i love it!

Stuff We Love: Guest Posts & SignNow.com

January 18, 2012

Today is a red letter day here at JenniferHeller.com.  We have our first GUEST POST!!!

Our guest post today is courtesy of Heather G. who supplied the following avatar:

Is that a cat playing guitar?  A gopher?  A chipmunk?  Whatever it is, it’s shiny and cute and lovable, just like I know Heather G. is in person (since we’re, you know, friends in real life).

And without further ado, here’s our guest post:

Stuff Heather G. Loves: SignNow.com

Since I have a job that gives me mediocre health insurance, I have made every sort of appointment possible. I’ve had moles removed, my sensitive areas swabbed, eyes checked, teeth cleaned and prescriptions filled. One of the most annoying parts of being a “new patient” is that the paperwork is freaking endless. In the spirit of time management, many of these offices provide New Patient Forms on their websites so I can leisurely tell them when my last menstrual period was or if I allergic to any medications and bring the forms with me on my first visit. It’s a lot of paperwork and once I hand it over to Beth at the front desk, I forget about it and move on with my life. Then I discovered SignNow.com—the website that makes signing documents ridiculously simple and even stores them for me, FOR FREE!. Here’s how it works:

  1. Upload any document
  2. Go to www.signnow.com
  3. Enter your signature (you can draw it or type it—it’s all binding and 100% legal thanks to the e-sign act of 2000. You can even upload your pen and ink signature and keep it there.)

They ask for no registration, no account, nada. Just upload and sign. And get this—when you are done (It takes about 15 seconds), they email you a copy of your document in pdf and you can choose to download it. Organizational and environmental me is in love.  Just think about the possibilities for freelancers, renters, petitions, oh I could go on and on. I love a good product and this one is sweet.

P.S. I can’t wait to tell you about my $58 hair conditioner. Worth every penny.

Thanks Heather G! That sounds like one hell of a time / headache / paper saver.

What do you love?  Tell me about it!  Send guest posts / rants / raves/ questions to fanmail@jenniferheller.com.  Or bitch@jenniferheller.com… whatever mood you’re in is okay by me. What do you think? Will Signnow.com save you time?

If you leave

December 20, 2011

I woke up with this song in my head.  I know I’m sleepy and maybe a little emo as a result, but this video just made me cry.

Now all I want to do is curl up and watch Pretty in Pink. And–curses to technology–I’m sure I could find it on the internets, blow off everything and lay around and do just that.

Is life better when one has to say no to wonderful movies at every juncture?? Technology. How is it changing your life?

Misisipi Rider’s Ghost of Johnny Cash

November 28, 2011

Before we moved in together, my amazing boyfriend would make me mixtapes every so often. He has the amazing ability to pick songs that I don’t know yet and grow to love.

I listened to one of his tapes over the weekend and remembered this amazing song by Misisipi Rider. I was disgruntled to discover via Youtube that they toured San Francisco earlier this year!

Note to self: Never miss another show by Misisipi Rider. At least I can be there vicariously via youtube.

Here they are, performing at Cafe Du Nord. I’m so thankful for the sheer talent of my fellow humans. :D

In love with that song as much as I am? The studio version is even better. Download the mp3 and support independent musicians! (Seriously, of that 99 cents, how much do you think Misisipi Rider gets??)

I love Mannequins

November 23, 2011

I have a bit of a collection.

Apropos of nothing, I spotted a couple of pairs of men’s mannequin legs in some strange places recently.

Perched outside of my old stomping grounds, Cloyne Court Hotel & Casino:

And adorning some majorly cool person’s desk at the offices of the East Bay Express:

I’m thinking it might be time to add some men’s legs — complete with junk — to my collection as well. what color would you spraypaint your men’s mannequin legs if you had them?

Post image for I Love Boomerang for Gmail

I Love Boomerang for Gmail

November 18, 2011

I’m a Gmail addict.  Google Apps too.

We rely on Google Apps over at Artsy Geek — it’s fantastic for collaborating, chatting and — best of all — searching. I cannot imagine having to search for something in Outlook with the sheer number of emails that go through our inboxes every day.

A few weeks ago my great friend Becca introduced us to Boomerang for Gmail. You know how good a scoop of vanilla ice cream is when topped with hot fudge?? It’s pretty good without it, but AWESOME with it.

Boomerang is hot fudge for Gmail.

Instead of the piles and piles of starred images making my priority inbox utterly inbox, I can schedule them to pop back up in my inbox at a later date. Whether it’s four hours later, three days later or Monday morning at 9am, that image will be back in my inbox when I want to deal with it. Or want to force myself to deal with it.

It’s really handy when you work with people who don’t always deliver when they say they’re going to.* “I’ll have it for you on Tuesday,” they’ll say. “Yeah right!” I think. And then I schedule the message to pop back up on Tuesday evening so I can send a reminder email. And I can specify that there’s no need to pop up if someone responds (in case they actually do come through!). BRILLIANT.

I’ve been pretty stoked on it. Today I had an unpleasant surprise though. It turns out that it’s a premium service!! They lured me in, got me hooked, and now want to charge me a monthly fee for it!!

Suddenly the hot fudge seems more like crack cocaine.

I wandered around my house hmm-ing and huh-ing over this when I plunked down my credit card and subscribed. It’s a deduction, for one. And it’s one hell of a brain space saver. People should get paid for what they do well, and those folks over at Boomerang are rocking my world. Thanks guys!

Try Boomerang for Your Gmail. You’re going to love it!**

Post image courtesy of cookingfoodie.blogspot.com
*I know, I know. Don’t deal with people who don’t deliver when they say they’re going to. I’m working on it.
**Full disclosure: If you click that link and sign up I get entered into some sort of wheely spin contest.  Wheeeeee!! What Gmail Addon rocks your world?

Post image for $5 Lego Stop Motion

$5 Lego Stop Motion

November 16, 2011

Our new roommate (we found one! and he’s awesome) alerted me to what has to be the BEST WEBSITE EVER, fiverr.com.

At fiverr.com you can pay a mere $5 and get all sorts of amazing stuff…a British young lady will videotape herself shouting your message in a banana suit, an aging hippie will sing your message and play the accordion, a terrifying dude in a green suit will dance with your message on his chest.  That last one is pretty weird.  I don’t recommend that.

And they do stuff beyond making awesome videos.  I even saw someone who will design two logos for your company for $5.  That’s just plain ridiculous.

The first $5 I plunked down was for this video as a present for my father, the Great Arno.

Download Video: MP4

LOVE IT!  What an affordable gift that he’ll treasure forever!  Or for the day.  But it’s the thought that counts, right?

Post image for Best Copy Ever

Best Copy Ever

October 8, 2011

Weeks ago I mentioned how much I love the selection of office supplies over at Poppin.com and about how I was going to buy myself a new tape dispenser.  Well, I finally broke down and decided to get one today, and as I was perusing their other products to make sure I didn’t miss anything awesome, I stumbled on this fantastic copy.

Black Retro Ballpoint Pens

Perfect for writing on paper at your desk.

What more is there to say?

Get yours here.

Jennifer Heller Megalomaniac

September 21, 2011

I have been searching, searching, searching for the right name for this blog.

Historical Sidenote: From 2005 to 2008(?), this blog was hosted on blogger and called “Ought Never Be Daunted,” a reference to a scene in The Sun Also Rises where Jake is not as drunk as Brett is, but Brett urges Jake in those words that it’s not too late to catch up. How awesome is that?

Since I moved those posts over here and gave up all claim to anonymity, I have been calling this site “Jennifer Heller dot com,” knowing full well how lame it was, but at a loss for anything better.

These past few weeks I’ve been giving this site something of a face-life in my spare time, and I kept hoping to come up with a name for the site that would express its mission: Fun, Friends and Hilarity.

We toyed with “Jennifer Heller Fun Friends Hilarity.” But the glaring lack of punctuation was a non-starter.

And then yesterday, Sue pointed out that I am pretty much a megalomaniac. A megalomaniac!! I loved it! I couldn’t spell it but I loved it.

I looked it up, just in case I didn’t really understand what it meant. Which it turned out I didn’t. Merriam-Webster definies megalomania as:

1: a mania for great or grandiose performance
2: a delusional mental disorder that is marked by feelings of personal omnipotence and grandeur

Number two made me LOL. As did my new header graphic, which I’ll record again here in case it changes in the future:

Are there enough Jens in this graphic? Is it creepy??

So what do you think?  Is “Jennifer Heller Megalomaniac” not the perfect title for someone who spends her spare time betraying the secrets of her youth and planning extravagant birthday parties?  Isn’t any blogger something of a megalomaniac at heart?  Does it make you LOL??  And isn’t it really freaking hard to spell???

Post image for I've long been coveting a carnivorous plant

I've long been coveting a carnivorous plant

August 3, 2011

Last summer I visited a shop in Stinson Beach and got to talking to the shop owner.  His work space was surrounded by a few carnivorous plants.  I expressed my surprise that he was keeping them inside and would want such terrifying plants so close by*.  He said that you wouldn’t believe how many bugs they catch–bugs that he doesn’t have to hang out with in his workspac

Well, I didn’t think that there were that many bugs to catch in my workplace.  I noted his eccentrities and moved on.

But every since I notice dozens of bugs a day!!  And every time I see (or hear) one I covet his carnivorous plants silently chugging along to do their part in making a peaceful workplace.    Read on…

Post image for I love Poppin.com

I love Poppin.com

August 1, 2011

I have been on a hunt for a cute tape dispenser for quite some time now.

I’ve had the same tape dispenser for quite some time. I decorated it back in 1992 or something when I first got it with gold metallic ink and green permanent pens. It was kinda cute.

Since then I’ve lost the thing that actually holds the roll of tape and  it’s lost all of its original splendor.  For the past couple years I have been on a hunt for either the missing piece (so that it might serve to be a tape dispenser again and I could redecorate it) or an adorable new tape dispenser to brighten my work life.

My sad, old, unusable decrepit tape dispenser.

In my search I found tape dispensers that look like shoes (tacky), clear acrylic tape dispensers (imagine how visible the dust would be!), silly ones that resemble animals or some such and the run-of-the-mill plain ones. I wasn’t satisfied. Read on…

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