The cheese shoppe may have closed, but the bonds remain… this is Abbe’s former co-worker and our very good friend, Caroline. She now works at one of my client’s stores. She misses Abbe. A lot.

Small Business/Tech Links…

• The Top 10 Reasons You Need a Blog
• The Super Simple Guide to Using and Marketing Through Pinterest – Part One
• Perception is Worth 1,001 Words
• Mac OS X 10.7.3 hits Software Update, ready to plug bugs on your Wednesday
• Facebook files $5 billion IPO, values the company at nearly $100 billion
• Showcase of the Best Google Fonts
• The Anti-Piracy Discussion We Haven’t Had Yet
• Git For Designers (Part 1)
• “Think Profit.”
• How to Make Your Company More Social
• Anti-Patterns for Technical Leaders

Funny/Interesting Links…

• Far Side of the Moon Captured on Video for the First Time
• Fascinating facts about dreams
• I do what I want (26 Photos)
• The single greatest fast-food order ever placed at a drive-thru - more people like this guy in the world are needed
• A compilation of ridiculous lip readings from all of this year’s ridiculous presidential candidates
• Don Cornelius, Soul Train creator, RIP
• Kim Jong Un Looking at Things
• The Buffalo Beast’s 50 Most Loathsome Americans of 2011
• Top five regrets of the dying

I am really saddened by Susan G. Komen for the Cure’s decision to stop funding breast screenings to Planned Parenthood. I would like to hear more from Komen on this issue. But it appears that politics played a role in a group (albeit, a private one) that is supposed to promote women’s health cutting off funding to cancer screenings. I am not donating to Susan G. Komen until further notice. They are a private organization and I am a private citizen that can also choose where to put my hard-earned dollars.

I posted this on Facebook last night with a fairly simple statement, I am not donating until I hear more – the screenings they are going to be denying women could help save women’s lives against breast cancer. And what I got from friends was pure politics due to PP being an abortion provider.

I am looking at this as the father of a daughter, the son of an amazing mother, a future husband, and an ex-husband. And all of those women in the roles I just mentioned – all have incidents of cancer in their families. I ran 40 miles about a month ago to fight cancer with Team in Training. And I have no time or money for anyone or group that stands in my way to fight that disease.

To me, this is about fighting cancer, not congressional investigations (which seriously, there is zero legal requirement for an investigation to be started by Congress, so skip that – that IS purely political). And OK, if SGK’s motives were political, why not find a right wing cancer screening group of hospitals that you could donate those funds ear-marked for PP to provide those screenings for women in need?

SGK has made waves previously for their lawsuits against other cancer fighting non-profits for using the “for the cure” slogan. While legally they were fully acting within their rights, I have to ask, are you really fighting cancer or just spending the money you are raising to pay attorneys and talk to right wing lobbyists?

One last time, I get that SGK is a private organization and they can make their own choices. Just like I and millions of others can as we make our donations this year and in the future.

UPDATE: A petition has started, sign and share please if you care to do so.

Movie Reviews…

Cave of Forgotten Dreams – this was a pretty impressive documentary. Cave art that goes back 32,000 years filmed by Werner Herzog in 3D, awesome.

Small Business/Tech Links…

• SEO Tips for E-commerce Sites
• Writing Google Places Reviews to Improve Rankings
• Google clarifies what isn’t changing with new privacy policy
• Firefox 10 out now: full screen apps, fewer crashes, disappearing forward button
• How Lanyrd Uses HTML5 for a Great Mobile Web App
• Firefox Adds Powerful New Developer Tools
• The Other 99% of Entrepreneurs
• Wunderkit Launches Beta For Its Wunderbar-designed Productivity Platform - I’ll definitely try this out, I love Wunderlist

Funny/Interesting Links…

• Top 10 Racist Cartoon Moments - thanks David
• Peavey Builds An Auto-Tuning Guitar
• T-Rex trying things (11 Photos)
• How the 7 deadly sins look when applied to your workday
• Shockingly wise kids’ answers to questions about dating
• How to let your coworkers know you’re one cup of coffee away from an office rampage - this really doesn’t mean much to my officemates, Ziggy (cat) and Titan (dog), but I still love it
• The World of Corporate Logos as Seen By a Five-Year Old
• Breaking Bad as an 8-bit RPG

Oh boy, Abbe and I both woke up feeling crummy. There is a really bad stomach virus going around our town and wow, that would really not be good if I get knocked out of commission for a day or two. I’m launching an all-out vitamin assault along with hydrogen peroxide in the ears. I hope we can fight this off.

Small Business/Tech Links…

• Google Panda and Content Farms
• What Pinterest is Doing That Facebook Isn’t
• Turn Your Facebook Timeline Into a Movie
• Pricing Strategy for Creatives

Funny/Interesting Links…

• Join Twitter Today! Recruiting Video Is So Bad It’s Good
• The Swarm: Short Horror Film Made Entirely on Phones
• Chart reveals surprising #1 reason why women end relationships
• Oh Shit!
• Alyssa Talking Backwards
• The Muppets Attack Fox News
• Project Unbreakable
• Official 2012 Honda CR-V Game Day Commercial – “Matthew’s Day Off” Extended Version

So yesterday was more of the traditional type of good days. One where I did not have to back up and take a look to really see the good through the brambles of some bummers. It’s just goodness all up in your grill.

My ex-wife’s migraine receded enough for the kiddos to go see her and spend the night.

My truck has been fixed and the bill was a bit of a hit, but absolutely better than what I was expecting. I can not tell you how much I appreciate Danny over at Medford Sunoco for coming in on a Saturday morning just to work on my car. I will still absolutely take my car to Chad’s for maintenance, but it’s good to know there is someone this close that I can count on as well (especially when I’m worried about driving the car more than a couple of miles).

I also got in a really good run yesterday afternoon. For those of you that run and have an iPhone, I can’t say enough about RunKeeper Pro – this app is such an incredible tool for training. It’s pricey ($10), but definitely worth it.

On top of those good things, I had a great day working on several client sites - Stone Scapes By Rich, The Family Registry, Independence Seaport Museum, Hope for Humanity, and a few projects still under wraps until launch.

Today, Abbe and I are going for a 10 mile run at Cooper River Park and then we also need to spend some time clearing off countertops, because tomorrow the crew is arriving to start tearing them up! That’s right the NeedCounterTops.com contest I won is becoming a reality. Monday, the old countertops are coming out and Tuesday, the new sink, backsplash, and countertops are going in! Also on Tuesday, the folks from BEN FM 95.7 are going to be visiting my house – I have no idea if I’m being interviewed or videotaped, this should be fun!

Oh and I recorded this… this is just the outro to Jeff Buckley’s So Real…

I’m not sure how many guitar players there are out there reading me, but that song has a lot of incorrect or close to correct version of the tab for this specific part, so I thought I’d post this…

OUTRO: (play throughout the end of the song)

|-------3-3-3-3-3-3-|
|-------3-3-3-3-3-3-|
|-------2-2-2-2-2-2-|
|----0--0-0-0-0-0-0-|
|-2-4---------------|
|-----3-3-3-3-3-3-3-|

|-0-0---0-0-0---0-0-0-0-0-0-|-0-0---0-0-0---0-0-0-0-0-0-|
|-3-3---3-3-3---3-3-5-5-5-5-|-3-3---3-3-3---3-3-5-5-5-5-|
|-3-3---3-3-3---3-3-5-5-5-5-|-3-3---3-3-3---3-3-5-5-5-5-|
|-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-4-4-4-4-|-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-4-4-4-4-|
|-------------------0-------|-------------------0-------|
|-3---3-3-----3-----5-5-5-5-|-3---3-3-----3-----5-5-5-5-|

|-------3-3-3-3-3-3-|
|-------3-3-3-3-3-3-|
|-------2-2-2-2-2-2-|
|----0--0-0-0-0-0-0-|
|-2-4---------------|
|-----3-3-3-3-3-3-3-|

|-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-|
|-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-0-|
|-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-0-|
|-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-0-|
|-------------------------|
|-3-----3-----3-----3-----|

• Macho Salad

That’s right, it was Saturday night at Van’s Tavern and Abbe is doing what?…

Actually, Abbe was giving Yogi an ice cube in this picture. My buddy Chris came over with his guitar and two six packs of good beer and we drank a few brews, played lots of guitar, and watched UFC 115 (the Franklin-Liddell and the Cro Cop-Barry fights had amazing endings). I’ve got another busy day today filled with coding and logo design.

• Jamiroquai – Where is He Now? That’s right, pimping Ramen Noodles in Japan
• Comedian Records Funeral Message a few weeks before her funeral – this is great, “the afterlife is a tasty cup of awesome”
• Rocket Tooth Removal
• Wax On, F*ck Off with Ralph Macchio