I had an awesome run last night. This was important for me to have some fast interval times in preparation fo the upcoming McGuire Mud Run this weekend.

Also awesome last night – the Phils are in first place again!

How you can be part of this great comeback… about a year and a half ago, Abbe and I threw a party at my place. Lots of friends came, the party didn’t really have a reason – I had just lost my job, my divorce was finalized, and I was starting this new career as a small business owner. The job loss is obviously no reason to throw a party. The divorce finalization was pretty non-exciting, my ex and I did everything the civilized route, so the official end was all a known entity. The new career, well that was/is daunting to say the least. But during that party, my friend Tracy gave me a copy of a book, Extraordinary Comebacks and it’s meaning was not lost on me. So how can you be a part of this comeback? Well, as you know, I am a web developer/designer so of course any referral for someone in need of those services is awesome, but there are a few ways you can help while you shop. I set up a handful of affiliate websites to hopefully provide me with some passive income.

Halloween Costume Shopping – get your Halloween outfits, party supplies, masks, decorations from DressLikeAHo.com. Although the name sounds like an adult joke, there’s stuff for everyone inside. Plenty of really funny costumes.

Any of the Movie and Book Titles that I review or link to (for example… Extraordinary Comebacks). Those all pass through my Amazon account, so you pay the normal costs, I get a little kick back from Amazon.

Buying iPhone Games or Apps. I set up the SoreThumbsBlog and SoreThumbsStore.com as an affiliate site for iTunes and BlackBerry apps. If you are planning on buying anything from iTunes for your iPhone, iPod, or iPad, PLEASE email me and I can send you a link(s) that will give me a small percentage of the sale from Apple. Again, there is no markup, you’re just helping your good ole buddy Van.

And lastly, forward any of these sites that you think might be of help to anyone you know OR if you are interested in setting up your own affiliate sites, shoot me an email I have these sites already built, so rebranding something with your name and logo on them is a snap.

• Globe Genie – Google Earth Teleporter
• 5 Annoying Trends That Make Every Movie Look the Same
• xkcd : Control
• The REAL Stuff White People Like – thanks Justin

Busy day of coding and some back to school shopping. I’ll post something more substantial tomorrow probably.

Movie reviews…

Clash of the Titans – release the crap.

• Crap Graffiti
• The Student Loan Scheme : gateway drug to debt slavery
• Batman’s Night Off

Small Business/Tech Links…

• Better Manage Your Small Business’ Social Media Presence
• How to End The Great Recession

I am beat today. Lots of working and a run in the dark last night have me tuckered out. I need to force myself to bed early tonight. Very busy day today: code, drop kids off at Mom’s, go to BNI, pick up kids, teach piano lesson, and code until sleepy time.

Movie review…

To Catch a Thief – Cary Grant + Grace Kelly + Alfred Hitchcock = it’s awesome.

• Kinetic Wall Sculptures
• True Tales of False Romance
• Happy 90210 Day!
• Louis CK Got Drunk and Tweeted… and said somethings to Sarah Palin that might have been in somewhat bad taste
• Woody Guthrie Inspired Pencil Set
• Vanity Plate of the Day

Today, I’ve got myself a nice full plate: finish a couple prototype pages for a big project (somewhat unnamed project, but I can tell you I’m working with BLP and Marty on this one), finish ERDs for Knoxville hospitals project, record video for Jeff Buckley‘s Grace intro for Sean’s guitar lesson this week, send out end of the month invoices, record video for Wilco‘s Either Way for Jan’s guitar lesson this week, run to the bank, short bike ride, hopefully watch a little of the Phillies-Padres game this afternoon, and then watch some of Penn vs. Edgar II tonight (Go Frankie!).

Have I ever mentioned how much Yogi loves bananas? Well, here’s proof, Yogi even turned on his eye lasers…

• 90 Days
• Kitty Cent or Hello Fiddy
• Lance Armstrong Wants to Tell Nation Something But Nation Has to Promise to Not Get Mad
• A Better Urinal?

So yesterday was more of the traditional type of good days. One where I did not have to back up and take a look to really see the good through the brambles of some bummers. It’s just goodness all up in your grill.

My ex-wife’s migraine receded enough for the kiddos to go see her and spend the night.

My truck has been fixed and the bill was a bit of a hit, but absolutely better than what I was expecting. I can not tell you how much I appreciate Danny over at Medford Sunoco for coming in on a Saturday morning just to work on my car. I will still absolutely take my car to Chad’s for maintenance, but it’s good to know there is someone this close that I can count on as well (especially when I’m worried about driving the car more than a couple of miles).

I also got in a really good run yesterday afternoon. For those of you that run and have an iPhone, I can’t say enough about RunKeeper Pro – this app is such an incredible tool for training. It’s pricey ($10), but definitely worth it.

On top of those good things, I had a great day working on several client sites - Stone Scapes By Rich, The Family Registry, Independence Seaport Museum, Hope for Humanity, and a few projects still under wraps until launch.

Today, Abbe and I are going for a 10 mile run at Cooper River Park and then we also need to spend some time clearing off countertops, because tomorrow the crew is arriving to start tearing them up! That’s right the NeedCounterTops.com contest I won is becoming a reality. Monday, the old countertops are coming out and Tuesday, the new sink, backsplash, and countertops are going in! Also on Tuesday, the folks from BEN FM 95.7 are going to be visiting my house – I have no idea if I’m being interviewed or videotaped, this should be fun!

Oh and I recorded this… this is just the outro to Jeff Buckley’s So Real…

I’m not sure how many guitar players there are out there reading me, but that song has a lot of incorrect or close to correct version of the tab for this specific part, so I thought I’d post this…

OUTRO: (play throughout the end of the song)

|-------3-3-3-3-3-3-|
|-------3-3-3-3-3-3-|
|-------2-2-2-2-2-2-|
|----0--0-0-0-0-0-0-|
|-2-4---------------|
|-----3-3-3-3-3-3-3-|

|-0-0---0-0-0---0-0-0-0-0-0-|-0-0---0-0-0---0-0-0-0-0-0-|
|-3-3---3-3-3---3-3-5-5-5-5-|-3-3---3-3-3---3-3-5-5-5-5-|
|-3-3---3-3-3---3-3-5-5-5-5-|-3-3---3-3-3---3-3-5-5-5-5-|
|-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-4-4-4-4-|-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-4-4-4-4-|
|-------------------0-------|-------------------0-------|
|-3---3-3-----3-----5-5-5-5-|-3---3-3-----3-----5-5-5-5-|

|-------3-3-3-3-3-3-|
|-------3-3-3-3-3-3-|
|-------2-2-2-2-2-2-|
|----0--0-0-0-0-0-0-|
|-2-4---------------|
|-----3-3-3-3-3-3-3-|

|-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-|
|-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-0-|
|-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-0-|
|-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-0-|
|-------------------------|
|-3-----3-----3-----3-----|

• Macho Salad