Historic Photos of Washington DC Monuments

I love Turner Publishing. Over the past few years, they have sent me Historic Photos of Theodore Roosevelt and Historic Photos of Washington, DC for free in exchange for me promoting these books on this blog. Now, they sent me a copy of their latest release titled Historic Photos of Washington, DC Monuments.



This book is now located prominently on one of our few remaining bookshelves. With our home officially going on the market today, I expect that people will notice the book as they walk through. Maybe they'll be so enthralled by the book that they'll offer us even more than the selling price. I'm sure that we could work out a deal where the book would convey if asked.

While I may be getting a little carried away, it really is an awesome book. Seeing pictures of the DC mall from 75 and 100 years ago is fascinating. I particularly like the amazing pictures of the Lincoln Memorial being constructed. Photos of the Washington Monument and Jefferson Memorial are also highlighted.

Anyway, thanks to Turner for sending me these books. If any other company wants to send me free stuff, I'm not above accepting gifts!

Finally, Turner Publishing is having a contest to win free books for a year. Click here to enter.

Selling Out?

Back in January, I wrote that in the three years since I started Sean’s Ramblings, I have earned a total of $0 from writing this blog. Nine months later, I am proud to say that I have made enough money from writing posts about eating free California Tortilla burritos, trivia night questions and Steelers news and information that I should be able to retire by 2108. (Now that is going to be a difficult election!) Actually, that’s not true, as the current total I have earned from this blog remains $0. Regardless of the economy, I guess I’ll never be able to earn a living from this.

Recently, however, I have received several inquiries about money-making opportunities. In one case, I would write about a specific topic, and an advertiser would pay me for my opinion. As long as the advertiser is fine with me possibly slamming the product or issue, I could be OK with this. I guess it all depends on the topic as I’m not going to start writing about shampoo or tax policies. In the other situation, a sports handicapper wants to provide a banner ad on this site. Whether or not I am interested in having ads on this site, I have no idea what to charge for ads or even how to post them.

So my dilemma now is if I want to sell out to make a little money. Will you respect me less if you do? Would you worry about money clouding my opinion on a particular topic? I’m probably over-thinking this. The $5 extra dollars I could possibly make won’t help my retirement accounts. (Although, I could use it for a burrito!)

In the meantime, feel free to send me free stuff! For example, Turner Publishing is the greatest publishing company ever. Yes, I’m biased since they sent me the book Historic Photos of Theodore Roosevelt. There are some amazing pictures of Roosevelt with the Rough Riders and giving his speeches during his presidency. While we are likely tiring of Obama-McCain, the 1912 election between the incumbent William Howard Taft, Roosevelt, running for a third term after a four-year hiatus, and the eventual winner Woodrow Wilson, must have been fun (and I mean this is a non-sarcastic way).