Oh em gee, another contest!

Happy Sunday, folks!

I know I've been beating you over the head with my support of the Mario Marathon, but I'm going to continue to do this today (you'll get a break soon, don't worry *wink*).

For the remainder of the day, every donation to the Mario Marathon through my blog gets you an entry to win a set of six Mario themed pot holders, handmade by my friend @missindyjones!  Not only that, but if you donate a minimum $5 you'll also get entered to win a Wii U in the grand prize drawing from the folks at Mario Marathon!

Five dollars for a chance to win six handmade potholder AND a WiiU?? That's a pretty fantastic deal, if you ask me!

Send a screen grab of your donation (should look something like the pic below) to runningwithdithers@outlook.com and you'll be entered to win!

 
Good luck everyone! 

Contest Time!

Hello friends!

So I'm going to be running at least one or two contests over the next few days to promote the Mario Marathon.

The first contest is Perler Portrait!

Every $10 donated via my blog (using the donate button to the right) before June 21, 2013, 9:00 PM (PST) gets you one entry to win a custom made Perler portrait. Email a screen grab of your donation to runningwithdithers@outlook.com and you'll be added to the draw.

The winner will be announced on this blog and will need to email their photo so that I can pixelate it and turn it into Perler awesomeness.  It will take a couple of weeks to make it (need to make sure I have the right amount of the right coloured beads), but I'll get it out to you ASAP.

So start donating, and look as awesome as Mr. Jackson up there!

Road Trip Travel Tips

 My family and I love traveling and between us have driven across most of Canada and America.  It's been a long time since I've posted anything (sorry!  It's been a hectic 5 months or so) but my partner has been amazing enough to write something for me.  He's basically a young Rick Steves when it comes to traveling, so pay attention.

These days advice about how to have a good roadtrip seems to revolve around what apps you have on your phone, I would like to provide something a bit more substantial to those of you planning to hit the road...

In-car Entertainment: Don't rely on a cell phone app that may require data coverage or drain your battery, bring a broad selection of mp3s and give everyone unlimited vetos - peace and enjoyment restored reliably. Bring a video game for the kid but just one game so it can be used as needed but not be a focus for the entire trip.

Shotgun Responsibilities: The person riding shotgun should operate and interpret the GPS and provide snacks to the driver upon request, also helping out with changing music and finding sunglasses and whatnot - this makes for a safer, happier drive.

Don't Fear The Stop: Don't hate on the guy who needs a bathroom break, this is a chance to dump garbage, refuel, clean the windows, stretch your legs, resupply, etc. It's an opportunity for all or a frustration for most depending on how you look at it.

Be Flexible: Unexpected stops, missed exits, and things spotted along the way can lead to great discoveries and experiences - keep your itinerary flexible and don't fall in love with an idea to the exclusion of others.

Be Prepared: Don't plan every meal but bring information on major restaurants near every hotel stay. Provide everyone options and give everyone a chance to express their opinion. Superior information makes for a superior experience.

If you want more posts like this, or more posts "ghost written" by my partner, please comment on this post and I will accommodate as best as I can.

Over the next week or so I will have some more content on here as the Mario Marathon is starting again on June 21st. My donation widget is on the right; it would be awesome if you could donate.  Those of you who know me and my blog know that I'm a huge supporter of Mario Marathon and Child's Play Charity.  Those of you who aren't familiar with me and my blog, there are a number of posts explaining what both are all about and why I go on and on about them.  The labels associated with this post will direct you to those posts. 

See you all soon!

And the winner is...

MALFUNCT!

Congratulations, Malfunct!  Please DM me your shoe size and any specific things you'd like to see on your shoes and I will get started as soon as I pick up some shoes.  Thanks for supporting my blog and more importantly the Mario Marathon and Child's Play Charity!

New deadline

Okay, y'all!  I really want to get as many donations through my blog as possible so that more money goes to the Mario Marathon for Child's Play Charity.

I have extended the deadline from 4:30 PM PST June 24, 2012 to 6:00 PM PST June 25, 2012. 

Every $5 donation through my blog gets you an entry into winning a pair of custom made Mario shoes.  So if you -or someone you know- really want a pair of custom made Mario themed shoes (what's your shoe size? Are there specific characters you want on there?  Levels you like the best?  Let me know and I will accommodate you as best I can!) but don't want to shell out upwards of $230USD for them, then donate through my blog and you may be able to get your very own pair.

Good luck to all those who enter!

Hurry!

If you want to win some custom made Mario shoes, please click on the donate button that you see on the side of this post.  Five dollars gets you one entry, and the contest closes at 4:30PM PST June 24th, 2012.  

Hurry!  Mario and Luigi need to be on your feet and the children need books and games and toys while they're in the hospital.  

Contest Time!

The other day, I made a pair of pretty kick butt Mario shoes for my fiance, because he's pretty kick butt himself.  Also, the Mario Marathon was starting pretty soon, and he's a bit of a super fan.

Making those shoes has inspired me to see if I can further encourage my readers to donate to the Mario Marathon.   Beside this post, you'll see a donation widget.  For every $5 you donate to the Mario Marathon through my blog, between now and 4:30PM PST on June 24th, 2012, will be entered into a draw to win a pair of custom made Mario shoes made by me (with a little help from a friend).
The winner will be announced on Sunday and will be contacted - so it's important to leave an email address or twitter handle so that I can contact you - that day so that I can get your shoe size and mailing address.  Because they are handmade, they will take a bit of time to make, but I will try to get them out to you as soon a possible.

Below are some pictures of the shoes I made my fiance, just to give you an idea as to what you will be getting.  And remember, for every $5 donation you get an entry.  So the more you donate, the more entries you get.  All the money goes to Child's Play Charity.

So go donate!

Do it for the kids!

Do it for the shoes!

Parenting in a Social Media Age

This article is long overdue!

Last summer, I said that I would write a blog post of whatever topic (provided it didn't promote hate in any way) to whoever would make the highest bid to the Mario Marathon through my blog within a certain time frame.  Someone I got to know through the marathon and Twitter won the bid, but I have been exceedingly and embarrassingly negligent in my payout.  My apologies!

The topic requested is, as the post title says, about parenting in a social media age.  There are plenty of ways to approach this topic and as a parent I do have a vested interest in topics such as these, especially as my kid gets older and as parents, my partner and I have to start thinking about how we are going to approach our kid's introduction/involvement in social media.

People have plenty of opinions on when they will allow their child/ren on the internet, whether or not they will supervise their internet usage, if they should get NetNanny or something to that degree, or what have you.  I'm not going to go into that tonight.  I don't know that there's one right or wrong way to handle that whole can of worms; I'm pretty positive there isn't.  Every child is different, I figure the way a parent should approach the topic of internet usage ought to depend on the child themselves.

What I am going to talk about it using social media as a parenting tool.  Just a quick qualifier, since I really only use Facebook and Twitter as social media tools, I'm really only going to speak to those two specific social media devices.  I know there's Google+, Reddit, Tumblr, StumbleUpon, et al - but I don't use them, so I can't speak to them with any great "authority".  So when I say social media, it's shorthand for Facebook and Twitter, mkay?

We've all heard the saying that is takes a village to raise a child, and I really think that social media has made that more true now than it has in a really long time leading up to this.  It has enabled parents to build a larger network of parents who we feel comfortable enough to lean on for advice, for a sounding board, or for someone we can commiserate with.  From the excitement of announcing that you're going to have/adopt a child and going through the journey of waiting for your new family member to come home, to welcoming the child home, to praying for the day they leave, you have more than just your parents, siblings who are also parents, and Mommy-and-Me friends to lean on.

Not only is your network larger (potentially), but you wind up (potentially) getting a broader range of parenting methods that you wind up being exposed to that you may not have been introduced to before social media blew into town.  How many parents these days go to Facebook when their kid has some weird sounding cough, or is having issues with potty training before they go to WebMD or a clinic?  I know I have on many occasions (perhaps to the chagrin of my partner on more than one occasion), and I know I will do so in the future.

Like with any form of advice, expert or otherwise, you definitely need to take it with a grain of salt.  Understand that what works for your evangelical Christian, public schooling, 3 child friend is likely to be vastly different than what works for your Sikh, Khalsa schooling, 2 child friend and either may or may not work for you, you single child, pantheistic, home schooling, crunchy parent, you.  The trick is to use the suggestions given to you by your friends/colleagues/family members as more of an aid to bolster your own ideas on how to deal with your kid yanking on the cat's tail (Pro Tip: Don't do what these parents did).  Don't take the advice given as gospel.  Even the good advice.  Especially the advice that calls itself gospel.

The thing I enjoy the most about asking for/giving parenting advice on social media is that it really helps me to feel like I'm not alone; I suspect I'm not alone in this opinion either.  It really goes back to the saying I mentioned earlier about it taking a village.  I like that I get to share in my parenting “aha!” moments and frustrations with my friends in Maine equally with my friends here that I actually get to see.  I like that we all get to watch our children grow up together, and I like that my friends in California are almost as excited as I am when my child hits some milestone in life, even though they've never actually met my kid.

That last sentence may cause some people to worry about security, and I don't entirely blame them; it's a scary world out there, and you have to be ultra vigilant as a parent.  That shouldn't prevent you from seeing social media for the valuable parenting tool it is.  It's also entirely possible to keep your child 100% anonymous on the internet, while still reaping the benefits of the social village parenting.  I see it being done all the time.  Sure, it takes a concerted effort, but it's totally doable.  You can seek advice/brag about your child without giving any pertinent details except for possibly a ballparked age and still having people rallying behind you and your child.  Try a gender neutral nickname and refer to your child only by that nickname and/or gender neutral pronouns.  Frankly, it's probably not a bad idea even if you're not going to go all out in making your kid the next Blanket on the internet.  Your kid's accomplishments ought not be determined by what's between their legs, but that's a whole different topic that I will probably talk about at a later date.

Since I'm not going to great lengths to making my kid anonymous on the internet (not on Facebook, at any rate.  Here and on Twitter is a different story) I won't try to come up with tips on how to Blanket your child/ren, but I'm sure a few well thought out keywords on a Google search will lead you to a blog somewhere that talks about exactly that.  Or, if you'd prefer, ask your friends on Facebook.

Over $1600 Raised! Wow!

This is so incredible!  I'm right up there with Penny Arcade and GrubberGamer, of all sites!  This is amazing!  The Mario Marathon this year has raised over $75K $76K so far and 100% of the proceeds will go to Child's Play Charity. They buy video games, consoles, toys and books for kids in hospitals around the world so that they can feel like regular kids, if even for a little while. 

Additionally, studies have shown that by having these items of play around, children tend to heal faster and are less prone to infections and such as they are in a better place, mentally. The hospital staff also use the items of play as tools to help either explain to the kid whatever procedures they may have to go through, or to distract them from being potentially scared by the explanations.  

I'm so proud to be able to be a part of this and I want to thank each and every one of you who have contributed towards this amazing cause (and an extra special thanks to those who push the donations through my blog).  As a parent, it's heartening to know that should my child ever have to spend time in a hospital, people all over the world will have made it possible to bring a glimmer of fun and childishness into an other bleak situation. 

But it isn't over yet.  The marathon is still going strong.  So far 736 of 786 potential levels have been unlocked, and they have completed 650 of the paid levels.  Check out www.mariomarathon.com and watch.  It's incredibly fun and interactive.  If you feel inspired to give, click on the Donations button.  On the right-hand side of the page, you'll see a text box titled "Partner Sites".  Click on www.mindo-canadian.blogspot.com and then click "Donate via mindo-canadian.blogspot.com".  I am currently in fourth place on the list of Partner Sites.  I'm not trying to get the top dog spot.  I am more than happy to be "losing" (no one's losing here) to Penny Arcade and GrubberGamer.com but I think if this tiny little blog, that isn't even one year old can stay firmly in the top ten it would encourage more people to put the widget on their site as it shows that anyone can make a contribution.  Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that this blog would be able to raise as much as it has, and I couldn't be prouder.  If you can't donate, please help spread the word .  Let's keep it going, everyone!

PS: I want to give an extra special thanks to @CoW_mAn, @malfunct, @GrubberGamer, @MMStats and @MarioMarathon for giving me so much support!  You're all amazing people and hold a special place in my heart!

Donor Push, take 2

Alright fans, we're going to do this again.


For the next three hours (it is currently 3:45 PDT) the person who donates the most amount of money for the Mario Marathon through my blog I will write a post of their choosing.  Conditions are the same: I will not write a post that violates the well established rules of the Mario Marathon itself (no cursing, no hating, no adult subject matter) but other than that it's fair game! We already have one winner and once he tells me what he wants me to write about, I'll get on it ASAP.

So send those donations in and let's raise some money for sick kids!

Much love and good luck!

PS:  In order for me to know that you've donated through my blog (you can refer this site's URL through the MarioMarathon website when donating.  The url is www.mindo-canadian.blogspot.com) and how much you've donated and what you want the post to be about, you will need to either comment on this post or tweet me at @stjohn_hippo.  At the end of the hour, I will the Mario Marathon guys and then get cracking on the post.

Donor Push

Hey guys,

If you're following my blog at all you know that I'm a huge supporter of the Mario Marathon.  The Marathon is currently on day three and as of right now they have raised over $58,000 worth of donations and I'm so very proud, humbled and amazed to see that $1197.60 $1222.60 of that has come through this blog, placing me in the fourth spot for Partner Sites.  You guys ROCK, but I know we can do better than this.

For the next hour three hours (it is currently 12:20 PDT) the person who donates the most amount of money for the Mario Marathon through my blog I will write a post of their choosing.  Now obviously, there are some conditions: I will not write a post that violates the well established rules of the Mario Marathon itself (no cursing, no hating, no adult subject matter) but other than that it's fair game! 

So send those donations in and let's raise some money for sick kids!

Much love and good luck!

PS:  In order for me to know that you've donated through my blog (you can refer this site's URL through the MarioMarathon website when donating.  The url is www.mindo-canadian.blogspot.com) and how much you've donated and what you want the post to be about, you will need to either comment on this post or tweet me at @stjohn_hippo.  At the end of the hour, I will the Mario Marathon guys and then get cracking on the post.

Today is my birthday

But I don't want to talk about that (though, thank you to everyone who took some time out of their day to wish me a happy birthday.  That was incredibly touching!)

I want to, again, talk about the Mario Marathon.  The event starts tomorrow at 11AM EST and already they have raised almost over $12,000 (update: as I was writing this post, they surpassed $12,000!).  In fact, they've raised more than the grand total of the first ever Mario Marathon, and it hasn't even started yet!  I don't know that I've ever gone into why I support the Mario Marathon so much.  In my first post about the marathon, I touched on the viewer interactivity a bit, but today I want to expand on that a little more.

Over the years, my partner and I have become regular viewers of the marathon.  Whenever they broadcast anything (such as testing the picture in picture, writing code for the Wheel of Awesome, practicing SMB3, or sewing Toad hats), we try to pop in to the social stream and watch what's going on and interact with the other viewers as well as with whomever is broadcasting at that time.  Since there are a number of people who do the same, it's turned into quite an online community.  There are a good number of people in the Mario Marathon who I consider a friend and there are often talks of meet-ups at some convention or another.  As far as I know, a handful of these people have, in fact, met IRL.

In this community we support one another.  There's a section on the Mario Marathon website that highlights partner sites (thanks to everyone for your generous donations and keeping me in the #1 spot!  Let's see if we can keep it that way, hey?) and while there's some friendly competition going on between us, we still are super proud of each others accomplishments.  One of the other top partner sites is GrubberGamer.com, and boy are they catching up to me fast!

GrubberGamer.com is a site that scours the internet for deals (either through online retailers, marketplaces and specialty stores) looking for the best video game deals and discounts.  They have done a great job of finding a way for every day people who really love gaming but can't afford big box store prices to get the games they want without harming their wallet.  If you're a gamer (or a gamer groupie, like I am), I encourage you to check out their website.  It's run by amazing people (check them out on twitter, @GrubberGamer) who won't lead you astray in your affordable video game needs.

But donate through my blog to the Mario Marathon, mmkay? Consider it a birthday present.

5 More Days!!

In five short days (one of them being my birthday!), the Mario Marathon starts.  In five days, 4 grown men (with the help/support of their significant others/children/employers/friends) are going to sacrifice sleep, showers, proper meals, privacy, and sleep for an undetermined amount of time.  In five days, they're going to give hours, and days of their own time for charity. 

In five days, they're going to play Mario games.

That's right, Mario games. 

It's quite amazing, actually.  If you haven't yet, go check out some of their previous Mario Marathons (this is the fourth year of marathons) and watch the hilarity unfold as they sit around, playing video games and encouraging people to donate to Child's Play Charity.  If you're a regular follower of this blog, you're a person of class and incredibly intelligent, and you also remember that I wrote a post about what the Mario Marathon and Child's Play Charity is all about.  If you haven't read it yet, that's alright, I forgive you.  But as a penance, you should probably go to that little wiget I have on the side and donate.  It's to the right of your screen.  See it?  It's under the list of posts and above my bio.  Yeah, that blue box there that says Mario Marathon in really cool font.  Click it.  Click it, now. 

Can't donate?  That's okay.  Come check out the marathon and see for yourself how amazing these guys are, and how much fun this marathon is.  With any luck, it will inspire you to spread the word which in turn might generate more donations for this awesome cause.