Welcome to More Cowbell! We are all the way up to “V” in the A-Z Challenge – only FOUR more days! Did you see the “U” post by Margie Lawson yesterday?? It ROCKED!
Confession: I’m looking forward to the end of this challenge. Blogging 6 days a week is a rough road, but it’s definitely teaching me things about my writing. In the end, I think I’ll be happy I did it but my ROW80 goal this month has been whether I can write every day and finish this challenge.
Good news!
- As you saw in the title, I have a vLog (or two) up for you, at last!! They aren’t the ones I started with but it didn’t come out all that bad. (OK, it did. But it’s “funny” bad.)
- Because I try out all the technology so I can figure it out and explain it to you, I’ve left in all the boo-boos.
- Here is the link to my new YouTube channel. It’s still the blind leading the blind, but I’ll keep working on it: http://www.youtube.com/user/JennyMoreCowbell?feature=mhee
- I’ll be doing a post later this week on the lessons I learned doing this vlog!
Behold what happens when you use an unknown product and an unknown camera, and do all of it before caffeine. Good times…
And the sample video program had so many space limitations, I had to give you the garden as a separate link.
My favorite part of the garden video? At the end when I describe my potato patch as a TOMATO patch. Gah!! But would you look at the rest of those veggies?? Oh my God, they make me happy.
What’s making you happy today? Are you here for a ROW80 update? (If so, here’s the linky to go encourage your pals.) Have you tried a vlog yet? If so, what did you think? You know enquiring minds always want to know these things here at More Cowbell!
Jenny
Jenny Hansen's Blog 
🙂 Look how far you’ve come.. so happy for you and proud of you, Jenny.. and omg!!!! your yard is so awesome! Orange tree? And the fig! hahaha.. great videos.
Good job.. 😀
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LOL…We’ll be able to say that again once I do a video where I have EYES! This killed me when I saw it and I thought, “What the hell…they might as well see how bad it can get. It’ll make them do a vlog!”
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Thank you for this glimpse of you and your family. I’m really looking forward to hearing your tips about making videos. And your garden is amazing. It’s wonderful when you can eat the fruits of your own yard.
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Thanks, Reetta! I love my garden (as I’m sure you can tell). It makes me happy, even though I have to tend most of the plants at night after Baby Girl goes to bed. 🙂
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LOL – thanks for sharing your out-take …you look way better with a forehead, no question! And a green thumb too? Who knew? How the heck do you find time for that? Congratulations on a hugely successful first year! When I first began following you, I thought you had been doing this for years. You’re a natural Blog Goddess and I join the hordes in thanking you for all the help, information, inspiration and fantastic laugh-out-loud moments you have brought us in your first year. Happy Blogiversary!
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THANK YOU, Patricia! It’s been such a fun journey, thanks to all of you. 🙂 And I’ll second you on the green thumb thing…who knew? The answer is, I don’t have time for the garden, but I want to know where our food comes from!
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Hahahaha! I just made my son’s bar mitzvah video/photo montage. I also did the 5th grade graduation video (150 kids in 10 minutes with live clips). It’s fun. BUT you have to pick the right theme, Mrs. No-Head. 😉
You are so cute! It was just fun to hear your voice. Nice job for a first effort. Oh, and I assume making vlogs is much easier on a Mac. I’m a Mac. One cable. Hahaha!
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LMAO! Yep, I am Mrs. No-Head. It’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen in my life, but it taught me some things, which is the whole point. I don’t mind y’all seeing me look like an idiot once in a while. 🙂
I can tell you now, the video thing is WAY easier on a Mac!
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Soooooo easy. Even I can do it. #Duh.
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You are brave…and adventurous! Love it. I do have shiny, new video camera sitting on the shelf – collecting dust. I’m terrible at using the cool gadgets my husband gets me! I’m an oddball of the oddballs…I’m a nerd at heart – I ♥ math, face-in-book-obliviousness, and love-me-some-history-reading – but put any newfangled technology in my hands and I’m a puddle of idiocy. Sigh. Ha!
Great takes…and hey, who needs a forehead, anyway? Best of it whith finishing up your A-Z Challenge this week. My hubby liked your Sister Myotis and Christian Panties link….
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LOL, Nadja…I think you’ve got to start playing with that shiny new videocam!
Thanks for the belly laugh with “who needs a forehead anyway?” I’m glad your hubby liked Christian Panties – that video makes me roar.
p.s. For those of you who don’t know what we’re talking about, go here: https://jennyhansenauthor.wordpress.com/2012/04/19/q-is-for-quick-giggle-a-visit-with-sister-myotis-of-christian-panties-fame-atozchallenge/
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It does seem unnerving to videotape yourself! I did a tongue twister for my blog, and it loaded great on Blogger . . . but when I moved to WordPress, the video would not follow. Now I’m thinking I need to upload it to YouTube to get it back on my blog. (It’s just me and a few seconds of Peter Piper.) You did great for the first Vlog!
I’m impressed with your gardening skills, Jenny. The only food I grow in my yard are loquats and pecans (the squirrels eat those) — which both just appear on the tree at the right time. Also…love Baby Girl. Precious!
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Baby Girl is pretty funny. I love her in that little skort she has on. BTW, “Critter Ridder” will keep those squirrels away from your pecans. Just put it along the top of whatever fence they’re leaping from, and around the base of the tree. 🙂
I want to see your Peter Piper! We had an outtake that didn’t make it of me saying “Cowbell Camera in the Kitchen – say THAT one ten times!” We laughed our butts off, and y’all only saw about half the video (and I’m not referencing “the bottom half of my face!”)
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Okay! Made my YouTube account. Here’s my rendition of Peter Piper Picked: http://youtu.be/88k1hlpREr8
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That is FABULOUS, Julie!! And your eyes are gorgeous, girlfriend. 🙂
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Thanks! My eyes? Okay. How sweet of you.
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Yes, your eyes! You’ve got like 5 colors in there…GORGEOUS.
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Wow, Jenny, those are SO cool! I’m growing potatoes in a sack, and they are going crazy! And baby daughter is soooo precious!
BTW, I don’t think anyone notices the lack of forehead in the first video – um, something else is front and center, LOL! Nice job, Jenny!
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See, now I know y’all love me because that video left a LOT to be desired. But it was fun! And all video was done with an Android phone.
I’m excited about the potatoes. I have so many friends going through cancer right now that I planted extra potatoes so we’d all have them, free of the pesticides that are used on the store-bought ones. We should have scads of potatoes by June. WOOT!
Thank you for the kind words, Kathy! And for making me laugh. 🙂
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Oh Jenny – you are SO brave! Just so everyone knows – she DOES have a forehead – and it doesn’t have a third eye – she wasn’t holding out on you.
Just so you know? I’m NEVER doing this!
Never.
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Oh, you’re doing it. I have plans for WITS. 🙂
But thanks for vouching for me and my forehead!
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Awesome!! Love your hubby’s ‘rain man’ comment. Laughed out loud. I’m quite envious of your garden!
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Thanks, Ginger! I LOVE my garden. And my hilarious honey. He gave me crap through alot of those videos, but his patience level is off the charts. 🙂
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I loved watching the real you! I was surprised your eyes are dark. I had you pegged for a blue-eyed blonde. And I loved your hubby’s rain man comment. As soon as he said it (and before the cue card came up), I hollered. “Oh, it’s cuz she’s rocking back and forth.” And the “blah, blah, blah.” Loved it all! Thanks for sharing yourself.
And on that garden. Girl, you are so much more productive than I am.
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Yup, Native American and Norwegian (with a whole lot of tired) – did you see those “my daughter is having a growth spurt” bags under my eyes? It was funny, and he’s right, I was like Dustin Hoffman on the porch saying, “10 minutes to Judge Wopner.”
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How did you convince your husband to come on camera?! I told mine that I wanted to try a vlog somewhere in the next couple of months but that I’d need him in it for my idea to work. He refuses to come on camera 😛 I’ll have to keep working on him because he usually gives in to what I want in the end 😉
I can’t wait to see your posts on how to make a video. Thanks for forging the path for the rest of us!
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See Marcy, the first mistake was YOU ASKED. I just turned the camera on my poor sweet honey. He didn’t get time or a choice. Just wait until you hear what an adventure my vlogging was…
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Congrats on your first Vlog Jenny! How brave of you! It’s crazy when you first hear someone’s voice. It never is exactly what you expect. Great job Hubby. Except someone, and I’m not suggesting anything here. But someone was more focused on another part of your anatomy than your face Jenny. I’m just sayin’. LOLOL!!!!
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Yep, my voice is somewhere between Valley Girl and mid-Missouri. Like everyone else, I dislike the sound of my own voice, but it’s the one I’ve got. I promised y’all a vlog, so you’re gonna get a vlog!!
And hubby hasn’t admitted to the mid-frontal camera focus, but I think the vid speaks for itself. 🙂
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I love your voice and your accent. Keep making those vlogs. I hate my voice, too. I think we all do!
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Thanks, Lynn!!!
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OMG LOVE IT!!! I can’t wait for deets on “how to create a vlog” because I am DYING to jump on board. LOL!! I think it rocks and what a perfect way to celebrate your blogoversary!! Congrats and may I just say YOU make my world a better, funner, happier place so keep on coming with More More More Cowbell!!!
And GREEN thumb! Wow. My backyard consists of a deck, trees and grass. That’s it. No garden or plants here. I am impressed and it all looks/sounds so yummy!
And I am with Kathy…no one noticed the lack of forehead…LOL!! xoxox
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LOL…yep, the biggest secret is, put more planning into it! And, it’s kinda like baby making where the fun is in the practice. 🙂
Yep, all that funner and brighter goes right back to you – I thought about saying your name when I discussed the blogjacking. LMAO!!!
Come to California and we’ll eat from my garden…what do you think?
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OMG! Well done, you! And I love your voice!! No way on earth would I do one! Noooooo waaaaaay! You’re going to end up on TV. Can I pin you?
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You can always pin me, Christine! No need to even ask, though I appreciate it since this has to be one of the worst vLogs ever posted. But it was fun, and it’s all about More over here. In this case, that stands for “More Practice! (And according to Kathy, MORE Cleavage!!)
Bahahahaha!
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LOL! Pinned it! Oooooh love the cleavage too! I’m sitting here singing ‘No stopp’n you now!’
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Great vLogging 🙂 I’d be too afraid to try.
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No, you’re not. Remember, just because I went clowning, it doesn’t mean that anybody has to see those first attempts. I say try it and see what you get. 🙂
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I loved the vlog, you’re a natural. So fun to hear your voice and your hubby does have the cutest dimples!! Oh and your garden is lovely!! I love to garden, but since I live in MI I have to wait another month before I can really get started, dang frost. Looking forward to more vlogs!
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Sidney, I’m a natural ham is what I am. (Ooooh, a Seuss-ism!) I can’t believe that video theme cut my head off! But it’s just gonna help the experience for all of us because now I’m honor-bound to figure this video business out. 🙂
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Vlog is awesome. You’re improving exponentially every time. I shun cameras. Every picture taken of me looks like a used car sal;esman in training, especially my yearbook picture. DMV won’t let me photoshop license picture.
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OMG, wouldn’t that be amazing if we got to photoshop our license photos?? I see a blog post in there somewhere…
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Great first vlog Jenny! Love getting to hear you. Fab blogiversary!
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Thanks, Raelyn! It was an adventure for sure. I say, get your wee beasties and go for it!!!
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HA! Oldest is always trying to make us into Bakugan movies on his DS. Actually, we don’t own any kind of video recorder. I’m so untechie 🙂
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Happy Blogoversary, Jenny! Love the Cowbell and yes, we all need more of it! Great idea with the vlog – I’m looking forward to the next ones.
You have an awesome garden – and your climate is much better to grow veggies than the PNW. There is not much growing in my garden just yet – we are having a cool spring.
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This is good for me to know, in case I end up there one day. I’ve heard up there that it’s all about the drainage. The gardens will grow, if you do above-ground plots with seriously great drainage.
I LOOOOOVE my garden. 🙂
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Awesome job with the vlog entries. Practice makes perfect cowbell 😉
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Thanks, Ryan!! (I’m gonna need a LOT of practice. 🙂 )
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I love vlogs because it gives lets us get to know the blogger so much better. I was just reading the thread on the Wana1011 FB and had to get over here quick and check out your vlog. I love the way you did the out-takes, sharing them with us, and the notes inbetween the clips. Love your humor. I’ve made a few Youtube videos and have made many mistakes along the way and even put a couple out-takes together from when I thought I was taking still pics but it was videoing and when I thought the camera was off but it was running. I use my Mac laptop, and those mistakes happen when you hit buttons without your glasses on!
On Monday I was without internet most of the day, so I played around with some clips in my iMovie (I have tons waiting to be edited) and discovered the special effects for video and audio. I had a ball with it and made another Youtube video with the x-ray effect. It’s on my blog post today. When the A-Z Challenge is over and you have a free minute, here’s my channel if you ever want to check it out: http://www.youtube.com/user/LynnKelleyAuthor?feature=mhee
I plan to check yours and I look forward to reading your post about making your vlog. I’m wondering what you used to make it. I know nothing about lighting or photography or any of that. It’s all hit and miss when I do this stuff, but, hey, it’s fun as heck, isn’t it?
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Lynn, that is awesome! I’ll totally check your channel! I can’t wait to see what you’ve been up to on the vlog front. 🙂
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I am so lucky to have you as my Tech Empress card, Jenny! Maybe in a few years I’ll be able to use what you’re learning now–after you spend a week training me!
Love,
Fae Rowen
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LOL…training smaining. You’ve got a Mac! All you’re going to have to do is turn on your camera. 🙂
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Wahooo, the vlog is up, and I LOVED it, cut-off forehead and all. So wonderful to get to hear your voice, and see Hubby and Baby Girl, and to get a tour of that wonderful garden. Can’t wait for more!
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LOL – yep, I shoulda drank heavily before this video…it might have helped things, but it still had the funny factor going for it. Are you coming to the WANA party in July (in conjunction with RWA national)?
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Way cool vlog, Jenny. I loved seeing and hearing you and getting a glimpse of your family. And I’m jealous of your garden, since my plants are barely poking their noses out of the dirt. Can’t wait to hear and see more of what your going to do!
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Sheila, we’ve had a ton of rain lately and it’s really helping my garden. 🙂 I’m totally excited for you that your plants are starting to grow. 🙂
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You crack me up. Love it!
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That’s fabulous, Leanne, cuz you crack me up too!!
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I’m so sorry I’m late as usual to the party but OMG was it ever a fun time. I laughed so hard I cried— maybe cus your thoughts about the cable and all the other husbandly mishaps sound so much like my own. You truly make me laugh with joy Jenny. Here’s to another great year of More Cowbell and More Vlog Please!
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Kate, you are the sweetest thing. I put it up, hoping y’all could have a good laugh over my vlogging misadventures. Good God! But it was fun and I will do it again, with all the many lessons I learned making it easier the next time. 🙂
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Jenny, I’m trying to talk a friend into his own YouTube channel for vlogging his new book, partly because I might have to do it and I want him to go first. But really, I come here, to your blog, to learn about everything new in new media. You’re amazing!
It’s so odd to see you on video, though. You look and sound great, don’t get me wrong. It’s just that I have your blog photo and your writing voice in my head and those don’t sound or look like you when you’re in motion. There’s a static blog/twitter photo Jenny in my head and words just emanate from her like some kind of Star Trek mind meld deal. Am I making any sense?
Have you seen Kristen Lamb’s vlog? It’s great, and still the same thing happened to me. Her photo and blog voice are just … different.
Anyway, I’m just waxing philosophical today. Thanks again, so much, for going first!
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That’s so funny, Chris. I had the same disconnect in my mind the first time I met Kristen Lamb in person. I think it probably happens whenever we meet any of our online pals – we get to know the inside of them so deeply through their writing that the outside persona just feels different.
Plus, keep in mind I was nervous. I’m not nervous at all when I’m writing. 🙂
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Hi Jenny!
I loved the vlog! Who cares that your forehead was missing? I enjoyed seeing YOU in person (1st time for me), your hubby, pics of your Baby Girl, and your garden! I feel like I’m a part of the family because it was so personal and real! I really enjoyed your garden and all the amazing goodies in there – and it was weed-free! I forget that you live in CA so you can have a great garden with such a huge variety of veggies and fruit. Here in north-western PA, we had a couple of inches of snow this week. Whereas March was ridiculously warm and all the trees, buds, and flowers came out early!
Happy Blogiversary! I’m excited to share this awesome day with you. Hopefully, next year, I will be celebrating my first as you celebrate your second.
Monique
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What a sweet comment, Monique! You rock so hard. 🙂
Anyway, what’s the point of trying a vlog if it’s not the real deal, and you guys get to learn right along with me. I absolutely didn’t have a clue what I was doing, but it was FUN.
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Hmm. You’ve got my wheels aturning now, Jenny. Maybe I’ll try a vlog soon. I’ve got the YouTube account, how difficult could it be? bwahahaha. Thanks for your pioneering spirit in Vlogdom. I imagine my voice will be all squeaky and you all will say, How old does that chica say she is? She sounds like a little girl.
It was nice meeting your family and getting to know you a little better via vlog. Here’s to many more fun blog years ahead. 😀
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That’s fantastic, Jolyse! I can’t wait to see some of those videos.
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