Because it's a contest, not a giveaway, it requires you to do a little work. Yes, you must work for your chocolate!
*cue mad scientist laughter*
So what hoops will you have to jump through, what secret potion will you have to come up with, what monstrosity will you have to create?!?
*wrings hands together*
There are Five things to remember before you can officially enter the contest...
- You must be a human. Please no aliens, I can't ship to other worlds. Countries yes, worlds, I don't think they accept US Postal mail. Any human can enter... only one will win.
- You must like chocolate, or else know someone who likes chocolate, because this is a WHOLE BUNCH of chocolate. And if I send it to you and you don't even like it... where is the fun in that?!
- You must send me your address. Unfortunately, I am not physic and you will have to give a stranger your address. So if you aren't okay with sending me your address then you might not want to play. My rap sheet is clean... :) So when you win, you will have to step out of your comfort zone and send it over. I can send it to work addresses as well, just include the c/o.
- Your entry must be original and each human may only enter once. Please do not use the four pseudonyms you have created for your net presence. Just the one... please?
- You must have a blast while completing your contest entry. Or else! I am not sure what else... but I can think of something. *evil eyes*
So now that you have the rules down, time to get the wheels turning... here is what you must:First: Blog, tweet, send out smoke signals, call on your pigeons... get the word out about the contest. If you tweet about it, be sure to include @EisleyJacobs so that I can see the word. If you blog about it, tell me in your comment include your blog address. If you send out smoke signals, your coordinates will do. If you get out the birds, warm me first so I can put on a hat. Please?
Second: You need to write a true or fictional short story, note, prose, words in a legible order, something readable and answer this question:
What have you learned in 2009 that will make you better in 2010?Include how you learned it and why it's important. It doesn't have to be about writing. It can be about life, love, the pursuit of happiness, giving, caring, blogging, laughing...
Be creative but please don't make it novel length ;) A few hundred words or less will suffice. For this contest, the comments will be moderated. So as I read them, I will post them.
Your entries must be received by Wednesday, December 16, 2009 and I will read through all of them and choose a winner by Thursday and announce the winner on my blog. If they are all too good, I will pick a random number and that one will win.
Also as an added bonus for the twitter people... my 500th follower will get themselves some chocolate, as does the 600th... the 700th... the 800th... the 900th... and if we make it to 1000... I will give away another $40 brick of chocolate ;) No following and re-following either, I can see that ;)
And if we make it to 100 blog followers... well I will *faint*... after I awake. Chocolate... I will give away Chocolate.
I think my next giveaway will be coffee... cuzz I *heart* coffee too...
Well what are you waiting for? Hop to it! And may the best words win! :)
The Chocolate Prize  |
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2009 brought powerful lessons. I learned to keep my chin held high and walk like I just don't care. The fate of my legs has been in the balance all year, sometimes scarily close calls, sometimes just holding my breath to see what will happen. At this moment, I am holding my breath. I am casually optimistic. This long year of illness may be over. The lesson will never fade. No matter what, chin up and keep on walking.
ReplyDeleteI wish you and yours a happy and healthy holiday and a glorious 2010.
Take care,
Jessica Rosen
I have learned many things in 2009, as I try to do every year. What is the most important thing that will make me a better person in 2010 - it doesn't matter if I'm right, it matters if I'm kind. I learned this by acts of kindness shown to me by others. I don't have a blog (yet) but I am now following you on Twitter (my user name is ddh77) and I tweeted about the contest. I also am following your rss feed, and through Blogger (as either foodie ffanatic or Dani H) and my email address is dd.h930@gmail.com. I am human and I LOVE chocolate!
ReplyDeleteIn 2009, I learned I am a survivor. I am able to go through harrowing experiences and come out the other side a more confident human being. I can stick with something longer than a week, and believe in myself, even when doubts creep in like a spider spinning an impenetrable web. 2010 will be the year of change, a culmination of all that I've set up to happen.
ReplyDeleteLet's hope 2010 will be wonderful for all of us. A year that will bring exciting and unforgettable experiences.
Thank You!
Erica
I learned to go to funerals in 2009.
ReplyDeleteI'm 28 years old. Up until this year, the only funeral I had been to was my grandmother's. I was 2 at the time, and all I remember was ceremoniously placing a stuffed animal in her casket before teetering back to my parents.
Then came 2009. My grandfather passed away early on in the year. Without hesitation, I booked a flight home to attend the wake and funeral, but not before friends and coworkers offered their condolences and advice.
The best piece of advice I heard--this is the most important thing I learned in 2009--is that you'll never regret going to a funeral, but you may regret not going.
Five funerals later (yes, it seems like there's a lot of death this year), I couldn't agree more with that advice. I went to four of those funerals/wakes, several of them just to stop by, but I never regretted the choice. I didn't know many of the people who passed away, but I could tell it meant something to those close to them.
I didn't go to one of the five. It was a Friday; I was tired; it was a long drive; I wasn't wearing the right clothes. In hindsight, it's clear that those justifications were actually just excuses. And I regret it.
I hope to carry this insight with me to 2010: To be present where there is death just as I am present where there is life. I know that I won't regret it.
Jamey Stegmaier
http://jameystegmaier.com
@jameystegmaier
Of the many things I learned this year, I learned to never give up and everything happens for a reason. I also learned that no matter how bad you have it, someone out there has it worse and you can do something to help them. Sometimes helping others is all the help you need to get through a difficult situation.
ReplyDeleteThis year I learned to make mistakes.
ReplyDeleteI've tried to be a perfectionist my whole life. I've lived, learned, earned and lead "the right way". And it wasn't until this year (actually about a month ago) that I learned that that isn't the point of life. I'm not meant to live in a shadow, fearing the comeuppance I've witnessed from a friend. I'm meant to be molded from my own personal pitfalls and triumphs. What good is serendipity if I never give it a fighting chance? And so for 2010 my resolution is to make mistakes. I will laugh, cry, fight, love and hate myself for it, I know, but I'll be better in the end.
I'm a writer, and so I'm going to allow myself to have as many experiences as I possibly can (maybe skip the illegal things) for the benefit of myself. No novel ever sold as "a perfect person once lived a perfect life".
Angie Katy
@angelabutts
I have learned to live for the little things. I've never been someone overly concerned with material things (although they're nice!) but being laid off from the day job and having to hustle work to make ends meet has made me more thrifty and more resourceful. It's also made me reprioritize my free time and focus on my writing. The day job took all my energy but what did I have at the end of the day?
ReplyDeleteWhat I learned in 2009. There is such a thing as word count that can seriously kick your ass (coughs clearing throat) 247K is impressive but equals like 3 or 4 books, oops, my bad. Tenses are important, who'da thunk it? When a three year old calls out to you from the bathroom, "MOM YOU'VE GOTTA SEE THIS!" it is usually pretty damn impressive and disturbingly gross. I also learned that when you write a book and call it fiction and it embraces the relationship and strange courting of you and your husband , and you kill yourself off in the book (remember it is fiction) your husband will make you sleep on the couch for the night. I also learned that I can make more on unemployment than working, so that is pretty damn cool!
ReplyDeleteHere's my entry:
ReplyDeleteI am not a special and unique snowflake. But, with some really freaking hard work, I can make my stories and my characters special and unique snowflakes. I've read all the how-to books, the magazines, taken classes, been critiqued and praised -- it's still not enough. I have to press on, learn more, work harder, work smarter. My career as a writer is a blank canvas -- it is up to me whether it turns out to be a kindergartener's mediocre fingerpainting or an iconic Warhol soup can. 2010, watch out.
This year, I learned to count to three.
ReplyDeleteThis is a major accomplishment for me. Last year, I could only count to two. Two children. Two complete drafts of a novel. Two years as a NaNoWriMo winner. Two was the magic number in 2008.
In 2009, things got a little more complicated...
It started when I went trick-or-treating with the kids I ran into DH (handing out candy). "Where's the other one?" he asked.
I looked down. One stroller. One toddler. Two. I had two kids. I looked up at DH. "I have both of them."
"L, we have three kids now. Three."
THREE! Cue frantic search for the Eldest who was talking with friends less than ten feet away.
I dragged myself through a third NANO. And, in tears, admitted that a second draft, while better than a first draft, is not perfect either. I need a third draft, bare minimum. I suspect I need a tenth or eleventh draft, too.
But, for now, I can count to Three. I can count all the children as they are loaded into the car. I can count finished novels (even if they are rough). And I can count ever-improving drafts.
-Liana (who still remembers bringing home a blue ribbon in kindergarten for learning to count to 100)
In April of 2009 I sat down and wrote my first story in 16 years. At that moment, everything changed. The stories that had been building in my brain during that long, barren stretch began to swarm. The words that had been simmering in my subconscious began a slow boil. It was as if someone had cracked the door to a long-locked room, and in that first swift sun-shaft the sparks that were my pent-up thoughts swirled and scintillated and streamed toward the free air.
ReplyDeleteToday as I walked along in Philadelphia, a sound stopped me in my tracks. Across the street, prisoned between a brick townhome and courtyard walls, a willow tree shivered in the breeze. Its dry leaves rustled, a soft hiss that cut through the city sounds and arrested my progress. I stopped to watch and listen for a moment, because that’s what I do nowadays. I see more. I experience more. I feel more.
2009 brought many changes, but none more profound than this: I became a writer.
During 2009 I have learned that I take life way too seriously at times. I am more goal oriented than I would like to admit. I thought I was a fly by the seat of my pants kind of girl. Yet I enjoy myself more if I have a plan. When I have a goal or deadline I can produce. (Yeah nanowrimo!)I made and achieved five goals this year. I started and COMPLETED a novel, two books of poetry, entered a short story in a writing competition and lost 30 pounds. (I am working on completing my second novel before years end.)I will take those accomplishments into 2010 with the hope goal of expanding them. I have met some very interesting and encouraging folks online and I plan to take those relationships into the new year as well.(I discovered twitter in 2009.) 2009 has shown me that my long held dreams of being a published author is no longer a mere fantasy, it is my new reality. Each word that I put on paper brings me one step closer to that reality. One step closer to the dream long deferred.
ReplyDeleteMy comment is going to be very reformed-presbyterian-Clavinist, so I hope that's okay.
ReplyDeleteI learned that no matter what I do, I will never be good enough. That sounds AWFUL, but in reality, it's such a huge relief. What I mean is that no matter how hard I try to be a good person, try to love everyone unconditionally, try to treat my husband with the respect he deserves, try to be patient with my students when they haven't earned it, try to stop myself from being sarcastic and mean and underhanded and bossy and unforgiving... I'll never get there. I can't get there. The only thing that redeems me is Christ's death. This is the true message of Christianity, if you can see past the crap that so many people pile in front of it in the form of "do's" and "don't do's." The point is that no matter what I do or don't do, I. Can't. Save. Myself.
I need a perfect Savior to do it for me. And that knowledge is so liberating.
The most important thing I learned this year is to enjoy the love in your life every day - from others and from yourself.
ReplyDeleteI also learned the world is full of wonderful people called writers and they're ALL on Twitter ;-)
"I'm more than just excited
ReplyDeleteIt's like a hundred pounds
Of monkey off my back
Now everybody's invited
To ride this train
'Til we run clean out of track"
-Chicago, "Plaid"
In the back of a closet shelf, behind an old duffel bag stuffed with sweaters even Bill Cosby wouldn't have worn in 1986, was a battered box of flimsy cardboard full of the warm fuzzies of a child who felt like the king of the world. It wasn't arrogance. Rather, the pride of of a kid who took everything junior high threw at him, and passed with flying colors to the accolades of parents, and teachers, and the grudging respect of his nerd-peers.
From high school on, those sorts of warm fuzzies became faded and worn. He didn't want to toss them, so in the box they went. A few at a time, at first. Just the ones that didn't look right or feel right, come 1988. Then, over time, he slowly traded in those warm fuzzies for more age-appropriate (so he was told) ones.
It didn't take long before he'd stored away the last of junior-high warm fuzzies. Through college, and into adulthood, he found that he went through the newer ones, faster and faster, until he got to the place to where he'd seen others go. The place where you take whatever warm fuzzy you can get, convinced it's all part of the game.
It wasn't until 2009 that the truth finally sunk into his head. The game will ALWAYS change.
And so he found and opened up that old box from 1986, pondered the acid-washed, neon-colored, paisley-patterned, Swatch- and Benneton-labeled contents and asked himself, "What sort of warm fuzzies do I want NOW?"
The answer to that question was easy, once he figured out exactly what he had then. Those warm fuzzies weren't so much for things he accomplished but for those accomplishments he found value in, no matter what anyone else thought. That was the REAL game. No wonder it kept changing! For years, he'd been trying to find pride in things other people valued.
So, over the past year, he looked for what he could value--and FOUND them. It was actually easier than he thought it would be.
Then, a funny thing happened. Other people started noticing the warm fuzzy glow over the pride of what he'd accomplished on '09. Successes he placed value in. And to his surprise, other folks valued them, too! The result--more warm fuzzies. It felt so good. Familiar. Retro. As good as the ones he had when he was a kid. Only updated for the 21st century and for where he is in life, as a significant other, a writer, a friend, a coworker--a person.
Those alone should, he thinks, make the ride in 2010 at least as good--if not better--than the one he's been taking for last twenty some-odd years.
And, if anyone else wants to come along, they're more than welcome!
My father always told me that a bad decision is only considered a mistake if you do not learn from it. For we are not defined by the decisions in our life but on how we deal with them. In 2009 I learned that I should have patience when writing a great novel. My query letter does not need to be written and sent the day after I finish the last page. I learned to sit back, relax, and then attack the novel in full force with the delete button. I began writing in March or April of this year and am proud to say that I have completed five novel length books. They are shabby and in need of gutting, but I will get to that. I learned that I can do something wonderful and memorable; that even if I make a bad decision and send out my query letter before it or the novel are ready I can learn from that decision and turn it into a learning experience. 2009 brought with it a multitude of new, enlightened friends that have helped me immensely in my writing journey. I also learned to take criticism from these friends. It was a hard lesson and a painful one, but a much needed one. Therefore in conclusion I learned to never give up, life is full of surprises and you never know what learning experience will turn into a book that people will love, or a post that will get you chocolate.
ReplyDeleteOver the hills is a busy city full of neon lights and tall buildings. In this city is a small house, and in this house lived a tiny girl. Her dream was to work in the backyard garden because she wanted to grow a perfect sunflower. But there were distractions.
ReplyDelete“Will you hold my parasol, tiny girl?” asked an extremely fancy woman.
“Why, yes, of course,” said the tiny girl. Her mama had taught her to be helpful.
“Tiny girl, will you stitch up this rip in my suit?” asked a (nearly) wonderfully dressed man.
“Certainly,” replied the tiny girl. She tucked the parasol under her arm and took his suit.
“Tiny girl, will you sing a song for us?” asked a young boy.
“Um, I will try,” said the tiny girl, and try she did, singing while she stitched.
“Tiny girl, tiny girl, tiny girl…” The voices came louder and they came more often. Ever helpful, tiny girl said yes, and yes, and yes again, all the while casting her eyes toward the perfect patch of earth that was being neglected while she tried to do everything else. She walked dogs, made dinners, soothed hurt feelings, dressed wounds in Hello Kitty band-aids, critiqued a friend’s novel, put up holiday lights, engaged in social networking, attended meetings for school and work and church and, oh my! It was simply too much!
“No longer!” The tiny girl threw everything to the floor. Her hands felt deliciously cool and empty.
People turned to look at her.
“I am truly sorry,” she said, “but my dream is to grow the perfect sunflower. And I have been so busy that my dream is shriveling outside. No longer, please. I will help where I can, but I realize that my sunflower has to come first. Thank you very much.”
And the tiny girl skipped joyfully outside.
-Mercedes
What I learned this past year.
ReplyDeleteI learned that loosing someone doesn’t get easier over time, it just gets. . . different. I learned you can smile and laugh and enjoy life again—but they are always there in the back of your mind. I learned that people you thought you knew inside and out can still surprise you. And yet other people don’t surprise you at all, they do exactly what you expected them to do. I learned that grief can shut down hearts, but love can restart them again.
But the two most important lesson I learned this past year, are that the human heart is incredibly resilient and will still carry on and strive to be happy even after taking a beating and that I admire my dad more than any other person I know.
midnight mountain time?
ReplyDeleteso many better writers have already posted.
i have learned i must keep trying and trying and trying to solve issues and problems.
and to ask for help a bit sooner.
and to keep hope no matter what.
and chocolate almost always helps ;-)
jenn