Here’s the first frame of the video tour I made my recording studio space with my iPhone as a thank you for the Coffee Klatchers

Warning! The next several sections may seem dry, but they contain loads of useful info. Wacky hijinks will resume ASAP following the following email clarifications.

Why Email from COD Gets Confusing!

Many of you BCs have gone the extra mile and signed up to receive something extra via email from me and/or Compulsive Overeating Diary. Thank You! BUT there are three or more things you may or may not receive, depending on just WHAT you signed up for and how the systems BEHIND various COD email lists operate. Phew! Even that sentence is confusing, so let’s break it down by what you wanted to get.

1. BCs Who Want to Get Email Notification about New Blog Posts and Show Releases

How you sign up: There is a long blue box on the blog that contains various buttons and menus and text boxes. It is found at the right side of the screen on computers and some tablets. It is found near the bottom of the scrolling screen, following all of the entries, on most smartphones and some tablets. The second item IN this long blue box is something called ‘Subscribe To Posts Via Email’. There is a field with a subscribe button below. If you enter your email address and click subscribe, you will see a message appear in the same blue bar that indicates an email was sent to you at that email address. You must locate this email (perhaps in your SPAM or JUNK folder) and click the activation link for your email address to be added to this notification list. This whole process is automated by the software that runs my stats and other automated features of the site. I have no access to fix this or change this. In your initial email and in subsequent emails, you will see an option to unsubscribe or change your subscription.

Note: These email notifications occur only when I post something categorized as a blog post or as a podcast episode. The mini-statuses I post more often do NOT generate a notification. Those are for folks who like to drop by the web site often to see what’s new with me. Blog posts (usually have more of a story or a theme).

2. BCs Who Want to Get EXTRA Jokes, Fun Stuff and news from Mark and Me about Compulsive Overeating Diary

This is a separate email list I set up with a service called Mailchimp. It is NOT part of the automated software that runs the rest of this site, and I have much to do with making this list work (or not) as the case may be. If you want to sign up for this EXTRA stuff, that would be instead of, or in addition to the notifications mentioned in number 1.

How you sign up: You go to that same long blue box mentioned above, and the very next thing below ‘Subscribe To Posts Via Email’ is ‘Join Our Email List for Special Topics’. Here you need to enter your first and last names and the email address you want used for receiving this extra stuff. When you enter these and click the subscribe button below them, you will see a message that says your request was successful and to check your e-mail inbox. Again you have to confirm you want to be on this list. One other possibility is if somehow you have run into me personally or let me know via email that you wanted to be on this list, I may have added you by hand. Just like the notification emails, every extra email you receive from this list gives you the chance to unsubscribe or to change your email preferences.

You can also join this list from the show Facebook page by clicking on the SIGN UP button that has Tiger the Cat by the computer.

3. BCs Who Want to Support Compulsive Overeating Diary Financially and get EVEN MORE News, videos, audio extras and general wackiness as a thank you from Mark and me.

These are the Coffee Klatchers. If you subscribe to the show or even buy just one cup of virtual coffee, I add you to the special Coffee Klatcher Thank You email list by hand. Again, I am pretty much responsible for how this works out. The coffee money goes through paypal and does NOT automatically add you to the Coffee Klatcher list. SO If you HAVE EVER bought me virtual coffee by clicking the buttons or using the coffee menu in the big blue box on the blog and you have NOT received special thank you emails with my face in a big old cup of coffee, then drop me a line so I can get on it! It may be I mistyped your address, or missed it when I reviewed the paypal accounts.

4. BCs Who Want to privately tell me their stories or ask me questions.

Here is where it gets easier! You can go to the contact form or drop me a line at LaurieATCompulsiveOvereatingDiary.com (substituting @ for AT). I answer usually within a few days. But this is not automated in any way. SO if you HAVE written me or sent me a message via the contact form, and you didn’t hear back after a week or so, please drop me a line again. Sometimes I get many emails or I get busy, and I let things fall through the cracks. (Progress and Not Perfection). I always mean to reply to you. Always. So PLEASE let me know if I don’t get back to you.

Please, Please PLEASE!

Well, what brought this all to mind, is I have been meaning for MONTHS to create some fun stuff for the extra email lists. And today I DID! (At least *I* had fun doing it, and I hope the BCs who received these have fun listening). For the regular COD email list (#2) I sent links to a PDF of the actual script I used last show to read my Bill Nye the Science Guy story and its introduction. I also sent the timestamps where this feature is in the last show, so those who like to be amused can follow along and see how I did with the read. You can see where I change words (a voice over no no) and also see where it sounds like I’m just talking vs. reading. Those are where I am successful. Anywhere in the show where you can tell I’m reading, unless I intend this (by saying I’m reading a comment, and changing my voice a bit to indicate the BC who I’m representing), then that is a place I need more work. When I listen back to this segment, I can tell where I did well, and where I could have done another take to improve. But with the podcast, I just don’t have the luxury of many takes, so I do let many things ride that I wouldn’t in a demo situation. I must say however, that the Bill Nye Story itself, I tried my very best, did 4 takes, and inserted the Please, Please, Please, that the princess says at the end to better not overshoot the plosive sound. And I’m pretty happy with it.

Java Jokes and Studio Fun

Ah Ha! I thought it would be a quick little fun thing to make a mini documentary of my sound studio and how I recorded my jokes for the Coffee Klatchers (#3). I was CRAZY! It wasn’t bad recording with my phone, and I had fun recording my coffee jokes, but the files took HOURS to upload from my phone to dropbox so I could move them to my mac to create my mini movie for the email. In the meantime, I updated my email lists and tried to get the body of both emails in shape. I finally got the movie done and uploaded to Mailchimp and SURPRISE! They no longer accept files with the extension I needed to make the movie viewable by the most computers and phones. Phooey! So plan B. I got the movie uploaded to my media host (where I also store the podcast files) and used an external link in the email. Then I got my audio on and edited my quick little joke file – at least I THOUGHT it would be quick. Technical issues ensued, and I wasn’t laughing for quite some time. BUT in the end, I added a laugh track to cheer myself up and got that file ready for release. LONG STORY SHORT! Today I learned much patience, didn’t say the F word EVEN 1 time – ok, maybe ONE time, but I really enjoyed having fun being creative and making fun for others. Hope the only F word in YOUR SUNDAY was FUN!

xoxoxoxox