it's not just about having good hair

I just got this Recommendation on LinkedIn from the VP of HR for Burt's Bees.
Completely unprompted!
I am honored, flattered, and a bit nostalgic for my days at The Hive:

“Mandy was an incredible inspiration to Burt's Bees Marketing as she captured the essence of the brand: natural, high quality, spunky, smart and spontaneous. Mandy was creative and insightful as she portrayed the exact public image of Burt's Bees in her communications with Burt's Bees customers.” -April 29, 2009

Awww.....

El Gato speaks about Athens Twilight Criterium and crit squads.

Our weekend trip to the Bahamas for Vika & Rafe's wedding was incredible.

Our cute little Typhoon was stolen this weekend.
Assholes.
However, I feel strangely at peace after watching the conclusion of Zeitgeist.
Good stuff.

I know that fate will bring me back to my hometown (that I left at 150 mph in 1995). It's stuff like this that reminds me of the importance of "where you are from":
Dear Butte Falls Alumni,
I am writing you today for your help. Your high school, my high school, needs you now more than ever. We all know that right now is not a real positive time in many lives, at home, at work and at school. Financially, people everywhere are just too strapped to make it. As far as our country goes, schools are not quite a priority. So many things have changed since we all went to school. Traditions that we had are no longer. Kids now days can’t even imagine the times that we had. To be quite honest, boys don’t dress up in cheerleading outfits anymore to put on pep assemblies (that is if we have cheerleaders), spirit week has no meaning, there is no initiation, juniors have no clue what to do at prom, they don’t know what prophecies and wills are about. To me this is very sad. Somewhere we forgot to teach our kids about spirit because the world beyond the cattle guards got to busy (you can’t even mention lighting the cattle guards on fire, that’s a felony now for goodness sake). It feels like some of our own history is being lost.I now have my own child in Butte Falls High School, along with some of my fellow classmate’s children, and have had the privilege of either coaching or helping them at school. As aides at the high school we reminisce about our own past. Of course, you understand I have to let all the kids know that “yes, we did take state in football! In ‘86” and that Fred was better than Chub” (just kidding).
For many years in Butte Falls, we have had the existence of a “Booster Club” filled with many volunteers who really did make a difference and made an impact on many of our own lives, my mother and father being two of them (Sherri and Neal Ellis). We seem to be hitting bottom. Many people are too busy to donate time anymore and as I said donating money, right now is not even an option for some of us. This is where you come in. There was a time when Butte Falls threw an annual Sports Awards Banquet, do you remember? And it was a big event. Last year the Mac Field Boosters brought it back. We are hoping to do the same this year on May 29th. The way I figure it is that if every one who receives this email donates just a little bit, we could throw these kids a great sports banquet and show them what spirit is all about.
-Angie Ellis

this weekend. Because I will be here:

Folks,
The special thing about being from a small town is that the tiniest gestures make a huge difference. Being so remote, Butte Falls does not have a steady source of funding for fighting fires. It's pretty sad, since we are surrounded by timber for hundreds of miles. That stuff gets DRY in the summer!
My father was on the volunteer fire department, and I remember a close call in 1991. Lightning had struck a mountainside about 300 yards from our property line, and we could only watch in horror as the fire advanced. Dad hosed off all the buildings and we let the helicopter dip into our irrigation to fight the flames.
Fortunately, the fire stopped short of our property, but we still see the scar to this day.
My hometown needs a new fire engine. The story is compelling, and can be found here. Read it, and if you think my hometown deserves an updated fleet, click "Vote"
After you put in your name and email, the next question is "fire department" For the fire department, put "Butte Falls fire department" (or the fire department that serves you)
When the next question asked is "when are we going to purchase new fire equipment?" - answer 'not sure'.
When the last question asked is "what type of equipment" - answer 'commercial'.
That's it........then click "VOTE".
You have to confirm your vote by going into your e-mail and replying to their confirmation - for the vote to count.
--------
Just 2 minutes of your time while enduring some questionable creative writing and clicking some buttons.
It means a lot. In Small Town, USA; especially.
Thanks!

Or something like that. So I hear.
Ok. That's about it for the religious aspect of our programming.
Now, on to what I did with MY day.
I woke up, went on a GREAT ride with Ian, then came home and chatted on the phone with my sister while Brutus and I sat in the sun (subtle note to those lookingto rent my condo: I have an actual backyard. Small, but real. You can sunbathe in it).
In a valiant attempt to avoid actually doing schoolwork, I listened to a cool podcast with the founder of Terracycle, Tom Szaky. We use their services at Frito Lay. I love it!:
"'You look at waste, and you say, 'Look there's no such thing as waste.' And then once you make that assumption then you say, 'Well, look, what are the features of the waste that are valuable?' You start thinking through that, and that gets you to the outcome, which is a product. You just have to look at what makes the waste interesting. What are their features? And then frankly from there it's not that hard. Then you look at how do those features overlap to products and then you can start to look, turn a saw blade into a clock. Turn an antiperspirant stick into a giant eraser. And I can keep giving you examples all day long."
Good stuff. Keep on keepin on, Tom.
And Happy Easter.
Or something.

Here is the info. Move in July 1, if you want!
Ok. Tomorrow's post will be much better and less commerce-centric.
=)

Can I getta booya?

A lifetime without a television has some drawbacks.
I suck at the Trivial Pursuit "Entertainment" category. I laugh without understanding at inside jokes from Dukes of Hazzard jokes, Scooby Doo, and a thousand other popular shows. I couldn't program a VCR/DVD/DVR/Tivo/Whatever to save my life.
Other than that, I am quite proud to continue the tradition set by my parents that bans the idiot box from our decor.
However, I did miss out on one thing: Buffy.
The Vampire Slayer, to be exact.
Oh Buffy...
How did I live the last 12 years without thee?
Homegirl rocks. Kicks ass. Takes names. Utters puns before staking her latest bloodsucking adversary. Occasionally fails classes. Has adorable friends. A geeky librarian sidekick. A mega-hawt vampire squeeze. Lives in Southern California fantasyland. Wears high heels while slaying.
Wow. Now, thanks to Hulu, I'm halfway through season 3.
Senioritis has set in. Sorry, academia.

I just started reading this book. It begins with:
DEATH SPEAKS:
There was a merchant in Bagdad who sent his servant to market to buy provisions and in a little while the servant came back, white and trembling, and said, Master, just now when I was in the market-place I was jostled by a woman in the crowd and when I turned I saw it was Death that jostled me. She looked at me and made a threatening gesture; now, lend me your horse, and I will ride away from this city and avoid my fate. I will go to Samarra and there Death will not find me. The merchant lent him his horse, and the servant mounted it, and he dug his spurs in its flanks and as fast as the horse could gallop he went. Then the merchant went down to the market-place and he saw me standing in the crowd and he came to me and said, Why did you make a threatening gesture to my servant when you saw him this morning? That was not a threatening gesture, I said, it was only a start of surprise. I was astonished to see him in Bagdad, for I had an appointment with him tonight in Samarra.
-W. Somerset Maugham

...color me intrigued...

Due to my completely uninspired noggin when it comes to blog posts this week; here are some quotes:
Good fortune favors the brave." - Buffy the Vampire Slayer
“I’m not worried. If there’s something bad out there; we’ll find, you’ll slay, we’ll party!”
-Xander to Buffy in, of course, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
"You can't push on a rope" - Professor John Colley
"There's more to life than speeding it up" - Ghandi
“The progress of the world has been in direct ratio to the convenience of communication.”
-Henry Ford, 1928