But don’t think Kiva is charity, because it’s not. You choose who you will loan your money to and the amount you want to loan, starting with $25. Here’s how Kiva explains the process:

Choose an Entrepreneur, Lend, Get Repaid

1) Lenders like you browse profiles of entrepreneurs in need, and choose someone to lend to. When they lend, using PayPal or their credit cards, Kiva collects the funds and then passes them along to one of our microfinance partners worldwide.
2) Kiva’s microfinance partners distribute the loan funds to the selected entrepreneur. Often, our partners also provide training and other assistance to maximize the entrepreneur’s chances of success.
3) Over time, the entrepreneur repays their loan. Repayment and other updates are posted on Kiva and emailed to lenders who wish to receive them.
4) When lenders get their money back, they can re-lend to someone else in need, donate their funds to Kiva (to cover operational expenses), or withdraw their funds.

My family and I have been loaning money since January, and have received every repayment when it was due. Of course, you can keep the money when you’re repaid, but it’s fun to find another entrepreneur and loan the money out again.  I could go on and on about Kiva, but I have those old posts to clear out. While I’m doing that, head over to Kiva, you can lurk without logging in. Right now as of this very moment, there are over 700 people who need a loan to change and improve their lives. They’re not looking for a hand out,  just your helping hand.

The Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities are joint sponsors of Chronicling America, a part of the National Digital Newspaper Program. I got goosebumps when I first stumbled upon this site because it allows visitors to view selected newspaper pages from 1890 to 1910. Right now, there’s only a limited amount of states, but they are working on creating a “national, digital resource of historically significant newspapers from all the states and U.S. territories published between 1836 and 1922.”

They also have some information about newspapers published in the U.S from 1690 to present, but that is also an ongoing project. The best part about this is that the site is totally free for everyone! I know we all complain about income taxes, but I have to say that I think this is a pretty good use of taxpayer dollars.

Maybe I will post my question there later on, because I sure would love to see something different for a change. However, everytime I visit his site, I get so wrapped up in reading his posts that I forget to ask anything till after I’ve logged back into one of my blogs. Like just now, I read his post that’s titled, “How can I get a Gmail user’s Full Name?” and think everyone with a Google account should check out this important post. I’d love to say more, but I’m off to check my gmail accounts….

Later, Taters!

Btw, El Pato Picante is one of nature’s most perfect foods, and if it’s not, it should be.

On their site, their description says they are for those that:

• Want more ad revenue
• Care what visitors do
• Need to make improvements
• Like things that are easy

On a personal note, I feel much freer to express my opinions, now that I am no longer blogging for bucks. I have a ton of reasons as to why I stopped writing for money, and I don’t have the time (once again) to go into it all. Maybe after Christmas, I’ll write a lengthy tell-all.. or better yet, I’ll record it all and put it on YouTube! ROFLOL!

Bottom line is, I am working on a better way to make money online. However, even if I was in dire financial straits, I couldn’t envision myself ever doing any more payment per post work again. I’ll share my reasons one of these days, when I’m not typing ninety miles an hour. Right now, I just wanted to tell everyone to give CrazyEgg a try.

Not only is Mark Lowry a talented singer, composer and performer, he also has some great beauty hints, aimed primarily at men his age. There’s other great stuff on the video too, but guys should definitely pay close attention to the first segment.

Click here to view the embedded video.

So I went looking a bit and found nothing I’d care to see again. Maybe I’m being too picky, but then again, I’m using some pretty good blogs to set my standards. Blogs like Dodgeblogium, that’s written in an engaging style that keeps me informed and helps me to see what’s happening in the world. Or Owen and his wife Camille. She writes great stuff, whether she’s talking about their adorable son, Arthur (who has his very own blog), or posting a hilarious limerick about her brother. Owen has several blogs, each one unique, interesting to read and informative .

There are other great blogs I visit regularly, and I hope I don’t hurt anyone’s feelings by not mentioning them here. Don’t worry, I plan on mentioning every great blog I like, at one point or another. But the point I’m trying to make right now is that I feel like a modern Diogenes, trying to find a decent, honest blog or two. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think my blog is back up to where it should be, so maybe I’m just bumping into other bloggers that are going through life issues like I am.

Oh well, if it looking at other bloggers gets to be too much, I can always go watch clips from WKRP on YouTube.