form, which is what the Official Rules state is supposed to happen. This sweeps includes four nights at the Melia Madrid Princesa, a most centrally located hotel, and tickets to a flamenco show and also to a professional soccer match. But which one? Real Madrid, one would hope.

To enter, click HERE. One entry. Enter by September 30.

trust me: a lovely getaway

Too rushed to post details but trust me, this is a swell one.

To enter, click HERE. One time entry. This sweeps closes September 6th. P.S. I so want to swim in this pool.

i shall return later this week

I've been busy lately. I've got a post in the works, hope to start posting regularly again later this week.

ceci n'est pas un sweepstake

I merrily entered what I thought was a sweeps last week, the Family First one to Hawaii, without realizing that it was actually a promotional campaign for time shares and cruises and other travel what-not's. If I'd read the fine print more closely, here's what I would have noticed:

Entrants give express permission and agree to be contacted by telephone, e-mail or regular mail for the purpose of promoting the sale of vacation packages and tours of timeshare properties in Pigeon Forge, TN, and/or Branson, MO by Surrey Vacation Resorts, Inc., its affiliated companies and third-party companies who make similar vacation offers. Entrant acknowledges that participation in this promotion supersedes any in-house, state or national no call list.

I'm already getting calls. I'm annoyed that the campaign is holding itself out as a sweeps and that the language about agreeing to calls is buried in the terms. So, once again, caveat entror! Here's a link to the form, and a link to the terms with the language about calls.
Enter if you like, but enter at your own risk!

the art of unpacking; four nights in london

Over the years I've seen countless articles about the art of packing. I even contemplated pitching one myself. I am a proponent of the master list approach, creating a bespoke checklist for each trip, printing out said list and then checking off each item as it's tucked in its designated suitcase or carry-on bag. Ideally, I note which piece of luggage I've packed an item. Alas, a proponent does not a practitioner make. I did approximate this method last summer, when Isaac and I went to Italy, but for our recent trip to Miami and the Keys, I was not as organized.

Yet I packed reasonably well. I did not forget my thyroid medication (something that has never happened, thank goodness), and I did not overpack, either. But I did blow it in several ways, and I would have been doing myself a major favor if I'd used a checklist. I forgot the ear plugs. Me, the person who is prone to swimmer's ear. And I swam for nine straight days without ear plugs. And now I have a major ear infection in my left ear. There is, in the words of my kind otorhinolaryngologist, a fungus among us. It flared up Friday evening, too late to see the doctor until today.

That's the packing. What about unpacking? I excel at emptying my luggage, but fail at organizing the flotsam of cards, pamphlets, maps, receipts and, panic attack, notes. (I think there's an essay in this trip but I can't find my notes, scribbled on National Hotel bedside pad.)

For now, here's an article on packing from the Times Travel section.
Which serves as a lovely seque into today's sweeps: A trip to London, a four-night stay at the Metropolitan Hotel and, drum roll, airfare on Virgin Atlantic's dreamy looking Premium Economy class. To enter, click HERE and sign up for Tablet Hotels emails. This runs through July 31.

four nights at surf lodge in montauk

Okay, there’s some cognitive dissonance going on here. The sponsors of this sweeps, Royal Pains, a new TV series about a failed Manhattan doctor who reinvents himself as concierge doctor in the Hamptons, are calling this a HAMPTONS GETAWAY SWEEPSTAKES. Only, the four grand prizes include four nights at the Surf Lodge in Montauk, which is not technically the Hamptons, which is precisely what the Surf Lodge’s own website notes, thus: For decades, Montauk on the east end of Long Island has been considered the un-Hampton, a sleepy fishing village with the regions (sic) most beautiful coastline.

Also, the sweeps website says the accommodations are beachfront. But I don’t think so, the lodge is on a pond and the website says nothing about a beach. Ah, isn't the devil in the details. I am feeling rather devil may care this morning and I entered this sweeps anyway. After all, I have never been to the Hamptons or Montauk, and it would be great fun to go. The winners will get to visit standard Hamptons haunts like Nick and Tony's.

To enter, click HERE. Daily entry through September 2.

as easy as ABC: trips to bonaire and hawaii

That's Isaac in the Keys, holding his morning glass of freshly squeezed orange juice. What a trip! Daily swimming, kayaking, snorkeling. In Miama, we encamped at the National Hotel. Heaven! Try their tree-tinis! Then, we stayed at a Singh property in Key West for two nights, the Parrot Key Resort. Then we stayed at Conch Key Cottages in the Middle Keys, a lovely place, for four nights. The first night we stayed in the Coral Room. It was too small, depressing and cave-like, so we asked for an upgrade. For two nights, we stayed at the beachfront Fighting Conch cottage. An apt name, we were at loggerheads over inanities like rules and boundaries. The third night, we stayed in one of the stilt houses, I forget its name, Conch Horse perhaps.

This trip left me obsessed with snorkeling. I literally left home a snorkeling innocent, so much so that when we pulled into Bahia Honda State Park on our way to Key West, I had no idea it was a great place to do both shore and reef snorkeling. We snorkeled twice, on the Sombrero Reef off Marathon and a little shore snorkeling at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. Now I am ready for more. Fittingly, here are two sweeps, one to Bonaire and one to Hawaii, two places with excellent snorkeling.

Bonaire: To enter, click HERE. The sweeps closes July 31. This is for a trip that will take place August 15 - 22 next month. Details:

“Celebrate Our Planet Week,” will take place August 15-22, and Bonaire will be host to famed Oceanographer, Dr. Sylvia Earle, who was named Time magazine’s first “Hero for the planet” in 1998. During her stay, Dr. Earle will lead a series of themed dives and activities and will participate in several on-island events designed to highlight Bonaire’s continued leadership in Sustainable Tourism. Just fill out the form to enter your chance to win a vacation for two that includes a hotel stay at the famed Captain Don’s Habitat Bonaire including room, transfers, daily buffet breakfast, welcome drink, 6 days unlimited shore diving and complimentary airfare on Continental Airlines, our airline event sponsor this summer for “Celebrate Our Planet Week”, August 15-22, 2009.

Hawaii: To enter, click HERE. This sweeps, for a 10-day trip to Hawaii, runs through December 31, 2010 (!). The sweeps is void in Florida, New York and Rhode Island. UPDATE: This Hawaii "sweeps" is actually a promotional campaign, entering gives the sponsor the right to call you. Details HERE.

morocco camel trek

Wow. I'm getting this one in just under the wire, it ends on Tuesday June 30. I think "He's camel trekking in Morocco" should be added to the great list of adventure-travel alibis. He's hiking the Appalachian Trail is just the beginning. He's climbing Mt. Kilaminjaro, he's crossing the Atlantic, etc. There are surely less obvious ones.

If there's one thing I hate, it's a liar. After that, the one thing I hate is a bad liar.

To enter, click HERE. Shoot, I'm using a hotel computer and I can't embed the URL! Please cut and paste this: http://www.exofficio.com/morocco/

five nights in st. john's

I wonder if there’s a homeopathic remedy for wanderlust. I got it bad last evening whilst watching a documentary about Crete and the Minoans. Apparently the latest theory is that a tsunami wiped out the civilization. The Mediterranean is my favorite part of the world. I so wish I were getting there this summer. Alas, maybe next year. Speaking of homeopathic remedies, I’ve been popping arnica montana since Sunday, when I twisted my ankle and took a tumble. I have been counting my blessings ever since. I easily could have wound up on crutches. I’m still sore but on the mend.

This morning I entered a challenging sweeps for a five-night trip to St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The sponsor is Indagare, a fabulous subscription-based travel website. I’ve long admired the way Melissa Biggs Bradley “does” travel. With Indagare, the former editor of Town & Country goes for depth, breadth, sophistication all while avoiding cliché and increasingly silly superlative-tilting lists (weirdest this, oddest that). To enter this sweeps, click HERE. Be prepared to answer 10 multiple choice questions about the U.S Virgin Islands. The winner will receive airfare and five nights at the Westin St. John Resort & Villas for two adults and two children.

seven nights in ischia

Wow. Frette is sponsoring a sweeps to Ischia, for a week at the Mezzatorre Resort and Spa and business class tickets. You must click on the link and appreciate the gorgeousness of this place. Divine! My only quibble is I can’t find the Official Rules. If you do, please provide the link in the comments section. It does look like a one-time entry. And by entering you are signing up for emails from Frette. I can live with that. To enter, click HERE.

summertime and the living is easy!

School is over and we are looking extremely forward to a full three months of summer vacation. Hip, hip. We've got some great plans lined up: Isaac and I are going to the Keys in a few weeks, he's doing some cool camps (soccer, basketball, theater), we're going to Connecticut, he's going to Scotland and North Carolina's Emerald Island with his dad.

Here's a sweeps that's a bit out of the ordinary at least for my purposes: The Grand Prize is an Airsteam Flying Cloud. Fun! Somehow I never did the cross-country road trip. It's never too late would be the working principle here. The sponsor is Mike's Hard Lemonade, I'm trying to get my mind around that concept. To enter, click HERE. It's a daily that seems to run through September 11. For a demo of the 2009 Airstream Flying Cloud, click HERE.

four nights in paris and a makeover

Another daily, another Grand Prize with no identified hotel accommodation. Though the Official Rules of this one do state “deluxe hotel accommodations.” This sweeps is for a 5 day/4 night trip to Paris with a makeover is from L’Oreal in celebration of its 100th anniversary. The sweeps runs through September 8. To enter, click HERE. (I apologize if this post comes off as uninspired. I'm feeling a bit under the weather today.)

trip to antigua's curtain bluff

What a day. I could use a cocktail. Instead I entered a sweeps with a theme of cocktail. Tales of the Cocktails Sweeps, a trip to Curtain Bluff in Antigua/Barbuda. Look at Curtain Bluff. The sponsor is Saveur Magazine. That makes me sad. This was my father’s favorite magazine. Things keep reminding me of my father. A friend visits the Erie Canal, and I remember my father loved locks. I go to a music store, and I remember my father loved Sibelius. I find a website, Old Jews Telling Jokes, and I remember how funny my father was, I remember people used to think my father was Jewish. But he was a WASP. I think I am writing like this because Isaac and I are going to the Florida Keys. Hemingway, you know.

To enter, click HERE. The deadline is July 17. One time only. Yeah.

the luck of the irish

There were lots of sweeps to Ireland when I first started sweepstaking in early March 2006. Here’s one from National Geographic Society: six nights on the Emerald Isle, three nights at the Absolute Hotel in Limerick and another three night at the Regency Hotel,, in Dublin. The winner flies into Shannon and out of Dublin.
Limerick: I’d want to re-read Angela’s Ashes.
To enter, click HERE. This is a one-time entry (thank goodness) that closes June 30.

airfare to london

This morning I entered a Visit Britain sweeps for roundtrip airfare to London. I’d hoped to get to London this summer but it’s not panning out, in part because airfare is not coming down in price. Drats to that. As for this sweeps, it’s a one-entry, it closes June 15.

After you’ve entered, a confirmation appears on the screen, with the following:

We'll contact winners by email, so keep checking your inbox - it could be you!

I don’t believe I’ve seen this courtesy before, a sweeps sponsor informing entrants how they’ll notify the winner. Charming touch, I’ll be checking my Spam inbox as well! To enter, click HERE.

cautionary tale: read the fine print!

There's a news story floating around in cyberspace -- I saw it on the AOL Welcome Page yesterday so presumably it's legit -- about a fellow who entered a sweepstakes and got stuck being charged with magazine subscriptions because he had not read the fine print. In sweeps, the fine print is always always always the Official Rules. I would not enter a sweeps without reviewing them. They're presented in a predictable order, so once you've gotten familiar with the flow, you can skim them for salient details, including restrictions on dates of travel. I read them to protect myself but also because I do not enter sweepstakes I do not want to win. Another hardfast rule: I only enter No Purchase Required sweeps. I also almost never enter sweeps where you have to submit an essay or a photo or, goodness me, a design, but sometimes I make exceptions, like back in 2006 when I submitted a short essay to win a trip to that summer's World Cup in Germany. Also, be careful about which boxes you check in the entry form. I often subscribe to email notices but then unsubscribe, this doesn't affect your chances of winning. The U.S. sweeps world is pretty well regulated but there's always some nut job trying to scam sweepsters so be alert and you should be able to enter sweeps unscathed.

Here's a Cinco de Mayo-themed sweeps from Furmano's for a $3,000 travel voucher to Mexico, swine flu and drug cartel be damned! It's a one-time entry, it ends May 31. To enter, click HERE.

an exception: spa weekend in l.a.

So, I'd never heard of this Dr. Murad and his treatments for hormonally aging skin until I saw a post for this sweepstakes for a trip to L.A. on FlyerTalk. It's for a weekend in LA, with your own personal skin evalulation by Dr. Murad himself. You're automotically entered in the sweeps if you purchase a $40 sampling. If you want to take advantage of the No Purchase Required stipulation, you can snail-mail an entry as follows:

Enter for free by mailing to: Murad Resurgence Sweepstakes AMOE, P.O. Box 1252, Elmhurst, IL 60126. The Sweepstakes begins at 12:00:01 am Pacific Standard Time ("PST") on 10/23/08 and ends on 11/01/09 at 11:59:59pm PST. Mail entries must be postmarked by 11/2/09 and received by 11/9/09. Void where prohibited. See Official Rules for details. Sponsored by Murad Inc., P.O. Box 1630, Manhattan Beach, CA 90267.

I couldn't find the Official Rules link, so I live chatted as follows:

Please wait while we find an agent to assist you...
All agents are currently busy. Please stand by.
You have been connected to Caroline M.
Caroline M: Hello, Barbara, how may I help you?
Barbara Benham: What is the link to the official rules for the sweeps?
Caroline M: I'm sorry, but I don't understand. The sweeps?
Barbara Benham: https://www.resurgence.com/resurgence-sweepstakes.asp
Barbara Benham: Yes the sweepstakes.
Caroline M: Thank you so much. One moment please while I look that up for you.
Barbara Benham: It says see Official Rules but I don't find them anywhere.
Caroline M: My apologies, ma'am. "Official Rules" should be a link you can click on, however the address is: https://www.resurgence.com/sweepstakes-rules.asp
Caroline M: Is there anything else I can do to assist you today?
Barbara Benham: No, thanks so much!

I'm going to enter by snail-mail. This sweeps runs through November 11. It's a one-time entry (one purchase or one mail-in.) For the Official Rules, click HERE.

where for art thou, sweepstakes

Maybe the recession is dampening sweeps offers after all. I'm not finding as many as I sometimes do. Though summer often means a lull in new sweeps. So it seems that everyone and their mother's been in a tizzy over Elizabeth Edward's new book and of course most people are not responding to the book, they're responding to the process around the book -- the decision to write and publish and then promote the book. I find this a bit maddening, but it's the reigning cultural dynamic, ours is a process culture, we talk around most events/objects/personalities instead of about the event/objects/personalities themselves. The detail that gets lost in the telling is that she had a book contract before John confessed, which for me is critical, I could see her saying, "Dang, that man might stray but he is not going to mess with my right to construct narrative." Or some such. Tina Brown wrote a scathing column about the book on The Daily Beast yesterday. I took offense at some insensitive phrasing in the piece, Elizabeth Edwards Fed Herself to the Vultures.

She’d written this:
Some first TV impressions are indelibly strong and Edwards’ media blitz now is unlikely, in any case, to wipe out the ghastly car crash of her Oprah exchange.

I posted this in the comments section:
Tina Brown,
Shame on you to be so insensitive to your subject.
You wrote "to wipe out the ghastly car crash of her Oprah exchange."
Elizabeth Edward's first born died in a car crash. Did you forget?
What's next? A cancer on a presidential candidacy?

Later, the sentence had been changed to this:
Some first TV impressions are indelibly strong and Edwards’ media blitz now is unlikely, in any case, to wipe out the ghastly spectacle of her Oprah exchange.

Conclusion: Tina Brown is easy to edit.

two nights in new york city

First, let me say that I don't think Wanda Sykes went too far. Rush Limbaugh has said some of the meanest things about public figures, absolutely vicious, and she left her worst for the worst. He's a public figure who has more than once sounded like a racist. He said he hoped the Obama administration failed. Poppycock! That is treason!

I guess they won't invite Chris Rock next year.

A hectic Mother's Day weekend, capped with dinner at a local rooftop restaurant. I just found another daily sweeps, for two nights at an unidentified NYC hotel, a promotion for Martini and Rossi's new rose. So, presumably a nice one. Pop! To enter, click HERE. This runs through August 31.

four nights at red mountain spa (utah)

I’m late to the party for this one; it’s a daily that started January 1. Drats. Just the other day I was wondering if I might stumble upon another Red Mountain Spa sweeps, they’re fond of this promotional approach. Lo and behold, I just did.

The sweeps runs through June 30, so there’s a chance to have a chance. To enter, click HERE. The sponsor is Healthy Valley Organic food.

three nights in paris

What a day. This morning my beloved cleaning lady Milagros asked mid-sweep, or maybe it was mid-sigh -- she happens to have a rich repertoire of sighs, this one -- if I’d heard about the priest who was caught on the beach with a lovely lady. Of course I had. The story’s all over the place. Well, Milagros is a devout Catholic. When she can’t sleep, she reads Vanidades and la Biblia. By some strange six-degree-of-separation fate, several years ago she spoke by phone with this now infamous and telenovellaistic priest, and he asked her how old she was and if she could come to Miami. When this latest news broke, her whole family remembered their telephonic flirtation and told Milagros, “Look, it’s your friend.” Milagros and I found a picture of him online and agreed that he was a mango. (Slang for guapo.) Then she added, “Es hombre, como todos.” Please note: Milagros is a huge extravagance for me, one that helps keep me sane. UPDATE: Here's a bizarre CNN clip about the priest, Alberto Cutie, bizarre because the CNN news fellow sounds like he belong on Fox: CNN CLIP.

Otherwise, I’m busy with work (a magazine assignment) and soccer (rainouts, tryouts, sitouts).

Here’s another sweeps to Paris, for three nights at an unspecified four-star hotel and spa treatments at the Darphin Institute, which happens to be the sponsor. To enter, click HERE. The sweeps closes May 19. Depeche-toi si t’en as envie d’essayer celle-ci.

passe-moi le fromage, four nights in paris

Ooh la la four nights in Paris. This sweeps does not specify the hotel, but does indicate the neighborhood, St. Germain des Prés. I would expect the Maison de France, the sponsor of this cheese-themed affair, to do the winner right with sumptuous accommodations. The prize includes a wine and cheese tasting and an artisanal cheese experience. This is a one-entry sweeps, not sure of the deadline, I can’t access the Official Rules since I’ve already entered. Allez-y, allez-y! To enter, click HERE.

five nights at parrot cay, turks and caicos

I have a serious case of the cranks this morning. I will spare you a full recitation of the details. The short version is that The Boy’s soccer game was rained out yesterday, there was presidential motorcade traffic this morning, The Boy resumed campaigning with a vengeance for an iTouch, also this morning. By 9 A.M., I was exhausted despite a decent night's sleep. Here’s a soothing sweeps: Five nights at Parrot Cay, the sine qua non private-island resort in the Turks and Caicos. Tablet Hotels is the sponsor, they give away a five-night stay every month. To enter, sign up for Tablet Hotels’ email. It’s worth it, especially with the site’s new Last Minute feature.

three-night getaway at the may fair

Ah, Wikipedia. Even hotels get entries these days. Here’s a short one, for the loverly May Fair in London. I’ve been entering a sweeps for a three-day stay there, the prize includes round-trip business-class tickets from British Airways Club World. You depart from L.A. or New York for this one, a small inconvenience if you don’t live in either area, wouldn’t you say, love? This is a daily entry that runs through May 31. To enter, click HERE.

tennis and paris, anyone? the lowdown

One reason I love sweepstaking as much as I do is I get to learn about all sorts of hotels that I'd never hear about if it weren't for my online affliction. This sweeps, a trip to Paris for the 2010 French Open, includes a five-night stay in the Castille, a charming looking place in the 1st arrondissement. Though I wish there were more photos of the hotel on the hotel website. The ones they do show are closeups of sumptuously upholstered furniture. If that weren't ooh la la enough, the sponsors, the Tennis Channel and Longines, are throwing in a sensational looking watch, a Limited Edition Grande Vitesse.

To enter, click HERE. This is a daily that ends June 7. If I sound gushier than usual, it's because I've been hankering to get to Paris.

tennis and paris, anyone?

Coming anon. This is a good one! Tease: This is where the winner gets to stay.

come fly-by with me!

Here's an Air Force One photo op, the presidential jet flying over Mt. Rushmore. It's just preposterous that they spend taxpayer money doing these things. Yesterday's fly-around the Statue of Liberty was insensitive beyond belief.

I've got a case of the cranks about where to go, what to do, this summer. We've been thinking London, but only if the airfare comes down. In the meantime, I'm looking at domestic possibilities.

Here's a sweeps for a trip to either Dublin or Berlin. Four nights stays, at either the Ashford Castle in County Mayo, or at the Schlosshotel im Grunewald, in Berlin.

Tough call, that. The winner flies out of LA or New York.

To enter, click HERE. One time entry through July 1.

that's what friends, or fans, are for: free stays in greater phoenix

I'm coming out of hibernation for this one. It was bound to happen, sweeps meet social networking. The Greater Phoenix Visitors and Convention Bureau is giving its Facebook fans the chance to win a series of stays at some of the areas finest properties. This is directly from the email press release that just landed in my box.

Starting April 29, fans of the CVB's "Visit Phoenix" Facebook page can win multiple-night stays, dinners for two, spa treatments and rounds of golf at some of Greater Phoenix's most renowned resorts.

First up: A two-night stay at Royal Palms Resort and Spa and candlelit dinner for two at the resort's signature restaurant, T. Cook's. To win, Facebook users simply must be the first to post the correct answer to a trivia question about the resort on the Visit Phoenix wall.

In subsequent weeks, Facebook fans of Visit Phoenix can expect to find similar packages from the Ritz Carlton, Arizona Biltmore Resort and Spa, Montelucia Resort and Spa, The Fairmont Scottsdale, Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort and Spa, The Westin Kierland, The Phoenician, the Arizona Grand and more.

Fun! I'll be there. On Facebook, and at one of these resorts if I get lucky. For the Greater Phoenix CVB, click HERE.

find the four leaf clover

withdrawal

I'm back. There's a nifty and highly audience participatory sweeps starting next week, for a chance for a trip to the Galapagos with Jeopardy's Alex Trebek! For details, click HERE.

salvation consumption

My new shopping strategy is to shop at stores I really, really, really want to stay in business. I call it "salvation consumption."

One of Isaac's vocabulary words this week is "hiatus." It's on the blackboard with "spate" (as in "there's been a spate of armed robberies in our neighborhood this week") and alienate; I can't remember how alienate found its way into our conversation. But it did.

As for hiatus, I've been on one, from blogging at least, as the disruption in posts not doubt telegraphed. And I'm going to continue my hiatus. I plan to return. I don't want to predict when.

and the beat goes on

I just added a trip to Italy to the Sweepslusting section to the right.

snow day

golly gosh darn dang computer

Here's a sweeps for two nights at the Valley Ho Hotel in Scottsdale. NO, it is not one of the two Scottsdale hotels that are in or going into foreclosure. (They would be the W and the InterContinental.) I curse the computer because I scanned a photo with the idea of writing about its subject but I can't find it. It's mystifying that some uploaded or scanned images go to a folder named MY PICTURES and others play cache-cache (that's French for hide-and-seek). NOTE: There is no airfare with this one. And it ends Saturday, February 28. So tarry not, my friends. To enter, click HERE. I highly recommend clicking on the Valley Ho link. It's great the best hotel website "score" I've ever heard!

i say tomAHto, you say tomAYto

Actually I say tomAYto. These cans of tomAYtoes sit on my newly-installed elfa shelves, which have absolutely positively transformed my kitchen. For the first time in years, cooking is a pleasure because there is a place for everything and later today everything will be in its place. In the kitchen at least.

I entered a sweeps for a trip to London today at Visit London's website. This is where Isaac wants to go most this summer.

for the roses

One week after Valentine's Day, and the roses at the Safeway are spectacular. As for sweeps: The Natural Habitat Great Five Trips ends one week from tomorrow. It's never too late to start entering a sweeps, even if it's a daily that's been going on for months. To enter, see the link in the margin to the right under "Sweepslusting." Go for it!

loving virginia is for lovers

Virginia's grown on me, even though I start wanting to shirk my Yankee-ness about 50 miles in. The slogan "Virginia Is For Lovers" turns 40 this year. To celebrate, there's a sweeps for a trip to either Virginia Beach, Hot Spring, Richmond or Abingdon. Not sure which one I'd chose. To enter, click HERE.

look what happens when you win a trip

And you invite T. Payne to come along. This video, "I'm on a Boat," from last night's Saturday Night Live, was a trip. And what a production!

I watched the documentary Grey Gardens on Friday and am still recovering from the experience. First and foremost, I wish I'd been forewarned about Edie the Younger. She was truly mentally ill, her borderline reality was more than mere eccentricity. Her mother seemed much more lucid, highly intelligent in fact. Edie the daughter was intelligent and creative as well, but she seemed to exist in another dimension, due perhaps to some sort of a chemical imbalance or short-wired circuitry. She does hit the nail on the head with observations like this one:

But you see in dealing with me, the relatives didn't know that they were dealing with a staunch character and I tell you if there's anything worse than dealing with a staunch woman... S-T-A-U-N-C-H. There's nothing worse, I'm telling you. They don't weaken, no matter what.

Staunch is a great word, one we all too often see attached to a not-great word, the word "Republican." I'd certainly like to think I was a staunch woman.

staunch
adj. staunch•er also stanch•er, staunch•est also stanch•est
1. Firm and steadfast; true. See Synonyms at faithful.
2. Having a strong or substantial construction or constitution.

This afternoon I entered a sweeps for a trip to Taos. It's clever in that it lets the winner select one of three hotels, and asks entrants which one they would choose if they won, which of cause prompted me to look up all three of them. I am torn between the Historic Taos Inn and the Sagebrush Inn. The El Monte Sagrado looks lovely, too. I'm sure I had drinks and possibly dinner at the Taos Inn when I was there in the mid-1990s and it was swell. To enter, click HERE. One entry per person through July 31.

five nights at the royalton

Check out this post on HOTEL FETISHIST for a chance to win five nights at the Royalton in NYC.

my occasional mascot, accordion girl

I live for coincidences. Here's a recent one: The word 'accordion' emerged last week as an apt metaphor for weaving the micro and the macro in a narrative. On eBay over the weekend, I found an Italian ceramic lamp for sale. Here she is, Accordion Girl:



No, I did not purchase Accordion Girl. She's not my style. Plus, at something like $200, she wasn't in my budget. That doesn't mean she won't be my occasional mascot and muse.

Anyway, here's a sweeps, for a trip to Venice.

micro, macro

I never published my Inauguration post because I was conflicted about how much to disclose about a personal situation that unfolded over that weekend. I've decided for now to leave that part out, and simply reiterate that being in D.C. that weekend and down on the Mall for the swearing in were among the most exhilarating experiences of my life.

The picture posted below was taken in my best friend's mother's living room. Pretty as a painting.

I've been entering sweeps but I'm too lazy to write about them. I've been posting on my blog at HotelFetishist.com. I'm also entering the daily sweeps linked to the right.

$1 a night hotels at lastminutetravel.com

LastMinuteTravel.com is sponsoring a nifty if intricate promotion starting Monday. Click to this post on my HotelFetishist.com blog for details.

drained by the enormity

I've composed a post about the Inauguration, but want to let it simmer. I will publish it over the weekend. In the meantime, here's a sweeps: A trip to Paris on Chambord. To enter, click HERE. P.S. The last time I entered a Chambord sweeps, I went out and bought some Chambord. Maybe this time, too.

Here too are some pictures, in chronological order:

The Lobby at the Willard Hotel. Taken Friday January 16, 2009.


































A display case at the Willard Hotel. Taken Friday January 16, 2009.


































Focusing on the President-Elect at 14th and U Streets. Taken on Monday January 19, 2009.




Alice Walker reading at Busboys at Poets. Janaury 19, 2009.


































The Mall. Arriving at the Washington Monument at about 8 AM.



The swearing in.



The view looking west after the exodus had started. A veritable sea of humanity.



Back in the neighborhood: The window display at Idle Time Books on 18th Street in Adams Morgan. Taken about 6 P.M. on January 20, 2009.

the mall, january 20, 2009

yes

I'm already crying. I am walking out the door right now, to join friends.
This is it. Joy, hope.

14th and u streets, january 19, 2009

inauguration take two

Alice Walker reading at Busboys and Poets or Poets and Busboys at 14th and U. From the street. There was a line outside the door. She came out after she read, to greet the crowd that couldn't fit in the store.

happy inauguration!

It's here. Washington is a strange combination of life as usual and inauguration festivities from my perch 1.75 miles from the White House. (As the crow flies, as my father liked to say.) Obamaiana overflows. My favorite bookstore, Politics and Prose, was selling Obama collector's cards, like baseball cards, $40 a box. I impulsively almost bought a box for Isaac on Saturday. They were sold out when I returned to the store yesterday. They also had Obama tees and sweat jackets and bags and an Obama finger puppet for the little set. There was no doubt more. I did not take a complete inventory. I'm not sure where I'll watch the swearing in. Probably from home. Suffice it to say, this is exciting beyond words.

two sweeps for trips to australia

The farm table arrived last weekend. Transformation! The purge continues. I contemplate writing a purge dirge. Washington is buzzing with Inauguration excitement. History at our doorstep.

Yesterday I entered two separate sweeps for trips to Australia. Yes, two! One’s a birding safari, to the Northern Territory, which in the upside down world of geography is subtropical. It includes three nights at Feathers Sanctuary, which looks delightfully straightforward. Sometimes nature and simplicity trump other modes of accommodation. The sponsor’s Nikon, the promotion is binoculars. The prize includes a pair of Nikon EDG binoculars. For avian espionage, natch.

The bird in the photo is a Little Kingfisher. Here's what Wikipedia tells us about the Little Kingfisher: The Little Kingfisher (Alcedo pusilla) is a species of bird in the Alcedinidae family. It is found in Australia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Solomon Islands. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical mangrove forests.

Don’t you agree that the most beautiful, inimitable colors in the world belong to flowers, fish and birds of the tropical variety. Splendid.

The second sweeps is sponsored by Pepperidge Farm, in conjunction with the introduction of the Australia Tim Tam cookie to the U.S. of A. The cookie resembles an elongated Fig Newton. The sweeps is for a week in Sidney. Bondi Beach, here we come.

Birding Safari, enter HERE. The sweeps runs through April 30.

For the trip to Sydney, enter HERE. This is a daily that runs through April 30.

i won the lottery today

Literally and figuratively.

Literally: I went to my neighborhood liquor store, to fetch empty boxes, part of the purge, and decided to buy a few tickets. I bought three chances for the $120 million PowerBall and a $10 Double Platinum scratch-off ticket from the D.C. Lottery folks. I won $15! Which means I'm up $2.

Figuratively: I found some long-lost negatives of mine. Here's a picture from 1978, from a trip I took in Provence with Les Guides de France. Amusant, n'est-ce pas? This horse-drawn carriage belong to a felow who rented out old Gypsy wagons.

By coincidence, I heard people speaking French all day today. I don't know why. I entered a contest for a trip to Martinique today. I'll post details later.

the urge to purge

I hope I didn't make a mistake. I bought this table last weekend. It's a farm table, made from recovered wood. I was inspired by a friend's comparable setup. Now I must make room for this behemoth. And I pray that once it's here that it doesn't dominate the room for which it is attended. I'm ambivalent. Maybe I should have had one custom made after all. I will find out when I figure out how I'm going to get this thing over here. Over and out.

the calm before the storm

Today's the last day before we resume our bustling school-athletics schedule. I'm in the midst of a major purge, long overdue and clearly one that will unfold in phases. I found this photograph, of a road trip through New Mexico in the early 1990s, amongst my papers. I like the clouds. In the past 24 hours I entered two sweeps, one for a five-night stay at a Luxury Link beach resort. It's a daily, I've posted the entry page on the sidebar. To enter, click HERE. For the other one, let's call it a Mystery Sweeps, go to this post on Hotel Fetishist. Hint: It's for a stay in Paris!

now that i've seen paris

Ask me if I’m having fun. Last night I started cleaning out one of my walk-in closets. My goal is to make it walk-in-able. Goodness, I have a most unedited existence at the moment. I’ve found some personal papers that make my head spin, photos and journals mostly. I’ve also been working on Hotel Fetishist. I figured out how to insert a horizontal Menubar. These hacker strides are nirvana for a borderline Luddite like me.

Here’s a sweeps for tickets to Paris or Amsterdam, the winner’s choice, on OpenSkies, British Airways new(-ish) all-business service. Look at the legroom in these photos on the OpenSkies website! And how the seat reclines! The prize does not include accommodations. Here’s the lineup:

• 2 round-trip tickets from New York to Paris or Amsterdam from OpenSkies (a $1,500 value)!
• $200 Viator Gift Certificate
• A Frommer's Day by Day Paris or Amsterdam guidebook
• $150 Blurb gift card

To enter, click HERE. This is a daily. It closes January 16.

ticket to history: inaugural essay contest

Here's an essay contest: Winners will be selected on the strength of their writing. The prize is a trip to Washington, D.C. for Barack Obama's inauguration. The prize includes airfare and accommodations but the website does not specify which hotel, so enter at your own risk. Surely not the Hay-Adams, where the Obama family will take up residence this weekend until the Blair House becomes available January 15. To enter, click HERE. The contest closes January 8. Note to parents: Entrants most be 18 or older. I almost started sending this to friends, suggesting they have their school-age children enter. No dice. I wonder if they'll get inaugural doggerel.

more new year's resolutions: TRY!

4.) Try to chill about parenting in the age of the Internet. This year, the thing that drove me maddest with Isaac was dealing with email, Facebook, texting privileges and, the latest, his campaign for an iTouch, which if I understand it correctly is an iPod with Internet interface. I am proud to report that when I learned that Isaac had a Facebook account, I hacked it (I gave his email and told them I forgot the password and they sent a new one and I change the password so he can't access it but of course he could do the same thing only he, thank goodness, hasn't figured that out. And he doesn't read my blog so I'm not divulging mother-state secrets.) As for the iTouch, I'd agree if he already didn't have an iPod but getting an iTouch seems an extravagance. I've been tossing around that word a lot lately. It's an extravagance. Anyway, Isaac set up an account under an alias on MySpace. Some Pakistani sounding name. He says he doesn't remember how to spell it so we can't go and disable the thing. Let's hope the authorities don't think he's a terrorist! He may be a terror, but he's not a terrorist.

5.) Try to keep track of my passwords. I am always clicking FORGOT YOUR PASSWORD? and then telling myself that one of these days I will get organized in this department.

6.) Try to be more disciplined about paid work. Getting it, that is. I do not mean fulfilling my obligations when I've got an assignment!

new year's resolutions: STOP!

1. Stop losing my parking lot tickets. I am constantly dropping them while I shop (a twist to shopping until I drop) or slipping them between old Amtrak/Metro North ticket stubs in my wallet and the time between the moment I realize I can't find my parking lot ticket and the moment I do is a stretch of frustration and profanities. I activated this resolution several weeks ago and so far, so good.

2. Stop buying Christmas ornaments. I love Christmas ornaments and am, I confess, rather proud of my eclectic collection. Mexico, Guatemala, the Phillipines, India, Arizona (miniature dream catchers), and so on. This year for the first time I bought an artificial tree (I still can't believe it), a short one at that, and I thought I'd left my Christmas ornament fixation behind. Then one day I came upon these miniature creches from Palestine, and the other day I succumbed to eBay, and bought straw ornaments from Sweden, and then today I fell in love with these exquisite ornaments from Austria, red-painted eggshells with gold decorations. That's a total of 69 new ornaments! Next year, I will need a bigger tree, probably a real one.

3. Stop buying tickets to out-of-town shows. This is sheer fantasy. I bought tickets to see the Beastie Boys in Richmond in October, it was a get-out-the-vote fundraiser, but it was a school night and I knew we probably would not go. Then I bought tickets to see Craig Ferguson, last evening, New Year's Eve, in Atlantic City, even though I knew I might bag the idea. Which I did.

More to come.

happy new year's

This blog was born out of a New Year's Resolution. Back in 2005, after my friend Ms. Shoes won a trip to Hawaii, I decided it would be fun to try and win a trip, too. One of my 2006 resolutions was to try and win a trip. When I started out, I had no idea there were so many travel sweepstakes online. I quickly realized it would be fun to write about what I eventually called "my sweepstaking." As I writer, I thought posting on a blog would be the equivalent of practicing my scales. (This is a concept the late, great Andre DuBus shared in a workshop I did with him the spring before his tragic car accident.) As a travel writer, my sweepstaking has really kept me on my toes, introducing me to many new properties around the world. My first blog was called TRAVEL CONTESTS, even though I was mainly entering sweeps, which are lotteries, as opposed to contests, which ostensibly involve merit. I started right before St. Patrick's Day 2006. That summer, I moved to TRAVEL SWEEPS, mainly because I wanted a new look. Plus, I felt the name of the blog should accurately reflect my pursuits.

This year, as I was contemplating whether or not even to bother making resolutions, I decided to start another project. My website HOTEL FETISHIST is really an offshoot of TRAVEL SWEEPS, since so many of the sweeps I enter include a stay at an identified hotel or resort. So HOTEL FETISHIST will include posts about such sweeps, along with hotel news, reviews, rants, quotes, and so on. But plenty of sweeps do not name the hotel or resort or, like yesterday's post about a vacation house, do not even involve one. So I plan to post here as I develop HOTEL FETISHIST. There will be cross-referencing. To wit, here's a post about yet another swell sweeps, Tablet Hotels' monthly five-night-stay giveaway. As I like to say, go for it.

May the new year bring peace, health and prosperity.

leisure enthusiasts of the world, unite

I keep stumbling upon new sweeps. Here’s one from The Society of Leisure Enthusiasts. What sounds like a cerebral group devoted to leisure studies is actually a commercial enterprise, a collection of upscale rental homes. They’re giving away five-night stays through January. The current giveaway is for a stay in a”Hidden Hills,” a private house in Scottsdale. This sounds like some backyard:

The backyard pool has a waterfall with two fire features, fogging system that creates a fine mist over the water, multi colored pool lights, two resistance jets located at the deep end for swimming laps, in-ground hot tub, gas fire pit with semi circular seating and a built in stainless steel BBQ with a smoker.

To enter, click HERE.

better than a postcard

This is better than a postcard: A Priority Mail envelope filled with cards and menus collected on a trip! My dear friend Maria was in L.A. for a few days, and decided to share her experience in this practical and clever way. She even scribbled notes on one of the cards. Really, this is absolutely brilliant. Thank you, Maria!

By coincidence, I found a great sweeps to L.A. this morning. Vogue is the sponsor. The prize includes airfare and a stay at the Beverly Wilshire (a Four Seasons hotel) and head-to-toe makeover with a Philip Lim evening look, Kotur evening bag, Irene Neuwrith jewelry, Jimmy Choo shoes, haircut and color from the famous Serge Normant Salon. This would certainly revive my fashion sense.

If I win, I will ask Maria to be my guest.

To enter, click HERE.

indochina and anticipatory nostaglia

I got a letter in the mail yesterday informing me that my Citibank branch was closing in March. I’ve been banking there since 1994. The news sent me spinning into anticipatory nostalgia. This was going to be the bank where we deposited the money Isaac earns from refereeing. All the while I assumed that Citibank would transfer the branch staff to other branches. Only this morning when I went to get quarters – yes quarters, I have to wash my clothes in a community laundry room – the manager was crestfallen. She has to find a job. She’s concerned she won’t in this market. The tellers didn’t seem as down as she was. The higher up you are in management, the harder it is to find work. So empathy eclipsed nostalgia.

There are some fun sweeps out there these days. This morning I entered one for a trip to Indochina. The sponsor is Buffalo Tours. The Viet Nam based outfitter To enter, click here. The sweeps is a one-time entry. It closes January 15.

To enter, click HERE.

electric slide shows

I love online slide shows. Two favorites: This week, The Daily Beast ran a roundup of ice skating rinks from around the world. This summer, World Hum posted "My World, My Feet," an audio slide show of photos Sophia Dembling took of her feet on various trips over the years. The first one makes me want to race out and buy new ice skates. The second makes me want to get a pedicure, though it seems a waste in winter.

cranky about christmas in connecticut

I have spent every Christmas of my life in Connecticut. Since college, that's meant a train ride or a drive from my adopted city of Washington, D.C. I'm cranky about going this year. I want to go, but I don't want to get ready to go. When travel is obligatory, trip preparations can seem more arduous than when travel is elective. Our menagerie adds to the burden. The place where I normally board my senior cat is booked. The woman who used to feed our two cats, two birds and one Russian tortoise got bit by a pit bull right before Thanksgiving and has scaled back her business. (Poor thing. This happened while walking a dog. The dog walker with the pit bull did nothing when the pit bull went for our neighbor's charge. She stuck her hand down to protect her dog, and got bit. Badly. I tell you, these dog people can be nuts.) In addition to figuring out things for our pets, Isaac's in the midst of a science experiment, and his teacher wants it to run four weeks. Which means finding someone to water his 10 potted Blue Lake Bush beans, five with plain distilled water, five with distilled water that contains Epsom salt, while we are away.

I know I'll feel fine when we board Amtrak. I always do.

I just entered a sweeps for a five-night stay at the Sedona Rouge Hotel & Spa. That made me feel better. To enter, click HERE. The sweeps closes December 31.

'tis the season: say `ah!'

I've been distracted by a dental emergency. I lost a crown right before Thanksgiving. On a front tooth. Number 10 if you know anything about this sort of thing. So I did not have the liberty of procrastinating. The tooth under the crown was dead, the old crown would not hold, I needed an implant pronto. Oh Lordy, what a procedure. Like drilling for oil in my mouth. That periodontist gave me more shots than I've ever had for dental work. I stopped counting. When I asked how many there would be, he told me, "More than you want to know." I hate needles. Then of all things Sibelius comes on as he about to start working. Hearing the great Finn made me sad. My father loved Sibelius. I remain neutral.

This dental emergency has forced me to tend to some long overdue dental work. My dentist's practice has gone upscale since I last visited. They've proposed three treatment plans ranging from $12,000 to $30,000. These are not typos. And these estimates do not include my implant, which was a tidy sum in and of itself. The whole thing's left me feeling draining, physically and financially.

I spent the good part of the day attempting to execute a three-column blog. But in the end I've decided to leave this blog as is. I entered a sweeps for a trip to Palm Springs, California. Two nights in an unnamed hotel. To enter, click HERE.

oh my: terrorists, pirates and protesters

Travel news of late has been most intense. Mumbai, Bangkok, somewhere off the coast of Yemen. Yikes. Whatever the risks, I’m still going. I’m just not sure just where.

Isaac and I have an ongoing tussle over his independent reading. He reads obscure novels from the public library’s YA section, I try to get him to read more literary works, like A Separate Peace, which I started re-reading last evening, or All Things Great and Small, or Kim, by Kipling. For the past year I have been foisting Johnny Tremain on him but he won’t budge. Oh well.

This morning I found a sweeps for a 10-day trip to Australia, pegged to the film of the same name, sponsored by Australia Tourism and Ferragamo, which product-placed itself into the production. To enter, click HERE. The deadline is December 15.

Also, here’s a sweeps for $25,000 in dental care. I need some major dental work, which is going to cost a small fortune and seriously compromise my travel budget. So yes there is a connection.

To enter, click HERE. This is a daily through December 31.

hipster hipster hooray

This is reassuring. I was in the Stewart B. McKinney train station in Stamford, Connecticut, last evening, waiting for the 7:27 Amtrak back to D.C. I wasn’t nervous about traveling, despite rumbles over the weekend about a possible but unsubstantiated terrorist threat involving trains and subways in the New York City area. (Scoff not, my friends. The Taj Hotel in Mumbai got a warning, albeit a vague one, before last week’s attacks.)

A police officer strutted through the main area with his K-9 partner. They were quite a pair, the officer tall and perfect-postured, the dog lumbering and, well, a touch foggy. The dog looked like a St. Bernard, not the standard choice of K-9 patrol breed. (That would be German Shepherd.) At one point the dog started sniffing a fellow traveler’s knapsack. Save for the dog’s reaction, there was nothing suspicious about the situation. The knapsack sat on the floor, right next to the passenger. His face was relaxed, no shifting eyes or nervous locking of the jaw. The dog on the other hand was quite energized. In no time at all he worked himself up into a forensic version of heat. I thought for sure the police officer was going to give the bag a go-through. Instead, he asked, “You got a dog?” I couldn’t believe my ears. The K-9 patrol officer had given the passenger a perfect K-9 foil. The passenger, a young man, mid-twenties, maybe a grad student, almost certainly not a terrorist, told him, “Yes.” What kind, the officer wanted to know. “A Chihuahua,” the young man answered. Now, this is where I would have gotten suspicious. A Chihuahua? In Connecticut? Do they even allow Chihuahuas in Connecticut? I have never seen a Chihuahua in Connecticut. The two continued to talk, but I couldn’t hear what they were saying. It was clear the police officer was not going to examine the passenger’s bag even though this passenger didn’t look like the type who’d own a Chihuahua. Maybe his story made sense. Maybe it was his grandmother’s Chihuahua. But still. A Chihuahua?

Here’s a sweeps for a trip to London, with four nights at The Andaz on Liverpool Street. This is Hyatt’s new hipster hotel. Two will open in New York City “soon” – on Wall Street and on Fifth Avenue and another in Austin. This is a daily entry sweeps, so I’m adding it to the list in the column on the right.

To enter, click HERE. This sweeps closes January 30.

when negative is positive

I'm often in the throes of a cancer scare. Over the past 20 years, I've convinced myself I've had ovarian cancer, skin cancer, cancer of the anus, a brain tumor, cancer of the abdominal wall. (The tag on my anus sprouted during my pregnancy.) Earlier this year I got so anxious about breast cancer that I self-examined obsessively for a stretch. I have no idea what a lump feels like, I thought I felt lumps in my fibrous breasts, the left more than the right. One day I looked down and realized I'd given myself bruises, hypochrondiac hickeys.

Now I've got this pain in my chest, behind the wall in the area of my upper lobe. It comes and goes, it gets worse when I don't get enough sleep. I saw my doctor on Monday. She ordered an EKG. The heart's fine. She examined my breasts. No lumps. Then she ordered a chest X-ray. I went downstairs to another floor for that. The technician was kind of chirpy. But after he developed them, he would not make eye contact. I knew it. I've got lung cancer. That sent me into a meditation on my own mortality. Would I be here next Thanksgiving, or even my next birthday? And what about Isaac? I have to stick around for Isaac. And the things I want to write. And what would I tell my mother? Maybe we wouldn't tell my mother. I kept looping something a friend told me, about a colleague who was diagnosed with lung cancer. "Six weeks later, he was dead." I went back and forth from thinking I was fine to thinking this was it, I was on my way out.

Waiting for things like this is a hell unto itself. I tend to look for meaning and signs at every turn. The doctor called yesterday morning. She told me my thyroid numbers were low. As I listened to her, I thought, She's saving the bad news for last. But no, she hadn't gotten the X-rays, she expected them later that day. When she didn't call and didn't call, I envisioned her gasping at the mass and consulting her colleagues and cursing that once again she'd have to be the bearer of terrible news. I wondered if she decided to wait on the bad news until after the holiday or that she was consulting colleagues, rounding up names of pulmonary types.

I wondered what I should do. I wagered waiting or not waiting, and called the office at 3:40. This was while I sat in Penn Station, eating an exquisite lobster bisque from a soup bar, The Soup Stop I think it was called, the lobster bisque was so good I'd summon some for my last meal. My doctor'd left for the day. They said a medical assistant could call. I walked past Macy's over to Grand Central to catch the next train to Connecticut. (The streets were recession empty. I was there one year ago to the day, and midtown was festive and athrong.) I caught the 4:42 for Westport. My cell rang. It was the doctor's office. The connection kept breaking up, but I heard the word I needed to hear. Negative. My results are negative. Which is great. At the same time, I've got this weird sensation/pain. It will capture my diagnostic imagination until we understand its cause or until such time it goes away. In the meantime, I have a new goal in life: To get old.

do or die, maybe

Lisa Belkin wrote a poignant piece yesterday on the parenting blog she writes for the New York Times. The topic: keeping children from harm’s way. I almost posted a version of what follows in the comments section. I decided to publish my thoughts here instead.

I had one of those crossroads parenting moments this past weekend. I was dropping Isaac off at a birthday party. I was chatting in the kitchen with the parents when the boys announced they were going to go up the street to play football in the park, before they played Dungeons and Dragons. They're 12 or turning 12, so it seemed reasonable. Then the birthday boy's father looked at the birthday boy's mother and said, "You know, there's a tornado warning." She seemed unfazed. It always amazes me, the safety differential between parents.

I was concerned. The sky did look kind of crazy, yellow and gray like a days-old bruise, and the air felt charged, just plain barometrically bizarre. I grew up boating, which makes me sufficiently attuned to rapid changing weather conditions, especially thunderstorms. Twice in recent years, I’d sensed a tornado in the vicinity. One time, Isaac and I were on the roof of a parking garage, headed into a grocery store. I could see a storm moving toward the city from the west, its clouds roiling like ocean waves. “This is going to be a bad one,” I told him. What I didn’t tell him was I thought there might be a tornado.

There was. That evening on the 11 o’clock news, I learned that a twister had swooped down and picked up a car on the University of Maryland’s College Park campus. Two sisters riding home together died. Their father, a university official, had told his daughters to leave campus, to beat the storm.

Remembering the consequences of that well-intentioned father, I wondered what I should do. My gut told me that the boys should play it safe and hang out on the front porch. Only I said nothing. I’ve been through this scenario many times before with my son’s father, the rush of analysis which suggests a risk but is followed by silence, my silence. Shared custody accentuates the aforementioned parental safety differential. The week my son spends with his father at the beach every summer, I worry that someone will miss some urgent sign or fact, like the lifeguard’s flapping flag that signals strong currents, or the unassailable knowledge that sharks like to feed at dawn and at dusk.

Only there’s not much I can do, except remind them of the obvious. Last weekend, the moment the mother said, “They should be fine,” I decided not to speak my mind. I accepted their offer of a glass of wine and waited it out, waited for the boys to return all in one piece. All the while, I knew that if anything had happened, if a tornado or high winds had done harm to any of these boys, I never would have forgiven myself. That's parenting. Sometimes it's literally do or maybe, just maybe, let them die. Later, Isaac come downstairs while the others still played Dungeons and Dragons. "What are you doing here?" the birthday boy's mother asked. "Oh, they killed me," Isaac answered, without a care in the world.

Today's sweeps is for a trip for four to Washington, D.C. (This is one I won't be entering!) The prize includes a visit to the National Zoo, to see the pandas. The zoo has a special place in our hearts. We live within walking distance. I credit our frequent visits there when Isaac was younger for his profound affinity with animals. Now that he's older, we don’t go as often as we used to. But when the wind is right, we can hear the gibbons’ early morning territorial cries. To enter, click HERE. The sweeps closes March 15.

save the rhinos: a kenyan safari

I went to two functions last week all by myself. I thought I might bump into friends at one of them, a reception at the Embassy of Ireland, only it turned out I didn't know a soul there. And not only did I not know a soul there, but my name was not on the guest list, and the woman doing the check-in was less than gracious, even though I gave her the name of the woman who sent the email invitation -- her last name was Doyle, which is my mother's maiden name, and I even told this woman that, thinking I'd get a little mileage out of the Irish heritage. She looked at me unmoved. (Me thinks she was not Irish.) Then I explained that I'd responded by email and then again over the phone to a man who'd called from New York. To which she responded: "We didn't have any men working on this party." And that is when I almost walked out the door. But I pressed on, in part because I'd rearranged my schedule to attend this event and also because I thought I might run into friends there and also because the focus was Ireland as a culinary destination, and I thought I might get to sample to some savory Gaelic fare. So I told her that I know that the original time of the party was seven and that it had been switched to 7:30. She still looked at me like she thought I was a crasher. I mean who would know all these details but a legitimate invitee? Then I offered to show her the email invitation. It took me awhile to find it on my cell phone, because I had to search for it, first on my New Mail and then my Old Mail. These things take time. Right before I found it, she asked if I had a business card, and started to wave me in. Well, I hadn't brought my cards, even though I'd thought about it. And after all this back and forth, I felt I had to show me the email invitation. So I did. I was cleared. She pointed to the coat check. Of course she never, not once, apologized for the inconvenience. I mean, this happens. People who are invited to an event and R.S.V.P. do not always find their way onto the guest list.

I don't know why this rankled me so, I don't know why I was so humorless about it. Perhaps because the hosts were the ambassador and Tourism Island? Call me crazy, but I was expecting a modicum of hospitality and graciousness instead of airport-like security measures.

Upstairs was crowded. The people reminded me of the Irish people who go to my mother's parish. White skin, gray hair, yellow teeth. To my relief, they were casually dressed. The lines for the beer were too long, so I stood in line for some food. I got some wonderful cheese at one table, and then I sampled smoked fish from a man who lives west of Galway, and more smoked fish from a woman whose place is I'm not sure where, I have the materials over on a table and I am too lazy to get up and look. But the point of this post is to convey how awkward I felt being by myself. I stood against a wall and listened to a singer and saw a man I recognized but who did not recognize me. Knowing someone is a special state. The next evening, I went to another event by myself, a dinner at the Mexican Cultural Institute. This one was smaller, so my singleton status was more obvious, everyone arrived with someone or met someone there. The ambassador, a charming man, was there with his wife, and I spoke a bit with the chef -- this was a cooking demonstration and dinner -- and that was it. I decided if I ended up talking at length with anyone that I could create an imaginary friend, someone who was going to come with me but who at the least minute was not able to attend. That's how alone I felt during the cocktail portion of the evening. Then I sat down. At my table were two couples and two women friends. One of the women was very friendly. So I felt less self-conscious during the sit-down part of the evening. And I never had to invoke my imaginary friend. When I went home, I vowed never to go out on my own like that again. Only if I keep this vow, I will not go out as much as I should. This morning I signed up for another cooking demonstration. At least I will know what to expect.

I found an amazing sweeps this morning for a safari in Kenya. One of the most amazing sweeps I've ever seen, because the sponsor, Zicam, which apparently is flu medication, is donating $1 for every entry, up to $20,000, to help support Jack Hanna's rhino work. Now that is inspiring, considering the source. This prize, a 10-day safari, starts with one night at the Nairobi Serena Hotel, followed by visits to the Lewa Downs' Wild Life sanctuary and Maasai Mara Game Reserve (where 'Out of Africa' was filmed). Ah, what a dream trip!

To enter, click HERE. This sweeps closes March 23, 2009.

two nights, two dinners in philadelphia

I have a dear friend visiting and it’s always great fun to show D.C. to guests. We walked down 16th Street yesterday afternoon, past the Scottish Rite Temple and the National Geographic Society. At the corner of 16th and Eye Streets, with St. John’s to the left and the Hay-Adams hotel to the right, we stopped for the light and took in Lafayette Park and the White House.

There’s electricity in the air these days, a post-election spark the likes of which I’ve never detected in all my years in Washington. Yesterday it hit me that the collective release over the outgoing administration has a ding-dong-the-witch-is-dead quality to it. I shared that thought with my friend, and we laughed as we walked down Pennsylvania Avenue towards the National Gallery of Art. We went to the Pompeii and the Roman Villa exhibit. I highly recommend it. From there, we walked up Seventh Street, one of my favorite stretches in town, despite the near eradication of the Chinese establishments that constitute Chinatown.

While my friend took a yoga class yesterday morning – she teaches yoga in Middletown, Connecticut – I got caught up on this and that. I found this two-nights sweeps over at Discover Spas with Julie Register, a neat spa website for anyone interested in that world. It’s for two nights at the Rittenhouse Hotel in Philadelphia, and includes a spa certificate and dinner at two of Philadelphia’s best restaurants, Tangerine and Parc. This prize does not seem to include air, but that’s fine by me. If I were to win, we’d just hop the train.

Otherwise, I’m trying to get out more. I attended an opening last week at The Corcoran, and this week I’m attending a press reception at the Embassy of Ireland and then on Thursday I’m going on my own to an Embassy Chef Series at the Mexican Cultural Institute. I’ve been overly interior of late, a bit of a shut-in. It’s time to get out and circulate.

To enter, click HERE. The sweeps ends November 23, 2008.

what a moment, this

I've spent a fair amount of energy over the past eight years wishing I lived almost anywhere but here in the nation's capital. That changed on Tuesday. I’m still reeling from all of it, from going to the polls, with Isaac as company and witness, and casting my vote; from the anticipation that Obama might not win; from the exhilaration that he had won; from the sight of tears streaming down Jessie Jackson’s face in the Grant Park throng; from the whoops and hollers of victory and relief – so much relief – and joy; from the wine and then the champagne; from driving our friends home through the neighborhood to horns honking and crowds cheering; from not being able to sleep because of all the horns honking and crowds cheering; from waking up early the next morning and wondering if it was possible that we knew that this victory was certain, no "democracy in overtime" this time; from driving Isaac to school and discussing the evening before, he had been out in the hall with his friend and his friend’s mom and I started screaming when we heard Brian Williams say, “There are going to be young children in the White House;” from going to buy a Washington Post, that first draft of history, at approximately 9:30 A.M. and, after I’d checked at the Safeway, the CVS, the corner store, realizing there was not a paper to be found in the city; from getting the word that they were going to deliver a special commemorative edition of the Washington Post between 3 and 5 and waiting for 90 minutes only to hear that the delivery had been indefinitely delayed; from walking by the White House last evening (I’d been in the neighborhood, at a reception at The Corcoran) and seeing the fence where the crowds had screamed, pushed and pressed the night before and thinking how wonderful it was that nothing was the same; from walking to the Washington Post, only find out that they were not selling papers at that hour; from getting up this morning and going to the Washington Post and waiting in line with at least 100 people, including a woman who was wearing an Obama watch; from coming home and clicking around the Internet and marveling at the moment. What a moment, this.

better late than ever

This daily sweeps started on October 1, so it’s one third over. But I’m not letting that get me down. I entered this morning and plan to enter daily until the day it closes, December 29 to be precise. The Grand Prize is six nights at one of the Fairmonts that has a Willow Stream Spa, either Scottsdale, Cairo, Monte Carlo, Beijing or Vancouver. That’s an interesting menu. If I won today, I’d go with Cairo.

Of course I can’t stop thinking about tomorrow, the anticipation around this election is bottomless. Isaac does not have school, thank goodness, so he can accompany me to the polls and we can stroll around the neighborhood and experience what I hope will be a historic day. That said, the public-opinion polls are confusing. I sense that Obama is going to win. As in practically feel it in my bones. If that’s the case, I will be crying me a river.

An article last week on Slate about what our stuff says about our politics caught my eye. No big surprises (conservatives have more stamps and calendars in their homes!) but these “findings” reminded me of something: Liberals' bedrooms had a greater variety of books (especially books about travel, feminism, and music). They had more CDs and a greater variety of music (folk, world, classical). Liberal bedrooms had more art supplies, cultural memorabilia, and maps of other countries. I noted “especially books about travel,” which reminded me that I have, in my meager travels, rarely met any Republican types – except when I’m staying at more upscale accommodations.

To enter, click HERE. Daily through December 29.

a hell of a town

This sweeps, for two nights in NYC, ends tomorrow, November 1, at 11:59 EST. I almost didn’t mention this one, which is on Clarins, that fine maker of fine makeup, but I’ve wanted to publish that gorgeous photograph of Grand Central Station for so long, I thought this little sweeps would make the perfect excuse.

Isaac surprised me this week by telling me that he does not want to go to the World Cup in 2010. It’s in South Africa. For me, going was just a given. I realize that might seem a long way off, but this would be a trip that would require some serious planning. I asked him several time if he was sure and he said yes. He doesn’t like the thought of the crowds (I’m not a throng person, either) and he’s afraid of stampedes. He did say that I won a trip to the World Cup that he would go. So I will enter any and all sweeps for trips to the World Cup as soon as they start surfacing.

To enter, click HERE. This sweeps closes November 1.

volcanic ashes, a memory

I went to Napa Valley once, during a particularly wretched time in my life. My friend and I stopped for lunch in Yountville, and got massages at The Villagio Resort & Spa. They were wonderful. After our treatment, we went to the gift shop, where I bought my first pair of Sensi sandals. Three pairs later, they remain my favorite casual sandals. This sweeps reminded me of that trip, and of another massage I got on this getaway, this one in Calistoga. There, the massage therapist talked about going home after Mount St. Helen’s erupted to a lawn mid-calf deep in volcanic ash. What a magical image.

This sweeps is for four nights at the Villagio, with wine tours and a cooking lesson with Nick Stellino. It’s a daily, so get clicking. The sponsor is Domino’s Sugar. I’m brand loyal when it comes to staples. Morton Salt, Domino Sugar. Plus, there’s a Domino’s Sugar refinery right here in the mid-Atlantic, in Baltimore. They process the sugar for Hershey’s chocolate as well as the packets you find in restaurants. Talk about local flavor. Oh, I mean color. No, I mean flavor.

To enter, click HERE. Enter daily through October 31.

finding my moorings

It’s a blustery, gray day here in D.C. This is my favorite weather for writing. In fact bright sunny days impede the process. I simply find the light too distracting; the visual cacophony empties me. Back in the day, before I became a parent, I liked to write into the night. Or in windowless offices, a fate I’ve known in more than one wage-slave situation. Today I started an essay that’s been percolating for a stretch. So I feel as though I’ve found my moorings. Yesterday I entered a swell sweeps, sponsored by an outfitter I’d never heard of before, The Moorings, a charter-yacht company. It’s for a six-night sailing vacation on a 46-foot catamaran in the British Virgin Isles. For someone who has not had a beach vacation in several years, this one makes me swoon. Note: This sweeps does not include air, the vintage travel poster notwithstanding.

To enter, click HERE. The sweeps ends December 15. Go for it!

welcome to the nation's snake bite capital

Here’s a sweeps with a presidential campaign connection, albeit a convoluted and, for me at least, misplaced one. According to HotelChatter, the McCain campaign is going to hold its election night party at the Biltmore in Phoenix. By coincidence, the day I read this scintillating news item, I’d entered a sweeps for four nights at the Biltmore. The sweeps is sponsored by Gourmet Magazine and the Arizona Office of Tourism. It doesn’t end until February 1, so no chance of crashing the McCain shindig, if you swing in that direction. And I obviously do not. But I would enjoy winning four nights at The Biltmore, yes indeed. This is an interesting part of the country, Phoenix and its environs, the unbridled development and ramped-up vanity notwithstanding. Oh, and the snakes. I bet your didn’t know that Arizona leads the country in snake-bite fatalities. That’s not something the Office of Tourism wants to promote. Venomous bites aside, this is a great culinary destination.

To enter, click HERE.

we'll always have paris

I’m itching to get to Paris. I want to show the City of Lights to the boy, but it’s hard to travel anytime but summertime. School breaks are pretty much devoted to visiting family. I've never been wild about traveling to Europe during the summer, though with the weak dollar, last summer Rome was not bad. I still miss being able to travel in the shoulder season, which would be now. I do sound like a fussbudget here, don't I? Winning this, five nights at The Regina Hotel, a four-star property in the First Arrondissement, might inspire me to get in a visit, a long weekend perhaps, during the school year. Sacre bleu!

To enter, click HERE. The sweeps closes December 30.

sloppiness solidarity, inauguration floodgates, bullet holes, post-post times

I don’t know the etiquette here. This weekend I visited the family of one of my son’s friends. Their house was an absolute mess. Topsy-turvy sloppy but filled with love. I am tempted to write the mom, to convey solidarity in sloppiness. I am not sure she would take the email as a compliment.

”Call me on January 20.” That’s what people have been telling Seymour Hersh, according to this uplifting profile in The Guardian. The cowards! What didn’t they leak when it mattered? That said, I hope they’re dead serious. I hope they deep-dish. I do not want the Bush administration to slink away into the oblivion of top-level consultancies and corporate-board service without a thorough and unencumbered journalistic examination.

My son’s father has a cool friend who lives in the mountains in what is typically a Red state. And this cool friend and his cool wife are Blue through and through. And they put up an Obama-Biden sign on their rural property. And some of the locals made their views known in the form of four bullet holes in the Obama-Biden sign. And that my friends is succotash, just plain succotash.

Observation: We may be moving into a post-post era. For years I’ve been tormented by the term post-modern. (I become unhinged when I can’t grasp what is held out to be an accessible, legitimate construct. Call me old fashioned, but I never *got* the post-modern thing.) Several weeks ago, I was made aware of a book about the post-torture era. The Power and Purpose of International Law (Oxford University Press, 2008) is, according to its author, "a renewed and updated theory of international law for the post-torture era." If true, if we are on the other side of torture, that is welcome news indeed. But I know not the facts. That could be increasingly more common as we continue to live in, drum roll, please, a post-fact society, with the help of Farhad Manjoo’s book, True Enough: Learning to Live in a Post-Fact Society. You see, I never mastered the pre-post-fact society. I want a moratorium on this post nonsense. I want to live in a post-post world.

Today’s sweeps is not a new sweeps but a reminder that the stupendous five-trip daily entry sweeps runs through February 28. Antartica, Galapagos, Machu Picchu, Tanzania, Manitoba See Sweeplusting Picks to the right.

finding my id in madrid

When my son was 18 months old, his father and I went to Spain. We rented a car at the airport, where it seemed everyone – including the nuns – was chainsmoking. We drove to Cuenca for a night or two, then on to Altea, where we rented a farmhouse for a week. I was allergic to the top floor, where we were sleeping, and sneezed like a madwoman every night before falling asleep. In the morning we’d go for espresso at a café down the street, mainly so I could clear my sinuses. The waiter, Angel, was a bullfighter on the weekends. From Altea, we went to Granada, stopping for lunch in Murcia, which was amusing because the woman who’d just been crowned Miss Espana was from Murcia and everyone working at the restaurant seemed to know her. After Granada we went to Aranjuez, which is pretty much the Fontainebleau of Spain, a fair-weather residence of the royal family. We had one of the best meals in my life at a little restaurant across the street from where we were staying. Off the top of my head I do not remember the name of it. Nor do I remember what I ordered. I do not have a strong memory for such things. I did keep notes, but they're packed away. I do remember that Isaac slept in his stroller through the meal, which was rather sporting of him. I went to Spain another time, before Isaac was born. We dipped into San Sebastian, then drove to Pamplona and back into France through the Pyrenees.

All this itinerary revisiting is to demonstrate that while I’ve been to Spain, I have never been to Madrid. Here is a sweeps that might change that: The Grand Prize is five nights in Madrid plus air plus $4,000 in American Express Traveler’s cheques. The winner can take up to three guests. (The prize is for two hotel rooms in an unspecified hotel.) I like the sound of this one. The sponsor is Tapena Wines.

To enter, click HERE. Entrants must answer correctly all questions on a fun, short quiz. Enter up to once a month. The sweeps closes December 31.

What would I do if I won? I'd get a haircut. I'd spend hours in El Prado. I'd shop for espadrilles.

favorite headline

This is my favorite headline of the day. Maybe the century.

JOEY CHESTNUT EATS 45 SLICES OF PIZZA IN 10 MINUTES.

Way to go, Joey! (The headline was on AOL or Yahoo!, not on the linked article.)

I think it would be a great title for a novel.

JOEY CHESTNUT EATS 45 SLICES OF PIZZA IN 10 MINUTES.

i think i'm going japanese

This sweeps didn’t grab me at first take. Or second. Or third. But this morning something clicked. The idea of saying, “I’m going to Kanazawa next week” has a certain appeal. Plus, the prize, four nights total including air, includes two tours with National Geographic photographer Michael Yamashita. The hotels (HERE and HERE) look pleasant, if tall.

Otherwise, the markets certainly are rebounding. Maybe this Titanic won’t sink after all.

To enter, click HERE. One entry. The sweeps ends October 31.

three nights in new york city

The last time I entered a sweeps sponsored by Chambord, I was inspired enough to run across the street to the liquor store and buy a bottle of the black raspberry stuff. I’d found a recipe I wanted to try on the Chambord website, for a Candy Apple Martini, which combines vodka, Chambord and apple schapps. It was a decent enough martini as martinis go, but not one that would become part of my repertoire.

The real find that day was the Berentzen Apfelkorn Apple Schnapps, suggested by my esteemed spirits advisor. (I just realized I do not even know the gentleman’s name. I must introduce myself next time.) I ended up leaving the bottle in the freezer and taking a nip now and then. I suppose more “now” than “then” because it didn’t last long.

This morning I found another Chambord sweeps, for a three-night stay in the Big Apple this February. The hotel is not specified. The prize includes tickets to one of the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week shows and $1,000 for shopping. (Maybe the Borat guy will drop in. Security!) In the spirit of personal history repeating itself, I clicked around the Chambord recipes. I found what looks like a lovely one, a Chambord Cosmo. I’ll try it tomorrow, provided the liquor stores aren’t closed for Columbus Day. Speaking of Columbus, I wish Washington had a Little Italy.

This would be fun. I’ve lost my cocktail virginity twice in New York City. I drank my first Apple Martini in the Big Apple, at The Algonquin. I had my first Manhattan in Brooklyn, at the home of friends of a friend. Bottoms up.

To enter, click HERE. One time entry. The sweeps closed December 15.

six nights at the fairmont san francisco

This one’s tricky. Ghirardelli Chocolate is giving away over 1,000 of prizes to customers who find game pieces in specially marked bags of Ghirardelli squares. So it’s not clear if the Grand Prize, six nights at The Fairmont in San Francisco and nightly dinners, will have been won by the time the sweeps closes on January 31. All unclaimed prizes will go to online entrants. I suppose it can’t hurt to enter online, just in case. That’s one gorgeous hotel. It’s the flagship property, built right before the earthquake, damaged by the conflagration and opened a year to the day after the quake. Some history.

To enter, click HERE.

I'm numb over events in the financial sector. The party's over.

gatorade, a cautionary tale

Yesterday I parallel-parked at soccer practice and chop-chop-ordered Isaac to put on his shin guards, to check that his ball had enough air in it, to forget it if his socks did not match, one white and one navy would do. This is our existence these days, hurry, hurry, hurry every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, with three soccer practices in a row. In the midst of this, Isaac holds up his uniform jersey. The last time I’d seen it, packed in his backpack, it was white. Now it was pink. He’d put a bottle of Gatorade in his backpack, and the top had not been screwed on tight. This felt like the makings of a $75 accident. Or however much the “kit” cost. (The white shorts had been drenched in Gatorade, too.)

Later that same evening, Google research suggested that Gatorade stained without mercy. Well, not always. This morning I washed the jersey and the shorts separately, in warm water, with Tide, and that uniform is pristine white. There is no trace of Gatorade. Now if only if someone tell me how to remove virgin olive oil from my favorite knit top, we’d really be in business.

I’ve been entering sweeps here and there. A little while ago I entered one with a Grand Prize trip to Milan and a First Prize trip to New York. It’s a daily that runs through October 17. Check it out HERE.

r.i.p. paul newman

What a role model of an artist and of a human being. I never met him, but he lived close by; the possibility of seeing him in person at the supermarket or in downtown Westport was one of life's little thrills when I was a teenager. One summer I worked in a seafood restaurant that he and his wife Joanne Woodward liked but they always came on my night off. I wish more celebrities followed their example and not use their children as props, not flaunt their philanthropy and good works. He was a great man with heart, intelligence, humor. My condolences to his family and friends.

venice gondoliers for obama!

Too much! Click HERE.

oh, the pages i'd turn

I’ve been meaning to re-read David Foster Wallace’s article about taking a luxury cruise. The piece, “Shipping Out,” appeared in the January 1996 issue of Harper’s Magazine. I tried to access the article online the weekend David Foster Wallace hanged himself but it was only available to subscribers. Several days later, I read on World Hum that Harper’s was making the piece available at no charge. I went to the link and nearly printed out the article in full. But I decided to wait for fear of spending my ink cartridges. He who hesitates is lost, warn the wise. Now, it’s too late. Harper’s withdrew its generous offer; the piece is once again available only to subscribers. If you happen to be one, ship ahoy HERE. ERRATUM UPDATE: I erred. Harper's has every article David Foster Wallace wrote for the magazine online for all to read at no charge HERE. Thanks, Anonymous. Colin Harrison, who edited "Shipping Out" and other pieces Wallace wrote for Harper's, remembers editing Wallace HERE.

That piece blew me away. I remembered thinking at the time that more nonfiction writers should bring to their work what he brought to that piece. That notion seems especially true about travel writing, which often falls short of its potential. At its worst, travel writing is formulaic, clichéd, intellectually dishonest. This happens for multiple reasons, not all having to do with the writer. What Wallace achieved with "Shipping Out" rests in part with the tension he created with the reader through his choice of topic, an easy target if ever there were one. In some circles, including my own, cruises are the laughing stock of mass tourism, several notches below chain all-inclusive resorts and froufrou B&B’s with sherry decanters in every nook and cranny. I’d wager that many (if not most) readers wondered where Wallace would fall on the spectrum, with visceral disdain on one end and detached curiosity on other. He danced between the two, gravitating toward disdain more often than not, but managing not to come off as too condescending or too contrived. He obviously was out of his element. The dance, along with his powers of observation and self-expression, elevated the piece to near perfection. This article could be a template.

I write the following without irony. This morning, I entered a sweeps for a six-day Atlantic crossing on the Queen Mary 2. I usually do not try to win a cruise. But something about this particular itinerary on this particular ship on this particular morning made me nostalgic for the time before my time when luxury cruises were fashionable across a cross section of the travel elite. Another selling point: The Queen Mary 2 library. At 8,000 titles, it’s the largest library at sea. Oh, the pages I’d turn!

To enter, click HERE. One entry only. The sweeps closes on October 31.

noodles for the drunks

Isaac has six pets at my place. Two cats, two parakeets, one cornsnake, one Russian tortoise. This means regular trips to the pet store. Next to the pet store is a Thai restaurant we like. We like the pad thai. I keep meaning to try their drunken noodles. Which, the first time I ordered it, was listed on the menu as Noodles for the Drunks. Meals there get us thinking about trips to Asia. Here’s a sweeps for seven days in Bangkok. The sponsor is Thai Kitchen. The hotel is unspecified. This language, from the Official Rules, makes clear you are own your own for room service. Thai Kitchen reserves the right to choose the hotel and the accommodations. Thai Kitchen/Simply Asia Foods, Inc. will pay for the room rate, plus any applicable taxes for a seven-(7) night stay only. All other amenities at the hotel and expenses incurred by the winner (and any guest) in Thailand will be at their own expense.

To enter, click HERE. One time entry. The sweeps closes November 30.

a home away from home

When we travel, we call wherever we're sleeping that night "home." It does not matter if it's a hotel or a house, it does not matter if we're there for one night or seven. Home is where we lay our head to rest.

Here is a clever sweeps. To enter, you select your potential prize, a vacation rental from Homeaway’s 115,000-plus property listings. I chose this one in Deruta, in Umbria. That pool certainly looks inviting. The winner has $10,000 at his/her disposal. Anything not applied to the rental value is theirs for airfare. A fun one. If I weren't pressed for time this morning, I would have clicked around the site longer. I did see enough properties to know that they range from low- to high-end. That's nice for a change, especially in this uncertain economy.

To enter, click HERE. One time entry. The sweeps closes October 10.

a personal appeal; no sweeps this time

Please help! To contribute to LORI HALL STEELE via Paypal, click HERE. (Note: You can donate with a credit card if you do not have a PayPal account.)

Dear Lori,

I don’t know you. But we are part of a wonderful community of writers. I heard about your story on a travel writer’s listserv. Karen Berger wrote that there was a freelancer out there who needed our help. This freelancer, you, is, in no particular order, a member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors, a single mom, a fantastically photogenic woman with a fetching smile, a subscriber to Freelance Success and, damn it, this is so unfair, an ASL patient. Karen referred us to her blog, Create Work Live, where she elaborated. She posted links to Save Lori’s House and Lori Steele Fundraising Blog.

Clicking around, I learned that you recently faced foreclosure and that you had mounting medical bills. Apparently, funds are coming in and your house is yours – for now. I am writing here to ask my readers, who are not many but whose hearts are in the right place, to contribute to you, too. I’m sending something your way. Your situation would have touched me no matter what, but as a single mom and as a former ASJA member and former FLX subscriber, I felt particularly moved to do something on your behalf, no matter how small. I’m sending around this post, to see if I can get friends of mine to help.

I hope my readers will read more about you on the links I’ve included here, above and below.

You and your son Jackson are in my thoughts,

Barbara Benham

Read a sweet piece on Huffington Post HERE.

Read about ASJA's blogathon HERE.

smile, though your heart is aching

What a mess out there. Hurricane Ike, Lehman Brothers, Sarah Palin, AIG, Merrill Lynch, Dow Jones Industrials, Iraq, Iran. And sadly, surprisingly, David Foster Wallace.

This sweeps, sponsored by Vogue Magazine and Aquafresh teeth whitening treatment, seems apt once you get your mind around the cognitive dissonance of trying to win free travel when the world appears to be crumbling all around us. Alitalia may stop flying, you know. And last week one of the largest travel outfitters in the U.K. went belly up and stranded thousands of customers all over the place. Dashing honeymoons and all the rest. It helps to smile, doesn’t it? If you can muster one, that is. The prize: Two nights in New York City, in an unspecified hotel, spa treatments, a shopping spree. The prize includes airfare, too, but should I win – a girl can dream -- I’d take the train.

Otherwise, let’s fasten our seatbelts.

To enter, click HERE. One-time entry. The sweeps ends September 22.

mirror, mirror: what's the grandest grand prize of them all?

Tropical Storm Hanna passed through the mid-Atlantic yesterday. Isaac and I had a deliciously cozy homebody of a day. I predicted the fields would be too wet to play soccer this afternoon, but Hanna did not dump as much rain on the region as forecast and, despite news reports of flooding and blackouts, we woke to a cloudless sunshiney day and we were able to play our first game of the season. Isaac’s team lost, 4 – 2. Now we’re home, he’s recuperating, I’m sipping a glass of Chardonnay.

Last evening I found this absolutely amazing sweeps on the World Wildlife Fund website. This is without a doubt the single best sweepstakes I’ve seen since I started entering sweepstakes back in March 2006. As luck would have it – luck, that elusive rascal of circumstance – this once-daily sweeps just started last week. Usually I find these swell once-dailies just as they are closing. This one started on September 1 and runs through February 28. The sponsor is Natural Habitat.

The prize is five trips, one trip a year to 1) Antartica and the Falklands; 2.) Tanzania; 3.) The Galapagos; 4.) Manitoba and, ta da, 5.) Machu Picchu.

Yes, all five trips, one a year for five years! Can you imagine winning this one? Ah, the fantasy.

To enter, click here. Enter once a day through February 28.

now what?

I am positively wistful now that summer travels have come to an end. Soccer and school will soon be upon us. This makes weekend getaways practically impossible, unless I forsake soccer, which I have no interest in doing. I do miss taking trips in the off months, the way we did before the school year shackled us to our home base.

The cure for this postpartum lassitude is planning a trip. Only I don't know where. Until I decide, I'll console myself with my sweeps.

This morning I entered a sweeps for a seven-day road trip to Anywhere, U.S.A. The winner gets use of a Buick for a week, as well as hotel accommodations and airfare. What's especially cool is that the winner works with a travel agent to customize the trip. This is a daily, the sponsors are Buick and The Travel Channel. The deadline is September 25. To enter, click HERE.

P.S. A Washington icon turns 50 this week. Ben's Chili Bowl has been a part of our world for over 15 years. Isaac's been going there since he was a toddler. One favorite memory: The bitterly cold night we slept overnight in our cars to get Isaac into our first choice elementary school, I scooted to Ben's Chili Bowl before midnight for fortifications, tea and pieces of cake. Here's a Washington Post article and slideshow.

unpacking, or after the facts

Packing, they say, is an art. Unpacking might merit this questionable status as well. I accomplish the former with far more aplomb than the latter. In my living room sit three still-filled bags from my recent trip to Connecticut. On the floor of my bedroom a pile of material from Italy, including cards from hotels, restaurants, gelaterias, awaits my attention. The overflow seems endless. The other day I pulled a card out of my wallet. What's this? I asked myself. Ah! It was Fellini's favorite restaurant near Rimini. Our guide had given it to me when I told her I loved Fellini.

Once I sort through this stuff, I will be able to string together the facts in the form of proper names, the restaurant in Rome with the surly waiter where, if blog reports are to be believed, Julia Roberts filmed scenes for a movie this spring, the name of the jewelry store, also in Rome, with a beguiling seahorse charm in the window, the name of the pizzeria in the photograph in the previous post, and so on.

The picture: A table of spices and seasonings at Campo del Fiori in Rome. Isaac and I went in search of arrabbiatta for my best friend's husband. I bought myself a kilo as well. I also got some puttanesca. I wish I'd bought more. But I stopped there, uncertain whether I would be allowed to bring unsealed products through customs. Note to self: I was.

The sweeps: Here's one for a three-day session at the David Beckham Academy in the U.K. To enter, click HERE.

back from vacation

One of the myriad things I did while visiting family in Connecticut was transfer my pictures from my trip to Italy from my new, not-yet-mastered camera, a Canon EOS 5D, to a CD. So for the first time ever I am posting a photograph I took myself. This sign was in a pizzeria around the corner from our hotel in Rome. (I can't remember the name of the pizzeria at the moment; I have the details in my notes.) In any event, we never tried the Nutella pizza. But I sure fancied this sign.

three nights on mendocino coast

Sweeps alert: Redbook has a sweeps entry on its website for a seven-night stay at the Lake Austin Spa Resort. Per the Official Rules, the sweeps runs through August 19. Well, when I attempted to enter this sweeps this morning, I got the following message: We’re sorry, this sweepstakes is not accepting entries. That’s a first. It’s too bad the sponsors couldn’t figure out a way to convey this information at the top of the entry form. This is the information age, is it not? Besides the usual fleeting fantasies of winning (an entire week in a resort, Austin is swell city, etc.), I didn’t exactly waste a lot of energy here. But still.

I ended up successfully entering this one, three nights at the Stevenswood Spa Resort on the Mendocino coast. To enter, click here. The deadline is August 29. Luxury Link is the sponsor.

seven nights in fiji

There are some mighty fine sweeps out there this summer. This morning I entered one for a week at Fiji Beach Resort and Spa. It comes with air, as many sweeps do, but this is business class. The package has me fantasizing. So much so that I am beginning to wonder if I spend too much time dreaming about things that will probably never happen. Isn't there a word for that? Delusional, perhaps?

To enter, click HERE. Do what I did and click around the sponsor's site. I might buy this for my new kitchen.

three nights: turks and caicos

We missed our connecting flight coming back from Milan. I thought flying Air France on Bastille Day would be amusing, but nary a mention save the announcement that our flight would be delayed because of a military air show in Paris. I knew when I received my ticket (which I had not booked myself; it was a group trip) and saw that there were only 90 minutes between arrival and departure at Charles de Gaulle that chances were high that we'd miss that flight. During our wait on the tarmac in Milan, the announcer assured us that many departing flights out of Paris were also delayed. So we arrived and, with no information about the status of our connecting flight, made a dash for Terminal E. This was no 50-yard dash, mind you. It felt like over a mile. And we were rushing, with all of our bags, because we thought we might make our flight. But the genius who designed this airport forgot to install information screens throughout the airport. We did not learn until we arrived at Terminal E that our flight had departed. On time. They booked us on the next flight. We spent three hours hanging out. We ate. I eavesdropped. I fantasized about going into Paris for an hour. So close but so far. Then I wondered what the chances were of missing our flight. Zut alors.

All this has left me obsessed with direct flights. I think there should be a way to search for direct flights out of an airport so you can evaluate direct-flight service from your base. I have not found a way to do it. If I do, you will be the first to know.

There does not seem to be a direct flight from any of the D.C.-area airports to the Turks and Caicos. I'm entering this one anyway. Three nights at The Regent Palms Turks & Caicos. Wow. I've got sweepslust again. To enter, click HERE. The deadline is August 6.

long time no: four nights in athens

Summer is half over and I have yet to go swimming. No matter. I've been to Italy and back, and last week I got a new kitchen, which involved a gut-wrenching total gut before the trip and a breakneck-paced one-week installation upon our return. Now I am planning my next getaways. Later this week, I'm headed to Baltimore, to reconnect with my Goucher MFA classmates and mentors. Then the week after that, Isaac and I are going to visit New Haven in the middle of a visit with my mother and sibs. We'll stay two nights in a hotel and toodle around town on foot. Then, I know not.

I plan to start posting regularly again. And entering sweeps for that matter.

I just entered this sweeps for five days in Athens. Rome whet my appetite for antiquity. I find it wild that Romans were bilingual, they spoke Latin and Greek. Enter HERE. One entry. The deadline is August 28.

win a trip to italy!

Long time no! Life has been busy! I've developed a rare syndrome involving acute explanation point usage! I cannot stop myself!

I'm in countdown to my trip to Italy! 10 days from today! I forgot the infinite passion of expectation aspect to international travel! It has been that long!

Here's a trip to Italy! A Roman Holiday with Perillo Tours! One time only! Deadline June 30! Here are details! One (1) Prize Winner to the sweepstakes shall win Perillo's "Roman Holiday" vacations for two (2) people. The tour includes: AIRFARE: Free roundtrip coach airfare from over 50 US cities LENGTH: 8 days and 6 nights ACCOMODATIONS: A centrally located First Class hotel, buffet breakfast. EXTRAS: Rome city sightseeing tour and the services of a Perillo host each day in the hotel.

To enter, click HERE.

yikes! hiatus countdown!

10, 9, 8, 7 ... I plan to start posting again soon. The rush of life has overtaken me. Phew!

four nights in coco beach, puerto rico

If the photograph of the swimming pool at the Gran Melia does not induce sudden-onset wanderlust, I don’t know what will. Especially if you’re living in the vicinity of Old Man Winter. He’s taken up residence here in the nation’s capital, where it is cold and wet and altogether dreary. This sweeps’ provenance is the cable channel Fine Living. The prizes includes four nights at the Gran Melia plus $10,000 in cash.

To enter, click HERE. This one runs through March 10.

sweeps a go-go

The Lifetime Channel is sponsoring a slew of sweeps. I entered the one for the trip to Turtle Island. Go for it!

For details, click HERE.

mas or menos

I'm trying to spend less time on the computer. That means fewer posts. At least for now.

the year of the rat

I don't pay much mind to Chinese New Year but this year, the Year of the Rat, we're celebrating with takeout delivery from City Lights of China because Isaac was born in the Year of the Rat. Otherwise we've been having a lazy, cozy day.

for my aunt dot

My beloved Aunt Dot passed away on Sunday. Here is her obituary from the Greenwich Time. I could not get up to the service because of work deadlines. We had many wonderful visits over the years, at her house in Old Greenwich, in her yellow living room, and more recently at the “home” she called home. She was a wonderful storyteller and conversationalist and one of the most amazing readers I've known.

R.I.P., Aunt Dot.

andiamo, barbara fellini

As promised in my last post, here’s the link to the Sherman’s Travel sweeps, for $25,000 in cash or, as I understand the Official Rules, up a comparable amount in travel prizes.

To enter, click HERE. This one runs through next year. (!) It closes January 30, 2009.

I just ordered three Fellini movies from The Criterion Collection. Caveat clickster: This is a treacherous website for movie buffs with weak impulse control. I ordered Amarcord, I Vitelloni and La Strada. Why pray tell do I feel the need to own these films? I just do. My nickname in college was Barbara Fellini. Me thinks after this hiatus -- I have not seen a Fellini movie in nearly a decade -- I will want to watch them over and over. Renting was never an option.

my son, the blogger

Isaac and I had great fun blogging together when he was in the third and fourth grades. He'd dictate, I'd type. The name of his blog, Isaac's Mind, and every word in it were all his. I only edited him if he wanted to post something I found inappropriate, like the time he wanted to write that President Bush was a monkey. Actually, without re-reading that post, I think I let him publish that but put a lid on the First Lady pulling tufts of fur off the President's back. (Looking back, I second-guess that one. At the time, I was trying to inculcate in him respect for, if not the man, the institution.)

Today Isaac said he was having ideas and he sat at the computer and dashed off a number of abstract expressionist digital creations. He said he wanted to sell them. I suggested he post them online. I offered to create a new blog, with an account of his own, so he could do it all on his. And he did. It's called Isaac's Mind of Art. He's taking it so seriously that he didn't as much chuckle when I noted that strung together in an URL the name could be read as Isaac's Mind'o'Fart. When I was in the sixth grade, this would have had me in stitches. These young people today.

I got an email for a swell sweeps, sponsored by Sherman's. I'll post the link later. I'm too konked to get the info together. In other news, I read Caroline Kennedy's endorsement for Barack Obama -- it ran on the op-ed page of The New York Times -- aloud to Isaac today. This evening, I read the beginning of Obama's memoir, Dreams For My Father, to Isaac. Guess who I want for president? South Carolina puts him in the lead.

Postscript with sweeps to follow.

r.i.p. heath ledger

I am finding the news of his death surprisingly distressing. I have never seen him in a movie. But I felt his presence as an artist. And my sense was this young (so young!) man was an artist. I hope his family and friends feel the condolences welling up around the world. No sweeps today.

fasten your seatbelts

Let’s just say I’m glad I decided to sit out the stock market until the subprime dust settles. When I was a financial reporter, days like this were fun. Now that I’m older and wiser, days like this are … still fun. Capitalism needs a good shakeup now and then, don’t you think? And maybe a recession will soften demand for hotel rooms and we won’t have to shell out $2,000 for four nights’ worth of accommodations in cities like New York and L.A. A recession would also force a long-overdue realignment of supply and demand in other areas.

Of course I don’t want things to get too bad. A recession would also surely mean less income for me, a self-employer writer.

Wall Street was down on the bell. I’m not reading anything about circuit breakers. I hope they’re still in the mix. If not, I will amend my take on all this. A market slide without circuit breakers would be like riding the Coney Island Cyclone without brakes. AHHHH!

Here’s a sweeps to next year’s Super Bowl. Isaac only started following professional football this year, so this is my first Super Bowl sweeps. When he started to show interest in the NFL, I felt like a total failure as a mother. I actually walked around for several weeks asking myself, “Where did I go wrong?” But I bucked up and put things in perspective and thought up ways to dissuade him from ever actually wanting to play the game. Thank the stars, he still prefers soccer. In fact, in the middle of one game, and I do believe it was the Patriots versus the Giants, he said watching football made him realize how beautiful soccer is. That was music to my ears.

To enter, click HERE. This daily-entry sweeps runs through February 8.

one week yoga retreat in tulum

I had the worst fried rice of my life this week. It was a mad dash of an afternoon and I ordered takeout from a restaurant I don't know in a neighborhood I kind of sort of know and if I had not been so darn pressed for time I would have taken it back and traded it in for something better. The rice was flavorless, the shrimp suspiciously flavorful. But the fortune-cookie fortune that came with the meal sure made me smile: You will be traveling and coming into a fortune.

What a stretch. On Wednesday I hit a car while attempting to parallel park in front of Isaac's school and I did not have my license or my auto insurance card with me. Plus my inspection sticker has expired. I scratched this man's fancy car, a Lincoln Town Car I think, with temporary tags good. I braced myself for what was surely next, the vexed request for an explanation, the exchange of phone numbers, the arrival of the police, the hundreds in dollars in fines. I got out of my car fully prepared to meet my motor-vehicle fate and said, "I'm sorry. I'm late taking my son's lunch to school." And this tall silver-haired man in a long dark coat looked at the scratch on his luxury car, a significant scratch that probably measured six inches across and eight or 10 inches long, and said, "Let's just forget about it."

I nearly burst into tears of relief. What amazing luck.

I just entered a sweeps for seven nights at Maya Tulum Resort. This stretch of Mexican shoreline so dazzles.

To enter, click HERE. For details, voilà the Official Rules. This daily-entry sweeps runs through February 1.

five nights in rome

This sweeps reminded me that I must start studying Italian. Isaac and I are going to Italy this summer with his soccer team, to Cesenatica. I hadn't heard of it before but it's on the Adriatic between Ravenna and Rimini (yes, Fellini). After five days of games, he and I are off to Venice and Bologna and eventually Milan. But not Rome. So this sweeps, for five nights in Rome, in a luxury hotel, would be particularly sweet.

I'd originally hoped we get to Venice and Rome, but it would be too tricky time- and travel-wise to do both. Plus Rome can be incredibly hot this time of year. Still, there's that swell gladiator school. And Isaac may be studying Latin next year. I do wonder if Venice will captivate his imagination. There's lace and glass and masks. And? Marco Polo and that play by Willie the Shake. And? Death in Venice will have to wait.

We'll make it work.

I believe I've posted about my first impression of Venice at age 16. I wished someone had told me about the dead cats.

Besides studying Italian, we're watching Italian movies. We started with The Bicycle Thief. Next, if I can get my hands on a copy (maybe here?), Amarcord.

To enter, click HERE. One entry. The sweeps closes March 31.

three nights in paris, or apoplectically optimistic

I wrote the following this past Tuesday, the day of the New Hampshire primary.

Lest readers of my blog think I am some hopelessly disengaged shallow oh-what-sweeps-will-I-enter-next type, think again. I don’t post about current events or big issues (poverty, income disparity, spider veins – okay, just kidding on that last one) because I view this sweepstaking pursuit as escapist and separate and I plan to keep it as far away as I can from the mess out there. But please do not for a second conclude that I am not apoplectically optimistic that the Democrats will recapture the White House in 2008 and that on the evening of the Iowa caucuses last week and now this afternoon as I type, seeing Drudge’s flash-bulletin siren (red, blue, red, blue, red, blue) and the headline EPIC TURNOUT FOR DEMS – We Are Out of Ballots, that I was not feeling that we are in the midst of a shift, a legitimate, unstoppable turning away from the dispiriting tendencies that have dominated this repugnant administration.

I am beginning to feel hopeful again, and it feels good.

Yesterday I entered a sweeps for three nights in Paris that’s sponsored by Chambord. I don’t believe I’ve ever done this before, gone out and bought a sweep’s sponsor’s product immediately after entering a sweeps. But clicking around the Chambord website got me thinking about that sweet black rasberry liqueur and remembering the time almost 15 years ago that I sipped Chambord at dusk at the edge of Chateau Chambord. It was closed when we arrived, so we could not visit it or the grounds.

Yesterday afternoon I marched to the liquor store across the street and bought Chambord as well as an apple schnapps (not sour apple, by the way) and last evening I made a Candy Apple Martini, a dangerously delicious concoction consisting of one part vodka, one part Chambord and one part apple schnapps. Dangerous in that it would be easy to down four before the first two took effect. So, fais gaffe if you indulge.

To enter, click HERE. One entry. The sweeps closes March 15.
The Ineligibles: Residents of Tennessee, Maryland and California.

oh, to be carefree in carefree

Make that O as in Oprah. O Magazine is sponsoring a sweeps for a three nights at The Boulders in Carefree, Arizona. I've had the good fortune to stay nearby at The Sanctuary at Camelback and The Phoenician. It's gorgeous in this part of the world. And the food! The Boulders looks fabu.

To enter, click HERE. One entry only. The deadline: January 31, here are the Official Rules.

More after I figure out why my computer's been acting funkadelic.

hey is for horses

I just noticed that the sweeps for the stay at The Regents Palms in Providenciales, Turks and Caicos, a daily listed under my Sweepslusting picks to the right, thanks you for entering. The thought's appreciated, but they just don’t say thanks. They start their thanks with a “Hey, … “ My grandmother Ha Ha always tsk-tsked me when I said “hey.” “Hey is for horses,” she’d say.

Anyway, it might be the cats (I have two) or the worries (I have a few) or the first light of day. A variety of things have been waking me up night after night for several weeks now and I am starting to feel the unfortunate effects of broken sleep. I found a possible antidote in the form of, what else, a sweeps: Two nights at the Mandarin Oriental, New York, on Vogue, with a deluxe makeover that includes a Diane von Furstenberg evening dress, Kotur evening bag, David Yurman jewelry, Manolo Blahnik shoes, haircut, manicure and pedicure from Garren Salon.

Yes, Manolos!

To enter, click HERE. One time entry through February 14. Details at the Official Rules.

my, what green resolutions you have!

I’ve been recycling most of my New Year’s resolutions for years. This year, I’m vowing for the second year in a row to spend less time on the Internet. What will that mean for my blog? I’m not sure. Fewer posts? Shorter posts? More efficient posts? Whatever my short-term posting tendencies, I’m definitely not renouncing sweepstaking. After all, my little pastime was born out of a New Year’s resolution made two years ago, at the inspiration of my friend, Ms. Shoes. Trying to win a trip is still fun, and, who knows, maybe one day I will win one of these things.

I’m looking forward to 2008. I’ve long preferred even numbered years. 2007, which started with me in the emergency room, cemented that preference.

Here’s a sweeps for five nights at The Regent Palms in Providenciales. The sponsor is Piper Lime shoes. To enter, click HERE. Daily entry through January 13.

merry christmas

And Happy Kwanzaa and Happy New Year! More soon.

cross-spritzing in america

The other day when I applied my daily dash of Vétiver by Guerlain, I mentioned to Isaac that is was men’s cologne. “Men’s?” he asked incredulously. I explained the time-honored and elite-sanctified practice of ladies borrowing from gents in the cologne department. I told him Princess Diana had worn it. And that his very own pediatrician, who went to medical school in France, wears it.

Yesterday I found an even better example. Tory Burch, who, to procure Isaac’s undivided attention, I will explain is a former girlfriend of Lance Armstrong, wears the stuff, too. I read as much in the current issue of Town & Country. Her father used to wear it. Now that should put to rest any doubts Isaac might have about my cross-spritzing.

I’ve been wearing Vétiver since college. A fellow I hung out with my junior year wore it. I only realized how much it appealed to me when I returned to my apartment after he’d left and wondered why his scent still hung in the air. Well, it turned out he’d sprayed scads all over my place, in attempt to mask the unpleasant order of my roommate’s cats. I ended up buying a bottle for myself, and it’s been my signature since ever since.

Vétiver used to be hard to find. Now you can buy it at Target. In other clicking, I found a clip of Jean- Paul Guerlain discussing, with subtitles, Vétiver on YouTube. It was created for the Mexican market. (Quelle convergence! J’adore le Méxique aussie!) I also stumbled on a diagram of Vétiver’s base notes. Délicieux!

By now you’re probably expecting a sweeps to Paris. I’m afraid the teaser for the only one I’m finding out there is so offensively silly that I am not going to link to it. Instead, here’s what looks like a terrific sweeps to Naples. Not French, but they share a border!

To enter, click HERE. The sweeps closes December 31. Here are the Official Rules.

apartment life, two nights at a spa

I love many things apartment living. Like when I lock my keys in my car, as I did this Saturday afternoon while I was out running errands in anticipation of a winter storm that never materialized, I can return to my building knowing full well that one of the women who work at the front desk will let me into my apartment, where I can fetch my spare key (on the soccer key chain I won in a sweeps no less). Or when the faucet leaks and all I have to do is call the front desk and they will send up a plumber, usually that same day.

I wish some things were different. The sounds of apartment life can get to me. The fellow who lives below me has been playing his radio loudly. The couple to my north still fights. And this weekend, for the first time, I heard a couple to my south making love. She was expressive, this one. Isaac wasn’t with me, and I wondered how I would have handled it if he’d heard this woman’s moans and groans. One option would have been to close the window and hope he didn’t hear but if he did perhaps I could have told him it was a pigeon and distracted him with a loud CD.

Another thing I wish were different is my building’s rules about renovations. I’m getting a new kitchen, but management has informed me that they won’t let me put in my own cabinets with counters of my choosing, even if I pay. This seems so irrational. The lack of décor choices aside, I’m on something of a redecorating kick. This weekend, I gave the furniture in my bathroom a fresh coat of paint (Architect’s White) and started painting the walls Pear Green. When I was done for the day, I went “screen shopping” for new bath towels. I love the ones pictured here, Dots by Yves Delorme. I may order them in Pistachio. (The green ones HERE.) I thought I'd mix up textures, and found these sumptuous things, by Sferra, but they have been discontinued. Too bad. They are gorgeous, very spa-di-da.

So, today’s sweeps is fitting. Colgate, my toothpaste of choice, is the sponsor. I can’t tell you how many times I moved tubes of Colgate from one place to the other as I proceeded to sandpaper and paint in the bathroom yesterday. This is for two nights at The Oaks in Ojai.

To enter, click HERE. Daily entry through February 3.

four nights in jamaica

Talk about travel with a purpose. This prize, four nights in pulsating Jamaica, includes a visit to a rum distillery: Appleton Estate Jamaican Rum is the sponsor. To enter, click HERE, then enter your date of birth (no under age entrants allowed) and proceed. The deadline is January 31. This is one of those accommodations unknown sweeps, standard room/double occupancy, hotel selected by sponsor per the Official Rules. A jaunt to Jamaica feels inviting on this cold day. A rum drink, too.

$250,000 to travel the world

That’s not a typo. Town & Country Magazine is sponsoring a sweeps with a prize of $250,000. The Official Rules note that (1) Grand Prize Winner will win $250,000 which they can use to take a trip around the world. I’m not sure if that means they could use the prize money for other things. Like a trip to an art auction or an antiques dealer.

To enter, click HERE. One entry only. The sweeps closes December 31.

back in the saddle with a perfect little sweeps: one week in the caribbean

You know the perfect little dress? Here’s a perfect little sweeps: up to seven days in the Caribbean on NWA Vacations. The lead sponsor is Garmin, maker of navigational devices for land, water and air. This is a one-entry sweeps (yes!). I’m in.

To enter, click HERE. Here are the Official Rules. This one closes on January 15.

Otherwise, earlier this week I was tagged by my MFA friend Leslie Miller. But I cannot play because my computer seems to be allergic to her blog. It is the wildest thing. My computer does not freeze up anywhere else on the Internet except on Leslie’s site, linked HERE, which is a shame not only because I want to play tag, but also because I love reading her powerful posts. She and I spoke by phone yesterday, and we were lamenting how discombobulating the holiday season can be, how hard it is to concentrate on big projects when we are being pulled, not unlike Olive Oil, in so many directions.

Here’s what else is on my mind today: I am buying a Christmas tree this weekend at Isaac’s school’s annual Christmas tree sale. I am hoping to take assorted stuff – my place runneth over with stuff, stuff and more stuff – to a boutique and to a thrift store either today or tomorrow, most likely tomorrow. I am concerned that my cleaning lady, whom we affectionately call Abuela Tres, is changing careers. She was going to come this morning, but then called and said she had a headache. I was kind of expecting her to cancel. After 13 years, I will miss her. I am waiting to hear back from my best friend’s mother about getting together tomorrow afternoon to watch an Italian movie. I am wondering what I will wear to my friend Kathy McCabe’s holiday party this evening. (Her Dream of Italy newsletter and travel services are stellar!) I am wondering how Isaac’s first basketball game will be later this afternoon. I am contemplating my swollen left thumb. Last evening I tripped on the sidewalk in front of my apartment building. The sidewalk is in disrepair. I banged up my knees and bruised or sprained my thumb. I am mentally drafting an email to my council member. (Dear Mr. Graham: We’ve corresponded before. I’ve written about the men who sell fake IDs along my block.) I am wondering if I will have time to get to the pet store to buy cat food for Torpedo and Tarzan and frozen mice for Ripley.

I am thinking it is time to end this post.

break and enter

Every day for the past several weeks I've woken up and told myself I must enter a sweeps today. Then the avalanche of quotidien responsibility hurls me down the slope again. Maybe tomorrow.

three nights in paris, france

As if I’d enter a sweeps to Paris, Virginia or Paris, Michigan. This one comes with an ooh la la $1,000 shopping spree. And I noticed this language in the OFFICIAL RULES: Unless child of winner, travel companion must be 18 years of age or older as of the date of departure. Which means I could bring Isaac with me.
To enter, click HERE. One entry per person. This sweeps closes December 4. Bonne chance, mes amis. Dis donc. Il etait une fois, je parlais francais comme une folle.

seven nights in a luxury hotel

Desktop traveler: I love to click around Luxury Link, especially the Auctions Closing Soon listings. I even check out the blackout dates. One of these days, I’m going to play this game.

As days go, this was not a good one. My desktop was acting nuts this morning. It took me an hour to sign on, I could not get onto AOL or Internet Explorer even after I ran SpySweeper in safe mode. I ended up going down to my neighborhood copy shop, which is run by two Pakistani brothers, one of whom is named Churchill, to use one of their Dell PC’s. Then back to the ranch, where I ran my anti-virus and anti-software programs a few times. That cleaned up things, but I need to purge this hard drive and start anew. A timesuck solution, but there you have it. I’m also finally, finally, finally going to buy a new desktop and a new laptop, too.

Luxury Link is sponsoring a sweeps for a week-long stay at one of five luxury properties: Miraval Life in the Balance Resort in Catalina, AZ; Anse Chastanet Resort in St. Lucia; Château de Bagnols in Bagnols, France; Evason Phuket & Six Senses Spa in Phuket; and, drum roll, Iguazo Grand Hotel, Resort & Casino in Puerto Iguaz, Argentina.

To enter, click HERE. You will also find links to each property. I am simply too fried to link five properties this evening. This daily-entry sweeps runs through December 31. There is no airfare.

two to tango: six nights in buenos aires

I’m back, on the other side of an exceedingly hectic stretch. Snippets: For Halloween, Isaac was a Republican. It was his idea. Several weeks earlier, he’d asked which animal the Republicans were, the donkey or the elephant. When he told me that was what he wanted to be for Halloween, I panicked. I knew it would be next to impossible to find a elephant’s costume in his size. Making one – yikes to that prehensile trunk and those floppy Dumbo ears – would be a nightmare. Two days before, it hit me: I could make a silhouette of the Republican logo out of an oversize box, cover it in red, white and blue paper, cut two holes for string so he could wear it around his neck like a sandwich board. For emphasis, I made a large cartoon balloon for him to carry: “This year for Halloween, I decided to be a Republican. Now, that’s scary!”

The day before Halloween, I went to the CVS and rather nervously purchased a boxcutter (I still get paranoid that someone’s keeping tabs on things like this) and proceeded to cut out the elephant logo, nearly slicing off a finger tip at the bend of the trunk. That evening, Halloween Eve, Isaac and I went to a souvenir shop and bought a Republican tee shirt. The morning of Halloween, I scooted to an art supply store to buy paper and a new canister of Spray Mount.

Suffice it to say, his costume was a big hit. I lost count of the number of people who said, “That is so funny, you can take TWO candies!” Yes, Isaac got doubles nearly everywhere he went. He also won a prize for the costume in a neighborhood costume contest. Obviously, this costume would not fly in every neighborhood.

Otherwise, we’ve been busy with school and soccer. The soccer season ended last week. Basketball practice starts this with. Me, well, I am still trying to get my writing mojo back.

This morning, I found a sweeps to Buenos Aires. Six nights, presumably in an Omni Hotel, since they’re one of the sponsors. two roundtrip tickets.

It’s a one-entry sweeps. The deadline, per the Official Rules, is February 29.

To enter, click HERE.

one week in australia's northern territory

The other day I walked past my neighborhood fortune teller’s for the first time in months. She lived above a dry cleaner run by an Asian family, perhaps Korean but I am not quite sure on that. I looked up and noticed the curtains were gone. Presumably so was she, along with her family, which seemed to include one adult child and several grandchildren. I confirmed their parting with the dry cleaner people. They had no idea where she and her family were; they wouldn’t tell me when they’d left.

Now there is no way for me to check in with this woman, she of the sparkling auburn hair and shiny fur coat, she who may or may not have had a role in my recent fortunes, good and bad.

This has been an odd year, mixed and murkish. I feel elated and deflated about finishing my MFA. My work is humming along; strains of Peggy Lee’s “Is That All There Is” float in the background. Isaac is doing well in school, an enormous relief. I was nervous he might not figure out school to the degree he has. There are other things afoot, but I prefer to keep them to myself, for now.

I continue to enter sweeps, including one for seven nights in Australia’s Northern Territory. To enter, click HERE. This one, which promotes the film Ten Canoes, closes on January 11 per the Official Rules. This 2006 film, the first entirely in Aborigine idiom, looks fascinating.

Otherwise, I shadow the muse. Tuesday’s horoscope stokes possibility: Your mind is firing off images, memories and articulations a million miles a minute. You need a pen and pad at all times to capture your own brilliance. (Thank you, astrology columnist Holiday Mathis.)

chance for the galapagos or the bahamas

Here’s a dandy. National Geographic is sponsoring a sweeps with a Grand Prize of a trip to the Galápagos and a First Prize of a trip to the Bahamas. The Galápagos trip is a 10-day affair that includes a seven-night cruise of the islands. The First Prize is a four-night stay at The Cove in Eleuthra. Details at the Official Rules.

To enter, click HERE. This is a once-daily that runs through January 31. These are such swell trips that for once I don’t mind!

three nights at the peninsula. if you're lucky.

This sweeps, a once-daily that runs through October 31, induced serious sweepslust when I discovered it yesterday: Three nights at the Peninsula Hotel, one of New York City’s grandest. Then I scanned the Official Rules, as I always do as part of my sweepstress due diligence, and noticed the language reads “The Peninsula New York or comparable hotel as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion.”

One would think that sweeps sponsors, in this case Ford, would keep their word, right? Well, not always. Apparently Nestle sponsored a contest for children with a prize to become a flavorologist for a day at a plant in San Diego. Only the winner, six-year-old Max Jordan of Potomac, Maryland, didn’t get a trip. He got a savings bond and a gift certificate. One would hope that sponsors wouldn’t dicker with winners.

Here’s blog commentary on that story. I think the Mom should get the word out, if only to expose the slippery approach some corporate sponsors take to sweeps. Now, not slippery enough for me to throw in the towel. But caveat sweepsters.

So here, was would a comparable hotel be? The Plaza when it reopens later this year? Let’s hope not the Edison Hotel!

To enter, click HERE.

the luck of the irish

Four nights in a spa north of Dublin? Who could argue with that? Woman’s Day is offering this one. The magazine regularly sponsors travel sweeps. Go for it! The spa, Dunboyne Castle Hotel, looks charming enough.

Here, I welcome the month of October with open arms. September is such a bear! Come October, we’re settled into our autumn routine. Isaac and I are going to Gettysburgh this weekend.

To enter, click HERE. This is a daily, per the OFFICIAL RULES, that runs through October 2.

two nights in rome, two in florence, too

This is an apt sweeps, since I’ve got Italy on the brain. I am going there next summer, with Isaac. To Cesenatico, on the Adriatic, for a soccer tournament. Then what? Oh, the fun of planning this one.

This sweeps is from Continental Airlines. Two nights at the Hotel de Russie in Rome and two at the Hotel Savoy in Florence. Note: The trip must be taken by April 30. Here are details from the Official Rules.

The prize includes round trip, coach air transportation on Continental Airlines for winner and Guest, (from major airport served by Continental nearest winner’s U.S. residence and the destination as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion) plus hotel accommodations (a classic double room) for two (2) nights at the Hotel de Russie in Rome and for two (2) nights at the Hotel Savoy in Florence. Breakfast is inclusive at both locations. Trip must be taken and completed by April 30, 2008 and is subject to blackout dates that include the Christmas and New Year’s holiday, space availability, occupancy limitations and other restrictions may apply.

To enter, click HERE. The sweeps ends October 31.

hurry! hurry! two nights at sorrel river ranch

This sweeps closes Sunday at one minute before midnight. If you’re interested, send an email to promotions@menshealth.com with the following in the body of the email: Your first and last name, complete home mailing address (note: no P.O. boxes), daytime telephone number (including area code), date of birth. The prize is two nights at Sorrel River Ranch, one of the most glorious desert resorts in the country, if not the world. (I have this on excellent authority, from a well-traveled friend who stayed there the summer of 2006.)

two nights, and a makeover, in beverly hills

At night before I turn out the light I sometimes examine the outer reaches of my hair and wonder how it is humanly possible for a woman my age to go so long without a cut and with so little product application and not end up with split ends. As in nary a split end, at least none that are visible to the eye.

Yesterday I entered this sweeps and practically melted at the thought of all that primping. Plus, spending money. Whoo hoo.

Here are details, straight from the OFFICIAL RULES.

GRAND PRIZES AND APPROXIMATE RETAIL VALUE (“ARV”): Grand Prize (5): A 3-day/2-night trip for two (2) to Beverly Hills, California for a LukaRo Salon Day for two (2). Trip includes round-trip coach-class air transportation from the major airport in the 50 United States or D.C. nearest to Grand Prize Winner’s home to Beverly Hills, CA, round trip transportation between the airport and hotel in Beverly Hills, CA, 2-nights hotel accommodations (based on double occupancy), a hair cut and style by Luke O’Connor (based on availability), a facial, a manicure, a make up application, a Suave Beauty Bag, including: fashion accessories; non comp beauty products; one hair care regimen; one skincare regimen and one deodorant, and $5,000 cash allowance for winner (awarded in the form of a check) (ARV $11,880 each Grand Prize).

I note that the sponsor does not specify which hotel but wonder: Is there such a thing as a bad hotel in Beverly Hills?

To enter, click HERE. The sweeps closes October 15.

seven nights in london

If I had it to do all over again, I would have studied dance, I would have gone to school in Manhattan, I would have had a baby in almost any month but September. This is a marathon of a month for parents of a school-age child. On top of Back to School Night and the start of soccer season and the Jewish holidays, which we observe in our fashion, and the anxiety about how long it will take until the homework feels excessive and the initial steps into applying for schools next year, I must plan a birthday celebration. And it feels like the one thing that makes all these other things feel like too much. One year, the year my father died, I was so discombobulated, we didn’t celebrate Isaac’s birthday until the following spring. I suppose there is no perfect month to have a baby, but I know that September is perhaps the least perfect month to have one, at least once after they start school. I also know that the first September he’s away, I’ll miss the rush of all this more than anything else in the world. Amazingly, there are in all likelihood only six left.

This afternoon I entered a sweeps for a week in London. It’s an almost perfect sweeps. One entry. A short deadline. (It closes October 31.) My only gripe: It doesn’t disclose the hotel. As the OFFICIAL RULES not, it does come with $2,000 in cash, which is always nice.

To enter, click HERE:

if mothers ruled the world . . .

I have a life. Single mom, soccer mom, freelance mom. So if I don't post for a few days, you can safely assume that life has temporarily eclipsed sweeps. Speaking of moms, what did mother effer (literally!) FOX think it was doing by censoring Sally Fields during the Emmys last evening? “If mothers ruled the world, there would be no …” Of course we know what came next. Wars! What a concept! Like we haven’t heard this thought before. (P.S. I just found an unedited version. The Flying Nun actress took the Lord's name in vain and said no “goddamned wars.” Dios mio. The unedited clip's over at Live Leak. They seemed to beat YouTube to the punch.)

As I noted in this my last post, there is an abundance of most excellent sweeps for the entering right now. So many that I may be showcasing them in two’s. Today, two Caribbean sweeps. The first is for six nights in Jamaica at an undisclosed property. (It sounds like a sweeps the Bush administration might sponsor.) Sorry, but if you live in California, Utah, Montana, Texas, you are ineligible. The sponsor is Seagrams Coolers, and the prize includes all meals and beverages EXCLUDING alcoholic beverages. Now, something about that tickles me. The Terms and Conditions for this one are funky. You can enter online, but the rules clearly state: “Only one (1) Sweepstakes entry per hand-addressed envelope will be accepted.” To enter, click HERE. The second sweeps is for six nights at The Bay Gardens Resort in St. Lucia. To enter, click HERE. For details, see the Official Rules.

two new york stories, two new york sweeps

New York Story #1. My friend Jill recently helped gild the top of the New York Life Building. I am always impressed by her talent as a gilder. This job reminds me that her work sometimes demands an absolute fearlessness of heights. Once she was gilding a statue that must have been 25 feet tall. I thought that was brave. Now this. Phew! I could never.

New York Story #2. My friend Judy has recently started a blog about drug use (misuse, that is) and addiction. Mother Warriors is written from the heart, from her experience as the mother of a recovering addict. I highly recommend it for anyone who has a child on the precipice of or in the throes of adolescence, when the temptation to experiment with ingested and inhaled chemicals takes off, as well as for anyone who knows an adolescent or young adult who has slipped into addiction.

She recently tried to raise money on eBay by selling a wallet that she lost, and then found, on a recent trip to New York. That everything was in the wallet, credit cards, cash, restored her faith in humanity. She wanted to share her luck, raise some money to help someone of limited means trying to help an addict. Click HERE for the eBay link, which includes her story.

I hope you will check out both.

The summer sweeps lull is officially over. In fact, for the first time in a long time, there are so many great sweeps, I can’t keep up with them. I will certainly try.

Here are two for New York City:

1. Two nights at The Jumeirah Essex House, a makeover at The John Barret House and a $2,000 shopping spree at Bergdorf’s and a few meals, too. To enter, click HERE. The sweeps closes. Note: When you enter, you are signing up for emails from Bergdorf’s. They’re fun, at least for this fashion-starved gal. If you find them tedious, you can unsubscribe.

2. This is also for two nights in New York, at a hotel to be selected by the sponsor, Famous Footwear. I have always wondered what percentage of shoe sales in New York are due to women visiting with the wrong shoes, like I always tend to do, and having to buy a new pair. Ah! The wrong shoes and blisters! To enter, click HERE. The sweeps runs through October 27. You can enter daily. Watch out. To enter, if you have play this Spin the Shoe game that could bring on a seizure if you stay at it too long.

i will post anon

seven nights in the turks and caicos

I am pining for this one in ways that may not be entirely healthy: seven nights at one of two resorts: The Regent Palms or The Turkoise Club Med. I would choose The Regent Palms, hands down. (I know, a shameless pun.) It looks gorgeously gorgeous, and gets rave reviews on TripAdvisor. I may be disqualifying myself here, but I could, wallet willing, see myself going to The Regent Palms this winter even if I didn’t win this one. Which of course I probably won’t. But as I've said countless times before, a girl can always dream.

To enter, click HERE. This is a one-time entry. The deadline to enter is October 31. Note: When you enter, you are also signing up for emails about the Turks and Caicos. You can always unsubscribe if you do not find them useful.

inn-to-inn machu picchu

I have not had a confluence-of-coincidences post like this in ages. On Thursday, Ise and I were running errands, and I was at a red light and I noticed a Ralph Lauren store on Wisconsin Avenue and I wondered if it sold his linens. I love his sheets, I have a set that makes me feel like I am sleeping in a wondrous oversize Oxford shirt, the arms of Morpheus and all that. Now, the poll results. When I included “Adventure” as a category, I didn’t think it would be the winner. I don’t think there are that many adventure sweeps out there, though I have entered several that have suited my fancy, including a dive trip in Tahiti and a marathon in Kenya. Even though I don’t dive or run.

This trip is a bit of an adventure trip, if only for the hiking: 10 nights in Machu Picchu. Ralph Lauren is the sponsor. Mountain Sobek put together the package. The itinerary looks swell.

Separately, today is the 125th anniversary of Labor Day. See below.

I’m off, to whistle while I do not work.

To enter, click HERE.
The sweeps closes December 31. One entry per person. (Yeah.)

FURTHER READING
· Labor Day (U.S.) [Wikipedia]
· Machu Picchu, Without Roughing It [The New York Times]

smoking observations

I am no advocate of smoking. I have witnessed two friends, both smokers, die from lung cancer. I also believe secondary smoke contributes to lung cancer. Dana Reeves, Christopher Reeves' widow, was not a smoker, but she did work as a singer in clubs where there was smoking, probably lots of it. Perhaps that is why she got lung cancer, though non-smoker females are more susceptible than non-smoker males.

I waitressed during my college years (and the some) in a smoke-filled French cafe that stayed open until two on the weekends. I fear I am vulnerable. At the same time, I wonder why so few smokers get lung cancer. The statistics hover at this threshold where we know the majority of lung cancer patients are smokers, but only a minority of smokers develop lung cancer. I wonder about that every time I see some chain-smoking 80-something. This photo is a amusing. But it reminded me that the statistical threshold practically feels contrived by cigarette manufacturers. If more smokers got lung cancer, more people would witness the ravages of this insidious and rarely survivable form of cancer, and more people would quit, or, if they're younger, not start at all. Not that I would want that to take what it took to get people to stop.

FURTHER READING | 8.27.07
· 100-Year-Old Celebrates Her Birthday by Smoking 170,000th Cigarette [The Daily Mail]

four nights at costa spa and resort

Here’s one that does not include air. I like the open-endedness of these transportation-fee trip-prizes. This one is outside San Diego, so I’d explore that city by the haughty Pacific. Anne Cole, maker of swell bathing suits, is a co-sponsor. I’ve worn a few in my day. La Costa was one of the original destination spas.

To enter, click HERE. The sweeps ends September 1.

Here are details from the Official Rules:

1 Grand Prize: four nights in a luxurious La Costa Suite, daily breakfast for two at Legends restaurant, one dinner for two at the chic BlueFire Grill, and two 50-minute spa treatments per person. —Not valid over major holidays and subject to availability. All other expenses, including, but not limited to, airfare, sales taxes, gratuities, meals (excluding identified (or noted) meals during hotel stay), ground transportation, and all incidental expenses, are the winner's sole responsibility.

three nights in new york, new york at the mandarin oriental

So nice they named it twice.
Ah, a Central Park view!
Rules not clear. The prize is though.
Three nights in the Mandarin Oriental New York.
To enter, click HERE.

two nights in london with a soccer twist

Someone I know has repeatedly accused me of being a worrier. Who, me? What I want to know is what is the difference between being a worrier and being a planner. Since I cannot bring myself to select le verbe juste, am I worrying (bad!), or am I planning (good!)? I will allow that I have concerns that if I won this one, a trip to London for two nights and a day at the David Beckham Academy in London and a welcome greeting from David himself, the sponsors might not accommodate our soccer schedule. Like David doesn’t have one.

You tell me: Is that worrying, or is that planning?

Here’s the Grand Prize, from the Official Rules.

4. Prizes, Odds and Approximate Retail Value (ARV): (4) Grand Prizes:
A Trip for two (2) to London, England for 3 days and 2 nights which consists of: (i) round-trip coach air transportation for two (2) (the Prize Winner and one travel companion) to London, England from a major gateway airport near the Prize Winner’s residence; (ii) two (2) nights standard hotel accommodations (one room/double occupancy) in London; (iii) select meals and transportation costs while in London, England; (iv) a day at the David Beckham Academy in London, England; (v) an Adidas Soccer Kit; and (vi) a welcome greeting from David Beckham. Four (4) Grand Prizes are available. Approximate Retail Value ("ARV") of each Grand Prize is $5,100.00. Actual value will depend on point of departure and any airfare fluctuations. Grand Prize Winners and their guests must travel on same itinerary. Travel must be completed on the dates designated by the Sponsor tentatively scheduled on or about December 15, 2007.

To enter, click HERE. One entry. (Thank goodness.) The sweeps closes September 30.

three nights in l.a. on mr. bean's holiday

If there’s a sweeps zeitgeist, I’m thinking it might be trending lowbrow. Trips to NASCAR events and American Idol tapings seem to be popping up more and more and frankly, even though I only enter sweeps I truly want to win, they just do not do it for me. French movies, well, that’s more my cup of tea. Here’s one promoting Mr. Bean’s Holiday. It’s about a man who wins a trip, I believe to Cannes. Per the trailer, he seems to have all sorts of misadventures en route.

ONE (1) GRAND PRIZE: Universal Studios Hollywood Trip. Trip package includes roundtrip coach-class air transportation for four (4) from a major airport near winner’s home (determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion) to Los Angeles, CA; four (4) days and three (3) nights accommodations at a hotel determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion (one (1) single room, quadruple occupancy); ground transportation to and from airport and hotel; and two (2) days admission for four (4) to Universal Studios HollywoodSM.

To enter, click HERE. You can enter daily through September 3.

four nights at canyon ranch

Which one, you ask? I don’t know. This is an unusual sweeps in that the sponsor selects the resort for the winner. For folks who don’t know Canyon Ranch, there are two: the original one in Tucson and the newer and presumably equally uplifting spread in Lenox, Massachusetts. I’m on the East Coast, which means I’d almost certainly go to the one in Lenox. Not too sound like a total crabapple this afternoon, but were I to win, I’d like a choice. Of course, if winners can’t be choosers, I’d get off my high horse mighty fast and accept either prize-stay without a fuss.

To enter, click HERE. You’ll need an entry code, either from the bar code of your Silk soy milk carton (it's the product sponsor) or straight off the website. You have to scroll down a bit. This is a daily entry sweeps. It closes September 30.

mom and pop capital of the u.s. of a.

Sometimes I think my hometown of Norwalk, Connecticut, is the country’s mom-and-pop capital. It’s definitely a contender for the claim. Here’s a store we discovered the other day, after we looked at a senior community for my mother, Soccer With Aldwin. We rounded the bend and there smack in front of us was this rococo-soccer storefront. The Boy was hot and grouchy and didn’t want to stop.

I lured him back this afternoon and we had a blast. I bought soccer tchatchkes for the team and a jersey for Isaac and, um, a soccer shot glass for me. That’s right, in addition to soccer lamps and soccer posters and soccer rugs and soccer coffee mugs and soccer key chains and soccer bumper stickers, along with serious soccer gear, like cleats and shin guards and balls, there are soccer shot glasses. Bottoms up.

When we were done, we stepped out on the front porch to find that it had started raining. “Oh, I wanted to kick around the ball in the front yard,” he said, disappointed. Then he looked back at the store and declared, “I love this sport. Can we come back tomorrow?”

Before the soccer store, we went to Heroes Comics and Cards, this fascinating, straightforward store primarily devoted to comics but with a little collectible card action thrown in for good measure.

Tomorrow, The Boy is going to get a haircut at an Italian barber’s whose shop is on a block that includes an independent game store, a lock shop, and several other examples of endangered merchants.

I have no sweeps today.

one week for four in an italian villa

You’ll need a product code from a Barilla pasta product to enter this sweeps. That’s fine by me. I’ve been buying this brand for ages. I’ll be entering this sweeps, for a week at an Italian villa, after my next trip to the supermarket. In the meantime, facciamo la bella figura.

The is a daily. (Sigh.) Barilla will provide winner a selection of villas. Rather sporting of them.

To enter, click HERE. This sweeps runs through November 15.

five nights at ojai valley inn & spa

This one is most definitely from the I Could Use This One department. Five nights at the Ojai Valley Inn and Spa. Swoon. To enter, click HERE. One entry per person, per the OFFICIAL RULES. The sweeps closes December 31.

In other news, Isaac made the news. Reuters Video, to be precise. Coverage of the D.C. United versus L.A Galaxy game. Here's the clip, courtesy of his rec coach. He’s walking into the game with his best friend. Isaac’s got the sign. What an amazing evening. Whatever anyone says about Becks, he has amazing thing going on with the ball.

descend it like beckham

The "it" is R.F.K. Stadium, whence we head in several hours for D.C. United's game against L.A. Galaxy. The Boy and I are most excited! It's a sold-out game. Even if Becks doesn't hit the pitch, this will be terrific. Especially if D.C. United wins!

I'm too busy to try to win a trip this afternoon. I will post anon!

six nights in roma

This sweeps is a promotion for The Naked Archeologist, some show on The History Channel. Why on earth does The History Channel always have to sex things up? Last Christmas I bought The Boy a History Channel DVD about Ben Franklin, and minutes into it, the narrator was describing Ben Franklin's libido. And he used that word. I mean really!

This trip includes several walking tours and a wine tasting. I am too hot to elaborate. Not that kind of hot. I mean heat-wave hot. Though if The History Channel had its way with me, it would be that kind of hot.

To enter, click HERE. The sweeps closes August 31, per the OFFICIAL RULES.

four nights in huatalco, oaxaca, mexico

This most likely will be my last post until next Tuesday. I am leaving for my graduation as soon as I pack. To kick off my celebration, I just entered a sweeps for four nights in Huatulco, Oaxaca. The sponsor is Continental Airlines.

To enter, click HERE. To learn more, here are the OFFICIAL RULES.

I’ll see you on the other side.

one of four sensational destinations

The deaths of two cinema giants this week, Bergman, the Swede, and Antonioni, the Italian, reminded me that I was in France, on a road trip, when another cinema legend passed away. I don’t remember exactly where we were on our Paris – Blois - Ile de Re – Cognac – Biarritz – San Sebastian (yes, we dipped into Spain) – Pamplona – Pau – Limoges path. Somewhere we got word that Fellini had died, and as we drove through the countryside, they played Nino Rota on the radio for hours. This is the music that scores so many of Fellini’s films.

The memory got me hankering for a road trip. I’ve actually entered a few road trip sweeps. I didn’t find one today.

I did find this one, for a trip to either France, Thailand, Botswana or Ireland. An interesting assortment from which to choose. For me, it would be between Thailand and Botswana.

To enter, click HERE. I’ll add details later.

tea estate and safari in kenya

The Boy returned from the D.R. last evening. He'd spent a week there, at Club Med Punta Cana, with his Daddy-O. He was filled tales of snorkeling sightings, and soccer showdowns, and tennis matches, doubles no less. They went to Santo Domingo for a day. “Dad always weasels in a Spanish-speaking city,” The Boy observed. They’ve been to Ecuador and Mexico. The Boy and I have been to Costa Rica and Oaxaca. You see, the Boy prefers a Spanish-speaking beach or a Spanish-speaking rainforest to a Spanish-speaking city.

The Boy gave Club Med Punta Cana 4.5 stars out of five. He took off a half point because of all the topless bathers. He claims they were everywhere.

As for all inclusive resorts, I prefer something a little more cerebral, with a naturalist on staff, that kind of thing.

Now that I’m through with graduate school, we are talking about where we want to go next. At long last.

Here’s an interesting sweeps, a trip to Kenya, to visit the Lipton Tea Estates in Kericho. And go on a safari.

To enter, click HERE. It’s a daily. It closes September 7.

two nights in miami

Okay, I woke up this morning revived and ready to roll. Here’s a sweeps for two nights at the Mayfair Hotel and Spa in Miami, with spa treatments.

To enter, click HERE. The sweeps closes August 19.

thank you for your vote!

Okay, thanks for your vote. Keep them coming!

I am insanely busy finishing up MFA loose ends, and may not post about sweeps again until next week.

I have a dilemma. My new neighbors seem sweet. As I wrote earlier this year, I was concerned that the people who would be replacing my neighbor of, let's see, maybe seven years, would be loud rockers who blasted their audiophile-quality stereo equipment all the live long day. We share several critical walls. The kitchen. And my gallery entranceway, which is where I've set up shop.

Well, if only it were it's only rock-and-roll and I like it, I like it, buh buh buh buh. They fight. And I think he hits her. I hear, "Stop! You're hurting me!" She shrieks these words. The first time, I thought she was kidding. Like that scene in one of Spike Lee's movies, maybe Jungle Fever, where people are whooping it up in the street and people don't know if it's an attempted assault or horsing around. But then, several days later, I heard it again. And several days later, again. And again. I heard it again this weekend, and then again this evening. And I do not know what to do.

I was thinking of notifying the front desk of my building, but they are kind of loose-lipped, and I am afraid the guy will harass me. Fortunately, I know people who know people who work with battered women, so I'm going to research this.

my first youtube clip

I can't believe what I Luddite I've been as far as taking all this to the next level, bells-and-whistle-wise. Enjoy. I did.

A little later ... I can't post the dang thing.

P.S. Here's the LINK. Back story: I'm a soccer mama, and the only sweeps prize I've won so far is a scarf with soccer players on it, along with a key chain, from a sweeps to the World Cup. Funny! At least to me! We see Beckham here in D.C. on August 9. I love Drew Carey, and think it's a total hoot that The Price Is Right has catapulted to pop-icon stature. I used to watch it with my grandmother, who provided nonstop commentary about the contestants.

speak of the devil: muggles trip to london

This is supposed to be for people who attended the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows book release events at bookstores around the U.S. Well, I had a prior commitment but am fortunately, thanks to the inclusive nature of U.S. sweeps, eligible to enter. Shortly I will mail in a postcard for this three-night trip for four -- yes, four! -- to London.

I will handprint my name, address, zip, phone number, and age, and send it off to:

"The Independent Muggles for Harry Potter" Sweepstakes
PMI Station
PO Box 3543
Southbury, CT 06488-3543

Do NOT dillydally. This should be postmarked tomorrow!

is there a sweeps to london in the offing?

I believe this is the absolute best review of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, period. It's brilliant. It manages to dissect and contextualize the series, analyze and assess the final book, and impart the writer's rich if reluctant reading experience. Quite a triumph, to pack all that into one review. I choked up at the end. And I am hardly a Harry Potter fan!

Here's a sweeps, not to London, but to the Lake District. It's from the VisitBritain folks, who are trying to entice us to visit places in the U.K. where movies have been filmed. To enter, click HERE.

my heart's devotion: puerto rico for six nights

I haven't been riffing on life here lately because I have been too busy living it. I am still finishing up MFA loose ends, such as sending my thesis to the binder. Meeting the specifications has been excruciating. It has literally taken me 30 hours, if I include the hour to find the right paper (acid free! snow white! Which begs the quip: I used to be Snow White, but I drifted!) and the three hours it took me how set up the margins and the two hours it took me to figure out why I couldn't get those margins to work for the title page, even after I cut and pasted said title page into WordPad. I am also doing a distance internship, reading manuscripts and proposals for a literary agent. Absolutely amazing and inspiring projects.

In less than three weeks, I will be done. Actually, by next week I will be done, at least with all this overhang. Graduation is on August 5. Our commencement speaker is Gay Talese. He's one of my heroes, for many reasons, including that "Frank Sinatra has a cold" profile, but also because he told an editor who told him something he'd written on deadline wasn't any good, "Screw you." Only he used the "F" word. And he refused to write on deadline again. Which is ironic in this context because what if anything is an MFA but an exorbitantly priced deadline? *

Today's sweeps: Six nights at the San Juan Marriott Resort and Stellaris Casino.

To enter, click HERE. Me thinks this closes on August 15.

* If any of my editors read this, please know that I love writing on deadline for you, you, always you!

costa rica: four nights in spanking new resort

This one involves a leap of faith: It’s for four nights at a resort that won’t open until spring 2008. Kiana Resorts is in Playa Dominica, on the southern Pacific coast. It looks promising. Here are details from the Official Rules:

One lucky winner and a guest will receive a four-night stay for two in a private villa with unpacking and packing service, daily tropical fruit, a bottle of Champagne on arrival, a relaxation massage, dinner for two and admission to the rain forest experience tour and the Nauyaca Waterfalls Private Horseback Riding experience, valued at $3,000.

To enter, click HERE. This sweeps closes at noon on August 15.

down on the boardwalk: atlantic city getaway

I am posting this offsite at a university library while I work on my fabulous internship for my MFA. What would be fun about winning this sweeps, three nights at Harrah's plus gift certificates, is that my maternal grandmother sold salt-water taffy on the boardwalk to help pay for normal (teaching) school. Ah, family history.

To enter, click HERE. Daily entry. Deadline is July 30.

five nights in hong kong on united airlines

Too crazed to add more!

To enter, click HERE.

week at bitter end yacht club in virgin gorda

One thing I love about sweepstaking is discovering supercalifragilistic-expialidociously terrific properties. Check out this island delight: Bitter End Yacht Club in Virgin Gorda. Sweet. The winner of this sweeps gets a week’s stay there. Here are details from the sponsor, National Geographic Adventure Magazine:

The Prize
One reader and a guest will have the chance escape to the Bitter End Yacht Club on Virgin Gorda. The winners will enjoy the Admiral's Package—a stay for two in a beachfront villa, three meals daily, snorkeling and island excursions, access to private beaches, hiking trails, and more.

To enter, click HERE. The sweeps closes August 15.

it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood

what big, what big, what big MEDALS you have

I saw this over on TMZ.com. I have no idea if I am entitled to post it, but if the blogsphere has done one thing, it's blown the notion of intellectual property to smithereens. Now I must go find a sweeps to the jolly good U.K.!

let them eat cake: four nights, city of lights

This one is from Oxygen, and Mo'Nique, that life force, is attached to it. They're calling it the "Let Them Eat Cake Sweepstakes." Alright. The prize is four nights in deluxe accommodations, a makeover, private cooking lessons, dinner cruise on the Seine. It's worth $10,000 so I am assuming it's top of the line.

To enter, click HERE. The sweeps closes August 6.

Notes: 1.) The only entry was not functioning properly yesterday when I tried to enter but was back up and running this morning. 2.) The winner must travel in October 2007. I don't know why, but that's the way it goes.

four score and seven years ago

We were thinking about going to Gettysburg later this week. Well, think again. I just read that the Pennsylvania government is in partial shutdown. AH!

seven wonders: one down, six to go

This just in, hot off the presses:
- The Great Wall of China
- Petra in Jordan
- Brazil's statue of Christ the Redeemer
- Peru's Machu Picchu
- Mexico's Chichen Itza pyramid
- The Colosseum in Rome
- India's Taj Mahal
I've been to China and Mexico, but not to the Wall, or the Beijing area for that matter, and not to the Yucatan. The only one of these wonders I've seen is The Colosseum in Rome. I do think it odd that the Acropolis lost out to Brazil's statue of Christ the Redeemer.

it's oh-seven oh-seven oh-seven!

It's midnight 07.07.07.
I'm going to enter a sweeps pronto.
I probably won't write about it until the morning.

Later that same day … It turns out that I am not eligible for the sweeps I entered just after midnight last evening, for 10 days in Costa Rica. Even though I’ve already been twice, I could easily go again. I was foiled again by not reading the Official Rules. This one is for people 50 and over; I have not yet hit that milestone. If you’re eligible, and so inclined, click HERE.

I’m playing this 07-07-07 thing to the hilt. The number seven is a constant in my life. My first name has seven letters in. My childhood address was 27 Marlborough Road. My father’s childhood home was 17 Lincoln Avenue. My current address is 1673 Columbia Road. My home telephone number has two 7’s in it. My cell has one 7 in it. Isaac’s last name has seven letters in it. His soccer jersey number, 21, is, drum roll for the math whiz that I am, a multiple of 7.

To mark this date, I entered seven sweeps. That’s a one-day record for this sweepstress. It will be a cold day in hell before I embark on a sweeps sweep like this again!

Here they are, in the order that I entered them. All but the last are for trips abroad.

1) CITY HOPPING IN FRANCE
This sweeps is from Maison de la France, the French Tourism folks, who, as fastidious as the French can be, are not adept at keeping their Official Rules up to date. I even put a call into them earlier this year, to confirm that a sweeps linked to last year’s Official Rules was legit. And it was. So I trust that this one is, too. Here, you select the three cities you want to visit. I chose Paris, Lyon and Marseille. Ooh la la.

To enter, click HERE.

2.) SEVEN NIGHTS IN BONAIRE
A hitch or two: Judging by its website, the Great Escape Hotel is not a deluxe property. Air Jamaice provides round-trip airfare for two from the following gateways: Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Ft. Lauderdale, New York, Philadelphia & Los Angeles. (I’m cool. I’d fly out of Baltimore.)

To enter, click HERE.

3.) AMBERCROMBIE & KENT CRUISE PACKAGE TO ANTARCTICA
This is for a cruise on the Explore II, an award winning deluxe vessel, dates of travel December 9 – 20, 2008. To enter, click HERE. The deadline is December 15.

Observation: This is a Climate Change Challenge Sweepstakes. At the same time Ambercrombie & Kent pledges its commitment to preserving the environment, the outfitter engages in marketing scare tactics. Your Children and Grandchildren Will See a Different World. Snow could be gone from Africa's highest peak by 2020. Rising ocean temperatures are killing coral reefs. Sobering stuff. Do we stay or do we go?

P.S. I entered this as a countess. The entry form for this sweeps has 24 titles from which to chose! Mr., Mrs., Lady, Sir. Very proper. But notably, no Admiral.

4.) FIVE NIGHTS AT MAROMA ON THE MAYA RIVIERA
Spa Magazine is behind this dandy: Five nights at Maroma Resort and Spa in the Maya Riviera. I recently discovered this gem. Here’s what the package includes: Five nights accommodations in a luxurious Premium category room; private consultation with spa consultants who create a customized course of treatment; $1,200 credit for the Kinan Spa; daily private yoga or pilates sessions; Kinan Spa caftan; two healthful lunches at Cilantro; sccess to women's and men's spa lounge, sauna and steam room; daily breakfast at Cilantro; one snorkeling trip per person.

To enter, click HERE.

5.) WEEKEND GETAWAY TO ICELAND
This is for 10. For two nights at the Hotel Nordica. The weekend of October 18 – 21. In conjunction with the Iceland Airwaves Festival. If you win, you have to come up with nine friends or you forfeit the trip.

To enter, click HERE.

6.) THREE NIGHTS AT MANOR GRAVETYE OUTSIDE LONDON
This is for a weekend getaway to London on a new airline, Zoom, which will fly New York to London. Lodgings are at the Gravetye Manor outside London. Great fun as I am reading All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriott. So I’ve had the England on my mind.

To enter, click HERE. The sweeps closes August 31.

7.) THREE NIGHTS FOR FOUR IN SAVANNAH
Funnily, I was gushing about Savannah to friends last evening. I liked it so much, I missed my flight! The accommodations for this one, at The Mansion on Forsyth Park, look divine.

To enter, click HERE.

study in contrasts: six nights in the bahamas

I only seem to get pedicures when I travel. My first professional pedicure was in Austin, my second and last in Scottsdale. I am not keeping up with the times! Well, this prize comes with a pedicure! Dinners and snorkeling, too. Now, were I to win this trip, I would get both a manicure and a pedicure. Why? Well, why not? The sponsor is Essie, the maker of some swell looking nail polish.

This one is a study in contracts. Half of the trip is at the Atlantis, that over-the-top resort, and, from the other end of the resort spectrum, Kamalame.

To enter, click HERE. The sweeps runs through August 31.

spa-di-da: three nights at canyon ranch tucson

I spent so much time at the computer yesterday that by evening’s end I wondered if I might start developing symptoms of Deep Vein Thrombosis. Fortunately I woke up symptom-free.

As you can see, I added an image to the masthead, a water color of Yelapa, the fishing village on the Bay of Banderas south of Puerto Vallerta. I don’t know who painted this vibrant seascape. I’d very much like to contact the painter. I am thinking this is a woman painter, there’s a female sensibility at work here.

This morning I entered a sweeps for a three-night stay at Canyon Ranch Spa in Tucson. It’s a once daily. I must have played it before because I only needed to provide my name and email, a sign that I’d previously registered. It runs through November 30. This spa, and the Red Mountain Spa, are big on participating on sweeps. It must be the tax write-off, since they already get so much ink and are so well-known.

To enter, click HERE.

every day's not the fourth of july

I was in the mood for a domestic sweeps when I woke up this morning, something to celebrate the holiday. I found one that seemed like a perfect fit, a chance to win a five-night trip to one of five of the greatest cities in the U.S. of A.: New York, Miami, Chicago, Los Angeles or San Francisco, plus $4,000 in shop-til-you-drop spending money. Only the point-of-entry website seemed a little unsophisticated, and the name of the sponsor, La Redoute, did not immediately ring a bell. Also, I saw the very same sweeps under a number of other sponsors’ names. Could this be a red flag?

Investigative sweepstress that I am, I went to the Official Rules and saw that the umbrella sponsor was Redcats, which, according to its website, is a new brand for a company that has a long history, with French origins to boot.

So I entered. To do the same, click HERE. And I will enter again tomorrow, July 5, the day the sweeps closes. Though my chances of winning are slim to none. This sweeps is a daily that has been underway since May 11. Zut alors.

I also entered a sweeps to win two Amtrak tickets, on the Acela. To enter, click HERE. This one closes tomorrow, too. To be eligible, you’ll have to answer five Philadelphia-Independence-Day themed questions. Apparently you have to get all five correct, which means Philadelphia-area Amtrak cognescenti are going to have the edge. It also means I did not make the grade!

I correctly guessed two of three answers I did not know:

When was 30th street first opened in Philadelphia? I guessed 1933. Correct answer!

What material is the Liberty Bell made of? I guessed copper. Correct again! (FYI: A metallurgical analysis of the Liberty Bell shows the composition to be approximately 70% copper, 25% tin, 2% lead, 1% zinc, .25% arsenic and .20% silver with trace amounts of gold, magnesium, nickel and antimony.)

Alas, I blew this one: Amtrak currently owns 30th street Station. I guessed False. But it’s true! But who cares! Compared to the four other questions, it’s a bit self-serving and mercantile, wouldn’t you say?

I knew the answers to these two questions.

During part of the 18th century, Philadelphia was the first capital and most populous city of the United States. True!

What historic document was adopted on July 4, 1776, which declared that the Thirteen Colonies were independent of the Kingdom of Great Britain. That would be the Declaration of Independence!

Have a happy and safe Fourth!

if it's tuesday, it must be amsterdam

I haven’t been pining for Europe these days. Africa and Asia are more on my mind. Latin America, too. That said, I could instantly get continental if I were to win this sweeps, a trip for two to London, Paris, Amsterdam and Venice. It’s sponsored by Office Depot of all things. Office supplies don’t usually evoke trips abroad, but this broad is buying this construct. And there’s no purchase required.

My formative trip, the first trip that left me seeing travel as travel as opposed to some are-we-there-yet road trip to visit family or friends, was to Europe. My French teacher took a group of students to Europe every summer. She told our class about it, asked if any of us wanted to go. I went home and asked my parents. And they said yes.

I remember being shocked by the canals in Venice. The water was dirty. There were dead cats everywhere. I didn’t see any the second and last time I went back. Maybe they do a better job in that regard?

To enter, click HERE. This is a daily sweeps. It closes July 28.

P.S. Some days I just want to strangle Blogger. I first attempted to post this shortly after 9 A.M. Blogger would not take it. Argh Blogger!

ten days in south africa

The music for this one makes me want to pack my bags, grab my passport and hail a cab to the airport right now. Man, I've got wanderlust so bad. But I remain here at the ranch, whistling while I work.

To enter, click HERE. The sweeps runs through July 31.

Odds are long for this sweeps. It's open to residents of the U.S., the U.K. and Australia.

canonical is the new iconic

Word predictions are fun. Creating words is fun, too. I suppose that makes me a wordy. I appreciate the play of words, the sound of words, the arrangement of words, the roots of words, the usage of words, the flow of words, the fashion of words, the glory of words, the inadequacy of words, the visuals of words, the synchronicity of words, the execution of words, in both senses of the word.

I cringe when someone says, "They're just words." What can that mean? What do we have besides words?

Today’s sweeps is bittersweet. Not the prize, a swell prize, three nights at the Hyatt Regency Scottsdale Resort and Spa at Gainey Ranch in Scottsdale. But the sponsor. Liz Claiborne, who passed away this week at the age of 78. She retreated from fashion years ago. Her brand lives on. Is there a word for that? To enter, click HERE. The sweeps closes July 4.

three days in oaxaca

When I read that Paris Hilton wanted Taco Bell upon her release from prison earlier this week, I thought it was a joke. Taco Bell? Apparently it’s not. She should try Chipotle. It’s my absolutely favorite fast-food food. For exquisite Mexican fare, go to Oaxaca. I’ve been to Oaxaca. I’m trying to go again to Oaxaca. Yesterday I entered a sweeps for a three-day trip there. It closes mañana, June 29. To enter, click HERE.

we're having a heat wave

A tropical heat wave. And that makes me want to have an ice cold beer. Fittingly, I entered a sweeps today with a beer sponsor, Carlsberg, that Danish brew. The prize is a trip to watch a European soccer match of your choice. Even though the trip is also sponsored by Irish Emigrant, you don't have to be Irish to enter. If you were, I'd qualify. I'm half Irish. As for which team we'd pick, that would be a tough one. To enter, click HERE. The sweeps runs through August 31. You have to write what your favorite soccer moment was. Void in California and Puerto Rico. Now I am going out to get a beer.

boycott this: a mighty heartless travel contest

This is undoubtedly the most tactless travel contest I have seen since I started entering travel contests and sw