scorpiocub

07:13 am: She can't be serious...
These just bothered me. And she's like 55 or 60. Honey, you're past the age where this works -- if it EVER works.

Bless her trashy heart.






Tags: eww, metro

07:12 am: Real Life Woof continues...
Here's another for your enjoyment!




Tags: metro, rlw, woof

10:38 am: More RLW
Enjoy!! Metro hotness...

10:30 am: Doesn't this scare anyone else?? "Will of God"???
Since when is war the will of God?? Oh wait, since ever, I suppose according to religious nuts. This is terrifying to me. And building a pipeline is the will of God?!??! She's sounding worse than BUSH, for heaven's sake.

Color me terrified of what she would do as VP!

Ugh...

Palin: Iraq war 'a task that is from God' By GENE JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer
Wed Sep 3, 7:23 PM ET

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin told ministry students at her former church that the United States sent troops to fight in the Iraq war on a "task that is from God."

In an address last June, the Republican vice presidential candidate also urged ministry students to pray for a plan to build a $30 billion natural gas pipeline in the state, calling it "God's will."

Palin asked the students to pray for the troops in Iraq, and noted that her eldest son, Track, was expected to be deployed there.

"Our national leaders are sending them out on a task that is from God," she said. "That's what we have to make sure that we're praying for, that there is a plan and that plan is God's plan."

A video of the speech was posted at the Wasilla Assembly of God's Web site before finding its way on to other sites on the Internet.

Palin told graduating students of the church's School of Ministry, "What I need to do is strike a deal with you guys." As they preached the love of Jesus throughout Alaska, she said, she'd work to implement God's will from the governor's office, including creating jobs by building a pipeline to bring North Slope natural gas to North American markets.

"God's will has to be done in unifying people and companies to get that gas line built, so pray for that," she said.

"I can do my job there in developing our natural resources and doing things like getting the roads paved and making sure our troopers have their cop cars and their uniforms and their guns, and making sure our public schools are funded," she added. "But really all of that stuff doesn't do any good if the people of Alaska's heart isn't right with God."

Palin attended the evangelical church from the time she was a teenager until 2002, the church said in a statement posted on its Web site. She has continued to attend special conferences and meetings there. Religious conservatives have welcomed her selection as John McCain's running mate.

Rob Boston, a spokesman for Americans United for Separation of Church and State, lamented Palin's comments.

"I miss the days when pastors delivered sermons and politicians delivered political speeches," he said. "The United States is increasingly diverse religiously. The job of a president is to unify all those different people and bring them together around policy goals, not to act as a kind of national pastor and bring people to God."

The section of the church's Web site where videos of past sermons were posted was shut down Wednesday, and a message was posted saying that the site "was never intended to handle the traffic it has received in the last few days."

Tags: election 2008, palin

10:37 am: The Weekend
Went to Atlanta for the weekend. On Friday I had dinner with my lesbian girlfriend, Danielle, that I used to sing with in OurSong Atlanta, and her partner, Pat. They just bought...errr... adopted a baby, Ava. It was great to see them, and they are awesome parents. I bought the baby all kinds of pooh stuff!!! I love pooh. Here's a pic.




The went to Woofs with the gang. Mike and Dan got me good and tipsy (not too drunk of course) and it was a fun night. The next day was the 10th Annual Rainbow Pool Party at Mikey and Gregory's, where I was staying, so I helped with that, and then had a great time with some 200 bears, cubs, otters, wolves, and other members of the gay animal kingdom. Sorry, I got not pics.

Then on Sunday I realized about 3 hours before my flight, when I couldn't check in online, that I had booked my return for SATURDAY not SUNDAY -- DORK ASS MANEUVER. It happened because I originally was booking Fri - Sun, and when I changed the outgoing to Thursday it automatically moved the return back a day and I didn't notice before I clicked "purchase". Ugh. $265 reaming by AirTran and I got home just fine.

Now we get ready for New Orleans and Southern Decadence! Woo hoo!

10:35 am: More RLW...
In the ongoing Real Life Woof series, mostly taken on my metro commutes, here's another hottie for your Tuesday.










Tags: metro, rlw, woof

09:02 pm: More RLW
Enjoy... he's cute... with big pouty lips. And a clingy girlfriend... ignore her.




Tags: metro, rlw, woof

09:12 am: Real Life Woof 2
Hello and happy Monday,

to make it a bit happier, and in continuation of what I have dubbed the "real life woof" series of photos, here's this morning's contribution.

Enjoy!




Tags: metro, rlw, woof

01:16 pm: More metro hotness
Enjoy! This man is like marraigeable! 8-)




Tags: metro, rlw, woof

10:00 am: and in other news
My horosope today:

A new relationship is suddenly getting intense -- be careful not to lose yourself.

Doesn't that require me to have said "new relationship?"

Ha! 8-)

Tags: dating, horoscope, love

09:58 am: PET PEEVE
Ok, so... this annoys me. Anyone else?

Leave me a voicemail saying, "I have a really quick question, call me." But DON'T tell me what the question is... that's helpful.

Ugh. If I'm not the right person to contact, I could just FORWARD your message to the appropriate person, thus saving us both time and energy. But noooooooooooooooooooo.

/rant

Tags: pet peeve, work

10:32 am: OH NO THEY DIDN'T
Yes, they did. Just click it. Totally work safe. Waffle house wedding!??!?

there aren't words

http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/ftp/multimedia/waffleweddingx/publish_to_web/

DOH it helps if i put the link in...

02:44 pm: PICK UP THE DAMN PHONE
Ok, here's a pet peeve of mine.

Being cruised/asked out/pursued/or otherwise expressed interest in meeting me online (particularly bear411) and when I say "yes, I'd enjoy dinner with you, here's my number, call me and we'll set it up" all I get is either silence or the continual messages of "i'm going to call you soon" or "when are we going out?"

We will go out when you PUTDP (see subject for translation) and ask me out and set a plan.

Cmon guys, is it that hard?!?!?! I just read ropecub's recent post (about how guys find him intimidating) and it got me to thinking... has technology dumbed down the dating process to the point where we'd rather have an online relationship than actually meet in person and HAVE A FRICKING DATE?!?!?

It's just not that hard.

Man cannot live by text message alone.

end rant.

feel free to weigh in.

12:34 pm: Hot woofy mess
So I've changed metro lines since our corporate HQ moved to a new location in DC. The scenery seems to be better. Evidence:




and in other news off to Rehoboth Beach for the weekend. Anyone else there this weekend?!?!?!

04:08 pm: Came to my Senses -- in Italy
So many of you don't know that I went to Italy in June for 10 days. Spent a few days in Rome exploring and then joined a group of gay men for a retreat called "Come to Your Senses". What an amazing experience. Each day we focused on reconnecting with one of the five senses through journaling, discussion, sharing, and experiences in the Tuscan countryside.

For example, on sound day, we went to Sant Antimo, an anciety abbey, where we listening to the monks do their midday chant. That night we all sang songs or read poetry.

On smell day, we did a balsamic vinegar tasting -- where smell is a key element to the experience. Amazing.

Pics can be found here (warning, there are lots, but you can quickly scroll through).

http://gallery.me.com/scorpioncelt/100182

http://gallery.me.com/scorpioncelt/100184

I think the biggest takeaway from me was how simple life really can be and how joyous the simple is. Being in touch with your body and what you are experiencing in every minute is amazing. Napping in the rain in an ancient villa in Tuscany is just so relaxing and restorative.

And the thing I realize: No wonder Europeans think we Americans are so egotistical. Go see an ancient city like Rome and realize we've only been around a couple hundred years. Europeans must be saying, "Ya, call us when you've survived a couple thousand." What ego and hubris we have.

02:33 pm: PRAISE ALL THAT IS HOLY
My mac mail is fully up and running. First I had access through the web, and now I have access everywhere. YAYAYAYAYAYA! Whew...only took 9 days!

Sheesh.

10:27 pm: because sometimes the cheesy makes me weepy
read it:

>
> A Dog's Purpose (from a 6-year-old)
>
> Being a veterinarian, I had been called to examine a ten-year-old Irish Wolfhound, named Belker. The dog's owners, Ron, his wife, Lisa, and their little boy, Shane, were all very attached to Belker, and they were hoping for a miracle.
>
> I examined Belker and found he was dying of cancer. I told the family we couldn't do anything for Belker, and offered to perform the euthanasia procedure for the old dog in their home.
> As we made arrangements, Ron and Lisa told me they thought it would be good for six-year-old Shane to observe the procedure. They felt as though Shane might learn something from the experience.
> The next day, I felt the familiar catch in my throat as Belker's family surrounded him. Shane seemed so calm, petting the old dog for the last time, that I wondered if he understood what was going on. Within a few minutes, Belker slipped peacefully away.
> The little boy seemed to accept Belker's transition without any difficulty or confusion. We sat together for a while after Belker's death, wondering aloud about the sad fact that animal lives are shorter than human lives.
>
> Shane, who had been listening quietly, piped up, 'I know why.' Startled, we all turned to him. What came out of his mouth next stunned me. I'd never heard a more comforting explanation.
> He said,

> People are born so that they can learn how to live a good Life -- like loving everybody all the time and being nice, right?' The six-year-old continued, 'Well, dogs already know how to do that, so they don't have to stay as long.'

>>> Live simply.
>>> Love generously.
>>> Care deeply.
>>> Speak kindly.
>>

01:09 pm: Ting Tings and Apple
So, went with labelsdc and others for bears at Ting Tings. I have just recently discovered the Ting Tings and love their sound. Fun, driving, rocking poppy stuff. So a $15 show at the 930 club? Color me there.

Apple update -- no email yet. Ugh. But I did get a nice support rep who connected me with customer relations and although there is no ETA for email being back up, I did fenagle a $75 shopping spree on Apple.com. Woo hoo! That's something I spoze.

But I want my email...

11:52 am: Was I heard>?>???
Well at least Apple posted something of a status update and announcement. I still don't believe it's only 1%.

MobileMe: Important information regarding email service interruption

* Last Modified: July 23, 2008
* Article: TS1953

Symptoms

Updated: July 22, 2008, 4 p.m. PDT.

On Friday, July 18, 2008 (2008-07-18) we experienced a serious issue with one of our MobileMe mail servers. This issue is currently affecting approximately 1% of MobileMe members. Affected members are unable to send or receive email at www.me.com or access email using any email client software such as Mail on a Mac or Microsoft Outlook on a PC.
Products Affected

MobileMe Mail
Resolution

We understand this is a serious issue and apologize for this service interruption. We are working hard to restore your service.

This document will be updated as more information becomes available.

01:48 pm: Maybe in the next 24 hours I'll have email -- or An Open Letter to Apple
So FINALLY I got through on their little MobileMe chat thingy on their support page -- "their" being APPLE! Bigtime server outage has caused huge issues. But has Apple done anything proactive to help in terms of communication and such -- oh noooooooooo... so the nice rep suggested I send feedback and that it will get read. Here's what I sent.

Hello -- I am one of those unfortunate users whose mobileme mail has been down since Friday at 1:15 p.m. EST. As I'm sure you know, this has been a complete nightmare. I work for a software company so I understand and know first hand how things like this can happen. I want to be clear -- I'm not nearly so angry or frustrated about the outage itself -- I am THOROUGHLY infuriated at how poorly it's been handled.

The system status on the mobileme support page hasn't changed since Friday. 1% of users currently cannot access mail and everything else is hunky dory. Ummm hellloooooo?? This is helpful to us? First, I don't believe it's only 1% of users, and further that system status is not particularly enlightening or informative. How about the truth and some additional information. Things happen, we understand that, it frustrates us -- but to insult us with a system message? How about a splash across the screen: "In the system conversion to MobileMe, we have had some major server outages. Clearly this is not the level of service we want to provide, and we apologize for this and are working round the clock to fix it. If you would like to know if you are impacted by this outage (versus another issue) please email us at XXXX and we commit to responding to all inquiries within 24 hours." THAT would have been honest, forthright, and helpful! Even better set up a crisis hotline dedicated solely to MobileMe mail outage so we can call and find out "Yup, you're affected" and provide you an alternate email address where you can keep us posted on status updates. Or even via text message! My company has a software product that allows for instant text message and phone messaging that could be very useful in situations like this.

Instead I have had to sit off and on all weekend waiting for someone to chat with. I missed them twice (after waiting for more than 5 hours both times) and then all day yesterday chat wasn't even available and your message was "Due to overwhelming interest in mobile me" -- OVERWHELMING INTEREST?!?! What a crock! It's due to your server outage -- don't lie to us. We're not dumb.

It wasn't until just a little while ago that I was able to get through (it took me about 45 minutes this time I believe). Only then was I able to find out (from Aaron, bless his heart, he's getting beaten up by MANAGEMENT'S lack of proactivity on this) that indeed I am in the "1%" affected, and he explained to me in more detail the serve outage problem. If I had known that all along, I wouldn't have wasted so much time and I wouldn't be nearly so angry.

In addition, I am currently under an AppleCare support plan. So I tried calling someone. I talked to two different people who were very nice, but of absolutely no help, because you haven't empowered them to know anything about what's going on. CMON!!!! Really??? Left hand, meet your right hand.

It's all well and good to say "we don't offer telephone support for mobileme" (which is ridiculous in my opinion, especially since it's a service I am paying for and it's new -- you should have staffed up appropriately for this roll out) but we, your customers, are going to call your reps anyway when left no other recourse. Wouldn't you? Give those support reps appropriate and informative updates. Send out a mass communication saying "here's the current status you can tell people." Help your people out, for goodness sake, instead of leaving them to fend for themselves and just say "sorry, I wish I knew."

And although there seems to be a mysterious email address where I could have emailed someone, I'll be damned if I can find it on your mobileme support page.
Cleverly hidden I see.

Your lack of responsiveness to this crisis has cost me I don't know how many hours of time and frustration, not to mention your entire support organization countless hours of the same -- all because you didn't address this in any sort of reasonable way.

I love my Apple products for the most part. I'm all about my iphone, my iMac, my iPod, my shuffle, etc. But this has me seriously considering changing my email and not renewing my subscription -- which is to happen in a matter of a few days.

Not good. Convince me I've been heard and that you care. If you'd just done a couple of really simple things, you could have averted a whole host of bad feelings and frustrations on the part of your employees and customers. Cmon, Apple, you can do better.

I can be reached at scorpioncelt@aol.com (until you get me back up and running) or at XXX.XXX.XXXX.

Thanks!

Colin