Awesomeness

If you have a soul, you'll love this. If not... I don't know, it's too late for you.

Geek Chic

I just bought this image on a t-shirt. No good reason, really. It's just awesome.

Google Ads Had To Go

For those of you who actually visit my blog page (as opposed to RSS or email subscribers) you may have noticed that things have changed a little. Nothing too drastic, just a basic layout change; I made my black background white, stuff like that.

While I was fiddling with the layout, though, I decided to add Google's Adsense to the page. It didn't seem like a big deal. If someone happened to click through, maybe I'd make a couple of bucks. Not actually very likely to happen, but what the hell, right?

Well, that was all fine and good until I looked at the page a couple of days ago.

Now, I know that Google has all of this stuff automated, so there really isn't anyone specific to blame. But when I loaded up my page to see that Google had seen fit to place a "Vote 'Yes' on Proposition 8" ad on my site... well, let's just say I was upset.

For those of you who don't know, prop 8 is an item on the California ballot. The latest attempt to arrest our society's growth, it proposes an amendment to the state constitution that would specify that marriage is a union between a man and a woman.

Anyway, because of this, Google ads had to go. Here endeth my ridiculously brief foray into blog monetization.

Wondering what I've been up to?

As it turns out, I'm not the best at keeping in touch. But I probably don't have to tell you that, do I?

I had the best of intentions when I made the move out here to California, really I did, and my plans to keep the people I care about in the loop haven't changed from day one. Plans require a little more than conception, though, and my execution has been lacking.

None of that is what I'm writing about today. A couple of months ago, the job for which I trekked 2 thousand miles to the west coast went *poof*, an early casualty of this decidedly gray economic climate. I was a small part of a larger downsizing, and, thankfully, most of the people who were affected have landed well. For my own part, I can only be thankful that the client I was assigned to was nothing short of amazing. After a short, if stressful, period of uncertainty I was able to join them as their 10th official employee and have continued to do the work I started as a consultant way back in March.

The company is called givezooks!, and last night was our official Santa Barbara community launch.

Wondering what a givezooks is? Take a look:


givezooks! from Chris Olerich on Vimeo.

It really is a great company with a great vision, founded by a small group of people who care as much about the idea as they do about succeeding. I honestly feel lucky to be a zooker, and that feeling has nothing to do with my paycheck.

And for those of you reading this back home, I have high hopes for the eventual success of the Tampa givezooks! community. Something important is happening here, and if I can help it, Tampa will be a part of it.

Okay, I'm done shilling now. Back to our regularly scheduled programming, which may or may not be a test pattern.

Because I don't have enough to do already.

So, since I have proven to myself over and over again that I am incapable of completing a good novel (hell, or even a short story) no matter the amount of time I spend, I'm seriously considering participating in next month's NaNoWriMo. You know, to see if I can finish writing a bad novel in 30 days.

Here's how it works: You have the month of November to write 50,000 words (a little over 1600 words, or, just shy of 4 single spaced, typed pages, per day). Yeah, right, because I was getting anywhere even close to that number per week before.

Sure, it's ambitious, and probably more than a little unrealistic, but I've been wanting to get into a pattern of writing at least, and maybe this will prove to be just the motivation I need.

And hey, if I can prove to myself that I can even finish a crappy story, it's a step in the right direction.