Just Rox

I work with a bunch of guys… most of whom are 15 or more years younger than I am. They like sports, music, women and TOYS!

mobileStorm is headquartered in a large, open space with high ceilings (think soundstage proportions). Since it’s a great place to fly remote control helicopters and hovercraft, we have a few around, and every now and then someone will pick up the controls and start flying one around. Consummate voyeur that I am, I carry my crappy little digital camera around everywhere and can capture some of the fun that goes on!

All legendary customer service and no play makes Rox a dull broad. So on a regular basis a light saber duel, the boss getting silly-stringed or a well-photoshopped prank posted to the Yammer wall provides a welcome belly-laugh and another memory that binds us as an organization. We’re StormTroopers, and this is how we roll… or fly… or somethin’ like that!

At this very moment my boss is at a conference discussing funding for innovative health care. One stumbling block to medical research is faith-based interference with stem cell research. Sick people shouldn’t be denied treatment because some people are afraid of supernatural consequences, and find ever more creative ways to convince ignorant but well-meaning people that magic belongs on equal footing with science.

Al Stefanelli writes about the  not-so-subtle changes in the Intelligent Design website in “You Can’t Polish a Turd”.

Carla Zilber-Smith

As a skeptic and atheist, I’ve no belief in an afterlife nor do I rely on supernatural forces as an explanation for events or circumstances that arise as I go about the daily grind. We’re all just bumbling through as best we can, being the meat-sacks we are, devoid of any true “purpose” beyond that which we give ourselves.

Carla’s purpose was to entertain and educate; to put a smile on someone’s face while planting a seed in their mind. Carla lost her battle to ALS on May 21st, but she left those who loved her, and even those who may never have known her, a piece of herself exactly as she was – funny, irreverent, full of love and compassion.

Remembering people as they were when they were alive is far more comforting than imagining them as angels, or imagining some “plan” being fulfilled by their suffering and dying. Having no expectations of being able to party with my loved ones in an afterlife makes me appreciate the time I do get to spend with them even more. I’ve left a fair amount of myself behind here on teh intarwebz, and hopefully in the hearts and minds of those whose paths crossed mine at some time or another. I choose to be remembered just as I am. Just Rox… warts and all! Praise Science, I have the technology to make it so!

“Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.” — Marcus Aurelius

IBD: Icky Bowel Diagram

While having a painful attack due to simple friggin’ digestion, I posted a status update & comments on Facebook… because distractions help sometimes. A few friends expressed concern, because “sweating, fetal and nearly puking from the pain” is usually something to worry about. Eh, not so much when you’re living with Crohn’s Disease. This is my response, with a bit of linkage added.

Thanks, all! Support http://ccfa.org – life sucks with a bad gut!

Not to worry, though. Thankfully, I’ve been in remission for 11 years now, so I manage Crohn’s, as opposed to having to treat it. Hence the list of “gut-killers” on which Zankou chicken has now been placed, hah. There’s another list: “Worth suffering for.” Good clam chowder is on that list!

One friend commented, “Go to the doctor!”

Well, It’s Catt’s turn this year to get health care. Once she’s set up, I’ll get my own ass in there. I’m actually pretty good at knowing what needs attending to and what’s just one of those “I ate something I shouldn’t have, it’ll pass” type things. I can grit my teeth through a lot of pain. I will win!

Another friend asked what I’d eaten.

All I ate was a chicken leg & thigh, hummus & a few pieces of chopped tomato on pita. Zankou uses a lot of garlic in their cooking already, and I made the mistake of adding their delicious garlic spread, too. I think THAT was the clincher.

Waaaah! I’m Sicilian and garlic makes my guts go gak – UNFAIR! Ah well, at least spicy stuff doesn’t seem to bother me. I can still have my favorite cure-all: Pho!

Weird & disturbing: Ever since I had my first surgery, I can literally feel the workings & goings-on of most of my intestines. It nearly drove me out of my mind at first. It’s creepy to be so aware of digestive processes! The sensation depends on the day, and can be anything from mildly annoying to something worth taking a painkiller for (btw, that’s enough to make me at least CALL a doc, if it’s still up there in 8-9 range after a day or so of being “good” so I don’t make it worse). I can go days on clear liquids if I really have to, or I’ll eat rice & coconut milk.

Really, though, I’m very fortunate that mine is as manageable as it is. My heart bleeds for some of the people I know from the IBD groups, especially kids, who have it so much worse than I do already. On the bright side, there’s been success with stem cell therapy in Crohn’s… may Science win the day!!!

Crossroads - Clarksdale, MS

Today I wandered the web listening to music. It used to be such a huge part of my life, but nowadays it’s pretty much catch as catch can. I hear songs on the radio in the car, or get introduced to new music by friends at work, but it’s rare that I find new things on my own because the sheer volume of what’s out there is overwhelming. So I’m always reaching back in time…

My musical meanderings today began, oddly enough, with a guy I knew fairly well back in my hometown whose musical evolution I missed completely once I left there for the City of Angels, Eddie Seville. I’d heard a bit of Steel Rodeo years ago, but I hadn’t yet seen the film that would allow me to appreciate it as much as I can now.

That then led me to the Appalachians for bluegrass with a few scenes from the brillian and underrated “Songcatcher”, featuring a pre-pubescent Emmy Rossum and some of the oldest music in America.

Finally I landed in Mississippi and listened to a bunch of bluesmen, including Robert Johnson, whose Faustian bargain at the Crossroads is given a nod in Clarksdale, the home of the Delta Blues Museum, and a music program dedicated to keeping the blues alive.

And that’s where I found Lea, who made a few videos during her visit to Clarksdale, all the way from her home in the Netherlands! She’s got a great voice… give her a listen…

Since the Princess & her friend are hanging out at home for the evening, my meandering ends with whatever music is providing the soundtrack to their adventures on Chatroulette; which seems to be everything from house music to R&B… accompanied by laughter, squeals and occasional cries of  “Oh my GAWD, put that thing away!”

As I sign off, I hear a blast from the past: Stacy Q’s “Two of Hearts.” Ah, youth…

So I’ve settled on a design I can live with for the moment, and am adding plugins & widgets as I go. The top right part of the header bores me, so I’m looking for a cool twitter widget, or maybe a random quote generator for up there.

I’ve still got the rather daunting task before me of sorting through the old blog’s export, getting rid of anything with broken links or that is otherwise irrelevant, making it digestible to WordPress and then (hopefully) integrating it all in one smooth pass. Heh. A girl can dream, right?

The video I took yesterday at Ronnie James Dio’s memorial is all captured & cut into the first round of clips, but after a few late nights and long days in the sun I’ve run out of steam to get them edited, encoded and uploaded today. I’m easily annoyed with this computer’s lack of power. It’s fine for browsing and whatnot, but working with video makes me want to cry. I miss my laptop… waaaah!

It would also help immensely if I’d stop getting sidetracked by all the good stuff that shows up in my Facebook and Twitter feeds, too! Maybe I need to stop having so many friends with interesting things to say (or argue about)…

Tribute videos get to me and these traditional American holidays are the ones I hold most sacred. Our freedoms are paid for in blood. I never forget that.

Thank you to all who sacrificed and all who serve.

Today we bid farewell to one of heavy metal’s greatest vocalists, Ronnie James Dio. He was only 5’2″ tall, but packed the vocal power of someone twice his size. He left too soon, but will never be forgotten. His voice lives on forever, and it’s the voice of a generation.

Please honor his memory and support the causes that meant so much to him, Children of the Night (don’t hold Dr. Phil’s endorsement against them, ha!) and Stand Up to Cancer.

The Phelps clan will be there picketing. I hope my fellow metalheads will restrain themselves and not give those wretched, evil morons the satisfaction of having cause to file an assault charge…

UPDATE: You can get a copy of the memorial program, button and t-shirt for $25 on RonnieJamesDio.com – 100% of the proceeds go directly to SU2C. Please do NOT purchase these items from the eBay auctions of people who are looking to capitalize on a good man’s death by selling things that were FREE to attendees or as a thank you gift for a donation to a charity.

I met a hilarious comic named Alison Weber recently. Check out her sex education set to music at DirtyGuitarGirl.com!

The Phil Varone “Sex, Stand-Up, & Rock ‘n’ Roll Show 12/10/09

mobileStorm CEO Offers Up Bonus to Brand Employees, Has First Taker

The unique offer stems from a trip Reitzin made over six years ago to Dublin, where he had the blue tornado portion of the company’s logo tattooed on his ankle in a show of pure dedication to the company he founded and built from the ground up, as well as to have a “permanent testament on my leg to (that) perseverance, persistence, and determination.” Though the employee bonus offer has been on the table for a while, there so far hadn’t been any takers, until now.

Yeah… that’d be ME I really do love my job at mobileStorm, and all the people I work with – both clients and colleagues – and “touching down” there has made it a fairly easy landing after the last few chaotic years. 2010 seems to be the year to start a whole new life!

Shout out to Dana at Studio City Tattoo for the fantastic work! Jared says it’s nicer than his (of course it is!), heh.