CONTEST – Name My Next New Website
Here’s a contest I think you’ll enjoy. I’m building a new website in honor of my Mom, who recently passed away, and I could really use your help.
On August 22, my mother died, leaving literally thousands of handwritten poems (a stack that comes up above my waist). She wrote incessantly, often penning 5, 6, sometimes 10 poems a day, every day. Perhaps not all of it is brilliant poetry, but it’s her poetry, and now it’s mine.
So I’m in the process of transcribing that four-foot high stack, and my intention is to put them all (or anyway most of them) on a website as a tribute to Mom’s memory.
And I’d like your suggestions for choosing a domain name. A couple of choices off the top of my head are “Lucile’s Lines” and “Ceil’s Place.” But I’m not sure either of those has much pizzazz.
A few facts to help spark ideas:
- Lucile I. Burke (nee Thompson) *yes, that’s one “el”*
- Nickname Ceil (or sometimes Cile)
- Born in Macon, Georgia
- Eldest of 3 sisters
- Lived to age 86
- Loved cats & dogs – in fact, virtually all animals
- Gardening was a passion when she was younger
- Planted flowers, fruit trees, nut trees, anything beautiful or useful
- Had issues with authority figures, government, pompous or self-important people
- Enjoyed talking with friends about ideas, especially spiritual topics
- Never was a “churchy” person
- Lived in Illinois and in Kansas for many years, but never lost her deep southern accent
This PDF download is an article I wrote about her a few years ago, titled My Mom the Alchemist.
From December of 1998 to February of 2002 (more than three years) I sent out an ezine every single day featuring one of Mom’s poems, so there are already several hundred poems transcribed and ready to go up on the site, once it’s named.
And here are a couple of pictures spanning the years.
|
|
|
|
| Age 25 | Age 39 | Age 83 |
Here are two poems as a quick sampler.
I Would Always Be Eighteen
We each give up our youth very grudgingly, one day at a time.
It creeps up so slowly we aren’t aware we’re reaching our prime
And each of us has the distinct feeling that our story is unique.
After all – it’s life, pure and simple, that we forever seek.When did that 18 year old girl become an older version of myself?
We attempt to minimize the symptoms and maximize what’s left.
I did not acquiesce until I was the only soul I ever knew
Who couldn’t face the obvious reality that continuously grew.But in the physical reality I was forced to acknowledge and accept
I found another reality about the enduring soul of me that I kept;
‘Twas the same, only wiser, more psychological and more enduring,
A beauty undiminished by years – rather enriched, assuring.Lucile I. Burke
February 21, 1997
______________The Everlasting Garden
And while my soul weeps quietly for days that won’t be back,
There linger on the edges of my mind, still intact,
The hopes and dreams of bygone years, still holding for fruition,
Coming forth so loud and clear as latent intuition.God, I pray, please grant the days that I will need
To plant my garden in my world with seeds
Of love, peace, goodwill; so when it’s time to travel on
I can leave a garden in many hearts that they may never be alone.Lucile I. Burke
May 12, 1991
So that’s what I’m doing and why I could sure use your help selecting a domain name for the new website.
Here’s what’s in it for you.
PRIZES:
1st Prize – all three
1. 90 minutes of personal consulting with me on either business or motivation (value $375)
2. Recording of my 3-hour RESET Teleseminar (value $166)
3. Recording of my 2-hour presentation (the Chaos Session) at SOAR 2006 Seminar (value $67)
Total value – $608
2nd Prize – both
1. Recording of my 3-hour RESET Teleseminar (value $166)
2. Recording of my 2-hour presentation (the Chaos Session) at SOAR 2006 Seminar (value $67)
Total value – $233
3rd Prize – your choice of either
* Recording of my 3-hour RESET Teleseminar (value $166)
* OR Recording of my 2-hour presentation (the Chaos Session) at SOAR 2006 Seminar (value $67)
Total value – from $67 to $166
In addition, the first prize winner will be listed on the website as originator of the site name, and will receive a live backlink to their primary website, if they have a website.
If a winner already owns one of the prizes being awarded, an alternate prize can be arranged by mutual agreement.
How to Send Your Entry
Use the contact form on this website. It’s at www.BullsEye-Living.com/contact.php
DEADLINE: Wednesday November 18, 2009 at Midnight EST
I’ll have to cut it off sometime, and this date seems reasonable. Sorry, but as with any contest, late entries lose. Therefore, any entries sent to me after this date won’t be included.
All entries will be judged by me, together with the members of my Master Mind Group, and all decisions will be final. The winners (and the winning domain name) will be announced one week after the contest closes, on Thursday, November 26, here on the BullsEye.
And now I wish you the best of luck and great success in the contest. I’m looking forward to receiving some wonderful, inspired suggestions.
Cheers from warm and smiling Thailand,
Charles
Related Posts:
Hi Charles,
First of all, please accept my sincere condolences for your loss. Your Mom obviously holds a special place in your heart. I loved the two poems above and they certainly made me stop and ponder. How easily we can ignore the wisdom of our seniors, but your Mom has a way of putting real beauty in such wisdom.
Anyway, before I get accused of trying to bribe my way with flattery, could you clarify the domain name competition a little? Are you looking for the new site to be a commercial (financially viable or profitable) site? Will the site have other content too? Are you planning on (say) advertising on the site? Is there a limit to the number of suggestions from each entrant?
I’m really just trying to get a greater flavour of what you intend the site to be and how much it needs to be optimised for traffic, monetisation, etc.
That said, my initial thoughts are tending toward:
‘A Moms Musings’ or ‘Moms Musings’
or
‘Lucile on Life’ or ‘Life of Lucile’
or
‘Poetic Wisdom’
But then there’s another two and a half weeks to the closing date !
Best wishes,
Jon
LinesFromTheHeart.com is available. Your Mother sounds like that kind of lady. Very sorry to hear of your loss. Were you able to see her before she passed on?
Hi Jon, Thanks for your feedback and the excellent questions.
Regarding how many names you can suggest, you’re welcome to enter as many as you can think of.
Here, the old rule applies: “in case of duplicate entries, the first one entered will be chosen.”
About the names you suggested, they’re good ideas. I’ve now got you listed for them, but for future suggestions, please do use the contact form. Consider this scenario. Suppose I decide one of your names is good, then go and find somebody has hurried over and registered it – sort of like cyber squatting – that’d knock the name straight out of consideration.
In the beginning at least, the site will be strictly used for Mom’s poems. At some point (if there seems enough interest), I may make printed books of her poems available, but that’s in the future.
I’ll probably be monitizing the site, but not in a flashy way. Advertising? Not sure. Of course no advertising would be realistic till there’s traffic, then we’d have to look at the typical visitor profile. Google ads? My gut says that might be a poor match. Only testing can tell on that point. Any income generated by the site would probably go to one or more charities – at least that’s the way I’m leaning at the moment.
Would I include other content? Hmmm – I hadn’t considered anything other than readers’ comments and feedback. Again, testing will tell. If something good came along, I’d be open to the idea. Still, it IS going to be a memorial type site, and I wouldn’t be comfortable turning it into some kind of glittery, glitzy …. thing.
Cheers, Charles
Hi Virginia,
Many thanks for your entry – I’m beginning to see that judging this contest and deciding on a winner is going to be tough. Already 6 or 7 entries have come in by email as well.
By the way, I suggest that any additional names be sent privately by email – just to protect your entry.
Yes, I had called Mom a couple of weeks before she passed on, and my wife and I visited Mom for several days in May, which was about 3 months before her death. Of course, we always wish we could have done more, said more, been there more. But we knew that at her age – nearly 87 – we had no guarantees of time remaining, so we tried to enjoy what we did have.
Mom had a form of scoliosis, and spent much of her life in pain from it. So now that she’s passed over, we can rejoice that finally she’s able to stand as straight as she likes and is probably even dancing beautifully and gracefully somewhere. She always wished for those two things.
Cheers, Charles
Charles,
Very sorry to hear of your Mother’s passing but I’m glad you got to see her earlier this year. The web site for her poetry’s a great idea and I’ll enter the naming contest too.