APWBWGTTD

I just listened to your story on Bush's vow to give up golf out of respect for the families of the US soldiers in Iraq. The story continued with a reflection on previous presidents' relationship with golf while in...

I have Vista on both of my computers. XP’s mouse function moved to where you pointed it and didn’t do anything until you clicked. Vista, not always but too often moves up or down in a drop down box when I don’t want it to.

Let me try to explain it better. Say I want to surf my Favorites. I’m at Hedy’s place and have finished with her brilliance. I click the Favorites icon and start to scroll down to the next place I want to visit. Vista moves of its own volition past, say Pos, and down to Thomas.

Does that help? Any ideas?

She planted herself in front of us this morning teetering on her twisted legs like a tree swaying in the wind.

Her teeth trapped her bottom lip inside her mouth.

With elbows locked, she held her thumbs and forefingers outstretched. Her remaining fingers curled into her palms giving her the appearance of a gunslinger.

A strap around her neck held a laptop sized key board with a built in screen for reading digital text.

Like most mornings, she stared at us with something like defiance or urgency… or something else.

Upon encountering her, both The Mayor and The Rooster grabbed one of my hands and snuggled against my legs.

Despite having drawn close, they were both wide-eyed with curiosity.

They see her everyday but have never said anything about her.

Though she’s a teenager, her mother drops her off at The Mayor and The Rooster’s daycare every morning, presumably because it opens and hour earlier than the high school.

I think she has cerebral palsy, but I’ve never asked.

She can walk but to communicate she has to bang away at her keyboard with her outstretched first finger.

While The Mayor and The Rooster huddled against my leg, I realized that I’d better think about a way to talk to them about this girl.

I've had minimal exposure to people with disabilities and lack confidence in knowing exactly what to say.

I worked with a woman with cerebral palsy once.

In reverse of this girl, my colleague could talk but she used a motorized wheel-chair to get around.

When I got used to the way her speech sounded and could easily understand her, I learned that she was hilariously funny.

Sadly, we only worked together for a short time.

Later, I did a consulting project with a state-wide coalition of activists working for equal rights for people with disabilities.

One, a woman with spina bifida, told me that their work was the civil rights movement's final frontier and that as late as the 1970’s it was illegal for “deformed” children to play outside where they might be seen.

That stuck with me. Can you imagine?

Before I left them at daycare, I pulled The Mayor and The Rooster aside.

“She was born with something that makes it hard for her to move her body the way she wants to,” I said.

My children listened, but said nothing.

“She thinks all the same kinds of thoughts as you,” I said, “but she can’t make her body do what she wants it to do.”

They nodded.

I kissed and hugged them goodbye.

Walking to the car, I wondered what else I could have said.

I guess I should just ask her...

I’m too clever by half.

I had a pop culture-referencing title.
I had a tongue-twister first sentence.
I had a killer twist ending.

But do I have a decent Friday Ficlet? You be the judge.

I think I may need to join Rusty in writing a prequel or sequel. Maybe that’s my challenge for next week.

Here are the other weekly participants and their entries this week:

• Rusty
• Thomas
• Will (Coming Soon)

Oh and I’ll do a special Saturday edition of my Lost blogging this weekend, with the added bonus of recapping my whirlwind trip to New York for the 360i Digital Media Summit.

Or maybe they’ll be separate. Or non-existent.

Ficlet Friday!

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The ISEF08 winners have been announced, and the recipients of the grand prize scholarships are these fine young ladies (left to right, below): Natalie Omattage of Cleveland, MS; Yi-Han Su of Taipei, Taiwan (I’m politically incorrect like that); and Sana Raoof of Muttontown, NY. While they were being put through the wringer for publicity photos, I asked them to do one more silly pose. Eat this, “Math is Hard” Barbie!

Oh, to be eighteen again!

Some mobile video from the N95:

MP4 format

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This has been kind of a weird week. Having my ears pierced has been a pretty big distraction, most importantly, with regards to my sleeping pattern. Even though I find myself a bit sleep deprived, and definitely worrisome about the healing process, I am glad that I got them done. I just hope they heal quickly, because I am honestly tired of tossing and turning all night, because I am not able to sleep on my ears. Weird.

Anyway… today is a bit all over the place. I have two last minute decisions, which is good, because I was having a hard time coming up with 5 songs for today as I have literally been listening to Death Cab For Cutie almost non-stop this week. Their new record is fantastical. Alright… now let’s get to the music we need to be concerned with today, shall we?

Lady GaGa - Just Dance
Damn, this song is hot. Sometimes, I hear a song, and something about that track instantly draws me in; and this is certainly one of those tracks. I think the video is quite funky (hello 80s!), and it also makes it clear that Lady GaGa is obsessed with making herself into a Kylie Minogue record cover (a pose off!). This is one of those songs that makes you want to hear more from the artist. I am very curious to find out if there are other possible gems like this one hiding up Lady GaGa’s sleeve. To be honest, I wasn’t planning on including this song for this week’s five song Friday, because I didn’t hear this song until last night for the first time! However, at the last minute, I decided that it is too fresh not to put it in the mix this week. I hope you enjoy this song as much as I do… I have a feeling it will get a lot of play from me in the coming weeks. Just dance… OKAY!

Rihanna - Take A Bow
After this song was suggested by Steve, I did check it out (see, I do take your suggestions!), and I found myself liking it, but not loving it. However, when I saw the video, I think that it gelled for me; Rihanna is gorgeous, and seeing her sing adds to her voice even more (also, is it just me, or does anyone else get the baby dyke vibe from her in this video?? Looking sexy!). I have tried to resist the force that is Rihanna in the past, but with Good Girl Gone Bad, there is just no reason to put up a fight anymore… it is clear that there is something special about her. Great production to the songs that are being chosen for her (or by her?) is only going to help in propelling her career even further into the stratosphere. This single just shows that there is no stopping this chick, so we had better get used to having her around. I will note that this song was produced by the same folks that did that Chris Brown knock off that I wrote about a few weeks ago, and that it is just different enough (they seem to love that same sound), that I can get into it. It shows that you can use similar elements and still get me on board, but they can’t be so similar that they are actually the same, dig?

P!nk - Nobody Knows

This beautiful ballad comes off of Pink’s 2006 release, I’m Not Dead. I was listening to XM recently, and this song came on, and it reminded me of how great that album really is. This song is definitely one of the best tracks on the record; if not the best one. It was nice to hear this song and be reminded of a record that made my 2006 list, but one that I haven’t listened to in a while. I always love being reminded of something great that doesn’t get enough attention in my music collection.

Death Cab for Cutie - Grapevine Fires

After such a glowing endorsement of Death Cab’s new record, I found myself hard pressed to find a favorite song out of the lot. I literally love each track on the record, and each have their own nuances that make me like them. However, for whatever reason, this song stands out just enough, that I wanted to include it this week. If you are a fan of Death Cab’s earlier work, I am curious to hear what you think of the new record. I think that it takes elements of Transatlantacism, and builds on them; without abandoning their trademark Death Cab sound. Perhaps that is why I fell instantly in love with the record (well, that, and the fact that it is simply an amazing album)… either way, let me know what you think, Death Cab fans, won’t you?

Augustana - Fire

Finally, another song that has fire in the title!! That wasn’t a conscious choice. I have been listening to Augustana’s most recent release, and I find myself enjoying it MUCH more than their debut. Perhaps I was put off by their first single (which I was), but I have had more enjoyment with their new record. There are a few ballad-y type songs that stand out to me, and this one just screams at me. I love how his voice waivers when he gets to the chorus, showing some emotion that was strong enough to prevent it from being smoothed out during production. Sometimes it is small flaws that really make something worth listening to. Also, the note that he holds at the end of the song is impressive.

Well, there they are kids, your five songs for this Friday. Hope that you enjoyed each one as much as I did bringing them to you. Hope everyone has a great (and hopefully, it will FEEL long) weekend as well.

freecycle.

it is truly one of the web’s greatest gifts. since getting onto freecycle i have managed to rid my house of many unwanted items including old golf clubs, tiki torches, a votive candle holder - tons of stuff i didn’t want that have found fun homes without me having to leave my house once.

i even got a pretty damn sweet toaster oven.

of course something that good and worthwhile couldn’t last for long without attracting the attention of the spammers. not to long ago someone posted a listing for a nintendo wii. i knew i probably had little chance of it but figured what the heck, i will at least ask.

i heard nothing for a few days and then got this -

Hi

It’s been a very hard decision to make over the past few days, with regards of my sons Wii. We have both decided to give it to Mike who works for a local kids charity. But after reading your email me and my son both feel that you also deserved it too. You may have been thinking why I was able to give away such an expensive item in the first place. The truth is I only paid $5 for it and I did not feel it was right to sell it, as I believe there is no need to make money from it. So giving it to a charity seemed like the right option, I just hope you can agree with me.

I got my sons Wii from the following website HERE on this website there is thousands of gifts you can chose from. Such as games for the kids, Expensive Consoles, clothes, items for the home and even the most popular electronics. My husband works 7 days a week to feed my 5 kids and we just get by. So we can not afford things like this all the time. But since We joined the website (Freebie Jeebies) I am able to give my children what they want and not have to see them upset all the time, as before things like a Wii would never be possible to have if is was not for this website.

All you need to do is:

* · Sign up HERE (This link will take you to the signup page)
* · Complete 1 Offer
* · Receive your Freebies in the mail.

As a mother of 5 young kids I hope this can benefit your family regardless of your income as it greatly helped mine. My kids are so happy now and my life could never be better, all my thanks go to this website.

I’m glad this website will help you, like it did for my family.

God Bless

Love Wendy

duh. i almost feel stupid for falling for it.

good on the freecycle moderator tho’. they removed the user within an hour of me reporting it.

Due to some schedule adjusting, I will be filling in for Bob Townsend at next Thursday’s Muss and Turner’s beer tasting. You will be sampling (and I will be yammering about) 6 beers new to the Atlanta market. The list isn’t final, but I can tell you there will be beer(s) from Utah (pronounced UTAH!!!) that is/are the opposite of suck.

Date: Thursday, 5/22, in the year of our lord, 2k8
Time: 6:30ish - 8:00ish
Cost: $15.00 (includes a 10% discount on dinner if you stay and eat)

There are a limited number of seats and they tend to fill up quick [pats self on back], so call 770-434-1114 or email reservations@mussandturners.com to get your name on the list.

Time for some Etsy pimping. Today it’s Handgrown Pottery designed by Leesa Brinkley of Cary, North Carolina. Leesa creates adorable and unique ceramic dishes for all occasions. She also takes custom orders as well.

Check out the dish she designed to hold our wedding rings:

Check out her great stuff - they make awesome gifts!

Looks cozy, huh?

We’ll be meeting for Likemind again today starting at 8am at Octane Coffee Bar (1009 Marietta St NW in Midtown West). Come grab some coffee and conversation with other creative-minded folks before you head in to work.

Also, this week’s coffee will be paid for by Random House and we’ll have a small supply of free copies of Rob Walker’s new book Buying In: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are. Get there early to score your copy and coffee.

Swedish rockers, The Hives, are playing tonight at Center Stage (with Jack Oblivion) and Drive A Faster Car is giving away tickets!

To win a pair of tickets to tonight’s show, tell me how many Hives there are! (Number of members in the band.) Deadline: 7:30PM EST

Center Stage @ CW Complex
1374 W Peachtree Street
Midtown Atlanta
404.855.1365

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Well, we're official. We had our first spam account created the other day. As a result we've added an image captcha to the forms throughout the site. I hate captcha as much as you, but I hate spam more, so captcha it is. If it becomes terribly annoying, let us know and we can look at other options.

Also, please let us know if you see spammy things on the site. That would be helpful.

Finally, see everyone at Trackside Tavern at 7:00 tonight.

Thanks,
Team APWBWGTTD

I spent the entire day yesterday thinking it was Wednesday. It wasn’t until after 10:30 pm when Lori was checking her Google calendar that I realized it was actually only Tuesday.

That’s all I got.