I love when Viv plays in the sewing room with Abbe. After a few projects, Abbe lets Viv take the scraps to the dress form and design something. This design was a bathing suit…

Beautiful, I know… but wait ladies, get a load of the back… I’m taking orders now.

You might notice a new box on the top right over there… yes, Abbe and I are running the Disney Marathon this January to help stop leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma from taking more lives. I am looking to raise at least $3500 between now and then. My motivation is not to say I completed a marathon. Why the hell would anyone want to run 26 miles? It’s going to feel great to complete this thing for sure, but I look at the battle Abbe’s 10 year old cousin Alayna has taken on. And although, Charlie Haughey has a different form of cancer, I can’t help but think of the little hero around the corner from me too while I train. I am asking everyone to help me raise money. Small amounts do matter, and hopefully crossing the finish line happens well before January 9th, when I will most likely be throwing up as I run through the princess’ castle (we really do run through there!). If you can, please give… also, please share this with anyone and everyone you know, retweet and click the Facebook share button on our donation pages.

My Fundraising Page

Abbe’s Fundraising Page

• Star Wars Sex Positions – thanks Doug!
• Ramadan e-cards
• Bacon or Beer Can
• Unsuck It
• The Land of Giants
• GirlGo – thanks Sarah

Small Business/Tech Links…

• 15 Corporate Blogs to Learn From

Well, how cool is this? I got a few emails yesterday from my friend Rachel that her husband Rich’s website, Stone Scapes By Rich needed a few changes here and there. They were all quick and I took care of them. And who shows up bright and early to work on my yard? Sweeeeeet!

Last night, while Abbe was working on a purse for her Aunt Deb and a couple little name thingies for my kids, she started making bracelets…

I have a couple of friends that have potential SWSW 2011 panels, they need your vote. The voting does involve a very easy sign-up, but these are both well worth it, swear…

• Vote for Dana’s Subtle Sexuality: NBC.com Adds Spice to Shows
• Vote for Jessica’s Turning Facebook Followers Into Change Agents

Movie reviews…

Leonard Cohen I’m Your Man – I really wanted Bono to shut up as soon as he started talking, but the good performances on this DVD are well worth it. Beth Orton, Marth and Rufus Wainwright, Nick Cave, and Antony all perform Cohen covers. Antony’s version of  “If It Be Your Will” steals the show.

Kick-Ass – better than expected, give this one a chance – it’s entertaining for sure. It’s not Shakespeare, but for an action flick, it’s at least more thought provoking than the usual fare.

• The Real Message Board – thanks Justin
• Sock Monkey (Human) Centipede
• The Cat Whisperer
• Denny’s New Fried Cheese Melt – that’s right, that’s 4 mozzarella sticks inside a grilled cheese sandwich
• The Justin Bieber Show
• Orgasm on a Slingshot – NSFW, this woman really likes her carnival rides

Small Business/Tech Links…

• Visualize All of Your Foursquare Check-Ins
• How to Pick the Right Social Media Engagement Style
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• NoFollow Importance

Got the new Zombie Survival Scanner iPhone app (it’s free) and I scanned some of the “people” in my house and some of my guitar students and their families this morning…

Goodness in the wild…

Kiss is allowing kids under 14 can see the hottest band in the world for free during their current tour when accompanied by an adult over 21.

A client called me out of the blue on his way out the door to the day he’s leaving to go on vacation to make sure an email he sent wasn’t taken the wrong way. I had made somewhat of a mistake the day before, and although the email wasn’t heated whatsoever – that meant a lot. I love that my philosophy of working only with people that I enjoy working with is working out so well.

Stephanie and Jason treated Viv and Bubs to a day at the beach yesterday for me. This was super duper nice, I feel like I’ve had the kids cooped up the past few days with my poison ivy break out.

Bubs got a brand new bed from our neighbors around the corner, the Haugheys. We also got to say hello to Charlie briefly. Bubs is very excited to re-do his room, thanks guys! (Also, this gives me a chance to mention… Anyone who would like to help Charlie and his family with a donation… send checks to Katrina Stritch 121 Algonquin Trail Medford Lakes NJ 08055. Please make checks payable to “The Charlie Haughey Fund”.)

Observations on poison ivy treatments… for whatever reason, my rash gets apeshit itchy as soon as the sun goes down. I have no idea why and there isn’t a schedule of meds that would explain it. It just does – weird. And after trying so many remedies for curing the itch – best remedy = hot as you can stand it water. Again, I have no idea why. Best guess is that it’s opening up pores and letting that urushoil out. I’m positive this is not the healthiest way to do this and I’m probably mildly burning my foot. But damn it works well. When that super hot water hits the rash it’s nearly orgasmic. Super intense itchiness followed by relief.

• Blogging the Second World War
• Fly Leg Eye Lashes
• xkcd : Still No Sleep
• Animated Map of Nuclear Explosions
• Awesomest Sign Ever – thanks Katherine
• Greatest Catch Ever?

Small Business/Tech Links…

• 10 Free Web UI Kits and Resources for Designers

“What would you do if I took that game off of my website?”
“Oh I’m not playing a game right now,” says Abbe not glancing up from her netbook screen.
“You’re not?”
“I’m dominating it.”

Ever tried to keep your mouth shut? I unequivocally suck at doing so. Right now I kind of envision myself hunched over my laptop on my tiny corner desk in the middle of a freeway littered with insane exploding, car-flipping car accidents that are going on all around me. I’m doing my best to keep my head down and just work. The good news is that work is going really well right now. I’m terrible at that kind of trust that involves sightless progress. Reassurance won’t be coming any time soon, but one thing I have learned – love won’t stop and that will get us all through. Cryptic… yeah, I know. I’ll explain later.

• BP Spills Coffee – thanks Mel
• Worst. Divorce. Ever.
• Literal Adobe Photo Shop

Small Business/Tech Links…

• Flash Player 10.1 Now Available
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Yesterday’s Littlest Rose Cancer Charity Showcase was great. Kate and I had some last minute challenges to overcome – the night before, Kate realized that her guitar wasn’t packed (she lives in Maryland, ergo can’t really just run home and get it), found a replacement guitar, I ended up playing electric instead of my acoustic (there wasn’t a mic stand around to mic my guitar), Kate and I had no idea what our guitars sounded like on stage (and that is not the sound guy’s fault, he was there for free and was extremely helpful and great to work with), and Kate and I had our first practice together about an hour before we went on.

But honestly, it went great. I sent Kate an email last night thanking her for letting me play with her on such a big day for her family. She thanked me for being patient and brave despite all the “problems” that cropped up for us 24 hours prior to playing. I was going to rehash what I said back, but I think just copying my response is fine (and my fingers are tired)…

Here’s the thing about you letting me play… the bravest people there yesterday was your nephew and his family. But on top of entertaining some folks for a bit and getting a couple extra people to come to donate to such a good cause; there’s another benefit for me – I really want to start playing out again. That felt good. Whether it sounded passable, great, or terrible – I loved the process. I missed carrying my gear around, solving those last second problems that sometimes pop up. Thank you Kate, I missed my inner rock star – haven’t seen him for at least 10 years!

Now, I’m not going to join a band again or anything – I’m an extremely busy Dad and anything that comes into my life HAS to work around that. But yeah, I am going to stop shying away from playing live and joining friends when they ask me to play. And especially if Kate asks me to join her on stage again – what an unbelievable voice!

But back to the real reason for the day… anyone who would like to help Charlie and his family with a donation… send checks to Katrina Stritch 121 Algonquin Trail Medford Lakes NJ 08055. Please make checks payable to “The Charlie Haughey Fund”.

Videos from yesterday’s performance… Small Disguise (Chris Buhalis cover)…

Arms of a Woman (Amos Lee cover)…

Tracy’s party was nice – great food, lots of friends (although some were definitely missed), great margaritas, and a guitar being passed around. That’s good evening.

Tim + Uke = Awesome…

• Dale Peterson Means Business Alabama – and holy shit he has a gun.
• Ian McKellen – Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

Small Business/Tech Links…

• Do Not Make These Top 10 SEO Mistakes
• Facebook Fan Pages and A Good Business