Aublog - Aubs' other blog

Twitter, for many of us, is fast becoming our daily (often quickest) source of news. I hear about Breaking News, stupid Internet memes, and - occasionally - really good causes that I can get behind. The latter is the case of Little Storm.

Basically, this sweet puppy was hit by a car in Salt Lake City, and cars simply dodged this injured dog in the road instead of stopping to help it. That is, until the Fellows Family stepped in. The dog - who they've named "Storm" due to the rainy day that they first found her - had been microchipped and basically discarded/abandoned by two other families in her young life. The Fellows family decided to help, even in the face of mounting vet bills. You see, Storm now needs extensive surgery for her broken legs and pelvis, surgery that this kind-hearted family can't afford. They've become "Good Samaritan with a bigger heart than wallet."

I know there are many fake stories like this out there, but upon reading it I had a feeling this was the real deal; I verified it with the Vet in Salt Lake City, and donated not only whatever balance I had in my paypal account but also made a direct contribution to the Vet to help offset some of the cost of Storm's forthcoming surgery. If we get 4000 people to just donate ONE DOLLAR, the surgery will be paid for. (And as of today, kind-hearted people just like you have already donated over $750, so we're well on our way to helping this sweet dog.) I can't lie - it moved me so much more since Storm looks SO much like my beloved Lila Belle, and I can't imagine something happening to her. And I firmly believe that good begets good, and that someday I may be in a situation where perfect strangers can help me when I need it most.

So please, if you have a dollar - or want to skip your daily coffee today - please take three minutes to either call Central Valley Vet Hospital at 801-487-1321 or donate via PayPal to "russfellows@mac.com". Consider it your good deed of the day and know that you're helping a sweet animal in need. (And that you have my eternal admiration.)

UPDATE: Please Digg the story here to help spread the word!

Have been trying to figure out a way to post some of the songs that I love the most in a quick & easy fashion. Because, let's face it, I barely have time to update this blog, much less write for the OTHER amazing music blog I'm (supposed to be) writing for. I can't add a third daily blog to my already taxed schedule.

But Tumblr makes it easy to upload and link to songs & videos - I'd say I can commit to a 3-minute-a-day timesuck at this point. And so it goes.

So here's your daily music fix, aptly entitled DailyTuneage.com. One song, every (week)day, 'nuff said. Nothing too fancy, just the song that's making me tap my foot, hum along, or totally embarrass myself at work and completely rock out. (Oftentimes one of the first two; most often the latter.)

Enjoy.

10 Don't Let Them See You Cry (Album Version)

Manchester Orchestra

So breathe while you're alive
Let the big band play as you tap leather with your fingers
And I tried to write in style
But the words just come and I write them as soon as I see them.

For those of you who weren't at SXSW this past week, you may not be aware of the hottest trend to come out of this once-a-year drunkfest: SouthByScurvy. Yes, 5 (or 9, depending how rockstar you are) days of partying left some most of us bringing home more than our schwag bags on the plane; we also came down with the most vile, most putrid, and apparently most contagious virus to hit the Geek world since MyDoom. Endless coughing (I pulled a muscle last night in my chest; thought I had first punctured a lung), sneezing, runny noses, fever, headaches, sore throats and more, you'd think we were all a walking Ny-Quil ad. In fact, we kind of are, except NOTHING seems to be curing this affliction, and some (read: me) are starting to (facetiously) wonder if this is the Beginning of the End. Like the alien species in an 80's sci-fi flick, it's gaining strength (and even has its own Twitter account!) and is now tackling poor, undeserving souls that didn't spend the last week or so putting nothing but Mexican food and alcohol into their sleepless bodies...you'd think it'd spare the innocent. But NO. As for me, I consider myself lucky - I managed to (thus far) avoid the fever and body aches, though my doctor today said I could expect to harbor this pornstar voice and pesky cough for another TWO WEEKS. Oh, joy.

Will this keep me from SXSW '09? You must be kidding? Who'd let a little thing like the plague keep me from having this much fun?

October 29-February 7.

The span between calculates to exactly  100 days...100 days that I haven't been "officially" working. Which translates to 2400 hours, 144,000 minutes and 8,640,000 seconds, give or take, um, not a damn thing.

One hundred days. I keep repeating this because the scope of this - not to mention the unintentional exactness of this time span - just seems so vast. It's been an interesting time, probably one of the hardest times of my life. My emotions have spanned from excited (I can't wait to try this whole freelancing thing) to worried (what if I *NEVER* figure out what I want to do with my life?) to scared shitless (uh oh, I'm running out of money.) There was a point where I thought I was going to have to take a job - any job - just to get by and pay my rent. My savings - saved for an event just like this - have dwindled, and I can't say that my confidence didn't do so as well.

With all due respect to Gabriel García Márquez, it has been One Hundred Days of Solitude. I found myself pushing people away, avoiding social events (probably also due to my "No Alcohol in January" quest) and basically looking into myself to figure out where to go from here. It was a pretty damn scary time, I'm not going to lie, and while I wouldn't exactly call it a "Third-life crisis" (esp. since I hate that term and think it's over-generalizing different stages in peoples' lives) I will say it was a time of introspection like I'd never had before. I realized that I hadn't been happy at the last few jobs, and while I knew why, I didn't yet have the answer on how to fix it, how to find something that WOULD make me happy. Freelancing wasn't doing it, and though I found myself interviewing for high-paying jobs that I could do with my eyes closed (good jobs for good companies), I didn't think they'd challenge me the way I wanted. Nor did I find a place that I was passionate about, a product that I cared about, people that I genuinely wanted to work with and learn from and, hell, go have a beer with. Until I did.

I start tomorrow as a Marketing Manager at Digg.com, and I've literally been jumping up and down and doing (virtual-only, since I can't do real ones) backflips for the past two days. My soon-to-be manager asked me when I wanted to start, and I basically screamed "THURSDAY!" and alas, so it is. I don't know how how Gabriel García Márquez chose to end HIS book, but in mine, this story just got one hell of a happy ending.

What is the one electronic device that has changed your life the most? Has it been a blessing or a curse?
Submitted by Aubrey.

Definitely a PDA/Phone - I started using a Blackberry in 2001 when I helped launch Earthlink's campaign for RIM (they were giving away a free Blackberry with a year contract). I've never really gone back to a true phone since, with the exception of a year with the RAZR. The iPhone is the newest incarnation of this, and I think it's been both a blessing AND a curse since I find myself tied to it more than I would like. In fact, I often have to purposefully put it away or leave it in the other room (or in my purse) to ensure I'm not being distracted by email or text messages. I thought it would be better since I'm not working and don't HAVE to check my email for any reason, but I haven't seen much of a difference. Being connected surely has its benefits, but I think we're also sacrificing a lot - namely, appreciating human interaction - for it.

29 January 2008 - San Francisco, originally uploaded by Aubs.

Y'all can call BS on me, but I really don't have that many bad habits. For one, they just don't seem to stick. I mean, I don't really like coffee (save for an occasional froo-froo sugar-free skim latte which I'm embarrassed to order since it screams GIRLIE...which, hmm, come to think of it, perhaps my aversion to anything "girlie" is why people have taken to calling me "dude" so much lately. Will ponder that later...back to my lack of bad habits.) I don't smoke cigarettes, I don't drink alone, and save for that stretch where I kept falling asleep with my clothes on, I really can't think of an atrocious habit that I'd want to quit. Ok, perhaps cleaning up my potty mouth, but I'm TRYING.

As for good habits, I do like making my bed, even if lately I've found myself un-making it nearly every afternoon to partake in a nap. Hey, it's raining, that's what you DO on rainy days, isn't it? I brush my teeth religiously and have even lately started enjoying flossing. (Well, maybe not ENJOYING, but tolerating it and doing it daily. My dentist will be so proud...that is, when I get dental insurance again.) So, basically, I may be a person who loves their routine and stability, but I don't know that I'd call myself overly habitual. Committing to ANYTHING, EVERY DAY, seems a bit tethering.

But lately, I've seen a few friends who have been taking a photo every day and posting it to Flickr which I actually think is a pretty cool habit. Some are daily portraits; others are just whatever they find inspiring of the day. As for me, I'm not quite sure which one I'd prefer (or which I think would have the better chance of sticking) but, lo and behold, I'm willing to try.

So, starting today, every weekday I plan (PLAN!) on taking a daily photo of some aspect and posting it to Flickr. Don't worry - I won't always make them my daily blog post - but it would be cool to somehow have a link to my daily photo (a la Dooce style...maybe I'll work on that) from my site.

Without further ado, here's today's snap, courtesy of my trusty MacBook and PhotoBooth. (The sepia setting won me over, since the lighting in my home office is less than desirable.) Enjoy...more to come.