tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-236361612011-12-14T21:37:32.921-05:00ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK.Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1551100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1158637287519083122006-09-18T23:38:00.000-04:002006-09-18T23:41:27.540-04:00

I'll be blogging at TRAVEL SWEEPS from here into the indefinite future. If you want to post a comment and you have not signed up with the new beta Blogger, you won't be able to. I hope you'll click to my new digs.

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1156862687959219382006-08-29T10:44:00.000-04:002006-08-29T10:48:36.153-04:00

NOTE: PLEASE SEE Travel Sweeps FOR THE NEW LOOK. I AM GOING TO POST ON BOTH UNTIL I DECIDE WHETHER TO CONVERT TRAVEL CONTESTS TO THE BETA BLOGGER OR JUST CONTINUE WITH TRAVEL SWEEPS.This sweeps, a five-night getaway to the U.S. Virgin Islands, includes a $1,000 gift certificate to duty free shops. I’ve never understood their appeal. I suppose that’s because I’ve never been in the market for a

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1156782338918678052006-08-28T12:23:00.000-04:002006-08-28T12:25:38.940-04:00

NOTE: PLEASE SEE Travel Sweeps FOR THE NEW LOOK. I AM GOING TO POST ON BOTH UNTIL I DECIDE WHETHER TO CONVERT TRAVEL CONTESTS TO THE BETA BLOGGER OR JUST CONTINUE WITH TRAVEL SWEEPS. Okay, I’m exaggerating. Today is the first day of school. The start of the school year always feels huge. The surprises. (A favorite teacher of Isaac’s left the school over the summer.) The worries. (Will Isaac like

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1156606384653595232006-08-26T11:31:00.000-04:002006-08-26T11:34:19.460-04:00

CHECK OUT Travel Sweeps FOR A NEW LOOK!Isaac and his best friend and his best’s friend’s mother and his best friend’s mother’s boyfriend and I are descending upon Hershey, Pennsylvania next weekend. It’s a trip we’d talked about doing last summer, but our plans clashed. So here we are. We’re staying at The Lodge. We’re going to visit all the sites.I love the history of Hershey's, with Milton

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1156569446883117342006-08-26T01:16:00.000-04:002006-08-26T01:19:28.693-04:00

VISIT Travel Sweeps FOR THE NEW LOOK!I wear Vétiver by Guerlain. It’s been my signature scent since 1980. It’s technically POUR HOMME, but I know plenty of gals who wear it. My best friend’s mother. My son’s pediatrician, who happens to be my best friend’s sister. Apparently Princess Diana was partial to it, too. I “discovered” it through a fellow. A fellow I hung out with back in the day. I

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1156434614049426992006-08-24T11:48:00.000-04:002006-08-24T11:52:30.406-04:00

REMINDER: Check out the new look at TRAVEL SWEEPS.In the five-plus months I’ve been systematically entering travel sweeps, I cannot think of a prize that rivals this one in scale: a safari in Kenya and a slot to run in the Safaricom Marathon. The marathon takes place in the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy next June. A Kenyan, Paul Tergat, won the New York Marathon last year, as well as Olympic and

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1156368505012751622006-08-23T17:27:00.000-04:002006-08-23T17:29:24.573-04:00

Please see TRAVEL SWEEPS for a more visually satisfying experience.

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1156354297719787762006-08-23T13:30:00.000-04:002006-08-23T13:32:17.640-04:00

What color is the sky?I don’t know. I haven’t had my coffee.Who was the first president?I don’t know. I haven’t had my coffee.When and where was your son born?I don’t know. I haven’t had my coffee.You get the picture. I’m not a morning person. The first thing I do when I get up is make a good strong cup of coffee. I use a primitive method. I put water in a pan and turn the gas flame on high. I

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1156337752281743012006-08-23T08:54:00.000-04:002006-08-23T08:58:58.906-04:00

PLEASE COMMENT BELOW ON THE NEW LOOK AT TRAVEL SWEEPS. Thanks, BarbaraBefore I had Isaac, I sometimes found myself out of the country over Halloween. It’s an easy holiday to forego. It’s also a great time to travel. The weather is temperate, crowds have dwindled, inns generally are still open for business. If I did remain stateside, I’d do my best to ignore the celebration. The throngs of adults

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1156192961556387752006-08-21T16:38:00.000-04:002006-08-21T23:11:00.656-04:00

I'm playing with a new look at TRAVEL SWEEPS and would love feedback if anyone is so inclined. This is not official. Blogger is beta-testing an upgrade as of last week. I wanted to check it out with a new site so as not to risk losing this blog in the "migration." Once you convert to the new system, there's no going back. Now, I may stick with the original design. But I'm thinking the new one is

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1156170612355023122006-08-21T10:28:00.000-04:002006-08-21T11:31:49.443-04:00

This morning I entered Caribbean Travel & Life’s “Best of the Caribbean Resorts” contest. To render myself eligible, I voted in 32 categories, including Best Island for Celeb Spotting and Best Snorkeling Destination and, most preposterously, Best Clothing Optional Beach. How the hell am I supposed to know what the best clothing optional beach in the Caribbean is? I’ve only been to one clothing

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1156090661506921702006-08-20T12:14:00.000-04:002006-08-21T08:37:10.053-04:00

This would be amusing to win: Six nights at the Hotel Hermitage in Monte Carlo. (Plus air, plus a helicopter ride to and from the airport.) Why? For one, the sponsor, Elite Bloodstock, is a buyer and seller of race horses; Isaac is going to riding camp this week. The parade of coincidence marches on. (For any newcomers: Coincidence has been a theme here.)Second, I’ve been to Monaco. It would be

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1155927735311847912006-08-18T14:58:00.000-04:002006-08-18T15:02:15.326-04:00

Here’s a sweeps for four nights at Pueblo Bonito, a wellness retreat in Cabo San Lucas. This is the second entry form in a row with the Official Rules on the same screen as the entry fields. One more and that will make a trend. The sponsor is US Airways Magazine.To enter, click HERE.The deadline is September 15.I’ve got a touch of the summer doldrums today. Not for not having won a trip in nearly

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1155833662424448842006-08-17T12:47:00.000-04:002006-08-17T17:13:17.430-04:00

Cameron Shayne, founder of Budokon, is fond of lists. I am, too. One of his philosophical precepts: 9. Do not be attached to people or possessions. It’s interesting that he does not include “place.” I assume omitting “place” is tacit permission to become attached to a place. I am attached to many places. I am attached to places I have been and to places I want to go. I am attached to the Turks

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1155747951486752412006-08-16T13:04:00.000-04:002006-08-16T13:06:45.463-04:00

This is the year of tens. Next month, Isaac turns the big 1-0. Our favorite soccer team, D.C. United, turns ten. And Expedia.com, the online travel agency, celebrates its first decade of existence. We’re all invited to enter a sweeps with a grand prize of $50,000 that can be applied to a dream vacation or taken in cold cash or a combination of the two. I just entered for the first time but lazy

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1155575235003508692006-08-14T13:03:00.000-04:002006-08-14T13:22:52.376-04:00

Isaac returns from Ecuador with tales of waterfalls and iguanas and a claim that Ecuadorians use ketchup on 70% of their food. (Even ceviche? I ask. Isaac doesn’t know since he and his dad did not eat any ceviche.) I hope to research this condiment finding of Isaac’s in the next year or two when, if things go according to plan, we will go to the Galápagos.Isaac brings gifts, a lovely Panama hat

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1155409461716644252006-08-12T15:01:00.000-04:002006-08-12T15:10:39.453-04:00

I return rusty. A 3D trip to Las Vegas conjures three-dimensional mindbenders. 3D is sweeps-code for two nights, three days.Here’s the LINK for the trip to Bermuda for residents of Virginia, Maryland and D.C. only.I’m in the throes of re-entry disorientation. My MFA residency was intensely awesome and awesomely intense.For the birds: Here’s a bird-themed trip, to McAllen, Texas. It includes a

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1155160223489808442006-08-09T17:41:00.000-04:002006-08-09T17:50:23.490-04:00

Since arriving at my MFA residency at Goucher College 10 days ago, I have only entered one contest. Just one! To Bermuda this October. It's only open to residents of Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C. I will post the link later.I will be back in full form as of this weekend.In the meantime, I have noticed a big uptick in visitors. If some kind soul could explain whether you recently saw my

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1154210838575231592006-07-29T18:05:00.000-04:002006-07-30T14:13:27.086-04:00

If posts are sporadic between now and August 12, it's because I'm off to the groves of academe, to Goucher College, to begin the second and final year of my MFA.Yesterday I entered a National Geographic Expeditions sweepstakes for SIX to visit Yellowstone the week between Christmas and New Year.To enter, click HERE.From the Official Rules:The Grand Prize consists of attendance for the winner and

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1154017844337077442006-07-27T12:26:00.000-04:002006-07-27T12:49:36.483-04:00

As I’ve mentioned before, my idea of adventure travel is limited to activities such as nature hikes, provided the trails aren’t too steep, and climbing in and out of a hammock. One reason I’m not more adventure-leaning is that I am terrified of heights. Whenever I try to conquer my fear it backfires. Once I went up in a hot air balloon in Albuquerque. When we were hundreds of feet in the air, I

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1153920369911033642006-07-26T09:18:00.000-04:002006-07-27T08:44:10.046-04:00

A photograph can inspire a trip. Case in point: On a trip to New Orleans in the mid-1990s, I chanced upon A Gallery for Fine Photography. With its gold-standard inventory (Berenice Abbott, E.J. Bellocq, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and so on right down the alphabet), it has to be one of the best photography galleries in the U.S. A photograph by Edward S. Curtis, At the Old Well of Acoma*, caught my eye

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1153871015586461182006-07-25T19:37:00.000-04:002006-07-28T13:44:09.410-04:00

I entered this one this afternoon but something tells me that the actuality of going to Vanity Fair’s Oscar Party as a sweeps winner could get real awkward real fast. Odds are high that I would not run into anyone I knew. I’d only keep bumping into people I thought I knew. Though I might bump into one or two people I technically knew, people I’d met before but who over time had forgotten they'd

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1153690120623294022006-07-23T17:18:00.000-04:002006-07-23T17:28:40.623-04:00

Isaac and I are headed back to D.C. tomorrow. We're going to spend part of the day in New York, hitting the snakes and lizards exhibit at the Museum of Natural History in the morning then having lunch with a friend who works close by. Then we will catch an afternoon train back to the city we call home.Here's one for the road: Four nights at a resort in Breckinridge. You have to fill out a

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1153600963443834652006-07-22T16:38:00.000-04:002006-07-23T17:15:47.510-04:00

When I found this sweeps last night, for four nights in at Hotel Victor South Beach and a consultation with Dr. South Beach Diet himself, a.k.a. Dr. Arthur Agatson, plus a one-year membership to the South Beach Diet program, plus $1,000 in cash for a South Beach shopping spree, I loosened my metaphorical belt and sighed a languid sigh of relief. The timing could not have been more perfect.I've

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1153511909616149112006-07-21T15:46:00.000-04:002006-07-22T16:36:57.260-04:00

An editor who shall remain nameless once described herself, on national television no less, as part bookworm, part gadfly. I could so relate. This trip would satisfy both strains: four days in Portland on Powell's, the bookstore, with three nights at the Heathman Hotel. The package also includes a $250 gift certificate to Powell's (I would hope so) and dinner at a Saucebox, which is supposed to

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1153312090601140782006-07-19T08:26:00.000-04:002006-07-19T08:28:10.616-04:00

While I was packing for a visit to my mother’s this morning, I found a fortune cookie tucked in my wallet: You will travel far and wide, both for pleasure and business.I can't argue with that.Here’s a sweeps for a week at the Club Med in the Turks and Caicos.Note the specific dates: November 4 – 11.More anon.To enter, click HERE.

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1153248686037880732006-07-18T14:50:00.000-04:002006-07-22T17:12:42.303-04:00

Here’s a concept I can get my mind around: a casual resort.9 Beaches in Sandys, Bermuda looks like that kind of place. Cabins, all with a view of the water. Cabins, made of aluminum frames and a space-age material that resembles sail cloth. Or so they say. Cabins, all on stilts, a few right on the water. Cabins, plus nine beaches. Count them. Nine. Sounds good to me. (Forgive the staccato ad-copy

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1152905028133330142006-07-14T15:15:00.000-04:002006-07-14T15:32:21.336-04:00

If you happen to be in the vicinity of Henri Bendel in New York City this weekend (Fifth Avenue between 55th and 56th Streets), check out my writer-friend Rachel Weingarten’s book display, the book being her new book, Hello Gorgeous!. Get this: This Wonder Woman of Sublimely Classy Marketing has taken over a window at Henri Bendel’s to showcase the tome, a history of mid-century beauty products (

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1152892960963226672006-07-14T12:00:00.000-04:002006-07-14T13:30:40.076-04:00

Every travel sweeps I enter is promoting something, usually a product or a place. Today’s sweeps is a promotion by Amoco, the gasoline conglomerate. Yes, gasoline, the finite-resource fossil-fuel derivative of which the U.S. consumes over 100 billion gallons a year, the derivative from the natural resource that could, touch wood, be at the heart of World War III one day.Global warming has me

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1152799975135177932006-07-13T10:01:00.000-04:002006-07-13T14:27:02.596-04:00

Coincidence has been a theme for this blog since I started travel-contesting in early March. Just this week, the day after I wrote about the Redken sweeps to New York, which, take notice, includes a haircut, I took Isaac to get his hair cut. So, that’s the first part of the first coincidence: A haircut. Isaac has had his hair cut at a number of places since his first haircut at age three, at my

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1152742925683212712006-07-12T18:18:00.000-04:002006-07-13T10:01:28.226-04:00

But earlier rather than later would have been much better in this case, an enter-daily sweeps for a one-week stay at the storied and beloved RANCHO LA PUERTA in Tecate, Mexico. Darn. I wish I’d discovered this charmer closer to the start date of June 1.A friend of mine has been to Rancho La Puerta, and everything she reports is fabulously inspiring. (I've forgotten what she reported. What follows

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1152633400491001862006-07-11T11:48:00.000-04:002006-07-11T12:33:21.200-04:00

The French love to make things complicated. This sweeps, with a grand prize of two nights in Paris at a three-star hotel for the 2007 Tour de France final stage, involves a daily quiz. It’s one of those contests that makes you work, do things like think and concentrate when all you probably want to do is contemplate luck and escape and winning the damn trip.I just registered, and have yet to go

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1152460383915509202006-07-09T11:46:00.000-04:002006-07-09T13:21:59.496-04:00

Preening beyond the basics hasn’t exactly been a priority for me lately. Most days, I look like a before photograph. My not-quite-thoroughly-brushed hair is swept up in a squirrel’s nest of a chignon, my face sports the barest minimum of maquillage, my eyebrows languish largely unplucked (though not frighteningly so; I possess not a Frieda Kahlo-esque MONO BROW).I therefore posit that I could put

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1152365942040947392006-07-08T09:36:00.000-04:002006-07-08T13:00:30.283-04:00

MLS = Major League Soccer.To enter, click HERE.Deadline to enter: July 17, 11:59 ET. (Synchronize your watches.)I entered this one before I checked the dates and were I to win it would be the biggest shame because I would not be able to take the trip. I will be at my MFA residency and Isaac will be in Ecuador with his father. Sigh. Peter Nowak, the coach of Isaac’s favorite MLS team, D.C. United

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1152108761645878922006-07-05T10:08:00.000-04:002006-07-08T12:58:57.530-04:00

Back in the early 1980s, I crashed the Romance Writers of America conference on a lark. It was being held that year in the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C, just a few blocks south of the cramped basement apartment I then called home. I’d just graduated from college. I had a day job with my political science professor. I waitressed a few nights a week in a French café. I was burning with desire

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1151948825169485512006-07-03T13:33:00.000-04:002006-07-04T13:17:00.220-04:00

This is a first for this sweepstress, an eco-adventure, anti-development sweeps. Thanks to Adrienne Wilson at Gadling for her POST.The prize: Two weeks in Fiji, on Adventure Island in the Mamanuca Islands, as part of a startup eco-community, TribeWanted.To enter, click HERE.According to this LA Times article, the idea behind TribeWanted is to stave off development on the island. Here’s to that.

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1151769612208787062006-07-01T11:52:00.000-04:002006-07-01T21:34:51.300-04:00

I would like to nominate Myron and June Goldfinger to the Great Name Hall of Fame. What an unadulterated hoot. (Myron designed COVECASTLES, a stay at which is a possible prize mentioned in the PREVIOUS POST. June, a talent in her own right, designed the interiors.)Upon Googling MYRON GOLDFINGER I discovered that he is an accomplished architect, a modernist, a student of vernacular Mediterranean

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1151766711899401332006-07-01T11:08:00.000-04:002006-07-01T12:28:29.760-04:00

1.) It’s the first of the month, and Frommer’s already has its Hot Spot prize for the month up and ready for entering. This month it's Ireland. Just this week I was boring someone at a party with talk of travel, how I wasn’t really going to travel this summer, how I didn’t much like to travel in the summer, and, how conservations go, we jumped from this to that and, the next thing I knew, I was

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1151733191122109582006-07-01T01:52:00.000-04:002006-07-01T10:51:28.630-04:00

But today is.I don't know what I'm doing up at this hour.I've been staying up late this week, watching the late night talk shows.David, Craig and occasionally Jimmy.I dropped a seltzer bottle on my foot this evening.I hope I didn't break my fifth metatarsal.Or the fourth or the third or the second or the first.Every day is not the first of July.

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1151704410824173842006-06-30T17:51:00.000-04:002006-06-30T19:24:40.270-04:00

If I could be anywhere right now, I wouldn't mind being at this beach somewhere in Bermuda.I do not know why my headline isn't appearing above the photograph.

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1151699152863616312006-06-30T16:24:00.000-04:002006-07-01T11:13:25.890-04:00

That's today June 30 at 11:59 P.M. PDT.Whatever PDT is.To enter, click HERE.Five days for two at one of the following five accommodations. This does NOT include airfare.Summer Lodge Country House Hotel, Restaurant & Spa An esteemed Relais & Chateaux member in charming Dorset, England, Summer Lodge is an historic country house famed for its culinary excellence...Treetops Estate & Lodge In a

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1151637468112871132006-06-29T23:10:00.000-04:002006-06-29T23:19:47.213-04:00

Your chance to win a three-night stay in Los Cabos, Mexico.Do NOT dally. This sweepstakes closes TOMORROW Friday June 30 at midnight.I'm not clear on the airfare; it might only be from L.A.But WHO CARES. I'd make a pitstop in L.A. and have a ball.To enter, click HERE.To dream, perchance to dream, this is where the winner will stay: THE WESTIN RESORT & SPA LOS CABOS. I'll keep my opinion about the

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1151518420380152322006-06-28T14:01:00.000-04:002006-06-28T15:00:22.326-04:00

I'm going to be keeping summer hours between now and Labor Day, posting sporadically as opposed to daily Monday through Friday. I'm swamped with deadlines, I'm visiting my mother in a few weeks, then I go to graduate school residency in August.

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1151361544327571862006-06-26T18:35:00.000-04:002006-06-27T08:49:11.780-04:00

Here’s one you can enter daily between now and September 29: Three nights at The Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, to attend BARBECUE UNIVERSITY in May of next year. This sweeps is sponsored by Crisco, for reasons I have yet to determine. I generally do not associate grilling with Crisco. I do associate Crisco with piemaking.Speaking of which, I very much enjoyed Amanda

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1151166886256607962006-06-24T12:23:00.000-04:002006-06-24T23:03:09.166-04:00

I won’t make excuses about my lackluster posting performance this week except to say that if I ever write an essay or a book about the neverending challenges of co-parenting, which is the culturally correct term for raising a child under the aegis of what used to be known as joint custody, the title can only be, “Out of Joint.”That’s a circumscriptive way to telegraph that my son’s father and I

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1150946161971976482006-06-21T23:09:00.000-04:002006-06-21T23:16:01.986-04:00

Is if I write long, not long-long, but at least a few hundred words, and include a stock photograph to balance out the flamboyant visuals of these things. I just randomly chose this one, to see how it plays off whatever random ad happens to run above this post. Otherwise, I'm zonked. Au lit. A demain.

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1150940229248918792006-06-21T21:35:00.000-04:002006-06-21T21:37:09.260-04:00

Tomorrow I'm going to write about Las Vegas, Quebec and Arizona.It's the first day of summer. Hooray for the change of seasons. Though summer's my least favorite. I only like hot weather when I have lots of leisure time on my hands. Not this summer.I'm not sure about these ads. They'll be less vexing when I go back to writing longer posts.

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1150939564190012092006-06-21T21:25:00.000-04:002006-06-21T21:26:04.203-04:00

While management plays around with display ads.

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1150938659218341352006-06-21T21:09:00.000-04:002006-06-25T06:03:39.283-04:00

I'm having a hectic week but plan to post tomorrow.

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1150488122528611982006-06-16T15:56:00.000-04:002006-06-18T21:20:03.633-04:00

I was tidying up my bookmarks this afternoon when I decided to click on an old link, for the Audi Q7 Streets of Tomorrow sweeps that closed last month, to see if 1.) I could access the darn thing; in the final ten days of the sweeps, I had been unable to get the old gal humming, so, after weeks of entering every single day, I was mighty frustrated that I wasn't able to enter for the last stretch;

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1150467963700033162006-06-16T10:23:00.000-04:002006-06-16T10:32:08.830-04:00

Home Depots ’s newish retail arm, 10 CRESCENT LANE, is sponsoring a quickie sweeps with a prize of airfare and six nights at any RITZ CARLTON in the world (subject to the usual availability).The contest closes on June 18. To enter, click HERE.To indulge in a little winner fantasizing, saunter over to Ritz Carlton’s worldwide locations HERE. I'm thinking Madrid would be fabuloso.

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1150466499597471422006-06-16T09:59:00.000-04:002006-06-16T14:51:39.833-04:00

I love how the Brits use the word “brilliant” to denote praise and approval. We otherwise rakish folk here on the other side of the pond reserve the accolade for more esteemed occasions and descriptor moments. We might say: He has a brilliant mind. They might say: Peter’s going to the pub with Scott after the match. Brilliant!Well, this morning I entered a newish British Airways sweeps: Brilliant

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1150331126628802682006-06-14T20:10:00.000-04:002006-06-14T22:33:31.320-04:00

I don't know where yesterday went. So much so that I don't know where my recollection of the sweeps I entered went. I believe it was sponsored by Cover Girl, a trip to the Bahamas. I meant to TinyURL and blog it, but I got distracted. (Update: I was correct on both counts, Cover Girl and the Bahamas. To enter, click HERE.)True story: I was a cover girl once. I was in a group shot for the cover of

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1150156736331981352006-06-12T19:53:00.000-04:002006-06-12T19:58:56.346-04:00

There's a THREAD over at the Flyer Talk Contests and Sweepstakes forum that might be of interest to sweepsters and travel contesters. Someone asked if anyone who bothered to enter these things had even won anything, and the answers range to some trinkety prizes, on the level of a party favor, to some swell trips. My stars, I haven't entered a sweeps since Friday. I'll go find one, and duly

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1149871532773572452006-06-09T12:40:00.000-04:002006-06-09T14:31:05.543-04:00

Six nights with airfare. Two nights each in Tampa/Ybor City, St. Petersburg and Sarasota.To enter, click HERE.Deadline: June 30.Funny story: Isaac’s first piano teacher, a charming man named Vladimir, used to commute from St. Petersburg, Florida, to Washington, D.C., to teach at a community music school. Vladimir was originally from St. Petersburg, Russia. We thought this was amusing, one of

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1149794210101965572006-06-08T15:11:00.000-04:002006-06-09T12:52:03.676-04:00

My good friend Bethanne Patrick mentioned this jaw-dropping sweepstakes on her AOL BOOK MAVEN BLOG today: A two-night stay at the WATER'S EDGE HOTEL in Tiburon, California, and a one-day GREAT WHITE SHARK WATCHING CRUISE out to the Farallon Islands. I put this in all caps because I’m linking it to Incredible Adventures, the outfitter that runs the shark cruise and, gulp, cage dives, and also to

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1149700861308062602006-06-07T13:15:00.000-04:002006-06-07T21:27:05.576-04:00

And who are you? If you're reading this, I'd love to get a sense of where you're from and how often you visit and whether you enter the contests I mention and whether there's anything you'd like to see on the site. At some point I'll be unveiling a custom-designed website, though I highly advise you not to hold your breath on that. To post comments here, you can register with Blogger and post

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1149622586723933442006-06-06T15:33:00.000-04:002006-06-06T15:36:26.736-04:00

Eros, the God of Love, and I have not crossed paths recently. If we did, I would recognize him not for his countenance but for the effect he had on me and other passersby. Anything but indifferent, I would think.I fancied a spa fantasy this morning, and knew I’d find one on Julie Register’s Discover Spas website. She keeps a running list of SPA CONTESTS that’s worth checking out if you’re

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1149517593230443882006-06-05T10:23:00.000-04:002006-06-05T10:45:56.590-04:00

Another busy day. Here's the LINK to Luxury Link's quarterly contest. I blogged about it at some point. The winner gets to choose from five top international resorts. I try to enter daily.

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1149215443831631522006-06-01T22:27:00.000-04:002006-06-01T22:30:43.846-04:00

That’s what I felt like entering this evening, a sweeps for a trip to Mars, a real getaway. It’s been a hectic few days, with school meetings on top of the usual. I Googled as much, and found a trip to Ecuador, but it had expired. Drats. Then I found some martian-themed gaming SITE, as well as a 1938 Flash Gorden’s Trip to Mars FLICK. Then I remembered it was the first of the month, and Frommer’s

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1149092597215137102006-05-31T12:02:00.000-04:002006-05-31T15:10:35.483-04:00

Another coincidence: Memorial Day weekend was as much about birds as it was about appreciating that summertime was upon us in that wonderful, unofficial way, as well as hiking into Shenandoah National Park, relaxing with friends, very hospitable friends at that, watching Isaac play for hours on end with friends with no schedule whatsoever. Glorious. Where the birds came in is thus: I met a new

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1149023514523759002006-05-30T17:09:00.000-04:002006-07-12T23:57:51.326-04:00

I have been on pins and needles all day waiting to hear if Isaac made the select travel soccer team he tried out for two weeks ago. He made it last year, and hoped to play with the same team again in the fall. After hours and hours and hours AND HOURS of waiting – I started checking last evening in the off chance the club had gone ahead and posted the results as a courtesy, but no such luck – we

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1148748870458121082006-05-27T12:50:00.000-04:002006-05-27T13:07:44.560-04:00

Speak of the devil: France was in the air yesterday, when I referenced my exchange-student stint in France. This morning I clicked upon a contest with a prize of two nights in a château for two, plus air. Details are sketchy; the E.U.’s advertising disclosure rules are not as rigid as ours, so it’s often impossible to get anything concrete beyond the names of the sponsors. In the case, that would

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1148682510853691632006-05-26T18:22:00.000-04:002006-05-26T18:56:11.186-04:00

With my luck, this will be the one I win, a three-night stay at some to-be-announced la-di-da spa (with an Approximate Retail Value of $8,500, I think it’s safe to say this is a la-di-da spa; airfare is included) on, drum roll please, Beano, the natural anti-gas dietary supplement. Check out the URL: WWW.BEANOGAS.COM. This is serious.There are actually two ways to enter this one: 1.) a contest,

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1148582775168387682006-05-25T14:43:00.000-04:002006-11-06T20:13:54.016-05:00

I’m coming off a deadline, which tends to involve a systemic halt of extraordinary dimensions, as though I’ve woken up to a home devoid of caffeine after several days of doing major drugs of the stimulant variety. And it’s a halt, not a crash. A crash implies downward motion that eventually comes to rest, while a halt is stopping indefinitely without release, stopping with the Sisyphusian

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1148479356743123152006-05-24T09:55:00.000-04:002006-05-24T10:14:44.710-04:00

I’m going back to school this summer, to complete my MFA in Nonfiction Writing at Goucher College. It’s a great program with a tremendous faculty, and this summer’s two-week residency is packed with stellar guest lecturers (Mary Karr, Kathryn Harrison, Ted Conover; last summer, John McPhee dropped by and deconstructed one of his pieces for us).I am really, really looking forward to getting back

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1148418344927064272006-05-23T17:03:00.000-04:002006-05-24T10:16:16.930-04:00

As I’ve mentioned before, as recently as last week, one of the oddest things about my contesting experience so far is the thematic coincidences. Last week, there was Barbara’s Bakery. Last evening, my evening constitutional led me to a contest sponsored by Nature Valley, the granola bar folks and a favorite on-the-go breakfast of mine for years. I haven’t entered yet, because I am still on

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1148321359926193242006-05-22T14:06:00.000-04:002006-05-22T14:10:47.213-04:00

Never say never: I just entered a cruise sweeps. This one, of Norwegian fjords, fits my cruise specs to a T: It can only be to some place very, very interesting, or to a place only accessible by boat. This cruise is for seven days. The sweeps does NOT include air. Departure is on August 27, 2006 from Harwich, England. To enter, CLICK HERE.Besides the usual re-entry whirl, I'm on deadline. More

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1147883624534531532006-05-17T12:27:00.000-04:002006-05-25T19:38:13.456-04:00

For all my wanderlusting, actually going on a trip can feel like logistical overload when work-family-household planets are not properly aligned. Mine certainly do not feel aligned this afternoon as I get ready to head out to a four-day conference first thing tomorrow a.m. Work deadlines, a half-painted kitchen, an elderly cat with digestive troubles, a nine-year-old son with a half-finished

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1147794784428824452006-05-16T11:47:00.000-04:002006-05-16T12:11:33.293-04:00

Yesterday, it was Audi. Today it’s Ford. (I can’t resist singing, “Have you entered a Ford sweeps lately?” to the tune of the Ford jingle. Yes, if it hasn't already occurred to you, I am as intractably corny as Kansas in August.) The compare-and-contrast semiotics: With the Audi sweeps, the prize included accommodations at top lodges in Colorado (the grand prize) and Utah (first prize); they were

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1147722656553651292006-05-15T15:48:00.000-04:002006-05-15T15:50:56.566-04:00

One of my most coveted trips thus far since I started blogging is an 11-day Colorado Road trip, with an Audi for the trip but not to take home. That’s the Grand Prize. The First Prize is a road trip through Utah. Ooh. I’d take either. I’d been entering this one daily until last week, when I started experiencing technical difficulties with the Audi microsite. I thought it was my Flash, but I was

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1147571834001896382006-05-13T21:57:00.000-04:002006-05-23T19:02:10.580-04:00

I am going away next week, to The Castle on the Hudson, and want to make sure posting by email works.

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1147451323322069932006-05-12T12:24:00.000-04:002006-05-12T12:35:06.980-04:00

I’m sure as hell bound for Hades if the road to hell is paved with good intentions. I’d meant to post notice of this one, a trip for one teacher (and an adult chaperone) and up to 12 students, between ages 13 through 23. To enter, or just to check it out, click HERE. It’s sponsored by EF Educational Tours, an outfit based in Cambridge, Mass. I am not entering, since I am a student these days, not

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1147373011341812712006-05-11T14:36:00.000-04:002006-05-11T14:56:08.190-04:00

Now, if this isn’t a coincidence. Just yesterday I mentioned how my son’s had Australia on the brain for at least four years. I know we’ll get there; recent summers have just been too complicated for us to take a trip to the other side of the world. Now here’s a contest with a prize to the Great Barrier Reef. Actually, the winner gets to select his or her prize from three trips. The two other

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1147288886646741152006-05-10T15:11:00.000-04:002006-05-10T21:32:43.040-04:00

Travel is taking on every thematic form imaginable these days. Marathon, public library, independent bookstore, plastic surgery, dental (Costa Rica’s supposed to be good for that), alternative medicine (China, where else). Unless they’ve already slipped out or are plotting to flee Namibia for parts afar, Angelina Jolie appears poised to deliver her baby in Africa. This begs the question: Will she

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1147178311376913552006-05-09T08:36:00.000-04:002006-05-09T12:13:55.930-04:00

It wasn’t a mirage, the sweeps I thought I saw last week, for a three-night stay at Little Palm Island Resort in Little Torch Key, Florida. I found it, on About.com’s Trips, Vacations Contests and Sweepstakes listing. By the way, it’s a great listing of travel contests and sweeps.This SWEEPS, billed as an escape for brides, is a lure to get folks to subscribe to Conde Nast’s bridal titles (Bride’

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1147118852094238862006-05-08T15:54:00.000-04:002006-05-08T16:12:37.966-04:00

I got an early anniversary present this past Friday in the form of a six pack. Not beer, but a nod from friend and blogger extraordinaire Bethanne Patrick, AOL’s Book Maven. She kindly included Travel Contests in a six-pack list of favorite blogs. Big thanks, Bethanne. I appreciate the support, the instruction, on things like terms like “sticky,” and the overall enthusiasm for my project. I've

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1146839689284241712006-05-05T10:25:00.000-04:002006-05-05T15:31:18.676-04:00

Why not. I like mayonnaise on almost everything. Here’s a fitting prize for today’s Cinco de Mayo celebrations: Four nights at the One&Only Palmilla resort in Cabo San Lucas, for two, with airfare. The sweeps is an enticement to get visitors to concierge.com, Conde Nast Traveler’s site, to fill out a rocking questionnaire on music and place. Fun and funny, with questions about music festivals and

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1146772529071007072006-05-04T15:49:00.000-04:002006-08-27T13:43:42.853-04:00

My father’s father’s people were from England, my mother’s parents from Ireland. I know precious little about my father’s mother’s people, except that their country of origin was Holland. That would make winning this sweeps, four nights in Amsterdam and airfare, sweet. If I won this one, I would crack the family-research whip and learn more about this fleeting ancestress, an elementary-school

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1146662981419916972006-05-03T09:23:00.000-04:002006-05-03T11:51:42.346-04:00

I get it. Last week was virginity, this week it’s vanity. Hours after I entered the Slim-Fast Time 4 the Beach sweeps the other day, I got an offer, via email, for a Total Makeover sweeps. That sounds about right. I’m thinking I could use a total head-to-toe makeover. It’s a daily entry affair, sponsored by Allure, with a four-night stay at Canyon Ranch, either the Tucson or the Lenox (Mass.) (I’

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1146572993928694492006-05-02T08:21:00.000-04:002006-05-02T10:01:35.163-04:00

I love this photograph. I got it from istockphoto.com. I also use dreamstime.com to stock my blog. I keep meaning to credit photographers. I started out doing as much. I even heard from one, about a Las Vegas photograph. He appreciated the credit. He wished me luck. This one, in the Bahamas, is by Roberto Adrian, a Miami-based photographer. What I love about this picture is that it makes you want

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1146520972510252482006-05-01T17:54:00.000-04:002006-05-01T18:07:14.113-04:00

This one, for a four-day trip for two to Guadalajara to learn about tequila, made me realize that it has been ages since I last had a margarita. Martinis have been my cocktail of choice for so long that I practically forgot margaritas existed. Ah, margaritas, straight up, as cold as cold gets without becoming frozen, with a little salt on the rim, shaken and stirred.I used to drink margaritas,

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1146520329171980802006-05-01T17:49:00.000-04:002006-05-01T17:53:48.530-04:00

Maybe even tres margaritas. I'm having trouble posting today. Blogger's giving confounding error messages. What a perfect excuse to go out and get margarita provisions.

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1146416108416260872006-04-30T12:44:00.000-04:002006-04-30T12:55:08.920-04:00

Coming Monday: Margarita Madness Contest.While you're waiting, here's a recipe a friend sent me some years ago, along with a gift, an antique silver shaker, circa 1900.1 ½ ounces Tequila (Sauza Hornites)1 ½ ounces Cointreau or Triple Sec (the first choice being Cointreau)Juice of one whole lime, or to taste

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1146245845258747282006-04-28T13:31:00.000-04:002006-04-28T13:52:17.896-04:00

I was a spa virgin until a year and a half ago. I’d been to resorts, but not a spa with a capital S, not what they call a destination spa. (And no, I am not going to go and tell you what “spa” means again.) I went to a certain spa in Scottsdale, okay, The Sanctuary, and had a pedicure and a totally transformative watsu and swam in the infinity pool (as well as the lap pool and another pool on the

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1146176479845020272006-04-27T18:17:00.000-04:002006-04-27T22:03:25.256-04:00

When I find a hole in the otherwise rich English language, I like to take a stab at filling it. Sometimes this whimsy teetering on hubris works, sometimes it doesn’t. I’m undecided about my latest: “blisster,” someone who follows his or her bliss as prescribed by Joseph Campbell. The word has potential in that it evokes “hipster.” It’s problematic in that its homophone is “blister.” Though you

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1146068429328881462006-04-26T12:06:00.000-04:002006-04-26T16:03:38.986-04:00

The allergy-fog has lifted after two long zomby days and I am raring to go on a magic carpet ride.First, my rug dealer. There have been very few times in my life where my response to an object has been so strong that I am overcome by an immediate and overwhelming urgency to possess it. I’m too practical and, more often than not, cash-strapped to boot. One of those times involved a Gabbeh rug. If

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1145988373465707402006-04-25T14:02:00.000-04:002006-04-26T12:05:26.896-04:00

Update from yesterday: I had a little technical difficulty over at the kayak.com site and have not yet successfully entered my Virgin Territory itinerary, for the trip to London. I will try, try, try again and trust that my entry will go through without a hitch by the sweeps’ May 15 deadline. I will also get around to riffing about my rug dealer and my hometown’s long reach into my travel

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1145926773678125092006-04-24T20:46:00.000-04:002006-04-25T04:37:56.516-04:00

People complain about runny noses, itchy eyes and scratchy throats when those invisible assailants commonly known as allergens descend upon them come the spring. My allergy symptoms typically assume metaphysical states: ambivalence, indecisiveness, lack of focus, acute scatteredness. Today’s, the first bad day of the season, were so destabilizing they felt synthetic, as though they’d been

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1145627137292020052006-04-21T09:40:00.000-04:002006-04-21T14:39:49.376-04:00

I found this three-nights-at-a-spa sweeps from the ad that’s been running now for several days in that wide skyscraper Google Adsense sidebar to the left of your screen. Scroll down and you can’t miss it: www.botoxcosmetic.com. If it’s still there, that is. I’ve resisted looking into it, because of the usual ambivalence about the ascendance of plastic surgery and cosmetic enhancements in our

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1145552534245107972006-04-20T12:55:00.000-04:002006-04-20T14:25:09.936-04:00

One of my sacred rules is not to enter sweeps that require a purchase of any sort. I am however open to the occasional contest, like sending a short essay, as I did for the German-sponsored sweeps to the World Cup (which is increasingly sounding like things could get dicey, with reports of expected hooliganism and dreadful racist incidents at matches in France and Spain) or subscribing to an

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1145470550075183792006-04-19T14:07:00.000-04:002006-04-19T21:15:19.530-04:00

I’ve been thinking that what I do, getting off on the fantasy of travel, albeit cerebrally, is not very different from dabbling in online pornography. I’ve gone so far as to concoct Mae West lines in my head. “If travel is the new sex, heaven help us. The foreplay is so boring.” I had packing in mind.Now Anthony Lane has gone and expressed a similar thought on the subject of online fantasy travel

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1145397913627563082006-04-18T18:00:00.000-04:002006-04-19T22:32:18.510-04:00

Today was an interesting day sweeps-wise. I got up in the middle of the night, before the birds, that old insomnia, and clicked on my four daily-entry sweeps (Audi Road Trip, World Cup, Working Mom, Luxury Link).When I woke up for good, after the birds, I tried to enter the Gourmet Montréal Getaway Sweepstakes. Only I kept getting an error message. Me thinks my entry was “lost, late misdirected,

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1145330601409689412006-04-17T23:15:00.000-04:002006-04-18T16:09:47.003-04:00

This doesn’t rise to the level of travel fraud, but Gourmet Magazine’s full-page come-hither ad, on page 179 of its April issue, for a Montréal getaway, is annoying bordering on duplicitous. The ad beckons readers to enter what it calls “The Great Gourmet Montréal Getaway Sweepstakes," then describes the prize (roundtrip airfare, deluxe hotel accommodations, dinner for two, admission to the world

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1145070183077422762006-04-14T22:56:00.000-04:002006-04-19T22:48:01.336-04:00

I’m visiting my mother and what novel does she wonder if I’ve read: The Da Vince Code. My sister had given it to her for Christmas. "You can’t put it down," she tells me. Maybe not. But I’m reading Frank Conroy’s Stop-Time, his memoir, a book that I not only can put down, but one that I have to put down. It gets that disturbing.She’s retired for the evening, my son is watching the Wizards play

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1145040180552498222006-04-14T14:28:00.000-04:002006-04-14T14:44:41.453-04:00

Here’s one for a trip to next year’s Sundance Film Festival, for two, and the winner’s dog, sponsored by CESAR Little Dog brand. Which begs several questions: Must entrants own a dog? The eligibility rules do not stipulate as much, but the entry form does ask for name of the entrant’s dog, plus the dog’s size. I tried to enter but got some funky error path message and will try again. I’m planning

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1144861100851449322006-04-12T12:47:00.000-04:002006-04-19T22:28:19.916-04:00

Finally, a seamless sweeps for a trip to the World Cup. No essay, no quiz, just click and enter. Folks can register here and enter once a day - or more if you tell a friend, and even more if you’re a T-Mobile customer, which I am not and which I do not intend to be as I have no intentions of owning a cell phone anytime soon. But if you are a T-Mobile customer with a hankering to get to the World

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1144793963863771062006-04-11T18:13:00.000-04:002006-04-11T18:34:13.900-04:00

Trying to find the entry form to this one nearly left me in palpitations. I first chanced upon it on a list of sweeps, but could not access the link. I knew it was sponsored by Redbook, “it” being a four-night stay at The Westin New York at Times Square, but foolishly, instead of making a bee line to the magazine’s website, I continued to try and enter the sweeps via other sites, which led to a

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1144729455432779922006-04-11T00:18:00.000-04:002006-04-11T00:29:15.643-04:00

First, consider this man’s signature, at the bottom of this “about” self-representation. It speaks volumes, to the ego, to the supposed perfectionism, to the hair that I strongly suspect still, after all these years, does not have the proper building permits: It is just too damn high and off center, it must be in violation of some New York City code or other. But forget the hair. What's just as

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23636161.post-1144698742929343722006-04-10T15:48:00.000-04:002006-04-10T15:52:22.946-04:00

Let this be a lesson to me: No more speeding-reading of fine print.I stumbled upon this contest a few weeks ago, and did not even enter it until last night, when I realized that this is a one entry per person PER DAY sweeps. Ah.The History Channel is sponsoring this one, in conjunction with the series Ten Days That Unexpectedly Changed America that’s running this week. 10 winners get their pick

Barbara Benhamnoreply@blogger.com2