Buca di Beppo Gift Card Giveaway!

I've been gaining some new readers lately, which is very gratifying. I've done some reading on the topic of optimizing one's blog, and one oft-used suggestion is to have a giveaway of some type. "No," I always think to myself with a self-satisfied shake of my head. "I will not cheapen my blog like that. I want people to come on by because they like my writing." Or because they find me incredibly witty and unmistakably modest. Or they think I have the cutest kid they've ever seen, bar none. Or they are stalking me and need to gather just a bit more personal information before showing up at my workplace with a machete.

I've also noticed that some of the blogs that receive heavy traffic are also very confessional (TMI) in nature. I think harboring a few secrets is healthy, so I'll continue to keep some things to myself, thankyouveddymuch. I'm also keenly aware that I don't really have a reliable shtick on which to hang my blogger hat. I don't have six kids. I don't even have six dogs.

Anywho . . . I'd like to thank my readers who do keep coming back voluntarily and for those who have passed the link to others (and to my sister for posting it on Facebook in the middle of the night, when she may or may not have had a few adult beverages). I'd also like to announce that, because I have no shame, I am having a giveaway! You'll recall that I devoted one blog entry to kvetching about the fact that Buca di Beppo served me dead animal flesh even after I explicitly told the server that I am a vegetarian. Buca rewarded my whining with a $25.00 gift card. I was looking at the card the other day, fantasizing about garlic mashed potatoes, when I noticed that the gift card expires on 12/31/09. The nearest Buca is two hours away from me and there is no chance I'll make it there before the end of the year. Other than that one unfortunate incident, I've always enjoyed going to Buca's and leaving with garlic oozing out of my pores. I also have fond memories of various Buca outings, such as the time my husband hit the Chianti too hard and then did the "I love you, man" routine with all of my friends.

So, I'm offering up the gift card (which is totally transferable, good at any location) to one lucky reader.* All you have to do is leave me a comment. I'm not going to choose the winner in any sort of fair or democratic way. I'm not going to use one of those random integer generator things to choose a comment. Nay, I shall select the one I dig the most.

Suggestions for comments:

• A suggestion for a song you think I'd like. **
  
• Something funny.
• Something incendiary or vaguely offensive.
• A compliment using lots of superlatives.
• A random fact. Bonus points if I learn something from it.
  

I will choose a comment at noonish on Wednesday. Party on, Wayne. Party on, Garth.

Updated to add: extending this until Wednesday because I won't be online most of the day on Tuesday. Also, I'm automatically disqualifying anyone who was too fucking lazy busy to simply click on the link and peruse the many franchise locations of Buca di Beppo. Hey, it's my contest - I can do what I want.

*Void where prohibited. What does that mean anyway? What state is prohibiting fun?
**If it's a country song or something from the Top 40, then you owe me a gift card. Seriously.