Bloggers I Love | Table for Five

How A Blogger Named Suebob Changed My Life – Happy Birthday Suebob!

July 6, 2011 By Elizabeth

“Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for awhile and leave footprints on our hearts. And we are never, ever the same.”

Today is the birthday of Sue Davis, also known as Suebob, also known as Suebob from Red Stapler, someone a lot of bloggers adore, and when I got an email asking me to post something for her birthday, something that would let her know how special she is to me, I knew exactly what I wanted to post. This is part of the Incredibly True Story of How I Went to BlogHer 2006, and the story starts with Suebob!

On May 16, 2006, I had been blogging for eight months when I got an email that changed everything. Suebob (yes, SueBOB, it’s been her nickname for a long time) from Red Stapler had run a contest to give away a free pass to that summer’s BlogHer conference, and the winner of her contest, IzzyMom, had already purchased her ticket and wanted to give her free pass away to someone else.

Izzy emailed me to see if I wanted her BlogHer ticket, which of course caused me to freak the heck out before emailing back YES and OMG. When I emailed Suebob to let her know that I was the person getting the ticket and to ask how I went about finding a roommate to split the hotel cost with me, she replied back that she had booked a room and didn’t have a roommate, so how would I like to room with her and not to worry about the cost?

My mind was practically blown out of my head at that point. EIGHT months I had been blogging, I had never been to Sue’s blog, and yet she was fine with me taking this free conference ticket AND was offering to be my roommate AND was excited to meet me. I didn’t know it then, but my entire life, not just my blogging life but my entire LIFE, was going to change in just a few short months. Best of all, THIS:

IzzyMom and Suebob at BlogHer

Because Suebob had that contest, because she offered to let me share her room, and because another blogger used her Delta SkyMiles to buy my entire plane ticket and another blogger offered to let me stay at her house Sunday night and would drive me to the airport Monday morning – keep in mind, EIGHT MONTHS Of blogging and having never ever met another blogger in person – because Suebob’s contest set that chain in motion, I am not only the blogger I am today, I am greatly changed as a person today.

Because I went to BlogHer that year, because I listened to Ariana Huffington tell us in the Closing Keynote Address that she was overcoming her fears and starting a new website (HuffingtonPost!), because I grabbed a pen and on the back of one of my business cards I wrote:

1. Find your voice.
2. Stop apologizing. Be proud of who you are and what you do.
3.Stop hesitating. Move yourself forward.
4. You ARE worthy.

When I got home, I bought table4five.net and a hosting package. I bought a Pro Flickr account. Because I went to BlogHer, because Suebob set the wheels in motion, I became the blogger I am today – heck, I became the person that I am today. I had been trying for years to find my creative outlet. I had no idea what blogging really could be until I went to BlogHer ’06.

If you’ve been to a BlogHer conference, you’ve probably seen Suebob. She’s the lady with the camera and the red Swingline stapler, asking people to pose. Go to Flickr and type Red Stapler into the search box and you’ll see what looks like thousands of pictures of people with Suebob’s stapler! I even got one of her with the stapler:

Happy, Happy, Happy Birthday Suebob! You are a beautiful person with an enormous heart and I hope your birthday is as special as you are. I hope you know that I think of you not just as a blog friend, but as a friend friend.

Send birthday greetings to Suebob through her Twitter, Facebook, or blog!

If you can’t say something nice…

June 29, 2008 By Elizabeth

EDITED TO ADD: PLEASE READ THIS POST-http://table4five.net/2008/07/01/an-open-letter-of-apology-to-sweetney/ I have apologized for writing this post without knowing all the information, and without thinking first, and breaking my own rule because I didn’t say very nice things myself, did I?

PEOPLE. Am I going to have to write yet ANOTHER post about how mommybloggers need to SUPPORT and encourage each other, instead of tearing each other down? Yes, apparently so. I just found out that a blogger who I haven’t met personally but who has never been anything but kind and caring both on her own blog and to everyone I know she has ever interacted with was publicly attacked on Twitter. She was accused of “stealing” someone else’s blog alias, of just “copying” other bloggers. And although I missed it when it happened on Twitter, the person who made this ridiculous accusations on Twitter is supposedly an “A LIST” blogger. Which, what the heck ever, you know?

I am just spitting mad about this, because the blogger who had this happen to her is one of the truly nicest people I have ever encountered on the blogosphere. I’m talking about someone who absolutely LOVES her readers and does everything she can to make her blog a place that is friendly and welcoming to everyone.

She gives out cute awards to her readers, is generous with linking to others,and has created a popular series on her blog called “Fight the Frump” in which she shows hilarious photos of fashion disasters, often with her own head Photoshopped on to the bodies of people who really should have checked the mirror before going out. She also started an online magazine with a bunch of other terrific bloggers that gives great tips for maintaining your house, great things to do with your kids, and more. This is a blogger who CARES, my friends.

This is a blogger who follows MY “Golden Rule of Blogging” (but is NOT COPYING ME)-she only uses her blogging powers for good, NEVER for evil. I don’t know who this “A LIST” blogger is who posted this vicious bunch of lies on Twitter about her, but when I do find out, I am going to make sure to cut every tie I might have to that person online somewhere, as soon as possible. I am not interested in making the blogosphere a WORSE place to be, and either is my beautiful, kind, caring, loving blog friend, MRS FUSSYPANTS.

She wrote a post about it, tried to make light of the situation, but I know she is hurting. Wouldn’t you be? She even said in a tweet that this was a blogger she “adored”. She even made a badge for “Fussy Haters” to post so they can just come right out and admit who they are. I say let’s show Mrs. Fussypants how much we DON’T hate her in any definition of the word. If you are a fan of Mrs. Fussypants, feel free to grab the badge at the end of this (right-click, save as) and post it yourself.

I don’t expect that every blogger will love every other blogger, that’s statistically impossible. But my gods, if you don’t care for someone’s blog, then DON’T READ THE DARN THING. If you just can’t resist bashing another blogger to your friends, that’s what CHAT is for. Heck, on MSN Messenger or Gmail Chat or Yahoo or whatever, you can bash people all you want to your own friends. But don’t use Twitter to cut someone down, because that is just MEAN. Whomever this “A LIST” blogger is, I can’t believe it didn’t occur to them that Mrs. Fussypants would SEE that tweet. But you know why she is a BETTER PERSON than this supposed “A LISTER”? Because she didn’t even give out the person’s name in her blog post. She didn’t turn around and publicly attack someone else.

Mrs. Fussypants, I think you are the bee’s knees, darlin. I am in awe of your ability to attract readers because of your sense of humor, your kindness, your willingness to help anyone who asks, and the love you spread through your blogs. I remade your badge to let you know what I think: