So the official countdown to 2013 has begun. Only 27 more days until 2012 is over and a whole new year will begin.

Working in front of a computer all day long, staring at the THREE walls around me, the most important item in my cubicle has to be my promotional wall calendar. This year, however, I am looking into a slightly different theme for my calendar. Every year, I usually go for Anne Geddes or scenic calendars. This year, I want something that is more interactive.

Going through the wall calendar selection on Motivators.com, I came across the Dining Delights Recipe Spiral Wall Calendar and as soon as I saw it, I knew this was the one! This was the calendar that I want to spend my next year with. This is the calendar I am going to write all of my important dates, events, and birthdays on. This is the calendar that is my destiny!

How am I so sure, you may ask? Well, I love cooking and I want something interactive, so what could be more perfect than a recipe calendar? And being the creative cook that I am, I am sure that I would be able to improvise with the recipes given each month and come up with some of my own unique recipes as well.

Now the only date I need to set is a day where everyone can come over to enjoy all of the dishes I will be making!

In a former life promotional products were something I used to promote my business. I was a mortgage banker and with the influx of everyone's mother and brother getting into the industry, staying on you clients mind was a challenge.

"What can I do to stay on their minds all year around, and not just on the monthly phone call"? PROMOTIONAL CALENDARS! With these bad boys, I could stay in their thoughts all day, every single work day of the year.

Plus if the calendar I sent out stood out enough, it could potentially generate more business from whoever visited my client. Well, this was an absolute homerun. They loved the calendars; I mean everyone loves free stuff, especially useful free stuff.  So whatever business you are in, not many items can get the exposure of a calendar, so get yours today! 

A Pepsi partner in Japan, Suntory Holdings Limited, has released what it's calling a "healthy" soda. But could it really be good for you?

According to Time magazine, "Pepsi Special" contains the dietary fiber dextrin, which Suntory claims inhibits "the absorption of fat." Furthermore, the soft drink can supposedly suppress the body's rise in triglycerides after eating.

The added fiber has even earned Pepsi Special a FOSHU label, a Japanese government designation that means "Food for Specified Health Uses." It's being advertised as appropriate for those who are monitoring their blood pressure and cholesterol.

However, not everybody's buying it. Harvard School of Public Health chair of nutrition Dr. Walter Willett asserts that Pepsi's claim "should be regarded as bogus and deceptive" until dextrin studies in humans have been conducted. So far, scientists have only researched the effect of dextrin consumption in rats.

If you ask me, the whole idea sounds crazy. Sure, fiber can be good for your health. But adding it to something that's generally unhealthy seems like a massive contradiction.

And it doesn't look like the FDA will allow Pepsi Special in the U.S., either. According to its Code of Federal Regulations, the FDA doesn't "encourage indiscriminate addition of nutrients to foods". So don't bother marking its release date in your promotional calendar.

Would you pay to watch a movie starring Lady Gaga?

On Thursday, "Mother Monster" took to Twitter to announce she's adding "actress" to her resume. She'll star in an upcoming Robert Rodriguez film entitled "Machete Kills."

"Yes its true, I will be making my debut as an actress in the amazing MACHETE KILLS BY @RODRIGUEZ IM SO EXCITED!!! AH! Filming was insane," the pop star posted on the social media website.

Gaga will play the role of La Chameleon, although at this point little is known about the character. Her cast mates aren't too shabby either; Gaga will be joined by the likes of Sofia Vergera, Jessica Alba, Mel Gibson and Charlie Sheen. 

The film's official hasn't been released, so you can't mark your promotional calendars just yet. However, word on the street is that it'll be out sometime next year.

I'm personally not a huge Lady Gaga fan, but I'm interested to see if she does, in fact, light up the silver screen. How about you?

Well that would be with the use of a promotional calendar of course!  Pens, mugs and t-shirts are all wonderful ways to get you brand out to the public but, pens aren't used as much as they once were, mugs are used in the morning and perhaps midday, t-shirts worn everyday would not necessarily represent your company in the way you would like!  But calendars can keep you on your customers mind at all times 24/7 365 days a year!  We carry a wide varety of weekly, monthly and yearly calendars.  We have wall calendars, magnetic calendars and even pocket calendars.  Everyone needs a calendar, so for your next promotional item, make sure it's a calendar to "stay on your customers minds, at all times"!

I love surfing, dogs, and southern California.  So I'm really disappointed that I wasn't in San Diego for the 7th Annual Loews Coronado Bay Resort Surf Dog Competition!  

photo by Nathan Rupert

I really should have marked the occasion on my promotional calendar, because I have plenty of friends and family members in California that I could have stayed with!  But alas, I missed this year's event, during which a few Guinness World Records were made.

According to Laughing Squid, the surfing pups set three new records: "Most amount of dogs surfing on one board at one time (more than 10 dogs), Most amount of dogs surfing on one board at one time with a human (Scott Chandler) and Most amount of dogs surfing on one board at one time with two humans (Scott and Tyler Chandler)."

Most importantly, the event served as a fundraiser for ASPCA, an animal welfare organization.  If dozens of dogs catching waves can't turn some heads, I don't know what can!

     So, today is National Sea-Monkey Day, and it's kind of a big deal. Let's be honest here, it's probably the biggest holiday of the year, right after Boxing Day and Groundhogs Day. The day brings us back to a simpler time, our youthful past filled with a child-like innocence. Back to a time before the weight of the world crushed any hopes and dreams you may have had. This is one of those holidays that offices should be closed for.

     For those of you robbed of a childhood and do not know what a sea-monkey is, sea-monkeys are a species of “brine shrimp.” They are small crustaceans that live in salt lakes. These underwater creatures got their names from having long tails and demonstrate playful, monkey-like behavior. They also have the ability to live for years as an egg before hatching. Purchased sea-monkeys only begin to hatch and grow once you’ve added the proper nutrients to the water environment. Here is an interesting fact for you: Did you know that sea-monkeys have three eyes and breathe through their feet? Yea, I am like a walking Snapple cap, filled with pointless trivia.

     So take this day to recapture your childhood. Mark May 16 on your promotional calendars, and don't forget to celebrate this day. After all, how often do you get to relive part of your childhood?

Despite the fact that a "Glee" cover of Gotye's single "Somebody That I Used to Know" helped it climb to the top of the charts, the 31-year-old Australian artist was not exactly thrilled about the show's rendition.

According to Yahoo! TV, Gotye (aka Wally de Backer) was not 100 percent behind having his song featured on "Glee." "They did such a faithful arrangement of the instrumentals but the vocals were that pop Glee style, ultra-dry, sounded pretty tuned and the rock has no real sense," he said to the Sunday Mail, "like it's playing to you from a cardboard box."  Ouch!

Forget to mark your promotional calendar and tune into the April 10 episode?  No problem; you can check out the performance below:

Do you think the cover does the song justice?

It's no secret that promotional giveaways have been used for centuries -- items like buttons and rulers were distributed as far back as the 1700s when George Washington was running for president.  But it's not often that you come across well-preserved handouts from the distant past.

Yesterday, while going through his desk drawers, Motivators CEO Ken Laffer stumbled upon a few vintage promotions that he collected over the years.  The original owners of these handouts must have really taken care of them, because they're still intact!  Let's take a look at some of these really, really old promotional products:

This promotional calendar from 1899 is the oldest of the three giveaways.  It served as an advertisement for an insurance company in Philadelphia, Penn. 

 As you can see, by 1919, the print quality had improved a bit -- this promo for A. L. White even came with a matching business card!

Cowand's Department Store distributed this calendar in 1936.  Finally some color was introduced to the promo calendars! 
Cowand's also incorporated a tagline -- something that would become typical of promo products.

Promotional products have a rich history here in the U.S. and abroad.  They can tell you a lot -- what was happening at the time, what people liked, and how technology developed.  And, after all these years, these giveaways still super-successful and cost-effective.  Kind of makes you wonder how future promotional product professionals will look at our swag centuries from now!

This whole week has been a mess at my house. My father is off from work for the holidays and is trying to fix "things" in the house and driving my mother crazy! He finally settled for the bathroom. He went out and bought a new mirror and light fixture (I guess we were long overdue for new ones). I must say he did a pretty good job at picking out matching ones. Now, it was time for the dirty work. He removed the old mirror, and we were left with a big hole in the wall. He had to sheetrock the wall, plaster and paint. Of course he isn't doing all of this by himself. He needs an assitant to bring him everyhing he needs but doesn't have in front of him (my poor mom). My promotional giveaways that I have laying around from Motivators came in very handy! I had recently brought home a box of things that were taking up too much room at my desk which consisted of a promotional calculator, promotional tape measure, calendars, pens, and a bunch of catalogs. The promotional calculator and the promotional tape measure were my dads best friends for this project. He is at his final steps of the project. Just needs to center the mirror and install the fixture and we will have somewhat of a new bathroom. Thanks Dad! You did a great job (for once as mom would say).