Coal Creative

From the email bag:

Caol Creative

Blog for Website & Print Design, Online Marketing and Search Engine Optimization in Northeastern PA

Link: http://www.coalcreative.com/blog

Vintage Tub Blog: The Daily Tubber

Vintage Tub & Bath is a company out of Mountaintop that has both a standard website and a blog called "The Daily Tubber" - "A blog about clawfoot tubs, bathroom renovation and anything else that looks interesting."  Check it out!

Vintage Tub & Bath Inc.
395 Oak Hill Road
Mountain Top, PA 18707
570-474-1203 x305

http://www.vintagetub.com/
http://www.buykitchensinks.com/


Blog:  The Daily Tubber

Coupons and discounts: We Shop Deals 4 You

We Shop Deals 4 You

A NEPA-based blog featuring coupons, discounts, and information to save shoppers money.  From the introductory post:

Hello, my name is Jennifer and I've started this blog, We Shop Deals 4 You, because over the past few months I have really "gotten into" couponing and I want to share all of the great deals I've been getting.

Blogger-Candidate Meetup on September 17th

There is another Blogger-Candidate Meetup scheduled for this Friday, September 17, at Rooney's Irish Pub in Pittston, PA.  Rather than try to rephrase everything, I'm just going to shamelessly steal the post from Gort, the organizer of this event:

Blogger/Candidate Meetup September 17th

It was so much fun last time we are going to do it again.


Candidates meet the faces behind the screen names


The next blogger meetup will be Friday September 17th at Rooney's Irish Pub 67 S. Main St. Pittston, PA 18704 starting at 5PM. There is big bar area with tables off to the side and plenty of free parking across the street where the Tomato Festival is held. It's easy to find just drive north on River Street from W-B and it's on the left. Or south from Scranton and it's on the right.


It looks like we will have a good turnout. So far I have received confirmation from about 25 campaigns for Congress, State Senate and State House that the candidate and/or supporters will be attending. That includes Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians and Pastafarians. The statewide candidates have been invited along with office holders not up for election this year and people interested in running for local offices in 2011. Some national figures have been invited and you never know who just might make it. Last time over 150 people showed up.


Our political bloggers from Luzerne and Lackawanna counties will be there along with our readers, commenters and people who are just interested in local politics.


This is an informal mixer with no speeches scheduled. There is no charge for admission.


This event is sanctioned by the Northeast Blogging Council and the Saturday OT Committee and Operatic Society.

Assorted Poems and Purple Prose by Brandon Halsey

Assorted Poems and Purple Prose

From the introductory post:

With this blog I intend to share my experiences as a self-published author, both good and bad. Hopefully other aspiring writers will read this blog and find some of the information within to be useful.

Two from Alison Wasko

Two blogs submitted by Alison Wasko via e-mail:

RésuMom
http://www.resumom.blogspot.com/
"With over 11 years of résumé writing and job search experience, I guarantee my clients results with personalized, on-call guidance through the entire procurement process (from job search to interview tips - and everything in between). Special packages now available for stay-at-home moms returning to the workforce. "

KidDilly
http://www.kiddilly.com/
"When Northeast PA moms gather, great things happen. Welcome! Sign up today for discounts and exclusives."

WB Fire Fighters Thoughts

WB Fire Fighters Thoughts
http://wbff88.blogspot.com/

A blog that shows some of what The Wilkes-Barre fire dept is thinking.

(For those not familiar with this area, WB = Wilkes-Barre. And that's "Berry" or "Bury" or even "Bear", but never "Barrrrr." Sorry, New Yorkers.)

Steve Lewis Photography

Steve Lewis is a photographer in Northeastern Pennsylvania who uses his blog to showcase his work and promote his business.

http://www.stevelewisphotography.blogspot.com/

From his About Me:

I bring my passion for visual story-telling to every shoot, and would be honored to help you preserve your most beloved memories. Ultimately, its about you, the subject. Its about your wedding day. Your engagement. Your family, children, pregnancy. Your senior portraits or head shots. And your satisfaction is by far the most rewarding part of my job.

My philosophy: very little posing and directing, and instead, waiting for those raw and authentically beautiful moments you wish to relive over and over again. Capturing real moments as they naturally unfold is one of the most exciting things for me as a photographer!

If you are from or blog in or about Northeastern Pennsylvania, drop us a line at nepablogs at gmail.com!

NEPAsarge Veteran Voice

One of the very best ways to get your blog noticed is to leave thoughtful and intelligent comments on other, well-trafficed blogs. Not of the "hey, you wanna exchange links?" variety, but something that might cause a reader to click through your name to see who you are and what your blog is about.

NEPAsarge is one of those. I just spotted him in a comment on Gort's site, though he's been around for a few weeks.

NEPAsarge Veteran Voice
http://nepasarge.blogspot.com/

From the first post:

I thought it would be fitting for me to start this blog on Memorial Day weekend since this is a time when we recognize those that sacrificed the greatest things we hold, our lives, to protect this nation. It also recognizes those veterans, soldiers, and families that serve too. The purpose of this blog is to address political issues that veteran community faces. It also is to add views on sports, news, and hobbies.

Old Forge Coal Mines

Not a blog, but still an interesting site for people interested in Northeastern Pennsylvania's Anthracite past.

http://www.oldforgecoalmine.com/

Our Intent is to preserve the vanishing history and heritage of the coal mines, colliers, and breakers that were located in Old Forge Pennsylvania for future generations, and to gather all the information into one location.

Fracking Underground

Another site dedicated to getting the word out about natural gas drilling:

Fracking Underground
http://frackingunderground.blogspot.com/

From the introductory post:
I've been watching this whole Marcellus Shame thing develop for quite a spell. I gotta say that the people who oppose this intrusion by the Natural Gas ( NG: also for No Good ) industry are, for the most part , right on the money - because that is exactly what this is all about. Nothing more, nothing less.

Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition

A request to add this site came through on May 24, 2010. Somehow I managed to miss it in TWO different InBoxes! Here it is:

GDAC - Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition
https://gasdrillingawarenesscoalition.wordpress.com/

Unfortunately, it does not seem to have an RSS / Atom / Live Feed, so it will not "bubble up" to the top of the blog list on the sidebar when a new post goes up. So be sure to check the site frequently!

June 10, 2010: Uncornered Market - LIVE in Scranton!

See two of the most fascinating bloggers ever linked by NEPA Blogs live and in person in Scranton on June 10, 2010!

Date: Thursday, June 10, 2010

Time: 7:00pm - 9:00pm (talk from 7:00-8:00pm, we'll be around before and after)

Location: Anthology New and Used Books -- 515 Center St., 2nd Floor, Scranton PA

Description: Scranton native Daniel Noll and his wife, Audrey Scott, take a break from 40 months of travel to share a slideshow presentation of their around-the-world journey. Arthur Frommer describes Dan and Audrey as "some of the most interesting travelers in all the world." Their website, Uncornered Market (http://www.UncorneredMarket.com/), was a finalist for the Lonely Planet "Travel Blog of the Year" award.From Antarctica to Uzbekistan, Dan and Audrey share select tales of inspiring people, food to die for and their favorite "undiscovered" places. In addition, they discuss what they've learned about themselves and the world by experiencing it together.


If you are on Facebook, the event is listed here: http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=126374717387789

Power of 5

Power of 5 USA for You


This is written Mike Avery who is passionate about what he does.


Politics is not an intellectual exercise, it is trench warfare in a civilized manner. If you are not inclined to stand up and be counted, please sit down and get out of the way of those who are.

Adding to the list

Usually a listing on this site results in the blogger we highlight to stop writing. Just like voting it's the kiss of death. Trying to reverse that trend I waited to see if these local scribes would stick it out for a few months and they have.

Pure Bunkum


We started this blog because we care, and we’re concerned and you should be too.

If you think Luzerne County is bad - and is it ever! – it’s small potatoes compared to what’s going on in Washington, D.C., where self-serving career politicians systematically squander our taxes, strangle our businesses, and perpetuate a mind-set which encourages dependency on government. Don’t you see what they’re doing? – anything it takes to keep them in power, like delivering $300,000 of taxpayers’ money to build a theater in a likely opponent’s backyard or promising to come through with $500,000 for another local project. Both politicians insinuated that such goodies could vanish if they’re not re-elected.

“These are the times that try men’s souls,” warned Thomas Paine in ”Common Sense,” as he rallied the colonies to stand up to tyranny.

These words ring true today.

Those who control the national purse strings are determined to undermine those who work and enable those who loaf.

Our elected officials, so drunk with power and their own self importance, are detached from those they were entrusted to represent.

Case in point: Health care reform. The American people have made it clear they do not want life and death legislation rushed through in the wee hours of the morning by a chosen few with scant concern for the long-range ramifications.

They know people, on average, will rant among themselves and then get on with their daily lives.

Don’t count us among them. We plan to speak out on matters of local, state and national interest and hold our representatives accountable.

What is bunkum? It’s “insincere speech-making by a politician merely to please local constituents.” See pandering.

We’re not going to let them get away with this without a fight. Join us on our journey. Get engaged. Care.

There’s a lot at at stake here. If you don’t pay attention, the joke will be on you.



Carbon County Insider


I plan on talking about anything that impacts the residents of Carbon County, PA. For the next several months it may be mostly election news and views, but you will get accurate quotes and honest reviews of things.

Hold on, its going to get bumpy around here until election time.


Valley Scanner


Howdy,

If you've come this far, consider yourself an early adopter.

I'm loathe to string a banner across the site announcing "Under Construction."
So let's just call what you see here a "beta."

Be sure and join our Facebook page by clicking on the menu tab above.

Things will be ramping up over the next week or so. Stay tuned

K. Dougherty
Editor



Loreley's Musings


Many who know me would say I'm opinionated. And I enjoy writing, ergo, I begin my blog. Whether I continue with this remains to be seen. I admit, I have grown tired of reading blogs of friends and acquaintances and writing my own opinion (complete with citations, etc.) in the comment section. And, I will also say that some of the blogs with high readership amount to little more than trite insults hurled at those who disagree with the writers of said blogs. I hope to provide something different.

Kentucky Derby and NEPA Bloggers' gathering this Saturday

As has become a bit of a tradition, there will be an informal* gathering of NEPA bloggers, blog readers, etc. etc. this Saturday. From Gort's official announcement:

The 13th annual get together of the Saturday OT Committee and Operatic Society to watch the Kentucky Derby is scheduled for Saturday, May 1st 4PM at Marks Pub 1287 N Washington St, Wilkes-Barre.

None of us are big horse race fans but this is just another excuse to infuse cash into the malt beverage industry to ensure it's liquidity. After all, we don't want D.G. Yuengling & Son to go the way of General Motors.

This is not a mega-meetup like the one last month a Rooney's (we will do that again in the fall) and it has not been sanctioned by the Northeast Blogging Council. But of course everyone is welcome.

*Like we've ever had any other sort.

From the (new & improved) mailbag

Just getting used to the new email address for new blogs, nepablogs@gmail.com . Here's the stuff that's landed in there so far:


RentSomeone.com's Progress

Name: Gerard Durling
Blog Name: RentSomeone.com's Progress
URL: http://blog.rentsomeone.com/

Description: This blog is focused around the progress of local NEPA
website, RentSomeone.com. It discusses different marketing efforts the
website has taken, it's successes and failures, upcoming events, job
postings, and much more. Feel free to stop by and jump in the
conversation.

--
Gerard Durling
Co-owner, RentSomeone.com
gerard@rentsomeone.com



Whole Family NEPA

Hello! Just started my own blog for locals: http://www.wholefamilynepa.blogspot.com/ Would love for you to post it. I have included great local links to places which should contribute to holistic living in this area. Muchas Gracias! Kathy Puso

This is what I say in my intro.


Born to ride the wave of increasing interest in holistic living as more info comes to the fore about its benefts, Whole Family NEPA intends to feed the region's roots with some solid energy. No additives or simple carbs here! ;) The more we live in a way that benefits the Whole - our body, mind, spirit and community - the more we will have peace in our world. Think that sounds like a big goal to achieve? The recipe: a lot of common sense thinking, mixed in with some planning, a whole lot of doing, splashed with a supportive community. I think we CAN!



Chatty Jay's Musings

Hi there!

My name is Jay Grandis and I've recently started a blog. I was born and raised in NEPA and for the last seven years have resided in the Williamsport, PA area. My blog's title is "Chatty Jay's Musings" and the description is:

"Living in the 21st century is quite an experience. Common sense, recognition of science on certain issues, equality for all, etc. still have yet to appear on the scene. I'll be commenting on LGBT, HIV, Equality, and other issues whenever something on the news wires grabs my attention."

I'd be grateful if you would add my blog to your website's list. I didn't see any other blogs on your site that address the issues that I plan to blog about. Hopefully my blog will be an interesting viewpoint and addition to your list and your readers will enjoy this additional perspective. With the elections approaching shortly, I also plan to bring to light some of the local politicians' voting records on several issues that my blog is dedicated to. I'm also looking into purchasing my own domain which will enable me to increase many aspects of my blog. Thanks in advance for the consideration.

Sincerely,
Jay Grandis, author of http://www.chattyjay.blogspot.com/
--
If you're curious as to what's on my mind, just read my blog about LGBT, HIV, political, and other issues at http://www.chattyjay.blogspot.com/



A Big Fat Slob

please add:

A Big Fat Slob
http://www.abigfatslob.com/

--
--
ABFS
http://www.abigfatslob.com/



Pennsylvania Environmental Solutions by B.F. Environmental Consultants Inc.

My name- Mr. Brian Oram

Blog Name – Pennsylvania Environmental Solutions by B.F. Environmental Consultants Inc.

URL - http://pennsylvania-solutions.blogspot.com/

Grassroots community based solutions for environmental and energy conservation, watershed management, alternative and renewable energy, biomass, geothermal, wind, solar, stormwater management, land-based wastewater disposal and water reuse, and training related to Green Building / Sustainability.

Announcement

B.F. Environmental Consultants Inc is now offering affordable distance learning courses on alternative energy systems, natural gas development, petrochemical training, environmental science, soil science, health and safety OSHA, industrial training, and engineering management. This includes continuing education and PDH. In addition, our new online store offers access to information and products related to water harvesting, rain barrels, composting, water conservation, water quality monitoring, soil management, and much more.

Visit – our Website Today !

NEPA Blogger meetup

The next blogger meetup will be Friday March 26th at Rooney's Irish Pub 67 S. Main St. Pittston, PA 18704 starting at 5PM.

I scouted out the place today and it's perfect for us. There is big bar area with tables off to the side and plenty of free parking across the street where the Tomato Festival is held. It's easy to find just drive north on River Street from W-B and it's on the left. Mapquest it. The DJ doesn't start until 8:30PM so we won't be blasted out. The menu looks good with everything from sit down dinners to bar food and munchies. For those who want to light up a smoking station is right outside the front door.

Slackin' Off

I have been meaning to add a blog post for several da...I mean weeks now, but life has been a bit hectic for me as of late. Between work, the kids and the day to day stresses that occur, blogging has kind of been put on the back burner so to speak. However, fear not, I come bearing gifts...In the form of new blog submissions.
Before I get started with that, I'd like to take a moment to discuss our new blog submission setup.
So pay attention!
If you have a blog you would like to submit, please asend an email to nepablogs@gmail.com. Be sure to include your name, the blog's name, the blog's URL (http:// address), and if possible a short description of what the blog is about. As a rule of thumb, we like to keep the blogs/website related to the Northeastern Pennsylvania region in one way or another. DB, Gort and I all have access to the email account, so if one of us gets tied up the other two can pick up the slack with adding blogs to the site.
Now without further ado, here are my latest offerings to the NEPA Blog Gods.
BackMountain.org - This is more of an events calendar type of website, but is spreading like wild fire. I am from the Back Mountain area (we'll call it the FARRRRRR back) and have been noticing this URL popping up on several signs and billboards in the Dallas area. Since I consider myself a nosey person, I decided to go online and check it out. It is a community, culture and commerce driven website, be sure to experience the Back Mountain by checking out the page.

From the email box . . . I received a request to add two blogs from Bill Greenlaw of Pike County. The first blog is "Pike County for Specter" http://pikecoforspecter.blogspot.com/ and the next is "The Future of Pike County" http://futureofpikecounty.blogspot.com/. Bill advises that these blogs are not currently active, but activity will be heating up going into the 2011 local election races.

From Twitter . . . A Girl's Gotta Spa (ain't it the truth). Shannon Nelson, a professional blogger, has maintained this beauty blog since 2005. She writes reviews about beauty products, grooming tips and much much more. The best part about reading this blog is knowing that she lives in our own backyard. Welcome to the NEPA Blogs community Shannon!

RentSomeone.com - According to the website; RentSomeone.com facilitates a person's profile who wants to find work with absolutely no contracts, while keeping the service free for the hiring company or person looking for a candidate to fulfill a need. We focus on keeping our profiles secure, yet available for someone to find the right candidate at no cost to the hiring service.

Last but not least. . . a shameless plug. As you may or may not be aware I am enrolled in the Leadership Wilkes-Barre Class of 2010. My project group, the BILAA Little League Revitalization was in the 03/07/10 Sunday edition of the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader -- http://www.timesleader.com/features/Dream_builders_03-07-2010.html. We are rehabbing the BILAA Little League Field in the Lyndwood section of Hanover Township. If you would like to donate to our project, or volunteer for an upcoming work day at the field, please contact 2010fieldrehab@gmail.com for further information. All of the proceeds and donations will go directly to that Field's rehab project. Please help us lay the foundation for building our future NEPA MLB stars. If we rebuild, they will come back.
Coming Soon. . .Stay tuned for Gort's announcement about the next Blogger's gathering!

Fairytale Feasts

This arrived via e-mail the other day:

Hello -

I saw your blog "NEPA BLOGS" and I just wanted to let you know that I am from Pittston, PA and I recently launched my own blog, "Fairytale Feasts." I would love for you to add my blog to your site!

http://www.fairytalefeasts.com/

Thanks! :-) -- Diana

From the introductory post:

Here, I will give homage to my love for food by writing about everything from my favorite foods, restaurants, chefs, recipes, etc. Sometimes I will write about an entire meal or I might just write about one ingredient. I love food and whatever concept or facet of food I love on a particular day is what I will write about.

Check out Fairytale Feasts!

More political blogs

I've been remiss in sharing links of sites that have caught my attention.

First up is Scranton Public Policy Examiner written by my friend Steve Urbanski of Kingston. Steve seems to know just about everybody involved in local politics and gets many of them to sit down for an interview.

Pike County based Political Pike started out strong covering the PA 10th Congressional race but has slacked off latelty. Let's hope a listing on NEPA Blogs is not the kiss of death like it has been for so many others.

WILKWATCHER is another blog in a long line of now defunct efforts devoted to listening to WILK during the day and then commenting on Sue, Kevin & Nancy and Corbett. I'm a night shift worker so I never get to listen to the morning news and I'm usually on my way to work when Corbett is on so I only catch the beginning of his show. Recently I found that I can take about 4 minutes of his ranting and raving before I switch on one of the college stations. If I'm up early enough I always tune in Sue Henry.

Mike Avery is a former broadcaster, advertising exec & sales and marketing pro, who has owned and operated a small trucking company for the last 15 years. He is based in East Stroudsburg and shares his thoughts at Power of 5 USA for You

I don't know where Scappled is based but it sure has a lot of commentary about NEPA politics.
From the header
Where "Pennsyltucky" is really an insult to Kentucky.

Coo Coo 4 Coupons

I received this as a comment a while ago, but I'm just remembering it now. From occasional mentions of Weis Markets and Scranton you can tell that Coo Coo 4 Coupons is a NEPA-based blog, though the offers presented there would probably be of interest to people anywhere coupons are accepted.

http://coocoo4coupons.blogspot.com/

From the "About Me":

I am addicted to finding deals but most of all FREEBIES! I guess you could say that my addiction started when my Aunt Susan told me about her free magazine subscriptions. Ever since then i have been searching the internet for samples, freebies, legit survey companies as well as legit WOM (word of mouth) companies. Last year i did pretty well with Christmas on survey companies alone! As time goes by you learn what companies are legit and which ones are pure spam. I am here to help you with that.

The Green Athiest

From the email box:

Hello, I'm Justin Vacula from NEPA. I manage my own blog here:

Justin Vacula : The Green Atheist
www.GreenAtheist.Blogspot.com
"Follow your common sense. You cannot hide yourself behind a fairytale forever and ever. Only by revealing the whole truth can we disclose the soul of this sick bulwark forever and ever. Forever and ever." Epica - Cry For The Moon

Please sure to check it out.

Karla Porter's Blog

I have been following Karla Porter on Twitter now for at least a half of a year. As stated in her Twitter Bio, she is NEPA's go-to authority on all things human capital, career, recruiting and new media... maybe more. She is a perfect fit to our NEPA Blog community, and we are glad to add her to the mix.

“Get on-board the change train and enjoy the ride” ~Karla
http://karlaporter.com/
On Twitter: @karla_porter

Forty Fort First and My Quill Pen

Two new blogs, one by way of email, the other through a comment:

Forty Fort First
http://fortyfortfirst.com/
From the email:

"The blog provides video coverage of Forty Fort Council meetings and Work Sessions. We'll also be providing commentary regarding Forty Fort political issues as required. The site also provides a growing library of municipal documents and links to a discussion forum. "

My Quill Pen
http://myquillpen.blogspot.com/
From the introductory post, from March 3 2007:

I call this blog “My Quill Pen” because I’m an old fashioned writer. What does that mean? Writing should be clear, concise and compelling, but above all, it should be correct. Writing correctly seems quaint today; email, IM and blogs make communication instantaneous. Do we sacrifice quality in the bargain?

I’m not much for acronyms and emoticons, but I’m even less for run-on sentences, subjects and verbs that don’t agree, misspellings, improper usages and the like. It’s scandalous that in the 21st Century, we have business executives, lawyers, teachers and community leaders whose writings can’t match those of Civil War soldiers’ letters home for clarity, vigor and thoughtfulness.

I hope my scratchings live up to my ideals.

Frack Mountain

From the Back Mountain - a beautiful area of Northeastern Pennsylvania just northwest of Wilkes-Barre - comes the latest blog to tackle the issue of environmental damage caused by irresponsible natural gas extraction: Frack Mountain.

http://frackmountain.wordpress.com/

From the blog's "About" page:

I live in an area called the Back Mountain. It is upland northwest of a large and populated valley. The Back Mountain comprises over 100 square miles and is home to approximately 27,000 humans. It is a verdant and pastoral quilt of relatively thriving communities and two college-sized universities.

Recently, EnCana Corporation was given permission to drill three exploratory natural gas wells in the Back Mountain. This could have major long term consequences for our good community. We need to educate ourselves and our decision makers.

I will be posting information, opinion, and links. I invite your submissions and comments.

Thanks for reading, hope to hear from you

Thanks to Mark Cour of Circumlocution for Dummies for the link.

The Susquehanna River Sentinel - now with added features!

For over ten years the clean water enthusiast known as Kayak Dude has been running a site called The Susquehanna River Sentinel, bringing to light all sorts of problems that afflict the Susquehanna River, diminish the ability of people to use and enjoy it, and threaten its ecological and economic future. From the folly of the Inflatable Dam to the dumping of raw sewage directly into the river just upstream of Wilkes-Barre's new riverside recreational facility to the mass poisoning of millions of gallons of water in the hydrological fracturing process of natural gas extraction from the Marcellus Shale formation and the consequent contamination of groundwater near extraction sites, The Susquehanna River Sentinel has covered it all.

Only...you probably can't find any of that stuff.

In its original form, The Susquehanna River Sentinel didn't have an RSS feed, so there was no easy way for readers to be alerted whenever a new entry was posted. It didn't use permalinks, so there's no way to link directly to a specific entry. And, as far as I can determine, it didn't archive entries. Once a few new entries elbowed their way onto the page, the old entries vanished into the aether.

It's not all gone. Mark Cour has diligently covered a few of the entries on his blogs Wilkes-Barre Online and Circumlocution for Dummies. And it was there that that Mark posted Kayak Dude's announcement of a new version of the site in an entry called KD goes mainstream. This new, reference-ready version of The Susquehanna River Sentinel is now online. A link to the RSS feed has been added to the NEPA Blogs sidebar.

Kayak Dude isn't wasting any time. He has already used the new site to announce a major event happening in less than a week. Check it out here!

If you live in Northeastern Pennsylvania or have any connection to it, this is a blog you should be reading!

The Susquehanna River Sentinel (new version)
The Susquehanna River Sentinel (old version)