friends

I did not participate in the Black Friday sales this year. I think that I only participated in one Black Friday once during college. We did not get up early in the morning but rather later in the afternoon. I only remember going to Best Buy and waiting through some fairly long lines.

I have absolutely no idea what I am going to get for gifts this year. JT has hinted at a couple of items that he would like to have, but of course I did not write anything down. As I have said many times, if I had a memory, I would be dangerous. For many of my close friends and family, I often get them a gift card, because they either already have everything they could ever want or I have absolutely no clue of what I want to give them.

I feel that gift cards make great presents. The idea of making them more personal by uploading your own picture for a Visa gift card or an existing photo for a special occasion, is wonderful. I bet some of my family members would enjoy receiving a picture of William and Keisha on their Visa gift cards this Christmas.

Technorati Tags: family friends holiday life nexus shopping Visa gift card personalize gift

I know that this week is going to be challenging. I have some hectic things going on at work and at home.

I am trying to make a commitment to work on being positive and... especially since this week is Thanksgiving, focus on what I am thankful for.

Today, I want to tell you that I am thankful for all of my friends. Particularly today (Sunday), I want to thank my best friend and a good friend many miles away from me. They saw that I was down and out today and they were there for me to cheer me up. They did not judge me. They cared for me, hugged me, made jokes with me and in so many words told me that everything is going to be okay.

My friends are so important to me and sometimes it feels like I am not always there for them as much as they are there for me. I hope that during our lifetimes that I can be a wonderful friend to you like you have been to me. Thank you also to my other dear friends.

I love you.

Technorati Tags: contemplating friends holiday nexus Thanksgiving

1. Who is your best friend?

My best friend is Tiffany and her 30th birthday is this Monday.

2. Why did you become friends?

It was our destiny to become best friends. A dynamic duo of a sort hahaa

3. How did you meet?

We met through a summer program in 1989 called Sprog. *gasp*

4. Why have you stayed friends?

We have stayed friends because we have been through so much together. She is supportive of what I do in life and next to JT she is other person who has some dirt on me. *shhh*

5. How long (realistically) do you think you'll be friends?

Forever... did you anticipate any other answer?

http://www.livejournal.com/community/thefridayfive/1466.html

Technorati Tags: friends life meme nexus

Over the weekend BTocher kindly sent me an invitation to Pownce... not to be confused with pounce.

Like so many other social networks, I immediately jumped in the hype.

Now I am wondering if the hype is dying before it even got real good. Many are comparing the differences between Twitter and Pownce and it appears that the positive vibes for Twitter outweigh the ones for Pownce.

Right now my only personal concern is that the desktop software for Pownce is not working on my laptop. I am not certain why. The installation was smooth, but when I load the application, type in my login and password then hit Sign In, the bar moves and appears to load but nothing happens. Bummer. I would like to use this application on the go and I find it more convenient than keeping an open tab in Opera or Firefox (I already have over 30 tabs open).

Other than that, I quickly learned to turn off the email notifications for notes and replies. That got annoying very fast as my inbox flooded with links to the notes, not even the text of the actual note!

Pownce is in Alpha stage now. I hope Beta brings something more.

By the way, my Pownce page is: http://pownce.com/nexy/

Technorati Tags: friends internet nexus social

Or LALOLKFATYK for short...

Add your blog and location to the bottom of this list, and send it on.

A Secular Franciscan Life - Billings, Montana, USA
Erica’s Blog - Brooklyn, New York, USA
Groanin’ Jock - Montrose, Scotland, Great Britain
The Kat House - Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
blogitude.com (Mark Steel) - Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
Rantz (Rantz) - Darwin, Northern Territory, Oz
Step Into the Nexus- St. Louis, Missouri, USA

Were you named after anyone? Yes, my dad named me after his favorite jazz musician, but the spelling of my name is different than his from what I hear.

When was the last time you cried? A couple of weeks ago.

Do you like your handwriting? I used to... before I used computers so much. I really have to concentrate for good penmanship.

What is your favorite lunch meat? Southwest Turkey, but unfortunately Shop n Save no longer sells this deli meat.

Do you have kids? Yes, twins.

If you were another person, would you be friends with you? Yes because I am loyal and an excellent listener.

Do you use sarcasm a lot? A little bit here and there.

Do you still have your tonsils? Yes.

Would you bungee jump? Hell no.

What is your favorite cereal? Frosted Flakes.

Do you untie your shoes when you take them off? No.

Do you think you are strong? Physically? No. Other? I am getting there...

What is your favorite ice cream? Edy's or Baskin Robbins French Vanilla.

What is the first thing that you notice about people? The strength of their handshake.

Red or pink? Neither.

What is the least favorite thing about yourself? Teeth and my weight.

Technorati Tags: friends meme nexus social

This weekend, JT, the twins and I traveled to Memphis for a family reunion. We had a lovely time. This was William and Keisha's first road trip and overall I think they did very well. They definitely are not used to being in the van for more than 45 minutes to an hour at a time, but I eased the impatience with plenty of fruit snacks and other goodies. Our van was packed... Uncle Fred and Uncle Ricky also road with us.

After arriving in Memphis, I was pleased to see everyone that I had not seen in a while. JT and I last went to Memphis in June 2003... before the twins were born. So this was the first time that many members of the family met William and Keisha. "Oooh, the twins, the twins," everyone yelled. William and Keisha are very outgoing, but very shy when they first meet people. So it took them a moment to warm up. After about 30 minutes, they were running all over the place and hugging aunts, uncles and cousins.

God Willing, next year's Family Reunion will be in California.

The picture below is of William and Keisha looking out the window in the hotel room, shortly after we arrived.

Technorati Tags: family friends fun Keisha twins vacation William

Last month, I was honored over at The Far Corner with The Thinking Blogger Award. Thank you Baxter again, for thinking of me.

The award has some rules and responsibilities attached to it. These are:

1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs which make you think.

2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme.

3. Optional: Proudly display the Thinking Blogger Award.

Technorati Tags: award blog blogosphere contemplating friends internet

WyldRyde is a great IRC server that I have been hanging out on for four years. In the past year, I have been there more and met a lot of nice people. I mainly hang out in #blogshares, but I also chill in #bsec, #vinyl, #Aliensco, #pnp and #lockergnome. I chat about Blogshares a lot but we also talk about a variety of topics such as music, world news, politics and movies. It gets so crazy in #blogshares sometimes, that I forget what we are talking about. The people on WyldRyde are fun and intelligent. I rarely see spammers taking advantage in channels, but when they do... ops are there to get their ban on.

Join us on WyldRyde. http://www.wyldryde.org/

/end public service announcement =)

Technorati Tags: blogshares friends internet irc

Yesterday, we took William to the doctor to get blood work done. The visit was much faster than we anticipated. William's nurse was able to draw the blood from William with little pain. JT and I will take William back to the hospital on Monday for his first scheduled transfusion. Thinking about what William goes through makes me very sad, but I continue to pray for the well-being of my son and family. I believe that JT and I have made the

Later that day, we spent time with one of JT's closest friends and her daughter. We had a lovely time while we ate at Red Lobster. I had a shrimp combo with fried, scampi and coconut shrimp. I really, really love the coconut shrimp with the pineapple dipping sauce. Delicious. The little cup of dipping sauce was extremely thin and runny, so I asked for more and the next cup was just fine. Of course I loaded on the cheddar biscuits.

G and K spent a little time with us that evening. Later, L came over to do my hair. I got a relaxer, which was well overdue, and a rollerset. As usual, William and Keisha battled over who was going to sit in my lap while L did my hair.

Technorati Tags: friends hair nexus twins