The good news AND bad news here in Sterling, Virginia, is that I'll be closing down my shopping cart in early January. By shopping cart I mean what you see up in the upper lefthand column - the bit about "All Books On Sale 1/2 Price." You click on that, and you're in the shopping cart.

     That's bad news, from my point of view, because the shopping cart hasn't been profitable and so must be closed. And good news, from my point of view, because once it's closed I won't have to ask y'all to buy my things any more. I have always HATED asking people to buy my stuff, and I am thinking WHEEE!! I will be free in January!!

     This closing is good news from your point of view, because all the books except one are on sale at half price, and you may find some you'd like to give as gifts. (The ebook, Internet Predators on the Prowl! is still priced at the ridiculously low rate of $2.95.)

     If you have trouble working the shopping cart, email me at Newsletter@tourthesites.com, and I'll arrange for you to pay for your books by check.

     The condiments in the shopping cart will be the same price, because they are not mine but are the property of the people who created them. They too will disappear in January, but you can still give them as Christmas gifts - and if you have a passionate attachment to some of them, as I have, you can stock up on supplies.

     THE TOUR THE SITES NEWSLETTER WILL NOT DISAPPEAR IN JANUARY! I'll still be doing business at the same stand, but without the shopping cart, because I love doing this newsletter.

     The rest of this issue raises an important question: AM I JUMPING THE SEASON? There's nothing more irritating than someone yammering on about Christmas when you don't even want to think about it yet. If you feel that way, just ignore the special Christmas bargain hunting section in the first half of this newsletter, and skip right down to the NOTHING TO DO WITH CHRISTMAS section and find out how to learn to play the ukulele on your cell phone. Which has nothing to do with Christmas, see? Just as I promised.

     Next week I'll send out the special Christmas crafts and projects newsletter, because people need time to do the crafts. If you're not ready for it, you can, of course, ignore it too.

     Janette

1. BEST OF THE BARGAIN SITES

     It was bound to happen. First you hear about the bargain sites from friends. Then I tell you how to do consumer research that will give you an item's price at all the major bargain sites. (If you don't remember, click on October 15 newsletter in the lefthand margin, and find item 12, Consumer Search.) And now come the sites that tell you where to find the best bargains at the bargain sites. Plus additional coupons. Let's look at STEAL DEALS first. Steal Deals reports on many kinds of goods:

http://stealdeals.net/

     And then there's TECH BARGAINS for the hefty items:

http://techbargains.com/

     You'll notice NEW EGG often mentioned for great tech bargains. If you yearn after high-tech items, or if you're gifting someone who does, you might want to poke around the New Egg site a bit to get ideas - and then you can go back to Tech Bargains to see whether New Egg actually has the best deal.

http://newegg.com/

2. AWARD WINNING GIFTS FOR KIDS

     Here are the iParenting Media Awards winners in many categories of items for children.

http://iparentingmediaawards.com/winners/index.php

3. BEST DEALS LOCALLY

     The site I recommended last year, Cairo.com, has gone out of business. Or, rather, it now describes the glories of Cairo, Egypt, rather than the glories of your local stores. Not to despair. Try SHOP LOCAL:

http://www.shoplocal.com/

     Put in your town and zip code and find out what sales your local stores are featuring on items ranging from iPods to action figures.

4. IT'S NOT VIOLENT, MOM

     Your child wants computer games for Christmas, none of which, you are assured, is the least bit violent. Here's where you find out for yourself. The COMMON SENSE MEDIA website reviews games, music, movies from a parent's point of view. Parents are also encouraged to add their own reviews.

http://www.commonsensemedia.org/

     And here's the official website of the SOFTWARE RATING BOARD:

http://www.esrb.org/index-js.jsp

     And, as a finale, here's GAMESPOT, a gamers' site, which gives you an actual taste of the plot and action of a game.

http://www.gamespot.com/

5. CAT LOVERS TAKE NOTE

     Do you have a difficult-to-buy-for cat? One that reclines upon the sofa and looks down on its cute little toys lying all neglected under the chairs? Have I got a Christmas gift for you! It will make the blood surge through that pussycat's veins!

     I ran across the item when I was investigating daylily nurseries last summer, and the cat lover in me noted SNOW CREEK'S "organic CATNIP that can be ordered year round for feline fun." Which appears to mean that you could give your cat a pot of catnip for Christmas - and do the same for other deserving cats in your circle of acquaintance.

     I expect you should check with Snow Creek ahead of time, to make sure the supply of catnip is holding up, but I must say it promises a merry Christmas for every member of the family. And I am not joking. Did you know that the U.S. military now officially recognizes pets as members of a military family? And you can't get more official than the military.

http://www.snowcreekdaylilies.com/

6. JANETTE'S BOOKS AT HALF PRICE

     Yep. They're all half price except two: Miriam's Cookbook is sold out, and Internet Predators on the Prowl! is already at the ridiculously low price of $2.95. All the rest are HALF PRICE. Find them at

Placer Valley Store

7. WORLDSTOCK

     One of the bargain sites, Overstock, also has WORLDSTOCK, which enables poor artisans from around the world to sell their products online. Overstock says, "Our goal in Worldstock is not to make money, but to create tens of thousands (and someday millions) of jobs in the poorest regions of the world, while bringing customers unique products of which they can be proud - hand-crafted clothing, jewelry, ceramics, furniture, and much more."

http://www.overstock.com/cgi-bin/d2.cgi?PAGE=STORELIST&STO_ID=6

8. THE TRUE MEANING OF CHRISTMAS

     For the person who has everything, give them a gift that benefits a person who has nothing. This would also be a good site for parents to use in teaching their children about the true meaning of Christmas.

http://altgifts.org/binfolder/site/templates/splash.asp

THE NOTHING TO DO WITH CHRISTMAS SECTION:

9. LEARN TO PLAY THE UKULELE ON YOUR CELL PHONE

     Well, sort of. You can also learn to play the guitar or mandolin on your cell phone - all of these for free. I think it's the LEARNING you do on your cell phone, rather than the PLAYING, but what do I know? I do not understand the technology, but then I don't usually. If you click on "Links," you can find other sites dealing with the guitar, mandolin, and ukulele.

http://www.chordmaestro.com/

10. FREE BLOG, PHOTO BLOG

     You'll find an amazing number of sites that offer you a free blog. This one also offers unlimited photo blog entries and video blog entries. Plus it has the major virtue of a green light from my McAfee Site Advisor, meaning they've checked it and it's on the up-and-up.

http://www.blogtext.org/

11. HARING KIDS

     My personal child development consultant, Lisa Danahy, recommends this site. The site has Keith Haring's coloring pages and games for kids. Home schooling parents will appreciate the lesson plans based on Haring's work.

http://www.haringkids.com/

12. THE WRONG WAY TO FIGHT FAT

     We're entering the season of overeating - and making fun of grownups and children who weigh too much always seems to be in season. We tend to think we're helping them by doing this. Turns out, we're making things worse!

     Two well known obesity researchers say, "We recently completed a study of more than 2,000 people enrolled in a weight loss program. Participants told us that when they are stigmatized because of their weight they respond with such strategies as eating more food and just giving up on dieting. Eating more in response to discriminatory treatment was reported by 79 percent of the participants."

     Read more about it here:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/01/AR2006110102969.html

     So when your mama said, "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all," she was absolutely right.

13. A GREAT BREAD RECIPE SITE

     It doesn't look like much, but wait until you get inside. These are bread recipes people have sent in - you can submit one too. There are "traditional" bread recipes, assuming you think Banana Raisin Peanut Bread and Tim's Blueberry Bread are traditional. And there are "bread machine" breads, like what I should be whipping up in my bread machine to make my sweetie pie happy. Find them here:

http://breadnet.net/

     And then there are the pathetic bread requests. Take this one for example:

     "I could kick myself for letting my grandmother go to her grave without getting this recipe.

     "This is something she used to just whip up in a flash when we were little. She cooked it in the oven in a skillet. It looked like cornbread, but it wasn't. It was light, fluffy, sweet and would just melt in your mouth."

     And there are lots more heartrending stories like this. I see this request was submitted in 2003, that year being the heyday of webrings and this site being part of a webring. (Ah, so soon we forget on the Internet.) That being the case, not only is Grandma dead, Granddaughter may be tottering toward her grave, breadless, as well. If she totters back to that site, I submitted a suggestion that Grandma was probably making spoon bread, and Google of course has the recipe. (And so do you. Look below.)

http://upword.com/discus/

14. RECIPE: VIRGINIA SPOON BREAD

     This recipe comes from my favorite recipe site:

http://www.recipezaar.com/

     The recipe donor says, "This is an old Southern side dish. It's very yummy. I like to add a little butter and sprinkle it with a bit of sugar - Miss Erin Clotfelter."

1 cup cornmeal
1 tablespoon shortening
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup boiling water
2 cups milk
3 eggs
3 teaspoons baking powder

1. Mix salt with cornmeal, cut in shortening.

2. Slowly pour boiling water into mixture, stirring as you pour.

3. Beat the eggs with the milk, stir into cornmeal mixture.

4. Add baking powder and blend all ingredients well.

5. Grease a casserole dish generously and pour in the mixture.

6. Bake at 350F for 30 minutes, stirring 2-3 times before the mixture congeals. Serve hot from the casserole with a spoon.

     Here's a review of this spoonbread recipe: "My Mimi (that's my grandmother) used to make spoonbread and I loved it so much. I made it the other night and was on Cloud Nine. It had a nice light texture just like hers. I served it with country ham, green peas, and sweet potatoes. Thanks Miss Erin. You made our tummies smile."

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MISSED SOME ISSUES?

     Have I got a solution for you! Now that we are using a frame for each issue, you can just look over to your left and find all the back issues nicely set out. Simply click on the ones you missed. That means too that if your e-mail service provider gets sticky and decides that Tour the Sites is spam (it is NOT spam), you can foil it and find the newsletter at this address.

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WARNING!

     If your e-mail box sometimes gets full, you are in danger of falling off the subscription list of Tour the Sites. Not because I want to lose you, but because, if your box is full when I send out a newsletter, you are automatically kicked off the list. I don't like that policy, but I don't have any say. If you change your e-mail address or get a new kind of spam filter, you may also fall off. So do keep an eye on your newsletters, which should arrive around the first and fifteenth of each month. If you haven't gotten one for a month, let me know and I'll be happy to put you back on the mailing list. Because I'd really hate to lose you.

Janette
Newsletter@tourthesites.com

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© Copyright 2006 Janette G. Blackwell. All rights reserved. You may copy and use portions of this newsletter for noncommercial, personal use only. You may forward a copy to someone else as long as the copyright notice is included. Any other use of the materials in this newsletter without prior written permission is prohibited.