My nomination:
Mommies are a different breed of human that need to be bowed down too… Especially this one. She has been a 1/2 stay at home mommy with the privilege of taking our daughter to work with her to take on a bigger task of raising other peoples kids. Usually we all wake up together in the morning unless the dogs need to go out sooner in which she gets up, lets the dogs out, feeds the cats and begins her morning. Some mornings she has to work before we all get up, that’s right, she’s out the door at 6:15, up at 5:30 to get to her first morning job of getting twins and a teen ready for school and driving them there. She’s back by 8:30 to take Hayden to Gymnastics while I go to work. On the days she isn’t going to gymnastics she does a school co-op for the first part of the day. After lunch she organizes meet ups with other moms for parks, play dates and any other fun activities they can plan.

During nap time she goes to school full time online getting her teaching credentials so what would be a break for most her nap times are spent researching different kinds of psychology and writing papers on top of getting the laundry done and doing the dishes. After nap she is off to work again and takes Hayden with her to pick up Allison. Allison is a 21 year old mentally disabled girl who has the mind of a 12-14. So now the task of battling a 3 year olds wants, needs and break downs with a 21 year old who has a hard time dealing with every day life. After about 6pm Leah gets home, makes dinner, sets the table and gives us a yummy hot meal to come home to and enjoy. Once I get home I full on take the roll of Daddy and let her get back to her school work. By 830ish its time for our nightly routine…. Jammie’s, Sponge Bob, brush teeth, read books and of course mom needs to fall asleep with Hayden. By about 930-10pm her day ends. Sometimes. Depending on how much more school work she needs to do she stays up till midnight to get her papers in.

I know no one else that takes on so many hats and just makes it happen day in day out. She’s strong, she’s confident and best of all she teaches Hayden everyday about the world around us through explorative play. When here mommy hat is on its on lock and there’s nothing to stand in her way, except our 3 year olds tantrums! =P She deserves a MoTM award every month in one shape or form but to feel proud and accomplished she only needs to turn and look at her family. Thanks for considering Leah and best of luck to all moms!

“Somehow the guys at Game Informer magazine discovered Duke Nukem Forever’s launch date before I did,” joked Randy Pitchford, president of Gearbox Software and executive producer of Duke Nukem Forever. “But I cannot imagine any better video game news source team than Game Informer to reveal the moment of truth for the most inconceivable, incorrigible and inspiring turn around story in the history of the video game industry – the coming of Duke Nukem Forever on May 3, 2011.”

[jwplayer config="Custom Player" mediaid="754"]

The new facelift they are going to bring to Azeroth, which I believe is the first time someone is going to redo beginning game content, is actually a new age of darkness and destruction. The lands will be set afire and all those familiar places will not be so pleasant. The level cap of 85 is going to be exciting to grind through and getting to that first level 85 raid is going to bring those late late nights back to life.

Directly from their website here is a glimpse of whats to come with Cataclysm:

Some of the new features of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm include:

• Two New Playable Races:Adventure as one of two new races–the cursed worgen with the Alliance or the resourceful goblins with the Horde.
• Level Cap Increased to 85:Earn new abilities, tap into new talents, and progress through the path system, a new way for players to improve characters.
• Classic Zones Remade:Familiar zones across the original continents of Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms have been altered forever and updated with new content, from the devastated Badlands to the broken Barrens, which has been sundered in two.
• New High-Level Zones:Explore newly opened parts of the world, including Uldum, Grim Batol, and the great Sunken City of Vashj’ir beneath the sea.
• More Raid Content than Ever Before:Enjoy more high-level raid content than previous expansions, with optional more challenging versions of all encounters.
• New Race and Class Combinations:Explore Azeroth as a gnome priest, blood elf warrior, or one of the other never-before-available race and class combinations.
• Guild Advancement:Progress as a guild to earn guild levels and guild achievements.
• New PvP Zone & Rated Battlegrounds:Take on PvP objectives and daily quests on Tol Barad Island, a new Wintergrasp-like zone, and wage war in all-new rated Battlegrounds.
• Archaeology:Master a new secondary profession to unearth valuable artifacts and earn unique rewards.
• Flying Mounts in Azeroth:Explore Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms like never before.

You can find out more at the World of Warcraft Cataclysm FAQ page but in all this expansion is going to be epic. I can’t wait to get my hands on it and see the old lands in their new state of devastation!

One of the biggest things is the Bio’s of the people that you are following! So if you click on the person now you can see who they are and not just their last tweet. I’ve yet to see it launched but it is supposed to come out today!! Check out their awesome video:

Find out more at http://twitter.com/newtwitter

This was my first year at the event and I wish someone could have done a video time lapse of my arrival up to me passing out at the crack of direct sunlight to note the amount of time my jaw wasn’t dropped.

Try this on for size: Seeing giant snails, 4 story steel sculpted female and all the lights you could try to imagine (basically vegas has nothing on BM for a week) while wandering around a dried out lake bed covered in playa dust looking for the next craziest camp to indulge in random acts of air-brush tattoo, dong bongs and ever so refreshing swamp cooled hookadome. If that isn’t your taste then you can get lost by hopping on a Yacht being driven by a slightly intoxicated captain who is being escorted by segway drivers with fuzzy hats direct the blind people to move out of the the giant boats way so it can roam around the 1 square mile of pure entertainment.

I was pretty spoiled as I was there with the Emergency Response crew and they are way set up… Electricity, Internet, vehicles and RV’s. Oh… a Shower!!! I’m sure if I could barter off a shower to people during the epic week of BM I could get some pretty awesome gifts. I’ve never really been one to get all crazy and party like a rockstar, yes i’ve had my moments, so hopping on my bare bicycle rigged with a black light LED flash light, a portable iPod boom-box and my water bottle (more essential than clothes IMO) I got to look at the wondrous art installations all around the playa.

The most awesome memory for me was the engagement of my close friends Raquel and Greg… To be there for that moment, that one moment that begins the journey of a new unity between two souls that long overdue to be married will remain at the top of my awesome memory lists!

The other epic and amazing thing that I saw wasn’t a single art installation it was the grand scale of the entire event. I took a panoramic during the day from Mal-Mart ( 8 story scaffolding near 7 o’clock and esplanade) and as incredible as that may look, the look of it at night blows me away. I would walk out to the middle near the Man and and just take a moment to pan around and take in how incredible 50,000 people all enjoying the moment, the individuals who took time out of their day to day to create these amazing art cars and of course; the blinky lights. =)

In the end, or the beginning actually I was welcomed Home and I didn’t really feel that until I got to go up those steps and look at everything from the man. I really was home. In the end it was hard to leave and face work the very next day but I will forever be a burner and I hope to one day be an integral part of the event… working or playing with some sort of crazy art car… I’m never going to be able to explain the event in a way that will actually give you the same wow factor that I got but I hope you got just a taste of how amazing this event really is.

You can find more of my photos on my flickr page: Click Me!!

Whats cool is that they dont just cover the most expensive gear, they cover some of the coolest stuff for a wide range of products. the iPhone OWLE Bubo is this housing for your iPhone that has a grip, an external mic as well as a interchangeable lens! They have a great article that shows a comparison and a full review of the product. They sell it too at a discounted price.

From their main website you can buy all the greatest gear, with discounted prices, their blog gives indepth reviews and true opinions from people that do this as a living every day and I’d trust their insights any day. I’d love to know of any other sites you might know of that teaches, discovers and tests the limits of the gear and trade that I have grown to love.

Here are the links to Film Tools:

www.filmtools.com
filmtools.wordpress.com

Great DSLR tools, tutorials and a wealth of knowledge can be found here:

http://philipbloom.net/

First things first… They will not share what you have purchased because that would be a little embarrassing if you bought some sort of sexy toys for a retreat with your girlfriend or wife and all your friends knew about it. Just saying. Go to the Amazon Facebook setup page and link your account. As soon as you get in, you get recommendations for products depending on what your likes, interests, favorites and key words from your profile.

One of the coolest features is seeing when your friends birthdays are and the gift suggestions they have for those people. So not only do you get to be reminded of up coming birthdays but you dont have to stress about what you are going to buy for them. In a pinch this is going to save people.

I connected my FB page with Amazon and its pretty cool. I love seeing all the recommendations as well as things i’d be interested in. Now I just need to go shopping! lol… I wonder if they are going to integrate a chat system so you can invite people to come help you pick something out. Directly from their signup page, here’s what they have to say:

Will my personal Amazon data remain private?

Your personal Amazon data will not be shared with Facebook:

• Amazon will not share information from your account with Facebook.
• Amazon will not share your purchase history with Facebook.
• Amazon will not attempt to contact your Facebook friends.
• Amazon will never post anything to your Facebook Wall without your consent.

For more information about Amazon’s privacy practices, please see our Privacy Notice.

For information about application and profile access, please visit Facebook’s Statement of Rights and Responsibilities.

What are the benefits of connecting Amazon and Facebook?

Tap into your Facebook network to improve your Amazon shopping experience:

• Discover Amazon recommendations for movies, music, and more based on your Facebook Favorites and Likes.
• See upcoming birthdays and find your Facebook friends’ Amazon Wish Lists more easily.
• Get great gift suggestions for your friends based on their Facebook Favorites and Likes.
• Explore your friends’ Favorites and see who has similar interests.