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Why steal someone else’s thunder, when you’re as dazzling as a lightning bolt?
Blind ‘em.
So, I received my military ID last Friday. Poignant moment for me, in a good way. I leave for Basic Training in July 2011 to Lackland AFB in Texas. After the five hour security clearance interview, basic training exercises should be a piece of cake! HA!
Between now and July, I am just continuing to work part-time at Rio Salado College providing Technical Assistance and getting in shape. My next fitness goal to shoot for is approaching quickly: http://www.pattillmanfoundation.org/pats-run/
Also in the meantime, I’ll be looking for odd jobs to make a bit of extra money and live a little before its GAME OVER. Got a few vacations to throw in before I leave too – including a jet ski ride from Dana Point to Catalina, and a quick spin through Vegas (been a while since I’ve enjoyed that town!). When I get back from training in December, it’s all about Disneyland with the kids!!
Life is still good.
For Christmas this year, the ex-hubby got our son an iPad. Best idea all year. This thing is uber cool, sleek, and sexy - and sooooo ready to replace the dilapidated dynavox, which is completely clunky. Now, I just need someone’s attention to write software for the darn thing so that a non-verbal kid can use it (to make sentences out of pictures and voice conversion software that will piece together a verbal response from the picture sentence he creates) to tell me what he wants. At least until he can type as fast as Stephen Hawking…but by then, I’ll expect full emails!
Now, 
after taking the oath and realizing the possibilities of the future, I am much less conflicted, and much more enthusiastic about my new opportunity with the United States Air Force. I know I will be forever altering my path and making some serious sacrifices, but I think I have made peace with that part of the decision. In any case, there is no going back now. I will follow through the process and await the final word on their decision to deem me “worthy” of the organization’s trust. Its a nail biting process for sure. While I wait, I continue to do my homework – digging on the internet – for any useful information on what awaits me when I report for BMT and Tech school. I really don’t like surprises, especially in environments that are disorienting because they are so new, but even less so when I know there will be a test! Every Friday, as a matter of fact. I am eager to learn my new trade and develop the skills to perform in it.
And, yes, I do plan to blog about the latest developments here. So, stay tuned!
Shane’s Notebook.org is up and running again.
http://www.shanesnotebook.org
I am deciding whether to sell AskTheITGirl.com and TheSmartScribe.com. Chapters of my life I should release? I still want my publishing business, but a little weary of providing freelance tech support. I hate computer viruses. That seems to be all anyone wants help with these days… blah.
Oh well. Glad to have Shane’s site back up. Note Shane’s Notebook.com is no longer my domain. It’s now a home-schooler’s website.
It’s good to have a home on the web. After struggling financially to keep multiple sites up, I am glad that at least I have this one still going. First of all, its rather cathartic to post my thoughts and know that it is accessible to anyone, anywhere – including me. At least I feel heard… 
These bits of commentary and customized web widgets are all reflections of my personality, and my most sentimental creations. My little darlings, if you will. They each represent a role or mind-set I 
transited through and evolved from. Secondly, I hate to think that I’m one of those out there littering the internet with sites that go nowhere. What a waste!
Now, that said, I am praying (on my knees here people) that my other websites remain intact (no loss of data or links) until I can post bail and get them out of web host jail. November is the hardest hitting month financially for me – and not even because of Christmas shopping! It just so happens to be the month that everything I own that has some sort of registration fee has to be renewed. My car, my domain names, my coffees of the world club membership, etc… (ok, so not really that last one). It winds up being a very “taxing” time for me (pun sort of intended).
So, if you see someone else trying to set up shop under the following domains, please know I am upset.
Have you seen my digital children?
http://www.thesmartscribe.com
http://www.asktheitgirl.com
http://www.shanesnotebook.org
Nathaniel has had the benefit of having tech savvy parents, and a few good Autism resource school teachers, unafraid to turn him loose on a computer
. To date, he still loves surfing PBSkids.org and his personal YouTube channel, unassisted. I am so proud of him. His Autistic cousin, Trinity also loves to logon to Google and do web searches all day for her favorite television shows, like PowerPuff Girls. Up until last Sunday, however, I was not sure how his reading was progressing. It is so difficult to know what skills are developing and what information is being retained because he cannot talk to you. Without his voluntary speech, there is no expression of the learning…until you pay attention to what he does. He types! This is the Dynavox. A very expensive Augmentive Communication Device. Although I believe an Apple iPad would do the job better.
Sophia is Nathaniel’s little sister. While she is not affected by Autism or other learning disorders, she enjoys playing with PECS symbols – a primary communication tool for the majority of Autistic children. Visual recognition of shapes, patterns and images is the foundation of cognitive [language] development. To this end, we also attempt to teach both kids what we can in sign language.
Where The Seats Have No Name
Concert Review
by Amber Medrano
University of Phoenix Stadium is pretty impressive when it’s lit up like a disco ball. Or a spaceship. Or a Blackberry backlight vigil to remember a fellow humanitarian and freedom fighter from the country of Burma, Aung San Suu Kyi. No lighters or candles needed for this crowd, they come equipped.
From the top rafters (aka the “cheap seats” or the “nose-bleed section” as it can sometimes be referred to), the view of U2’s 360o Tour was still amazing and spectacular. Even while searching the stage to get a glimpse of Bono in the flesh (which was fairly easy thanks to the handsome 360o stage design), the U2 experience was not diminished. From the very first moment that Bono came leaping up to the microphone singing “Breathe”, the energy – his energy – did not stop for an entire two hours. Not bad for a guy pushing 50.
Frankly, I don’t know how he did it all. I stood, I stomped, I swooned and I swayed in front of my seat for the entire concert, and my feet were duly sore the next morning. Maybe it was the high heeled shoes working against my unbridled abandon as I entered into the sound. But once I was in that crazy, delightful sound, I let my favorite rock idols know of my undying devotion with my own sounds – through screams and hollers that left my throat as raw as a fresh tuna sushi roll. No matter. To me, it was pure bliss. I’ll wear the discomfort like a badge of honor along with my grins of sweet elation.
During the show, Adam, Larry and the Edge displayed masterful skill wailing out the band’s signature anthems at a persistent pace – truly never missing a beat. And as Bono proclaimed that “Intimacy is the new Punk Rock” he invited three tall, blonde-haired sisters onto the stage for a brief dancing-sing-a-long romp that had every woman in the place pea-green with envy. Once he got each of their names right, he hugged them and playfully laid across their laps, posing and singing his heart out.
It is almost impossible to name any of the songs they sang as better or more memorable than the other. They were all expertly entertaining and familiar crowd favorites. From the newest titles off of the “No Line on the Horizon” album to the classics from “The Joshua Tree” album, each song brought incredible reaction from die-hard U2 loyalists and newbie fans alike.
As the hour and a half ride cruised into the final 30 minute stretch, Bono let out his inner acrobat on the suspended 360o microphone, grappling and swinging around stage while cloaked in pinpoints of red LED light. As the concert wound down to a close, he summoned all the fervor he has ever had to give saturating vocals on “With or Without You” to the supreme enjoyment of the crowd, who appreciatively joined in.
When the house lights came back up, and another fresh breeze blew in from the open stadium ceiling above, Bono bid kind adieu saying “on with you, then” and “thank you” to an audience desperately hoping for an encore, but smart enough to know that the performer meant what he said the first time. Yet, not one fan was disappointed or felt as though the evening was anti-climatic without the customary encore – or maybe those set lighting changes signaled the encores? Who knows. (I couldn’t tell.) In any case, each face was glowing with satisfaction. And as the throng of concert goers filed out of the stadium and into the parking lot, my sister and I made plans to grab a stiff drink and a bite to eat as our own personal finale for the evening.
To Bono, the Band, and the Three Sisters: Cheers.