The Blog Formerly Found On Vox

Seeing Vox everywhere.

It's a good omen for dinner when you snuggle up to the bar and see this. At Bella Vita in Los Altos. 

Pour me a Vox. Actually, I had a pinot noir

Vox Hunt: Orange Crush

Vox Hunt: Take a photo of something orange.

This past spring in Mexico had a rather orange-y theme to it.

Under Exposed Orange Annabelle

Playa del Carmen

Cozumel sunset

Vox Hunt: Breathtaking Green

Today's Vox Hunt: Show us somethings that take your breath away.

California green field near the Monarchs at Natural Bridges beach

Floor of green rising

Ocean greens with yellow flowers

Green Gulch Farm Tea House

Heaven is Green Gulch Farm

They can stop any time they want...really.

Spoon Bridge & Cherry

According to Forbes magazine, Minneapolis/St. Paul is the country's second most drunken city?

Say what?!

Milwaukee was number one. Rounding out the top five drunkest cities are Columbus, Ohio; Boston and Austin, Texas.

Dear Miss Manners...

I think it's amusing that Miss Manners is weighing in on LJ "netiquette".

Vox Hunt: Great Shoes

Show us a great pair of shoes you saw today.

Merlot Flat Shoes On The Pier

Two pairs of new Merrill's

colorful Converse shoe star

PM's water shoes look good in the yellow kayak

Addictions are inherited - nature or nuture?

I let Annabelle play MY game of Bubble Breaker

The concentration (and cramps) is in the hands

The most scanned and secure ads in America

Ads in tubs at LAX security

The Lobby Dogs

Hotel Belamar

I'm all ears.

Dinner tonight -- a sushi salad

Hamachi carpaccio salad @ Hama Sushi in Venice, CA

It was even prettier, before we started eating it. 

Hama Sushi

Annabelle didn't believe me when I told her that you see celebrities everywhere in LA

Angela from Project Runway says "Hi Annabelle!"

sent from mobile phone

Angela from Season 3 of Project Runway.

On the road to LA meetings

See how easy that is?

sent from mobile phone

IMAGE_00084.jpg

The sunrise was so pretty this morning.

August sunrise in Almaden window

August sunrise in Almaden window 2

August sunrise from my Almaden window 3

What's that say about me?

I just accidentally typed patty.com instead of patty.vox.com into my browser and discovered that it's a porn link farm. Lovely. I think I'll spare you the live link and resulting pop ups.

No, actually I wasn't.

Lewis Black at Mountain Winery - the show goes on

My friend Rees is in from Washington, D.C. this weekend and last night we saw Lewis Black at Mountain Winery. The warm-up act was great (I am blanking on this name now) and the evening was perfect weather-wise to showoff the panoramic view of Silicon Valley from atop the hill.

warm up act for lewis black

After the warm up act we sat enjoying the setting sun and waited for Lewis. And waited. And waited. Finally the warm-up comedian came back out, this time with a bullhorn to inform the crowd that they'd lost all power. No explanation for why, but after about 30 minutes, people came rushing on the stage and started to set up candlelabras. There were about 6 of them with 30 candles per stand. They looked  like the ones in the Police's Every Breath You Take video.

The Night The Lights Went Out In Saratoga

About thirty more minutes passed and finally they got a generator up and running to power a microphone so the show could begin. After making some jokes referring to himself asLiberace and The Phantom of the Opera, Lewis made the best of a bad situation and gave everyone a great show full of politcal commentary, raunchy humor and angry observations. He was painfully hilarious.

The lights came back on about 30 minutes before the end of the show without any explanation.

And just for the fun  of sharing the one-and-only Lewis Black with everyone, here's a recent Back In Black segment of The Daily Show.

On Lieberman and other mid-term election news

VOX Question of the Day: Is This Thing On?

When was the last time you had to speak in front of a group?  How did you feel?

It was just this week and it felt pretty darn good. I like being on panels and public speaking, I'm a ham.

Another perspective on attention deficit

Positive quotes about ADD

"More and more, the concept of ADD as a disorder is being qualified by inclusion of a string of positive qualities -- such as creativity, high intelligence, ability to do many things at once, an aptitude for small business entrepreneurship, and a powerful intuitive sense." - Susan Burgess, from "Think Fast! The ADD Experience

"ADD people are high-energy and incredibly good brainstormers. They will often happily work 12 to 15 hours by choice. The business community should not fear ADD. Instead, they should see that they have a potential gold mine here.” - Dr. Kathleen Nadeau, a psychologist who is ADD herself (from an ABC News Report)

"Think of an absent minded professor who can find a cure for cancer but not his glasses in the mess on his desk. These are the inventors, creators, poets -- the people who think creative thoughts because they don't think like everyone else." - Martha Denckla, M.D., Director of the Department of Developmental Cognitive Neurology at the Kennedy-Drieger Institute at John Hopkins.

"I've worked with many children, and took them all off medication. I think out of all the many we've worked with, there was one little boy we couldn't do much with... But with most of these children, I was told that they were 'little animals', couldn't sit still, were disruptive, couldn't do anything; under my guidance, I found them to be beautiful; they would die for you." - Marie Friedel, Founder and Executive Director, National Foundation for Gifted and Creative Children.

"There are many positives with ADD, including a surplus of ideas, creativity, excitement, and interest which accompany this kind of mind." - Sari Solden, "Women With Attention Deficit Disorder."

"The same right-brained children who are being labeled and shamed in our schools are the very individuals who have the skills necessary to lead us into the twenty-first century.  These children process visually and randomly, and think holistically.  They are intuitive problem solvers who get the big picture.  They thrive on visual imagery and stimulation; these "attention deficit" kids can spend hours with computer and CD-ROM programs that mirror their thought processes.  It's no wonder they are attracted to computers.  The use of computers is congruent with the way right-brained children think." - Jeffrey Freed and Laurie Parsons from "Right-Brained Children in a Left Brained World"

Excerpts from an "Are you ADD" list, from "Driven to Distraction"

• Are you more creative or imaginative than most people
• Are you particularly intuitive?
• Even if you are easily distracted, do you find that there are times when your power of concentration is laser-beam intense?
• Are you usually eager to try something new?
• Do you laugh a lot?
• Do you get the gist of things very quickly?
• Are you much more effective when you are your own boss?
• Are you a maverick?
• Do you tend to approach problems intuitively?
• Do you often get excited by projects and then not follow through?

"Several elements of the ADD mind favor creativity....As mentioned earlier, the term 'attention deficit' is a misnomer. It is a matter of attention inconsistency. While it is true that the ADD mind wanders when not engaged, it is also the case that the ADD mind fastens on to its subject fiercely when it is engaged. A child with ADD may sit for hours meticulously putting together a model airplane." - Edward Hallowell, M.D., and John Ratey, M.D., "Driven to Distraction."

"I think Ritalin and other psychoactive drugs for children will remain popular in this country until the values of our society change. There is an intolerance of temperamental diversity currently, yet it is that very diversity that has made our culture rich and worthy." - Dr. Lawrence Diller, author of Running on Ritalin.

"Being ADD, when I read a book about marine life my mind allows me to travel with the fish and imagine life beneath the sea. Or I can read a book about astronomy and dance among the stars...I may not immediately comprehend that 3+4=7, but I may fully realize that n+26=51 and that the missing number is 25." - Matthew Kutz, age 13, from "Think Fast! The ADD Experience (Hartmann, Bownman & Burgess).

"These children are not “disordered”. They may have a different style of thinking, attending, and behaving, but it's the broader social and educational influences that create the disorder, not the children." - Thomas Armstrong, Ph.D., from Myth of the A.D.D. Child - 50 Ways to Improve Your Child's Behavior and Attention Span Without Drugs, Labels or Coercion.

"Impulsivity, ability to tolerate being thought of as eccentric, spontaneity, and little tolerance for boredom, in addition to daydreaming, are listed as identifying characteristics of creative individuals...Given that some highly creative children engage in 'disruptive, attention-seeking behavior' in the classroom, it is not surprising that they are not valued by their teachers as much as more conforming, less creative students." - Bonnie Cramond, Ph.D., from "Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Creativity - What is the connection?" Journal of Creative Behavior.

"The ADD child has an inventory of positive qualities:

• Openness to multiple sights, sounds, and thoughts
• A daring or wandering imagination
• A global perspective
• Creative urges or compelling attraction for new ideas
• Intense focus on his own pursuits and interests

"These are attributes of his outstanding gift for divergent thinking...It is the teacher's job to train your child to use convergent thinking skills. So they tend to overlook his divergent thinking strengths, and see only his weakness in convergent thinking." - Lucy Jo Palladino, Ph.D., "The Edison Trait - Saving the Spirit of Your Nonconforming Child."

"I'm alarmed that to think than modern science may be turning creativity into a medical disorder" - Thomas Armstrong, Ph.D., from "The Myth of the ADD Child."

"Russell Barkley, Ph.D., another expert in the field, notes that the children we call inattentive are also 'wild, funny, effervescent. They have a love of life.' As adults they 'can be incredibly successful' and gravitate into creative fields or make good salespeople" - Lucy Jo Palladino, Ph.D., from "The Edison Trait."

"In my opinion, the ADD brain structure is not truly an abnormality. In fact, I believe a very good case can be made that it is not only normal, though in the minority, but may well be a superior brain structure. However, the talents of the person with the ADD brain structure are not those rewarded by our society at its current stage of development. In other words, the problems of the person with ADD are caused as much by the way we have our society, educational system, and business methods organized as by other factors more directly related to the ADD itself." - Paul Elliott, M.D.

Disorder Perspective	ADD as a Natural Adaptive Trait
Distractible.	Constantly monitoring environment
Attention span is short, but can become intensely focused for long periods of time.	Able to throw themselves into the chase on a moment's notice.
Poor planner, disorganized and impulsive (makes snap decisions).	Flexible; ready to change strategy quickly.
Distorted sense of time: unaware of how long it will take to do something.	Tireless: capable of sustained drives, but only when "hot on the trail" of some goal.
Impatient.	Results oriented. Acutely aware of whether the goal is getting closer now.
Doesn't convert words into concepts adeptly, and vice versa. May or may not have a reading disability.	Visual/concrete thinker, clearly seeing a tangible goal even if there are no words for it.
Has difficulty following instructions.	Independent.
Daydreamer.	Bored by mundane tasks; enjoy new ideas, excitement, "the hunt," being hot on the trail.
Acts without considering consequences.	Willing and able to take risks and face danger.
Lacking in the social graces.	"No time for niceties when there are decisions to be made!"

 

QotD: Survey Says...

VOX Question of the Day: When you were younger were there any game shows that you religiously watched and wanted to be a contestant on?

My parents (actually, my mom) loved a good tv game show. As a consequence of a tv set that was rarely turned off, back in the 70s there were a quite a few game shows (and hosts) that I remember vividly:

• The $10,000 and then The $20,000 Pyramid - I loved this show and would go bat crazy at the tv when people couldn't guess the word or phrase from the clues.
  

  Come on people. It's soooo easy!
  
  
  
• Family Feud
  My family actually auditioned for this show when they held try outs in Minneapolis. Despite what we thought was a good gimmack (a dad and four daughters), we didn't get picked to go to Hollywood. [1]
  
  

  Richard Dawson "Survey Says..."
  
  
• Gambit
  Hosted by the best named game show host eer -- Wink Martindale.
  
  
• Jeopardy!
  The "smart" game show. I knew I could kick ass on this show...as long as I didn't get Sports questions!
  
  
• The Joker's Wild - when the joker appeared it always scared me and also kind of bummed me out for the couple.
  

  Charles Nelson Reilly in the "Smoker's Lounge" on Match Game.

• Match Game - hosted by the late Gene Rayburn, I thought this was one of most funniest game shows on television.

• Tattletales - hosted By Bert Convy, Tattletales had 3 celebrities and their spouse playing a version of the Newlywed game. Early gossip/celeb reality show.
  
  
• Wheel Of Fortune
  Back in the day, the hot hot Chuck Wollery was the host of this, not (yuck) Pat Sajak. He later hosted the Love Connection in the 80s, and despite being weaned from my childhood exposure to game show television, I love this show..and it's hunky host.

• 

  Chuck Woolery

[1] updated with a scan of a photo from the audition!

Family Feud Auditions

Vox Footwear? Feet Can Talk?

Apparently, Vox brand footwear has something to do with skateboarding. Perhaps we've found our sponsor?

Vox Footwear Ad

Summer Tour of Skate Shops?

I'm the Internet; you're the Internet and I can prove it.

In my continued fascination with The Keeper of The Gems, Leslie Hall and The We Are The Web site, I am posting this catchy music video here.

For more Leslie Hall "gems" and to marvel in her internet celebrity, behold her site.

WeAreTheWeb.org

QotD: Body Art That's Not Jewelry?

VOX Question of the Day: 

Do you have any tattoos? If not, if you were going to get inked what would you get?

I could always draw them on with markers, I suppose.

I don't have any tattoos. But I almost got one on New Years Day a few years ago.

My friend Rees and I decided we were going to get toe-ring tattoos. I had a nice black simply design all picked out based on a toe ring I liked to wear at the time. Rees was in town for New Years and we'd decided to go do this together to kick off the new year. So that morning, we started calling around to see what tattoo places were open. We tried place after place and no one would do it.

It seems that a tattoo on your toe is the most painful place to get inked. And given that the skin on your feet sheds itself regularly and more frequently than other places on your body, the color fades super quickly too. One of the guys I talked to on the phone said that if he gave me a toe ring tattoo he'd have to scrape me off the ceiling and dig my finger nails out of my friends hand because he'd have to put the needle in so deep just to get enough color in there that he'd be hitting the bone -- time after time after time. Well, alrighty then...

No tattoo for me. I wear my silver toe ring instead.

 

QotD: Key words

VOX Question of the Day: What are your favorite and least favorite words?  Any reasons why?
Question submitted by Byrne

Pissy is a good word, especially descriptive. Then again, that maybe makes it a yucky word.

Other words I sort of like for reasons that are unknown:

• cognizant
• excellent
• compassion
• wise
• zesty
• contemplative
• pickle
• brittle
• raw
  

These words, when I hear them spoken make me what to hit someone:

• irregardless -- it is NOT a word. It's regardless. Just regardless.
  
• often - pronounced with a "t" sound before the "en". It's silent people.
• mayonnaise -- it's a gross word to begin with, made worse when it's pronounced "man-aise"

Somebody else is "On Notice"!

How Did He Know?

Thanks to the self-proclaimed "King of Vox" for posting this site!

We Are The Web

Leslie Hall - Keeper of the Gems.

Click around this site, have fun, advocate, share.

Who indeed?

It's a very cool web campaign for a cause that seems clearly worth supporting.

I have no idea who this Leslie Hall character or person is, but she amuses me; I want to know the "keeper of the gems"!

Thanks for the link from Rick who doesn't use his Vox site (but vows to one day), but is an old school LJ type. Good to catch up with you today Mr. Webbington!

The fun of siblings

My sister sent me this via email. Now if I could just get her to take advantage of that Vox invitation I sent her, she could be posting these things here instead of emailing them to us all. It is pretty funny.

Mother's Day

QotD: Baby Love

Vox Question of The Day: How cute were you as a baby/child? Let's see those baby pics!

I really need to scan some color ones or risk having Mena make the a Civil War reference like she did about Barak's black and white baby photos.

Baby PM in one of over 10,000 (unfrozen) lakes

little time for self-reflection

The flip is cute, the home cut bangs, not so much.

in the park wearing a head scarf

Jesus 2.0

Oh Lordy....

Some selected quotes from this story about a San Jose church that's gone all web 2.0 on the faithful...and is opening a "mall church" at a shopping mall in my neighborhood!

The pastor, Jeff Wenke, paced the stage with the demeanor of a caffeinated startup executive...

Throughout the PowerPoint  Keynote sermon, Wenke paced the stage, sprinkled in slang like “kick it forward” and had contemporary music by OutKast pumped in during short breaks.

The Journey was launched in the style and language — and spirit — of Silicon Valley startups. Five years ago, the initial planners for the church met in a garage. They got seed money from an angel investor of sorts, had a business plan...

The Journey plans to delve even deeper into popular culture by helping launch MallChurch— yes, a church with a mall storefront that includes an Internet cafe, books and informal discussions about Jesus.

I can't wait to see this movie.

 From the creator of another of my favorite movies, comes the Science of Sleep.

 

science of sleep

 

the science of sleep

 

I believe it's not being released until mid-September, but the trailer makes me want to see it now!

The website for the movie is really well done too. It has some cool interactive features like a little program that lets you use elements from the movie (like the giant hands) to make an animated clip set to music.

Is everything media?

Table top cyclops ad creatures coming to a mall Food Court near you!

AB and I went to see the new Pirates of the Caribbeanlast week tonight (I'm liking the back dating function) at the mall (the one where they're building the "mall church") and I took note that a new ad placement was about to be born.

All consuming media indeed!

Ignore that yummy coconut banana frappaccino that someone must have purchased and then felt so guilty that they left it on the table untouched.

Vox at the movies

And just to show how hypocritical one can be from up on a high horse, here's a picture I took that same night of my daughter as a smiling form of media herself.

QotD: Desktop Show and Tell

What is your current computer desktop image? Let's see it!

Capitola rocks on sand.jpg

Taken at the beach in Capitola a few weeks back.

The whole collection of photos from that day are here.