If I'm going to write about wieners, it's going to be because I love wieners.

So, if any of you are holding out hope that I'm eventually going to hit that level of blogging where I'm able to lavish you with amazing giveaways, I'm afraid you're going to be sorely disappointed.



I was contacted yesterday by a company that wanted to sponsor me, and in turn, provide some (admittedly, pretty awesome) prizes for me to giveaway. The catch was, I needed to become a brand. I needed to create a Facebook page for the blog and then get 1000 "likes," among several other things designed to separate Brandi The Blog from Brandi The Person.



Before I go any further, let me make it clear right now that I have nothing against people who choose to do this. I am all for people getting paid for doing what they love. This is not a diatribe against the bloggers who go corporate. This is about me and MY choice only.



And I just couldn't do it. As much as I would love to be able to give you all things, and even more to be able to support myself with writing, I'm having a hard time with the requirements.



I responded to the company that I have my personal Facebook page, and that I make that available to my readers who choose to send me a friend request. (Why you would want to subject yourself to a constant stream of my commentary on the minutiae of my life, I don't know, but there you go). They replied that no, the blog would have to have it's own page because I am "different and separate from [the blog]."



And that's kind of where they lost me. Because it's not separate. There are some people--even some well meaning friends--who believe that I am a "persona" when I write here, and am different in person.



While it's true that I often am different in person, it's not because I put on an act here. It's because I'm debilitatingly shy in person, and I also try not to purposefully offend people to their faces. (I much prefer to offend people with blanket statements on the internet.) And because I am a human being, I have facets of my personality that come out more around certain people. For example, someone might be comfortable doing pole dancing moves while singing children's church songs in front of some people, but would not be as comfortable doing that in front of others. Not that I know anyone who would do such a thing, but you know, hypothetically speaking.



So, what you get here is actually more me than the me you might get in person. Minus pole dancing to religious music.



Also, I don't want to be required to write a post about a product, even if I'm allowed to be honest about how I feel about the product.



Do you know how many blog posts I've read over the past couple of weeks about Hillshire Farms sausages? A lot. And they're from bloggers who are incredible writers. I respect their choice to earn a living, but I hate going to a blog and reading an oddly out of character post about cooking Hillshire Farms sausage for dinner, and then getting to the end and finding out it was a sponsored post. A few of those bloggers have started telling you up front that it's sponsored so at least you don't feel violated (by unexpected wieners) after reading it and discovering it was all an ad, but still.



Anyway, the point is, I consider this blog to be a look into my life--a way for me to interact without the constraints of shyness, and I'm not ready for it to be a billboard. But believe me, if I ever manage to marry myself a billionaire, It'll be pony rides and giant TVs for everybody.